Take time out

Going away on the occasional retreat can be regenerating and can give a new perspective on life. Too busy for a weekend retreat? Take a quiet day for reflection, or spend a few hours alone. Retreats can help you to re-orientate your life and develop a greater spiritual awareness. The Quaker Richard Foster, in his bestselling The Celebration of Discipline, suggests the practice of withdrawing four times a year for three to four hours each time with the purpose of reorienting your life goals. "Think about what you want to have accomplished one year from now, or ten years from now," Foster writes. "Set realistic goals but be willing to dream, to stretch."

Make an inventory

It can be amazing how much you accumulate in the space of a year. In Finding Happiness Abbot Christopher Jamison explains that Benedictine monks are asked each Lent to make an inventory of everything they have acquired in the past year and to note whether they actually need it not. If they don’t, they give the item to the abbot. Jamison writes: "I recommend this practice to everybody; it is a wonderful way to heighten self-awareness about material possessions, is quite liberating and you may be amazed to discover what you don’t need."

Meditate

What with the credit crunch and looming recession, it's only natural to feel anxious about finance and future security. Try putting some time aside each day to meditate to alleviate stress and worry. Meditation allows you to take control of the mind so that it becomes peaceful and focused. There are many ways to do this, for example, quietly sit down, and allow your body to be still, put your mind at ease, and simply allow thoughts to freely come and go. Another technique is to focus on a particular object such as a candle flame or a flower. Meditation does not necesssarily mean keeping still - walking meditation is a popular Zen way of meditation. Other faiths favour meditation through repetitive prayer using beads or prayer wheels. Early in the morning when the mind is at its best, fresh and calm, can often bring the inspiration and focus needed for meditation.

Get creative

Brighten up the winter months with a new hobby. Try out something creative: painting, cookery, or taking up a musical instrument. Julia Cameron, author of the bestseller The Artists' Way writes that creativity is a spiritual experience, and that when we create things we forge a creative alliance, artist-to-artist with the Great Creator. "When we open ourselves to exploring our own creativity, we open ourselves to God," she writes. "Our creative dreams and yearnings come from a divine source." One method she recommends for cultivating creativity is to go on an "artist date" – taking time out by yourself every week to visit a gallery, see a film, or go on a long country walk.

Find friendship

How much time do you spend with friends? Are you spreading yourself too thinly between too many friends, or is your social circle is too small? Do you have a particular friend you can confide in? In Anam Cara John O’Donohue writes about the Celtic tradition of having an anam cara or soul friend – someone to whom you reveal the hidden intimacies of your life. "In everyone’s life, there is a great need for an anam cara, a soul friend. In this love, you are understood as you are without mask or pretension. The superficial and functional lies and half-truths of acquaintance fall away. You can be as you truly are."

Slow down

‘What is life is full of care / We have no time to stand and stare? / No time to stand beneath the boughs / And stare as long as sheep or cows / No time to see, when woods we pass / Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass....’ or so wrote William Henry Davies in his poem, Leisure. The hectic pace of modern life, especially in the city, can be all consuming and overwhelming. It is all to easy to miss out on the beauty of nature. So, carve out diary-space for a walk through a park, or a ramble in the countryside or a run along a beach.