Spiritual Wellness: From Stress And Anxiety To Fulfillment

Discover the essence of spiritual wellness and its profound impact on stress and anxiety reduction, relationship dynamics, and energizing your life. Explore the interconnectedness of all life and how your energy ripples into the world, shaping experiences far beyond your immediate sphere. Uncover the deep link between spiritual wellness and mental health, and how nurturing your spirit can lead to enhanced mental well-being. Learn how to cultivate purpose and meaning in your life through the journey of spiritual wellness, aligning your actions with your true essence.

Transcript

The ultimate gateway to ignite your spiritual journey and unlock a life of harmony,

Purpose,

And conscious living.

My name is Amanda Machado.

I'm your guide in this quest for self-discovery.

As an epidemiologist and devoted teacher of consciousness,

I take my inspiration from spirit,

Science,

And nature and make conscious living practical for your everyday life.

In the sanctuary of knowledge,

We will blend the robust foundation of scientific truth with wisdom woven by diverse communities,

Disciplines,

And niches across the globe.

We're not just connecting the dots here.

We're simplifying the intricate patterns of our world in order to fuel your transformation like never before.

Before we embark,

A quick note.

While I'm deeply passionate about well-being,

I'm not a medical expert.

If you're facing psychological or medical challenges,

It's essential to seek the guidance of a qualified professional.

Your health and happiness matter.

So to all you seekers,

Dreamers,

And curious souls yearning for growth,

This podcast is your catalyst.

All starts and ends with the spirit.

Your spirit holds the key and today we unlock its infinite potential together.

Today we embark on a journey of exploring spiritual wellness,

Its importance,

Why it matters in our daily lives for helping us manage our stress and anxiety,

Having healthier relationships,

And allowing us to have more energy for the things that we love to do through a deeper cultivation of our spiritual well-being.

In today's episode,

We'll dive deep into defining what spiritual wellness actually is,

The web of life and its interconnectedness,

And the connection between spiritual wellness and mental health,

As well as how to cultivate meaning and purpose in your life because let's be real,

This is the very essence of what we're all searching for at the end of the day.

And with that,

Let's dive right in.

Okay,

So when we say spiritual wellness,

What do we actually mean?

I feel like there's such a large proportion of the population who believes that spiritual wellness is religion,

While the other half believes it's rituals and esoteric stuff only.

And then we probably have a pocket of people who probably don't see its value whatsoever and deprioritize it completely.

We tend to focus on what I feel like is like the superficial or surface level stuff instead of getting to the root when we actually need to be looking at the root in order to live a more conscious,

Happy,

And fulfilled life.

Our spiritual well-being is the essence of living and at the root of everything we do and everything that we are.

So the fact that you are here now having this conversation with me is a good thing.

This is you saying I'm ready to prioritize myself and live a more conscious life because I want that fullness to life that currently feels like it's missing.

I want to spend my days with less stress and anxiety.

I want more happiness in my life.

I want more joy.

And I want to cultivate great relationships and feel like I have the energy to enjoy life instead of feeling drained all the time and feeling like I'm falling behind.

I believe that everything starts and ends with the spirit,

Literally.

We come into the world as a soul and we leave as a soul.

We don't take our body with us and we know that everything else is just temporary.

Because everything else is meant to be a temporary experience for us in this lifetime.

That said,

I would argue that even disease manifests starting with our spirit and our energetic body before it manifests into our physical reality.

We actually see this when we look at things like stress and digestive issues like IBS.

We see that with emotional trauma and chronic pain there's also a link to repressed emotions and we also know that issues with the lung,

For example,

Is connected to theories of Chinese medicine that the lungs play a role in energetically helping us manage grief and stress.

And we also see this play out in skin issues sometimes that we encounter.

Something that I actually can wholeheartedly attest to.

We know that negative thought patterns and when we harness emotions and stress and anxiety that we can also weaken our immune system.

All of which I believe happens because the energetic flow in us has been disrupted somehow,

Blocked or become stagnant in some way shape or form.

Even when you think of the word disease it's dis-ease,

Right?

On the flip side when you think of spirit we think of the spirit as being ease minus the dis for the disease.

I'd argue that the lack of conscious living or lack of easeful living happens when we're out of alignment with our spirit and it's really connected to the root cause of probably most diseases.

Which is also probably connected to circumstances that we have trouble breaking the cycle of.

So I'm sure by now you can see how spiritual wellness is at the very core of our being and thus should play a very predominant role in our life.

And nature has this beautiful way of mirroring this back to us.

At the very core of our being spiritual wellness is radiating through us like the Sun.

We know that without the Sun nothing would grow.

There would be no life on earth without the Sun and similarly like the Sun our spiritual well-being is casting its glow upon every facet of our day-to-day life.

And spiritual well-being goes way beyond mere rituals or traditions.

Having spiritual well-being in our life is actually what harmonizes our mind,

Our body,

And our soul as one and paves the path towards a life of purpose and interconnectedness including healthy relationships,

A thriving career,

And things that we can feel good about in our lives.

Having more energy for the things we love to do,

The people we want to spend time with in our life,

And having less stress and anxiety and our focus diverted to stress and anxiety.

When we cultivate our spiritual wellness we're tending to the very garden of our soul and really our life because we're able to nurture the seeds of our own authenticity,

Our own growth,

And our self-discovery within ourselves in a way that begins to trickle out into everything else in our physical reality.

Without it I think we all end up becoming a bit lost and life becomes more of a challenge and a problem and we begin to kind of not know why do I keep cycling through the same old narrative?

Why do I keep moving through the same patterns when this is not really where I want to be anymore?

I think that the truth is is that life itself is not the problem.

It never was.

It was never meant to be a problem.

We are the ones who sometimes make the problems and then and then of course we have society in the world pushing all kinds of solutions on us.

When the solution is really all quite simple and part of our own personal journey and the most valuable important thing is that we can actually cultivate it at any time for free and by cultivating our spiritual wellness we automatically connect ourselves to the harmony of life and its interconnected web and from that place is where we truly begin to find beauty and joy in life again just as it always was intended.

We aren't just part of the web of life.

We are actually creating the web of life either consciously or unconsciously.

So imagine this just for a moment.

Imagine that your thoughts,

Emotions,

And energy are like droplets in a vast interconnected ocean or threads on a spider's web.

Each ripple that you create travels far beyond your immediate sphere touching lives,

Circumstances,

Much of which goes unseen.

Nature has this beautiful way of mirroring this truth to us constantly.

Think of the spider's web right?

The same is true in our lives.

Everything that touches a spider's web has an impact on the whole web that the spider has created and herein lies the essence of spiritual wellness.

Not only is our own personal well-being intricately woven into the well-being of the web of our own life but our own life path is also connected to the greater collective and what you'll probably find on your journey is that as you cultivate your spiritual wellness within yourself and you awaken to the profound impact that you have on your own life you're also going to simultaneously awaken to the impact that each and every one of us has on shaping our own personal reality and thus the reality of the whole collective.

We all play a role in the world and we all have a specific unique role to play.

We have to remember that though we move through life feeling this sense of separateness in our own experiences we're really not separate from one another at all.

All that is made manifest in this world has been created in connection with the collective consciousness that we each and every one of us are part of.

It's only because we have an ego self that we actually experience the feeling or the sensation of separation.

Every action we take though seemingly small or big has a consequence whether we perceive that consequence as positive or negative.

We have a ripple effect in the world.

Karma a commonly misperceived misused concept is not just punishment or negative consequences.

It's actually more about the impact that we have and that we want to have in the world through our intentions.

Sometimes I think that the terminology is more used to say that if you do this then X will happen to you and yes karma for sure is about cause and effect but it's also about cycles and what cycle you are continuing to play a part of in terms of what you're doing in your life and the ripple effect that that cycle has on the collective whole.

And we can see this play out even with a simple single act.

A smile,

A compliment,

A helping hand.

If you were to go out right now and smile at someone genuinely deep from you know your heart and soul you probably would observe how this gesture sets off a chain reaction of positivity in the world around you that impacts both you and the other person and likely more people that that person will encounter and likely more people that you will encounter in that day.

And eventually I feel like this act will come back to you.

It may not be the in the exact same form that you expressed it but the energy behind it I believe will come back to you at a certain place as per cosmic order.

Some of which we can't really fully understand with our limited understanding so science or no science to back it up that's truly what I believe.

So one day that ripple comes back to you and you probably already have understood this on some level through some of your personal life experiences.

And the point of this is is that life is just so beautifully and deeply interconnected and our spiritual wellness is important for us and so important for the world too.

So I'm really glad that we're here together having this conversation embarking on this journey with me that you're embarking on this journey with me because really taking this time to understand your spiritual wellness journey and what it means for you and what it means for billions of people plants and animals on the planet that we share it with is just so important for your journey.

Our spiritual wellness journey is important for our interconnection with others and our relationships because as we know we're truly connected in healthy relationships through that deeper connection with the spirit in us connecting to the spirit in another.

We also know that certain elements of our spiritual well-being are also deeply interconnected within us.

So other aspects of our well-being like our mental health is also connected to our spiritual well-being.

So let's take some time to talk about how our spiritual wellness is connected to other aspects of our wellness like our mental wellness.

The beautiful thing is is that the threads of spiritual wellness and mental well-being are so interwoven together that by just honoring our spirit and cultivating spiritual wellness we end up cultivating mental health and well-being more broadly.

You might wonder how does this connection between spiritual wellness and mental well-being play a part in our lives?

So imagine that your spirit is like a reservoir of energy and just like a river it flows through every facet of your being.

When this energy encounters obstacles like unresolved emotions,

Suppressed feelings or negative thought patterns,

It can become stagnant much like water pooling behind a dam.

These stagnant energies can manifest as physical or even mental ailments that you may start to feel completely disconnected from the very thing that you are because remember you're a soul having a human experience.

And here's the remarkable part.

By tending to your spiritual wellness you can transform these stagnant waters into a vibrant stream.

When you embrace practices that nourish your spirit like meditation,

Like mindfulness,

Like creative expression or even spending time in nature you're inviting a gentle current to flow through your energetic channels.

A current that carries away the debris of any stagnant or negative energy and really allows your mind to just breathe more freely.

So picture this.

Picture that your energy is like this current of revitalized energy flowing through you.

It breathes life into your mental landscape too.

You might notice a sense of clarity as the waters of your mind become more transparent revealing the depths of your actual thoughts and emotions.

And with this newfound clarity you can actually navigate the currents of life with more grace and more resilience in your life.

So maybe some of the challenges that you once felt that were you know insurmountable rapids,

Maybe these challenges actually become opportunities for growth.

Maybe these dark clouds of anxiety or depression begin to part ways from you.

And in this way cultivating spiritual wellness becomes the powerful antidote to conquering dis-ease or disease associated with any upstream stagnant energy that you may be feeling.

So when you release these blockages that are hindering the flow of your spirit,

You actually create space for mental well-being to flourish too.

Just as the waters of your spirit and mind intermingle and dance harmoniously,

You're able to find that ailments and diseases born from stagnant energy begin to lose their grip on you.

They no longer have like that hold on you and that feeling of you know being imprisoned by these things that are not you.

And this allows for the body and the mind that once maybe felt super burdened,

It allows for the body and mind to begin to experience the liberating dance of vitality.

So it's important to know that when you nurture your spiritual well-being you're not only tending to the garden of your soul,

Which is super deep but so true,

You're also cultivating that fertile ground for mental well-being to blossom into your life.

And you're able to embrace the practices that actually truly resonate with your spirit.

And so it's important to feel really feel into your energy and when you're you know really working on your spiritual wellness and your spiritual well-being,

See where that energy is beginning to flow more freely.

See where your inner light is starting to be you know more rekindled and guiding you towards a life that has more peace and joy and less anxiety and stress in it.

And I can also tell you from my spiritual wellness journey directly that your wellness journey is going to lead you directly to your life's purpose,

Your life's work,

Your life's path.

Because your spiritual wellness journey also creates this beautiful opportunity for you to build a relationship with yourself,

With your soul,

And your spirit knows the way.

Plain and simple,

Your spirit cannot get it wrong.

That's what you're here for.

And so on your path,

Whether that's been more of a path of healing for you or more of a path of evolution and growth,

Know that both are usually interrelated and intertwined.

Your healing is intertwined with your evolution and growth and when you cultivate your spiritual well-being,

That is the very thing that's going to wake you up to a life of purpose.

So how is this the case?

How does your spiritual well-being actually wake you up to your purpose?

Let's talk a little bit more about how your spiritual well-being helps you cultivate your purpose.

So honoring your spiritual wellness journey is a profound and transformative step towards cultivating your purpose in life.

So picture your journey as sacred,

A path paved with self-discovery and inner illumination,

And think of it as something that as you transverse this path,

You'll find that the very act of connecting with your spirit actually unveils the blueprint of your purpose.

Consider this another mirror from nature.

Just as a river flows naturally towards the ocean,

Your spirit carries the innate wisdom of your purpose.

By nurturing your spiritual wellness,

You create the ideal conditions for this wisdom to actually emerge through you.

It's like you're polishing a gem and as you polish this gem,

It's revealing its brilliance and unique facets.

And each practice you engage with,

Each moment of stillness you embrace on your wellness journey,

Is the very thing that unveils another facet of your own purpose,

Just like when you're polishing the gem.

And I think another important thing to note is that it's really not a race,

It's a journey.

And though like being real here,

Keeping it real,

We can definitely have those moments of impatience on our journey of purpose and really discovering what it means to share our unique gifts into the world within the scope of our unique role and the hats that we wear as individuals,

Within families,

Within communities,

And within the world,

The globe.

One thing I know to be true is this,

When you honor your spiritual wellness journey,

Remember that your purpose isn't a distant destination.

It's actually a compass that guides your choices and actions.

When you listen to the whispers of your spirit,

You align with the currents of your purpose.

It's not about seeking,

It's not about seeking external validation or conforming to societal expectations,

It's about living in alignment with your true essence,

Your truest essence.

And discovering your true essence is of utmost importance.

One way I like to do this quite simply is to just slow down to feel your essence in your body.

We can so,

So easily become distracted,

Disembodied,

To the point where we can't even hear the pings of our soul.

We can't even hear ourselves think at some moments.

We can't even really know what is the next aligned step I need to take because we're on that hamster wheel state of mind.

We need to get off that hamster wheel,

That never-ending treadmill.

The one thing I like to do in order to really put myself into this space and to get off that hamster wheel is to create a sacred space for reflection.

This could be a physical spot or a physical moment in time.

It's more about carving out moments of stillness to really connect with your inner wisdom than it is about how it physically looks on the outside.

Social media in some respects has created a lot of great connection but in other respects it's created this illusion of what things need to look like in order for them to you know feel good to us when the reality is that these are just illusions.

It's not real life.

We can create beautiful,

Sacred,

Supportive environments from an aesthetic point of view because we all love that beauty in our life but simple practices like journaling,

Meditation,

Or simply sitting in contemplation can help you listen to that quiet voice of your spirit wherever you are.

It's more about slowing down and pausing throughout your day to make the energetic space without needing for it to look a certain way.

So don't wait to be on a yoga mat or have the most perfect meditation room.

You have to just really be intentional about allowing yourself to explore the activities,

Your passions,

And those dreams that ignite that spark within you.

Most of which you'll only be able to hear if you take those moments to pause and reflect.

Most of which will truly come very naturally through your healing and evolution as you embrace your spiritual well-being and put it first in your life.

Realizing that all else will flow effortlessly from this place.

As you deepen your spiritual connection you'll probably notice that your purpose emerges like a compass,

You know,

Pointing you true north because it's part of your journey here.

It might manifest as a calling to share your creativity or to uplift others through your unique gifts or to simply contribute to a cause that resonates with your heart.

Your purpose isn't separate from your spiritual journey.

It's actually an integral part of it.

The blossoming flower that receives the nourishment from the roots of your spirit as nature so beautifully mirrors to us.

This is what we're talking about in today's conversation.

It's really about embracing that idea that your purpose is as unique as your fingerprint.

Just like a snowflake that forms in the dance of the cold air and moisture,

Your purpose crystallizes in the dance of your spirit and the world around you.

So trust that you are the creator of your purpose.

You're sculpting it with each intentional step that you take on your spiritual path.

And I say unique,

You have a unique purpose and not special because when we think we're special we tend to put ourselves on a pedestal to the detriment of others.

Or what we end up doing is pedestalling others so much that we never take that step forward because we have this expectation of what it's supposed to look like for somebody who is special.

Your uniqueness is enough.

And in this journey of purpose and spiritual wellness,

I invite you to really just get to know yourself.

Be gentle with yourself.

Just as a seed needs time to sprout and grow,

Your purpose will unfold gradually.

They always say that the day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.

And I think this really speaks to this idea of patience on your path.

It's this idea that everything on this journey will take this source of resilience and endurance.

And that life can feel long in some moments when we want something really really badly.

But it can also feel so short in the grand scheme of things.

So don't lose sight of the big picture but also it's okay to focus in on some of the key details sometimes too.

Allow yourself to explore,

Evolve and really understand what your purpose truly means to you.

Like don't take my word for it or anyone's word for it for that matter.

Because it's really important to contemplate it,

Realize it within yourself and remember that your purpose is not fixed.

It's like a living breathing expression of you as an ever expanding spirit.

So if it's one piece of advice I can give you is really honor your purpose by honoring your spiritual journey as sacred.

Knowing that each step you take is a step towards the discovery of what your purpose is here.

And embrace the unfolding because as you do you'll find that your purpose becomes not just this destination but it becomes like this guiding light that lights up your path,

That illuminates the vast landscape of your soul and who you came here to be.

So stop chasing and just learn how to lean in without chasing,

Without being on that hamster wheel.

And speaking of leaning in,

Today we've really been leaning into a better understanding of our spiritual wellness and so I'm so grateful that you're here having this conversation with me because some of the things that we've learned today are that spiritual wellness is really at the very core of our being in this human experience and really it needs to be our priority in life because everything else flows from there.

We explored today how spiritual wellness has such a profound impact on our lives.

We defined you know what spiritual wellness truly means,

How it's interconnected with all the aspects of life and how it is actually linked to other aspects of our health like our mental health.

And really how spiritual wellness is pretty much at the heart of everything that we do and really lays that foundation for our harmonious and purposeful life.

We also talked about the interconnectedness of life and the ripple effect,

This idea that we are all threads of this intricate web of life.

Our thoughts,

Our emotions and energy create this ripple impact not only on our own personal well-being but also the collective consciousness.

So it's important to recognize this interconnected nature that we harness and that we have influence to foster more positivity and contribute to the greater whole in a way that makes us feel good and unafraid of karma.

Just kidding we know that karma it's so much more than punishment.

But as we were discussing it's really important to you know make that impact in our lives to have you know that greater impact on the greater whole and cultivate purpose through our spiritual wellness.

The idea that cultivating spiritual wellness is an intimate journey that's gonna unveil the path to purpose not the other way around.

And so by honoring our spiritual well-being we're gonna uncover the blueprint of our purpose.

This purpose isn't an external destination we talked about but more of a guide,

More of something that aligns our choices and actions with our true essence.

We now know that nourishing our spirit also helps us nurture our purpose and in turn helps us shape our life through a life of meaning and fulfillment that unfolds more naturally.

So if it's like three tips I could give to you today for your journey of spiritual wellness one of them is to keep coming home to the idea that spiritual wellness needs to be a priority in your life.

We tend to prioritize what we're doing and the nitty-gritty and what we want to be in what we want to do like you know being a good friend or a good boyfriend or girlfriend or getting a boyfriend or girlfriend or being a good husband or wife or an employee or a business owner or a parent.

Having good physical health and feeling good doing the things we enjoy every day.

But when we prioritize our spiritual wellness we actually become all of those things because at our very core we have that clarity we have that peace and the root is clear for the energy to flow most importantly.

The next thing is that I I think it would be so great if you found some stillness in your day a practice that you can turn to.

It can be meditation,

It can be breath work,

It can be walks in nature,

It could be yoga but it also doesn't have to be.

Find something that resonates with you.

Make it your spiritual practice a spiritual practice that you can turn to when you need it the most and also just to have those moments of stillness within your day because we all go through periods of time when the turmoil seems a little bit thicker to move through and we come back to our practices to help guide us through.

Even creating art can be a spiritual practice so find what connects you to your soul and helps you go deeper on your journey and keep coming back to it when you need it in your life.

And before we close the third thing that I'm gonna bring forth for you today is to live from a place of intention.

Think of the ripple effect of your actions each day and how you contribute to the web of life that we are all part of and know that by engaging in practices that nourish your spirit you actually release stagnant energy that could potentially manifest as physical or mental ailments and you're also part of collective healing.

You're part of freeing the collective.

You're part of weaving your unique piece of the web that is connected to everyone around you and remember that you have a unique role to play in the world and the world needs your uniqueness because you are shaping your own life and really all of our lives.

And with that till next time I hope you have the most beautiful beautiful day.

Thank you for tuning in to the Wild Becoming podcast your guide to conscious living with me Amanda Machado where we explore the realms of the vast universe of consciousness that resides within all of us.

As you continue on your journey if you enjoyed this episode remember to rate review and share the podcast to spread the wisdom of conscious living and also click that follow button wherever you get your podcasts.

For those seeking daily doses of conscious living wisdom the adventure continues on our social media platforms simply visit the show notes where you'll find a link to follow us at Wild Becoming.

Your presence,

Your engagement and your shared enthusiasm means the world to us.

Together we're cultivating a space where growth,

Harmony and purpose flourish.

So let's continue this remarkable journey together.

Stay tuned for future episodes diving even deeper into topics that nurture your soul,

Embrace your becoming and your journey of conscious living.