Whether you’ve been on this journey of spiritual and self-discovery for decades or are just beginning, there may well be times when you’re so caught up in other things that you forget your foundation.

You worked so hard on meditating every day, saying your prayers, giving offerings—month after month. You show up for full-moon ceremonies prepared with your intentions and trinkets. You understand all the concepts of what you are doing but lack the teeth to digest the information; that is why you are stuck in the same energetic space, ritual after ritual, meditation after meditation. You are doing all the motions, but cannot absorb spirit.

You fell into a spiritual routine that became mindless like everything else you place into a routine. You time everything and feel anxious because you have a clock to race against, forgetting that time is nothing but a mirage. You are coasting on this journey, missing the deep meaning and experiences that your journey has to offer you.

Ask yourself, am I fully present when I am in meditation or prayer? Am I rushing through my healing practice? Am I approaching my spiritual practice as a task? Is my spiritual practice just another thing to check off my to-do list? When we are coasting by, we tend to forget the source of our abundance—our spiritual support system. We focus on the bills, work, friends, world news, money. We forget that our spirit is to be nurtured first. This is nonnegotiable for all of us. We must nurture ourselves first before we can be of service to anyone or anything on this earth.

When you sit with your spirit and listen with your whole being, do you feel a shift in you each and every time? You should. Spirit will create a shift in you each and every time, but if you are coasting by, you will not feel a shift. You will be focused on looking for the smoke and mirrors with a splash of Hollywood theatrics. You begin to expect more from spirit as you give less and close your heart and ears to the guidance you were just asking for. You find it impossible to digest the truth that spirit gives you and resist all spiritual guidance because the truth is not in your written plan. Sometimes the truth will bruise your ego before it will feed it.

Our journey to our individual destiny will always have ups and downs. It is how we handle these moments that determines if we are elevating or setting ourselves back. We have a choice to stay in the vibration that is not serving us or elevate. Elevation means getting deeper in touch with our purpose and our spiritual team and less in touch with the worldly things that create confusion and distractions that lead us to coasting by in all areas of our life.

We can all recognize when we are coasting by or if we are fully present in our life and spiritual practice.

Here are five ways to reset your spiritual practice and get refocused:

1. Focus killer. Sometimes we can find inspiration from social media, but most of the time, it is a distraction from our goals and tasks, like cleaning the bathroom and washing those dishes that have been sitting in our sink for the last three days.

Social media is also loud. Just think you wake up and grab your cellphone to check the latest TikTok trend, someone crying into the camera, and the newest celebrity gossip all before you even get up to brush your teeth and wash your behind. Before you know it, you have to rush out the door or to your home office, feeling out of alignment and ungrounded. You’ve successfully set yourself up to be behind on your day and anxious the rest of the day. You didn’t even have the time to clear your mind, meditate, anoint yourself, and set the tone for the day.

Social media will gladly set the tone of your day if you let it. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather sit with my higher self for 20 minutes than see a bunch of Gen-Z bots performing painful dance trends. Social media fasting is a blessing. Just think how quiet your days will be, how much more focused and Zen you will start and end your days. It feels good; try it.

2. Practice the art of silence. Just shut up and sit. Close your eyes and listen to all sounds around you; breathe and listen to the rhythm of your breadth. Shut off all the electronics, remove the distractions, and listen to nature; go deeper and you will hear and feel the hum of the earth. It takes practice to sit in silence. You may find that you are fidgety, or easily distracted by noises or intrusive thoughts. Sitting in silence is a practice in itself.

It takes time to work through those blockages that stop us from experiencing the beauty of silence. When we cherish the silence, we can hear what our body and spirit need from us. We can process our lives when we take moments to practice silence. The key is to push through the distractions, breathe, recalibrate, and set the intention to be silent for however long we need. Eventually, we will grow from minutes of silence to hours and even days. There is peace in the loud silence. We can digest the word from spirit when we are silent and clearheaded.

3. Clean up. We cannot focus on anything if we are sitting in clutter. Part with your old clothes that you haven’t worn in a year, get rid of your “depression” wardrobe…you know what I am talking about! Energy needs to flow through your space. If you have items that are worth consignment, you can make a few bucks in the process! Clean your home with non-toxic disinfectants, open the windows, and let the light shine in. Refresh and reset your altar.

Cleaning up also means cleaning your body and head/hair thoroughly. Yes, that also means scrub your legs and feet. Wash your body and cleanse your aura daily. We can shift our mood and focus with a clean slate, literally.

4. Stop worrying about what other people think of you. The quicker we learn and digest this, the easier it is to focus on our journey. The more information someone has about our life, the more opinions they have. That is our fault for seeking validation from other people.

Look within, and you will see where other people’s opinions have held you back from taking that leap, going on the trip, or starting that business. Other people’s opinions have created doubt in you. Stop living to please other people, and live to please yourself. Be consistent to your needs and goals. Stop giving people the fuel they need to pour their insecurities and jealousy over you.

Boundaries are your best friend when regaining your focus and peace. Once you sincerely don’t care what other people think of you, you will discover a much happier, freer version of you.

5. Practice grace. Don’t be so hard on yourself; we all have hiccups. Grace is a resting place. Give yourself a moment to take accountability; take a look in the mirror and evaluate your all in all things. We need to dust ourselves off and process how we can learn from all that life has given us. Check how you showed up for your loved ones. Do you give them grace or do you respond from a place of vengeance and run to do “harm magic” to “get back” at people for not doing what you want? Spirit has given you grace over and over again; check yourself.

I hope this helps with getting you to a deeper place in your spiritual journey. We don’t need to coast by anything; we have the power to shift and be present for every moment of this journey.

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