Spiritual Vices : Are You ‘Too’ Spiritual In Your Journey?

Our spiritual practices can become a slippery slope, if we become too involved, losing focus of the truth we had initially set out to seek. Through this post, let’s look at some common spiritual vices. In writing this article, I hope to inspire you to take a few steps back and reflect on the toll these seemingly spiritual activities might be taking on your spiritual development.

#1 – Astrology

There’s a neverending debate between Free Will and Destiny (here’s my take).

The truth is that many of us find comfort in knowing our future. And astrology can help bring us the hope we may not have for ourselves.

Another fundamental truth is, the future cannot be fully ‘predicted’.

There are some elements that are meant to be a part of our soul’s learning plan (destiny). And then there are other factors such as free will and environmental influence that can shape our reality.

As a spiritual seeker, here’s the most powerful thing you can use astrology for: discover your weaknesses and then do the inner work it takes to heal them. It is quite literally possible to change your destiny, even if your natal chart says otherwise! I know so many people that fought their death and came back with sheer willpower.

If you struggle to “trust the process”, here are some reflection questions:

• How can you deepen your trust in your own ability to overcome any of life’s challenges?
• Even if you found out that the outcome is not in your favor, would you still show up, or would you give up?
• Does your spiritual faith rely on the misconception that the Universe will grant you anything, just because you are a sincere spiritual seeker?

Related Read: 5 tips to surrender and trust the process

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#2 – Hypnotherapy

Just as your future cannot be fully known, neither can your complete past.

There is a powerful story from Hindu mythology about a revered King, who could see into his past lives. He had many gifts and powers, but in the end, he lay on his deathbed, on a pile of arrows. And when God Krishna came to him, the King asked why he was going through this tormenting death? For in all of his past 100 lives, he couldn’t spot the reason.

Krishna conveyed that there was a lifetime even before those 100 past lives, which brought this fate to the King.

The truth is, if we were really meant to remember everything that ever happened to us, we would. There must (and is) an important reasoning behind why we’re only carrying our lessons across lifetimes, and not the in-depth memories.

We have intentionally picked this soul amnesia effect for our spiritual development.

Of course, there are glimpses that can resurface through dreams and past life regression. And these can certainly heal many traumas or bring clarity about our karmic debts. But, it’s vital not to get fixated on the past.

We don’t need to remember our past lives or our traumas to heal them.

We are always healing and evolving, whether we are conscious of it or not.

Being stuck in our past is not just one of our spiritual vices, it’s also a sign that our nervous system doesn’t feel safe in the present. The encouragement here is to work on healing your nervous system so that you are not coping by hiding in the past. If you need a professional resource to guide your nervous system healing, I’m happy to be your coach!

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#3 – Angel Numbers, Feathers & Signs

There was a time when I would constantly make notes in my email drafts about the signs and synchronicities I saw. So much so that I would write down nearly 20-30 signs a day!

I was finally brought to my senses when I visited my first healer.

Whether from physical beings or astral ones, if we are seeking validation, we have lost our inner sense of knowing. So, the opportunity here is to come back to our truth.

As the healer went on to say, the most organic way to build our intuitive strength and become grounded is through inner work. Like having a solid meditation practice that helps you be less ‘shaken’.

He was right. For as long as I kept waiting for some sign to do or not do something, I never fully felt sure. I would often become resentful when the guidance and my life wouldn’t match.

My true journey home only began when I stopped seeking validation from my spiritual vices and started going within.

If you can meditate, do it more intentionally, especially when you feel stuck. And if you’re not a fan of meditation, you can also explore these other spiritual practices that can help deepen the inner work.

Also, here’s another article I’ve written to help you strengthen your intuitive muscles.

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#4 – Psychic Senses

I see a lot of hype around the Clair senses. I do believe in them, I am a clairsentient and clairvoyant myself, but as one of my favorite Spiritual teachers, Caroline Myss says, we have to live with ALL 10 of our senses – 5 physical, 5 clair.

This means, to me, that we can’t put our psychic senses on a pedestal.

Think about it. Would you still enjoy life, if you lost your sense of taste and could no longer enjoy the food you ate, but you could definitely see in the future through your mind’s eye that you will get more delicious food to eat?!

Jokes aside, it’s vital to not go overboard in activating psychic senses.

For some it’s a gift they naturally seem to ‘have’, others develop it over years of practice.

But so many times, people that are chasing these senses and using them for their own benefit can actually start becoming afraid of their spiritual journey. It isn’t uncommon; you’ll be surprised how many people quit meditation because they don’t know what to do with their now heavily activated psychic senses.

Also, focusing too much on building psychic senses can be another sign that we are using escapism to cope with reality. Once again, the encouragement is to fall in love with being here, in the now. And to use the powerful clair senses we have to meaningfully add to our experience, not take us away from it.

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#5 – Knowledge (versus Wisdom)

I was obsessed with reading spiritual books when my journey first began! Which is why I’ve recommended dozens and dozens of them on the blog. But I eventually felt like they were all saying the same thing.

I then began to realize that I was reading, but I wasn’t internalizing the truth.

Of course, reading books and learning from esteemed teachers is important. AND this knowledge should help us tap into our inner wisdom, not replace it. Spending countless hours reading or watching lectures is not enough. We must incorporate knowledge into daily action.

Otherwise, it leads us to something called spiritual bypassing. Where we might talk about all the “spiritual woo-woo” and seem really wise until something triggers us and we flip like a switch!

Our experiences are unique and we ultimately want to be able to write the books we read, from our lens. The quality of our inner wisdom should be enough to overflow if we were to write about our experiences.

Since this article is your current resource for knowledge, let’s do a check-in.

Ask yourself this: how can you practically apply a few tips that you’ve learned from this article? Be very specific and I might as well challenge you here to visualize yourself putting these steps into practice. What would that look like? And how would your life be different if you actually implemented some of the stuff being shared here?

I’d love to hear your insights in the comments below!

Concluding Thoughts

At the end of the day, there is such a thing as being too spiritual. As Hippocrates said: “Everything in excess is opposed to nature”.

We are so blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful ancient tools and practices. And when we start using a tool as a crutch, it can become a spiritual vice. I jokingly make a parallel example here: it’s like taking medicine for a sore tummy that has a side effect of stomach pain!

Excited to hear how you slow down and go deep within YOU. That’s where the real magic is, anyway. *Wink*

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