Connection Between Spirituality and Mental Health

Spirituality has been defined as the belief and practices that develop based on personal values and ideology of the meaning and purpose of life as part of a larger scheme.

It refers to the belief that there is a power outside of one's own that transcends understanding.

For many individuals, identifying with a religion and having religious beliefs influence their spirituality. However, spirituality is not confined to those who belonged to an organized religion or have religious beliefs.

People can develop spirituality without practicing a particular religion or believing in the powers of a supreme being. 

However, whatever is the nature of their spirituality, many individuals achieve a sense of inner peace and harmony as well as emotional fulfillment by believing that life has a purpose.

In my view spirituality and religiosity are interrelated with religiosity focusing on the external expressions of spirituality or faith. In other words religious practices can foster spirituality while spiritual practices could involve aspects of religious participation.

Nevertheless, a breakdown in spirituality can have a negative impact on one's mental well-being.

The key issue here is that whether changing their lives to improve their mental health or dealing with the recovery from a health problem, people with strong spiritual beliefs benefit from the foundation of confidence and purpose that their beliefs provide.

Now let's look at the three dimensions of spirituality. They are:
a. making personal meaning out of situations
b. coming to an understanding of self
c. appreciating the importance of connection with others.

Spirituality then may be considered a mechanism of social support, positive coping, and decision-making, avoidance of substance abuse, and help in times of stress.


What are your thoughts about spirituality? Leave your comments below.

5 Secrets to Having Great Conversations

The 5 Secrets of  Great Conversation emphasize conversation as being an art. Just as a great artist can avoid boring topics. 

This is perhaps the one to emphasize most. To practice the art of conversation, keep abreast of current events, tune in to your fellow conservationists, and enjoy the experience.

Use these secrets whether you are a parent talking with your children, an adult talking with your spouse, or in a group of people that you are just getting acquainted with. Modify them to meet the occasion. 

Now here are the 5 Secrets of Great Conversation:

1. Avoid Boring Topics

Keep your health complaints for your doctor unless those you are talking to can be of assistance, don't talk about your personal and domestic affairs, and forget about bringing up your in-laws and pets. 

Read the newspapers online if you don’t want to buy the print editions. I buy the print editions only on the weekends. Choose two or three monthly magazines that go in depth on topics you’re interested in. And, keep current in your area of expertise.

2. Don’t Offend

The best manners come from empathy. It's feeling as though you are the other person – – put yourself in his place. They are simply expressions of the decent respect the one human being owes to another and is owed in return. Try to be sensitive to those around you.

3. Don’t Gossip

The Bible says, " Do not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Gossip, by definition, is rumor or talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature. 

In other words, don't talk behind your neighbors back. It reflects on your character. Spreading rumors are about as hard to unspread as butter.

4. Include Everyone In

To exclude someone from a conversation is as unthinkable as it would be for a hostess to omit serving one of her guests at dinner. Don't leave anyone out. Reach out to all. Let your eyes communicate cordially with each in turn. 

Be aware of everyone's reaction to what you are saying. Put yourself in the shoes of the other person who is feeling left out.  Make a point of setting him or her at ease.

5. Listening

"Know how to listen, says Plutarch, and you can learn from those who speak badly." Fifty percent of the talking is listening – – not just with your ears, but with all your senses; and, with your heart as well as your mind.  

Close listening for correct information is essential to good conversation, social, or business. The greatest compliment you can pay to anyone is to really listen to what he has to say. And, the way to show you have been listening is to answer responsibly.

What do you think?

Leave your comments below.

Your Health is at Risk. Here's What to Do About It

Exercise work zones 

If several of your close blood relatives have had heart at­tacks before the age of sixty, you're likely to have one too unless you eliminate all the other possible risk factors. 

Don't have a fatalistic view about heart disease because so many of your close relatives died young from heart attacks. 

Chances are your ill-fated parents or siblings smoked, were overweight, were diabetic with poor sugar control, had el­evated cholesterol levels, and rarely exercised. 

Genes are only part of the story. Regardless of your genetic vulnera­bility, correcting any obvious abnormalities will improve your outlook considerably.

Regular exercise. Regular exercise that's sufficiently rigorous protects the coronary arteries. 

However, you've got to pay attention to the other risk factors as well. Dr. William Castelli, the di­rector of the Framingham Heart Study, estimates that half the doctors running in the Boston Marathon have abnormal cholesterol levels—and don't know it!

You're most likely to stay with your exercise program if you enjoy it. Few people will continue for very long with a regimen that they find boring. Brisk walking for thirty minutes a day or vigorous gardening are enough. 

If you prefer, you may also run, jog, dance, bike, or swim, pro­vided your doctor has cleared you to do so. 

Walking briskly for about three miles (you can pick any other form of ex­ercise) was found to reduce the risk of a heart attack by 64 percent in male Harvard alumni. (Graduates of Princeton, Yale, and Cornell can probably expect the same good re­sults.)

Aerobic exercises Aerobic exercises such as walking or running (as opposed to stretching and weight-lifting) exert their beneficial effect in several ways: 

• they lower your resting heart rate and blood pressure, thus easing the burden on your heart; 
• they reduce cholesterol and triglycerides
• raise the good lipoproteins and lower the bad lipoproteins; 
• they drop the blood sugar in diabetics; 
• they help prevent osteoporosis; 
• they decrease the proportion of body fat; they reduce stress and improve mood. 
• All in all, exercise is a good prescription against heart attack.

Besides improving your physical health and increasing your longevity, exercise can have short-term and long-term psychological benefits. Physical activity can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression and improve mood and well-being.

What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below.