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This blog is another opportunity to feel grateful. Thank you, dear Universe, you continue to bless me with recovery and health.
There is a lot, this sphere offers that words in vocabulary can actually express. Initially, I was confused thinking that Spiritual Care was similar to a Religion however I ended up discovering much more.
In my understanding, Spirituality goes beyond finding the real purpose of life and helps us connect at a deeper level with our inner self than the material world. It added to my advantage being born and brought up in one of the oldest civilizations in the world – India is a reservoir and is known to awaken beings to the realm of spiritual wisdom.
Our traditional ancient system of medicine has been using Spiritual Care to its benefit yet due to the lack of a scale to measurement and related shreds of evidence, practitioners in the modern world are hesitant to use it in their practical clinical practices. Due to my inclination, I thought the genre deserved more exploration to dismantle my myths and beliefs and derive maximum benefits from the genre post getting diagnosed with a rare medical condition, Isaacs’ Syndrome (a neuromuscular condition stemming from muscle hyperactivity), simultaneously suffering from chronic ailments like Lyme disease (a bacterial illness transmitted by ticks), Glaucoma (which damages the optic nerve), and Membranous Glomerulonephritis (a progressive kidney disease).
Healthcare and treatment holistically involve various dimensions and cater in totality which includes spiritual well-being as well. Spiritual Care addresses a person’s spiritual need and helps to recoup the emotional and physical aspects while someone faces illness or crisis. Though Spirituality for me has always been a natural way of experiencing silence in times of chaos, it addressed a larger query of Why me?
It was a mere coincidence when I discovered a Spiritual Care Retreat in the birthplace of yoga, Rishikesh, India. From the time I entered the gates, my body felt soaked in the smell, the aura, the vibrations, and the sight of the holy place. Every moment made me feel like a spiritual being having a human experience as the atmosphere was designed to heal with a sense of calmness in the air. The technological advances of the present have changed the image of medicines having infinite energy, yet this trip was a digression from allopathic pills amalgamating body, mind, and soul through various techniques.
To begin with, a practitioner asked me some questions, to understand the situation better:
- What’s your definition of hope and what gives you hope?
- Is there something that keeps you going during your illness?
- Are you religious?
- What do you understand of Spirituality?
Further, the practice was implemented:
- It was customized.
- The practitioner had conversations and shared sacred texts without imposing any beliefs or values.
- The idea of the conversations was to understand my emotional and spiritual needs.
- I liked the way the practitioner gave an ear to the minutest details of our conversation before reaching any conclusion.
- I was asked to join their collective prayer session that infused positive energy.
- The use of the senses of touch, sight, hearing, and speech is encouraged during practice sessions.
- I felt a deeper sense of Gratitude post each session.
- Such practices have the power to unblock the flow of healing by encouraging a state of equilibrium both in the mind and the body.
- There are practices that help build the inner core strength to negate the effects of mental ill-health.
- Spiritual care can serve by lowering blood pressure and stress-related issues due to its ability to penetrate and change mental vibrations.
- It helps restful sleep which is equally important for good health.
I was fortunate to get the opportunity to breathe the intimacy of such practices that instantly delivered results, transforming energies, and improving overall health. Initially, I had an impression that I needed a flavour or a supporting religious belief to access Spiritual care but ended up with the following findings that were comforting:
- It is based on a personalized individual’s choice.
- Connects and focuses more on Inner journey than outer practices.
- Sets apart from any particular systematic doctrine.
- Flexible in nature
- The sky is the limit to exploring and growing as an individual without set patterns.
While it is a time-consuming process and is very individualistic in nature, the results could have a long-lasting effect. In my experience, it doesn’t need to be demonstrative yet personal. It proved great support: suddenly getting diagnosed with a rare disease accompanied by a couple of chronic ailments exposed me to a pool of emotions, anger, irritation, frustration, grief, sadness, fear, anxiety, and trauma, however Spiritual care, alone had the power to fight against all odds.
DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent any kind of medical advice.
