Mental health drastically affects our physical health, our satisfaction with our lives, and our happiness. In that same regard, spiritual health - though harder to define - has a huge impact on our lives and our health. Although it does include religious beliefs, meditation, and prayer, spiritual health can be more broadly defined as the collection of your faith, values, beliefs, principles, and morals. Your spiritual health manifests itself in many ways, including having compassion, the capacity for love and forgiveness, altruism, joy, and fulfilment.
Like physical or mental health, spiritual health isn't always easy to improve or maintain. Here are a few steps for improving your spiritual health.
1. Identify the things in your life that give you a sense of inner peace, comfort, strength, love, connection, and happiness.
2. Set aside time every day to do the things on that list. These may include doing community service or volunteer work, praying, meditating, singing, reading, taking nature walks, having quiet time for thinking, doing yoga, playing a sport, having a meaningful conversation with a loved one (or a stranger for that matter), or attending religious services.
That's it. Two simple steps that can have far-reaching effects on our well-being. Whether you can devote ten minutes or a full hour to these activities, spending a little time each day on things that make you happy will help foster that happiness in other areas of your life. You'll find yourself smiling more, having more patience, reacting less to stress, and enjoying life.