The First Step To Getting More In Touch With Your Spirituality

With more and more people identifying themselves as "spiritual, not religious," the path to connecting with a higher power has become a deeply personal one. Different people tap into their spirituality in different ways, but there is often one big roadblock for those looking to begin their own unique journey toward spiritual grace and reverence: where to begin?

Religious scholar Thomas Moore may have spent 13 years as a Catholic monk within his decades of theological study, but he is able to answer this loaded question with remarkable simplicity. As Moore tells Oprah during a "SuperSoul Sunday" discussion , there is one clear place in which spiritual seekers can begin to forge their own personal path.

"The easiest place to begin is nature," he says. "It's been said for centuries."

Moore writes about this as a part of his book, A Religion of One's Own , and in his conversation with Oprah, the best-selling author suggests an uncomplicated exercise that can help anyone jump-start their spiritual journey.

"Go outside at night, where there's no lights, and just look up into the dark sky," Moore says. "Look at what's going on up there, and notice what you feel. Notice what's happening to you as you look, notice where your thoughts go and discover what 'wonder' means."

Inevitably, a sense of awe will begin to wash over you.

"You begin to feel wonder -- that is the beginning of the religious feeling, I think," Moore says.

While some would argue that doctrine and a [precise] belief system are the sole keys to feeling closer to God, Moore doesn't agree. In fact, he places even more emphasis on fostering this sense of wonder.

"Wonder is more important than some doctrine, some teaching that you have to be very precise about," Moore says. "A sense of wonder is really the basis of the religious feeling, the religious experience... That's where it begins."

"SuperSoul Sunday" airs Sundays at 11 a.m. ET on OWN.

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Why Thomas Moore doesn't like to use the word "God"

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