By Bradon Alter:
Spirituality is super popular and trendy right now. There are crystals for sale in Urban Outfitters and there are tarot cards on T-shirts, and everyone is walking around calling themselves a witch or a psychic or a healer. And on one level this is true because WE ARE ALL witches, psychics, and healers. But that doesn’t mean that we need to subscribe to the current narrative about spiritual practice. Because your spiritual practice does not require you to buy a single thing. You do not need to own a single crystal or have twenty different decks of oracle cards or even a yoga mat to have a spiritual practice. All you need is you. Yes, these tools can help us to connect the energies we have trouble feeling. But the truth is we can connect to anything we want through ourselves, through our breath, and our hearts, and our spirits.
You cannot buy your way to spiritual freedom. Even if you can afford a reading and a healing every day of the week, even if you own a hundred crystals, it's not what you purchase that brings about growth. It's the day in and day out commitment to your soul that transforms your ordinary life into a magical one. I wish freedom were something that just happened to us; I really do. I wish it weren't always so hard and requiring so much discipline to break through our outmoded habits and patterns. But if it just came knocking on our doors, would we value it? Probably not. So here's the root, you are the force responsible for unsnagging yourself. Of course there are mentors and tools to help you on your path. But they are not a replacement for your own effort and devotion to releasing yourself from your ego, your wounds, and your false stories.
A spiritual practice does not need to be showy to be successful; what it needs to be is sincere. It’s about getting quiet. It’s about listening to your body all the time. It’s about checking in with your heart and really paying attention to where your thoughts are coming from. It’s about aligning with a positive worldview and remembering that you are a miracle, and miracles exist every day. The core of my practice is about constantly reminding myself that life is magical and interconnected and that I am an important part of it.
At the deepest point, your spiritual practice is for you and nobody else. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, it doesn’t matter how it compares to others. All that truly matters is how it feels, on the inside. Is it supporting you? Is it nourishing you? See here’s the thing, when you get right with spirit it doesn’t matter what anybody else is doing. When you get right with spirit you don’t need to buy anything, because you already have everything you need.