What is spiritual health?

Have you ever thought about your spiritual health? You might:

• go to the gym
• brain train
• look after your body.

But do you ever think about the following?

• what you believe
• why you do things
• where you fit into the world and the bigger picture
• if there is a bigger picture
• whether there is more during life and afterwards.

Research shows that having a spiritual outlook on life, one which looks beyond the immediate moment, is good for you. It can help you to be healthy and happy.

Spirituality is understood in different ways. We believe that it is about self-awareness and spending time examining, reflecting and assessing your:

• understanding of yourself
• relationship with the world around you
• other dimensions of life.

You may see spirituality as including a transcendent reality. It may include a God or divinities for you. By the same token, you may not agree with the idea of divinity or an outside agency. Spirituality can help you, whatever you believe, to look outside of yourself and find meaning. How spiritual are you?

John-Paul Vader wrote this in 2006:

'By ignoring the spiritual dimension of health, for whatever reason, we may be depriving ourselves of the leverage we need to help empower individuals and populations to achieve improved physical, social, and mental health. Indeed, unless and until we do seriously address the question—however difficult and uncomfortable it may be—substantial and sustainable improvements in physical, social, and mental health, and reductions in the health gradient within and between societies, may well continue to elude us.'