Everyday Awe: The Case for Secular Spirituality
Why Do We Crave Meaning Without Religion?
I once stood on a mountain ridge in Banff, wind in my face, sky split open with light. For a moment I forgot my own name. No sermon. No priest. Just awe.
That moment did not make me religious. It made me human.
Because whether we call it God, the universe, or nothing at all, our brains are wired for wonder.
Studies show that spiritual experiences, religious or not, activate the same brain circuits that fire when we hear music or fall in love. Awe is brain candy. It makes us feel small in a good way. It shrinks our problems down to size.
This hunger for the bigger than us is ancient. Our ancestors gathered around fires, sang in caves, and painted their stories on stone walls. They needed meaning the way they needed food. We still do.
But what if you are allergic to dogma? What if incense and doctrine make your eyes water? That is where secular spirituality comes in.
Why Is Secular Spirituality Growing So Fast?
A friend once told me she had not prayed in twenty years, but she still whispered to the ocean. Another swears she feels God in her garden, even though she does not believe in one. Her tomatoes, she says, are her little therapists.
More and more people live like this. The Pew Research Center reports that nearly 30 percent of adults now identify as religiously unaffiliated. In Canada, about 34 percent of people describe themselves as having no religion at all. Among Gen Z, the numbers are even higher, with nearly half describing themselves as spiritual but not religious. And broader surveys show that more than 70 percent of adults in the United States consider themselves spiritual in some way, even if they do not claim a religion. Yet many of them meditate, journal, or hike into forests seeking the same thing religion once gave: connection, comfort, meaning.
We are leaving institutions, but we are not leaving awe.
And maybe that makes sense. Traditional religion often comes with rules and hierarchies. Secular spirituality feels more like jazz, loose, improvised, deeply personal. You make your own ritual. You choose your own sacred.
Sometimes that looks like Sunday yoga. Sometimes it looks like crying in your car while a song cracks you open.
How Does Secular Spirituality Work Without Faith?
I once tried goat yoga. A baby goat leapt on my back like I was a jungle gym. Everyone laughed so hard we forgot we were stretching. I walked away lighter, not because the goat was sacred, but because joy is.
That is the trick. Secular spirituality is not about what you believe. It is about how you live.
Psychology backs this up. Jon Kabat Zinn’s mindfulness research found that simple attention, breathing, noticing, tasting your oatmeal, lowers stress, reduces pain, and boosts immune function. You do not need holy texts. You just need to notice your life while it is happening.
A 2021 study from the University of Michigan also found that awe increases feelings of social connection and reduces stress hormones. In other words, a sunset can be as regulating for your nervous system as meditation.
Mindful living practices are also supported by clinical trials. One meta-analysis found that Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction programs reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression by around 20 to 30 percent. This shows that simple practices of presence can create measurable shifts in mental health.
Meaning comes less from belief and more from practice.
Rituals matter, not because they are mystical, but because they stitch our days together. Lighting a candle. Writing one honest sentence. Taking a walk without earbuds. They turn ordinary time into sacred time.
How Can You Practice Secular Spirituality Daily?
You do not need a retreat in the Himalayas. You need five minutes.
Drink your morning coffee in silence. Let the steam rise like incense.
Watch the sky change colors at dusk as if it is performing just for you.
Gather friends and share a story that shaped you. Food plus meaning always works.
Step outside and actually feel the ground hold you.
One colleague told me he drums once a week with strangers. The sound rattles him back into his body. Another swears that long baths are his cathedral. For me, it is writing. Words are how I make sense of the storm. And a friend of mine finds her sacred in painting, letting colors spill on canvas until they make more sense than words.
Secular spirituality is not about answers. It is about attention.
What Secular Spirituality Really Means
You do not need heaven to feel holy. You do not need belief to feel connected. You just need to pause long enough to notice that life itself is astonishing.
That pause can be small. A breath. A sip. A sentence.
And maybe that is all spirituality has ever been, learning to stop in the middle of ordinary life and realize you are standing in the middle of a miracle.
If you are hungry for more meaning, your next step does not have to be finding faith. It can be finding presence.
I would love to help you explore that. Take your first step here: Connect with me on Psychology Today.
What is your own moment of awe? Pause and notice it, even now. That is where your practice begins.
Further Reading
Start with one of these and see where it takes you: The Power of Meaning by Emily Esfahani Smith, Waking Up by Sam Harris, The Awakened Brain by Lisa Miller. Pick one and let it guide your next step.
