How to Live a Spiritual Life in the Material World
I am delighted that we are offering a year-long program to learn and experience a Spiritual Lifestyle — a structure designed to help us move spiritually with as much ease, clarity and joy as possible.
In our ever-full and complex lives, there seem to be more distractions, added responsibilities and tons of details to keep track of. Much of life can cause us to feel conflicted, confused or overwhelmed.
The Spiritual Lifestyle has many elements to address all these concerns, which enables us to stay present, calm, open and receptive.
Some Elements of the Spiritual Lifestyle
Getting the proper amount of rest to allow for transformation and overall well-being
How to calm the mind and prepare for sleep
A schedule for meditation, exercise, our job, friends and service
How to keep track of calls, meetings, shopping lists, and all of our to-do’s
Keeping our environment simple, organized and beautiful
How to debrief and sort notes, mail and requests in a timely manner
Having what we need for everyday living and for emergencies
As you can probably already see, this way of living helps us to walk away from old habits that no longer serve us. It is also designed to enable us to see aspects of our false self that we are ready to let go of — and as we do, more of who we are can manifest.
It takes time to integrate and stick to this Spiritual Lifestyle. If you’re like me, it may be difficult at first because of habitual patterns and conditionings. Given that one aspect of our spiritual journey is about walking away from illusory and negative ways of being, practicing this Spiritual Lifestyle provides a powerful container to help us succeed. I want to encourage you to have patience, keep taking your next step, and feel good about what you are able to do.
Many Rewards
Living in this Spiritual Lifestyle for the last 20+ years has had many rewards. One big gift was learning how to have a rest day and allowing my body to completely relax. I discovered that I could not integrate all that was happening for me materially, physically, spiritually or emotionally if I kept up my habit of being on the go every day of the week. Being constantly busy caused me so much anxiety and needless suffering.
So now, I take Sundays off and unplug from the phone, the computer and any work responsibilities. I relax, read, do crossword puzzles, watch a good TV show or movie, and this allows my nervous system to really unwind and become very calm. I feel ready for what the next week brings.
Perhaps the greatest gifts have been around my sleeping habits. I used to think we could do well with only 4 or 5 hours of sleep. It was not sufficient. I was not as alert or energetic as I wanted to be.
Surrendering to the body’s need of getting 7 to 9 hours of rest each night — and sometimes 8 to 10 on weekends — has helped me in many different ways.
And I also learned how to prepare myself for deep sleep. For years I would lie in bed, allowing myself to engage with all the thoughts my mind bombarded me with, what to speak of my lists of tasks that needed to get done. It was very disturbing, stressful and kept me wide awake.
Then I began a practice this Spiritual Lifestyle offers — emptying my mind, by writing down what was important to remember, and then letting it go. I felt freed up to focus on what I was grateful for, and that put me into a prayerful state. This helped me to fall asleep pretty quickly, and I noticed that my body felt better in the mornings, and I was not as sore or stiff.
I usually travel once a month for events and pleasure. After each trip, I’ve gotten into the habit of going through my luggage, and getting everything organized. I fill up my toiletries, see what else I might need for the next trip, and repack the bag. So the next time I leave, my bag is all ready to go.
These are just a few examples of the many ways this program has allowed me to transform as rapidly as I want in a safe, practical and organized manner.
Racole ‘Honey’ Tackett, M.S.
Honey is one of the facilitators for the Heart of the Matter programs.
To further support you in creating and living a spiritual life in a material world, here are three suggested meditations to listen to on our Meditation App.
Relaxing Meditation — 10 minutes. Peace and Healing category
Design a Morning Program Talk — 3 minutes. Conscious Living Tools category
Evaluating and Celebrating Progress Meditation — 30 minutes. Focus and Clarity category.
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