There has recently been a noticeable increase in terms of research and general interest on matters regarding the interrelationship between mental health and spiritual or religious beliefs. Clinical psychologists have started to pay more attention to it. Spiritual leaders and scientists such as Dr. Deepak Chopra author of The God Particle, Gregg Braden author of such books as The Divine Matrix and The Spontaneous Healing of Belief, and Dr. Bruce Lipton author of The Biology of Belief, have all conducted research and have focused on aspects such as the affect of faith in the stride towards a healthy self physically and mentally.

From his book The Divine Matrix, Gregg Braden explains that our beliefs and perceptions literally re-arranges the world we live in. Various religious and spiritual traditions, as well as popular psychological theories, have said that our reality is nothing more or less than what we claim in our feelings and emotions. Braden believes that belief, with its accompanying emotion, is the language of our conscious universe. When we quite literally change what we believe in and the way we feel, we are changing and rearranging the stuff of the world around us.

Dr. Bruce Lipton’s research in his book The Biology of Belief shows that genes and DNA do not control our biology. Instead DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell, including the energetic messages emanating from our positive and negative thoughts (i.e. our beliefs). This supports the theory that we are not bound by our genes and DNA. Instead we literally create our future by the choices that we make and the thoughts and beliefs that we choose to have.

Even in the field of mental health, research has shown that addressing religious and spiritual factors, such as belief, can lead to better psychotherapy outcomes. For one, participation in religious or spiritual practices may affect mental health by encouraging social interactions and increasing contact among people with similar values systems which can provide emotional support. Religion and spirituality also provide comfort during high-stress periods, such as during a loss or illness, and religious or spiritual coping offers a means of maintaining a sense of meaning and security and dealing with situations beyond one’s control.

Religion and spirituality may also instill and/or reinforce beneficial spiritual and social beliefs. For example, beliefs about the sanctity of human life may bolster a sense of intrinsic self-worth. Religious or spiritual beliefs may also provide an interpretative framework for understanding the complexities of daily life, and individuals may start to view predictable or insignificant events with new significance or meaning which would lead them to increased hope, optimism, and a more overall positive mental attitude.

Basically, like the photo suggests, have faith that all is well and that every trying time you go through has a meaning and purpose to it. Keep faith and stay positive because while doing so you are creating a healthy sense of self and literally creating a positive future for yourself. I am not telling you to believe in any specific religion or any one spiritual tradition or to go seek out therapy. You don’t have to believe in religion, spirituality, and psychology at all for that matter. Instead I am simply writing this post to ask you to simply keep up faith in yourself. Believe in yourself that you can do it. Stay positive in that no matter what happens, you believe in your own power to overcome hardships.

I believe in you.

Good things are going to happen. Have faith and stay positive. God bless. Namaste.

“A man with a grain of faith in God never loses hope, because he ever believes in the triumph of Truth.” -Mahatma Gandhi

— The Greek Guru Guy

(1) Rosmarin, D., Krumrei, E., & Andersson, G. (2009). Religion as a predictor of psychological distress in two religious communities. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 38(1), 54-64. doi:10.1080/16506070802477222

(2) Sternthal, M. J., Williams, D. R., Musick, M. A., & Buck, A. C. (2010). Depression, Anxiety, and Religious Life: A Search for Mediators. Journal Of Health & Social Behavior, 51(3), 343-359. doi:10.1177/0022146510378237