The Healing Power of Spiritual Optimism
Recent scientific research is helping us understand that there is, indeed, a strong connection between spirituality and healing, just as Jung discovered seventy-five years ago.
To begin with, although they can and often do exist side by side, religion is not the same as spirituality. Religion is the belief in a certain set of principles or dogma. Spirituality may be based on certain beliefs, but it is most importantly an experience that you live.
Spirituality can be experienced in any human activity - from the dark night of the soul to the full awareness of Divine Light and Love, from the profane to the sacred. It is not limited by time, space or human belief systems.
As Joan Borysenko, a noted psychologist, states, spiritual optimism is a “point of view that every difficult experience provides an opportunity for soul growth and spiritual homecoming.”
It is the experience, the actual living of this spiritual optimism that leads to profound emotional and physical healing. Research shows that simply believing in the doctrine of your religion is not enough for healing to occur. You must “walk the talk” and experience these principles in your daily life.
To help you on this journey, I have developed a three-part program that can lead you closer to discovering your own answer:
1. Develop optimum health: A good gardener knows that, before planting, you must first tend to the soil in order to create a fertile foundation for maximum growth. Optimum physical, mental, emotional & social health is a good foundation for maximizing spiritual health.
2. Develop self-forgiveness, self-acceptance and self-love: Chances are your culture, your family, even your language have all worked against you to create a self image that is so much less than you truly are.
3. Develop Sacred rituals: Enhance you own religious traditions, or develop new ones, through spiritual practices, such as prayer and meditation.
We will explore these paths in future articles.