Try These Pathways to Deeper Spirituality

Revitalizing Native Spirituality in Nigeria

Omitonade Ifawemimo presents as a modern-day sage, and she has made it her mission to teach and preserve the Orisha and Ifa spiritual practices, which are indigenous to the Yoruba people of Nigeria and adjoining parts of Togo and Benin. Concerned that the Orisha culture and its practices were being scorned and forgotten, Ifawemimo took to social media in an effort to educate a broader audience about indigenous Yoruba spirituality.

A Spirited Defense of Women’s Rights

She’s fighting the patriarchy via the Quran. Khadija Omari Kayanda, founder of the Pink Hijab Initiatives, is guiding hundreds of Muslim women as they launch business careers — a daring act in patriarchal Tanzania. While most local Muslim clerics advocate for traditional gender roles, Kayanda interprets the Quranic text as standing up for women’s rights, and will do verbal battle with any traditionalists who say otherwise.

A Hot Spot for Indian Gurus

A generation after Mao Zedong's Red Guards tried to cripple homegrown spiritual and philosophical strains like Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, thousands of Chinese embraced contemporary Indian spiritualism as their modern belief systems. Organizations sired by faith healers like Ravi Shankar and Mātā Amṛtānandamayī juggled commitments in India and the West with invitations to expand in China, and some of these gurus even made the country their home.

Making Meditation More Accessible

Andy Puddicombe grew up in London but, after a series of personal tragedies as a young man, he moved to Asia to become a Buddhist monk to help cope with the trauma. He’s now the co-founder of Headspace, the mindfulness and meditation app. The former monk joined an episode of The Carlos Watson Show to talk about how he began his journey and his recent television venture with Netflix.

More Than a Dance Challenge

This isn’t TikTok therapy, but it’s close. Clinical psychologist Janine Kreft works with veterans by day as a telemedicine specialist, but she’s also an emerging influencer on everyone’s favorite short-form video app. Kreft’s role-playing TikToks have proved to be a hit as she guides an audience younger than her usual clients through the ins and outs of breathing, meditation and “navigating your inner landscape.”

Breathing Properly

You do it constantly without thinking, but it’s time to take note. Breathing correctly can go a long way toward easing stress and anxiety, and most people are doing it wrong, says breathing expert James Nestor. You’re probably breathing too deeply and not using your nose enough. One trick to get on the right track? Humming for five minutes a day will increase your nitric oxide intake, which could improve your mood, circulation and more.

What activities bring you comfort and calm? Do you have a favorite way to engage in mindfulness?

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