What is Spiritual Health?
One of the best descriptions I have found of Spiritual Health or Wellness comes from The University of New Hampshire Health Services website.
http://www.unh.edu/health-services/ohep/spiritual-wellness
“Spiritual wellness may not be something that you think much of, yet its impact on your life is unavoidable. The basis of spirituality is discovering a sense of meaningfulness in your life and coming to know that you have a purpose to fulfill.
Many factors play a part in defining spirituality – religious faith, beliefs, values, ethics, principles and morals. Some gain spirituality by growing in their personal relationships with others, or through being at peace with nature. Spirituality allows us to find the inner calm and peace needed to get through whatever life brings, no matter what one’s beliefs are or where they may be on your spiritual journey.
The human spirit is the most neglected aspect of our selves. Just as we exercise to condition our bodies, a healthy spirit is nurtured by purposeful practice. The spirit is the aspect of ourselves that can carry us through anything. If we take care of our spirit, we will be able to experience a sense of peace and purpose even when life deals us a severe blow. A strong spirit helps us to survive and thrive with grace, even in the face of difficulty.”
The Dance with Stress and Serenity
The World Health Organization has called stress the “health epidemic of the 21st century.” And it affects us, regardless of age. The U.S. Center for Disease Control has reported that more than half of all deaths of those under 65 are because of stress.
Here’s a sobering statistic. There are many studies that confirm that in North America, between 80 and 90% of all doctor’s visits are related to conditions caused by stress. Yet, only 3% of those visits were because the patient felt that stress was a problem. That’s a huge disconnect.
What this really means is that about 95% of those who are suffering from a stress-related illness are neither aware of the significant level of stress that they are under, nor of the consequences of that stress.
I believe – disconnect – is the operative word here. So many people are feeling disconnected.
Consider the millions of people searching for connection with others on the proliferation of dating websites. Or the billions of people connecting on social media sites.
Our outer world is a reflection of our inner world. This outer search for connection reflects the need for deep, inner connection with ourselves.
Throughout our evolution, sound has been a catalyst for increasing our awareness of this deep inner connection. It has also been a catalyst for connecting our communities.
You can NEVER lose your connection with your spiritual essence. It’s as much a part of you as your nose or your toes.
You can FORGET about it though. And the insidious symptoms of stress feed this forgetfulness.
If you want to find out how much stress is affecting you and your wellbeing, click the link below and you can do our 5 minute stress test:
When you create moments during your day to create connection with your spiritual essence, you reduce or dissolve symptoms of stress.
How do you know when you are connected to your soul or spiritual essence?
Whenever you feel deep peace, joy, wonder, bliss, calm, love (for no particular reason), happiness (for no particular reason).
Harmony Moments.
How can you create connection to your spiritual essence?
Here are some of my favorite, less than a minute, Harmony Moments:
- take a deep, slow breath; take several deep, slow breaths
- hum a favorite tune
- I tap my favorite Tibetan bowl (One of the things the sound of a Tibetan singing bowl does is to reset the body to its natural state of harmony.)
sigh 2 or 3 vocalized sighs to stimulate the relaxation response- tap my Perfect 5th tuning forks and listen to them
- sing ahhhhh for a few moments, while focusing my awareness on what I’m grateful for.
- smell a flower
- stand in the grass with bare feet
I encourage you to have a list of your favorite harmony moments, written or in your mind. Use them whenever you feel a sense of overwhelm beginning, so you can return to sharing your passion and gifts with those who need them.