Spirituality: What Does It Mean to You and Me?

A lot of people don't resonate with the word "spirituality," and they may even roll their eyes at it. But ever since I began to connect with the word and what it meant to me, I've been really interested in understanding what it meant to others.

I started practising yoga early last year, and it really connected me with my body and my breath. Taking the time out of my day to make my body feels good and focus entirely on breathing gives me a huge sense of peace that I hadn’t felt before. Ever since I started to practice yoga, I've found myself recognising that feeling of what I call spirituality in other scenarios and moments in my life.

I wanted to know what some of the people in my life thought about the subject, so I asked a bunch of my friends what their feelings were on spirituality. Here are some quotes from a few of my conversations...

"I'd say I've always been open to spirituality, so long as it doesn't clash with my religious beliefs. I tend to feel the most spiritual are when I'm surrounded by nature. Anytime I say a prayer, or when I'm at the mosque praying with others, there's always that feeling, and I guess if you do hold religious beliefs, you can always feel that connection to something higher."

"I believe in crystal healing and wearing certain crystals can help certain things. There’s no actual 'proof,' but I do think they bring positivity to my mental health, and at least ease me."

"I love astrology memes. But I guess the root is probably that when I read things about my sign, it gives me validation and understanding of why I do certain things. Then there’s this whole group of people who are the same, and then it lets me know that it’s okay to be a bit neurotic and overly perfectionist about things because there are other people who are the same. In a way it makes me feel more connected to the Earth, and that I’m not just a bean floating. That my surroundings have an effect on me, and that I’m somewhat linked to mother nature. I think that’s super powerful."

"I believe there’s another place that our minds can go to, and that place can be peaceful and it kinda resets your thoughts and gives you a fresh look on things. So if changing your state of mind is considered spiritual, then yeah."

"I see spirituality as quite a feminine thing. There's something nurturing about Mother Nature. Giving birth to life. I think (on the whole) females of most species choose their male partners to breed with, ultimately there's a feminine choice over how the world comes into being. So if connecting to your spiritual side is connecting to the innermost part of the natural side of yourself, then I guess I would see that as something more attainable by females."

"For me, spirituality means an acceptance that there is something more than us, whether that’s a god or a karmic balance or just some kind of THING. I think of myself as spiritual because I feel like the alternative would make life feel a little directionless."

"I used to always keep an amethyst and rose quartz near me/on my person as they helped with anxiety. Actually, that’s part of my spirituality. I believe that crystals help, along with the archangels and saints, because they link together."

Everyone had such different experiences and thoughts, and I found it beautiful how many ways people can connect to a spiritual feeling. There were so many thoughts people had that I'd never considered myself. Like how spirituality could be considered feminine, and how without spirituality life can feel directionless.

To me, spirituality is a feeling I get in a deep moment of peace, love, and gratitude. This could be when I’m exploring somewhere new, when I’m breathing into my yoga, when I’m listening to the Game of Thrones soundtrack, when I smoke weed, when I connect with people, or when I hold my rose quartz in my fist. It's a feeling that I want to experience more, and I want to continue to learn how.