What if the most overlooked factor in your health isn’t what you eat or how you exercise, but what you believe?
A doctor in a stressful practice found it difficult to lift himself out of the depression that medical practice brought to him. That’s when he decided to embrace a spiritual routine. He began meditating for a few minutes every day and hasn’t stopped since. According to him, this simple lifestyle change has helped him reclaim his well-being. He has come a long way from being an anxious and depressed intern to an optimistic, caring, full-time doctor assisting in the emergency room.
Studies find spirituality to be associated with benefits such as better mental health, longevity, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. A general culture of “neglected spirituality” has led many to find it hard to believe that there is a connection between spirituality and health.
- A longitudinal study showed an association between religious practice and a decreased risk of coronary heart disease. Over a three-decade period, religious participants demonstrated a greater reduced risk of death due to heart disease as compared with the agnostic group, despite the prevalence of high-risk factors such as low socioeconomic status and diabetes.
- A 2008 analysis of data from a previous study involving nearly 93,000 women found that regular religious service attendance was associated with a 20 percent reduced risk of death.
- In 2024, a research team analyzed the association between prayer and mental well-being in the United States. It found that positive emotions experienced during prayer were associated with greater overall mental health. In contrast, negative emotions experienced during prayer were linked with raised levels of depression and anxiety. The studies on prayer show that it does appear to lead to an objective improvement in physical health. “There is certainly something to it.” “We don’t necessarily know why, but even medical science is publishing more and more clinical literature on the benefits of faith and prayer."
- According to a study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, spiritual practices such as meditation can lead to significant structural differences in brain tissue. Meditators participating in the study were found to have a significantly thicker cortex in the anterior regions of the brain, which are important for cognitive and emotional processing. The study suggested that these structural differences could be associated with the repeated practice of attentional and emotional regulation during meditation.
- Mindfulness has also been shown to lower anxiety,... A 2022 randomized clinical trial published in JAMA Psychiatry sought to study the effect of mindfulness compared with a commonly used psychopharmacological treatment for anxiety disorders. The study concluded that mindfulness practice is as effective as the antidepressant escitalopram.
- Another study showed that increasing the frequency of daily spiritual experiences may help preserve neurocognitive performance in people exposed to greater physiological and psychological stress.
- Inflammation is a natural protective response of the immune system toward infectious agents; however, if it lingers on for long, it is not a good sign. A 2024 study on middle-aged and older adults in the United States investigated the connection between spirituality and inflammatory, cognitive, and physical health; it associated “higher religious beliefs and values” with up to 6.5 percent lower inflammatory marker levels.
Developing spiritual fitness requires a progressive overload strategy, similar to that of weight training. Gradually increase the load and repetitions to build stamina and muscles. Lifting weights that are beyond your capacity for well managed repetition won’t help you grow. The key is to choose a “spiritual load” that you can handle but that still makes you somewhat uncomfortable so that you keep pushing yourself. For instance, rather than jump-starting a long meditation session, start meditating for a few minutes a day; let your capacity for meditation grow gradually.
Total health reflects the harmony of the body, mind, and soul and you can’t treat one without treating the other. Every individual is unique, and doctors, hand in hand with their patients, should custom-design health plans that don’t shy away from an individual’s spiritual needs.
Questions utilized to to get to know their inner thoughts include:
- What’s your purpose in life?
- What have you, your family, or friends done to set goals or New Year’s resolutions that go beyond the physical realm?
- What types of faith or belief systems do you have?
Set a time for regular intervals for certain health-oriented spiritual activities, such as meditation. Developing a habit is the key. Start with spending a significant amount of quality time, at least once a year, writing down your life purpose and life goal, what reasonable steps you have taken to achieve them, and what steps you can take to improve.
“Think of it as a quality improvement and quality assessment project.“ ”You can call it metaphysical health if you‘d rather do that. You can call it spiritual health if you’d rather do that—whichever term you like better.”
Then, have monthly meet-ups with your people—your social group—where you share your thoughts and doubts, ask hard questions, see where you are falling short, and ask how to overcome your challenges.
Spiritual and religious dimensions have already been associated with increased psychological and physical health, including higher levels of life satisfaction. Maybe it is time to slow down, take a moment to reflect on your life situation, and see what meaningful change you can make to optimize your well-being.
There is a cost for neglecting your spiritual nature. Continue to learn and exercise your spiritual muscles to help your whole health. We encourage you to let DSU be one of your “people or social groups” that you check in with for sharing doubts, thoughts, experiences, and exploring your questions of life.