Spiritual Wellness: Mental Health
Spiritual wellness is one of the eight dimensions of the wellness formula. All are important factors on our journey to total body wellness. However, spiritual wellness has for long been gaining traction. Its contribution to mental health and well-being is well-known. It’s also closely linked with two other dimensions — social wellness and emotional wellness because of the strength it brings to our social relations and the emotional calm it renders to our daily lives.
What is Spiritual Wellness?
Spiritual wellness is the deepest form of self-reflection. It’s about connecting with the real person within so we can live our lives contentedly, and according to what we truly believe and value, while being compassionate to ourselves and to those around us. Spiritual wellness is only possible with honest self-reflection. There can be no room for pretense or subterfuge if we want to become better versions of ourselves.
Ultimately, the spiritual wellness journey will give us the inner strength and calm to deal with whatever life throws at us. We have greater clarity and vision, and our choices and resolutions are easier for it. With this type of wellness in motion, we are more relaxed, positive and happy.
How do I achieve spiritual wellness?
There are a number of routes to spiritual wellness other than that of divine wellness, as some would have you believe. It depends on what’s right for you. Here are some wellness activities you can incorporate into your wellness program.
Examine your spiritual psyche
These simple wellness questions will help you understand the values and beliefs that influence your thoughts and actions:
- What do I stand for?
- What matters most to me?
- How do I handle challenges?
- Are my decisions and actions influenced by my values?
- Am I receptive to others’ values and beliefs?
- What is my place in the world and in my community?
It will take some time to find answers to these questions or to look at them objectively. In time you’ll become more positive in your outlook and this positivity will filter down to your values, beliefs and actions.
Give yoga a shot
Yoga is great for spiritual wellness. It has a variety of stretching poses and breathing techniques that relax the body and mind, boost your positivity and energy levels, and give you clarity and peace of mind.
Spread your wings
Boost your spiritual wellness by travelling somewhere new, even to a wellness spa. Without the distractions and obligations of your everyday life, you’ll be able to relax more, reflect more deeply on the compelling questions of your life, pray on them, and increasingly get in touch with yourself.
Try Meditation
Take 10 to 15 minutes a day to connect with yourself through meditation. This essential wellness strategy helps you focus totally on the present, gain inner peace, and become more compassionate and forgiving towards yourself and others. There are many meditation techniques to help promote your spiritual wellness. Choose what’s right for you. Here are a few techniques some have found useful:
- Breathing Meditation involves taking slow, deep breaths from the stomach. Once you focus on inhaling and exhaling slowly, the mind becomes calmer, more alert and present.
- Mindfulness Meditation involves allowing your feelings, sensations, and burning questions to flood your mind without processing them, responding to them or judging them. This way you’ll concentrate fully on the present, become clearer and calmer and observe your experiences and feelings in a more detached and objective manner.
- Insightful Meditation is where you use a disciplined process to evaluate the burning challenges, ideas and questions in your life. The process helps you gain valuable insights that previously eluded you.
- Procreative Meditation is where you choose a quality such as compassion and continuously act it out as though you already fully have it. That way it becomes a natural form of behavior for you.
Take the labyrinthian walk
A labyrinthian walk is more or less a walking meditation. Its advocates say it’s the absolute wellness strategy. At the entrance of the labyrinth, you mentally choose a burning issue that you have, and then formulate a chant around it that you utter during your walk to the center of the labyrinth and back out. Once at the center, you pray or meditate to open yourself up to greater wisdom. Then you walk out and go back to your life with a renewed inner strength and outlook, and a more profound sense of self and mental wellbeing.
Labyrinths are used by a variety of faiths and can be found within parks, schools, prisons, universities, wellness spas and medical centers.
Keep a journal to evaluate your progress
Every now and then, take a step back and evaluate your progress towards spiritual wellness. Keep a diary where you record the choices you make during the day, and the emotions they evoke in both yourself and your peers. Later, as you process these developments you gain insights into repeated patterns that have a negative impact on your mental wellbeing and relationships.
How do I sustain my spiritual wellness?
Spiritual wellness is never a done deal. It’s a lifelong process that needs to be constantly monitored to ensure that you’re staying on point with your wellness care. Here are some statements to ponder. They’ll help you identify areas of your wellpath that would need tweaking.
- My life has meaning and purpose.
- I’m devoting enough time to relaxation.
- My values are in sync with my choices and actions.
- I’m allowing for a diversity of views
- I’m being objective in my daily observations.
- I’m living in the present, and I’m more positive than negative.
- I’m growing from my challenges
- I can clearly distinguish between right and wrong.
- I take the trouble to reflect on life’s events and their meaning.
- I am more compassionate and forgiving
Think about these statements often. They constitute positive reinforcement. Remember that spiritual wellness is a personal affair. It’s about reflecting on the choices you make and adjusting your life to achieve advanced health and wellness.
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