By Eric Munro

Spiritual joy is our natural state. Many religions, though, refer to deeply uplifting experiences as "supernatural." They are really not "super" but normal. It's just that most of us spend our time in a sub-natural, less than blissful state. Finding our way back to spiritual joy doesn't have to be complicated.Combining elements of key spiritual techniques produces a wondrously simple, effective practice to help one "get in the habit" of living in spiritual joy.

Consider these:

1. Loving God. This is the greatest commandment and ultimately the most practical and effective spiritual technique for communing with God in spiritual joy. Many times, though, when trying to improve ourselves, complexity enters and the greatest commandment, or call to action, is overlooked.

2. Gratitude. Every spiritual and religious tradition emphasizes gratitude. Contemporary research has documented the positive effects of gratitude.

3. Breath. Deep breathing is a mainstay of many meditation techniques. Much research has shown the positive physical and emotional effects of deep, diaphramatic breathing.

4. Mantra repetition. Mentally repeating a name of God calms the mind and helps keep it from wandering off on random thoughts.

Love breathing is a technique that combines all these.

Start by sitting (or standing) up straight, push your chest slightly out, this helps energize the heart area. Inhale deeply, but don't strain. On the inhale feel love energy come into your chest or heart area. When exhaling, mentally say "God" or some other word that is spiritually meaningful to you. On the exhale feel you and God are loving each other for an intense moment right at the end of the exhale.

Love God with deep gratitude for love. We can practice gratitude in many ways and for many things. But the greatest thing is God's love, so practice gratitude for it. Or, if it is easier at first, remember some loving feeling you felt for someone and be grateful to God for that love. God is very grateful for any love we send to God. Likewise we should be grateful for any love we receive. Loving gratitude between God and you can become wondrously self-reinforcing.

While this practice can be done anytime, it is good to dedicate at least 10 minutes a day, where all you do is the practice. Sitting down in a living room, at a park, in a car are all good locations. While walking is an excellent time to practice. In addition to a dedicated 10 minute time, commuting, shopping, standing in line are all great additional times to practice. One important concept in this practice is to coax your mind into stillness, not try to force it quickly. This can mean when you start, allow yourself to look around while love breathing, then over several minutes as you become calmer, look around less and less. Until finally you are just looking at a fixed spot and deeply sharing love with God.

With a sincere long term practice, loving God and feeling spiritual joy can become habitualized to your breath. Indeed feeling spiritual upliftment and joy can be just a few breaths away.

Eric Munro, retired from high-tech, is writing Love Breathing, Experience Divine Joy with Every Breath You Breathe. It outlines techniques that link loving God with the breath to form a practical spiritual discipline that can be utilized throughout the day. A free book draft, which further details this practice, is available for reading and downloading at www.howtoLoveGod.org.