Kelly Spencer - Happy Healthy YOU

(A wellness column by Kelly Spencer: writer, life coach, yoga & meditation teacher, holistic healer and a mindful life enthusiast!)

Over the last couple weeks we have covered detoxification of the body and the mind. This week is about spiritual detox.

Years ago I, like many people, thought that spirituality had something to do with religion. It does not. Not to say that spirituality cannot be practiced in your religion, spirituality is more universal to all.

Christina Puchalski, MD, Director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, contends that "spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred."

The 7th energy system or chakra (meaning wheel of energy) in the body is called the Crown Chakra or Sahasrara. This energy system is believed to connect us to our identity, our meaning and our connection to the world and universe. While our body and our mind are very individual, this essence of the connection and experiences we each share are celebrated in our oneness.

When we are feeling toxic in our spirituality, we may find we dont feel like we belong, or experience lack of focus or direction, lack of self-understanding and even lack joy in life. We may suffer from addictions to substance, alcohol, food or other. Physically we may experience migraines, melancholy, and depression, to name a few.

Fear is one of the most common spiritual toxins on Earth. A Course in Miracles, a book written by Helen Schucman, states that fear is a state of mind in which one feels cut off from the universe and is the opposite of love. Fear can paralyze the body, upset digestion and cause physical tension as well as alter ones perceptions, judgments and decision.

Dr. Lawrence Wilson M.D. writes that perhaps one of the most important spiritual dis-eases is arrogance.

It is discussed in Oriental textbooks on medicine, but ignored in Western medicine, perhaps because many doctors suffer from this problem, he states.

Read more:

Detoxify your Life: Part 3