Is that your stomach or your soul growling?

Human beings are a wonderful and mysterious blend of earth and spirit-beast and soul. We inhabit a physical world with our bodies but also experience mental and emotional realms with our minds and hearts. Just as our bodies hunger for food so does our spirit (which some call the "soul") hunger for more elusive nourishment.

Finding the Balance

If we focus only on our physical self and ignore our soul/spirit, we will eventually be drained and not function well on a daily basis. We are all spiritual beings-even if you have never walked into a church or cracked open a book of religious dogma. The different religious labels do not matter for all humanity hungers for spiritual inspiration regardless.

The spiritual dimension is your core and home to your personal value system. It is sacred, personal and ties you to the timeless truths that all humans seek. It is supremely important because this is the ultimate battery of your existence, the source that feeds and uplifts you to be the kind of individual you aspire to be.

Again, the way individuals experience the spiritual realm is very personal and different. We all seek this realm of the unseen yet we know it exists. We need and desire these mysteries in our lives even though they cannot be physically measured: love, art, beauty, truth, joy, etc. This is a very real aspect of ourselves that cannot be ignored or our health and mind will suffer.

Since this is an incredibly intimate area of our lives only we can determine what inspires us and gives us true peace and purpose. Here are some examples of inspirational activities that renew the spirit for some:

Meditation

Prayer

Communing with Nature

Reading religious texts (Bible, Torah, Koran, etc.)

Listening to inspirational music

Experiencing/creating Art

Yoga

Expressive dance

Journaling

Reading inspirational literature

Once we know what feeds our spirit, we need to engage in it on a daily basis. In our daily world, we are under a constant onslaught of technological frenzy from twittering texts to facebook frivolity. It is important to silence the noise from without and within to experience harmony and peace in spirit. If we cannot be at peace within ourselves, we cannot relate to our family, friends, and coworkers from a grounded place of non-conflict.

"We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship." C.S. Lewis

I was inspired to write this after reading Stephen Covey's interpretation of the spiritual necessity for personal wholeness (Habit 7 in "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.")