SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTH?

-AN ANALYSIS BASED ON QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

GROUP 9

AKASH PANSARE 21IN606

CHARU 21IN613

HARSHIT GUPTA 21IN618

KRATI SANTANI 21IN623

RAICHEL SUSEEL 21IN633

 INTRODUCTION
While modern medicine has proved effective in curing many diseases, it fails to provide a
holistic approach to the health. It is increasingly recognized that diseases and health are not
only a matter of body, but also of mind and spirit. World Health Organisation (WHO) defines
health as, “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity.” This implies that we should look beyond biomedical sciences
to attain mental and social well-being including spiritual aspect. However, what is the
meaning of spirituality, how it influences our health, and what should be done to develop
spirituality is a matter of current interest to both health care providers as well as the patients
in particular and civil society in general.

What is spirituality?
Spirit is what cannot be defined as part of the body or as
part of the mind. Body, mind, and spirit all have an effect on
one and other. Spirituality involves the recognition of a
feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater
than myself, something more to being human than sensory
experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part
is cosmic or divine in nature. Spiritual people resort to
techniques like silence, prayer, meditation and yoga mostly
as individual or collective practice, usually under the
directions of a spiritual Guru. Studies suggest a positive
association of spirituality and health behaviours with well-
being (especially subjective well-being), but still the precise
character of such relationships between all these constructs
remains unknown. Our present study aims to explore the relations between spirituality,
health-related behaviours, and psychological well-being in the context of acquired education.

ANALYSIS
For this a questionnaire survey was conducted where each individual had to answer 10
questions. We received 101 responses from people belonging to different parts of the
country.
AGE: Shows that out of the 101 responses we got 78% of responses were from an age group
of 20–30-year-old and 11.9% were more than 40 years old.
GENDER: Out of 101 responses majority of the responses were from males with women not
far behind.

STATE: We are indeed happy that we received responses from both northern and southern
states of the country. This helped us understand the thought process of people belonging to
different parts of India.
 Questions 1

The idea of spirituality has different meanings from person to person. Spirituality affects our
mental health in many ways. There are several ways it can benefit your mental health.
Spiritual beliefs and habits are as diverse as the people who practice them. Different
approaches have different functions depending on the person. Spirituality looks at the ways
that can help confronting some of the unavoidable parts of life such as- Try meditating, take a
walk outdoors, Pray – alone or with a group, Practice yoga. On the basis of the research conducted
including some of these ways into consideration we observed 29.7% people prefer yoga/exercise,
12.9% - meditation/prayer, 4.6% -journalising during stressful events of the day. More than half
of the responses prefer other ways over meditation and yoga.

Question 2

It influences many of the decisions people make. It encourages people to build better
relationships with themselves, others, and the unknown. Spirituality can also help you cope
with stress by giving you a sense of peace, determination, and forgiveness. It is often more
important during emotional stress and illness. As a part of research, it was inquired that
almost 6% and 21% people faced issues of anxiety, depression and despair every day, mostly
respectively whereas 66.3% people reported very rare experience of negative thoughts.
 Question 3

Key component of well-being is mindfulness about which zone we are devoting our energy.
So, it makes perfect sense that we may have nostalgia for moments of the past. We may recall
moments of happiness as well as the challenges. But There is a difference between thinking
about the past and living in it. Buddhist psychology says that we are most alive when we live
more fully in the present. Spirituality could help our mental health immensely if we
implement some basic changes in our day-to-day activities. When we held a questionnaire
and floated it the responses, tells that around 41.6% thinks very little about their past and
future in a day while 21.8% thinks about it every day whereas 29.7% thinks mostly and the
remaining not at all. Almost 50% of the respondents are worried thinking about the past and
future.

Question 4

Physical activity has a huge potential to enhance our wellbeing. Even a short burst of 10
minutes’ brisk walking increases our mental alertness, energy and positive mood.
Participation in regular physical activity can increase our self-esteem and can reduce stress
and anxiety. It also plays a role in preventing the development of mental health problems and
in improving the quality of life of people experiencing mental health problems. But in our
survey we found that around 16 people doesn’t practice in any form of physical activity and
around 42 do very little which combinedly makes it more than 57%. And out of that 43% only
16 % practice on regular basis and remaining practice on most of the days. Which clearly says
that most of the people do not practice any kind of physical activity on regular basis.

Question 5

Being a spiritually awake individual has the ability to prevent spiritual illness as well as physical
illness. Studies have shown that prayer and meditation have the ability to bolster your
immune system. Spirituality and religion can be helpful to manage stressful life events and
improve your mental health .If you are part of a spiritual community you may have more
support and friendship and may find it helpful to feel connected to something bigger than
yourself.
In our survey also we found that approx. 60% people think that spirituality affects both mental
and physical health. And 30% believe that is affects mental health more than the physical
health. And a very few people feel that it doesn’t affect any.

Question 6
Spirituality influences many decisions that people make. It encourages people to have better
relationships with themselves, others, and the unknown. Spirituality can help you deal
with stress by giving you a sense of peace, purpose, and forgiveness. It often becomes more
important in times of emotional stress or illness.
In survey also we found that 60% believe that spirituality can improve and mental health and
approx. 28% are confused and 13% believe that it doesn’t improve mental health.

Question 7

For many, spirituality takes the form of religious observance, prayer, meditation or a belief in
a higher power. For others, it can be found in nature, music, art or a secular community. Many
people find that having a spiritual or religious practice helps with stress management. With a
spiritual practice you’ll find that no matter how tough it gets, you’re not alone . Almost 50%
people said it helps them “mostly and completely” whereas 11% said it doesn’t.

Question 8

According to certain studies, your beliefs and your experience of well-being are linked.
Religion, meditation, and prayer can help people feel better by providing them with positive
beliefs, comfort, and strength. It may even aid in the healing process. Improving your spiritual
health may not be able to cure your condition, but it can certainly make you feel better.
According to the survey more than 50% said agrees to the fact that spirituality can lead to
healthy life while 10% said there’s no relation.

Question 9

Spirituality reassures an order to things, and generally encourages optimism and the pursuit
of a joyful life. It helps people to identify their values and appreciate the same values in
others. Spiritual people are more altruistic, compassionate, and forgiving of others, because
they identify with what connects—rather than what separates—them. Since spirituality is so
deeply rooted in providing meaning, it is a direct access point for greater happiness.
Only 8% of the total respondents disagree to this fact while all other completely or mostly
agrees to this.

Question 10

It’s important to maintain a healthy balance between your mind, body, and soul by nurturing
your whole self, including your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. In the
esoteric world it is recognized that to achieve a truly rewarding and fulfilling life one must
gain balance between soul mind and body. Harmony in the soul, mind and body is the key to
ultimate wellness and happiness, and as such attaining this balance should be an important
goal for every individual. However, most people rarely give it a thought. Almost 37% people
said they find it really difficult to maintain a balance between mind, body and soul.

Conclusion
Most of the responses in our survey are from adults, age group 20-30 and we have seen that
most of the people believe in spirituality and believe that it leads to healthy life, both mentally
and physically but very little of them follow it and therefore many of them live either in past
or in future and suffering from stress.
As World Health Organisation (WHO) also defines health as, “a state of complete physical,
mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” So we
should look beyond biomedical sciences to attain mental and social well-being including
spiritual aspect.