Spirituality and Health

Practices like praying and meditation have increasingly become the target of studies by health investigators. In several countries they have been studying the effects of faith on the human body. More than half (56%) of all health professionals in the United States said they believe that religion and spirituality have a significant impact on the health of patients. The explanation may lie in the fact that individuals who have faith also have a stronger social network, they see meaning in life, which helps them to live better, with more hope, and with a more positive attitude.

“Before leaving for Little Rock, I got two books: the Jabez Prayer, given to me by Tiago, a long-time friend from my university days, and “Como tomar posse da Bênção” (How to take possession of hope)a gift from Floriano Galeb, from the Augusto Prolik Law Company. I read them both and they were sources of comfort and revelation to me. My mother, I knew, prayed every day, in the morning and at night, and lit candles. She also meditated. I think that much of my strength came from her serenity and optimism, which she got from her profound faith. And also from the prayer network formed by family, friends, and even people we didn’t know. Thanks to my mother’s belonging to an entity called URI – United Religions Initiative, linked to the UN, an umbrella organization for people with the most varied religions, beliefs and faiths worldwide, I was able to benefit from the support of God, Alah, Buda, Mohammed, Brahma, Orixás and Xamãs. I came to the conclusion that the denomination is not important as long as it involves a supreme being: the effect of faith on the body is a fact.” – Bia

Corroborating Bia’s words, American physician Herbert Benson, from Harvard, in 30 years of research tells us in his book called “Spiritual Medicine”, that firm belief in something, most of all in a superior being, produces a highly benefitial effect on physical health. He says: In my scientific observations I learned that it doesn’t matter what name we call the Absolute Infinite we worship, or which theology we identify with; the results of believing in God are the same.

Rafaela Calixto and her mother Izamar are unanimous in reaffirming that their unwavering faith in God has been, and goes on being, their great source of support for the past 25 years, which enabled them to overcome the stress of having to cope with more than 270 surgical procedures.

Biologist Elisa Harumi Kozasa, from the Psychobiology Department of Unifesp (Federal University of São Paulo), carries out studies on how meditation can help in treating anxiety, and participates in the Mind and Life Research Institute, an international event that has been gathering neuroscientists, quantic physicists, Buddhists – including the Dalai Lama – since 1987.

Elisa assures us that meditation is used in the Western world successfully to treat anxiety, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. And that if it is applied at deeper levels it can be the way to improve people’s health, nourish the spirit, learn more about oneself, regardless of religious belief.

A Brazilian research project headed by Carlos Eduardo Tosta, investigator from the University of Brasilia’s Immunology Lab, has shown evidence of the effect of prayer on human cells. The study was carried out on 52 voluntaries (the university’s medical students) and it showed that one of the body’s main defense mechanisms – phagocytosis – can be stabilized through prayer. Every week, two people provided blood samples and filled out a questionnaire on stress. One of these voluntaries had his picture sent to ten religious individuals, of different denominations, who prayed for that person, weekly. The methodology used prevented Tosta and the students from knowing who the object of the prayer group was in order to rule out self-suggestion.
After a week of prayer, blood analysis showed that the individuals who had been the object of prayer by the religious prayer group showed greater phagocytic stability by comparison with previous exams. The experiment was repeated once more with the other group of students that had not been the object of prayer, and the phenomenon was verified once again.

Likewise, cardiologist Randolph Byrd observed 393 patients from The San Francisco General Hospital’s cardiac unit, who were the objects of prayer by several home-based prayer groups, from a distance.
The 393 patients were subdivided into two groups: a group of 192 patients that were the object of prayer by four to seven different people, and a control group with 201 people, who did not benefit from prayer. Physician and patients did not know which group they belonged to. Byred concluded that the effect of prayer, even from a distance, was remarkably positive. For example, the patients that received the prayer needed 5 times less the amount of antibiotics and showed 3 times less propensity for accumulating fluid in the lungs, a statistically significant result.

These evidences are corroborated by a study conducted by psychiatrist Alexander Moreira, coordinator of NUPES – Spirituality and Health Center of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora. He enumerates a series of benefits that can be associated to spirituality: fewer depression symptoms; higher optimism rates; high self-esteem; less risky behavior; lower drug, alcohol, and cigarette consumption; longer life expectancy and enhanced well-being; improved immune system; greater ease in facing and addressing problems; and less stress.
In conclusion, praying nurtures and cures the body, regardless of religious denomination or theology. We can believe in God quietly and introspectively, or in a loud way. Either way we will reap the benefits of cure.