YOU'RE GROUNDED: SPIRITUALITY TRULY LIVES IN THE BRAIN

IS THERE ACTUALLY A BRAIN CIRCUIT FOR SPIRITUALITY? DO WE ALL HAVE THIS? RESEARCHErS HAVE ACTUALLY IDENTIFIED ONE!

I’ve never been one for religious concepts or even for spirituality if I’m really honest, and I’m not alone in this. I grew up surrounded by different cultures and religions and although I’ve always had an open mind when it came to appreciating these concepts, my mind was also fairly closed when it came to having a deeper understanding or connection with them.

I then pushed all thoughts of religion and spirituality away completely after losing my mother - someone had to take the blame in my young mind and religion / spirituality seemed like the best and only true culprit. It wasn’t a big break up as we’d never been close so there was no trauma there. It was more a whispered goodbye and I was off.

Fast-forward to this year when I was accepted into my new big adventure (becoming a meditation facilitator) and one of the first books that we were told to consume was THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS - HUSTON SMITH. It was interesting to notice the feelings that came up, 2 parts resistance vs 1 part curiosity. I was committed though so I jumped into it. Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a story about finding religion at all. What this is, is a journey of curiosity. This was a subject that years earlier I would have refused to entertain, firmly. Now however with the right teacher, a bit more time growing up and two kids later I was finally ready to at the very least have an open mind. I loved it.

Interestingly, it hasn’t swayed me towards a religion but now, with a new perspective and an open mind I can say that I was able to look at different religions with curiosity and see the wisdom that each had. We had a reading list of both specific religions and Huston Smith’s book and whether it was my new perspective or a carefully curated list I really connected with the different ideas and could also see the similarities.

Since I read these books my interest has landed on how we as humans use and need spirituality and the fact that science is even proving that there is a brain circuit for spirituality and religious beliefs. To me, the importance of this information is that these are topics that I want to explore more and understand the importance of having such beliefs. I don’t believe that this means that we all need to subscribe to a religion, to me what it signifies is understanding what spirituality means to us as individuals and deepening whatever supporting practices to cultivate this. For me, more and more I’m finding spirituality in nature, creativity and even in my kids.