Flex Your Spiritual Muscles: Daily Practices for Strength, Resilience, and Joy

By Dr. Katie Eastman

Most of us understand the value of exercising our bodies. We strengthen muscles, build endurance, and care for our physical health through practice and repetition. But what about our spiritual muscles? Just like physical fitness, our inner lives need strengthening. Without spiritual exercise, we can feel adrift, unmotivated, or even hopeless. With it, we gain resilience, peace, and joy — and a deeper sense of meaning every day.

Why Spiritual Muscles Matter

Spirituality is not about lofty ideals reserved for monks or mystics. It’s about the practices that give our lives purpose. It’s the reason you get out of bed in the morning, the sense of connection that steadies you in difficult times, and the values that guide your choices. When life brings loss, grief, or uncertainty, our spiritual muscles are what help us stand tall.

Psychologists like Viktor Frankl remind us that meaning is essential to our well-being. And modern research confirms it: people who regularly practice compassion, gratitude, and service not only feel happier but also experience lower stress, better health, and stronger relationships. In other words, exercising your spiritual core is as vital as caring for your body or mind.

Ways to Flex Your Spiritual Muscles

Here are simple, daily practices you can begin today:

• Pause for Presence – Take five minutes each day to retreat from the noise and simply notice your breath, your surroundings, and your inner state.

• Practice Gratitude – Write down three things you’re thankful for. Gratitude strengthens resilience by training your brain to look for what is good.

• Acts of Kindness – Intentionally do something compassionate for someone else, no matter how small. Science shows kindness boosts your own joy as much as the recipient’s.

• Clarify What Matters – Reflect on one value that feels most important to you this week. Ask yourself, how can I live this value in my daily choices?

• Connect with Nature or Spirit – Step outside, notice the sky, the earth, the trees, or spend time in prayer, meditation, or reflection. Nature and spirit both remind us we belong to something greater.

The Re-Create Model Connection

In my Re-Create model, the first steps — Retreat, Evaluate, and Clarify — are about slowing down, listening inward, and identifying what matters. These are exactly the practices that build spiritual strength. As you move through Respond, Explore, Accept, Turn, and Evolve, you’re training those muscles to respond with resilience, compassion, and purpose.

Takeaway

Just as no one becomes physically strong after one trip to the gym, no one becomes spiritually resilient after a single moment of reflection. It’s the daily choices — the quiet moments of gratitude, the gentle acts of kindness, the courage to live your values — that make your spirit strong.

Flex your spiritual muscles, and you’ll discover a source of strength that carries you not only through life’s challenges but also into a deeper, more joyful way of living.

5 Spiritual Workouts for Daily Life

1. Pause for Presence

Take 5 minutes to breathe, notice, and be still.

2. Gratitude Reps

Write down 3 things you’re thankful for today.

3. Acts of Kindness

Do one small thing for someone without expecting return.

4. Value Check-In

Pick one guiding value each week and live it daily.

5. Nature or Spirit Time

Step outside, pray, meditate, or connect with something greater.

About Dr. Katie Eastman

Dr. Katie Eastman is a psychotherapist, master grief and transition coach, and author who helps people discover peace, purpose, and resilience through life’s changes. Mentored by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, she integrates compassion, spirituality, and practical tools to guide individuals and communities in transforming loss into growth. Through her writing and teaching, Katie shares simple daily practices to strengthen our “spiritual muscles” and remind us that every challenge is also an invitation to love more deeply, live more fully, and lead with heart.

Learn more and connect with Katie at DrKatieEastman.com. She welcomes you to reach out for coaching, consulting, or speaking opportunities, and to explore resources for living and leading with compassion and purpose.