SPIRITUALITY: FINDING MEANING IN LIFE AND DEATH

SPIRITUALITY:FINDING MEANING IN LIFE AND DEATHChapter 11WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY?A persons connection to self, significant others, and the community at large.

Involves a personal believe system or value system that gives meaning and purpose to life

May include belief in and reverence for a higher power, which may be expressed through an organized religion.

May include nonreligious ideas, becoming centered on a personal value system that may be reflected in activities such as volunteer work

Provides feelings of participation in something greater than oneself and a sense of unity with nature and the universe. Maintaining connectednessSpirituality involves connectedness to self, to others and to a larger purpose

Involves being responsible for yourself and taking charge of your lifeAffects your capacity for love, compassion, joy, forgiveness, altruism and fulfillment.

Connectedness with significant others through positive relationships Characterized by mutual support, respect, good communication and caring actions

Connectedness to and participation in the community Enjoying constructive relationships Developing a personal value systemA set of guidelines of how you want to live your life

Values, the criteria for judging what is good or bad, underline moral principles and behavior

Your value system becomes your map, providing a structure for decision making that allows flexibility and the possibility of change. Finding meaning and purpose in lifeWhy am I here?

State of transcendence, and sense of well being.You have found purpose and meaning in life. LabCharacteristics of the self-actualizing personBUILDING A SPIRITUAL LIFEThe quest for self fulfillment often begins with the questionWho am I?

Answer this question begins with self-explorationWhat are my abilities and talents?Which are my interests and passions?What are my core values and guiding principles

Several approaches to self-exploration exists to help us broaden and deepen our self-knowledge and self-awareness.Practicing mindfulnessOur true home is in the present moment. To live in the present moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available nowThich Nhat Hanh

Practice of living fully in the moment, concentrating on what is happening right now.

As you learn to focus on the present moment, you can be more in touch with your life as it is happening.

When people learn to live fully in the moment, they sometimes experience a phenomenon known as flow, a feeling of being completely absorbed in an activity and a moment

When you learn to be mindful and live in the moment, you are more likely to experience flow in your daily activities

MeditationA way of quieting the mindInvolves introspection, self-exploration and self-discoveryThe ultimate goal is to relax your body, let your feelings and thoughts come and go as they will and just be.

JournalingRecord your feelings, thoughts, breakthroughs, and desires in a private journal to understand yourself more clearly.

James Pennebaker has found that writing about emotional upheavals can improve physical and mental health, and suggests writing about the following:Something that you are thinking or worrying about too muchSomething that you are dreaming aboutSomething that you feel is affecting your life in an unhealthy waySomething that you have been avoiding for days, weeks or years.

Journaling is an effective way to learn about who you are and where you have been.

Experiencing RetreatRetreat is a place of refuge, seclusion or privacy or an activity in which you can create quiet space for raising your personal spiritual awareness.May involve solitude or group withdrawal for meditation, prayer, exploration or study. Retreats stimulate the mind, enhance self-awareness and refresh the spirit

Experiencing the artsExperiencing arts sculpture, painting, music, poetry, literature, theater, storytelling, dance or some other form- is another way to build a spiritual life.Experiencing art can inspire you to think about the purpose of life and the nature of reality.By engaging your heart, mind and spirit, art can give you fresh insights, challenge preconceptions and trigger inner growth.

Living your valuesBring your deepest believes and intentions into the world - live your values.

What is the most important to you in life?Are you living or acting in accordance with it?

Write a purpose statement that will remind you of who you truly are and why you believe you are here on earth.

Do you stay on purpose in your daily interactions and activities?

SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTHSpiritual wellness includes the ability toExamine personal beliefs and valuesSearch for meaning and purpose in lifeMake connections with other peopleAppreciate natural forces in the universe

Your ability to develop spiritual wellness lies in the choices you make everyday on your own behalf.

Daily behavior choices to promote your spiritual wellnessYour physical healthOver the ages, various spiritual traditions have thought of the human body as the temple of the spirit. If you neglect or abuse your body, it is difficult if not impossible to reach wellness.

How can you better respect your body?Daily behavior choices to promote your spiritual wellnessYour mental and emotional healthSpiritual health overlaps with your emotional and mental health in numerous ways.Feeling that you are part of something greater in the universe can help you handle many daily changes, provides a perspective and helps to find creative ways to deal with problems.

Daily behavior choices to promote your spiritual wellnessBuilding resilienceThe ability to bounce back from adversity is known as resilience. By developing qualities of resilience, we become better able to deal with an unpredictable world and more flexible in facing the unknown. Resilience often means developing new abilities simply to get through an unfamiliar and stressful experience.

Theres no great sense of foreboding, no premonition, you just wake up one morning and somethings wrong in your lungs, or your liver, or your bones. But near-death cleared the decks, and what came after was a bright, sparking awareness: time is limited, so I better wake up every morning fresh and know that I have just one chance to live this particular day right, and to string my days together into a life of action and purpose. If you want to know what keeps me on my bike, riding up and alp for six hours in the rain, thats your answer. Lance ArmstrongDaily behavior choices to promote your spiritual wellnessFinding joy in everyday things. Sometimes we are trying so hard to reach out big goals that we miss daily opportunities to appreciate ordinary things.Joy is an attitude, a state of mind that can be developed and nurtured.

Daily behavior choices to promote your spiritual wellnessCreating balanceWe are conditioned to think that doing more will lead to greater success. A more successful strategy is to prioritize the important things and delegate or forego the rest. Another approach to creating balance is to view your life from a broader perspectiveBegin with the end in mind

ACTIVITY:Write your own obituaryWhat did you accomplish?What did you want to accomplish but didnt?What were the happy moments?What were the sad times?What would you do again, and what would you not do again?Did you live out your deepest values?

Health benefits of spiritualityPhysical effects Can prayer cure cancer or slow its progression?Can it lower blood pressure?Does spirituality speed healing after accidents or help people recover from surgery?Do religious people live longer?

READ Does Spirituality Improve Your Health? (337)ProsConsResearch shows that most people have a spiritual life.Research also indicates that most patients want their spiritual needs assessed and addressed. Most studies have found a direct relationship between religious involvement and spirituality and better health outcomes.\Supporting a patients spirituality may enhance coping an recovery from illness. Research does not show that religious people do not get sick or that illness is caused by lack of religious faith. Research also does not indicate that spirituality is the most important health factor. If spirituality were accepted as having a role in recovery and healing, physicians would have to prescribe religious activities, which would be intrusive and potentially offensive to many patients. Other factors can be used to explain the association between spirituality and better health outcomes. Health effects of spiritualityMental effectsPeople who are spiritually involved tend to enjoy better mental health as well as physical heath. Religious people tend to be more forgiving and more connected with themselves and their beliefs. Spiritual practices promote positive emotions, such as: love, hope, contentment and forgiveness, which can result in lower levels of anxiety. SPIRITUAL AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENTSpirituality involves connectedness to the community, which in turn promotes recognition of the interdependence of all people and all living things.

Service learningA way to connect classroom activities to community service and community buildingGives the opportunity to master new skills, build self esteem and enhance self imageTeaches people how to extend themselves beyond their enclosed world, taking a risk to get involved in the lives of others.

VolunteeringWhile helping others, volunteers may experience the euphoric feelings that athletes often describe as being in the zone.Just as the high of helping creates enjoyable immediate benefits, the calm of helping may result in significant long-term health benefits. Social activism and the global communitySome people connect with their communities through social activism and find it meaningful to participate in global citizenship by joining organizations.They claim that contributing to community welfare and striving for justice are the ways to a rich inner life. Some social activists have transcended their religious and social conditioning and become universal spiritual beings, ready to serve all.

Spiritual rituals and ceremonies. In virtually all cultures, faith and its accompanying belief system provide individuals and groups with rituals and practices that foster the development of a sense of communityRituals and ceremonies feed our spirits, making them richer and deeper.

Nature and the environment. The impulse that propels people to the mountains or seashore for their holidays is the same impulse that drives pilgrims to sites of religious importance the need to reconnect with the natural world. Being close to nature energizes and strengthens usDaily activities that incorporate environmental values might include recycling, composting, and walking or riding a bike instead of driving.

DEATH AND DYINGDeath and dying have a great spiritual significance for people in all cultures.

Studies suggest that religiously involved people at the end of life are more accepting of death than those who are less religiously involved.

Religious involvement and spirituality are associated with less death anxiety.

Healthy grievingGrief is a natural reaction to loss.

We might grief for many kind of losses in our lives: divorce, relocation, traumatic experiences, loss of health and mobility and even expected life transitions.

Grief is expressed by feelings of sadness, loneliness, anger and guilt, all part of the process of healing.

It is important that you give yourself permission to feel the loss and take time to heal.

Spiritual believes and rituals help people cope with the loss and move through the emotional work of grieving.