6 Ways to Become Spiritually Fit

It’s time to hit the heavenly gym, because today is the day you begin your journey to spiritual fitness!

You might be able to run for miles. You may be the sharpest student in your class. But no matter how physically or mentally fit you are, if you’re spiritually flabby, your life isn’t going to be as great as it could be, and you won’t reach your full potential as a human being.

Spirituality gives us something larger to strive for, something beyond the material. It is in the spiritual that we derive the meaning of life, and with it, the joy that comes from fulfilling our purpose. Spiriutality also helps us ground our systems of morality and virtue, helping us choose how to best act toward others—and ourselves.

And believe it or not, spirituality can be developed and strengthened, just like your muscles. But instead of lifting iron, you’re engaging willpower. Rather than sprinting for the finish line, you’re pursuing your life’s purpose.

So what’s it going to be? Are you going to be the Ah-nold of faith, or are you going to be satisfied with a spiritual gut? If the former is what you want, take a look at these 7 ways to become spiritually fit, and start your workout now.

Pray

Prayer is, at its core, the expression of your hopes. Whether you speak to God, the Universe, or your own subconscious, when you pray, you’re usually asking for something or you’re expressing thanks.

And when you do this, you’re also pumping spiritual iron.

Expressing hope and positivity is vital for your mental and physical health, and the ability to remain hopeful, even in the worst situations, can save you in difficult times. Prayer may not help you avoid pain and heartache, but it can surely help you weather it.

Prayer also connects you to something outside of yourself—something bigger, stronger, and more permanent—and allows you to draw strength from whatever it is.

To exercise this spiritual muscle, figure out to who or what you’re going to pray. Now start talking—if you’re inexperienced, you’ll feel silly at first. It’ll be hard to maintain for more than a minute or so. But the more you pray, the more you express your hope and positivity, the easier it becomes.

Now get flexing. No matter what your belief, practicing the power of prayer is one of the keys to your spiritual fitness.

Meditate

Although the two are sometimes conflated, meditation is vastly different from prayer. When you pray, you reach out to, and communicate with, something bigger. But when you meditate, you reach within and attempt to change your own state of mind for the better.

Meditation can help you cultivate clarity, concentration, and emotional stability. It can also help you achieve something that is far too elusive for most in our busy contemporary lives—peace. With work, you can even achieve a new understanding of life, itself, through meditation.

To get the most out of meditation, you’ll need a mentor—we’ll talk about that later. For now, you can begin on your own by sitting on your bed or on the floor in a relaxed and upright position.

Close your eyes. Get in touch with how you’re feeling in the present moment. Be sensitive to every thought and emotion that flows through you. If you’re having trouble with this step, try some gentle stretching to help slow your mind.

Now, focus on your breathing. Be aware of it without analyzing it. You’re not taking note of how you’re breathing—you’re just breathing. If you find your mind wandering, just remind yourself to get back to nothingness by saying aloud the word “thinking.” It’s hard at first, but like a muscle, you can increase your endurance.

When you achieve an intense focus on the present, and become free from intruding thoughts, you can begin to investigate the true nature of reality apart from your own presuppositions. This is one spiritual practice that has wonderful applications in the material world, so flex that meditation muscle!

Practice Your Faith

Shutterstock.com

There are countless belief systems in the world. Do you know your own? And just as importantly, do you live out your faith?

This is where most people allow themselves to become spiritually scrawny—they claim to hold to a belief system—something like Christianity, humanism, or Buddhism—but their beliefs never influence their actions in the real world. Faith is confined the head.

That’s weak. You’re not going to do that.

You’re going to examine your beliefs and figure out why you don’t live them out. Do you not truly feel that your belief system is the right way? It might be time to find something new.

Alternatively, does it feel right, meaning that it’s good for you and those around you, but you still don’t live it out?

That one’s easy—you’re going to do a little workout.

Whenever you’re about to make a decision, stop yourself. Slow down and think, “How does my accepted system of values and beliefs dictate I act?” If your beliefs dictate that you should be kind and loving to others, go out of your way to make someone's day brighter. If your faith says that you should practice charity, start giving.

This might be harder than a thousand pound bench press at first, but while you’ll never be perfect at it, you will get better, guaranteed. And in doing so, you’ll feel so much more at peace once the disconnect between your life and your beliefs closes.

It just takes a little sweat.

Intentionally Resist Temptation

Shutterstock.com

This is the ultimate spiritual endurance test—one that we all fail. But despite that, it’s still important to at least get yourself running.

Every belief system warns against wrong action, and most of the time, it’s for a good reason. These actions and thoughts hurt us, hurt others, and make the world a worse place to live in. You might call it sin or dukkha or inhumanity, but in the end, these are all things which hurt us and make us suffer.

But you can strengthen your spiritual life by intentionally resisting these things, while at the same time, forgiving yourself and accepting your own imperfection. It is vital that you do both.

If your belief system tells you that you shouldn’t, for example, steal, then curb the desire to take those pens home from the office. If your faith dictates that you mustn’t cause suffering, then flex your spiritual muscles and bite your tongue when a snarky remark threatens to burst out at that slow cashier.

This is a slow process, but when you intentionally and carefully consider each action in the light of your spiritual beliefs, you’ll slowly begin to stick to right action rather than harmful action.

And that’s certainly worth a little legwork.

Find a Mentor

Nobody likes to be told what to do. And that’s okay, because despite popular belief, a mentor isn’t here to do that. No—a mentor is here to guide you. He or she is your personal spiritual fitness trainer, and is here to motivate you, correct your form, and make sure you don’t hurt yourself.

This might be your local priest. It could be a Zen master. It could be a professor. Whoever you choose to be your spiritual mentor, make sure that they align with your own goals and purpose, and that they strengthen you rather than tear you down.

Having a mentor can make the process of spiritually strengthening yourself so much easier—with their experienced help, your steps are surer, and the pitfalls, more obvious. And when things get tough, they’ll be in your corner, rooting for you.

So if you have the opportunity to find a spiritual mentor, don’t pass it up. They might just provide the push you need to keep going.

Challenge Your Worldview

Shutterstock.com

This is it. The bodybuilding competition. The Olympic deadlift. The Boston Marathon.

You’re about to perform the exercise that will raise you to new heights of spiritual fitness—you’re going to challenge your worldview.

This means two things. You’re going to get to know your beliefs intimately, and then you’re going to thrust yourself into the midst of others who do not share those beliefs.

They’re going to question you. They may even taunt or deride you. But you’re not going to get mad. No—you’re going to engage in a little something called dialogue.

Dialogue is an exchange of ideas. You’re going to listen to what those of other spiritual beliefs have to say, and you’re going to respond with your own ideas. And what’s more, you’re going to learn. You’re going to think about what they have to say and carefully weigh the truth of their ideas.

The result is the spiritual equivalent of a 20-inch bicep.

When you’re exposed to spiritual alternatives, new ideas, and fresh concepts, you get to compare your own worldview against that of others. And instead of just casually shrugging on your beliefs, you can then say that you looked at and considered alternatives, but chose to retain your existing worldview.

Or, at the very least, you might find out that a different sort of spiritualty is for you. Regardless, intentionally challenging your worldview helps you truly choose what you believe rather than just inheriting it.

Do this, and your spirituality will be stronger than ever.