Benefits of spirituality to happiness and

well being

Happiness

In 2008 the internationally acclaimed happiness researcher, Ed Diener, and his son
Robert Biswas-Diener published a book called Happiness: unlocking the mysteries of
psychological wealth. In it they review much of the literature on happiness. They argue
that studies often show that religious people are happier but that the differences are
often small and do not apply to all nations or to all religions. For example, people in the
USA are often happier if they are religious but this is not true of some other countries.
They assert that religious beliefs are diverse and whether they make believers happier
depends to a great extent on the actual beliefs. So, for example, they found that
'people who believe in hell and the devil tend to be slightly less happy that those who
believe only in heaven.' (115)

This difference led these two researchers to look for the 'active ingredient' in religion
that often translated into increased happiness. They conclude that religion can be
important for six broad reasons:

It can offer 'psychological comfort' related to death and questions of the afterlife.

Religion can also encourage people through church activities, for example, to provide
social support for one another.

Religion can provide meaning and a sense of belonging.

A religous upbringing can help provide a stable basis for children and supply them with
good values for life.

Religion can provide appealling rituals.

Religion can, as we saw in the preceding section, encourage the experience of

positive emotions such as forgiveness, compassion, gratitude, awe and transcendence.

As Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener point out, religion is simply about encouraging
people to live well but these messages can also be heeded by those who are agnostic
or atheistic. However, they are more likely to be given prominence by people with a
spiritual or a religious orientation to life. They write:

We all need to cultivate within ourselves and our families the emotions of love,
compassion and gratitude. Decentering oneself away from extreme selfishness in
service to others and the world can make the individual happier, and also will likely
make those around the person happier. For many people, religion can bring positive
attitudes - meaning, love, gratitude, security and hope. It is these attributes that
religious and non-religious individuals alike need to develop, and this is an important
lesson that religions can teach us. If you develop a spiritual approach to life that
includes positive emotions, and not focusing exclusively on oneself, your psychological
wealth will increase immeasurably. (126) .

Spirituality, young people and happiness

Psychologist Mark Holder and colleagues at the University of British Columbia in Canada
discovered in their research with children that 6.5 to 16.5 per cent of children's
happiness is attributable to spirituality. This research, published in 2008, was the first to
establish the importance of spirituality to children. To put the importance of spirituality in
context, this reseach showed that money only accounts for one per cent of children's
happiness and whether children attended public or private schools had no effect. The
researchers explained the reasons for their findings by emphasising the link between
spirituality and meaning, hope, positive social norms and a social network. The research
was undertaken with children aged 9-12.

Further research by Holder and colleagues concluded that spirituality makes young
people happy, but religion does not. This research was conducted with children aged 8
to 12. The study specificall showed that those children who feel that their lives have
meaning and value and who develop deep, quality relationships are happier than
those who do not. The researchers see meaning and quality of relationships as aspects
of spirituality. By contrast, religious practices were found to have little effect on
children's happiness. Previous research has shown a connection between well-adjusted
and well-behaved children and religion, but that is not necessarily the same as
happiness.

Holder suggests: 'Enhancing personal meaning may be a key factor in the relation
between spirituality and happiness.' This means that strategies designed to increase
personal meaning in children — such as expressing kindness towards others and
noticing acts of kindness, as well as doing good and volunteering — may help to make
children happier.

Teenagers, spirituality and depression

A research project by Dr. Michael Yi and Sian Cotton at the University of Cincinnati
revealed links between spirituality and happiness among teenagers.

The researchers compared teenagers with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with their
healthy peers. Their analysis showed that while spirituality helped all of the young cope
with life’s challenges, but it was especially helpful for the ones with IBD.

Yi said: “One of the most important predictors of poorer overall quality of life for both
the healthy and the sick teens was having a poorer sense of spiritual well-being. It is
important to point out that personal characteristics such as self esteem, family
functioning and social support were similar between adolescents with IBD and their
healthy peers.”

Cotton's analysis of the same 155 adolescents found that higher levels of spiritual well-
being were associated with fewer depressive symptoms and better emotional well-
being.

The results were detailed in online versions of the Journal of Pediatrics and the Journal
of Adolescent Health.

Spiritual people are gracious. Psychology has demonstrated that expressing gratitude is
associated with many positive emotions such as optimism, being generous with time
and resources, and overall vitality. Spirituality encourages people to be positive, which
may be expressed in many of these life practices.

Spiritual people are compassionate. Experiencing compassion toward others is one the
strongest correlates with living a spiritual life. A variety of positive or pro-social emotions
have strong links with spiritualism, including allowing one to feel good about the little
things in life and look at the world through empathetic eyes.
Spiritual people flourish. Spirituality is linked to many important aspects of human
functioning--spiritual people have positive relationships, high self-esteem, are optimistic,
and have meaning and purpose in life.

Spiritual people self-actualize. Spiritual individuals strive toward a better life and
consider personal growth and fulfillment as a central goal. Spirituality can be
considered to be a path toward self-actualization, because it requires people to focus
on their internal values and work on becoming a better individual.

Spiritual people take time to savor life experiences. Individuals who value spirituality
take the time to reflect on their daily activities and ultimately build lasting memories of
their experiences. Because spiritual people are more conscious of small, daily activities,
they experience positive emotions associated with the smaller pleasures in life.

5 Health Benefits of Spirituality

Want to be healthier and happier? Find your spiritual center.
BY TAYLOR LUPO

There is no single definition for spirituality, nor is there a single way to practice it—spirituality
means different things to different people and even those meanings can change over time.

Some experts describe spirituality as a belief in something bigger than yourself, but regardless
of definition or method of practice (like meditation, prayer or yoga), spirituality has major health
benefits. Studies suggest spirituality and prayer are beneficial to mental health, physical health
and may even add years to your life.

Quell stress
Stress can be caused by a number of different things—divorce, job loss and the pressures of
work and daily life. Some stress is normal, but excess stress can be debilitating. Practicing
spirituality is a productive way to reduce stress levels and focus your energy on something
positive.

Studies suggest mindful-based stress reduction, a form of meditation, has shown positive
results for reducing stress among both sick and healthy patients. Feeling a little overwhelmed?
Find a quiet spot and reflect for a few moments—relinquishing control of whatever is burdening
you may just be enough to calm you mind.

Reduce depression
Depression, a mood disorder that causes persistent feelings of sadness, guilt and
hopelessness, can interfere with daily life. Depression can be treated with medication and talk
therapy, but some studies suggest spirituality, namely mindfulness meditation, prayer and yoga,
can also alleviate the effects of depression.

Live longer
Studies suggest that people who attend church services or participate in religious activity have a
lower mortality rate than those who don’t. One study of 74,534 female participants suggests those
who attended services at least once a week had a 33 percent lower risk of death during the study,
and a lower risks of cardiovascular- and cancer-related death, specifically.

Another, which analyzed the health and religious practices of 3,851 older adults, found those who
participate in private religious activity, like prayer, meditation or Bible study, can live longer than
those who don’t.

Lower blood pressure

Some studies suggest people who are more religious or spiritual have lower blood pressure than
those who aren’t. High blood pressure and stress are linked; a flood of stress hormones increases
heart rate and narrows blood vessels, thereby increasing blood pressure. Reducing stress levels
through spiritual practice can, in turn, lower blood pressure.

Improve social connections

Relationships and social connections are more important to our health than we may think.
Few social connections may even be linked to a higher risk of conditions like cancer and
cardiovascular disease—but spirituality could be the fix.

An analysis published in the online journal, CANCER, which reviewed all published studies
connecting cancer and spirituality, suggests those with stronger religious and spiritual connections
were more likely to maintain relationships during their illness.

Not sure where to begin? Finding your spiritual center can be easy.

1. Volunteer in your community

2. Make your relationships a priority
3. Try meditation and relaxation techniques
4. Read inspiring stories and essays
5. Make a list of what’s important in your life
6. Give yoga a try