Women all over the world are concerned about maintaining and sustaining a healthy body. Physicians, personal trainers, and nutritionists are concerned, too. Women face a myriad of health issues from headaches and depression to obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease and a host of symptoms leading up to these.
These same experts are learning that stress appears to be the bottom line for many of these women’s health issues. And, they are concluding that maintaining and sustaining a healthy mind through connecting with one’s spirituality is important to managing and eventually eliminating stress.
So what causes us to “stress out?” It can be the feeling that we need to be supermom or super wife or both – balancing home, family, work, school, and all to perfection. Sometimes finances or a difficult relationship can seem stressful.
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“Taking the path less traveled by exploring your spirituality can lead to a clearer life purpose, better personal relationships and enhanced stress management skills.” stresses a Mayo Clinic article, Spirituality and stress relief: Make the connection.
What should one do when any of these issues seems overwhelming? Many experts are now pointing to the value of finding a way to calm our thinking as a start.
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For example, right now, I need to meet a writing deadline. I was awake at 3:30 this morning trying to make my thoughts come together in a coherent way. Nothing was jelling. I did my research and printed things out to read, hoping they would help. After a few hours of stressing over it, I finally did what I should have done right away. I went outside and sat on my deck, calmed my thought and quietly prayed. These verses from the Bible came to me: “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. Teach me to do thy will; … lead me into the land of uprightness.” Lead me into the land of clear thinking, into the land of peace. Ps 143:8, 10.
Shortly, the ideas began to flow.
Experts are recommending, and women are using, a wide variety of approaches to calming our thought – meditation, relaxation, visualization. I’ve found prayer works for me.
The nation’s largest annual health promotion for women of all ages is to be held September 26. (www.fitnessday.com/women/) “An expected 80,000 to 100,000 women are expected to participate” in local and community activities across the country. “Senior centers, hospitals, health clubs, park and recreation districts, local health and service organizations, school, retirement communities, house of worship” have already planned events that will encourage women to make better choices for the enrichment of their lives – physically and spiritually.
“Being Active is a Healthy Choice!” is the theme this year. And sponsors hope these activities will encourage women to understand that de-stressing and unwinding from rigorous and demanding routines is “beneficial to their well-being.”
Dr. Riina, a family physician, “helps patients tap into their own spirituality to reduce stress and explore their potential for healing themselves. Since spiritual well-being plays a large role in coping with illness and stress, patients can be made more aware and this can aid in healing.”
Kanae Kinoshita, a chaplain at Bridgeport Health in Toronto, who provides spiritual care at the end of life, helps patients to “see how their beliefs have the power to shape their lives. The meaning to our lives has not so much to do with our body parts, but rather valuing who we are.” She continued by saying that “all people are spiritual and we gain power by connecting with each other,” and connecting with a divine Source or God.
Maria Rossiter-Thornton, a registered nurse “spoke of Helen Keller who said that everything must be felt with the heart. It inherently shapes our actions. We support this by actively listening and acknowledging what is sacred to the individual without judgment.”
Riina, Kinoshita, and Rossiter-Thornton were part of a panel discussion on a Women’s Health Matters Forum and Expo in Toronto where they shared experiences of exploring patients’ spirituality in the context of the medical system. Each one agreed that we “must look within” for our individual wellbeing – find what works for us individually – see what calms, enlightens, inspires and leads in the way right for us.
Christiane Northrup, MD, considered the worlds’ leading authority in the field of women’s health and wellness, states, “Each of us has within us a Divine spark. We are inherently a part of God/Goddess/Source. Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is within, and we can make this spiritual connection through our inner guidance. We need go no further than ourselves to find it.”
Kate, a resident of Westminster, is interested in blogging about health, spirituality, science, religion, the importance of prayer in maintaining a healthy mind and body. She is a Christian Science practitioner and the media, legislative and public contact for Christian Science in the state of Maryland.
Other research material
www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/stress-your-health.cfm
www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/10-fixable-stress-related-health-problems
