Recent research has demonstrated improved patient outcomes when spirituality is incorporated into medical practice.  Yet, addressing spirituality is often neglected.  It may be overshadowed by the challenges of time constraints and prioritizing care, and many health care providers simply do not have the comfort level, specific tools or skills needed to incorporate spirituality into the hectic pace of modern day healthcare delivery. This full day, regional conference provides the knowledge, skills and tools for addressing patients’ spiritual needs for best practices in any health care setting.

The keynote speaker will be Christina M. Puchalski, MD, MS, FACP, founder and executive director of George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health. Discounted registration is available through September 7th.

See the link above for more information and to register.

Enjoy this video in which he speaks about some of the recent research.

Spirituality, religion and health: Part 1 on Vimeo.

View three additional video interviews with Dr. Koenig on the topic of spirituality, religion and health.

I’ve been reading the daily devotionals the magazine from InTouch Ministries for over 10 years. Below is an excerpt of an article by Robert Bruce titled Confessions of a Couch Potato from this month’s issue.

“The most important thing I’ve learned since starting this (running and fitness) journey is that my health and my faith are not part of two separate worlds. For most of my life, I’ve pretty much eaten whatever I wanted and lived a fairly inactive lifestyle—all while trying to be a “good Christian.” I never saw the connection between physical fitness and faith, though the two are inextricably linked. Paul said that our bodies are temples designed to glorify God (1 Cor. 6:19-20). In other words, the way we manage our physical health affects our spiritual well-being.”

In the article, Bruce shares how he embarked on becoming fit through becoming a long distance runner.  I was able to relate well to his comments because I have been running since I was in high school for over 40 years.  More importantly I appreciated his insight into the connection between his health and his faith, as that is the focus of my writings and speaking.

Running is probably not the right choice of physical activity for everyone, but it’s one vehicle you can use to take good care of your physical health.  The important thing is that we do something on a regular basis to move our bodies… to care for the temple that they are for God’s Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

So, go move your body. Go for a walk. Then read Bruce’s entire article on page 26 of this pdf file in the June 2010 issue of InTouch Magazine.

Questions for Reflection on Spiritual Fitness

How physically fit are you?

How spiritually fit are you?

How well are you caring for and honoring your body, the temple of God’s Spirit?

Spiritual Fitness Resources

Article – Get FITT Spiritually and Physically

Article – Spirituality and Health – Understanding the Connection

Web Page – Spiritual Exercises and Spiritual Fitness Assessment

Annually, Chaplain John Ehman of the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia publishes Spirituality & Health: A Select Bibliography of Medline-Indexed Articles from the previous year. This year’s listing was published last month.

The  pervious 10 year’s of listings are at this link -  Annual Spirituality & Health Bibliographies of Medline-indexed Articles.

An Inspiring Day

As I’ve pulled this together, all my senses have been engaged. I’ve been sipping on a few cups of great tasting coffee, listening to the trickling of the water in our small fountain, hearing the birds chirp, listening to a playlist of soft, instrumental Christian music on iTunes, feeling the warm spring air as it breezes through an open window, and seeing the bright sun shine on the trees and flowers in the back yard. It’s been quite an inspiring morning and early afternoon!

Understanding the Faith and Health Connection

This is, I believe, the essence of the faith and health connection:

God designed us in a marvelous way. Our nervous system, endocrine system and immune system are interconnected such that our beliefs, emotions and thinking patterns have a direct impact on our physical health.

Our emotions and thoughts related to life events and our relationships will be either health-enhancing or disease-enhancing.

We all inherited a sinful nature at birth. Apart from God, it’s our natural tendency to be selfish and rebellious. How we choose to react to life events and how we live in relationship with God, ourselves and others will have a significant effect on our health.

When we try to cope with the stressors of life and to meet our deepest needs apart from God and by our own resources it’s often in ways that are sinful and unhealthy. These self-sufficient and rebellious attitudes, thinking patterns and behaviors often become habits that have a negative impact on our emotional, spiritual and physical health.

Bitterness, resentment, anger, guilt, shame, insecurity, jealousy, low self worth, fear, worry and anxiety have to do with our relationship with God, others and ourselves.  These beliefs and emotions along with their associated spirit-mind-body interactions can have a negative impact on our health.

The repression of strong negative emotions as well as thinking about the respective painful memories can also have harmful effects on our physical health.

The addictive behaviors and personal habits that many of us have in an effort to escape from or cope with these uncomfortable relationship-related issues can also be harmful to our emotional and physical health.

God inspired the writers of the Bible to share his truths with us. By reading the Bible we can learn about God and how much he loves us.  The principles found in the Bible tell us how to have the full life that He desires for us.  Choosing to believe these principles and to live by them can create an environment that is favorable to good health.

Because God loves us, Jesus died for our sins so that we might have a full and eternal life. He came to free us from the self-sufficient and sinful nature that keeps us from experiencing flourishing relationships and a full life.

God’s greatest commandment is to love God and to love others as we love ourselves. (Mark 12:30-31)

God has given us free will.  We can choose whether or not to receive his love and fully live out his greatest commandment and apply the life-giving principles found in the Bible.

As we incorporate the truths of the Bible into our life, live in relationship with Jesus, and are dependent on God’s Holy Spirit, we can experience love, joy, peace, forgiveness and hope. Love and forgiveness can also be more easily and more fully extended to others and to ourselves. This will promote inner healing which favors health and wholeness and a full and abundant life.

God also enables us, with the power of his Holy Spirit, to live according to His principles and to make healthy lifestyle-related choices.

Improved health, in general, will better enable us to use the talents and gifts God has given us to serve others and to live out our life purpose.

As we acknowledge the role that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have played in our lives and enabled us to be healthy, God receives glory.

Questions to Reflect On:

Are their any relationships in your life that require healing? This includes your relationship with yourself and God as well as with other people.

Are their principles of the Christian faith that you’ve neglected and if practiced would lead to a more abundant life?

Have you experienced God’s love and forgiveness by accepting Jesus in your heart?

Selected Resources

1-Page Article – Understanding the Spirituality-Health Connection

A Faith and Health Connection Web Page  – The Connection

Web Site - Steps to Peace with God

Related Scripture

See the page on Beliefs of the Ministry

Spirituality and Health – A Working Model

This is a somewhat creative attempt to capture my ideas on many of the key aspects of the connection between one’s faith and their health.  I used a mind mapping website to create this. It has limitations, but I’m pretty pleased with the connections it allows and the associated graphics.

Any feedback you’d like to provide would be appreciated.

What key components are missing?

Any links not made that should be?

Resources on the Spirituality and Health Link

Article – Understanding the Spirituality and Health Connection

Blog Posts – Spirituality and Health Tag

Osteoporosis is the most widespread degenerative disease in the developed world, afflicting 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men over 50.

Despite the accumulating evidence for a connection between depression and decreased bone density, official authorities, such as the US National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization, have not yet acknowledged depression as a risk factor for osteoporosis, due to the lack of studies in large samples.

A study of several research efforts including thousands of people by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers has shown a clear connection between depression and a loss of bone mass, leading to osteoporosis and fractures. The results, say the researchers, show clearly that depressed individuals have a substantially lower bone density than non-depressed people and that depression is associated with a markedly elevated activity of cells that breakdown bone (osteoclasts).

What the Bible Says

God inspired writers of the Bible to share his truth and principles about the connection between our emotional and spiritual health and our physical health.  Take a look at the following verses related to this topic:

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22

“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones .“  Proverbs 14:30

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” Proverbs 3:7-8

“My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.” Psalm 31:10

What You Can Do

Seek to have a cheerful heart.

If you’re carrying bitterness towards someone, forgive them.

Have a reverential fear of God and his principles, and turn away from evil and sin.

If you’re jealous towards someone, ask God to take that nature away from you.  Be content with what you have and trust God to provide for your most basic and deepest needs.

If you are a believer in Christ, turn to God in a more dependant and surrendered way and allow his  Spirit to have more influence and control of your thought life and attitude.  Ask him to change you… to transform you from the inside out. (Romans 12:2)

As we walk with God in a personal way, following his commandments and principles out of love, we are able to become more and more like his Son, Jesus.  This transformation brings us greater inner peace, gentleness and joy. This often goes hand in hand with good physical health.

God seems to make it pretty clear in the Bible – the guidebook he has given us to live by.  Perhaps this is the best explanation concerning the link between depression and bone health.

Questions to Reflect On

What has your experience been regarding depression and bone health?  Can you personally see a link between the scriptures listed above and your health?

Related Resources

Article – Forgiveness

Article – His Instruction Manual … Our Guidebook for Healthy Living

Article – Spirituality and Your Health – Understanding the Connection

God’s Promises – Scriptures related to depression from InTouch Ministries

I was fortunate to spend two class periods with 12 students discussing spiritual fitness and wellness as  Terry Sellers, a professor in the Science and Biology department, asked me to supplement his course, ‘Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Wellness’ with my material.  For the most part, I used content from the workshop package “Your Personal Wellness – What’s Faith Got to Do with It?”

I am encouraged that the students were very interested in discussing how the spiritual, emotional and physical aspects of health and wellness are intertwined.  They appreciated the opportunity to take the Spiritual Fitness Assessment that I’ve developed and talk about the relevance of the various Spiritual Exercises in their personal lives.  As a followup discussion to that, we spent most of the second class discussing how the application of other Christian principles might affect their emotional and physical health.  We used the poster presentation I made at this year’s annual meeting of the Society of Spirituality, Theology and Health as a springboard for this discussion.  They had a difficult time selecting the 10 most relevant principles of the 41 I identified in my presentation.  It made for a lively and worthwhile discussion!

As I think about my time with these young adults, I am encouraged that they had some time dedicated to reflect on and discuss the interrelated nature of our spirit, soul and body and the relevance to their personal lives.  I’m also thankful that the professor and the school leadership made a decision to dedicate some time for this topic.

The discussions I was able to have with Terry before and after the classes were also insightful and helpful to me as,  among other things, we talked about ways that I might go deeper with the insight that God has given me in the area of spiritual fitness.

According to this Gallup Poll, my state, North Carolina had a nearly 2% increase since last year.  Twenty eight percent of North Carolinian’s are now obese – a Body Mass Index of 30 or greater. (Calculate your own BMI) Almost 12% of the people in North Carolina have diabetes – the 9th highest state.

Obesity Rates in America - 2009

Certainly, many people in our country die of weight-related problems each and every day.  These deaths are preventable. Let’s take a deeper look.

There are many factors that contribute to the high obesity and type 2 diabetes rates in our nation. Access to health care, the environment, annual income/poverty level and heredity all play a role.  But the cornerstone of these two conditions are physical activity and eating habits. The bottom line is that these two lifestyle choices most contribute to both of these conditions and they are almost totally under one’s control.  These are choices we make, day in and day out.

Faith and Health

High levels of body fat and high glucose both represent a form of “death.” The Bible tells us that we have a choice.  We can choose between life and death. In the Old Testament, God tells his people -

“Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.” Deuteronomy 11:26-28

Later in the same book, God continues to share his instructions about the choices we have between life and death. He says “Today I am giving you a choice between life and death.” (Deut. 30:15) In verse 19 he urges us “Oh that you would choose life, that you and your descendants may live.”

We Can Choose "Life" or "Death"

We all have choices to make each and every day or our life – all throughout the day.  We can make choices that are life-enhancing or death-enhancing; good health-enhancing or poor health-enhancing.  The choice is ours.

With God in our life in a big way, it’s easier to make healthy choices.  It’s easier to make the countless healthy choices that are important in managing our weight.  But even that begins with a choice.  We must make a conscious choice to involve God in our life day in and day out.  It really all begins with this decision.

The more diligent we are in involving God in our life, the more strength he will provide for living and making wise and healthy choices. God can enable us -  empower us – to choose to be more active and to eat more nutritious food.  One key to this is to relinquish control of your life to God and to live in a more surrendered way to him.

The Bible tells us that God’s Spirit lives in us if we have accepted Jesus into our life as our Savior.  Imagine, God lives in us.  When we relinquish control to his Spirit, it is actually God that is empowering us as we live.  In this case, it is God’s Spirit that helps us to get off our seats and be physically active.  It is his Spirit that prompts us to buy and eat healthier food. His Spirit gives us greater discipline. It is God’s Spirit that comforts us when we are stressed and feel like opening the refrigerator and eating a carton of ice cream or devouring a box of cookies.

My hope and prayers for all of you who might struggle with your weight is that you lean more heavily on God and a deeper faith to assist you in making healthier lifestyle choices.  That you’ll make a conscious choice to tell him in your prayers that you need his help and that you are unable to make these desired changes on your own.

I hope that you will experience the love of God in it’s full measure and that that you will be empowered by God to make the kind of healthy changes in your life that you might want to make.  See the verses in  Ephesians 3:16-19

Questions To Reflect On

If your health is impacted by your weight, what lifestyle changes could you make that will help you lose weight?

How much are you really depending on God to help you with these changes?

Does God’s Holy Spirit live in you that he might enable you to make any desired changes in your life?

Resources to Help With Weight Management

An Article – Overweight? Find Freedom From Overeating

An Article – Spiritual Exercises to Help Us Know God Better and Manage Our Weight

Scripture Listing – Scriptures Related to Weight Management

Spiritual Help

Struggling with life as well as your weight? Desire to know God in a personal way?  Desire to have God’s Spirit in your life to empower you to live? Read about God’s love.

Wellness Webinar

To register and learn about The Spirituality-Health Connection: An Introduction – A Wellness Webinar, an online event scheduled for September 3rd, 2009, follow the link provided.

My intent and heart is to provide an overview of the Spirituality-Health Connection from a Christian faith perspective in an interactive session. I’m looking forward to using this technique to share my insight about this very interesting and relevant topic.  Hope to meet with you on the 3rd!

Topics Covered will Include:

God’s Design for Man – How the spirit, soul and body interact

Your Most Basic Needs – How your choices affect our health

Life, Stress and Your Health

Spiritual Exercises for a Healthier Life

You can pre-register for the webinar by providing your email in the box below.  After you register, you’ll receive a confirmation email with details on how to join the Webinar on the day of the event. (A phone number and link to view and hear the presentation will be provided.)

Register Below