A spiritual practice or spiritual discipline (often including spiritual exercises) is the regular or full-time performance of actions and activities undertaken for the purpose of inducing spiritual experiences and cultivating spiritual development. A common metaphor used in the spiritual traditions of the world's great religions is that of walking a path. Therefore, a spiritual practice moves a person along a path towards a goal. The goal is variously referred to as salvation, liberation or union (with God). A person who walks such a path is sometimes referred to as a wayfarer or a pilgrim.
Abrahamic religions
Jewish spiritual practices may include prayer (including the Shema and Amidah), reciting blessings, Jewish meditation, Torah study, following dietary laws of kashrut, observing Shabbat, fasting, practices of teshuvah, giving tzedakah, and performing deeds of loving-kindness. Kavanah is the directing of the heart to achieve higher contemplative thoughts and attain inner strength. Various Jewish movements throughout history have encouraged a range of other spiritual practices. The Musar movement, for example, encourages a variety of meditations, guided contemplations, and chanting exercises. Certain times of year are often associated with certain spiritual practices, including practices of teshuvah during Elul and the High Holy Days, and other practices associated with certain Jewish holidays.
In Christianity, spiritual disciplines may include: prayer, fasting, reading through the Christian Bible along with a daily devotional, frequent church attendance, constant partaking of the sacraments, such as the Eucharist, careful observance of the Lord's Day (cf. Sunday Sabbatarianism), making a to the Holy Land, visiting and praying at a church, offering daily prayer at one's home altar while kneeling at a prie-dieu, making a Spiritual Communion, Christian monasticism, Bible study, chanting, the use of prayer beads, mortification of the flesh, Christian meditation or contemplative prayer, almsgiving, blessing oneself at their home stoup daily, observing modest fashion, reconciliation, and Lectio Divina.