Mindfulness, Consciousness, Spirituality, and Well-Being

Abstract

Religious and spiritual beliefs have long been asserted to be fundamental to human well-being. Empirical work generally supports the notion that religiosity and spirituality are psychologically beneficial. While it cannot be denied that religiously-oriented beliefs and practices can contribute to or hold the potential for harm at the individual or group level, both religious and spiritual variables have generally been shown to be positively related with a variety of indices of mental health among members of diverse cultural and religious/spiritual backgrounds. These benefits extend beyond intrapersonal psychological functioning and are also evident in the domains of physical health and interpersonal health. Of course, it is probable that many religious/spiritual beliefs and experiences have the potential to be either beneficial or harmful, depending on the context in which they are experienced by an individual and reacted to by the broader society. Thus, it is important to ascertain exactly when and how religiosity and spirituality are beneficial. When considering ways in which spiritual or religious beliefs and practices can exert a beneficial effect, access to spiritual experiences has been identified as an important mechanism. One particular practice that has been received a great deal of clinical and empirical attention recently is that of mindfulness meditation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)