4 ways to incorporate spirituality into your work

“At its best, work provides the ability to support ourselves and our loved ones, as well as meaning, opportunities for growth, and community,” according to the U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing.

But as many of us know, work often doesn’t work “at its best.”

According to the World Health Organization, job burnout is characterized by feeling drained or exhausted by work, feelings of detachment from work including cynicism, and reduced job effectiveness. It seems to be increasingly common: For example, a recent national survey of U.S. workers found that more than half (57%) reported experiencing at least moderate job burnout.

Work stress and burnout often stem from factors outside of our control. But is there anything we can do to cope with work-related challenges? Is there anything we can do to thrive?

Something many of us don’t often think about is how the spiritual parts of our lives relate to work. About 86 percent of American adults report being at least somewhat spiritual, and for those who incorporate spirituality into their work, research shows there are significant benefits. For example, a recent research review said that workplace spirituality “has great potential to impact workers and organizations in meaningful ways, fostering integrated (rather than divided) lives, and improving individual and organizational well-being.”

Below are four suggestions for incorporating spirituality into your work in meaningful ways.

1. Seek awe to deal with work-related stress and burnout.

As mentioned above, work can cause significant stress, trauma, and even burnout. Awe is a helpful emotion that many of us associate with our spiritual lives. In fact, researchers have consistently found that awe reduces stress.

So before work, during our breaks, after work, or when we have time off, we can intentionally seek and address awe. For example, we can go into nature and intentionally focus on what feels most beautiful to us that takes us outside of our current frame of reference. We can use our imagination to deepen the transcendence of our experience and dedicate time to connecting with sacred texts. We can go to a spiritual gathering or a place that is sacred to us and focus on the vastness that uplifts us.

This habit of reverence helps us to shift our attention away from ourselves and our troubles and respond in a more focused and effective way at work.

2. Show compassion for the people you work with.

Some of the most difficult experiences we have happen when we feel at odds with the people we work with. Compassion is a value that connects with spirituality that can shift our perspective, and one that many of us can relate to.

For example, in loving-kindness meditation, you can take the time to remember those who are struggling at work and offer them good wishes, such as:

“rest assured.”
“May you feel content.”
“May you be strong.”
“Live in peace.”

Doing this may help you have greater empathy for what other people are going through, which can make it easier to let go of difficult emotions and deal with them with kindness and respect, leading to more peaceful and productive patterns of interaction.

3. See your work as your calling.

Researchers have identified three common ways that individuals approach work: vocation, career, and calling. Approaching work as a vocation tends to result in lower work-life satisfaction, while approaching work as a calling tends to result in higher work-life satisfaction.

Finding a calling in our work means connecting our abilities, passions, and values ​​to ways to help people or make the world a better place. Frederick Buechner put this in theological terms: “The place where God calls you is the place where your deepest joy and the world’s deepest hunger meet.” Theologian Deanna Thompson, who has survived stage IV cancer for more than 15 years, suggests broadening this notion of “joy” to include experiences of pain and suffering. In other words, it may be the grief, trauma, or deep anger we have experienced that calls us to work. These anguish, too, can sensitize us to how we can use our work to effect positive change.

Viewing work as a calling allows us to focus more on what brings meaning and purpose to our work.

4. Be grateful for good things at work.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the challenges we face at work, but for the most part, there’s also a lot of good stuff in work life.

Being grateful in the workplace can be as simple as taking the time to acknowledge to ourselves when something good happens and who or what made it happen. When someone we work with has a positive impact on us, we can express our gratitude verbally, by email, or with a handwritten card.

One systematic gratitude habit is to set aside time regularly to savor, share, or write down three good things and thank the source that made those good things possible. Practicing this habit with your work role in mind can help broaden your perspective and increase positive feelings about your job.

Like reverence, compassion, and a sense of duty, gratitude is a key aspect of many of our approaches to spirituality. Mystic Meister Eckhart said, “If the only prayer you ever pray in your life was ‘Thank you,’ it would be enough.”

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Work challenges can be painful and debilitating, and it may seem simplistic to suggest that spiritual thinking might help, but research shows that feelings of awe, compassion, purpose, and gratitude are powerful forces that increase happiness and help people grow.

Do any new ideas emerge from this? Is there any aspect of your spirituality that you would like to use to better thrive at work?

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