Foundations of Healing #3
My integrated cancer care community, InspireHealth, names "Spiritual Connection" as the third "Foundation of Healing" in their integrated approach to cancer care. This is an important part of my own cancer journey and begins with the simple awareness that I am a spiritual being. I have personal awareness and experience of this dimension of my being through practices such as prayer, meditation, worship, study and reflection, and service.
While I may be cognizant of a "realized spirituality" in my own life, I am also aware that this is a deeply personal matter and not true for all people. In studying the types of religious and spiritual experiences of people with chronic illness one study identified the following three groups
- Religious individuals who highly value religious faith, spiritual well-being, and the meaning of life.
- Existential individuals who highly value spiritual well-being but not religious faith.
- Nonspiritual individuals who have little value for religiousness, spirituality, or a sense of the meaning of life.
Source: National Cancer Institute
Religion vs Spirituality
That there are differences between religion and spirituality is generally accepted. What those differences are is a matter of interpretation. My good friend and colleague Don Grayston, drew this diagram to help me see his understanding of the relationship between religion and spirituality.
In this schematic we can understand "religion" as more defined and "structured". It has order, beliefs, specific practices, and organization. Spirituality on the other hand is a little less ordered, more free-flowing, less defined and less structured.
From this diagram we can also see that there would be those who are "spiritual but NOT religious" as well as those who are "religious but NOT spiritual". Some would assume that to be "religious" would naturally involve "spirituality". Personally, I think not. I believe that you could be involved in all of the "outward forms" of religion but realize no "spiritual life", no love of neighbour, no inner peace, no transformation, no enlightenment of consciousness, no relationship with God, nada.
Personally, I view the structure and practices of "religion" as a helpful means to realize a healthy "spirituality". "Religion" provides me with the community, traditions, accountablity, beliefs, discipline, and practices that help to nurture and sustain my faith.
Spirituality and Healing
The relationship between spirituality and healing has been known by the world's religious traditions since time immemorial. From ancient shamanic practices to modern medicine the role of religion and faith in healing has been recognized and affirmed. Contemporary research has confirmed the significance of faith and spirituality in the quality of life and health of cancer patients.
Personal Approach
"Religion and spirituality have been shown to be significantly associated with measures of adjustment and with the management of symptoms in cancer patients. Religious and spiritual coping have been associated with lower levels of patient discomfort as well as reduced hostility, anxiety, and social isolation in cancer patients and in family caregivers. Specific characteristics of strong religious beliefs, including hope, optimism, freedom from regret, and life satisfaction, have also been associated with improved adjustment in individuals diagnosed with cancer." National Cancer Institute
Personal Approach
My own personal approach to living with cancer includes prayer, meditation, healing touch, tai chi, worship, and spiritual reading and study. This in addition to chemo, surgery, radiation, exercise, supplements, etc...
Be well... Rob; in Vancouver
See all "Foundations of Healing" posts... Here
2 comments:
Taoism philosophy (Inner Rightness)
The bush and the ocean and everything from elephants to buttercups have their own inner rightness, but humans keep wanting to improve them, or change them into something that will be useful for the humans, but this isn't actually a great ideal. Wu Wei is a part of Taoism, which is the idea that you let things follow their natural laws.
It's only humans who believe in mistakes. Nature doesn't have any understanding of mistakes. If a branch falls from a tree, it doesn't mean the tree's made a mistake. Nature just reorganizes itself around the fallen branch. So now it becomes a home for the insects that live on the ground. Its leaves rot down and make the soil richer. If the branch falls into a creek, fine, the water now flows in a different way.
So, life goes on. Things happen. If you let things happen, they do.
What does Taoism say about the difficult parts of your life? You do nothing. It happens. It doesn't matter in the long run that it happens. They happen, so your life reorganizes itself. It will affect you in different ways. So, let it affect you. Feel what you feel, do what seems right to you. Don't imagine there is a right way to act or a wrong way. Just let your life continue according to its own inner nature.
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Think about the way creeks and stream operate. They start off little, gurgling and bubbling and jumping over rocks, full of energy, going all over the place. Then they get older and bigger, becoming rivers, and they take a more definite course, sticking to their path, knowing where they are going, getting slower and wider. And eventually they reach the ocean and become part of this vast mysterious world of water that stretches away forever. It is just like people; we start off life full of energy, going all over the place, then we start to follow a definite path as we get bigger. When we die, we join this ocean, a part of something that stretches away forever.
-Peter Alexcee
That is a beautiful analogy by Peter Alexcee. It is a great way to understand the practice of letting go, to let things happen around you.
Meditation helps you to be reminded of finding your inner peace, which then facilitates the acceptance of what is happening around you. Which is less stressful and therefore healthy. When you are satisfied with who you are it is much easier to be at peace with what is happening around you.
Namaste
Robyn
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