Spirituality Can Benefit Your Mental and Physical Health

A week or so before, i came across a girl in her 20's in the park where I go for morning walks and breathing exercises and meditation (which is done in a group).

It was her 1^st day for meditation and after conversing with her found out that she's been having asthma attacks, for which she was advised by her doctor to do certain breathing exercises and meditate. Yesterday, I found out from her that she was feeling much better, her breathing had been steady, and the asthma attacks had started to decrease. That’s when it occurred to me that, being connected with spirituality in any form, breath-meditation, or prayer, or just talking to divine God, etc. can really benefit one physically and mentally. Hence, thought of sharing it here by writing up on it (along with a proof of a previous research). 

Most of you must be thinking 'how can being spiritual affect a person's mental and physical health?' Before attempting to answer this question, let us take in the opinion of the masses in the regard of what spirituality is to them and what it "actually" means?

People have the misconception that being 'religious' and being 'spiritual' is one and the same. Well, it's not! Being religious means conducting rituals, and having a sacred scripture and a mission to save all unbelievers. On the other hand, spirituality means having a personal and phenomenological, experience of a divine presence, known as God, that is open to all and known to all those who listen.

The word spiritual came from the French word "espirit", which means to breathe or breathing. Your breath (which is your spiritual nature) is gifted to you by the creator (Lord), that is; our breathing actions cannot be controlled. Every time one inhales and exhales, one's spirit longs for a deeper relationship with that One/ the Creator/ the Divine.

Try taking in a slow deep breath and allow yourself to feel the air that's going inside through your nostrils, and then the windpipe, and slowly filling in the lungs. Allow yourself while slowly breathing to feed the presence of the divine that's always in you- recognise it! (try this exercise, will make you feel calm and one with yourself.)

What is it that people consider being truly ‘spiritual'?

Various counsellors, healers and therapists focus their time and energy completely on the 'higher' and 'better' aspect of life that they completely forget about their own mind, body and the basic earthy needs.

In various ways, we all are like those young children who are awed or fascinated by looking at the colourful lights passing through a prism. That beauty and variety of colours a child spends immense time concentrating and looking at and defining it. What perhaps the philosopher Schroeder did is to rather focus on the emergence of the light and attempts to get a glimpse of what is before the prism instead of concentrating on the output. We see spirituality in a way that we focus too much on the output and forget to look at the source of the output. So what Schroeder meant by this realisation is that everything that we see and can feel is confined within the Oneness of God, the Eternal now. (James & Balija, 2002)

It is believed that to successfully work with other spiritual energies (we humans are all consisting of a soul in every person, and we all seem to have spiritual energies within us, those who are aware of it are highly spiritual or just driven by spirituality), one needs to fulfil their own needs and master their physical existence first, in other words be satisfied with their own basic needs and detach themselves from the materialistic world, otherwise spirituality becomes nothing but an escape mechanism from the real world, a transposition activity or perhaps a kind of 'trend' to follow.

Now coming back to 'Spirituality benefiting our mental and physical health', it's been observed that developing self-awareness is the key factor in one's overall development and helps to provide one with internal guidance on the spiritual journey.

By being self-aware one is not only aware of and experiencing what's happening with one in the external world (which is important), but also is aware of what one experiences internally (for example: emotions). Being self-aware creates a connection between mind and body, this means that you are in balance and well aware of your thought process and when and where your body reacts to those thought processes. Here's an example for being self-aware (spiritually) in the external world, when you are eating something how often have you actually experienced what you are chewing/eating (think about it)? Many of us are so busy  and always in a hurry in our daily lives that we can't even give ourselves time even while eating. When you are self-aware, you will chew and devour every bite of the food as it goes inside the system and enjoy every moment of it (definitely worth a try over that next meal).

When there's self-awareness and you as a soul are aware of your body and mind activities, your internal and external world simultaneously, you are experiencing yourself completely, are loving and enjoying it/in joyous state. This affects you physically and mentally and keeps you well balanced.

While it has been observed that many people use different religious paths to find God, research shows that those who are more spiritual and religious as well use their spirituality to cope with different life situations, experience many benefits to their health and well-being. This wouldn’t be a surprise for all those people who are spiritual. Spirituality and religious activities have been a source of comfort and relief from stress for a number of people. According to a study from the Wayne State University in Detroit, older adults use prayer more than any other alternative therapy for health; 96% of study participants use prayer specifically to cope with stress. Also, people with a fundamental religious and spiritual orientation (dedicating their life towards the God), irrespective of the gender, displayed reduced physical problems, less physiological reactivity toward stress, than those with an extrinsic religious orientation/ views.

Prayer works for young and old alike. Prayers and spirituality bring out various benefits:

• Greater psychological well-being
• More positive feelings
• Improved health
• Higher ability to handle stress
• Less stress, even during difficult times
• Less hypertension
• Less depression

Although researchers are currently investigating the link between spirituality (and prayer), health, and wellness, those who care enough to pray for health may be more likely to look after themselves by going to the doctor or taking their medicine. No matter how you express your spirituality, it can provide comfort and solace in difficult times. Being involved in a spiritual community can also be an important source of social and emotional support.

Furthermore, Spirituality is personal, and everyone’s spiritual path may be unique. However, some spiritual stress relief strategies have been helpful to many, regardless of faith.

"We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey." ~Stephen Covey

~ Sneha Kukreja