According to different religious beliefs, spirituality has taken various definitions. For example, spirituality in the healing process is defined as a power that is greater than oneself operating in the universe. Spirituality has also been termed as the link between all creatures, knowing the reason and meaning of life and developing ones absolute and personal values. Through spirituality, many individuals find the meaning of comfort, inner peace in one's life, and hope. According to religious beliefs, spirituality is often attributed to religious life. On the contrary, most people believe in the development of personal spirituality outside religious life. For instance, compassion, altruism, selflessness, experience of inner peace among others falls under the features of spirituality. In the recent time, people have become more of spiritual in health and health care aspects. This has been triggered by lack of belief in recent medical care systems, leading to dissatisfaction and the realization that all answers about health are not based on medical science (Riddell 45). Therefore, this paper seeks to explore the interconnection between spirituality and the process of healing, based on different concepts of spirituality.
The history of health care and spirituality can be traced back in the early beginning of western medicine. In the past, the healing process was based on spirituality and religious belief. Traditional healing ensured that individuals and spirits were intertwined in order to ensure effective healing process. On the contrary, the development of scientific, medical systems scrapped the traditional healing process through enlightenment and revolution. The advancement of technology and innovation of various medical practices has played a great role in providing medical solutions to people. However, in the recent times, research studies show that spirituality may have a significant role in the healing process compared to the scientific medical systems. Some people argue about the ability of spirituality in the healing process and its reliability. In the United States, people have been combining current medical systems with spirituality for healing purposes (DiLorenzo, Johnson and Bussey 65).
Spiritual practices are associated with social life support, fostering of hope, and bringing about optimism among religious believers and promoting healthy behaviors. Spirituality has also been attributed to reduction of anxiety and depression, resulting in a sense of relaxation. The aforementioned immediate effects of spirituality play an important role in improving the immune system and boosting health conditions. For instance, spirituality can reduce stressful feelings and bring a sense of comfort. As a result, cardiovascular, immune, and the nervous systems are positively affected through the healing process. There are various religions across the globes that are associated with the healing process belief among their followers. For instance, the Seventh Day Adventist sympathizers believe that spirituality is the answer to healing. Therefore, individuals are encouraged to live a holy life in order to promote spiritual cleanness. Individuals from these churches are advised not to consume food and beverages such as pork, and alcohol (Riddell 48).
There have been various research studies, based on spirituality, conducted to determine Seventh Day Adventist religious life. According to a research on spirituality and healing conducted in the Netherlands, researchers found out that Adventist men lived longer than average national men by 8.9 years. Adventist women, on the other hand, lived 4 years longer. On the basis of conducting a disease or infection, the probability of dying from heart diseases or cancer for both men and women averaged 65 percent. This was relatively less compared to the average probability of people dying from cancer and heart diseases. According to research, religion and spiritual healing benefits do not emanate from living a healthy lifestyle. On the contrary, certain behaviors and beliefs attributed to spirituality can have an imperative effect on health. A study of people with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) showed that people with spiritual behaviors and traits had a chance of living longer compared to those who did not uphold the belief. The effect of spirituality has been observed through qualities such as forgiveness, hope, faith, and the use of prayers in social support (Raab 32).
Spirituality has been described as one of the best healing process by some medical practitioners, arguing that the interconnection between mind, body, and soul play an imperative role in the healing process. According to an integrative practitioner, Andrew Weil, the aforementioned components form the basis of the healing process. A clear understanding between religion and spirituality should be made in order to avoid misinterpretation. Spirituality has various aspects that are important in the healing process. For instance, having a sense of gratitude, wonder, listening to one's heart and intuition and a loving heart are some of the spiritual aspects. Spiritual healing is exhibited in people who demonstrate the ability to face their fears, authentic, forgiveness, loving, compassion, and let go of the past. Spiritual health is facilitated by art therapy, meditation, music, yoga, martial arts, and laughter. The use of the aforementioned practices helps in developing a healthy body, mind, and soul in everyday life. Through faith, individuals are able to increase stress resistance within the body. Research also stipulates that hope helps people eliminate the feeling of depression, enhancing resistance to illness. A research study of Harvard graduates indicated that graduates with hope and optimism lived much longer and were less prone to diseases (Watts 53).
Forgiveness, on the other hand, is a practice encouraged and carried out by spiritual and religious traditions so as to help in the healing process. The act of forgiving someone aids in reducing anger within individuals. These kinds of people were viewed as hopeful, and able to deal with their emotions through training to forgive. Emotions like anger and stress lead to accumulation of the stress hormone in the blood. This has a negative health effect to such individuals, leading to low life expectancy. Love and social support helped individuals through emotional support from close friends and family members. Emotional support has been proven to offer disease protection through the healing process. Individuals receiving emotional support through love and social support programs are not likely to suffer from stress. Prayers also form a crucial part of the healing process as they increase hope and optimism (Raab 64).
According to research studies, there are certain diseases and illnesses that heal faster through spiritual and religious beliefs. For instance, patients with spiritual beliefs in healing have low blood pressure, less depressed and anxious. This positively affects the healing process of some diseases such diabetes, heart diseases, and arthritis. Patients with strong religious and spiritual beliefs tend to go through surgery process, whereas people without these beliefs tend to die. On the contrary, some practitioner emphasizes on health hazard of practicing too much religious belief (DiLorenzo, Johnson and Bussey 36).
In conclusion, there is a close connection between spirituality and the healing process, especially in the connection between body, mind and soul. This has increased emphasis on the role of spirituality in the healing process in medical practice. Therefore, the connection between spirituality and health must be put under scrutiny before advising people on its efficiency in the healing process.
Works Cited
DiLorenzo, Paul, Raymond Johnson and Marian Bussey. "The role of spirituality in the recovery process." Child Welfare League of America (2001): New York.
Raab, Kelley A. Creativity, Spirituality, and Mental Health: Exploring Connections. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 2009.
Riddell, Nicki Tiffany. "Spirituality and Healing." American Holistic Health Association (2012): New York.
Watts. Spiritual Healing. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
