How Spiritual Practice Helps Ease Loneliness, Anxiety, and the Ache for Deeper Connection
- Sherri M. Herman
- Jun 2
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 6
Have you ever walked into a space—your church, workplace, or even your own home—and felt like no one really sees you?
You smile, you engage, you show up.
But still, something inside feels disconnected. Like you’re doing all the right things… and yet, when you leave there’s still this ache or longing. You didn't really get filled up.
Sometimes the loneliness we feel isn’t about a lack of people—it’s about a lack of deeper connection.
With ourselves. With others. With something greater.
Spiritual practice can happen anywhere—but that doesn’t mean we don’t need support.
Lately, I’ve felt a pull to strengthen and reinforce my Zen Buddhist practice.
Not because anything is “wrong,” but because I’m ready to deepen. I want spiritual guidance that stretches me, grounds me, and strengthens my practice so I can become a little less reliant on the uncontrollable circumstances of life.
I’m grateful for my church community and all the places in my life where spiritual conversations happen—but I also know I need more.
Spiritual practice isn’t limited to a cushion or a sanctuary.
Your grocery store can be a sacred space. So can your car. So can waiting in line at the DMV (especially while waiting in line at the DMV!).
Spiritual practice is available to us in every moment.
It’s that quiet pause in the car before school pickup.It’s the breath you take before snapping at your kids or your partner.
It’s the decision to speak compassionately to yourself when everything feels like too much.
It's the choice to seek to understand someone who thinks very differently from you.
Every moment is a Dharma gate.
A chance to return to presence instead of adding to the chaos.
But we still need each other.
Yes, we can practice anywhere.
But that doesn’t mean we’re meant to practice alone.
We need spaces where we feel safe enough to grow.
We need people who care about us and who listen.
We need to be supported—not just spiritually, but emotionally, relationally, and practically.
Because when no one sees the weight you’re carrying, it gets heavier.
And the longer you carry it alone, the harder it gets to even ask for help. You simply adapt and find a sort of comfort in the familiarity of suffering.
It doesn't need to be that way.
Loneliness and anxiety go hand in hand.
When we feel disconnected for too long, our bodies go into overdrive.
The nervous system stays on alert.
Sleep gets harder.
The mind starts spinning.
We shut down.
And even though we long for connection, we start believing we don’t have time for it.
Or that we don't deserve it...
that it won’t help...
that we’re too far gone...
that nobody really cares.
Loneliness fuels anxiety, and anxiety will keep you lonely.
Take a breath and ask yourself:
Where do I feel spiritually grounded right now?
Where might I need more support, structure, or guidance?
You don’t have to do this alone.
There is a way to reconnect with yourself—and others.
There is a way to move through the loneliness and anxiety toward calm and peace.
And maybe, for now, the only thing you need to do… is notice that.
Notice what’s calling you back to yourself.
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