Introduction
Spirituality has aroused renewed interest in recent years and has become one of the fields of study of human psychology. Its importance in different fields has been recognized as evidenced by numerous studies that have been interested on mental and physical health, on well-being, on the environment or on work. Despite its growing popularity, spirituality in the common sense can be associated with esoteric or sectarian phenomena, preventing its study. Also, spirituality is often perceived as related to religion, which excludes individuals with no religious belief from a spiritual approach (Biccheri & al., 2016).
Historically
Historically, spirituality is tightly linked to religion, leading authors to use the concept in unified way (Moberg, 2002). However, growing secularism and disillusionment with the religious institutions of occidental society leads spirituality to acquire distinct meanings. In fact, in France in 2021, 51% of people no longer believe in God. Indeed, studies have shown that people can develop and live a spirituality without being religious (Zinnbauer & al., 1997). Neologism “a-religious” can then be used and makes it possible to dissociate religion from spirituality in more general cultural perspective (Renard, 2018).
Definition
The definition elements define spirituality as a multidimensional concept composed of 4 dimensions: the search for meaning, transcendence, the sacred and the connection (Renard & Roussiau, 2021). Also, Lopez and al. (2009) considers spirituality as an inner search for meaning and intrinsic purpose in life.
A-religious spirituality
An important difference with religion is the universal character of spirituality. It can develop in the religious but also artistic, philosophical space. Spirituality is individual and subjective, less formal, emotional orientation is towards oneself and there is no authority or doctrine (Koenig and al., 2001). To speak about a spirituality a-religious, we can use SBNR (spiritual but not religious) or SBNA (spiritual but not affiliated).
Positive effects
In this article, and interest is focused on the benefits of spirituality. Many authors consider spirituality as an important factor in the well-being and satisfaction of life (Lepherd, 2014). Spiritual behavior includes values such as compassion or altruism, which engages the individual in moral behavior. Equally, spirituality allows the individual to focus on himself which increases the self-esteem and thus causes a high happiness (Lyubomirsky & al., 2005). To summarize, spiritual people are happier than others, they are more resistant to stress, healthier and live longer!
Practice Spirituality
In its operational dimension, the practices of spirituality vary. According to Lopez and al. (2009), the practices of spirituality are prayer, remembering positive thoughts, family activities, helping others, listening to music, relaxation, spiritual reading or yoga. There is a multitude of possible spiritual practice, just find his!
Conclusion
These different studies show that there is a relationship between spirituality and the physical, mental and social well-being of individuals and society in general. I hope this article will inspire those who work for a more spiritual world!
Bibliography
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- Lepherd, L. (2014). Spirituality: Everyone has it, but what is it? International Journal of Nursing Practice, 21(5), 566‑574. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijn.12285
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- Roussiau, N. & Renard, E. (2021). Psychologie et spiritualité : fondements, concepts et applications. Paris : Dunod
- Zinnbauer, B. J., Pargament, K. I., Cole, B., Rye, M. S., Butter, E. M., Belavich, T. G., Hipp, K. M., Scott, A. B., & Kadar, J. L. (1997). Religion and Spirituality: Unfuzzying the Fuzzy. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 36(4), 549‑564. https://doi.org/10.2307/1387689