Spiritual Health

“Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind, and spirit.” -B.K.S Iyengar

Why Spiritual Health?

Spiritual health encompasses a purposeful life. Spirituality is associated with the recognition of a feeling or sense that there is something more than just being human with sensory experience. Spiritual wellness helps individuals seek and acknowledge a deeper meaning in life by creating a balance between the mental, physical, and social aspects of human life. When one is spiritually healthy, they have more certainty to make decisions of everyday choices, their actions develop to be more consistent with their beliefs, and are associated with a better sense of well-being. This provides us with structures of values, faith, ethics, beliefs, principles, and morals. Focusing on spiritual health can help a person feel more connected to not just a higher power, but to those who surround them.

Spirtual Health For College Students

Family expectations, lack of sleep, poor self-care, debt, heightened stress, and depression are all examples of common problems college students face. One problem alone can be detrimental to a college student so imagine having to deal with many problems on a constant basis.

A majority of college students use their time to prioritize their physical or mental wellbeing and tend to overlook the importance of spiritual health. Research indicates that the incorporation of spirituality and counseling has shown a positive correlation with the development of wellness, the increased capability to cope, a development in identity, and a greater sense of hope for the future.

The purpose of spiritual education is to help those prepare and fulfill them with the necessary tools to keep on learning through whatever obstacles that they may encounter. Spiritual development can help students seek meaning in their work and purpose in life. Having a sense of purpose can help students to become more manageable with their time and be more focused in school. By developing a mindset in spiritual growth, students can gain the strength to overcome any hardships in life.

The Scientific Evidence

In a study conducted in 2010, two hundred twenty-five participants were surveyed to investigate the relationship between spiritual well-being (SWB) and having various aspects of health-related quality of life (HQRL) of college students. Linear regression analyzes tested positive of the relationship of SWB and measures of HQRL while having control for sex, age, and race (Anye, 2010). The results showed that those who have a higher SWB score were more likely to participate in religious types of activities and report better HQRL compared to students who reported a moderate sense of SWB. There is a relationship between SWB making a significant contribution to HQRL in a sample of college students (Anye, 2010). Health program planners should consider improving the spiritual health of college students to improve the quality of life of young adults.

Ways to Improve Spiritual Health

Think Positive
- A positive attitude can help support learning and remember concepts studied in class. Help boost confidence and increase performance.
Take Care of Your Body (physically and mentally)
- Give the energy needed to succeed in life. When energy drops, so does the well being that can affect other areas in our lives.
Journal Thoughts (helps build awareness)
- You can learn what you appreciate about yourself. Habits, successes, failures, and whatever you need to work on by being aware of your own actions and behaviors.
Set Aside “me” time/ spending quiet time alone
- Slow down. Alone time is healthy and can be associated with greater self-esteem, stress management, and increased happiness.

Explore your environment and surroundings
- Notice the things that are out of the ordinary. Being aware of your surroundings helps with social consciousness.
Be open-minded
- This is a positive character quality and helps you think more rationally and critically. By stepping out of your comfort zone, you can help see the world from a different perspective.
Yoga/Meditate
- Brings together a peaceful body and mind to help manage anxiety or stress. Keep on relaxing!
Breathe
- Take deep breaths—in and out. This helps relieve stress, lower blood pressure, improve sleep, and lower depression. Great thing is that it can be done anywhere!