Spiritual growth: the key to wellness and longevity

Dr. Carl Rogers' classic On Becoming a Person (1961) describes the "Good Life" from a therapist's point of view as "being a Fully Functioning Person". This is the same state of wholeness perennially described in the world's spiritual literature. Indeed, Rogers traces his understanding of wholeness to Lao Tzu's Tao Teh Ching -The Way of Life, written around 500 BC."The surest test if a man is sane is if he accepts life whole, as is..." writes Lao Tzu. The way to do is to be, to go with the flow, tobe open, flexible and creative. The way to lose at life is to be rigid, inflexible, obsessed with thoughts about the past ("if only") or the future ("what if"), and to keep regular company with feelings such as fear, anger and self-pity. Lao Tzu's spiritual classic is the second most translated book in the world, second only to the Bible.

Dr. Redford Williams, in his 1989 book The Trusting Heart , notes that the patterns of thoughts and feelings which produce health and longevity include being slow to anger, trusting of others, compassionate and kind. "The trusting heart spends little time feeling resentful,irritable and angry...the hostile heart is at risk for premature death and disease...the trusting heart is protected against these outcomes." To create wellness, Dr. Williams recommends that you cultivatemonitoring & reducing your cynical thoughts, laughing at yourself, learning to relax, growing in your ability to trust, becoming a better listener, and practicing forgiveness. Forgiving those "who tresspass against you" is a powerful way to foster your own health and longevity.

The Yoga sutras of Patanjali (200 BC) state clearly that your patterns of thinking and feeling directly impact your mental and physical health. Very similar language is found in Proverbs:"A tranquil spirit is the basis of life and health" (Prov. 14:30 0. Similarly, Dr. Hans Selye, whose classic work The Stress of Life (1956) addresses the medical implications of our patterns of thinking & feeling, states:"...our bodily defense reactions can also fall into a groove, by always responding with the same exaggerated hormonal response, whether it is appropriate to the situation or not."

The world's spiritual wisdom contains a wealth of information on how to foster your own health and longevity. To benefit from this wisdom requires you to engage in some self-work This self-work may include cultivating some form of meditative practice, progressive relaxation, adapting a healthy diet, & regular exercise. Involvement in a faith community, and/or a 12-Step fellowship. Wellness requires that you change old patterns of toxic emotion, negative thought, & self-defeating behavior by being honest, open and willing to spend some time in self-dialogue identifying your emotional hangouts, recurrentthoughts and recurring behavior patterns.Selfwork includes maintaining functional patterns & changing those unhealthy patterns which no longer serve you (or perhaps never did).

Dr. Lunney is president of Life Coach USA, Inc, which provides personal coaching for persons striving for increased spiritual growth & development. n
He can be reached at 800-845-1385 ot n www.lifecoachusa.com nnnnn