Religion vs. Spirituality
What is the difference between a spiritually developed religious person and a spiritually developed non-religious person? Is there a difference, and by what means is the difference established? Both believe in a greater “power,” something beyond the visible or physical world and existence. Spiritually focused persons think in terms of the supernatural, whereas in religion the focus is on a deity or a holiness. Émile Durkheim said that religion differs from private belief in that it is “something eminently social” and defined religion as a "unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things" (“Emile Durkheim”). Spirituality and religion are sometimes used synonymously. To say you are religious,
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Daily prayer, seeking forgiveness, ceremonies, and attendance to church, temple, or synagogue can be parts of a religious person’s activities. Certain traditions revolve around holidays and vary from each religious group to the next. Christmas and Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Passover, and the many festivals in the Hindu and Buddhist religions are all specific to those religions. Rules and traditions saturate religion in most of these cases. Someone who is spiritual may also have traditions, yet there is a lack a mandate to follow any set traditions (Cline). Being that a person who defines themselves as spiritual and not religious could be that way to avoid the rules and responsibility of being attached to one religion. The freedom associated with being spiritual comes from the sense that you can guide yourself in the direction you see fit and in the way you want to.
Health and wellbeing are part of any human being who is religious, non-religious, or spiritual. The immediate thought of religious healing brings up the idea of faith healing. This is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as, “Healing achieved by religious belief and prayer, rather than by medical treatment.” The term is often referred to as laying of hands. No scientific evidence supports this method of healing. “Faith healing may promote peace of mind, reduce stress, relieve pain and
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If a person truly believes they are healed by this who are we to say they are not? This is the power of faith. Spirituality has some more common or mainstream ways of achieving health and wellbeing. Complementary and Alternative Medicine tend to have a spiritual component involved in the methods and ideas used. Reiki, Massage Therapy, Acupuncture, Ayurveda and Tai Chi are the big names within Alternative Medicine. Saying that these practices are only in the spirituality realm would be inaccurate, as many of these were directly influenced by religions. Daoism directly affected acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and tai chi (Prothero 281). Among the ten most common complementary health approaches among adults in 2012 were yoga, tai chi, meditation, and massage (“Complementary…”). Practices that include meditation, guided imagery, burning incense and chanting could be viewed as having a spiritual element.
An increased awareness within society of these complementary therapies shows that there needs to more integration into conventional medicine. Often spiritual elements come into the complementary therapies possibly because the provider is looking at the whole body as one instead of pieces. This is the piece that is lacking and causing personal use of these alternative therapies. Yoga, meditation, deep breathing, qi gong and tai chi are some of the ways an individual can gain health and wellbeing
Religion has 7 core attributes that allow someone to call it a religion, these include Narrative, Doctrine, Emotional, Material, Ethical, Ritual and Social. These seven attributes help individuals identify what can be classified as a “religion”, however spirituality has no “easy way” to identifying it. Spirituality can be found within the individual looking for their “meaning” but not physically expressed.
Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2017). Complementary and alternative healing (C. Eliopoulos, Ed.). In Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends & management (7th ed., pp. 205-206). St Louis, MO: Elsevier, Inc.
Dayhew, M., Wilkinson, M.J., & Simpson, D.M. (2009). Complementary and alternative medicine and the search for knowledge by conventional health care practitioners. Contemporary Nurse, 33(1), 41-49. doi: 10.1089/acm.2011.0364. McCreery, H. (2010).
With this in mind whatever method is chosen, modern medicine or alternative, spiritual healing is a crucial part of the whole process of healing.
In Eastern cultures, meditation has been practiced for over two thousand years. Through this training a culture has developed in which an individual is empowered to engaged in preventative behaviors, which reduce stress and morbidity, resulting in a general state of wellbeing, with stability and mental peace in the face of everyday challenges (Richardson and Lutz, 2008). Over the last half-century, the western-scientific community has begun to evaluate the efficacy of the eastern methods of meditation. In the modern western world there is an over abundance of stress, pressure and over stimulation. These conditions often result in stress-related morbidity, high levels of anxiety and mental illnesses. This cause and effect relationship is well established, and typically emphasis is placed on symptom control and less on preventative behavior modification. There are clinically documented see table 1, meditation practices that can be taught over a short period of time to an individual which have been shown to have positive results. Meditation can be used preventatively in supporting immune function and during illness as a method to aid healing and wellbeing for nominal costs. This paper will make an literary examination of a variety of studies of which examine the role of meditation training in regards to promoting immune function in athletes, recovering cancer patients, in addition to reducing stress and promoting well being in business professionals, cancer patients and seasoned meditation practitioners.
Nowadays, complementary alternative medicine is very popular in the United States. It is widely used by adults and children. National health statistic reports done in 2007 shows that 38.3% of adults and 11.8% of children use some form of alternative medicine (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016). But why is this happening? Why is it becoming so popular? Why are more people turning to it? Many times, this is because conventional medicine has not work and they want to try an alternative. That is the case of the author of this paper.
Complementary and alternative treatments are identified as a group of medical and healing systems different from the traditional ones. This type of approach centers on individualized treatment for the patient, treats the body as a whole, and promotes self healing and search for the spiritual nature of each individual. One of the crucial points that conventional and alternative medicine have in common is the awareness on good nutrition and the promotion of preventive care (White House Commission, 2014).
Western medicine has recently discovered the powerful affects of meditation, by allowing doctors to treat the body and the mind. In reality, the mind is a very misunderstood and unexplored region of the human existence. Modern science knows more about the composition of the earth than it does about the mechanics of the human brain. Yet, meditation thwarts all notions of modern medicine with its shocking ability to to take obscure visualizations and create physical responses in the body. Mahayana Buddhism, found mainly in the autonomous region of Tibet, has become the main reference and standard for meditation practices in the west. Tibetans have used meditation for centuries as treatment for illness, and now, modern medicine of the western world is just beginning to reap the benefits of this unique and unconventional treatment for a variety of physical and mental ailments. Once a practice reserved strictly for Buddhist monks, meditation has become a worldwide phenomenon. Simply enter “Buddhist meditation” into the any Inter...
These alternative treatments include acupuncture, meditation, and therapy among many others.There is growing evidence that the desire for alternative medicine is expanding because people undergoing procedures in today’s health care system has had unmet needs as well as feelings of being uncared for (Acari & Flanagan, 2015). Alternative medicine is able to provide patients with treatments that provide relief for hard to cure problems such as back pain, neck pain, and arthritis. Many of these alternative treatments have been shown to be successful for various problems. The use of complimentary and alternative medicine as well as the open ended communication that holistic nursing provides is gaining popularity from patients who are fed up with traditional care and hospital
Complementary and alternative therapies are relatively new and essential options in health care, they help to increase the quality of life of patients and provide them with numerous possibilities to ensure growth of their health, beyond current medicine. Recently, these therapies, such as massage therapy and acupuncture, have become more prevalent in research. Consequently, their substitution with standard medicine in the healthcare system has been supported by the literature. The literature that supports these methods has explored why complementary therapies are needed, the different and distinct features of each therapy, and they also examine the education and knowledge those implementing the services must have. To accurately analyze if complementary and alternative therapies are valuable to the health care system, this paper will aim to learn why they are becoming predominant and why nurses should use these therapies’ to assist in improving the health of individuals. To determine the main attributes of these therapies, a variety of resources that extensively discuss complementary and alternative therapies will be examined and the paper will also examine the benefits and weaknesses they have on improving health. Lastly, this paper will aim to determine if these services should be implemented by nurses as alternative options for their patients, as nurses should have substantial knowledge pertaining to implementing these therapies.
According to Sandra Augustyn Lawton in Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Teens, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) can be defined as “a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine” (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Although complementary and alternative medicines are often interpreted as the same thing, complementary methods are used in coordination with conventional methods and alternative methods are used in place of conventional methods of medicine (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Another method used is integrative medicine, which uses conventional medicine and CAM together because there is proven scientific evidence to support that the treatment plan is safe and effective (Lawton, 2007, p.3). Complementary and alternative medicines are used throughout the world in many different countries, some more specifically than others.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is slowly becoming better known all over the world. CAM encompasses various types of therapies, such as yoga, reflexology, chiropractic therapy, herbal therapy, ayurveda, meditation, biofeedback, hypnosis, homeopathy, acupuncture, etc. The evidenced-based research, recognition of disconnect between patients and also the positive and negative aspects of CAM modalities are reasons behind the increased attention it has gained in medicals schools all over the United States. (Hart, 2009, p. 287).
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). (2010). Health info. Meditation: An introduction. Retrieved from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm
Faith healing may be performed either in close proximity to the patient or at a distance. When practiced at a distance it may involve a single agent or a group praying for the patient. When close to the patient or in “revivalist tent” type meetings, the healer usually touches or "lays hands on" the patient while imploring for the aid of the Supreme Being. Faith healing may also entail a visit to a religious shrine, such as the French city of Lourdes, or the Ukrainian city of Uman, in search of a miracle. O...
You live life how it is, you wake up go to work or school. You eat food and drink water. Then once you touch a doorknob to open the door, but you don’t know that the door knob was previously touched by a person who coughed into his hands. You get sick with a minor flu and a fever, so what is next? Do you go to your doctor knowing she can only see you in like two weeks? She is really busy being a professional in medicine and health. Do you go to the hospital, but is your 5 day flu really an emergency? Or do you just go to the closest CVS and buy Tylenol? Well, 30 percent of adults use Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). CAM is a term describing health and wellness therapies. These typical therapies are not part of the