Spiritual Well Being...Does It Even Matter?

Spiritual Well Being...Does It Even Matter?...For some, this is a loaded question. For others, it is "cut and dried". Your spiritual well being has a distinct capacity for having an influence over your health as it can have a direct effect on your self-esteem, as well as your body chemistry. That being said, I am not here to get into any type of theological discussion. I believe this concept applies to all humanity...no matter whether you are a Christian, Jewish, Muslim. Hindu, Buddhist, Agnostic, or Atheistic. If we all look inside ourselves deep enough, we would all probably agree that there is some higher power out there...so we have a spiritual element, no matter what our belief system evolves around.

Spirituality consists of the values by which you interpret your world view, organize your day to day living, and assess your way of life. Spirituality is the way that you find meaning, hope, comfort, and inner peace in your life.

After 9-11, thousands of individuals found themselves in churches. They were there for various reasons, but some common denominators stood out...fear, stress, and uncertainty...concerns about safety...love for your fellow man...the desire for that basic human element of the need for safety...feelings of community bond, feelings of hopelessness and anger. If we look back, probably most of us had one or more of these feelings. We found comfort in each other, in each others' "Spirituality". We found that "Bonding" decreased our stress levels and we could see clearer. So how does that tie in with spiritual well being having an effect on our health?

If you will recall, in one of my previous posts, we discussed how elevated stress levels, especially on a continuum, release toxins into our system that begin the inflammation of tissues. It has been widely documented that "tissue inflammation" is the fundamental basis for many diseases such as cancer, diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disease, auto-immune type diseases...the list goes on and on. Spirituality has positive affects on our health. There have been several studies showing how spirituality improves health and healing. It promotes positive thinking, positive ideals, positive habits, positive attitudes, and positive efforts.

According to the book "To Your Health", "Spirituality and the cultivation of spiritual health can have an influence on physical, mental, and emotional health sometimes in very dramatic ways. Spirituality buffers stress, making us better able to resist and fight disease. A deep sense of spirituality causes a physical relaxation that reduces blood pressure and slows the heart rate. People heal more quickly and completely. One of the reasons spirituality impacts physical health is that people with a deep sense of spirituality stop focusing on themselves and start focusing on others, an attitude that promotes health in general." Even if you do not consider yourself to be "Spiritual", think of the principals of Yoga...relaxation, deep breathing, clearing your mind of unnecessary things, practicing meditation which is known to slow the heart rate and breathing.

These important factors play a big role in our mental and emotional health as well as our physical well being. Our last piece of this puzzle will address how diet and exercise play a pivotal role in health.