D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) Spiritual Practices by Rev. Laura L. Mancuso mancuso@west.

net
1. You may be motivated to begin spiritual practices in the midst of a crisis. Go for it! Take advantage of that motivation. And keep it up, so that you will be more resilient the next time life gets hard again. 2. Designate a regular time each day to indulge in your favorite spiritual practices. Its easiest to maintain a habit that way. But dont beat yourself up if you skip every once in a while. 3. Pay particular attention to how you spend the first and last hour of each day. The moments of transition between sleep and wakefulness are very important. Start by noting, for one week, what you are actually doing during those times. Then decide how you want to spend that time. It may be as simple as five minutes of positive visualization, gratitude, or prayer. 4. Choose spiritual practices that are appealing to you. Free yourself from the assumption that spiritual practices need to be arduous. Instead, select practices that you are naturally inclined to do. Do not hesitate to modify spiritual practices or religious rituals to suit you. The point is not to comply with a set of expectations yours or anyone elses! the point is to grow spiritually. 5. Maintain a menu of spiritual practices to draw from on any given day. You will be less likely to get bored and stop doing your practices. Designate a place in your home for objects related to your spiritual practices. Go there and sense what you are drawn to doing on a day-to-day basis. There are certainly unique benefits to be had from repeating the same practice over and over for years, but you can also add additional activities for interest. 6. Do not hesitate to modify practices to suit you. Many of us have grown up with the notion that spiritual practices are untouchable. And its true, some of them cannot be borrowed or adapted without losing their meaning or cultural significance. But sometimes even a small adaptation to a spiritual practice can help you make it our own. 7. Make sacred the actions that are already a part of daily life. You can select any activity and designate it as a personal spiritual reminder to pause for a moment, take a deep breath, and connect to your Source for example, eating, hearing the phone ringing, stopping at a red light, bathing, or doing the dishes. Create rituals that have personal meaning for you, and fit within your own belief system. 8. Choose spiritual practices to engage in each day, week, month, or annually. Consider silent retreats (which, with careful planning, can be done at home), walking a labyrinth, or going to religious services. Some practices can be done once in a lifetime (e.g., a pilgrimage to an ancestral or sacred site) or moment-to-moment. For example, sensing and expressing gratitude throughout the day is a powerful spiritual practice that consecrates each moment. 9. Use music or poetry to intensify or counteract an emotional or spiritual state. Listen to audio recordings of your favorite author, inspirational speaker, meditations or guided imagery. 10. Consider adding a spiritual practice to your repertoire from a category you have not tried before. Most often we think of solitary, contemplative practices that involve being quiet and sitting still. But you can also experiment with movement, artistic expression, mindful gardening, crafts, noting and contemplating the meaning of your dreams, meditation groups, adult education classes, engaging in community service, reciting memorized chants or spontaneous prayers, learning from an elder/teacher/guru, reaching out to your ancestors in the spiritual realm, visits to houses of worship of other faiths or lectures by the local humanist society, or time spent in nature. 11. Ask people who are important to you about their personal spiritual practices. You may be surprised by what you learn!
Copyright 2012 Rev. Laura L Mancuso, Santa Barbara, CA. May be reproduced for personal use with proper attribution.