I’m teaching this week at the Soularize learning party about right-fit spiritual practices. The group I’m working with is very good at honest deconstruction. Now we are working together on creative reconstruction. Many of us here would love to craft a set of practices that are rooted, authentic and creative enough to grow-a-long with us – even if they don’t look very much like what we have come to know as “church.”
I know that many of you are interested in that as well, my curious creative Magpies. So I thought I’d do a quick-and-dirty post with some of my tips and techniques notes from the right-fit spiritual practices workshop. These aren’t fully fleshed out, so if you see something that makes you go “hmmmm…curiouser and curiouser” please let me know. Your questions and comments could become good fodder for an upcoming Ask Magpie column.
Right-fit spiritual practices are habits that help you stay connected to The Divine/Spirit/That-Which-Guides-You while authentically reflecting your core values, and keeping you connected to your deep historic roots.
Indicators that your spiritual/soulcare practices are not right-fit for you any longer (deconstruction):
- You don’t know what the mean or why your community started doing them in the first place.
- You dread and resist going to any meeting or gathering where they might be practiced.
- You have a pervasive sense of guilt.
- You know it used to work for you, and your baffled why it doesn’t feel nurturing, inspiring, guiding anymore.
- You’re doing them because you are “supposed to” not because you enjoy them.
Take a moment to reflect on your current set of practices – from prayer to knitting, from worship to running. Is there one that has at least 3 of these traits? You have a couple of options, each of which is totally legitimate depending on your needs:
1. Stop doing that practice all together, and don’t pick up a new practice.
2. Find a completely new practice to replace that one.
3. Adapt and re-create the practice to better fit your current needs, beliefs, and values.
If you decided to replace or re-create, you can look for clues about what might be a better-fit practice.
Traits of a right-fit spiritual practice (reconstruction):
- Right-fit practices are adaptable over time and grow with you.
- Right-fit practices feel juicy and engaging.
- Right-fit practices leave you feeling nurtured not drained; confident, not not disempowered; “enough,” not guilty.
- Right-fit practices leave room for mystery and wonder so that you have space to explore and question.
Take a moment to reflect on your current set of practices – from prayer to knitting, from worship to running. Is there one that has at least 3 of these traits? How can you lean into the practice and spend more time there?
Next up: Five things that will help you discover your right-fit spiritual practices.
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You Might Also Like:
- For examples of right-fit practices from a slew of creative souls. Click here.
- For more ideas about the relig-ish life. Click here.
- For a few of my favorite odd-ball practices that have been right-fit for me, click here for shrines or click through the tag cloud for seasaonl celebrations.
Spiritual but not religious? Recovering Evangelical? Jill of all faiths? You might be relig-ish. Browse the posts to learn more, or click here to watch a video about our relig-ish community.
New Here? Learn the lingo and find your tribe with Magpie Speak, my free ecourse. It’s a brand new vocabulary for soulcare, from my passionate heart to yours. 
Want to work with me in a small group setting? Join us at Flock, my online relig-ish community. One value, one practice, one month at a time, for one soulful year. Start any time. 
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I joined a recovery group almost two years ago. After several attempts at a sustainable spiritual practice, I felt like I had finally found one without even looking (my habits drove me there without really knowing what it was all about). It hits all of the traits you describe. Thank you for sharing!
Also, thank you for this place on the little corner of the Internet. I feel really at home here.