Spirituality and Healing in Medicine

When we look at modern medicine today, we could conclude that “spirituality” as therapy would be considered alternative or complementary to traditional medicine. Yet, for centuries, various traditions have used spirituality as a viable therapy to complement other therapies.

Let’s define what we mean by spirituality and healing. Spirituality is that inner quest for contact with the divine (or Unity) within oneself. It is not “religion,” which primarily concerns itself with social aspects of life and may or may not support spirituality. Healing does not mean going back to the way things were before and is not the same as curing. Healing is allowing what is now to move us closer to the divine.

The question of spirituality becomes very important when facing serious illness or chronic illness. When cure seems impossible, spirituality becomes more important. Healthcare providers are not always well equipped to deal with patients with terminal illnesses and the more tools in their arsenal the better.

Injecting spirituality into medicine is not just an academic exercise. A growing number of hospitals and clinics around the country now offer spirituality-based adjunct therapies including prayer, meditation and massage. Almost two-thirds of the nation's 125 medical schools include courses on "spirituality issues."

We can view spirituality devoid of “religious” terms and refer to the mind-body connection. Dr. Herbert Benson of the Mind Body Medical Institute (www.mbmi.org) has been researching and explaining what he calls the “relaxation response” - whereby one can find healing by taking the time to relax using a technique similar to eastern meditation. According to Benson, 60 percent of physician visits are due to stress-related illnesses that can be remedied or improved with the physiologically soothing effects of chanting and meditation, or “the relaxation response.” Research into mind-body-spiritual healing is still in infancy stages because modern science has not document these cases.

What is it that causes spiritual healing? Spirituality as a therapy involves contacting and enlivening “energy” within the patient - this energy positively affects physical health. The new medical discipline of neurotheology is currently attempting to verify this energy as reflected in brain activity.

Traditional techniques to enliven this energy are prayer, ritual and story. When one is involved in prayer or ritual, simple fears and stress of the present move aside and allow energy to provide comfort. Also, there are many stories in Scripture that provide healing and subtle spiritual nourishment for believers.

The religious traditions are filled with examples and advice of spirituality in healing. The Quaker’s simply say that it is the relationship with God that changes us. Judaism’s advice to the surgeon who touches and alleviates the disease in the body, “if a physician cannot give a patient medicine for the body, he should find and give medicine for the patient’s soul.” Christianity adds the anointing with oil as a spiritual act. Judaism adds the ritual of giving the patient a new name. Christian Science emphasizes the power of prayer to increase healing from God; simply sincerely asking for healing – “Heal us and we shall be healed.”

Frank Ostaseski of the Zen Hospice Project approaches spirituality for both the caregiver and patient equally. He has learned that simple human kindness strengthens the caregiver’s spirituality and benefits the patient. He teaches patients to be aware of each breath they take. As our life started with an “in” breath, we can feel gratitude for each breath. We also need to remember that our life will end with an “out” breath. Being aware of that spiritual place between the in and out breaths, that short period of “no breath” allows us to be more familiar with the present moment.

He teaches, when we care for the dying, we need to take a stance of receptivity and push nothing away. We become a companion of someone who is facing death. We establish a relationship and are also given an opportunity to discover meaning, value or purpose of our own lives. There is a basic Buddhist teaching that says resisting the truth of the impermanence of life is the cause of suffering, and that our efforts to avoid change bring suffering.

Many healthcare providers intuitively practice spirituality when dealing with patients and sometimes caring becomes as important as curing. Simple attention, reassurance and the hope of healing may assist the patient’s natural healing powers.

Healthcare providers often initiate ritual in healing without knowing. Simple acts of kindness act as conduits for spiritual healing: walking with the patient can become walking meditation; holding a patients hand can be spiritual touch; acknowledging a patient by looking at them can be spiritual recognition; sharing something from nature can connect them to the creator; encouraging a patient to do a simple act and witnessing the patient’s inner joy when the act is performed. For a moment, there may be a spiritual connection and a sense of peace may be present. Using positive encouraging words acts as prayer when it produces results like reducing fear. Gandhi said, “Fearlessness is the first prerequisite of a spiritual life.” The goal would be to help the patient attain this sense of relationship and deeper meaning for a sustained period of time or to learn how to tap into this experience to find peace.

Spiritual healing allows some patients to have higher esteem and be more adjusted to their disease state, they can give up control of their illness and find peace in the healing on the present moment.

Healthcare providers need to consider the healing effects of spirituality and learn how to address the patients’ spiritual needs. Do not neglect the “spiritual” as a therapy for healing.

- First published in HealthCare Review (New Hampshire), March 2002