What Does 'Spiritual Health' Mean, Exactly?

Morgan Bailee Boggess

February 8, 2024 at 8:05 PM·7 min read

Woman meditating while focusing on her spiritual health

Are you deconstructing your childhood religious experience? Wanting to get into spirituality but aren’t sure how? Regardless of your current faith, or lack thereof, any decision you make about your spirituality is directly related to spiritual health—the type of well-being describing your inner self, purpose and the larger universe.

Discovering and nurturing your spiritual health can be eye-opening, yet challenging. Not only do you have to put trust in something intangible, but you also have to explore some of the deepest parts of yourself. Before you get too skeptical, defining your spiritual health doesn’t have to be overly complicated or scary. Finding a deeper connection with yourself, others and the world can transform your life, but it does require curiosity and open-mindedness.

Let’s start with a more in-depth look at what spiritual health is.

What Is Spiritual Health?

While spiritual health and wellness are unique to everyone, what defines spiritual health is its focus on individuality—it’s deeply personal.

This type of health is also a significant part of our overall health, a statement that Michael Bennett, a therapist who integrates spirituality, faith and religion with traditional psychological interventions, describes spiritual health as “one component of having holistic health where one experiences meaningful functionality as a human with physical, mental and social domains of life.”

But spiritual health goes beyond what’s inside your soul or your mind; researchers are connecting the dots between neuroscience and spirituality, even suggesting that, when used in a therapeutic context, this combo can increase cortical thickness and decrease default mode network connectivity—two brain areas involved in decision-making and task completion.

Supporting this, Bennet says, “Assisted by prefrontal regions of the brain, we all have a capacity to connect with something bigger than ourselves that supports our transformation and transcendence. When someone is experiencing spiritual well-being, they are accessing and practicing their ability to connect with something or someone beyond themselves and acknowledging that there is a higher meaning to this connection beyond the mundane or common experience.”

What Are the Indicators of Spiritual Health?

Understanding the indicators of spiritual health is one of the first steps to discovering what spirituality means to you. The journey to self-discovery and achieving more holistic well-being involves looking deep within yourself, examining everything from your overall well-being to yourself to your values and beliefs. For example, these are five indicators that show you how spiritually healthy you are.

1. Understanding Your Sense of Purpose

One of the hardest challenges in life is to figure out your purpose. While it comes naturally to some people, others may struggle to define what direction they need to take with their lives. Feeling a connection to something greater than yourself is an indicator of spiritual health and growth.

2. Finding Peace and Contentment

Spiritual health is often associated with a sense of inner peace and contentment, eliminating the stress that comes along with life. If you’re spiritually healthy, you’re more likely to experience a deep sense of tranquility—even in the middle of chaos.

3. Meaningful Relationships

Regarding relationships, quality over quantity is usually the best policy to ensure you’re allowing the right people into your life. Healthy spirituality is directly related to the quality of your relationships. The better it is, the easier it is to cultivate meaningful connections.

4. Integrating Mindfulness Practices

Mindfulness is the practice of being present in the moment and embracing a mindset of the "here and now" rather than worrying about the future. Practices like meditation, prayer or deep breathing exercises help you connect with your inner self and increase your awareness and understanding of life.

5. Aligning Your Values and Beliefs

Do you tend to be a people-pleaser, or do you stick to strong beliefs? Spiritually healthy people tend to be resilient, allowing them to live in accordance with their values and beliefs—becoming more authentic.

How Is Spiritual Health Different from Physical Health?

Simply speaking, spiritual health differs from physical health because it describes a different need. As mentioned earlier, humans are made up of the body, mind and spirit, so while spiritual health focuses on the non-material aspects of life, physical health addresses the body’s needs (nutrition, exercise, rest, immune system functioning, etc.).

These differences don’t necessarily mean that spiritual health can’t be used to improve physical health—or both simultaneously. One example of this is how spirituality can help heal issues with intimacy. Amy Clark, LPCC-S, often sees spirituality as an area of contention when working with clients. “As a sex and relationship therapist, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to explore all areas of one's life. This includes their practice of spiritual health and wellness, or lack thereof.”

Clark adds, “It is often foundational to where they find their sense of purpose, hope, peace and comfort—even in the darkest times. It is not simply practicing rituals or identifying with a specific religion, but understanding who you are at the core. Most of all, spiritual health is personal and real.”

Since spiritual health is so intrinsically tied to our physical health, it makes sense that seeking spiritual guidance for intimacy-related problems would be an effective way to heal. It’s also a good example of how spiritual and physical health are nurtured and measured differently. Loosely speaking, while physical health care typically follows a medical model and bases how effective a treatment is on quantifiable research (evidence-based practice), spiritual health adopts a more subjective, categorical perspective.

Clark agrees with this by saying, “I find that individuals who are intentional about nurturing their spiritual health through prayer, mediation, connection and community service are often more likely to benefit from the therapeutic process. They are not as focused on finding happiness but regaining peace and purpose.”

Is Spiritual Health the Same as Religion?

Spiritual health and religion are different, although they are often used synonymously. Here are some of their differences:

While spiritual health is left up to the individual to create and mold to their personal preference, religion is created outside of the self.
Spiritual principles are typically applications of someone’s teachings, while religion is based upon a historical figure (usually a prophet or significant community figure) and involves rituals and worship.
Religion is found in organized forms, such as churches or groups, where laws, doctrines, or a “code of ethics'' create a belief structure. Spirituality isn’t focused on rules but rather on the freedom to explore and disseminate.
Spiritually evolves with time, while religions are often rooted in tradition and systems.

According to Bennett, one main factor that differentiates spirituality from religion is that there is not a central figure of worship. He says, “Spirituality does not require a connection with a deity (though it may), and those connections may or may not be organized and institutionalized. An atheist, agnostic or humanist can have just a robust and enriching spiritual well-being as someone practicing Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity or another institutionalized spirituality.”

Next: This Is the #1 Most Obvious Sign You Have a ‘Soul Tie’—Plus, How To Break This Type of Connection

Sources

Michael Bennett, therapist who integrates spirituality, faith and religion with traditional psychological interventions
Amy Clark, LPCC-S, sex and relationship therapist

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