Harness the "profound now" to unlock spiritual power and resilience

Part Two

This blog is the second in a series of two; the first being Unlock the “profound now” to inspire joy, healing and health.

You’ll recall the first step in Part One was connection, and the second step was self-check-ins. The third step, outlined by Hanifa from One Village Healing, is personal practice. Just like anything else you’ve wanted to learn how to do, practice is essential. Practice creates meaning on the journey, which literally allows for the harnessing of new awareness and creation. It is the practice which is the “now”, and builds the future now.

The problem is, how do you know what spiritual practice is right for you?

I suggest four fundamental considerations:

What are your habits?
What are your aptitudes?
What are your interests?
How will you integrate these three?

What are your habits?

Habits are literally thoughts and activities which are habitual. You really don’t have to think about them, you just do them. This is a very handy thing to help with higher order brain functioning: you have a routine to get out of bed, brush your teeth, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, etc. If you are hoping to integrate a new spiritual practice, setting an intentional 21-day schedule that fits into your current daily schedule, will be most helpful.

For example, if you wake up late and rush out the door for work, and you don’t feel you can get up any earlier, a meditation first thing in the morning is going to be a more difficult habit to activate. However, you may find that you have an hour lunch break, and it only takes you 30 minutes to eat. You might find it easier to take the first 30 minutes to meditate, practice qigong, or yoga, before you eat.

Give yourself a moment now to identify and record times in your day in which a new 21-day habit forming practice may work for you – even if it is just 10 minutes. You are absolutely worth this time. The health of our world is depending on us to connect and integrate.

This is your chance to harness the magic of your vibrational power!

What are aptitudes?

Aptitudes are defined as a natural talents or predispositions. An example may be the ability to calculate complex math in your head, or the ability to work with textiles in way that is unique in the fashion world. Take a moment now to record your aptitudes. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Interests and your choice of practice

Now, below aptitudes on your paper write the heading “Interests”. Fill a column with all of the things you love to do. Think of the things which bring you joy, or have contributed to your sense of being loved. I personally would put “hiking” or “kayaking” on my list. Write down as many as you can. Go wild – there is no limit!

Integrating. . .

Let’s see how integrating your habits, aptitudes, and interests, will help determine which practices might be the best fit for you personally. The following examples are of three different people with very different habits, aptitudes, interests and opportunities for integration.

Jorge’s (he/him) Integration:

Habits – making time	Aptitudes	Interests
Have some time at lunch	Visual arts	Play violin and piano
Before bed lots of time	Good with numbers	Cross country skiing
Some time when I wait for son at ball practice	Musical	Painting landscapes
		Making beer

Practices that may easily become habituated for Jorge may be:

Mediation/prayer/affirmations/mantras – these are reasonably easy to fit in anytime. Jorge may close the office door, sit in his vehicle, go for a walk, or sit in a park to use one of these practices.
Binaural Beats – Jorge plays music, so binaural beats may be an easy integration. He can throw on the headphones and close his eyes. This can be as short or as long as he has time for.
Automatic drawing –visual arts is an area of interest and aptitude for Jorge, so soul/spirit drawing may be a way to blend his aptitude into spirit. If he already has a place set up for his visual arts, this integration may be quite simple.
Nature & breathwork – cross country skiing is a beautiful way to be at one with nature. Time to appreciate and reflect during physical activity is a great way to connect with universal oneness. This can also be combined with breathwork, to help achieve a higher vibration.

Kym’s (they/them) Integration:

Habits – making time	Aptitudes	Interests
First thing in the morning – 1 hr.	Cooking	Volunteer for crisis line
Between meetings with clients	Advocate for underserved/marginalized	Poetry, writing and reading
At rec centre during or after workout	Fibre arts	Creating with fibres
	Empath	Hanging with friends

Practices that may easily become habituated for Kym may be:

Mediation/prayer/affirmations/mantras – Kym has a block of time first thing in the morning, a great time for mediation. Kym also has time between clients for affirmations, or mantras.
Yoga, Qigong, Tai Chi – That hour in the morning may also be time for a physical activity at the gym, where these spiritual practices can be incorporated into Kym’s current routine. The gym may even offer classes which they can attend with their friends.
Reading spiritual poetry – integrating the works of Rumi, Galbraith and others may be an easy for Kym, who likes to both write and read poetry. Kym may want to stretch their poetic interest by trying automatic writing in a poetic form.
Mediumship – Kym has identified “empath” as an aptitude. They may find their empathic skills aligned with higher vibrational frequency, allowing for the veil between worlds to be traversed more easily. Opening themselves to the spirit world through direct communication may be something they can also integrate into their volunteer work.

Priya (she/her) Integration:

Habits – making time	Aptitudes	Interests
Every other weekend	Numbers	Raising family (single parent)
Lunchtime walks	Engineering	Gardening
	Architecture	Walking group

Practices that may easily become habituated for Priya may be:

Mediation/prayer/affirmations/mantras – Priya has time every other weekend, making space for spiritual conferences and mediation retreats.
Reiki – Priya may wish to take a Reiki course so that she may practice self-reiki daily, which takes little time during her busy schedule with children, but maintains her connectivity to spirit.
Walking meditations and breathwork – her lunchtime walks are a perfect practice to combine with awareness activities such as mindfulness, breathing specifically for a walking meditation, or listening to binaural beats.
Devotional earth practices – gardening is already a soulful activity, if mindfulness is present. This interest is closely aligned with earth devotions, which you would find in shamanism or wicca. Taking an introductory course in permaculture, environmental spirituality, shamanism or wicca may help expand this interest into more spiritual alignment.

The point of this exercise is to tap into your personal rhythms and cycles to find the spiritual practices that are more easily integrated, and thus, sustainable. While the suggestion is a 21-day initial practice, the idea is to create a new habit which will extend beyond the 21 days. If you find the spiritual practice is not easily integrated, try another.

Everyone has the ability to “BE” in oneness, in that expansive state of universal love.

Each of us has our own unique path, incorporating the spiritual practices which work for us. Just like an exercise routine, keep trying to find the activity which stretches you in a loving and respectful way, within a circle of support and connection. Integrate for your own physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health. Your awareness will expand to bring you new ways of seeing and being in a loving world, providing peace and joy, which will sustain you during the often turbulent challenges of being human.

When this positive, peaceful and loving energy is channelled, you step into your magic and co-create a new, respectful way of being with each other, with all beings, mother earth, and our cosmos. I wish you a wonderful awakening of worldview expansion and invite you to join myself and others at our weekly Sunday A.W.E. gathering, in person, or online. Co-create the awakening with us – it’s a magical experience!