What is spiritual health and how to fight for it?

20.12.2016 5450

Human spiritual health

Spiritual health is manifested in positive thoughts, kind-hearted actions, peaceful philosophy, strong morality, developed intelligence and many other criteria. The main thing is the internal harmony of the individual with himself. For internal conflict destroys personality and poisons life.

Spiritual health is a soul as pure as a baby’s! A soul freed from evil, hatred, malice. In addition, a spiritually healthy person respects all life on earth, each of his neighbors.

A person is not only a physical body, but also a spirit and soul. When these three components are harmoniously developed, a person is happy, healthy and calm. If violations occur at one of the levels, then the others invariably suffer. Conversely, an improvement in spiritual condition leads to the healing of physical illnesses.

Religion, yoga, spiritual practices, reading relevant literature and working on oneself contribute to achieving spiritual health.

What is mental health

Spiritual health is a bright way of thinking, a pure and kind soul. It manifests itself in the absence of evil thoughts, envy, jealousy and hatred. This is the ability to enjoy life, to be in harmony with others and yourself. Spiritually healthy people realize their abilities, overcome the stresses common in modern life, work productively and contribute to society. Religion, spiritual practices, self-development and reading the necessary literature help improve mental health. If a child is instilled in a family with life values and moral standards, then it will be easier for him to follow the path of life and self-development.

To achieve mental health, you will need a lot of work on yourself and your habits:

doing good deeds;
refusal to communicate with aggressive people;
contemplation of beauty, study of art;
thinking about your purpose;
showing love for the environment, protecting animals and the environment;
respect for others.

Here is just a small list of what you need to do to achieve your goal. Mental health helps you define your life values and rethink your lifestyle.

Emotional and spiritual health

Emotional and spiritual health are very closely linked to physical health - just as your mental health has a powerful impact on your body, your physical health affects how you feel and think. Social contacts also greatly affect your well-being.

Resuming lost activity is the key to wellness. For example, if you can no longer run, you can walk, bike and/or swim. And if dancing was your favorite activity, you might want to try something else that includes social and physical activity, like water aerobics. Replacing old activities with new ones will help you maintain a positive outlook on life and good health for a long time, even if your health does not allow you to do the things you did before.

Physical activity.

With regular exercise, you can protect and improve your emotional and cognitive health. Exercise produces substances in the body that promote well-being, while inactivity can lead to depression, anxiety or even stress. For example, one study found that women who walk regularly have better mental health than women who rarely walk. Another study found that regular exercise at least three times a week reduces the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Social activity.

Active contact with friends, family members and others also improves emotional health. Whether a person is healthy or sick, if he feels connected to other people, he will enjoy life more than a socially isolated person. By volunteering and sharing your experiences and talents with people, you greatly enrich your life. In fact, older people who regularly interact with people, even for small amounts of time, feel better than people who do not.

Mental activity.

Protect and improve your memory and mental acuity in the following ways:

Train your intellect every day. Read, learn to play musical instruments, learn languages, do crossword puzzles, play strategy games with your friends. Just like an active body, an active brain continues to develop while an inactive brain loses its strength over time.
Help your memory. Write down dates, names, and other important information that you will easily forget. Use specific techniques and repetitions. For example, keep essentials like keys or glasses in specific places. When you hear a new name, repeat it out loud as you talk and a couple of times to yourself to help stick it in your memory. (No matter how old you are, if you keep too much information in your head, it can become confused with new information. It is natural that over time, it becomes more and more difficult to retrieve new information from memory.)
Avoid depression, which is a common but treatable cause of cognitive illness in older adults. In addition to regular exercise and socializing, try to avoid substances with depressant effects such as alcohol or sedatives, eat healthy foods, and do something positive every day (learn, create, work, socialize). If you think you may be depressed, quality antidepressants and consultation with your doctor are the most important treatments. For more detailed information, see the Depression section. If you feel that a physical illness is affecting your mood, take the necessary medications.
Do not smoke. Smoking can accelerate the regression of the mental system. This link was recently established in a large study that compared smokers and non-smokers over 65 years of age. If you smoke and want to quit, see the Quitting Smoking section.

Relaxation and stress management techniques.

Constant stressful situations can have a detrimental effect on your body, psyche and on your loved ones. In addition to regular exercise, you can also control stressors by taking 20 minutes a day to relax.

Through meditation, you focus your attention and calm your body and spirit. Daily meditation can help overcome a range of physical and emotional problems, including high blood pressure, anxiety, depression and chronic pain.
The body responds to stress by tightening its muscles, which can cause pain or discomfort. Progressive muscle relaxation reduces muscle tension and general anxiety and can improve your sleep.
The way you breathe affects your entire body. Try breathing exercises for relaxation. Taking full, deep breaths will help you relax and reduce stress.

Positive thinking.

Positive thinking will help you live a long, happy life. But even if you are an optimist, there are times in life when it takes extra effort to be positive about your life. Follow some guidelines to harness the power of positive thinking in your daily life.

Expect the best from yourself, your health and life in general. As soon as you start speaking negatively about yourself or foreshadowing a negative outcome of events, stop. Direct your thoughts in a positive direction, say them out loud or write them down. This type of thinking will help you recover quickly from surgery, cancer, and other life challenges.
Be open to humor, life and love. Find more reasons to laugh and spend more time with people you enjoy.
Turn to higher powers if you believe in them. Whether it's a belief in a loving, all-powerful God, a connection to nature, or to the collective subconscious, your spiritual health will help you overcome personal challenges and bring joy into your life.

Cognitive impairment (intellectual disability)

Cognitive impairment includes problems with thinking, perceiving, or remembering. Stroke is a common cause of cognitive impairment; Other causes include head injuries and certain chronic diseases such as sickle cell disease or multiple sclerosis.

Intellectual disability may cause difficulty with:

Memory, especially short-term memory.
Solving problems.
Length of concentration, especially when solving tasks involving mental activity, such as mathematical calculations.
Expressing your thoughts, namely finding the right words in a conversation.

Treatment for intellectual disability depends on the individual case.

Progressive muscle relaxation

The body reacts to stress with muscle tension, which causes pain and discomfort. Progressive muscle relaxation helps reduce muscle tension and overall mental stress. Progressive muscle relaxation also helps people overcome sleep problems.

Procedure

You can use a pre-recorded audiotape to guide you through each muscle group in order, or you can simply learn the order of the muscle groups and work them from memory.

Choose a place where you can lie on your back and stretch out comfortably.
Inhale and tense each muscle group (strongly, but not to the point of cramping) for 4 to 10 seconds, then exhale and quickly relax the muscle completely (do not relax it gradually). Rest for 10-20 seconds.
When you are finished, return to the original readiness, counting backwards from 5 to 1.

Muscle groups and how to tense them

Hands: Make fists.
Wrists and Forearms: Extend your arms and bend them back at the wrist.
Biceps and upper arms: Make a fist with your hands, bend your elbows, and squeeze your biceps.
Shoulders: shrug them
Forehead: Wrinkle it tightly.
The area around the eyes and the bridge of the nose. Close your eyes as tightly as possible (remove contact lenses before exercise).
Cheeks and jaw: Smile as wide as you can.
The area around the mouth. Purse your lips tightly. (Check your face tension)
Back of the neck: Bend your neck back strongly.
Front of the neck: Touch your chin to your chest. (Check neck and head tension).
Chest: Take a deep breath and hold your breath.
Back: Arch your back up and down from the floor.
Abdomen: Pull it in tightly (Check the tension in your chest and head.)
Hips and Buttocks: Squeeze your buttocks tightly together.
Hips: Squeeze them tightly.
Shins: Raise your toes towards your face as if you want to touch your toes to your head. Then return your fingers to their normal position and immediately turn them in the other direction. (Check body tension below the waist).

Progressive muscle relaxation is sometimes combined with meditation.

Meditation

Meditation is a practice that allows you to focus your attention on a feeling of calm and clarity in life. Through meditation, you can achieve a state of relaxation that slows your heart rate, breathing and lowers blood pressure. Meditation usually involves slow, steady breathing and sitting quietly for 15 to 20 minutes. During meditation, a person may focus on one object, sound, or mantra (words that are spoken or chanted in a specific rhythm). The person can focus on breathing. Sometimes people don't focus on anything in particular, but rather try to distract themselves from all the thoughts, feelings, sounds or sights.

Breathing exercises for relaxation

The way you breathe affects your entire body. Deep, full breathing is a good way to reduce tension, relax and overcome stress.

Circular breathing

The goal of circular breathing is to learn to fully use your lungs and feel the rhythm of your breathing. You can practice it in any position, but it is best to do it while lying on your back with your knees bent.

Place your left hand on your stomach and your right hand on your chest. Observe how your hands move as you inhale and exhale.
Practice breathing in such a way that your left arm rises as you inhale, but your right arm does not move. Always inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
After you have filled and emptied your lower lungs 8-10 times, move on to the next step: first inhale air into your lower lungs as before, and then continue inhaling air into your upper lungs. This way, your right arm will rise and your left arm will fall slightly along with your stomach.
Exhaling slowly through your mouth, make a soft, exhaling sound as first your left hand and then your right hand lower. As you exhale, feel the tension leaving your body and you become more and more relaxed.
Practice inhaling and exhaling in this manner for 3-5 minutes. Notice that the movement of your abdomen and chest is similar to the rolling waves and falls in a rhythmic manner.

Practice circular breathing every day for several weeks until you can do it anywhere, allowing you to relax at any time.

Warning: Some people feel dizzy the first few times they try circular breathing. If you start breathing too deeply and feel dizzy, slow down your breathing. Stand up slowly.

Morning breath

Practice morning breathing in the morning immediately after waking up to relax stiff organs and clear clogged airways. Then use this breathing throughout the day to release tension.

In a standing position, lean your torso forward, slightly bending your knees, and let your arms hang freely to the floor.
Inhaling slowly and deeply, return to a standing position, slowly rising up and finally raising your head.
Hold your breath for a couple of seconds in a standing position.
Exhale slowly, returning to the original position.

Head cleansing

Head cleansing is useful for relieving tension in the neck, or when your head is too full of thoughts.

Start with a few slow neck turns. Place your chin on your chest, lift your head and turn it to the right, inhaling slowly as your head tilts back and your chin rises up. If you have arthritis in the neck (cervical spine) or other spinal conditions, do not lift your chin up.

As you lower your head, exhale slowly until your chin touches your chest again.
Repeat, this time turning your chin to the left.

The concept of mental death

Spiritual death means the fall from grace. A person is physically alive, but his soul is dead. When a person turns away from the righteous path, he moves away from God. Death is separation. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. The soul death that is of greater significance is the separation of the soul from God. The Lord told Adam that on the day he ate the forbidden fruit, he would “die.” Adam fell, but his physical death did not occur immediately. When Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord, they “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God.” Communication stopped. They were spiritually dead.

A person without Christ is spiritually dead. An illustration of this is the ascension of Jesus Lazarus to John. Physically dead, Lazarus could do nothing for himself. He was insensitive to all stimuli, oblivious to life around him, and remained beyond all help or hope except that of Christ, who became “the Resurrection and the Life.” At Christ's call, Lazarus was filled with life and responded accordingly. In the same way, we were “dead,” unable to be saved, powerless to perceive the life of God, until Jesus called us to himself.

Social health or ability to live in society

The concept of social health refers to a person’s ability to adapt in natural and social environments. It is achieved by the ability to anticipate the occurrence of threatening and unusual situations, assess their possible consequences, make an informed decision and act in accordance with one’s capabilities. The concept of social adaptation includes the complete adaptation of a person to the conditions of the group. The physical, social and spiritual health of each member of society constitutes the overall social well-being of the team. In a healthy society, non-standard situations arise much less frequently and, as a rule, are of a natural nature.

Spiritual healing

Mental healing is aimed at healing the soul, uplifting the spirit and healing the body. A spiritual healer helps people direct their energies to the source of life - God. The healer helps himself, others or even the planet come closer to coming into agreement with Divine truth, true light with greater peace, love, balance and harmony. Spiritual healing helps people in many ways, sometimes unexpected. It helps a person cope with a difficult condition.

In his work, a spiritual healer uses the following methods of influence:

meditation;
prayer;
spiritual practices.

Methods such as rituals, church services, ceremonies are also healing. These methods are effective, they penetrate the soul and can completely cleanse it.

The essence of well-being in terms of the soul

Such well-being is a feeling of belonging to a particular society and its culture. Here we are talking about awareness of one’s personal value along with a critical attitude towards oneself and one’s activities. A prosperous person finds it easy to plan every day and fulfill the formulated purpose of life, manage his manners and behavior within the framework of accepted norms in any situation, even a dangerous one. This is a creator, an integral personality, capable of coping with stress in dangerous and emergency situations, and also working effectively for the benefit of himself and other people.

There are the following components:

internal aspect - a person’s feelings of success and satisfaction after a useful action, regardless of the approval of others;
the external aspect is emotions, a feeling of pride in the personal qualities, after actions, of a person that were appreciated by people who matter to him.

If such moments are considered separately, then the person will feel uncomfortable in his soul. The mood may deteriorate due to underestimation or self-esteem may decrease, which will lead to the manifestation of one of the bad habits, deviations of a social nature, and suicide is not excluded.

Therefore, it is necessary to be able to restore mental balance, which is not so difficult for an adequate person. You need to familiarize yourself with the principles of operation once and then in almost any cases, without exception for emergency situations, automaticity works. At the slightest deviation from the path of happiness, success and harmony, we receive a certain signal from our emotions. Thus, we need to control and be aware of what emotional mood we are in, what motivates us. To return to a state of balance, you should realize that you are free-thinking beings, and not other people's puppets, and stop blaming others for your troubles.

This is the only way to live with complete control of your mood and emotional balance. And this will allow you to be positive in any situations of everyday life and:

see an opportunity;
take advantage of the opportunity;
act effectively;
solve a problem or issue of varying complexity;
make adjustments to your life.

Living this way does not mean turning a blind eye to exciting issues and things. The difference lies in the attitude itself.

When is it necessary to help a person through spiritual means?

As God-seekers undertake highly spiritual practices, they may be attacked by high-level negative energies intent on hindering their development. The energy of the seeker becomes insufficient to repel such attacks. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance the energy with spiritual healing means in the following situations:

if a person is weak, he will not be able to heal himself;
if a person is physically unable to defend himself: is unconscious;
if he has not had practice in a particular method of treatment.

Factors influencing the physical health of an individual

It is believed that the state of a person’s physical health directly depends on the factor of heredity. Genetic predisposition to certain diseases leads to constitutional weakening of specific organs, which over time becomes the cause of the development of pathologies. The next, no less important factor is a person’s lifestyle, the presence of bad habits, and the level of awareness of factors harmful to human health. A person provokes many diseases himself, neglecting the rules of a healthy lifestyle and succumbing to temptations and temptations. In this regard, a close connection between the concepts of spiritual and physical health is clearly visible.

Who becomes the healer

The healer becomes:

a holy, spiritually developed person;
monk;
a person who has a gift from God.

When spiritual healers continually engage in moral practice, they are protected from negative, destructive energy. The valuable gift of spiritual healing that they extend to their students is the transfer of their spiritual practice so that their followers can help themselves on a soul level. This method is reminiscent of the proverb: “Don’t give a man a fish, but give him a fishing rod,” it helps the student become independent.

Factors influencing social health

An important social factor is the state of the environment in which a person lives. Pollution of natural resources leads to an increase in the stress level of the body, physical disorders in the human condition, and a decrease in the emotional level. An equally important factor is the availability of quality medical care, which significantly reduces the risk of psychosomatic diseases and complications in people. Against this background, the level of physical well-being and emotional stress significantly increases or decreases, and the spiritual component of health suffers. Spiritual and physical health, together with social health, constitutes individual health. Moreover, all three components are equally significant and complementary.

Soulful practice

Spiritual (true) experience becomes an integral part of spiritual life. A spiritual person is one who recognizes his sins, confesses them and repents. He is sincere in his faith.

Christian teaching states that God dwells in all Christians and they can know Him directly through faith in Jesus. Such an experience can be divided into three stages: ascetic, contemplative and “single”, in which God comes “face to face” with the believer. The third stage, usually called contemplation, refers to union with God. The experience of union varies, but it is always primarily about reconnection with Divine love. The main idea is that God is perfect goodness and love.

Religious traditions offer a wide range of faith-based practices to gain spiritual experience:

extended exercises, often used in a large community circle; used in various tribal and neo-pagan religions;
prayer;
music;
meditation. Meditation practices are used to calm the mind and achieve harmony. Meditation focuses on breathing, concepts, mantras, symbols.

We wish you to achieve harmony with yourself and achieve mental health.

Health as the main value

Understanding and awareness of health as the main value in the modern world is not given to everyone. Most often, a person brings career, material wealth, prestige in society to the fore, forgetting about health and inner harmony. Only after losing health do people begin to understand its value, but regaining what was lost can be difficult and sometimes impossible.

A modern parable about a rich man tells how a young businessman amassed a huge fortune and lived only for the joy of profit and money. One day the Angel of Death came for him and ordered him to get ready. The businessman asked to give him a little time, because he did not have time for the most important thing in life, but the Angel was inexorable. Then the young man decided to buy some time and offered a million, then two, then his entire fortune for a few days of his life. It was not possible to buy life, since money has no value in the other world, a successful businessman went after the Angel without completing the main thing in his life. Individual health, its physical, spiritual and social essence are in harmony when a person correctly sets priorities and follows them.

Human spirituality

So what is “spirituality”? If we take each specific religion separately (namely, the concept of “spirituality” is now usually attributed to the sphere of religion), then we can find that sometimes the external forms of behavior and morality that certain religions and teachings offer us can completely contradict each other. However, you need to be able to see the essence behind the external. It is important to understand that this world is multifaceted and the concept of good and evil is relative. Rules and commandments were invented so that a person would take the path and gain some kind of initial basis of behavior.

However, blindly acting as it is written in some book is, as historical experience shows, a path to nowhere. As one progresses on the spiritual path, a person begins to understand that everything, in essence, can be an instrument and that there are no absolutely righteous and absolutely unrighteous deeds. At the initial stage, of course, one should adhere to the basic principles of morality of the religion or teaching that a person follows, or simply generally accepted social norms, if a person has chosen for himself the path of spiritual development outside of any religion or philosophy. But this is only necessary at the initial stage. When a person has already gained control over his mind and can act based on common sense, at this stage everything should be subjected to a more in-depth analysis and not blindly follow any stereotypes or dogmas. Compassion for all living beings should be the guiding light of the spiritual man.

It’s like in mathematics - if you have mastered four mathematical operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, then solving any complex examples, equations, identities, and so on will not be difficult. Just as a schoolchild works hard to master the four basic operations of mathematics, so a spiritual person must first cultivate compassion for all living beings. If this is achieved, then everything else follows from this.

What does spirituality mean?

Appearances are deceiving - we often come across confirmation of this statement. In spiritual development, this principle is more relevant than anywhere else. Sometimes someone who looks like a spiritual person, or a system that positions itself as a system of spiritual development, carries completely different goals. And spirituality is, first of all, the state of our soul, and not some external attributes. You can twist your rosary 24/7, read prayers and eat Easter pies, but at the same time judge others, be rude to your loved ones and, in general, hate all dissidents. Sometimes you can often see such comical situations when, during the period of a religious holiday, people buy food in a supermarket. And among purchases, alcohol makes up at least 30–50% of the total number of products purchased. And if you hint to such a person that he is not preparing a very healthy meal for himself, then the answer will be in the style of: “Well, it’s a holiday!”

All external attributes are present: a beautiful table will be set, and even toasts will be made, but all this will turn into a banal drinking session and filling the stomach. And there is another example: when a person on a great holiday does not bake pies and does not stand in church with a pathetic look, and generally does not even remember that today is a holiday, but simply does a good deed. And not even in honor of a holiday (as is often customary among pseudo-religious people), and not for the sake of some spiritual “goodies” like heavenly life after death, and not because it is written so somewhere, in some smart book, which everyone is ordered to follow, but simply because he cannot do otherwise, simply because it is a deep desire, the desire of his soul - to do good deeds.

After all, the desire to do good deeds is our true nature. And to reveal this quality in yourself, removing the veil of false and imposed selfish attitudes - this is true spirituality. The desire for our true Self is our deepest desire. Just as a traveler in a dark forest only for a moment saw the shine of the windows of a house that could shelter him on a cold autumn night, so each of us only occasionally, in a break between the bustle of the world, can see the light of our soul, hear the voice of our true “I”. But just as a traveler, inspired by the fleeting shine of the windows of a friendly house, will tirelessly break through a dark forest, so each of us sooner or later realizes that the desire to reveal the light of our soul, our true “I” is the best thing that can be achieved In this life. And believe me, a traveler breaking through the thorny thickets of a dark forest will one day come to the edge of the forest and knock on the door of the house - towards his true “I”.

WHO activities

WHO supports governments in their efforts to improve mental health. WHO analyzes evidence on promoting mental health and works with governments to disseminate this information and incorporate effective strategies into policies and plans.

In 2013, the World Health Assembly approved the Comprehensive Action Plan for Mental Health for the period 2013–2020. The plan reflects the commitment of all WHO Member States to take concrete action to improve mental health and contribute to achieving global goals.

The overarching goals of the Action Plan are to promote mental well-being, prevent mental disorders, provide health care, promote recovery, strengthen human rights and reduce mortality, morbidity and disability of people with mental disorders. This plan aims to achieve 4 objectives:

strengthen effective leadership and governance in mental health;
provide comprehensive, integrated and responsive health and social care at the primary level;
implement mental health promotion and mental health prevention strategies; And
Strengthen mental health information systems, evidence and research.

The action plan places particular emphasis on the protection and promotion of human rights, the strengthening and empowerment of civil society, and the centrality of health care at primary level.

To achieve the plan's objectives, the Action Plan proposes and requires controversial actions on the part of governments, international partners and WHO. Ministries of health will need to take leadership, and WHO will work with them and international and national partners, including civil society, to implement the plan. Since there is no one-size-fits-all action, each country's government will have to tailor the Action Plan to its specific national circumstances.