Welcome friends to Episode #151 of the Own Your Best Life Podcast. With all of the uncertainty in the world – SVB and constantly wondering when the next recession will be – if we’re already in it – and that feeling of shakiness when you think the world is falling apart – we want to feel grounded. One of the best ways to do that is to deepen our spirituality. When you think about spirituality, what comes to mind? Often, it’s this feeling of trusting and being connected to the Universe. We may want this feeling of deep trust, but we think it’s so hard to achieve. In today’s podcast we’re focusing on easy but effective spiritual practices that will help you build that connection.

More than anything, I want to emphasize the importance of cultivating the skill of spirituality. I’ve been doing this thing called living for a while now, and have started my spiritual work when I was very young. I’ve always had questions about why we’re here and what life is about. I started meditating on my own at age 8 and I’ve come back to these questions and developed more spiritual practices as time went on and life showed me that I couldn’t rely on the tangible, material things to be my main source of happiness. If it could have been my source of happiness, it would have been – but you’ll see if you haven’t already, that the material world will fail you at some point or another. Your bank account, your impeccable job, your family, your relationships, your health and your success.

These things will help you feel happier. These things will increase your sense of presence in the world. Yet, at some point – they won’t and they don’t. Not because we shouldn’t have money or family or high quality relationships, but because that’s not the whole picture. The expectation that this very linear relationship with all of these material things will make you your most complete and whole self is flawed.

You’ve seen through your own experience in life, that you’re seeing through this facade. You have your mental, emotional and spiritual health to account for – not just your physical health. This is the same thing. The thing you most want are the feelings of being safe, happy, healthy, certain, uncertain, loved, fulfilled and connected. All these things are intangible feelings that you try to achieve through tangible things like money, work, relationships, physical practices, spiritual practices. We don’t want to forget this – the whole point is to come back to the intangible even if you have specific tangible goals.

Spirituality is valuing the intangible over the tangible. At the point that you realize that it’s not about the job, you realize that you want to deepen your spirituality. I have gone through periods where I was deeply attached to tangible goals like getting certain grades, getting into certain schools, jobs and making money, physical goals like working out and eating differently for my health. I have also found that when I get so deeply attached, I get miserable and unhappy. I need to detach and find my way back to the why behind these goals and stop waiting for the goal to be achieved to feel those feelings I so desire.

You’re going to find that in your climb to do harder or better, you’re going to experience challenges. The feeling of failure, not seeing it come to fruition fast enough and thinking that you’re doing it wrong. You’re learning to do something new. You’re learning to do something that you haven’t done before. You need to learn what it feels like to connect to a vision and something beyond that tangible goal – the purpose behind why you’re doing it – that will get you back to remembering your commitment. You’re not going to have tangible proof that it’s working to support you through this period of challenge yet. 

You did this in the beginning of your career and life – that’s what got you here, but you did it out of a feeling of having nothing to lose. Now, you’re so much more concerned about your safety now that you have more tangible things to lose like a family, money or relationships. Yet, you did it before and even though you’re doing a new challenge like figuring out how to have a new career or figure out what you want to do in the future, you’re able to do this. You just want to connect to your spirituality in the process. You need to build practices that remind you that you’re here on this planet for a reason and that you are resilient, skillful and this will help you grow.

I’m going to give you tangible things you can do to help you connect to that sense of spirit and purpose. Many of these things you’ve done but you might have forgotten about. Others may be new to you. No matter what, these are all practices I have done or I currently practice that help me be the person who can do a lot of work, have a full calendar, grow my life and business while being a mom and healthy person. 

Sensory Experiences: 

There are many sensory experiences that are really helpful, especially if you are someone who is very much in your mind and not in your body. If you feel disconnected from your body and that you tend to overthink things, you want to use sensory experiences or somatic practices that can help you reconnect with your humanness. When you feel connected to your body, you can also move to the mind, where you begin to notice your thoughts and the affect of your thoughts in your body, which is your emotions. You’ll start to feel energetic highs and lows and everything in between. This helps you tune into how you are responding to the world around you – and how to use the information to decide how to shift your energy and experience of life.

• Music
• Light a candle and smelling the candle
• Moving your body
• Connecting to emotions 
• Singing or speaking powerfully

Everyday Experiences:

We can find spirituality in the day-to-day, everyday life. The same way that we know that consistency of habits are what really create long-term results in our health, we also know that little changes add up. If you are someone who likes to distract yourself and find answers outside of you, I encourage you to try finding spirituality and reconnection in the mundane, everyday experiences. The mundane is your life and you being able to find moments of peace and purpose with the everyday experiences will leave you feeling like your entire day is a carpet-ride of magic. 

• Drinking tea
• Washing your hands
• Making your bed
• Cooking
• Meditation or Prayer or asking for help

Nature Experiences:

When we go outside and into nature, we are connecting to something bigger than ourselves. It is an analogy for our connection to spirit, god, the Universe when we see ourselves as a piece of this magnificent, bigger world. Nature will be helpful for people that feel like they are unhealthy in their thoughts or bodies. Nature takes out the non-essential from our lives. It reminds us that there is simplicity in the world and complexity as well. We don’t have to recreate the wheel – we can look to nature as an inspiration for what is possible for us to have be do and create when we do things simply. 

• Going outside 
• Seeing awe-inspiring places
• Contemplating the uncontrollable nature of weather
• Eating foods directly from nature
• Planting/Gardening

Community Experiences:

We are social beings that live in a world with other people around us. Our relationships can be our greatest source of joy and sorrow. If you feel like your connection with others feel strained or there is a sense of disillusionment with the world around you, connecting with your community and the people around you will be a key part of your spiritual practice. I often think of money as a part of the community experience because it is an exchange from person to person. Work is the same thing. An interpersonal exchange. Focus on community and you’ll find yourself with a deeper connection to not just yourself but other people and why you’re here on this planet.

• Giving to others

• Talking to others
• Being with others in their pain and joy
• Working with others

These are not completely exhaustive, but you can see that there are quite a few different ways to connect with that feeling of trust and purpose. The more you do this, the more you will build the resilience you need to live in this world and design your life. You will not be able to shake the uncertainty or the uncomfortable feeling that you don’t know it all or have it all figured out, but these practices have helped me be able to stay grounded and steady even when all of the unexpected occurs. These are practices, not goals – which means that you come back to them time and time again the same way you practice anything else. Give yourself the space and time to do life a little bit differently and not just focus on the tangible things, and you’ll find the tangible so much easier to figure out. 

This is now THE way I achieve goals. Through my spirituality. You are best positioned to grow, learn, deliver and create when you have a steady foundation and practices that support your feelings of safety, creativity, love and flow in your life. Use them well and you’ll find yourself so supported by the world around you. This is the magic sauce that creates a life you’re fulfilled by.

---

This is also why I created Spiritual Achiever coaching. To help you continue to develop your spiritual practices as you do real-life things in this world like grow a business, lead teams, figure out what’s next for your life and career. You can schedule a consultation at www.mayempson.com/contact  to learn more about working together and joining this community of like-minded, open and curious seekers. It is the powerful group and private coaching hybrid experience for achievers who want to expand their vision of what’s possible. 12 months of support, individualized guidance, community and retreats. We will help you build your confidence, trust your intuition and make decisions that you love.

If you’re ready to Own Your Best Life, I want to invite you to watch the free training on how to Stand Out and Lead, using spiritual, high-performance strategies. You can access the training at https://may-empson.mykajabi.com/stand-out-and-lead.

You can then apply to join my Spiritual Achiever® program, where you’re going to create your next chapter with spiritual and high-performance strategies to achieve time and financial freedom using my proven method. It’s risk-free. You either start seeing results within your first month or I give you your money back. Schedule your call HERE. We’ll see you inside.

That’s it for this week. Have an amazing one and I’ll talk to you next time.