When many of us hear the phrase “spiritual practice” we automatically think of monks hiding away from the world, an ashram in India, or spending our whole lives in silent meditation and mindfulness. Renowned author and speaker Philip Goldberg is here to tell us that though spiritual practice can be, and is, all of those things, it’s also a habit we can bring to our crazy everyday lives as parents, students, employees, and people in the 21st century. 

On this episode of The Sidewalk Talk podcast, Traci chats with Philip on all things spiritual practice, drawing heavily on his newest, and increasingly relevant, book, Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times. Throughout their conversation the two debunk some of the most common stereotypes many of us have about spiritual practice, go over some of Philip’s favorite and most practical ways to integrate a spiritual practice into your life, and discuss appropriation in spiritual practice and how to best honor the cultures and peoples some of our most common spiritual practices come from. 

Spiritual practices are not something far off and unattainable for most of us. Instead, they’re so needed in our increasing crazy world, maybe now more than ever. We hope you find this conversation enlightening and thought-provoking—one that inspires you to start, or continue on, in your own spiritual practice of choice. 

Episode Timeline:

• [00:07] Intro 

• [01:01] Meet Philip 

• [03:26] Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times 

• [05:17] Debunking the stereotypes of spiritual practice 

• [11:42] Relationship between spiritual life and anger 

• [16:41] Philip’s practical spiritual practices 

• [25:00] Bringing intentionality to your spiritual practice 

• [27:43] Surrendering ego in service as a spiritual practice 

• [29:48] Appropriation in spiritual practice 

• [40:24] Philip’s word for you

• [43:52] Outro 

Resources Mentioned:

• Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times: Practical tools to cultivate calm, clarity, and courage 

• The Life of Yogananda: The story of the yogi who became the first modern guru 

• American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to yoga and meditation how Indian spirituality changed the west  

Standout Quotes:

• “I’m unconventional in that I honor the individuality of everybody’s spiritual perspective and spiritual past and happily draw from anything that works.”
  —Philip Goldberg 

• “Spiritual practices give us a stronger foundation of strength, and inner stability, and calmness of mind so that we can engage in the world without losing our stability, thereby being more effective.”
  —Philip Goldberg 

• “Whether something is spiritual depends as much on what you bring to it as the thing itself.”
  —Philip Goldberg 

• “Are the teachings being transmitted with integrity? Or are they being diluted, and distorted, and corrupted for commercial purposes?”
  —Philip Goldberg 

• “Deep within yourselves, deep within all of us, at our core, our essence, is a sanctuary of peace and a fortress of strength. There are many methods through which we can access that sanctuary on a regular basis and as needed. By doing so we can bring more of the best parts of ourselves, our love, our compassion, our inner peace, our joy, our openness, our empathy to the world and to the other people we connect with.”
  —Philip Goldberg  

Connect:

Find | Sidewalk Talk 
At sidewalk-talk.org
On Instagram: @sidewalktalkorg
On Twitter: @sidewalktalkorg

Find | Traci Ruble
At Traciruble.com
On Instagram: @TraciRubleMFT
On Twitter: @TraciRubleMFT
On Facebook: @TraciRubleMFT

Find | Philip Goldberg 
At Philipgoldberg.com 
On Facebook: @PhilipGoldbergAuthor 
On Twitter: @phil_amveda
On Instagram: @philipgoldbergauthor 
On YouTube: Philip Goldberg 

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