2 Better Health through Spiritual Practices
with other belief systems, or employ both subtle and obvious health-
maintenance and illness interventions that utilize or are based on princi
ples found within various religions or spiritualities (Koenig, King, and
Carson 2012; Nelson 2010). The intent of this book is to provide a descrip-
tion of the ways of living within religious and spiritual contexts found across
the globe, and to elucidate health-associated practices that occur within
each perspective, as well as potential health interventions that may be coor-
dinated and used beyond a particular religious or spiritual context.
What we hope to show is that each religious and spiritual orientation
instructively promotes key health-associated values and best practices for
successful and healthy living (Koenig 2013; Puchalski 2013; Smith, Bartz,
and Scott Richards 2007). For example, the Buddhist concerns for simple
living, kindness toward and care for other beings, and the seeking of per-
sonal insight and growth illuminate a path of positive lifestyle practices and
health behaviors (Murti 1955; H. Smith 1991). Descriptively, Buddhism
offers a stress-reducing method noted in its espousal of pacifism as a way
to approach interpersonal and social relations, a lowering of a variety of
disease risks through the nutritional practice of vegetarianism, and the
embrace and development of mindfulness as a means to improve both
physical and emotional well-being of the individual (e.g., Baer 2003; Lud-
wig and Kabat-Zinn 2008). Similarly, many primal religions recognize that
nature provides a necessary element of connection and pastoral relief for
the individual (H. Smith 1991); hence, as epitomized in the beliefs of one-
ness of being and oneness with nature expressed in indigenous spirituali-
ties, a holistic and healthy style of living is cultivated that benefits the
individual as well as the broader community (e.g., Coyhis and Simonelli
2008; Gone 2013). What these examples begin to tell us is that faith beliefs
and practices constitute foundational elements of a contextualism that
directs thought; compels action; and links mind, body, and spirit (e.g., Mark
and Lyons 2010; Nesdole, Voigts, Lepnurm, and Roberts 2014; Shea,
Poudrier, Chad, Jeffery, Thomas, and Burnouf 2013).
As we begin, it is important to mention the orienting tack of this discus-
sion and text. It is inspired by the work of Huston Smith (1991; 2001), who
long championed and taught about the values and ethics found within the
world’s religions. Moreover, it embraces Smith’s (2001) postulate that along
with scientific explanations of life processes and events, there is enlighten-
ment and further wisdom to be found within the traditional narratives of
the world’s religions. Therefore, without attempting to resolve controver-
sies or to quell debate involving the existential problems the individual may
incur and the interpretive limitations of religion (e.g., Freud 1918, 1928;
Kirkpatrick 1999; McCullough and Willoughby 2009; McKinnon 2002;
Paloutzian and Park 2005), or the East-versus-West concerns for how
