For years, I considered myself to be agnostic, and I never put much faith into anything that couldn’t be explained by science.  However, over the past year or two, I’ve gone on such an intense spiritual journey that I can now say that I believe in something much higher than myself. Before this awakening, I was riddled with self-doubt, anxiety, and the smallest things made me feel insecure. The lessons I’ve learned have helped me to alleviate my anxiety and depression almost completely. Now, when a negative thought appears, I can let it go like a leaf floating down the stream. Even during the craziness of the pandemic, I feel more mentally healthy than I have been in my entire life. I’m still human, and I still make mistakes. But I am much better at knowing how to raise your vibration.

I’m not here to push any particular program or guru on you. The truth is that your spiritual growth comes from inside of you. You don’t need any singular religion, leader, or program to create true joy and peace in life. Giving too much power over your happiness to a single person is never good, and it should never cost a lot of money to find healing. Here is how to be your own spiritual guru and raise your vibration from the comfort of home.

Don’t Pay a Fortune to Get Good Advice

Unfortunately, there are a lot of so-called gurus out there who are looking to take advantage of people who are seeking spiritual guidance about how to raise their vibration. In the past, people spent thousands of dollars to go to conferences and weekend retreats led by life coaches. Sometimes the information and connections genuinely helped people, and it was the catalyst of change when they returned home. However, most other times, it’s a thinly veiled cult or scam. I’ve met plenty of people who have gone to an event, and it only served to inflate their ego. The truth is that you really don’t need to pay a lot of money for good advice. 

Some of the most life-changing and helpful information out there is content I’ve found online for free. Start by finding some YouTube videos, blogs, books, and audio books. If you live in the United States, your local library should be connected to apps called Hoopla and Overdrive that allows you to download free eBooks and audiobooks. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook of Many Lives, Many Masters by Dr. Brian L. Weiss. He is a psychiatrist who does hypnosis to help his patients uncover childhood traumas. One day, he discovered that one of his patients was having a past life regression. Even if you don’t believe in past lives, the lessons you learn about humanity from Dr. Weiss’ books are life change.

Believe Anything is Possible

For a moment, I want you to think about when you first learned how to ride a bike. Maybe you complained, and said, “I can’t do it!” to your parents out of fear. Since your parents could both ride a bike, they knew it was easy. They were confident that you could ride a bike, so they encouraged you to keep trying until you succeeded. As soon as you learned how to ride a bike, it became second nature. Now, you can teach that skill to your own children. What would have happened if your parents never taught you? You would grow to be so old, you’d be afraid of even trying to ride a bike. Or worse- What if your parents discouraged you from believing it was possible? 

This is like anything in life. If your parents support you, it’s likely you went after your dreams. But if they never experienced that path before, they would be too scared to let you try, because they don’t want you to fall on your face. First and foremost, you need to open up your mind to the possibility that you can be happy, healthy, and successful at doing whatever you want. You wouldn’t be dreaming of something if it wasn’t your destiny. And for a lot of you, denying yourself from living your dream will only make depression and anxiety worse. If you don’t believe something is possible for you, it won’t come true. Just like riding a bike, you need to believe that your goals are possible. People in your life might try to discourage you from following your dreams. But as soon as you begin to believe in yourself, your journey to success can finally begin. 

Pay Attention to Your Triggers

Most of the time, pain, anxiety, and depression leads people to seek help from spirituality. Unfortunately, there isn’t any particular religion or spiritual belief that will provide you a quick fix. Many religions teach the same lessons of “the golden rule”, which is to treat others as you would treat yourself. Unfortunately, a lot of us don’t treat ourselves very well. You’re going to have to work on those mental health issues either with a therapist, or by yourself. One of the most important steps in the process is to identify your triggers. Once you know what triggers your anxiety and depression, you can learn to avoid those things in your daily life. Be kind to yourself, and don’t subject yourself to that pain.

For example, if you realize that driving on a busy highway is a trigger for fear and anxiety, try to find an alternate route to work through the back roads. Maybe it will take you an extra 10 to 20 minutes of commute time, so you’ll need to leave at an earlier time. But if it can alleviate your anxiety, it’s worth it. As long as you’re not hurting anyone else, don’t let someone embarrass or shame you into doing what’s best for your mental health. 

Embrace Daily Meditation

Something that provides immediate relief to anxiety is meditation. My favorite is Deepak Chopra, whose voice instantly makes me feel more calm and relaxed. Here at Inspiring Home, we already provided a list of free meditations on YouTube. If you meditate every day, you’re going to notice a significant change in your stress levels. Some meditations, like Deepak Chopra’s 21 Days of Abundance, even have a magical quality of helping you reach your goals. Every single person I know has had money fall into their lap, get a new job offer, or something else amazing happen while they do the meditation. Is it a coincidence? I don’t know. But I highly recommend you try it anyway, because it still helps change your mindset around money, wealth, and abundance.

Keep a Journal

Sometimes, it can be difficult to really see how much progress you’ve made in the present moment. It’s easy to get down on yourself and think that you’re not good enough at something, not making enough money, or whatever the issue may be. So if you want to track your progress in your journey of self-improvement, it might be a good idea to keep a journal. A journal can be a safe space to completely purge all of the thoughts you have in your mind. Personally, I use mine to release all of the deepest, darkest thoughts that I would never say out loud. This can be very therapeutic. Unfortunately, I usually only feel like writing in my journal if I need to vent about something negative. When I’m happy, I don’t feel the need to write it down. Because of this, I destroyed most of the journals once they are full, because I realized I need to let the past go.

Now that I’m 31, I’m thinking about how my journals would look to my future children. I want them to have something that’s appropriate to look at and see my progress without seeing all of the drama. So I’m working on keeping a journal that is more like a diary of daily events. I’ll note both the good and the bad, and decorate it with photos, stickers, and fun backgrounds like a scrapbook. You can keep a journal about anything- a purge diary, a dream diary, a planner…Whatever you want. Write a book about your life. It can be fun.

Remember to Stay Grounded

Sometimes, when we get excited about spirituality and our vibrations are higher than normal, it’s easy to become obsessed. It can feel so good, you might want to convince others to join you. But in reality, not everyone is going to be open to hearing it. As someone with great intuition and an active third eye, I have predictions come true all the time. I’ve reached this point where almost every day brings a new synchronicity that tells me that I’m on the right path. It feels magical, and wonderful. But I still need to live in the real world and interact with people who might not necessarily be on the same vibration. It’s important to be grounded. 

Even before my spiritual journey, I still needed to stay grounded. It’s so easy to get caught up in your own thoughts, fears, and anxiety to the point where it consumes you. Take a deep breath, and remind yourself that you are here, alive right now. If you’re alive and breathing, you are blessed. And so long as you exist in this world, you have the opportunity to turn things around.

Give Love

Most mental illness stems from a lack of love…Either a lack of love for yourself, or a lack of love you received as a child. Sadly, you might be in a situation where you can’t find people who are willing to give you the love you’re seeking. This can lead to depression, and put you in a very dark place. And it’s exactly why some people fall victims to cult leaders, because they use a tactic called “love bombing”. The moment you want to leave, they try to rob you of that love, and may even try to isolate you from your own family. I don’t want anyone to fall victim to it.

Remember that love is limitless. You will never run out, because it’s always possible to make more. If you’re feeling unloved, begin by giving love to others. Reach out to family and friends. Send them a gift, text message, or email of appreciation. And if you’re truly without options to reach out to people, giving love could come in the form of volunteering at an animal shelter, and giving love to orphaned dogs and cats. Animals can teach you a lot about unconditional love, forgiveness, and loyalty. Once you begin creating and giving love to others, you’ll begin to notice that you’ll finally receive love again. And once that love is back in your life, you’ll feel your mental anguish begin to fade.