Spiritual balance?

[teresa6]

My tarot readings keep telling me i need to find spiritual balance. I thought that was what i was trying to do. How do you find spiritual balance? What more can I do?

thanks in advance for your response

[georgia]

I’m curious about this as well. Balance within spirituality has never really been defined around me.

I understand balancing spirit, mind, body, and emotions, not focusing on any one of these to the exclusion of others. It is a matter of moderation. Thus, if I spend an hour with the Creator, I also spend an hour journaling my thoughts or reading something I want to learn, an hour expressing emotions (preferably alone, but they burst out of bounds somtimes), and an hour exercising or cleaning.

… And then a couple of days in bed to recouperate. LOL

[Mystique]

I may be way off base here, but I’ve always thought of spiritual balance as balancing my spiritual and mundane worlds. Not letting my mundane emotions affect my spells too much. For example, when I get angry, giving myself time to reflect and calm down rather than going straight for the hex. Lol.

[tracyS]

For me spiritual balance is when the mind body and soul are in harmony (I’ve yet to get there ). What do I mean?

My mind is invested in Nordic traditions and witchcraft
My body is invested in pringles and junk food
My soul is stuck in my old faith
Not balanced.

Balance happens, in my view when,
My mind is invested in my Nordic Witchcraft.
My body is invested in being healthy, healthy food and exercise thus enhancing my witchcraft abilities.
My soul has accepted that I learnt all I could on my old path, to let go off the nostalgia and embrace the new and embrace any changes should my path change again.

Balance.

Each part is working together for my greater good.

It’s really difficult to do.

What more can you do? Don’t stress over it. Life’s a journey, embrace each part of it and enjoy the view.

[MeganB]

This is an interesting question - I don’t think I’ve ever tried to define spiritual balance for myself, but it’s something to ponder.

I like everyone’s opinions so far on balancing the mind, body, and spirit, as well as keeping the spiritual balanced with the mundane.

I also think spiritual balance is not relying on spiritual practices for every aspect of life. It means not participating in spiritual bypassing to avoid difficult situations or emotions.

Spiritual bypass is a term that was coined by John Welwood, a psychotherapist and author. He defined spiritual bypass as using spiritual ideas and practices to “sidestep personal, emotional ‘unfinished business,’ to shore up a shaky sense of self, or to belittle basic needs, feelings, and developmental tasks” (Diana Raab, 2019). He claimed that this process was often coined as a means to enlightenment. In basic terms, spiritual bypass is a defense mechanism that is used to avoid problems and triggers that make us uncomfortable or that we have been conditioned to think are bad.

…

What does spiritual bypass look like?

Phrases like, “Good vibes only!” and “No negativity allowed!” and “Love and light only!” are attributed to spiritual bypassing. It can also sound like one person telling another that meditation, chakra balancing, or Reiki can heal their depression or anger; if they would only meditate, they wouldn’t be so mad all the time! Do any of these sound familiar? If you’ve been in any spiritual community online, it should. I’ve been told a few of these things myself!

Someone can be participating in spiritual bypassing without even realizing it. This is prevalent in not only the witchcraft and pagan community but the world at large. I think a lot of it has to do with being taught that emotions are “bad”. When we show our sadness and our anger, we are often ostracized and made to feel bad about it. However, when we brush our emotions under the rug of spiritual practice, we don’t do ourselves any favors. In fact, we are often applauded for handling our emotions in a productive manner. Some things to watch out for in yourself and others are…

• A constant need to feel positive at all times
• Guilt over feeling any sort of “negative” emotion, e.g. anger, sadness, jealousy, etc.
• Placing too much emphasis on the positive and ignoring the negative
• Pretending that everything is okay even if it isn’t
• Participation in cognitive dissonance
• Overt idealism
• Self-righteousness and entitlement
• Turning to any spiritual practice when something bad or negative happens
• Covering up issues you may be having with a spiritual practice
• Sudden bursts of anger or other “negative” emotions

It is important to keep in mind that the ideas listed above are not an exhaustive list. Just because you may be doing something from the list doesn’t necessarily mean you are partaking in spiritual bypass. The best analogy I can think of is that spiritual bypass is like sweeping dirt under the rug. You know it’s there. You know it doesn’t belong. But doesn’t everything just look so much better now that you can’t see it?

– a quote from my book, Whispers of the Soul

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I think the phrase “spiritual balance” is also really loaded and very vague. Spiritual balance means a lot of things to a lot of people. It may be helpful to figure out some specifics in your situation – Are you relying too much on your spirituality? Are you focusing on one area of your practice at the detriment of others? Are you ignoring mundane parts of your life in favor of spiritual ones? In the opposite, are you ignoring spiritual parts of your life for any reason?

There are a lot of things that can put us “out of balance” – some of them we can control but others we can’t.

If it helps, you can also add in your tarot reading (if you’re comfortable with that) and we might be able to help you get more specific.

[Amethyst]

I think spiritual balance is something everyone must define and find for themselves. It’s something unique to each person. For you, it might help you to walk in the woods each day to find balance, where for me it might be listening to music or meditating.

It’s pretty much a hit and miss thing until you find what makes you happy. Which is a pain, I know, but hey, the search is what’s helping you learn!

[BryWisteria]

Hello @teresa6,

@teresa6

How do you find spiritual balance?

It’s a great question and I can see you’ve already got some wonderful advice and suggestions from the coven! I agree with what others have said about the perfect point of balance being unique to each inidvidual. We all have different things on our “scales” of life. What looks like chaos to one practicioner might be the point of perfect equilibrium to another

Finding your point of balance - where you feel most at home, confident, and capable within your holistic life - is a great goal to set for yourself. It’s safe to say it’s something you will learn more about the more you practice.

@teresa6

What more can I do?

While I think striving towards balance is a valuable pursuit and something worthwhile to do any time, there are a few occasions that can boost this intention:

• First Quarter and Last Quarter moons - the moon appears half in light and half in shadow. While one is waning (decrease) and one is waxing (increase), they are both moments of equilibrium and balance.

• Twice a year, we have the equinox - once in the spring and once in the fall. At this time day and night are equal. We are well on our way to the equinox now, there will be one in just a month!

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Finding balance in your life is a great intention to have a wonderful goal to set for yourself - wishing you all the best, @teresa6! Blessed be