Spirituality

This word often carries with it a sense of ambiguity, vagueness and misunderstanding in a Western mindset and yet is something many are grappling with in their search for connection, community and healing.

In my perspective, spirituality at its most basic understanding can be viewed as a bridge between ourselves and nature, a personal compass back to the inner knowing of who we are.

A spiritual lens as an embodied physical being is in relational harmony with nature and the natural world which may potentially hold both the seen and unseen reality.

The word spirituality, derives from the Latin spiritus which means ‘breath,’ ‘spirit,’ or ‘life-force.’

We notice in the practice of mindfulness that breath is the first place we put our attention, the very life-force of our body that directly reflects the health and stability of our mind and nervous system thus influencing our mental health processes.

The breath and the wind are literally unseen forces and yet without our breath we cannot survive.

We share breath or air with the plants and trees of the world, forming a natural community of interdependent connectedness.

In this simple and reflective way, our connection to ourselves through breath and to nature through the practice of mindful breathing we may begin to develop a relationship with what we may call spirit, spirituality, soul or simply the essence of our being.