Spiritual Wellness 107

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Spiritual Wellness 107

• Rules for Retreat
• Pay Attention!
• Be accountable for your choices!
• You must respond!
• Facilitators will challenge you to learn through
  experiential exercises!
• Retreat as a journey

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Spiritual WellnessWhat is it? Is it related to
health?
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A Part of Wellness!

• Wellness is defined as A dynamic process of
  becoming aware of and making conscious choices
  toward a more balanced and healthy lifestyle.
  This includes learning new coping and
  communication skills that address both the
  positive and negative aspects of human existence.

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Balancing Seven Dimensions

• Social
• Physical
• Emotional
• Career
• Intellectual
• Environmental
• Spiritual

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Increased Awareness Levels
Level 4 Spiritual Being Meaning Realm
(Letting go!)
Wholeness-connection
-Ego-Goes!
Level 3 Psychological Motivational (Analysis
Paralysis of looking for why?)
Others
Level 2 Lifestyle Cognitive Behavior Changes
(Just do it!)
Self
Level 1- State of Health Diagnosis (Fact!)
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Obtaining higher level of conscious awareness

• Allows one to move from unconscious choice to
  conscious choice
• Allows one to accept present as is
• Decreases judges
• Brings consistency between values behaviors

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Norms for Safe Community

• 100 present to the work/lifeMust be aware,
  accountable respondListen with soft eyesW/o
  judgment and w/o fixingAsk open ended
  questions

• Help focus the person to exploreOpen
  communication with I statementsBe Invitational
  not invasionalNO SHARE OR DIEIntentionally with
  integrity of wordConfidentialityWhen things get
  difficulty turn to wonder!

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Defense Mechanisms

• Denial minimization-protect ourselves by
  refusing to acknowledge unpleasant things
• Rationalization-intellectualize to rob the event
  of personal significance
• Projection displacement-turning outward
  displacing feelings on other than the cause
• Internalization-turning inward self-blame for
  the problem

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Common themes in defining spiritual

• Spirit breath energy
• Universal connection to divine source Energy
  Chi Qi light quantum physics love
• Soul psycheego consciousness
• Mystic journey enlightenment transcending
  experiencing life seeking meaning and purpose
• Service to others

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Spirituality Defined

• A high level of faith, hope, and commitment in
  relation to a well-defined worldview or belief
  system that provides a sense of meaning and
  purpose to existence in general and that offers
  an ethical path to personal connectedness with
  self, others, and a higher power or larger
  reality. (Hawks, 1995 Am J Health Promotion)

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Interspirituality

• The sharing of ultimate experiences mystical
  spirituality across traditions, the origin of
  all world religions
• Ontological roots that tie the various traditions
  together
• Openness to learn from others many paths
• Universal responsibility by the both the
  individual and the global community to bound
  together in a common humanity and common
  aspiration for the truth

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Community structure

• Members share some kind of group prayer or
  spiritual practice to augment their private
  practice
• Commitment to tripartite dialogue including
• Head
• Heart
• Hand

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1st Element of interspirituality/Values

• Killing or harming
• Stealing
• Sexual misbehavior
• Lying
• Gossip
• Harsh or abusive speech
• Speech that causes divisiveness
• Covetousness in mind and behavior
• Hatred and malice
• Twisted or distorted understanding or views.

• Actual moral capacity To reframe from negative
  actions

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2nd Element of interspirituality

• Solidarity with all living beings

• Deep realization of the interconnectedness of
  everyone and everything

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3rd Element of interspirituality

• Deep nonviolence

• Adjust our external actions to our inner
  attitudes
• Wisdom
• Sensitivity
• Shifting from self to others
• Accepting others as they are
• Freedom from themselves

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4th Element of interspirituality

• Humility

• Egolessness
• Kindness
• Mercy
• Love
• compassion

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5th Element of interspirituality

• Transformative spiritual practice

• Contemplative prayer, meditation, sacred readings
• Restful, active participation and presence in
  liturgy and ritual
• Music and chanting
• Yoga and martial arts
• Hiking and walking

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6th Element of interspirituality

• Acknowledge faults, limitations and hidden
  agendas
• Joy
• Humor
• Transformation
• Consciousness
• The will
• The emotions
• The character
• The imagination
• Memory
• Actions orbehaviors

• Mature self knowledge

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7th Element of interspirituality

• Simplicity of life

• Generosity of spirit
• Lets go of squandering precious resources
• Appreciation of insecurity, marginality,
  detachment

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8th Element of interspirituality

• Selfless service and compassionate action

• Moral responsibility to all vulnerable brothers
  and sisters
• Affirm all as persons

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9th Element of interspirituality

• The prophetic voice

• Moral voice in situations that require witness or
  response
• Injustice, oppression, abuse of human rights, the
  rights of the earth and other species

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Common themes in religion

• Religion to regulate tie back
• Religions teach basic precepts or laws of wise
  and conscious human conduct to help us avoid
  suffering.

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Criticism when spirituality vs religion

• From Religion new age is ego driven self
  oriented blank mind room for devil to come in
  man makes up rules vs god
• From Spiritual born again religion is ego
  I.D. with religion judgements comparisons
  over which religion is better turns to division
  of people vs uniting people
• Equalizer Premise for Spiritual Wellness

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What do we know about spiritual wellness
practices health
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The Spiritual Wellness Journey are similar
both

• seek wholeness
• seek meaning and purpose in life experiences
• establish, maintain and reassess our spiritual
  value systems and social/materialistic values
• integrate acquired ego self with
  true/essential soul self

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Spiritual wellness is based upon 3 premises for
social and ecological sustainability

• How we are unique and special?
• How we are similar and different?
• How we are connected?

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Is Spirituality Related to Health? Current
Threads

• Epidemiological data
• Clinical data
• Ethical Debate

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Epidemiological Data Protective Factor

• Physical and mental health
• Coping mechanism
• Recovery times
• Overall mortality
• Heart disease
• Cancer
• Depression
• Substance abuse

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Ethical Issues/Debate

• All started with -Alternative medicine
• Speculation that linking faith and health may
  cause harm (guilt)
• Departure of established expertise of physicians
  outside their domain
• Standoff between physician or patient interest in
  direction of care
• Research in this area is bad science
• Asking participants to change spiritual belief

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Clinical Data is Limited

• Relaxation response/meditation/ imagery/yoga
  
• Explanatory styleOptimism/pessimistic hope
• Health Locus of Control Internal/external
• Self efficacy/Self Esteem
• Fighting Spirit/Hopelessness

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Clinical data continued

• Mind-Body Link (PNI-peptides)
• Prayer lt complications following CABS
• Contentment
• Forgiveness
• Placebo effect initially 70 lt to 30 over
  time

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Explanatory style

• Optimistic
• gt strength of immune system
• Enhance resistance of infections, allergies,
  auto-immunities
• ltCancer

• Pessimistic
• gtanxiety,depression, guilt, anger
• Changes blood flow gtchance of CAD
• Compromises immune system low ration
  helper/suppressor T-cells ltlymphocytes

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Research findings in CAD CA (Ornish, Love and
Survival Rachel Remens Commonweal)

• Nutrition 10 of calories from fat 60gm of
  soy/day meditation or prayer 20-30min/day
  physical exercise walking 30-60min/day
• CommitmentgtTrustgt VulnerabilitygtIntimacygt Healing
• Fear/No Commitmentgt Mistrust/ Cynicism
  gtHostilitygtClosing OffgtIsolationgtDiseasegt
  Premature Death

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Effective relaxation response

• Progressive relaxation Autogenic Training
  Zen/YogaTranscendental Meditation Prayer
  Guided Imagery http//www.healthjourneys.com/
• For physiological relaxation-response must
  include
• Repetition of word, sound, prayer, thought,
  phrase or muscular activity
• Passive return to the repetition when other
  thoughts intrude

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Some Basics of the psychological/emotional
dimension

• Knowledge alone doesnt change behavior
  intention with action does
• Relapse is normal
• Emotions feelings influence behavior more than
  thought
• Perception is reality whether visualized, felt,
  or actually seen

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Basics continued

• Feelings appear to be true they come and go
• Feelings keep us present with infinite
  possibilities
• Thoughts of desire and fears keep us stuck
• Identifying similarities in personal life
  stories elicits similar feelings, the essences
  of compassion and forgiveness

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Whats next in spiritual wellness?

• SPECT machine? Neurotheology
• Speculation about higher power neurotheology
  neurobiologists
• Are neurological changes associated with
  spiritual experience due to brain causing those
  experiences or perceiving a spiritual reality

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What component of spiritual wellness heals?

• Altruistic love- self giving, caring love that
  values the other highly and has the intention of
  giving full life to the other (Fetzer 2000)
• Could altruistic love be the component of
  spiritual wellness that provides protective
  factor?
• http//www.fetzer.org/ Multidimensional
  Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality for use
  in Health Research

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What questions might we ask to measure
spirituality?

• Are you active at least 2 hrs/wk in volunteering
  help for your neighbors?
• Do you value relationships more than obligations
  at work or for payment?
• When helping others do you expect them to follow
  your suggestions? Do you expect something in
  return?
• You have someone special whom you have felt love
  and supported by not romantic
• You feel you have an inner source of strength and
  guidance that comes through you to others.

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What we hope to learn from coping with no exit
events results in Spiritual Growth hero/
heroine journey

• Growth in wisdom
• Learn to love better
• Attributes we gain forgiveness, compassion,
  empathy, hope, faith

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Ritual or Disciplined Practice

• Defined as
• taking time for self to train or actually
  perform over time
• by intentionally making a choice, having the will
  or faith to do so
• until such practice becomes a habit

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Generic Spiritual Practices Related to Health

• Intentionally Choice/Will or Faith
• Silence, centering, grounding, letting go
• Self balancing with humility
• Food as nourishment of the soul
• Activity involving body-mind-spirit
• Being part of community
• Emerge one's self in nature sustainability
• Service to others without regret

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Practices that nurture spiritual wellness

• Centering - Retreat a time of solitude
• Emptying - Process of cleansing, letting go
• Grounding - Time to access intuition,
  imagination, intellect
• Connecting - Reaching out, sharing true self with
  others, being supported supporting, serving

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Intervention strategy
Nature offers an endless source of spiritual
nourishment
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Retreat
A time apart for silence, solitude reflection
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Relaxation, meditationor prayer
We should not allow the bewildering array of
techniques to distract us from the aim.
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Establish lifestyle routines that allows
participants to relax, trust and surrender to the
process
Fitness is having enough energy leftover to
handle an emergency or enjoy a good glass of wine!
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Nourishment
Community sharing around food and Recipes
provides substance to satisfy hunger for
connection, as well as, very low fat diets.
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Story telling
Participants transfer their life story to their
spiritual journey giving it meaning and
purpose.
Facilitators intuitively weave the groups story,
enabling people to bring their full experience
to the retreat.
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Intentional communitynorms allow for...
Creating a safe space Changing the question How
can I help you? to... Do you have
everything you need?
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Facilitators use experiential exercises
Participants experience personal boundaries,
explore feelings, listen, resolve conflict, and
express love and anger.
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People that have feelings are not broken
Isolation comes with significant loss. People
are given space to grieve, find their own meaning
and build intimacy with others.
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We talk of death as a challenge
Death tells us not to waste time. Death teaches
us to tell each other right now we love each
other.
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Participants challenge their past story to find
meaning and purpose
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Participants set personal health goals that are
consistent with their meaning and purpose
Love heals people, both those who give love and
those that receive it.
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Ritual bestows a protected time and space to stop
and reflect...
..to make meaning out of life transitions and
acknowledge or express forgiveness and
appreciation
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Correlation of Spirituality and All Health
Related Behaviors
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Conclusion

• 78 of participants reported increased changes in
  spirituality
• Changes in spirituality were associated with
• Well-being
• ? Meaning and purpose in life
• ? Anger
• Patients partners want to integrate
  spirituality
• Further research to support this integration is
  needed

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Lifes Story A hillbilly Approach
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The generic spiritual story is based on Joseph
Campbells work known as the heros
journey.