Spiritual meditation is a meditation practice that can help you look within for truth by taking you to the depths of who you are. If you are seeking to look and think beyond the noise of your busy and chaotic world, spiritual meditation can help you cultivate a true sense of self.

There are many physiological and mental benefits that come from practicing spiritual meditation. If you are a beginner, we suggest you start with a guided meditation class that is led by a professional teacher in a quiet location. But, no matter where you are in your meditation journey, spiritual meditation can help you reduce stress, calm your emotions, and create empowerment.  

What Is Spiritual Meditation?

Spiritual meditation differs from other types of meditation that mainly focus on relaxing or reducing stress. According to a recent study, spiritual meditation actually focuses on looking within yourself and discovering a deeper understanding of your spirituality, and connecting with a higher power. 

As you practice spiritual meditation, you are challenged to look into the depths of who you are as your real self. You may begin to feel peace and a feeling of love come over you as you allow your mind to remove any labels or perceptions you had previously placed on yourself.

While practicing spiritual meditation, you may notice your ability to strip away any noise, negativity, or preconceived notions that you may have about yourself. This can help you get to know yourself better. As you discover yourself, you may notice that you are able to focus more on becoming a better person to others and most importantly to yourself.

Spiritual meditation is a powerful practice if you are looking to improve on your self-motivation, compassion, commitment, or responsibility. You may begin to see improvements within as well as in the compassion you share with others. 

1. It Helps You De-Stress

Spiritual meditation can help you release stress or tension as you bring your focus to the present and awaken the mind-body connection. As you meditate, you may find that you can enhance your parasympathetic nervous system which is also known as the ‘rest and digest system.’ This can counter the most common physiological changes the body experiences during stress like your ‘fight or flight’ response.

2. It Calms Your Emotions

Emotions can sometimes feel overwhelming. One benefit of spiritual meditation is it can help calm your emotions. Studies show that meditation can reduce your heart rate and lower blood pressure. 

These physiological results can have a positive impact on your emotional and mental state. This can allow you to think more clearly and respond instead of reacting to emotions as they come.

Studies show that we are happiest when we are actually present to the moment we’re in. Spiritual meditation helps you stay in the present by focusing on a mantra, allowing thoughts to come and go without judgment, and focusing on the breath. Being present can help you process emotions better as you can filter out any distractions from the past or the potential future.

3. It Aids Self-Awareness

Seeking who you are inside, through spiritual meditation, can allow you to remove any previous judgments you may have had about yourself. This will help aid and foster better self-awareness.

Self-awareness involves being aware of the many aspects of yourself including traits, behaviors, and feelings. It also is how you see yourself in the world in relation to others. As you scan your body during the spiritual meditation session, you will have an increased sense of self-awareness.

How Do I Practice Spiritual Meditation?

There are many different variations of spiritual meditation because each aspect of the meditation depends on what your beliefs are in spirituality. You may want to try different types of guided meditation as you begin your journey until you find the one that best aligns with what you believe and look for in the practice.

Even though there are different styles and variations, there are a few similarities that you can see in each type of spiritual meditation. Here are a few of the similarities you may see as you practice spiritual meditation. 

1. Find a Comfortable Space

Finding a space that you feel comfortable in is important when you are about to begin your practice. You may want to find a place that gives you a feeling of peace and calm and that is free from any distraction. This can be a quiet spot out in nature or in a peaceful corner of your home.

Then, choose a position that will be comfortable for you. Many people prefer to meditate while sitting on a cushion on the floor or on a chair with a straight back for support. As you settle into a comfortable posture, take a deep breath and close your eyes.

2. Find a Word, Sound, or Phrase To Focus On

Spiritual meditation is about looking inward and getting to know yourself better—some find it helpful to use a mantra to focus on during the meditation process. A mantra can be a word, sound, or phrase that is repeated either audibly or silently while you are meditating. 

A mantra can serve as an anchor to your mind naturally tends to drift. It allows you to bring your focus back to your intention as you continue focusing on your mantra and your breath. The energy, intention, and vibration you create from repeating the mantra are more important than the actual sound, word, or phrase you choose.

3. Scan Your Body

Along with focusing on your breathing and your mantra, you will want to observe how your body is feeling by doing a scan of your body. This scan could help to turn your body and awareness to its presence in the space. 

You can do this by starting at the top of your head and working your way down eventually landing at your toes. As you cover each part of the body, notice any tension you may have and release it as you continue on down the rest of your body.

How Long Does It Take To Notice a Difference?

One of the great benefits of meditation is that it doesn’t take long at all to begin to notice a difference. You may begin to see some benefits from your first spiritual meditation session. Even taking just five to 10 minutes each day will help improve your practice and allow you to see more consistent benefits. 

Incorporating this into your daily routine will help you remember to practice every day. Many find it beneficial to meditate first thing in the morning. 

Below are some tips for getting the most out of your practice of spiritual meditation.

1. Embrace the Process

If you would like to get the most out of your spiritual meditation practice, you will need to embrace the process. This means you need to loosen up and allow the process to happen organically as your thoughts and emotions naturally flow in their natural course.

The release of control may help you truly get in touch with your inner self. There is no need to worry about practicing meditation perfectly and you don’t need to be concerned about the outcome. As you continue your meditation practice, you should feel more at ease with each session.

2. Watch for Distractions

There is no off switch to the brain so it is only natural that thoughts will continue to go through your mind, even while practicing spiritual meditation. Meditation is a tool that can help you calm your mind and your thoughts as you allow them to come in during your practice. The challenge is to not react to the thoughts and instead, simply acknowledge your thoughts and avoid a response.

Your brain could eventually be able to allow the thought to come in, allow the ideas to seep in as they usually do, but then let them leave as you get back to your meditation. This takes practice and you may find it helpful to use guided meditation as you continue to train your mind.

3. Let Yourself Be Empowered

In addition, spiritual meditation will encourage you to focus on the present while you strip away negative thoughts or emotions from the past. This can help create empowerment as you may no longer dwell on the past. 

You may also increase your empowerment by getting to know your true self. With each meditation session, you will focus within and improve your mind and body connection which can help you get a better understanding of who you are.

5 Spiritual Meditations Practices To Ground You in the Present

If you’re interested in spiritual meditation, give these five practices a try.

• Open to Awareness w/ Manoj D.: Practice awareness to guide yourself back into your body and stay present (7 Minutes).
• Soothe Sunday Scaries w/ Allison S. and Josiah B.: Let go of anxiety and embrace self-compassion by anchoring yourself to the present (8 Minutes).
• Holding Grief w/ Allison S.: Give yourself time to cradle a hurting heart each day (5 Minutes).
• Grateful and Happy w/ Manoj D.: Remind yourself to be grateful and carry that gratitude with you through the day (10 Minutes).
• Return to Center w/ Catherine E.: Take time to reconnect your mind with your body. Soundtracked by Like Water (12 Minutes).

Spiritual meditation has been practiced by people for thousands of years. A plethora of benefits can emerge from establishing a regular spiritual meditation practice, such as calming your emotions, embracing the true essence of you, and helping you stay right here, right now, in the present moment. 

Sources:

Meditation: Process and effects | NCBI 

Measuring a Journey without Goal: Meditation, Spirituality, and Physiology | NCBI

Prevalence and patterns of use of mantra, mindfulness and spiritual meditation among adults in the United States | BMC