Spiritual Well Being

Spiritual Wellbeing

Data

Domain: Mind and spirit

Element title: Spiritual wellbeing

PlanBe endorsement level: 3 stars

Personal Goals: compliance / completion

Headline

Spiritual wellbeing means having a healthy connection with your thoughts, feelings and beliefs.    If you want to explore your spiritual wellbeing, we can offer you a toolkit on a number of topics, including mindfulness, spiritual practice and ways of understanding yourself better.  You can record your thoughts and feelings in your personal PlanBe diary.

Body/detail

Strapline:  Spiritual wellbeing is about having a healthy connection with your thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

Overview

Spiritual wellbeing (SWB) is about having a healthy connection with your inner thoughts, feelings and beliefs, with the people and the world around you, and, if you have a faith, with God or some Higher Power.

Your spirituality or spiritual well-being is about what gives you a sense of purpose, meaning, transcendence, hope or value, especially when faced with life challenges such as serious illness.

Approval score:

We gave this our maximum approval score of 3 stars meaning that there is a good rationale and this is unlikely to be harmful.

How does this work?

You will be given a toolkit which will enable you to access various activities designed to enhance your SWB. You will also be given tools to assess your SWB at any given point of time. 

What are the benefits?

Using these tools and activities will over time enhance your SWB, enabling you to cope better with your condition.

What is the evidence?

There is a fast-growing body of evidence that suggests that spiritual beliefs, behaviours and experiences such as mindfulness may be important resources for managing the challenges of the cancer experience. Daily spiritual experiences have been associated with more self-assurance and confidence in a mixed group of cancer survivors, and have been shown to help them integrate difficult experiences into their lives in a way that promotes better quality of life. Spiritual practice can guide you and your loved ones to find meaning, hope, and possibility in the midst of confronting the reality of your condition.

Who would this be good for?

Exploring SWB would be good for most people, and especially beneficial for those who can approach this area with an open mind.

Who should be careful?

Research and experience suggest that there is a minority of people for whom their spirituality is a cause of added distress in facing serious illness. These are usually people with particularly dogmatic views or rigid belief systems.

If you have very little religious background, you should avoid any environments where there may be pressure to “convert” to a specific faith or religion. The resources we provide or recommend are designed to put you in touch with “safe” environments that are free from such pressure, but caution should always be exercised.

Caution should also be exercised if you have a history of mental health issues. The chaplaincy team at the Christie are always happy to advise.

Myth-busting

You do not need to be religious to explore your spirituality or SWB, or even to believe in God or a Higher Power. However, if you are religious or believe in God, your beliefs will play an important part in your SWB.

What do I need to do?

See our toolkit containing:-

·         Mindfulness resources, to enhance self-awareness, and reduce stress and anxiety.

·         Examen resources- the Examen is a centuries’ old spiritual practice that can enrich conscious awareness of the fullness of life and the subtle clues that guide daily living.

·         Personality-Indicator resources: e.g. Myers-Briggs and Ennegram workshops. Understanding yourself better, and what makes you tick, is essential to greater SWB, and will also determine what other activities you may take on.

·         Information on local and national spiritual resources, e.g. Gorton Monastery and other centres of spirituality, retreats, laughter workshops, art and music therapy, Action for Happiness, dream workshops.

·         Religious-specific resources and information, e.g. Jesus Prayer, Sacred Space, Pray-as-you-go podcasts, Alpha courses, pilgrimages, Buddhist groups and activities, inter-faith groups and activities.

·         A tool to help you assess your own SWB.  

Setting goals and monitoring your progress

You are encouraged to practice Mindfulness/Examen at home on at least a daily basis, and the same would apply to religious-specific resources such as Sacred Space or Pray-as-you-Go. Other groups or activities may occur on a weekly or monthly basis; retreats and pilgrimages every 6 or 12 months. Once you have done some research into local and national resources, and tried some of these out, you are encouraged to forward-plan regular and sustainable rhythms of spiritual practice.

Keeping a journal, recording thoughts, feelings, insights, revelations, is in itself a practice in many spiritual traditions – try and do this on a daily basis.

Summary

·         Spiritual wellbeing is not necessarily about god and religion

·         It is about having a healthy connection with your thoughts, feelings and beliefs

·         You are encouraged to work your way through a number of resources to help you to assess your own SWB

Resources

The Christie Chaplaincy

Park C, Edmondson D, Hale-Smith A, Blank T. Religiousness/spirituality and health behaviors in younger adult cancer survivors: does faith promote a healthier lifestyle? J Behav Med. 2009;32:582-591;

Park CL, Cho D, Blank TO, Wortmann JH. Cognitive and emotional aspects of fear of recurrence: predictors and relations with adjustment in young to middle-aged cancer survivors. Psychooncology.

2013;22:1630-1638.

National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Distress management. Clinical practice guidelines. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2003;1:344-374.