Recent scientific research is helping us understand that there is, indeed, a strong connection between spirituality and healing, just as Jung discovered seventy-five years ago.
As a Health Psychologist, for the past thirty-two years I have explored using the mind to heal the body. My own experience, especially my work with terminally ill patients, has led me to believe that spirituality is the most powerful healing force available.
But, just what is spirituality and how can we harness this force to help heal our emotional and physical suffering?
To begin with, although they can and often do exist side by side, religion is not the same as spirituality. Religion is the belief in a certain set of principles or dogma. Spirituality may be based on certain beliefs, but it is most importantly an experience that you live.
Some of the qualities of spiritual experience are:
- A sense of meaning and purpose to life
- A robust sense of well-being - whether you are ill or well
- A sense of connectedness to your deepest self, to other people and even the whole world that allows you to go beyond your own limitations and find fulfillment in self development as well as putting someone else's life, safety, and interests above your own.
- A sense of empowerment, self-control and self-acceptance
- A sense of hope and optimism - knowing that, no matter how bad it gets things will turn out okay
- A sense of flow in your life that seems to be in alignment with some higher/divine purpose
- A felt presence of some loving force, some power, some higher intelligence that goes beyond human understanding
Spirituality can be experienced in any human activity - from the dark night of the soul to the full awareness of Divine Light and Love, from the profane to the sacred. It is not limited by time, space or human belief systems.
As Joan Borysenko, a noted psychologist, states, spiritual optimism is a "point of view that every difficult experience provides an opportunity for soul growth and spiritual homecoming."
It is the experience, the actual living of this spiritual optimism that leads to profound emotional and physical healing. Research shows that simply believing in the doctrine of your religion is not enough for healing to occur. You must "walk the talk" and experience these principles in your daily life.
Simple enough to say, but how do you do that? How do you find your spiritual center and stay optimistic in a world that seems to be filled with suffering, darkness and misunderstanding?
This is a question that humankind has faced since the beginning of time. There is more than one road to walk on this spiritual journey home and each of us must find our own way. Although I cannot show you your way, I can at least share a few paths for you to explore, to discover for yourself what fits for you.
To help you on this journey, I have developed a three-part program that can lead you closer to discovering your own answer:
1. Develop optimum health: A good gardener knows that, before planting, you must first tend to the soil in order to create a fertile foundation for maximum growth. Optimum physical, mental, emotional & social health is a good foundation for maximizing spiritual health.
2. Develop self-forgiveness, self-acceptance and self-love: Chances are your culture, your family, even your language have all worked against you to create a self image that is so much less than you truly are.
3. Develop Sacred rituals: Enhance you own religious traditions, or develop new ones, through spiritual practices, such as prayer and meditation.
We will explore these paths in future articles.
Gene Eberts, Ph.D., a 35 year veteran of alternative medicine, will show you how to use your own self-healing powers for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual healing without drugs, surgery or radiation. Click here to Find Out More: http://www.thehealingmindblog.com