How Spiritual Practices Can Bolster Mental Health

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Since my 2022 article "Spirituality and Its Contribution to Mental Health" was published, more evidence has emerged supporting the mental health benefits of spirituality-based interventions in clinical practice. This includes more experts’ recognition that religion and spirituality (R/S) have a place in psychotherapy following 50 years of evolution toward an empirically based applied field.

This explains the need for R/S competencies in psychology. When responsibly integrated into mental health, such practices are secular and firmly rooted in ethical values. As a result, psychologists can use them with their clients, even if they do not share the same religious or spiritual affiliations.

R/S interventions are commonly utilized in various fields, including psychiatric nursing, palliative care, and the treatment of individuals with HIV/AIDS, cancer, substance use disorders, and addiction. More recently, psychologists have been encouraged to consider the assessment and potential inclusion of R/S for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or alcohol use disorder.

In this article, I provide an updated summary of the mental health benefits and corresponding mechanisms of action of the two most researched spiritual practices: mindfulness-based interventions and meditation, based on a paper I published this year in Spiritual Psychology and Counseling.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are therapeutic approaches that use mindfulness—a state of hyperawareness of one’s internal and external experiences (pleasant or unpleasant) in the present moment from a place of curiosity, acceptance, nonjudgment, and self-empathy.

Mindfulness practice provides “a state of psychological freedom that occurs when attention remains quiet and limber, without attachment to any particular point of view” (Martin, 1997: p. 291). Hence, mindfulness practices involve allowing thoughts, feelings, or sensations to arise while maintaining a specific attentional stance of a non-attached observer without analysis or judgment.

Benefits

MBIs enhance emotional regulation and reduce social anxiety, as well as symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, addiction, psychosis, pain, hypertension, weight control, and cancer (Zhang et al., 2021). MBIs also offer promising results for the treatment of suicidal ideation.

Meditation

Meditation is a self-induced state of consciousness in which wakefulness and deep relaxation coexist, influencing neural, psychological, and behavioral functions (Kiran et al., 2011).

Mindfulness-based meditation encourages a continual return to sensory and mental awareness (meta-awareness or self-observation). Similarly, concentrative meditation techniques focus on specific mental or sensory activities, such as a repeated sound or image (mantra), or specific body sensations, such as breathing (Cahn & Polich, 2013).

Benefits

Meditation positively affects the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which works mostly unconsciously and regulates bodily functions (e.g., heart rate, digestion, breathing, pupillary response, and fight-or-flight responses). Like mindfulness, meditation improves emotional regulation and decreases rumination, depression, anxiety, and negative emotions.

Mediation practice also improves interpersonal communication and conflict management. Therapists who practice meditation consistently, for example, tend to show more empathy and compassion to their clients (Davis & Hayes, 2011).

Mechanisms of Change of MBIs and Meditation

Mechanisms of change are the process or series of events that explain how positive changes occur in therapy. Neuroscientific studies of spiritual practices like MBIs and meditation use neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalography, single photon emission computed tomography, and positron emission tomography, which can help uncover the physiological mechanisms underlying their benefits. Potential mechanisms of change include:

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• Psychobiological mechanisms: The biological effects of mindfulness and meditation can include decreased blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol levels, while psychological effects may include increased self-compassion—treating yourself with genuine kindness, empathy, and acceptance, just like you would treat your best friend.
• Release of neurotransmitters: Another potential change mechanism during MBIs and meditation is the release of neurotransmitters such as endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Endorphins block the perception of pain, increase feelings of well-being, and increase sustained attention. Dopamine is referred to as the neurotransmitter of pleasure and can provide feelings of reward and potentially induce a change of consciousness. Serotonin is a natural mood booster, and GABA improves cognitive performance and emotional regulation.
• Neuroplasticity: Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity or brain plasticity, is a process by which the brain changes itself. This involves structural and functional brain and nervous system changes to adapt to internal or external events or stimulations. More specifically, these mechanisms include a positive impact on the deep structures of the emotional brain or limbic system (e.g., amygdala, basal ganglia, hippocampus, thalamus, and hypothalamus), as well as changes in the cortical thickness and gray matter density in the brain stem (Lazar et al., 2005).

Conclusion

Spiritual practices can be used to improve mental health and assist in coping with trauma. When responsibly integrated into mental health, they are secular and grounded in ethical values.

Mindfulness-based interventions and meditation are currently the most researched spiritual practices. They can produce positive changes in the structure and function of the brain via neuroplasticity and the release of neurotransmitters, as well as aid clients in the development of self-compassion.