Better Health Through Spiritual Practices

Author : Dean D. VonDras Ph.D.
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1440853681
Total Pages : 399 pages
Book Rating : 4.85/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Better Health through Spiritual Practices written by Dean D. VonDras Ph.D. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-08-18 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth examination of religious practices around the world and the fascinating science behind how they make us healthier. Many religious and spiritual beliefs promote wellness through their practices or stated objectives—for example, focusing on simple living, having compassion for others, vegetarianism, or meditation and mindfulness. This refreshing work provides a review of the world's spiritual perspectives and traditions, and explores how their guiding principles encourage healthy lifestyle choices. An examination of religious and nonreligious perspectives from around the world—from atheism, Confucianism, and Christianity to Islam, Judaism, Shamanism, and Zoroastrianism—reveals how faith beliefs and values influence behavior and inspire healthy living. With contributions from leading international scholars, the chapters include a discussion of Eastern and Western world religions and their practices—such as fasting or the avoidance of alcohol and tobacco—and how they may foster healthfulness. A contemporary analysis of current research findings suggests possible interventions that individuals and health providers may utilize to enhance healthfulness. A final chapter explores the connection between health, illness, and religious and nonreligious perspectives.

Author : Rupert Sheldrake
Publisher : National Geographic Books
ISBN 13 : 1640092641
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.48/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Science and Spiritual Practices written by Rupert Sheldrake and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2019-10-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I have personally adopted many of the practices Rupert describes in his book and experienced more love, joy, empathy, gratitude, and equanimity as a result. We are all indebted to Rupert, who has tirelessly brought us deep insights from both science and spirituality.” ―Deepak Chopra The effects of spiritual practices are now being investigated scientifically as never before, and many studies have shown that religious and spiritual practices generally make people happier and healthier. In this pioneering book, Rupert Sheldrake shows how science helps validate seven practices on which many religions are built, and which are part of our common human heritage: meditation, gratitude, connecting with nature, relating to plants, rituals, singing and chanting, and pilgrimage and holy places. Sheldrake summarizes the latest scientific research on what happens when we take part in these practices, and suggests ways that readers can explore these fields for themselves. For those who are religious, Science and Spiritual Practices will illuminate the evolutionary origins of their own traditions and give a new appreciation of their power. For the nonreligious, this book will show how the core practices of spirituality are accessible to all. This is a book for anyone who suspects that in the drive toward radical secularism, something valuable has been left behind. Rupert Sheldrake compellingly argues that by opening ourselves to the spiritual dimension, we may find the strength to live more fulfilling lives.

Author : Anne Kertz Kernion
Publisher : Loyola Press
ISBN 13 : 0829450440
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.46/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Spiritual Practices for the Brain written by Anne Kertz Kernion and published by Loyola Press. This book was released on 2020-10-15 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2021 Illumination Book Awards, Silver Medal: Health/Wellness For centuries, spiritual and meditative practices have helped people become more calm, focused, and happy. Christian saints such as John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila encouraged habits of the heart and soul. Now we know that such habits benefit the whole person. In Spiritual Practices for the Brain, Anne Kertz Kernion (founder of Cards by Anne) relies on the most current research to link spiritual practices to improved health. Relying on her education and experience in brain development, positive psychology, and theology, Anne is able to relate seemingly simple practices such as focused breathing, gardening, practicing kindness, or going for a walk with powerful results for your mind, body, and soul. Her presentation is friendly and readable, and each chapter explores a specific topic such as the Breath, Gratitude, and Self-Compassion, and includes simple practices for readers to try. As an artist and an exercise instructor, she exudes encouragement and hope for the person learning a new practice or revisiting an old one.

Author : Thomas G. Plante Ph.D.
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0275995070
Total Pages : 245 pages
Book Rating : 4.72/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Spirit, Science, and Health written by Thomas G. Plante Ph.D. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2007-06-30 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From meditation to reciting mantras or praying, spirituality is more and more often being recognized for its beneficial effects on health. In this volume, a team of experts from across disciplines including psychology, medicine, nursing, public health, and pastoral care offer reader-friendly chapters showing the state of the art in understanding this connection. Chapters include attention to special populations such as youth, HIV/AIDS patients, cancer patients, and those in hospice care. Contributors, all members of the Spirituality and Health Institute at Santa Clara University, aim to use the scientific understanding of the spirituality/health connection to promote better health for the general public. From meditation to reciting mantras or praying, spirituality is more and more often being recognized for its beneficial effects on health. In this volume, a team of experts from across disciplines including psychology, medicine, nursing, public health, and pastoral care offer reader-friendly chapters showing the state of the art in understanding this connection. Chapters include attention to special populations such as youth, HIV/AIDS patients, cancer patients, and those in hospice care. Contributors, all members of the Spirituality and Health Institute at Santa Clara University, aim to use the scientific understanding of the spirituality/health connection to promote better health for the general public. One focus of this volume is to show easy ways to incorporate spiritual practices in an environment that is often multicultural, multi-religious, stressful, hurried, and secular.

Author : Professor Wilfred McSherry
Publisher : M&K Update Ltd
ISBN 13 : 1907830278
Total Pages : 175 pages
Book Rating : 4.73/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Spiritual Assessment in Healthcare Practice written by Professor Wilfred McSherry and published by M&K Update Ltd. This book was released on 2010 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There has been a groundswell of interest in and recognition of the importance the spiritual part of a person's life has to play in coping with/recovery from illness as well as in the attainment and maintenance of health, wellbeing and quality of life. Addressing the spiritual part of life is now a key part of the health care professional's job but this raises the question of how this part of life can be assessed and catered for and how health care professionals might be equipped for this task. Wilf McSherry and Linda Ross's new edited text tackles this very issue with contributors from different disciplines (including nursing, medicine, theology and chaplaincy) and countries (UK, USA, Malta) offering their own perspectives on this important part of care. Each chapter, therefore, has its own unique style but is concerned with one outcome, to see spiritual assessment and care as an integral part of holistic care whatever the setting. Contents include: Introduction - Linda Ross & Wilfred McSherry Why the increasing interest in spirituality within healthcare? - Linda Ross The meanings of spirituality: a multi-perspectival approach to 'the spiritual' - John Swinton Recognising spiritual needs - Aru Narayanasamy Spiritual Assessment: definition, categorisation and features - Wilfred McSherry The spiritual history: an essential element of patient centred care - Christina Puchalski Indicator based and value clarification tools - Donia Baldacchino Assessing and improving the quality of spiritual care - Mark Cobb Dilemmas of spiritual assessment - Chris Johnson Considerations for the future of Spiritual Assessment - Linda Ross and Wilf McSherry

Author : Thomas G. Plante Ph.D.
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 144086070X
Total Pages : 266 pages
Book Rating : 4.06/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Healing with Spiritual Practices written by Thomas G. Plante Ph.D. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2018-06-21 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This interdisciplinary study details spiritual approaches including meditation and yoga shown to be helpful in improving physical and psychological well-being. Whether a person suffers from a psychological or physical malady, such as depression, addictions, chronic pain, cancer, or complications from pregnancy, the best practice treatments likely include one common thread: spiritual practice. From meditation and yoga to spiritual surrender and religious rituals, spiritual practices are increasingly being recognized as physically and mentally beneficial for recovering from illness and for retaining optimal health. Healing with Spiritual Practices: Proven Techniques for Disorders from Addictions and Anxiety to Cancer and Chronic Pain, edited by the director of one of the nation's best-known university institutes of spirituality and health, explains current and emerging practices, their benefits, and the growing body of research that proves them effective. Comprising chapters from expert contributors, this book will appeal to students, scholars, and other readers interested in psychology, medicine, nursing, social work, pastoral care, and related disciplines.

Author : T.M. Luhrmann
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691211981
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.85/5 ( download)

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Download or read book How God Becomes Real written by T.M. Luhrmann and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-27 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hard work required to make God real, how it changes the people who do it, and why it helps explain the enduring power of faith How do gods and spirits come to feel vividly real to people—as if they were standing right next to them? Humans tend to see supernatural agents everywhere, as the cognitive science of religion has shown. But it isn’t easy to maintain a sense that there are invisible spirits who care about you. In How God Becomes Real, acclaimed anthropologist and scholar of religion T. M. Luhrmann argues that people must work incredibly hard to make gods real and that this effort—by changing the people who do it and giving them the benefits they seek from invisible others—helps to explain the enduring power of faith. Drawing on ethnographic studies of evangelical Christians, pagans, magicians, Zoroastrians, Black Catholics, Santeria initiates, and newly orthodox Jews, Luhrmann notes that none of these people behave as if gods and spirits are simply there. Rather, these worshippers make strenuous efforts to create a world in which invisible others matter and can become intensely present and real. The faithful accomplish this through detailed stories, absorption, the cultivation of inner senses, belief in a porous mind, strong sensory experiences, prayer, and other practices. Along the way, Luhrmann shows why faith is harder than belief, why prayer is a metacognitive activity like therapy, why becoming religious is like getting engrossed in a book, and much more. A fascinating account of why religious practices are more powerful than religious beliefs, How God Becomes Real suggests that faith is resilient not because it provides intuitions about gods and spirits—but because it changes the faithful in profound ways.

Author : Cassandra Vieten
Publisher : New Harbinger Publications
ISBN 13 : 162625107X
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.76/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Spiritual and Religious Competencies in Clinical Practice written by Cassandra Vieten and published by New Harbinger Publications. This book was released on 2015-09-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirituality lies at the heart of many clients' core values, and helps shape their perception of themselves and the world around them. In this book, two clinical psychologists provide a much-needed, research-based road map to help professionals appropriately address their clients’ spiritual or religious beliefs in treatment sessions. More and more, it has become essential for mental health professionals to understand and competently navigate clients' religious and spiritual beliefs in treatment. In Spiritual and Religious Competencies in Clinical Practice, you’ll find sixteen research-based guidelines and best practices to help you provide effective therapy while being conscious of your clients' unique spiritual or cultural background. With this professional resource as your guide, you will be prepared to: Take a spiritual and religious history when treating a client Attend to spiritual or religious topics in a clinical setting Hold clear ethical boundaries regarding your own religious or spiritual beliefs Know when and how to make referrals if topics emerge which are beyond the scope of your competence This book is a must-read for any mental health professional looking to develop spiritual, religious, and cultural competencies.

Author : Jeff Levin
Publisher : Turner Publishing Company
ISBN 13 : 0470231831
Total Pages : 149 pages
Book Rating : 4.38/5 ( download)

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Download or read book God, Faith, and Health written by Jeff Levin and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2007-07-20 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Jeff Levin explores the latest compelling evidence of the connection between health and an array of spiritual beliefs and practices, including prayer, attending religious services, meditation, and faith in God. Drawing on his own and other published studies, Dr. Levin shows how religion's emphasis on healthy behaviors and supportive relationships influences one's overall health and how the optimism and hopefulness of those who profess faith promote the body's healing responses. Filled with dramatic personal stories, God, Faith, and Health will alter the way you think about your body and your faith and will show you the path to improving your own health through spiritual practice. "Jeff Levin writes with incredible clarity, style, and passion. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the religion-health connection, especially those wondering if such a connection exists at all." -Harold G. Koenig, M.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, and author of The Healing Power of Faith "Beautifully written and packed with compelling scientific evidence for the spirituality-health connection . . . . With the precision of a scientist, the courage of a true pioneer, and the artistry of a storyteller, Levin reminds us of what we can no longer afford to ignore: that our spiritual life matters mightily to our health and well-being at every level." -Janet F. Quinn, Ph.D., R.N., Associate Professor, University of Colorado School of Nursing

Author : Scott W. Alexander
Publisher : Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
ISBN 13 : 9781558963757
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.58/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Everyday Spiritual Practice written by Scott W. Alexander and published by Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. This book was released on 1999 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Have you wondered, "How do I integrate my heartfelt beliefs into my daily life?" Nearly 40 contributors address this creative dilemma and share their discoveries. Creating a home altar, practicing martial arts, fasting, quilting -- these are just some of the ways they've found to make every day more meaningful and satisfying.