Infusing
Spirit in Your
Everyday Life
Day 223: Bedtime Prayers
Bedtime is the classic prayer time. Imagery of children kneeling by bedsides, closing their eyes, and earnestly praying graces art and popular culture. If you’re not already using bedtime prayers, you’re missing out, and here’s why. Firstly, it’s a great way to always remember to say your prayers. Secondly, it’s a good psychological trick to unpack your day while relinquishing worries before attempting sleep. And finally, it becomes a cue to your body and mind that sleep is soon coming, allowing you to fall asleep more quickly after saying your prayers.
Today, commit to saying a bedtime prayer. Choose a bedtime prayer from scripture or one you already know. You can search the Internet or library for prayers or poems that speak what you’d like to say before bed. Or simply choose a prayer position and speak from the heart, making up what you want to say as you go. Think of what you’d like to accomplish during a bedtime prayer. Do you want intercessory prayer to relieve your worries? Do you want to pray for your safety and protection in the night? Do you want to pray for rest and preparation for the new day?
Day 224: Grace
Grace is the prayer of thanksgiving traditionally said before meals. In many religions, this prayer acknowledges the food is made possible by Spirit. Many grace prayers also ask for the food to grant blessings to all those who eat it. Grace can also include a food offering or a word to ancestors who would enjoy the food in Spirit. Some people say grace while cooking the food or immediately afterward, including all the cooks in the praying. Others say grace once the food is on the table but before eating, often including those seated around the table holding hands. And finally, there are those who say their prayers while eating, going around the table so each person can say special thanks.
Think up a grace tradition appropriate for your lifestyle. Can you include everyone in grace whenever you eat, or would you rather silently say grace by yourself? Commit to saying grace at every meal, even if it’s only in your head. If you’re new to saying grace, you may find you forget on a regular basis. In those cases, say the grace as soon as you remember after you’ve eaten, blessing the food already in your body. Even if it feels silly, it will bring you closer to remembering to say grace at the appropriate time.
Day 225: Prayers for Family
There are many ways to include family in your prayer life. If you live with your family, or honorary family in the form of friends or lovers, invite them to pray with you. If you don’t live with family, invite them to a regular prayer circle or add them to your prayer list. Today is meant to be a brief introduction to these concepts. After all, many people want to include their closest loved ones in the joy and blessings that prayer can provide.
Ask your family members if they’d like to join you in prayer. If they agree, frankly discuss which practical time is best for them. Do they want to pray grace with you at mealtimes, or do they want to expand prayer time to other parts of their day? If your family does not want to pray with you, ask if you can pray for them. Create a written list of those you’d like to pray for on a regular basis. Pray down the list, personalizing it for each person’s current issues.
Day 226: Making Room for More
Offerings During Your Holidays and Meals
Giving back to Spirit is a vital part of many people’s practices. It’s intuitive that without giving, we may not be able to receive. Thus, it’s important to build a tradition of offerings to Spirit. You don’t have to make a huge show out of these things. That said, if you don’t plan for them, they might not happen. Here are some suggestions for seamlessly building offerings into your life. You can adjust them for your own life as often as you like, or only for special occasions, if needed.
First, decide on your offering. For example, you may wish to burn a scented candle as an offering at every meal. If you drink wine at dinner, you may wish to pour out a libation of wine each evening. Or, you may wish to offer a bit of every meal. If you offer food, you don’t need to give Spirit a human-sized helping. A small crumb of each food eaten is enough. Designate a container or two for the offering. You might choose a tiny decorative saucer. Or you might choose a porcelain cup or serving plate with a lid to conceal the contents. Also choose where the offering will go afterward, preferably outdoors for woodland creatures to eat as proxy.
Day 227: Including Ancestors in Your Life
So far, I’ve had you interact with your ancestors on a few occasions. You’ve looked up some ancestors and said their names aloud. You’ve also had the option to set up a shrine for your ancestors. Keep in mind, though, that regularly including your ancestors takes planning. If you don’t make time to connect with your ancestors as an expression of Spirit, then they will be easily forgotten, especially in the haste of holiday traditions.
Today, choose how often you’d like to connect with your ancestors. Do you want to make it a daily occurrence, or do you want to make it an event for special occasions? How often do you want to call your mom, or your great-great-great-great-grandmother? Setting up the ancestor shrine and an offering plate during holidays is one option. Near the end of October and the beginning of November is a traditional time to honor ancestors in many cultures. If you like, you can try to communicate with their spirits during this time.
Day 228: Choosing a Peaceful
Attitude in Moments of Chaos
Confession time: I’m the mom of two very small children. My eldest is three years old and my youngest is experiencing the terrible twos. Even on a good day, I am driven to the brink of madness. It is important for me to find my rock in Spirit. I need to anchor myself in the Divine to get myself through the day without yelling as loudly as my toddler and behaving as immaturely. Recognizing Spirit as the source of peace and strength is one way I get through the day. You too can use this, drawing on the power of Spirit to calm the storms of your day.
The key to successfully tapping into the peace of Spirit is to realize a peaceful demeanor is a choice. I know. If you have a temper like mine, this is one of those cases where you’ll have to pretend and want to believe. When you run into a stressful moment in your day and chaos seems to reign, pause and tell yourself, “I can choose to experience peacefulness now instead of what I’m currently experiencing.” Sometimes, when I tell myself this, I can feel the peace wash over me. The choice is real. I can choose something different. If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to escalate to your prayer crisis plan.
Day 229: Building More Thanksgivings into Daily Life
By now you know there are good reasons to be thankful. You know being overtly thankful can help bring your attention to the best parts of your life, thus making you happier. You also know being thankful can encourage Spirit to give you more blessings. Today, you should make a plan to be thankful more regularly in your everyday life. This will combine some of the strategies you’ve already learned.
Firstly, make a plan for regular thanksgivings. You can build vocal moments of giving thanks to Spirit into your grace or bedtime prayers, whichever one is most appropriate. Since giving offerings is a way of giving thanks, this is one way you might choose if it works for you. Most of all, you’ll need to train yourself to thank Spirit for good things happening in your life as soon as they happen. This rewards Spirit, but also rewards yourself and allows people to be a part of that thanksgiving, if you choose.
Day 230: Mindfulness
Let me tell you another story about being a mom of two small children. Oftentimes I’m interrupted throughout my day. When my kids interrupted me for the zillionth time one day, I found myself snapping, “I’m busy.” This came back to bite me later when I asked my small child for her attention while she was coloring. She told me, “No. I’m busy, Mum!” Being busy is not a spiritual virtue of mine, but being mindful is. Thus, I adopted a different frame of mind. Now, when my kids interrupt me, I try to ask them to be mindful. When my daughter is asking for a trip to the playground, I tell her to be mindful of me helping her brother eat his snack. I’m pleased that now when I say something to my daughter, she often replies, “Be mindful that I’m coloring right now.”
Being mindful means not only paying attention, but caring. It is challenging to find ways to be mindful in your life. The best advice I can give is to notice when you are dissatisfied with your level of attention or your way of interacting with a loved one. If you find yourself distracted and distant, find a way to reframe your state of mind. Set an alarm, if you have to, when you need to be especially mindful.
Day 231: Creative Expressions of Spirit at Home
Hopefully you’ve found ways to make sacred spaces by now. You can have an altar hidden on a shelf or in a cupboard. You can turn a closet into a secret prayer or meditation space. You can retreat to a place in the forest, a courtyard, or a garden when you need to be with Spirit. Today, I’d like you to branch out and bring Spirit into all other areas of your life. Allow Spirit to reach tendrils into your working and living space. These could be decorations designed to draw the eye of others or subtle reminders akin to tying a string around your finger to remember Spirit wherever you go. Whether you choose an ostentatious statue of a deity or a discrete drawing of a rune on an index card, the reminder of Spirit can enrich your life whenever you’re near it.
Today’s exercise is to bring a representation of Spirit into your home or, if appropriate, office. My suggestion is to find a spiritual quote that inspires you. It could be a verse from scripture, a direct quote from a guru, or simply a quote by your favorite author that gives you spiritual inspiration. Write it out in a decorative way or print out in a stylish font. Post it prominently and reflect upon it each time it catches your eye.
Day 232: Holidays
Holidays are special times to celebrate Spirit, seasonal changes, and traditions. Sometimes they are associated with great mythological events. When I was a teenager, I attended a religious fair with booths from local spiritual groups. Cheekily I asked each booth which religion had the most holidays, thinking it would be fun. I ended up involved in some pretty fun and deep discussions. Obviously, the frequency of the holidays doesn’t have any impact on the piety of the person. You’ll only need to commit to holidays important to you.
Today, plan for spiritual holidays in the year ahead. Think of the holidays you already celebrate and how you can infuse them with spiritual traditions. Think of holidays from your childhood you might want to resurrect in your life. Consider researching holidays in a religion, nation, or culture of your choice. Adopt some of those holidays as your own, or look for local cultural celebrations that welcome public participants. Mark the holidays you’d like to celebrate on the calendar. Mark your calendar ahead of time if you need to procure supplies to make the holiday special.
Day 233: Finding the Divine in Chores
Chores can seem like dull and mundane tasks and the least spiritual. This is so true that many scriptures and religious leaders encourage injecting chore time with worship and other spiritual activities. After all, if you clean the entire kitchen and your family comes in and messes it up, you may feel angry and discouraged. If you spend your kitchen cleaning time in prayer and song, chanting and blessing your home, you won’t regret that time spent with Spirit no matter what happens afterward.
Today, change an ordinary activity into an act of worship. I’ll give you a good suggestion. If you sweep any area of your home, it can be an act of special spiritual significance. The broom represents the combination of male and female divine energies. Ancient people hopped on brooms in fields to show the grains how high to grow. Jumping over a broom is a blessing used in wedding ceremonies. The broom can be used to clear the room not only of dirt, but also of negative spiritual energies in your home. As you sweep, imagine sweeping out the negativity. Sweep out your home, bathroom, garage, or front sidewalk today.
Day 234: Daily Devotionals
Daily devotionals are a specific way to spend daily time with Spirit. You’ve already tried several ways to set aside time for Spirit. Daily devotionals are another way. Typically, daily devotionals involve a daily appointment with Spirit at the same time. They include prayer and learning components. In fact, many of the daily entries in this book work as daily devotionals. Today, I’d like to teach you to build your own daily devotional so that you can continue when you’re finished reading this book.
To form a daily devotional, you’ll have to plan ahead for your learning component. I suggest choosing a big book of mythology, scripture from a faith tradition, or another book on spiritual topics. Pick the time and place for your daily appointment with Spirit and place the book nearby. Next, choose your prayer component. It might be a prayer book. Or you can choose to meditate. You might ad lib prayers from the heart, or memorize a prayer for each day of the week. As an example, a friend of mine goes through a list of loved ones to pray for every day in the shower.
Day 235: Taking Advantage of Waiting Moments
When I made an appointment with a local clinic yesterday, they had appointment slots in fifteen-minute intervals to choose from. I assumed the wait wouldn’t be very long since they packed the appointments so close. Wrong. My appointment turned into an ordeal of waiting. It’s often disheartening to have sudden and unexpected waiting periods. An appointment running long when you need to pick up your kids. A ridiculously long line at the post office. These things can be stressful. But if you interpret these delays as surprise invitations from Spirit to connect, they may seem less painful, and your time and attention will be occupied.
Firstly, seize the moment as soon as it comes. Wherever you are, take deep breaths to control your breathing and relax. Ground yourself. If it’s appropriate, you can close your eyes for a few seconds. Silently “speak” to Spirit in your mind. Praying for patience might be the first order of business. If you carry prayer beads or a worry stone in your pocket, you can surreptitiously reach for them. They can serve as a reminder to turn to Spirit as soon as you find yourself waiting and fretting.
Day 236: What Is in a Name?
The more you know about something, the better you can connect with it. This basic spiritual truth extends to Spirit when it comes to names, both the name of Spirit and that of the practitioner. Some religions believe it is very important to call Spirit by its true name. If you don’t address Spirit by name, they suppose, how will you know you’re contacting the correct entity? If you don’t know the name of Spirit, do you ever truly know Spirit at all? Some faith traditions have practitioners choose a new name for themselves when they become adherents of the faith. This name can be taken on in everyday life or only used during official rituals and ceremonies.
Today, think about what name you take on when connecting with Spirit. Do you want to have a secret name only shared between you and Spirit? Do you want to have a spiritual name known by your community members as a tribute to your relationship with Spirit? Think about the names by which you know Spirit. Which names do you use for Spirit while praying? How did you come to know Spirit’s name? Have you been properly introduced using your names yet?
Day 237: Bathing Meditation
We’ve already talked about how ablutions and cleansing can be an important part of worship for many. Likewise, you can turn any bath or shower into a sacred act. For me, the mother of two small children, my baths and showers are often the only time I have to myself. I have to turn these moments into tiny spiritual retreats. Time spent cleaning yourself can also be time to talk to Spirit about things you’d like removed from your life, like smudges of dirt wiped from your skin.
Instead of merely taking a bath, use it as time for meditation. Light candles and sprinkle nice-smelling herbs in the water to help set the mood. If you don’t have a bathtub, you can still create this environment in your shower. Place a few candles on a nearby counter visible from your shower. Try purchasing soap or body wash containing fragrant herbs or make your own. As you cleanse yourself, think about what you’d like Spirit to wash out of your life.
Day 238: Starting Your Day on the Right Foot
Today’s exercise combines some of what you’ve already learned. I don’t know about you, but I make a subconscious assessment of what type of day I’m going to have within an hour of waking. If things go smoothly, my mood and expectations lift. Adding a dose of Spirit to your morning routine ensures things start off on the right foot, allowing you to focus on your attitude of gratitude. Being mindful as soon as you get up can also help rouse you and make you feel more ready for your day. Overall, Spirit and early morning are a winning combination for many.
Try combining some of the morning suggestions I’ve given you. Choose a prayer to say as soon as your eyes open, or as soon as you roll out of bed. You can learn sun salutation yoga or keep it simple. If you shower first thing in the morning, use that time as you did yesterday to have a moment with Spirit. As you put on your clothes and any accessories, visualize yourself placing the virtues of Spirit upon yourself. If the morning is a good time for your daily devotionals, make time for that as well. The goal of today’s exercise is to create a plan that seamlessly integrates with your routine.
Day 239: Listing Your Gifts
Today’s activity is similar to when you actively counted your blessings. When you assign yourself to seek good things, you’ll attune your attention to life’s great things. This naturally snowballs into spiritual blessings. This time, I want you to look inward and list some of your own personal gifts. These can be personality traits, skills, or opportunities you’ve had to help someone.
Open up your spiritual journal and reserve a page to list some gifts that Spirit has given you. Also think of some of your negative traits and how they might be gifts in your life. Think how each of those gifts could have been given to you by the special design of Spirit. You can also use this technique with your family and loved ones in an effort to encourage them during their life challenges. Review the list in your journal when you feel blue or lack self-confidence.
Day 240: Painting a Spiritual Target on Your Back
Many people seek Spirit for stability. To have a rock to cling to, even when life is chaotic. However, Spirit can also be an initiator and instigator in life. Spirit can really shake things up. Take a look at the Tower tarot card. In it, lightning strikes a tower and the entire foundation is rocked. It can look pretty miserable for all concerned, but sometimes a foundational shift is needed to get life back on the right track. This is why some people seek a radical conversion, rebirth, or initiation.
Since I practice an initiatory spiritual path, I encourage you to carefully think before asking Spirit to make big changes and bring focus upon yourself. Your life can turn upside down and, even if it’s for the best, it might be awkward or bad timing. If you are ready for more from Spirit, ask for more in small doses. Consider saying a prayer to ask Spirit for more responsibilities and challenges. Praying for strength and wisdom often results in similar blessings, since challenges can grant you wisdom and strength.
Day 241: Incense and Other
Aromatherapy in Everyday Life
You’ve learned that incense can be an offering to Spirit. Incense doesn’t have to be burned only in the context of a specific meditation, prayer session, or celebration. There are some good reasons to bring sacred scents into your everyday life. Not only are pleasant smells an excellent way to make your living space a better place to occupy, but the scents can put you in a spiritual state of mind. Your sense of smell is closely tied to memory. If you smell something every time you are in a state of ecstatic worship, then sniffing that scent at another time may be enough to recall that emotional state.
How can you bring scents into your everyday life? The best place is at home. Talk to people with whom you share the home before introducing new scents on a regular basis. I like to light incense after the kids go to bed and before my husband gets home so he can enter a nice-smelling home. If incense isn’t practical for your household, you can use fresh-cut flowers or essential oils. At the very least, you can always add a scent to your skin in the morning before going about your day. Try perfume or cologne, as some essential oils can irritate the skin.
Day 242: Music and Ambiance in Your Life
Another way to make your surroundings more pleasant and spiritual is to evaluate the sounds and sights that stimulate you in your environment. Do you listen to music at home or at work? Which sounds do you hear during your days and evenings? Do they feed your soul? Take a look at other aspects of your surroundings. Do you see natural light from where you sit most of the day? Is the lighting harsh or gentle? Can you relax by candlelight in the evenings?
Take stock of your everyday environment and decide what is spiritual and what is not. Play inspirational music, if you like. Take note of things that detract from your spiritual frame of mind. This could mean clutter or other messes. You might have things in your home to fix that remind you of your to-do list. Piles of paperwork, for instance, do not encourage someone to take time for meditation. Instead, mundane tasks constantly beg attention.
Day 243: Refraining from Foolish and Vain Conversation
In some magical practices, one is encouraged to very carefully watch words in the days or weeks leading up to an important ritual. In many religions, being careful with topics of conversation is a constant duty. For example, gossip is a conversation topic that is widely reviled in spiritual circles. Gossip directs one’s attention away from Spirit and one’s own self-improvement. Besides, it isn’t very nice and can make people feel bad about themselves.
Being prideful or vain in conversation is typically a no-no in spiritual circles. Bragging about one’s achievements steals the spotlight from Spirit. It also increases one’s motivations to do things for oneself instead of serving Spirit. Foolish conversations are best avoided in general. Nobody wants to speak in an uninformed and ignorant way, and most want to achieve respect in spiritual and other communities. Try opting out of conversations you find detrimental to your spiritual state of mind. You don’t have to tell others to stop talking, but you can hold your silence or gently bring up other topics.
Day 244: Being the Person
You Want to Be in Relationships
Most of us have read the quote commonly attributed to Ghandi that says, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” A subset of this idea is to be the person you want to be in all of your relationships. This goal may be more difficult than the former. All one has to do to change the world is be the best possible expression of the self for one or more world-changing achievements. Being the best person you can be in relationships is a tough order of business. You must be the best you can be every day, and since relationships are dynamic, the best is often a moving target.
Today, think of a relationship in your life right now that is either troubled or very important to you. Imagine what that relationship would ideally look like. Then, try to act like the person in that ideal relationship. Play that role to encourage the other person to join in. This practice may be difficult, because often we come from a place of resentfulness that the other person isn’t trying as hard. But when you take the first step, you can lift the relationship. And, if not, you can be proud of yourself.
Day 245: Spending Your Time Aligned with Your Values
Many people have a mid-life crisis based on how they have spent their time. If you’ve spent decades of your life working at a job you hate, it’s easy to see why you might have a spiritual crisis. If your job hasn’t aligned you with at least one of your core values, you may likely feel completely unproductive and at a loss.
Today, write down a list of your deepest values. Some of them, like health and spirituality, may be easy. Some of them may present as broader values. For example, if you value traveling, it may be you actually value a sense of adventure. If you value money, it may actually be you value a sense of stability in the material features of your life. Next, evaluate how you spend your time and money in relation to your values. Are you completely ignoring some of your core values? Do you invest lots of time and energy in something that isn’t even on your list of values? Modify your time and budget so you are living in closer alignment with your values.
Day 246: Connecting with People Who Matter
In the same way you can experience a mid-life crisis when you stay in the wrong job, you can have a spiritual crisis when spending time with the wrong people. You’ve practiced clearing out clutter from your life in order to practice relinquishment. Today, I want you to seriously ponder whether there are some people in your life you need to let go. It might be friends who have not acted like friends, an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend, or any toxic relationship.
Next, think about the people you may neglect in your life. Maybe you don’t call your mom as often as you should. Perhaps there’s a beloved cousin or sister of yours whom you haven’t visited in more than a year. Make a commitment to reconnect with those people right away. Try to make communication with important people regular and intimate. Share your spiritual struggles and triumphs with them, and allow them to share their own life trials and joys with you.
Day 247: Daily Journaling and How to Use Your Journal
Hopefully you’re still journaling daily observations of the changing seasons, nature in general, your prayers, and impressions from your meditations. I’ll discuss your dream journal tomorrow, so I hope you’ve been keeping up with that as well. Before that, I’d like to talk about making the most of your journal. The act of writing in a journal is a wonderful spiritual practice. If you never look at it again, though, you’re missing out on so much it can teach you.
Read through your journal with an eye for improvement. Learning to listen to and interpret Spirit is as much a skill as a doctor reading medical charts. Over time, you should pick up more and more. You will discover you make notes more often over time. You may notice a voice of confidence develop in your writing. You might also see a record of prayers that have been answered. Keep writing in your journal, and keep looking back at how far you’ve come on your journey.
Day 248: Analyzing Your Dreams
Dream analysis is another skill that takes time to develop. There’s no time like the present to start. When you first write down your dreams, you may have impressions about what they mean. That’s good. Write them down as well. After you’ve recorded your dreams for some time, go back and read your dream journal. It can be shocking how many dreams you don’t remember writing down. Reading old dreams can feel like peering into the mind of a stranger. Some may seem riddle-like. Others may seem to have greater significance over time.
As you go through your dream journal, circle words that could be symbols. These are typically nouns. Tally up how many times each common symbol occurs. For example, if you dream a lot about a raven, you might assume this bird has a specific spiritual meaning you’d do well to meditate upon. Highlight any dream events that later came true. These are called precognitive dreams. Make note of the date they came true, if possible. You may notice a pattern. Keep writing in your dream journal, checking it regularly for precognitive dreams as well as more symbols to add to your tally.
Day 249: Overcoming Inertia
Overcoming personal mental inertia can be the most significant hurdle to spiritual practice. Dream journals are a great example. When I wake up after having a dream with thirty minutes until my alarm goes off, the last thing I want to do is wake my brain up enough to write down the dream. I’d much rather close my eyes and snuggle down deeper into my blankets for the brief moments before I have to be up. However, the value I get from my dream records is so great that I work hard to record important dreams.
For you, inertia may make itself known in other areas of your spiritual life. Today, contemplate where you find the greatest degree of spiritual inertia. This depends upon your personal goals. For example, if your dream has always been to get up in the wee morning hours, before the household is awake, to converse with Spirit, your greatest hurdle may be getting out of bed. If you want to have a conversational relationship with Spirit, but still feel silly praying out loud, your greatest hurdle may be simply opening your mouth every day. Target your inertia and get rid of it.
Day 250: Seeing Signs in Ordinary Things
So far we’ve gone over some signs from Spirit you might expect. For example, you might sense that something is true, such as knowing whether an early pregnancy holds a baby boy or girl. You might “hear” an answer to a question from Spirit in your mind, just like you “hear” a song stuck in your head. You might notice patterns showing up over and over again, such as the number 111. You can ask for a sign, even a specific one. For example, you can say, “If my prayer is answered, let me hear the singing of a robin now.”
There’s a particular sign that is an odd combination of having a sense of knowing and spotting a requested sign. It’s when you see significance in something that would ordinarily have no meaning. For instance, one day as a child I prayed to Spirit for joy. And it started raining. Far from seeing this as a bad sign, I felt Spirit’s joy pouring down my face. I twirled and laughed in the rain. In that moment, the rain was confirmation Spirit was listening.
Day 251: Creating Keys to Unlock Experiences
Training yourself to be a spiritual person is a lot like training a pet. Seriously. You may have heard of the behaviorist Dr. Pavlov, who trained his dogs through operant conditioning. Every time he fed them, he rang a bell. After a certain amount of time, he rang the bell and the dogs salivated, even when food was not present. This conditioning is pretty amazing. It wasn’t that the dogs were using their intellect to consciously think about food. Instead, their very body chemistry was trained to react to the bell. You can carefully train your body and mind to react to Spirit in the same way.
When I wrote how scent can trigger memory, I gave a clue for one key you can use. When you are consistent in your spiritual practice, you create more. The more you practice grounding, the more you practice getting into the meditation headspace. The more you pray at specific times of day with specific environmental cues like incense and bells, the more you train yourself.
Day 252: Falling Asleep
Carving out a sacred moment each day can be difficult for busy people. If you haven’t done anything spiritual by bedtime, you are probably relieved you can at least say your bedtime prayers. Your bedtime prayers can be a cue to help you smoothly fall asleep each night. They help you in the transition, or liminal state, between wakefulness and sleep. Today, I’d like to speak to the act of falling asleep, and how this can be a special spiritual time.
When you first fall asleep or just wake up, your brain begins producing the alpha waves associated with light sleep. These alpha waves can be deliberately produced by skilled meditators. Therefore, you can achieve well-trained meditation by simply catching those liminal times between sleeping and wakefulness. Some cultures believed that at this moment the body was detached from the soul, so extra protective prayers were said before bed. When I was a child, my mother told me the last thing I thought about while going to bed would often be the first thing I thought about upon waking. I used this as a study key in college, and now I use it to think about Spirit. Try this as you fall asleep, whether with repetitive silent prayers or just a state of mind.
Day 253: Recognizing the Divine Hand in Events
Years ago, on a road trip, I was in an accident. My husband was driving while I dozed off in the passenger seat. Suddenly, my car had a major blowout. The tire was completely stripped off and rubber flew like ribbons onto the freeway. The car spun across four lanes of busy traffic, narrowly missing numerous cars. We flew across a large ditch and landed heavily in a grassy field. A woman pulled over to help us, shouting how amazing it was that we missed every last one of the other cars and ended up without a scratch or bruise. I remember my husband said, “Now I know why people say ‘god had a hand in this.’ There must have been three or four gods and a goddess involved in that miracle!”
Keep your eye out for the divine hand in events. Read the news looking for good news. Notice the amazing scientific advancements happening. Be aware of the lucky news people share with you. Raise up your thanksgivings for such things.
Day 254: Consciously
Acknowledging Spirit with Immediacy
Another common spiritual rule of thumb is that you should say your thanksgivings and immediately raise your praise to Spirit when you feel the inclination. There are several reasons behind this. Firstly, out of respect for Spirit. You should show your appreciation right away to demonstrate to yourself and Spirit that these things are important to you. Pretend you’re conditioning Spirit to feel encouraged to bless you. Finally, some spiritual traditions believe Spirit can indeed feel wronged by unappreciative people. Avoid hubris, or the sin of pride, and be thankful.
A friend of mine had a young daughter who found a penny. When her daughter picked it up, she was reminded to thank Spirit right away. “Spirit may not realize that you like money,” her mother said, “so give your thanks. It doesn’t matter to Spirit whether it’s a penny or five dollars, so be appreciative of anything you get.” The little girl dutifully thanked Spirit and later the same day found a five-dollar bill. When my friend tells the story, she declares, “She’s sold on that one!”
Day 255: Planning Your Day Around Spirit
Most days are busy. When I have two major things to get done in a day it can seem just as busy as though I had 100 things to do. Time fills quickly. Imagine you have a jar that you need to fill with different-sized rocks. These rocks represent all the things you need to get done in a day. If you try to cram them in the jar randomly, they might not fit. Likewise, if you fill the jar with the smallest rocks and sand first, the biggest rocks won’t fit. This shows how the little things in life can take up so much time that the most important things are left out at the end of the day. The best strategy is to first put in the biggest rocks, then fill the gaps with the smaller rocks. For this reason, you should plan your day around your most important values and spiritual goals and then tackle the little things.
Today, make an assessment of how your days have been. Are there any important things you keep letting slide? Do you find yourself procrastinating on the things that are most important? Make a plan to move the important life tasks, like the spiritual ones, forward in your day.
Day 256: The Divine at Work
Some workplaces are very accepting of spiritual diversity, but others are not. If you don’t have to be discrete at your workplace, you might choose to implement many things you’ve learned in this book that you might have in your home. For example, place statues or altars or other ornaments at your workplace. If you need to be more circumspect, here are some suggestions you can combine for your workplace.
Try subtle reminders of Spirit, such as a quote or a picture of a beautiful sunset. The very clothes you wear can remind you of the spiritual energies you want to possess during the day. Set an appointment in your work day to take a break with Spirit. A ten-minute walking meditation in a courtyard can be enough. You can even set an alarm to go off every hour or so to take a moment to be mindful and check in with your energy. The best tip I have for any workplace is to use work as an opportunity to ground yourself. Most people deal with stress and other people at work, and both of those energetic influences can leave you feeling ungrounded. Getting your practice in at work can help improve your spiritual life at home.
Day 257: Injecting Your Reading List with Spirituality
Since you’re reading this book, I can safely assume you have an inclination to read. As a frequent reader, I find it’s easy to let my list of books to read become cluttered with junk reading. Just like watching the television and flipping channels, I can end up cycling through books that don’t really matter in my life. It’s okay to have some entertainment reads flowing through your life. But you will find that if you pepper your list with spiritual books, you will end up gaining knowledge about Spirit over the years.
First, decide which spiritual books would be good to read. You can use the old standbys of scripture or books of mythology, or look at the lists of best sellers to find popular books about living a spiritual lifestyle. Ask your librarian which new books are available. Keep a list of books you’d like to read so you can have a new one ready every time you finish a book. If some spiritual books are dull but you want to read them anyway, make yourself a captive audience. Only take that book on vacation or bring it to the gym to read on the treadmill.
Day 258: Finding Opportunities
for Grounding and Meditation
Hopefully you’ve been practicing grounding and meditation when you find yourself waiting in line. If that’s not a daily experience for you, however, or if you find waiting in line too aggravating to meditate, you can find plenty of other opportunities. Squeezing these extra chances for inner stillness into your day is good training to achieve a spiritual mental state under any condition. Have you ever tried to pray or meditate and just weren’t feeling it? You can’t always wait until circumstances are perfect. Train your mind to be able to snap into Spirit anywhere.
Every time a specific thing happens in your life, follow it with grounding and meditation as soon as you remember. For example, before getting into a car or getting on the bus, ground yourself. This daily activity can become a cue so it becomes automatic. If you forget, it’s okay to ground yourself even when the wheels are moving.
Day 259: A Prayer List of Daily
Prayers for Family and Others
Imagine this scenario: Someone comes to you and asks if you will pray for him or her. You accept. The person walks away. Now what? You’ve just had somebody added to your prayer list. Today will cover how to manage a list of people so it doesn’t get too long or confusing. The first step is to build your prayer list. People may ask, or you can offer specific prayer, or you might extend an open invitation for whoever would like your prayer. Write down the date, name, and purpose for each prayer. Tell each person you will include them in your daily prayers for one week (or another appropriate time frame), and to let you know how the problem evolves.
Each time you sit down to pray over your prayer list, group the people according to their needs. For example, everyone with health-related concerns can be included in a single prayer. Use a pretty prayer you find about healing, or make one up on the spot and insert the desired names. After you’ve prayed through the big categories, you’re done. You can light candles for the people on your prayer list. When a name reaches the end of the time frame you commited to, check in with that person.