How Does One Find Spiritual Guidance?

For some people, spiritual guidance comes while sitting quietly in meditation. For others (and I am one of these), spiritual guidance comes while taking a quiet walk, or taking a long shower, or washing the dishes quietly, or doing anything quietly...

There is no "right" way to attune to your spiritual guidance. The right way for you is whatever works for you. We are all each unique, and we may each have a unique way of connecting with our guidance.

Some people may feel the need to sit in a church to receive spiritual guidance, while others find that the middle of the forest is their place. And for yet others, it is on their meditation cushion. Others find that looking at angel cards or tarot cards helps provide their connection. For others, no external tools are necessary... They simply "hear" their guidance.

Where, Oh Where, Can My Guidance Be?

There is no "one" place or no "one" way where spiritual guidance can be found.

I used to think that something was wrong with me because I had no interest in sitting for hours in meditation, as others do. I felt guilty for not being interested in doing that. Yet for me, my spiritual guidance came in the moments when I was washing the dishes, or taking a long walk down the beach, or driving alone down a long highway.


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Look for your spiritual guidance everywhere and at any time... Spiritual guidance is not restricted to one area, or one particular day, or one particular time of the day.

Guidance Is Always Right Where You Are

While you may be more open to receiving your guidance in the quiet hours of the early morning, or the late night, your spiritual guidance is always present. It is present in books that you "happen" to come across, articles you are attracted to reading, things you hear that when looked at from that perspective apply to your situation.

Perhaps if we expected to receive spiritual guidance at each and every moment of our lives instead of simply in church on Sunday, or when we sit quietly in meditation, we would receive many more messages throughout the day.

Sometimes we make the mistake of overlooking spiritual guidance because it does not come in the "package" we are expecting. Yes, your guidance is within, in the silence, and it does come from our spiritual teachers, but it is also everywhere we choose to look for it (and everywhere we don't look for it too).

Sometimes, spiritual guidance comes in the form of an overheard conversation which really has nothing to do with us, but yet when applied to our context is the perfect message for us at the moment. Everything we hear can be a spiritual message.

How To Connect With Guidance

You can try the following: Hold a question in your mind and then open a book, or even a newspaper, and let your finger fall on the page and read where your finger has "coincidentally" landed. You'll be amazed at the guidance you can find in this way.

Or, before you turn on the radio, ask the question you have in mind and expect to hear the answer when you turn on the radio, and lo and behold, the next song you hear (or the comment from the radio announcer) will be perfectly attuned to your situation.

Spiritual messages are everywhere. After all, most spiritual teachings tell us that God is everywhere, so why would the voice of God not be everywhere? It is!

It is found in the voice of children, of birds, or accidentally overheard conversations, in books that fall into our hands, in "wrong" numbers, in everything you hear, in the TV shows you watch, in the people you meet, in the people whose paths you cross in the street.

If you hear something more than once, then it may be a message for you. If you keep hearing of people having candida, or hypoglycemia, (or whatever) perhaps you need to investigate this for yourself, since perhaps, the Universe is sending you this information so you can pay attention.

Paying Attention & Asking Questions

Whatever we hear -- a song, a conversation, a story -- all are to be applied to ourselves. We can ask, how does this apply to me?

If someone tells you a story about their friend who is so angry, or righteous, or whatever, then the question is "how does this apply to me?" "Am I like this?" "Is there something I need to learn here?"

The Universe is always sending us messages but the messengers are not always wearing wings, or aren't dressed in holy robes. As a matter of fact, they usually are not wearing wings or holy vestments. Sometimes they are wearing rags and are panhandling on the corner, sometimes the messengers have an attitude and are a "royal pain", sometimes they are your next door neighbor, sometimes they are the person you like best or like least... sometimes it is that thing that REALLY REALLY aggravates you...

The spiritual guidance is all around us -- are we listening?

Recommended Book

Becoming Aware: How to Repattern Your Brain and Revitalize Your Life by Lisa Garr.Becoming Aware: How to Repattern Your Brain and Revitalize Your Life
by Lisa Garr.

Click here for more info and/or to order this book.

About The Author

Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.

Creative Commons 3.0: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. Attribute the author: Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com. Link back to the article: This article originally appeared on InnerSelf.com