Spirituality and Depression

You can be spiritual without fully developing your emotional wellness, and this offers an interesting dilemma. While spirituality often increases capacities for wisdom and insight, which can make one more peaceful and joyful, this is not always utilized to the fullest extent. This means that while you may meditate to clear your mind, you may come back to your day and then resume thinking negative thoughts that bring you down.

The dangers of being spiritual without emotional balance include the possibility of overly isolating oneself. As a sensitive being, one may be tempted to spend a lot of time alone, but unless one is emotionally sound, it is important to seek positive companions. Most people do not engage in very positive self-talk, and therefore time alone can mean time for ones mind to spiral into habitual negative patterns.

It is important to separate the issues of spiritual striving from emotional health. It is tempting to think that being spiritual heals all of your emotional and physical problems, but in reality people still need to exercise, eat well, and manage their emotional well-being to feel good.

The good news is that conscious efforts towards increasing your joy do pay off, according to research conducted at the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania.  So in addition to your spiritual work, it behooves you to work on your mental and emotional well-being!