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Using Spirituality to Heal

We live in a society that is filled with stress and creates a great deal of emotional and physical illness. In fact, more than one-third of the American population is chronically ill. Helping people through a spiritual sense of self is really one of the oldest forms of healing in our history. It has been practiced in every culture of our world throughout history. Shaman, medicine man, spiritual advisors, healers, the names can vary, but the outcome is the same; healing through spirituality.

So what is spirituality? Well, there is a great difference between spirituality and religion. Religion is as state of mind, while spirituality is a state of being. There can be a wide variety of definitions to this question, and in fact, no one definition can explain spirituality. Spirituality can identified with experiencing a deep-seated sense of meaning and purpose in life. It is an inner sense of something greater than oneself. Spirituality can include faith, prayer, meditation, a sense of meaning to life, a sense of closeness with a higher power, and interactions with others that reflect upon spiritual awareness. It is important to remember spirituality is vast and endless.

Illness requires healing whether it is physical, mental or spiritually. Illness is no more than an opportunity to grow spirituality. Healing from the spiritual perspective can be the difference between feeling better or being cured. Life is a continuous journey of discovery and development and requires experiences to learn and grow. Depression, anxiety, fear, low self-esteem and physical illness provide us with the opportunity to learn and grow. Without these experiences in life, we have no great experiences to learn from.

Research has confirmed over and over that people who have a sense of spirituality recover more quickly from disease, surgeries and mental health issues. In fact, people with a strong spiritual base have better health and live longer lives. Studies suggest that spirituality affects the immune system and its effects on emotional well being.

Using spirituality to help heal can bring a person a new sense of meaning, resulting in reawakening of hope and peace of mind, enabling people to accept and live with problems not yet resolved. It provides opportunities and encouragement to make sense of and obtain meaning.