4 Better Health through Spiritual Practices
healing, and adaptation (Koenig 2005). Further, religio-spiritual beliefs and
practices have been suggested to induce positive emotions such as joy, won
der, awe, and gratitude (Campbell 1968; Emmons and Paloutzian 2003), as
well as negative emotions of anxiety and depression (Chatters 2000; Exline,
Yali, and Lobel 1999; Pargament, Smith, Koenig, and Perez 1998). These
beliefs and practices also make available rituals that assist the individual in
major life transitions (e.g., the celebration of transitioning from childhood
into adulthood, the exchange of vows as one enters into marriage, the pro
cess of bereavement when parents die, preparation for one’s own death).
Thus, beyond a healthy skepticism that questions nonscientific explanations
of human experience and behavior (e.g., Feigl 1945; Skinner 1953; Spilka,
Shaver, and Kirkpatrick 1985; Weber 1963), the person’s religio-spiritual
orientation has been suggested to function as a social control mechanism
(Weber 1963), acting to compel and motivate health-promoting behaviors
(Koenig 2001; Hill and Pargament 2008) and thus influence health prac-
tices and outcomes (e.g., Cotton, Zebracki, Rosenthal, Tsevat, and Drotar
2006; Park et al. 2016; Seeman, Dubin, and Seeman 2003; Seybold and Hill
2001). As we begin to explore the religio-spiritual and health relationship,
however, it is important to clarify conceptual relationships between religion,
spirituality, and their associated constructs of faith and belief.
The first distinction to note is that religion and spirituality are distinct
concepts, although both have dimensions that are highly intertwined with
one another (Griffiths 2015; Hill et al. 2000; Moberg 2001; Zinnbauer et al.
1997). For example, whereas religion is often thought to connote one’s affil-
iation with a particular theology and community, and spirituality is sug-
gested to reflect the individual’s sense of and involvement with the sacred,
both are reflected in one another and have as a central focus entities and
processes that are revered and transcendent (Masters 2008). As described
by Fowler (1981, 1996), and by Sulmasy (2002), religion is characterized as
a cumulative tradition that includes the practice of spirituality and the
embrace of specific beliefs, social customs, rituals, and language that affords
the search for transcendent meaning. For example, religion may be defined
by one’s membership in a faith congregation, or regular attendance at reli-
gious services. Further, religion may be defined by adherence to a particu
lar theological text (e.g., the Qur’an): its narrative stories, explanations and
interpretations of life experiences, and guiding principles for living. In addi-
tion, the word religion refers to descriptive customs and rites (e.g., formu-
lary for worship services, healing prayer, observance of holy days, fasting),
texts (e.g., Vedas in Hinduism, Torah in Judaism, Daodejing in Daoism),
forms of art (e.g., sacred architectural design, ceremonial dress, sculptures,
paintings, music), and exclusive terminology to describe a variety of
behaviors and rituals. Thus, it should be recognized that there is great
