Spirituality

Some turn to their spiritual side when undertaking weight loss. There are many of these diets including the Buddhist diet, the Hallelujah diet, and the Bible diet, just to name a few. Though these are all different in that they deal with different religious beliefs, they are all the same in some key ways. These spiritual diets use the mind and the spirit to stay on track and transform all parts of existence, not just the way the body looks and feels. 

Some spiritual diets guide a dieter to focus on the benefits of the foods they should be eating rather than the ones they should not. In some religious diets, each food has a specific benefit to the mental health and well-being of a person along with the benefits of the food to the body. This allows a person to see what good they are doing, and it can make the ‘bad’ foods much easier to resist. An example would be yogurt. This is good for regulating the digestive system and to avoid ulcers, but is also allows the mind (and body) to be more flexible. 

Other spiritual diets have eating restrictions based on the beliefs of that faith. For example, the Body by God Diet, which was developed by Dr. Ben Lerner, is touted as an “un-diet” rather than an actual weight loss program. This faith-based eating regime focuses on the importance of eating only all natural foods that God has provided and strictly prohibits the eating of all manufactured goods, such as pasteurized, packaged and refined foods. 

With many religions, there is a type of prayer involved. Christians fall to their knees to speak with God, and others have their own traditions. Some religions focus on the mind and body through things like yoga and meditation. These are used as powerful tools to gain will-power and strength, but have an even more important use. These work to keep the mind and spirit in an upward spiral. Depression can cause a diet to fail. With prayer and meditation, depression can be avoided and a positive state of mind can be constant. 

By accepting guidance from someone or something else - or even yourself - you make room for success in a weight loss plan. Emotional eating is a huge problem and can be traced back as the root of a weight problem in many who are overweight or obese. If you can overcome emotional eating with a spiritual diet plan, success is closer in reach. If you allow something you feel is more powerful than yourself to be your guide, you give yourself the power to succeed.

 Another powerful aspect of spiritual dieting is that you are more than who you think you are. You are more than just an executive, or a mother, or a wife. Some people get stuck in one identity and forget the other parts of their lives. When they feel overwhelmed, they focus on the one thing they feel they are not doing right instead of all of the things they are accomplishing in life. Spiritual weight loss pushes a person to find their whole self, and focus on what they do well and what they can do better. This is done in a positive manner so that emotional and binge eating once used to deal with these feelings can be a thing of the past, and healthy habits can take root.

Spirituality and science never share same space. Spirituality is about faith, and science is about fact. Many scientific explorers have dug deep into spirituality to find the truth inside, and they found it as a big emptiness. On the other end, there are the so-called spiritual gurus who have set out their spiritual journey to prove that what we see, hear and feel are all God, and nothing else. They have surely found their way to make money by selling their Gods through The Secret Book and the Secret DVD. The flamboyant spiritual gurus who preach the law of nature through their secret Seven Laws are no less than plain swindlers. They amass money along with fame for bringing ‘peace’ to the disturbed minds. They prescribe Quantum Wellness therapy to those who are suffering from chronic diseases. They challenge medical science, saying existing scientific therapies and medical procedures do not result in holistic healing. Quantum healing Oprah is the latest buzzword in the spiritual markets worldwide. If the claims of these fake spiritual gurus were to be believed, the world today would not have been the same. You may not have been reading these lines, probably. If we know our days are decided by destiny, as they say, there is no need for us to struggle so much to make both ends meet. There would not have any clash between classes, religions or countries on the earth. People would have easily forgotten their sorrows and sufferings and just waited for their destiny to come and show the way. But, what we see today is just the paradox. The spiritual gurus who promise holy wellness to the world by ‘shanti’ and meditation have become the perpetrators of communal violence and disharmony in the society. They mislead people by opposing the law of science or law of nature. The law of nature is built on Love – the love that you see around you, that you see in the cool breeze or the raindrops. The vastness of the sky and the deepness of the sea are the true symbols of the love. What we see around us is the only truth. We cannot have faith on something that cannot show its presence in the nature. The spiritual magicians who incarnated on the earth ‘to see’ the world are the ones who do not know what ‘seeing’ is. Time has come to get rid of these bogus leaders.

Recent studies have shown that spirituality could be as important as fitness or nutrition for your health. Stretching this point even further some scientists believe that not having any spiritual beliefs could be a potential risk factor for a person. Researchers have found that in general, people who are spiritual have a more positive outlook on life and look at disease or illness in a different way than a non spiritual person.

But, what do we mean by the term spirituality? We understand that spirituality is not religion and that it is different for each person.  Possibly some of the points listed below could define spirituality;

1. A metaphysical reality greater than oneself.

2. A higher power, whether it is religion, nature, a higher consciousness, or the essence of something else.

3. A connection to yourself and others as well as the world and environment.

4. A sense of meaning and purpose in your life.

5. An awareness of ourselves and who we are.

We know for a fact that spirituality gives us a more positive outlook and a belief in a brighter feature. When people suffer ill health spiritualism helps patients because their beliefs comfort them, help them to be more optimistic and they are more likely to achieve health goals, as well as believe that they will get better. Because of this it has been shown that patients recover from surgeries faster, their sense of hope and optimism is better, they have less depression, and they experience less anxiety and fear and overall have a general sense of well-being. 

Another point about spirituality is that we now know that prayer, meditation, imagery and visualization all help us to heal.  When other people pray for us the positive energy can manifest positive results for us.

 Listed below are some ways that spirituality can be of benefit to us;

1. When we pray, meditate or have positive thoughts there is a change that happens in our bodies.

2. Our brains release chemicals that are natural painkillers and mood enhancers.

3. Our blood pressure decreases.

4. Stress and anxiety levels are decreased.

5. We sleep better.

When I was an operating room nurse I worked with an anesthesiologist who would say a prayer for the patient before the surgery. At first it seemed unusual as we had not seen any doctor do this before. But after a while the OR team realized that the prayer said for the patient couldn’t hurt, and that it made us stop for a moment and think about the patient and what they were undergoing, humanizing it for us. We also had more of a bonded feeling working towards the good and end result for the patient.

To conclude, I have seen first hand what positive thinking can do for your health and for curing medical illnesses. Whether it is called spirituality or not, the point is that a belief in something greater than us and a trusting outlook does help in the healing process.

Spiritual growth is the process of inner awakening, and becoming conscious our inner being. It means the rising of the consciousness beyond the ordinary existence, and awakening to some Universal truths. It means going beyond the mind and the ego and realizing who you really are.

Spiritual growth is a process of shedding our wrong and unreal conceptions, thoughts, beliefs and ideas, and becoming more and more conscious and aware of our inner being. This process uncovers the inner spirit that is always present, but hidden beyond the ego-personality.

Spiritual growth is of great importance for everyone, not only for people who seek spiritual enlightenment and choose to live in far away or secluded places. Spiritual growth is the basis for a better and more harmonious life for everyone, a life free of tension, fear and anxiety.

By discovering who we really are we take a different approach to life. We learn not to let outer circumstances influence our inner being and state of mind. We manifest composure and detachment, and we develop inner power and strength, all of which are very useful and important tools.

Spiritual growth is not a means for escaping from responsibilities, behaving strangely and becoming an impractical person. It is a method of growing and becoming a stronger, happier and more responsible person.

You can walk on the path of spiritual growth, and at the same time live the same kind of life as everyone else. You do not have to live a secluded life in some far away place. You can raise a family, work or run a business, and yet at the same time engage in practices that lead to inner growth.

A balanced life requires that we take care not only of the necessities of the body, feelings and mind, but also of the spirit, and this is the role of spiritual growth.

10 tips for spiritual growth:

1. Read spiritual and uplifting books. Think about what you read, and find out how you can use the information in your life.

2. Meditate for at least 15 minutes every day. If you do not know how to meditate, it is easy to find books, websites or teachers who can teach you meditation.

3. Learn to make your mind quiet through concentration exercises and meditation.

4. Acknowledge the fact that you are a spirit with a physical body, not a physical body with a spirit. If you can really accept this idea, it will change your attitude towards many things in your life.

5. Look often into yourself and into your mind, and try to find out what is it that makes you feel conscious and alive.

6. Think positive. If you find yourself thinking negatively, immediately switch to thinking positively. Be in control of what enters your mind. Open the door for the positive and close it for the negative.

7. Develop the happiness habit, by always looking at the bright side of life and endeavoring to be happy. Happiness comes from within. Do not let your outer circumstances decide your happiness for you.

8. Exercise often your will power and decision making ability. This strengthens you and gives you control over your mind.

9. Thank the Universe for everything that you get.

10. Develop tolerance, patience, tact and consideration for others.

Spiritual growth is the birthright of everyone. It is the key to a life of happiness and peace of mind, and the manifesting the enormous power of the inner spirit. This spirit is equally present within the most material person, and within the most spiritual person. The level of the manifestation of spirituality is dependent on how much the inner spirit is close to the surface, and on how much it is covered and hidden, by thoughts, beliefs and negative habits.

Spiritualism is individual to each of us. That is why there are so many threads that wish to discuss religion vs spirituality. Many practice their Spiritualism within a structure and others do not like or need that structure.

Yes, we have incorporated it into a religion for legal and financial reasons. But, by and large, it is still the individual interpretation of each person who examines spirituality.

Spiritualism as a religion provides a platform and place for many people to gather and examine who they are vis-a-vis their spirituality. As they do this many things emerge. They are not creeds, they are not dogmatic in interpretation and practice, they are principles to live and grow by in our own individual way.

Spiritualism as an organization has striven to keep their ‘rules’ to a minimum and this has allowed a wide variety of opinion and/or practice to infiltrate into what is Spiritualism. Everyone has an opinion!

That opinion is right for themselves. It is when they try to make others adhere to their opinion it becomes an untenable position and not one that is Spiritualism.

There are no hard questions to ask, except of yourself. That is where Spiritualism is practiced.

If an organization does not suit you or you feel you have learned all that it offers, there are options. You can stay and try to make it ‘better’ according to your own ideas of spirituality. You can move on and find another organization that suits your tastes. You can create your own organization. All of these are valid options.

History records the creators and the destroyers are forgotten.

God bless, J

http://groups.msn.com/spiritualwisdom

http://www.authorsden.com/judymerrill