Is New Age spirituality truly 'new?'

By Morgan Guest

Crystals, tarot cards and yoga classes have become commodities found in shops and on social media, leading to misconceptions about what spirituality looks like in the modern world.

New Age spirituality encompasses spiritual and metaphysical ideas from many different traditions, both ancient and modern. Many of its ideas resurface ancient knowledge and cosmic wisdom under the guise of being ‘new’.

Sol Seek Yoga Studio off De La Guerra Street in Santa Barbara.

 Common themes include universal energy, the idea that everything is interconnected, the evolution of the soul, holistic health, integrating mind, body, and soul work, karma, manifestation and intuition.

New Age Spirituality reflects concepts from Eastern religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism as well as Indigenous spiritualities, Western mysticism, and psychology-most predominantly that of Carl Jung-and quantum physics.

Natalie Sampalia, yoga teacher who has been teaching physical and spiritual practice since 1998, said, “Here's the thing, if we call it New Age, but it's been around for thousands and thousands of years, I don't understand how it's New Age.”

Natalie Sampalia grounding at the Wharf in Santa Barbara.

 Sampalia studies Ayurveda, one of the most ancient medicines in the world, which revolves around oneness and spirituality regarding the mind, body and soul.

“It's been around longer than anything else. But I guess New Age spirituality is like, everybody just jumped on the boat. Everybody does Reiki, everybody cleanses chakras, everybody does tarot. Everybody can produce good energy vibes and bad energy vibes," said Sampalia. 
"So it's in us all. We are spiritual beings, whether that's religious or just spiritual energy beings. So it's in there, so this idea of New Age is kind of weird."

India Cunningham, senior art major at UC Santa Barbara, has studied meditation and mindfulness since high school. Cunningham received guidance from motivational speaker, Dr. Wayne Dyer, her sophomore year and recently participated in a virtual meditation program with Indian guru, Sadhguru, last year.

“Now you can do it from your bedroom on a phone in so many different ways and so many different forms with all these different gurus that are around the world,” said Cunningham.

 Cunningham added that modern-day spirituality reflects the pace of society in our modern-day world. “Everything's moving quicker and everything's a bit more convenient. You can learn so much and so many different perspectives, but is that better or worse for truly understanding one and really honing in on one?” said Cunningham.

To become a yogi, some may take a physical journey like Sri Yogi Anand took into the Himalayan mountains before he began teaching in 1999. A spiritual journey can also take place, by reaching into the abyss of the human mind through discipline, mentorship and the sacrifice of comfort. In the modern day, wisdom is a certificate which can be bought.