Spirituality is a very important and integral component of health care. Unfortunately, it is often overlooked in modern day medical practice. A review of researched literature reveals that there are at least 15 separate definitions of spirituality derived from the realms of psychiatry, sociology, philosophy, theology, and physics. Spirituality is generally recognized as a basic or inherent quality of all humans, and has been conceptualized as that part of self that represents the highest values in life, motivating the individual to search for meaning and purpose. An individual’s spirituality is at the very cornerstone of health and well-being because it facilitates the holistic integration of mind, body and spirit. Spirit is often described as the aspect of an individual that compels the pursuit of such virtues as love, truth, compassion, and wisdom. Although many associate spirit or spirituality with religion, the concepts are not synonymous. A person can and often does have a spiritual dimension to life that is not expressed in or related to religions doctrine.
Why has modern medicine diverged so drastically from its roots of spirituality, holism and compassionate individualized care that the fathers of medicine; Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen and Paracelsus had themselves originally intended? Presently, we are so focused on finding the biological cause of illness that we have nearly eliminated the art of medicine; along with it, the very foundation of health. It has been only in the last 30 years that have we fully recognized the part our mind plays in illness, and perhaps in the near future we will begin to realize the part that spirit plays in healing.
The concept of a spiritual healer exerting influence over the physical diseases and disabilities has a long history in folklore, mythology, religion and sociology. Throughout the ages, the spiritual healer has embodied such various forms as a tribal chief, witch doctor, priestly healer, sorcerer, medicine man, faith healer and evangelist. Today, the field of spiritual healing encompasses many different practices including: Prayer Healing, Shamanism, Therapeutic Touch, Reiki, Huna, LeShan and Resonance Balancing, just to name a few.
While many theories bound some of the more prominent models view spiritual healing as:
- A transfer of electrical, electromagnetic, or other type of energy from practitioner to patient,
- A specific state of consciousness within the practitioner or patient or both,
- An information exchange or communication by direct or intuitive processes between practitioner and patient, or
- A process which, according to homes theorists with religious affiliations, is effective due solely to the Grace of God.
Since all healing is self-healing, the role of the spiritual healer is not to cure the patient but to activate the healing potential within the patient. Research has found that simply the conveyance of unconditional love and compassion by the healer to the patient has a quantitative transformational effect.
Since the birth of standardized medical care, healthcare has evolved from one in which the patient’s life experiences, somatic symptomology, and spiritual perspective were the key factors in diagnosis and prognosis, to the medicine of today which is dominated by complex machines that calculate bio-physiological potentials, ultimately spending more time with the patient than the physicians themselves. It is interesting: how some of those who come to us for healing tend to talk about their problems in the context of their relationship with their God. It is the world of thought which is of importance, because, as we are discovering, what people think and believe has implications for what they do. In short, mind affects matter.
In my own experience as a healer, I have often gotten images from a person’s past while working on an injured or painful area of the body. I extract the energy body from the physical body, remold it as is needed, and then place it back within the physical body renewed. The movements of my hands while doing this energy work is similar to a sculptor shaping clay.
