Mind, Body and Soul

The Healing Gardens, a view from a window at the Frauenshuh Cancer Center--a medical institution focused on healing the mind, body and soul for cancer survivors.

Christianity, Hinduism and Islam are three faiths molded by a trinity.  All three religions have beliefs shaped by a higher power God, a spirit within the believer and a physical human being or savior.  While I believe in the Christian God, the holy spirit and Jesus Christ, I find it absolutely fascinating that three of the world's most prominent religions share the common structure of a mind, body and soul trinity.  There must be something we can take away from this clear similarity.

Back in nursing school our program's philosophy centered on holistic nursing.  We were taught to care for a patient's mind, body and soul.  We were to not only to assess patient's pain, vital signs and heart rhythms, we were also taught to ask how are you actually feeling?  How are your spirits?  Tell me more about how you are coping.  We learned that in order to fully understand a patient's condition and the care needed, it was essential to understand the patient's emotional, physical and spiritual state of health; here I cross another stark example of the mind, body and soul trinity.

In order to truly be fulfilled and joyful in life, an individual needs to fully engage their mind, body and soul every day.  Just as Christianity must include God, Jesus and the holy spirit or how my nursing assessment must include a patient's physical, emotional and spiritual state in order to be complete, we must also find ways to connect and fulfill our mind, body and soul in order to truly live.  

 My own personal mind, body, soul trinity looks something like this:

Mind: Every nursing shift I learn something new, whether it is a new medication and its side effect profile or how to support an individual with a new cancer diagnosis; the vastness of the medical field forces me to challenged my mind.  My husband also provides me with unending emotional support for my mind.  His unconditional love, relentless support and wise guidance provide me with the emotional stability my mind needs.

Body:  Running has always been a source of release for me.  Running not only keeps my body healthy and in-shape, it allows me to experience nature, the world around me and gives me time to process thoughts and feelings.  

Soul:  My belief in Christianity makes my soul complete.  Everything from the peace provided by prayer to the guidance given in the Bible to the love from Jesus Christ puts my soul at rest and gives me confidence in my duty and place in this world.

The only time I feel genuinely joyful is when my mind, body and soul are all being fulfilled.  While its so evidently painted in our world's religions, it's taken me quite a while to come to this conclusion.  I certainly have tried only focusing on the body component or only focus on my mind, but I have continually found myself frustrated, hardened and un-satisfied.  I encourage you to find your own, unique fulfillment of the mind, body and soul trinity and hope you discover the same satisfaction, peace and joy.

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"What can you ever really know of other people's souls-- of their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles?  One soul in the whole creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands."

-- C.S Lewis