Sometimes people get the mistaken notion that spirituality is a separate department of life, the penthouse of existence. But rightly understood, it is a vital awareness that pervades all realms of our being.
Br. David Steindl-Rast
Welcome to Day One of Enliven Your Spirit
You may be arriving at this Pathway looking to enrich an already vibrant spirituality, or you may be arriving skeptical of the very concept. Both lived experiences are welcome here. Our founder, Br. David Steindl-Rast, speaks to the range of our reactions to spirituality when he writes, “The term, spirit, has been so misused that I would be perfectly happy to drop it completely, declare a moratorium on the word spirit.” With that acknowledgment, he then goes on to offer this expansive and inviting way of thinking about what it means to be spiritual: “Whenever we are alive on every level, we are spiritual.” Take that in for just a moment: When we are alive on every level, we are spiritual.
Working with this definition, it makes sense to consider what it is that enables us to feel fully alive — what awakens us from the mundane and increases our awareness of life as a gift. What’s on your list? Playing music or late-night dancing? Deep conversation or serving others? A sporting event or a walk in nature? Participation in a religious tradition or daily meditation? Your list will no doubt include treasured things unique to you, but there’s one universal key to being fully alive, one through line, and that’s gratefulness. You can read more about the centuries-old roots of this through line in today’s deepening resource below; the historian and theologian Diana Butler Bass sums it beautifully when she writes, “Being thankful is the very essence of what it means to be alive, and to know that life abundantly.”
On this first day of the Pathway, we invite you to begin thinking about spirituality in this sense of being fully alive. How might this framing expand and enrich the way you define spirituality? How might it open the door to something that has felt inaccessible or unsustainable to you?
Today’s Practice: Remember What Helps You Feel Fully Alive
When Br. David writes, “The goal [of spirituality] is aliveness in all areas of body and mind — from healthy living habits to respectful ways of treating others, to caring for our environment, and relating to Mystery,” he follows it up immediately with this: “For all this we need skills.” With that in mind, each day of the Pathway offers a tangible practice to help expand your spiritual toolkit.
To set the stage for today’s practice, enjoy this powerful 10-minute film from our partners at Reflections of Life. Listen for any gems of wisdom from Antony Osler about what it means to awaken fully to life.
After watching the film, take a moment to consider Osler’s closing, poignant words: “I don’t feel afraid of being dead. What frightens me is not living fully before I die. That is a terror.” Today’s practice is designed to help you remember, appreciate, and discover meaning in the things that allow you to feel fully awake and alive.
Step One: Make a List
Take a few minutes to bring to mind two or three experiences in your life that have helped you feel fully alive, whether emotionally, intellectually, or physically. These could be one-time events or ongoing practices, relationships, and activities. No need to overthink this step; go with whatever comes to mind, whether something from many years ago or today. Trust what arises for you, and write these down.
Step Two: Describe What Aliveness Feels Like to You
How would you describe the feeling of aliveness that these experiences evoke? What emotions arise? What thoughts or physical sensations? Write down a few words or short phrases that describe how “aliveness” feels to you.
Step Three: Activate Gratefulness
Take a moment to give thanks for the times you have felt fully alive. For just a moment, imagine your life without these experiences and their accompanying gifts. How would your life be diminished? From that place, give thanks, whether through quiet reflection, a written list or note, a phone call, or prayer.
Step Four: Reflect
- When you feel this kind of full aliveness, how does it change the way you show up to your life — to yourself, in your work, in relationship with others?
- How does the idea of spirituality as being alive on every level inform or shape your own definition? What is liberating or enriching? Is there anything uncomfortable or challenging?
- With full aliveness in mind, take a moment to write down what spirituality means to you.
As you get to the close of today’s practice, consider what might shift in your life if you began each day with this simple practice of naming and giving thanks for what makes you feel fully alive.
Scroll to the bottom of the page (or click here) to find the Community Conversation space where we invite you to share your reflections about today’s practice.
Deepening Resource
In this essay, Joe Primo explains how gratitude is a universal through line in spiritual traditions and how living gratefully offers a roadmap to a more meaningful life. He highlights Br. David Steindl-Rast’s lifelong work, scholarship, and articulation of gratefulness as a spiritual practice.
What Our Ancestors Knew: Living Gratefully Is at the Heart of Life by Joe Primo
Research Highlight
In her book The Awakened Brain, Dr. Lisa Miller of Columbia University shares groundbreaking research on the benefits of developing a spiritual practice. She lifts up scientific studies that demonstrate that humans are naturally spiritual beings and discusses spirituality’s tangible benefits. Brain imaging, genetics, and epidemiology all reveal that cultivating a spiritual life protects against depression and anxiety, reduces the risk of alcohol and drug abuse, and contributes to recovering and healing from trauma, including among veterans with PTSD.
Miller, Lisa. The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Enlightened Life. New York: Random House, 2021.
Photo by Ben Hickingbotham
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