We all have had those moments where we feel deeply connected to something bigger. We feel expansive, loving, and like the world is ripe with possibility.
However, these moments are usually fleeting. Soon after we’ve convinced ourselves of our divinity, this awareness seems to say “you’re it!” and then run off again into the unknown.
These ups and downs have visited me a number of times. I used to relish in them when they came — suddenly I felt like hugging the first stranger I saw on the streets or printing out huge “you are loved!” banners to hang around town like a freak. And then a few hours later I was back to worrying about wether I’d make it in that new venture, whether I was good enough or if living deliberately was really even a thing.
Eventually, during another spiritual upswing, I decided I needed to chart these waters and figure out how to actually have a say on when and how they come up. Being terrible at committing to meditation in the traditional sense, I felt I needed something more dynamic that I could take with me during the day.
If you are reading this, I suppose you are familiar with the idea that there really is no difference between spiritual and physical: one is merely an expression of the other. My intention here is to point out three ways you can access this awareness during seemingly routine moments throughout your day.
These are my favorite routes to feeling closer to oneness, and I hope they serve you as well as they do me.
1. Turn up the volume on your appreciation
This is hands down the most efficient path to actually feel like a spiritual being having fun on Earth rather than the usual opaque “doing-machine” we are told we need to become. When we appreciate, we take the majority of our generally sloppy focus and put it where it was always meant to be: in love.
Literally, if you practice appreciation enough you are going to feel in love for apparently no reason at all. And you can start doing that right now. Look around you and find things you like: it can be a color, a scent, a situation, a text, the ambient music playing in the background or even a cute puppy passing by. Then notice the feeling and try to pinpoint where you feel it in your body. Give that awareness at least 3 seconds of air time. And then find the next thing you like. And then the next. And the next. Repeat until you feel sparkles in your eyes.
2. Play with humor
I find that humor is an underexplored topic in spirituality. There’s nothing that makes you feel more glad to be alive than when you’re laughing so hard you’re crying. The amount of joy and excitement we experience when we laugh or find humor can plug us right into the feelings of bliss, expansiveness, and infinite potential.
You can find humor in many exterior places — like friends or videos — and they will all work to bring you closer to yourself, but I suggest you build your inner humor muscles, so that you can become more giggle-autonomous and be able to reach that funny feeling whenever you want.
To do that, pick random elements of whats happening around you and attempt to see them in the funniest perspective your imagination can come up with. Create a one-phrase story for a skipping kid, or imagine what a dog is thinking. Maybe come up with a dialogue between a carrot and a table. The key here is knowing what kind of humor you enjoy and exploring it creatively. Your goal is to entertain these thoughts and suddenly realize you’re smiling.
3. Jesus take the wheel
Far too often, I find myself trapped inside my own mind and the sheer thought of trying to focus positively makes my head physically hurt. These are the times “the spiritual” seems the furthest away. So I found that the most efficient way to reconnect to it under these conditions is to abandon the mind altogether for a couple of minutes. When your mind is on full-speed and won’t respond to thought-directing, try this:
Imagine your body to be your higher self, and for a little while observe what it does. You can take yourself to have a glass of water and just observe all the movements your body is making without your giving it a second thought. Try to feel as if your body is being directed by a much greater and wiser version of yourself — this helps us release control. It’s somewhat like putting yourself on autopilot deliberately for a few moments. The longer you can keep this observer perspective, the more relief you’re going to feel, and the more you are going to feel like you’re coming back to yourself.
Though simple, these three tips can improve your feeling state at any given moment during your day. It is my intention that they will help you with the sometimes challenging task of maintaining your spiritual connection on the go.
