The Best Spiritual Hobbies for Spiritual Growth and Non-dual Experiences
Written by Kirsti Formoso,
MSc. Transpersonal Psychology, BSc. Psychology
There are things in life that take us closer to our spiritual dimension and things that distract us. If you're serious about your spiritual path, finding spiritual hobbies you can adopt will help you find inner peace faster.
Since time began, human beings have developed spiritual practices that focus the mind and train it to be still. It is in this stillness that we find inner peace, spiritual experience, and well-being.
But spiritual practices are not the only path to spiritual growth. In this article, I'll share with you some surprising hobbies that have the same effect on the brain as spiritual practices, contributing to our overall spirituality.
INTRODUCTION TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH
As human beings, we're constantly learning and evolving. It's our nature to grow and transform. And because we're multi-dimensional, our development happens across different dimensions. For example, we can evolve emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually.
Spiritual growth happens whether we intentionally engage in spiritual practices or not. Research has shown that as we get older, we become more transcendent. But we can speed up that process in our daily life by actively engaging in hobbies and practices that help us to transcend our egos and grow spiritually.
CULTIVATING THE SPIRITUAL SELF
Our spiritual selves are sort of hidden behind a lot of noise that is generated in the brain. All that noise is normal for us in modern society, as we focus externally on success and wealth as fundamental to our survival. The more we focus externally, the more we disconnect from our spiritual selves and orient ourselves to our egos.
Our spiritual journey is the journey back to the true self. And that involves stilling the mind, connecting with a higher power, rewiring how our brain functions, transcending the ego, and cultivating the spiritual self.
We do this through spiritual hobbies and practices. In this article, I'm focusing on spiritual hobbies, but you can also look at my blog about spiritual practices for more ideas on cultivating the spiritual self.
NEUROSCIENCE OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Spiritual practices developed within spiritual traditions are designed to promote spiritual growth. They help us to transcend and master our egos and connect with our true selves.
Recently, neuroscientists have discovered that these practices affect our brains, literally rewiring them. You can read my blog, How Meditation Changes Your Brain and Improves Well-being, to find out more about that.
The point is that spiritual growth is a process of neuroplasticity. Spiritual practices and hobbies rewire our brains. You might reject what I'm saying because it sounds like I'm dismissing the sacred, the essence and the truth. But I'm not dismissing the essence of spirituality, hear me out.
All this neuroplasticity does is put the brain in a state that is more conducive to connecting with our spiritual dimension.
If you've heard of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, this is what is happening. The psychedelic compounds put our brain in a state that is more conducive to having a mystical experience. It's the psychedelic mystical experience that is at the core of the healing.
THE FLOW STATE
Neuroscientists have figured out the neurocorrelates of the mystical or non-dual state. That means we know how the brain should look at any given time for spiritual consciousness to arise.
They've also established that it doesn't matter how we get there. Whether that's through psychedelics, meditation or some other means.
The flow state (Mihály Csíkszentmihályi) is a state of consciousness that shares many similarities to the neural correlates of the non-dual state. This suggests that the flow state could prime our brains for the non-dual state.
So let's look at what hobbies encourage the flow state.
SPIRITUAL HOBBIES
Any hobby that you enjoy that keeps you super focused and in the present moment should, in theory, promote spiritual development through neuroplasticity.
🔶 Music Performance
Being totally absorbed in playing an instrument is a great way to encourage neural plasticity for spiritual growth. The more skill you have, the more likely you are to go into a state of flow. While musicians experience flow state when performing solo, this state is also common amongst drumming groups where the beat takes them into a sort of altered state of consciousness.
🔶 Sports
Many people in sports refer to this as getting in the zone. You don't have to be a professional athlete to experience flow during sports. Once you have a certain level of skill, enjoy the sport, and focus on what you're doing, you'll naturally go into flow state. At first, it may be glimpses of flow, but with continued practice, the flow state will become more natural to you.
🔶 Martial Arts
Martial arts is a type of sport that is most similar to the practices of spiritual traditions and is really rooted in spiritual traditions. Like other spiritual practices, they often involve a focus on breath, meditation and discipline.
🔶 Games and Gaming
This is probably the most surprising spiritual hobby on the list, and you're probably wondering why it's here at all. Now, I don't know anything about gaming except that some are pretty violent, but nevertheless, the total focus, skill and challenge involved mean gamers often enter the flow state. There is even one game that was specifically designed to get you into the state of flow. Designed by Jenova Chen for his master's thesis, it's aptly called Flow.
🔶 Creative Expression
Creative expression, such as writing, painting, sculpting, or other artistic pursuits, frequently induces flow due to its intrinsic motivation, challenge-skill balance, and immersive nature.
🔶 Connecting with Nature
Research suggests that about 30% of mystical experiences happen in nature. Doing activities and hobbies that require total absorption and focus, as well as skill and challenge in nature, will have a powerful effect on your spiritual growth and prime the brain for a non-dual state. Things like climbing and surfing come to mind, but I'm sure you can think of more.
SPIRITUAL ACTIVITIES AND SELF-CARE
The great thing about these activities is that they not only develop your spiritual life but they also have a positive effect on other dimensions, like physical, when it comes to sport and martial arts, and emotional health, when it comes to creative expression and being in nature.
Research has consistently shown that the activities I've mentioned are beneficial for mental health. For example
Just 20 minutes of nature can lower cortisol.
Music training reduces depression and anxiety symptoms.
Martial arts training reduces anxiety and improves emotional regulation.
Regular physical activity can lead to a 20-30% reduction in depression risk.
Even gaming in moderation has been shown to improve well-being.
🔶 READING SPIRITUAL BOOKS 🔶
While I'm not sure that reading spiritual books puts you in a state of flow, they are very powerful and make a great hobby for anyone on their spiritual journey. Spending time reading books like Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now, The Imitation of Christ, or The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali can guide us along the spiritual journey by helping us:
understand spiritual concepts
stay focused on spiritual development
engage in personal reflection and self-inquiry
develop a deeper connection
know God
understand spiritual philosophy
create deeper meaning in our lives
correct erroneous beliefs
improve relationships
have revelations
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE IN EVERYDAY LIFE
In truth, anything can be a spiritual practice. It's not just activities that get you into a state of flow that can be used for your spiritual growth. I spent many years splitting my time between working in the superyacht industry and staying at ashrams. I can't think of two more polar opposite environments, but they were both important aspects of my spiritual journey.
The decadence, opulence and luxury yachts that frequented the playgrounds of the rich and famous versus the very basic, earthy, simple, and disciplined ahsrams. And yet, there was so much overlap between the two.
In the ashram and on the yacht, I didn't get to choose who I shared a room with, what I ate day to day, or what I did. I cleaned toilets in the ashram, and I cleaned toilets on the boat. I followed orders in both environments and had little control over my life.
Seeing this overlap, I carried my ashram mindset back to the yacht. The yachts became my ashram. I practised mindfulness, acceptance, surrender, service and duty. Anything can be a spiritual practice.
Today I play a lot of pickleball. Twice a week, at my local club, they hold an open play. I love watching both mine and other people's egos. If you lose, you go down a court; if you win, you go up a court. No one wants to be on the bottom courts. They all think they're better than they are. And I include myself in this. It's funny to watch my ego battling with reality. It is my spiritual practice. Observing, mindfully, the inner workings of my mind. Practising gratitude, humility, surrender and lightheartedness.
SPIRITUAL HOBBIES LEAD TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH
If we choose to live a spiritual life, everything we do becomes a spiritual practice. This is what we call informal practice. But part of the spiritual path is discipline. The discipline of formal practice. Make your spiritual hobby a discipline for the best outcome. Something you do on a regular basis. The more you do it, the more brain plasticity takes place, the more likely you are to have a non-dual or spiritual experience, and come to know the spiritual self, the true self, the place of inner peace.
Explore More About Spiritual Growth
Want to expand your knowledge and understanding? Check out these articles:
How Meditation Changes Your Brain And Improves Well-being
How Do You Start Your Spiritual Journey? A Guide to Finding Your Path
