Links between spiritual practice (Reiki) and health and wellness.
I visited Bali in January, an island in Indonesia, where spirituality is infused into daily life. You can see this when the Balinese tend to their temples, create street offerings and respectfully interact with each other. Their rich spiritual culture is primarily focused around Balinese Hinduism. During my time there I was grateful for my self-Reiki practice, which I didn’t have when I initially visited Bali over 20 years ago.
What is spirituality?:
What is spirituality?:My time in Bali made me think about spirituality and spiritual practice:
– what is a spiritual practice,
– how does spiritual practice benefit us,
– how is it linked to our health and wellbeing?
Spirituality means different things to different people. Some people follow an organised religion which offers scope for a personal practice, others connect to their spirituality through nature, meditation, community or quiet reflection.
Is Reiki a religion?
No Reiki, isn’t a religion. Reiki is a spiritual practice and healing modality, that restores you to holistic health. Reiki is practised by people of different religions and spiritual beliefs.
It’s interesting to note the Oxford dictionary’s definition of spirituality: “spirituality is …used to refer both to people’s subjective practice and experience of their religion, and to the spiritual exercises and beliefs which individuals have…it’s usual to regard prayer, meditation, contemplation, and mysticism as major factors in spirituality”.
How does spirituality affect your health and wellbeing? What does the research say?
There’s increasing research suggesting that spirituality is linked to better health and a longer life. According to Harold G. Koenig, a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences spirituality was only recently separated from healthcare:
“Religion, medicine, and healthcare have been related in one way or another in all population groups since the beginning of recorded history. Only in recent times have these systems of healing been separated, and this separation has occurred largely in highly developed nations; in many developing countries, there is little or no such separation…The first hospitals in the West for the care of the sick in the general population were built by religious organizations and staffed by religious orders. Throughout the Middle Ages and up through the French Revolution, physicians were often clergy…”. Religion, Spirituality and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications
Here are 3 ways that spirituality and spiritual practices, such as Reiki, improve your health and wellbeing:
Spirituality can reduce anxiety
According to the World Health Organisation anxiety affected 301 million people in 2019, and females tend to be more prone to anxiety than males. Research indicates that having a spiritual practice or believing in a force that’s greater than ourselves can reduce anxiety. One way a spiritual practice, such as Reiki, helps to manage anxiety is that it encourages your central nervous system to rebalance. When your CNS is balanced you’re able to make better choices that benefit yourself and others.
A study was conducted with outpatients from two hospitals in Melbourne. One hundred women who had been diagnosed with gynaecological cancer completed an interview and report that measured anxiety, depression, and spiritual coping tools. It was found that women who didn’t use spiritual tools had a greater tendency towards depression and anxiety. The researchers concluded that spirituality and spiritual coping mechanisms are important for women with gynaecological cancer and that health professionals in the area could consider this when focusing on patient care.
Spirituality can reduce burnout
Anxiety can be a symptom of burnout. Burnout is present when you’re emotionally and mentally exhausted due to prolonged experiences of stress. How can spiritual practices, like Reiki, reduce burnout? One way that Reiki plays a role in managing burnout is that it creates a healing response. When your system is stable it has an opportunity to heal and recover. Another way that Reiki manages burnout is when it’s used as a prevention tool; when Reiki is used as a form of self-care.
Understandably, burnout is common among medical students. A study was conducted in America where 259 medical students completed a survey that measured spirituality, burnout, psychological distress, coping, and general happiness. It revealed that students who rated highly on life satisfaction also rated highly on spirituality and spiritual coping skills. Students who had low scores on spiritual well-being had higher levels of psychological distress and burnout. It concluded that spirituality could prevent burnout in medical students and future studies could explore this relationship.
Spirituality can reduce pain and associated fatigue
Another benefit of a spiritual practice, such as Reiki, is that it can reduce pain and associated fatigue. Our experience of pain is higher when we’re stressed compared to when we’re calm. Since we’ve established that spiritual practice creates better feelings of health and wellbeing it stands to reason that spirituality could have a positive effect on people who experience chronic pain.
According to Baetz and Bowen pain sufferers who were both religious and spiritual were more likely to have better psychological well-being and use positive coping strategies. They surveyed 37 000 people, aged 15 years or older, who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, back pain, migraine headaches and chronic fatigue syndrome. They found that those with chronic pain and fatigue were likely to use prayer and seek spiritual support as a coping method. They also suggested an individual’s spirituality and/or religion be considered as part of evaluation and management plans.
So, research indicates that there’s a link between spirituality and health and wellness, although more research needs to be done. Stay tuned on how you can infuse spirituality into your daily life to promote and maintain your holistic health…
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How Reiki helped to manage a serious health condition
