There spirituality is good for healthscience says so. Mental and physical health therefore go hand in hand: cultivating “an active inner life” by seeking forgiveness, compassion, altruism and kindness increases well-being and has positive effects on health.
It is the topic of the Conference ‘Spirituality and Science: the last frontier of health’ which was held in Florence to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the monthly Vita&Salute, the information organ of the Foundation of the same name.
It has been demonstrated that a healthy and strong spiritual dimension is related to: fewer hospitalizations, improved disease management and adherence to prescribed treatment, decreased substance use and abuse, decrease in depression and suicide attempts.
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Hence the importance of kindness also in the medical approachbetween doctor and patient which has a profound impact on the doctor-patient relationship. Also not to be overlooked is the aspect of “taking care of yourself” also through attention to nutrition: «Studies have revealed the ‘dangerous relationships’ between industrial, ultra-processed foods, rich in sugars, salt and fats on inflammation and the brain. Sweet, salty or fatty flavors stimulate the secretion of dopaminethe neurotransmitter of pleasure and addiction which has the effect of developing a silent chronic inflammation that slowly damages health» declares Ennio Battista, former Director of the magazine and editorial coordinator.
Meditation changes our genes
How to do? “For example, carving out a room and a moment to ‘cultivate’ silence”, intervenes Daniel Lumera, naturalist biologist, bestselling author, lecturer and international reference in the area of well-being sciences, quality of life and the practice of meditation. “StWe are overwhelmed by the noise which prevents us from listening to ourselves and our deepest parts. It is important to stop for a moment. One way to do this is meditation, natural medicine that is able to exert a significant impact on our DNA and, precisely, on the telomeres, the caps of the chromosomes considered by neuroscience as biomarkers of longevity. Indeed, the positive effects of meditation have been demonstrated on telomerase, the enzyme that rebuilds telomeres, or on the modification of the activity of genes connected with inflammation, cell death, the control of free radicals and, therefore, the ‘aging: according to Massachusetts General Hospital, in just two months of constant practice, meditation is capable of modifying about 1,500 of these genes.”
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Spirituality is not religiosity
“In a society that remains a lot rational, efficient and pragmatic the need for spirituality appears ever more urgent. Without spirituality there is no health nor emotional, neither physical nor anthropological”, explained Professor Hanz Gutierrez, Professor of Theology at the Adventist Institute in Florence. Spirituality that should not be confused with confessionality. What is spirituality? It’s not just religious faith, rather uan inner dimension to take care of. The intangible part of reality, beyond the physical world, which addresses the search for the essence of things, for meanings. We can say that it is the inner approach to life, an attitude made of kindness, compassion, forgiveness, altruism but also the search for a less earthly dimension of experience through prayer and meditation. But also accept and be aware of your own humanity.
Body care and interiority
The care of the body is increasingly inseparable from that of the interior. A famous study in the journal Jama evaluated the relationship between religious attendance and health effects: the research, which lasted 20 years on 74,534 US nurses, found that people who went to a religious function saw their overall mortality reduced by 33%, by 27% % for cardiovascular diseases and 21% for oncological ones. Were then analyzed i mechanisms that account for better health: compliance with the rules, less emotional stress, more forgiveness, less pressure than money, success, status.
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Taking care of others makes us feel good
Prosocial behaviors, caring and helping others, are also related to the activation of stress-reducing hormones and with the neurotoxic effects of cortisol (Brown et al. 2015). With in addition the release of oxytocin: a neurohormone implicated in the organization of parental care, attachment processes and altruism. Dr. Marsh, German psychiatrist at the Carl von Ossietzky Oldenburg University, in a recent study published in December 2021 in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews explains how oxytocin lowers cortisol levelsand inhibits the release of Interleukin 6 involved in inflammation.
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Spirituality helps health: this is how meditation and kindness change our DNA