WHAT 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.
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Maintaining connectedness Spirituality involves connectedness
to self, to others and to a larger purpose Involves being
responsible for yourself and taking charge of your life Affects
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
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Developing a personal value system A 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.
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Finding meaning and purpose in life Why am I here? Self
actualization Self - esteem Love and belongingness Safety and
security Survival (physiological) needs
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Lab Characteristics of the self- actualizing person
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BUILDING A SPIRITUAL LIFE The quest for self fulfillment often
begins with the question Who am I? Answer this question begins with
self-exploration What 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.
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Practicing mindfulness Our 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 now Thich 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
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Meditation A way of quieting the mind Involves introspection,
self-exploration and self- discovery The ultimate goal is to relax
your body, let your feelings and thoughts come and go as they will
and just be.
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Journaling Record 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 much Something that you are dreaming about Something that you
feel is affecting your life in an unhealthy way Something 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.
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Experiencing Retreat Retreat 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
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Experiencing the arts Experiencing 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.
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Living your values Bring 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?
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SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTH Spiritual wellness includes the ability
to Examine personal beliefs and values Search for meaning and
purpose in life Make connections with other people Appreciate
natural forces in the universe Your ability to develop spiritual
wellness lies in the choices you make everyday on your own
behalf.
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Daily behavior choices to promote your spiritual wellness Your
physical health Over 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?
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Daily behavior choices to promote your spiritual wellness Your
mental and emotional health Spiritual 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.
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Daily behavior choices to promote your spiritual wellness
Building resilience The 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.
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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 Armstrong
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Daily behavior choices to promote your spiritual wellness
Finding 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.
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Daily behavior choices to promote your spiritual wellness
Creating balance We 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 perspective Begin with the end in mind
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ACTIVITY: Write your own obituary What 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?
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Health benefits of spirituality Physical 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)
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ProsCons Research 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.
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Health effects of spirituality Mental effects People 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.
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SPIRITUAL AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Spirituality involves
connectedness to the community, which in turn promotes recognition
of the interdependence of all people and all living things.
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Service learning A way to connect classroom activities to
community service and community building Gives the opportunity to
master new skills, build self esteem and enhance self image Teaches
people how to extend themselves beyond their enclosed world, taking
a risk to get involved in the lives of others.
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Volunteering While 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.
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Social activism and the global community Some 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.
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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 community Rituals and ceremonies feed our spirits, making
them richer and deeper.
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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 us Daily activities that incorporate environmental
values might include recycling, composting, and walking or riding a
bike instead of driving.
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DEATH AND DYING Death 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.
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Healthy grieving Grief 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.