Spirit: the Sixth Vital Sign
Liz Allen
November 2010
I would like you to begin this paper by asking you to take your spiritual pulse.
How is your spirit right now?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I trust that you were able to choose a number or a face that represents your
spiritual state right now. I will ask you to take your spiritual pulse at various moments a
we go along.
Spirit is a now phenomenon and can be accessed instantly by you, and you only.
This presentation will address many of the following questions:
1. What is Spirit?
2. Where is Spirit?
3. How do we access Spirit?
4. What influences Spirit?
5. What is the function of the Spirit?
6. How do we recognize Spirit in our daily life?
It is my contention that the Spirit in us does the "heavy lifting" in healing and heal-thy
selves.
What is Spirit?
The question is often asked, "Are physical beings with a spirit, or are we spiritual
beings with a body? Brad Drowning Bear states it succinctly, "We are spiritual beings on
a physical journey."] Florence Nightingale, founder of modern nursing, considered
spirituality intrinsic to human nature. She wrote, "the deepest and most potent resource
for healing.t" Literature in the field of occupational therapy defines spirituality as "the
personal quest for understanding answers to ultimate questions about life, about meaning,
and about relationship with the sacred or transcendent." Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, in
Kitchen Table Wisdom (Riverhead, 1996), addressed how to define "spirit" as follows:
I find it difficult to define directly. It is much easier to say what it isn't than what
it is. For example, the spiritual is often confused with moral, but it's not the
moral. Morality is concerned with issues of right and wrong, which varies from
culture to culture and from time to time within the same culture. The spiritual is
profoundly non-judgmental and non-separative. The spiritual does not vary from
time to time because it is not within time. Spirit is unchanging.
The spiritual is also different from the ethical. Ethics is a set of values, a code for
translating the moral into daily life. If the moral is not the spiritual then ethical
isn't either.
The spiritual is not the psychic. It is a way of perceiving-a sort of direct
knowing of the condition in matter or in consciousness. We may use the psychic
power to know the spiritual-but that which we know is not the means by which
welmow.
Lastly, the spiritual is not the religious. A religion is a dogma, a set of beliefs
about the spiritual, and set of practices which arise out of those beliefs ... every
religion tends to think it has 'dibs' on the spiritual-that it's 'The Way.' Yet,
spiritual is inclusive. It is the deepest sense of belonging and participation. We
all participate in the spiritual at all times, whether we know it or not.'
varies in strength from person to person, but it is always there in everyone. So, healing
becomes possible. In trying to point to it with a definition, I hope to initiate a kind of
questioning of the role of spirit in health, in healthcare, and in life.
I assert that the spirit is vital to life. It gives, sustains and creates life. Therefore.
it is a vital sign, and as such enters the ranks of health care purview, measure and II
treatment/facilitation. We know the four basic vital signs of pulse, blood pressure,
respiration and temperature. There has been added a fifth vital sign-that of pain, and it,
too, is measure in any healthcare assessment. I am asking that Spirit be the Sixth Vital
Sign, and that it also be measured and recorded daily, thrice daily, even at every shift, or
every time vitals are taken by staff--every 15 minutes in the case of surgical recovery.
This can be assessed by asking the person/patient to rate their spirit, using the same 0-10,
or smiley face scale used for assessing pain. In the case of the non-verbal or sedated
patient, this can be observed by body language, which is a mode for assessing pain.
Where is Spirit?
Charles Christiansen, in, Acknowledging a Spiritual Dimension in Occupational
Therapy Practice' (AJOT, March 1997, Vol. 51, No 3, pp. 169-77), said:
I
Spirituality is a metaphysi~al phenomenon: thus, by its nature it is difficult to 1
define. Both its prevalence and its nature are captured in the word quintessential,
which means pertaining to the fifth essence ... the quinte essence was that
element beyond earth, air, fire and water that constituted the substance of the
heavenly bodies. This essence permeated (and thus through to be present) in all
things." ??? (1994) viewed human spirituality as the
............................. (bottom of page cut off)
The literature indicates that spiritual health is influenced by the development of a sense of
meaning and purpose, a sense of connectedness with self and others, and with one's
acceptance of a greater purpose of reality (Bellingham, Cohen, Jones and Spanig, 1989:
Chapman 1987, 1987b).
How Do I access Spirit?
As said in the previous paragraphs, it is everywhere, in everyone; it is present all
the time. So, accessing it is through Word, "In the beginning was the Word," (Gen. 1:1)-
So, it is the word-verbal and non-verbal-that is expressing spirit and creating it.
Creation is from nothing and is given by what we say and by what we do. For example,
if I eat an large bag of potato chips I'm likely to gain weight. I know this as a proven
fact. The words that creates this behavior might be "permission," or "generosity," or
"naughty girl." It is in declaring who I am being that this behavior shows up, and it can
be from any of those "being states." Depending on what "being state" I am in, my beinE1l
will not only have a certain behavior show up, it will also give an experience of the
moment, i.e. "joy" or "happy" in the first two words (permission or generosity), or
"suffering" in the third (naughty girl). I and only I have the say. Another does not
determine my "state ofbeinglexperience."
Urbanski (AJOT March 1997, Vol~,6 says spirituality is the "experience of
meaning." Victor Frankl, author of the classic, Man's Search for Meaning, says, "Don'tl
pray for less stress, but pray for more meaning." It is not the circumstance/event that
determines stress, (bottom of page cut of:t»»»»»)
What Influences Spirit?
Our past experiences influence our spirit it if we live with them in the present. In
other words, the past experiences are really in the past, but we human beings live as if
they are going to happen again any minute, even right now. We are always preparing that
life will go that way again and again and again. We humans/animals are sure it will be
like it was and always is! Pavlov has done experiments with animals (and their
caregivers!) that prove this. IfI ring a bell and then give you food, then everytime I ring
the bell you will salivate with or without food ... in preparation for the food you are sure
is coming .. Intermittent reinforcement is even more powerful than scheduled
reinforcement, so the researchers have determined.
What is the Function of the Spirit?
Stoll (1989) [see # 1C. Meyer ref.] writes that spirituality is the core of one's
being. It is:
. " a sense of personhood; what one is and is becoming, the feeling experience
of God as a transcendent and/or personal being. This relationship includes a
vertical dimension of relatedness to a 'higher being,' and a horizontal dimension
of interrelatedness to others, within the social and physical environment (Stoll,
1989).8
The function of the spirit is to access purpose and meaning in life, and, as mentioned
earlier ... ???? The philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche states, "He who has a why to live
can put up with almost any how in life." We do what we do, not accidentally, but as the
result of our perception of the context of life. The spirit is source to our reason for being.
The access to our reason for being is in language.
The literature indicates that spiritual health is influenced by the development of a
sense of meaning and purpose, a sense of connectedness with self and others, and one's
acceptance of a greater purpose or reality (Bellingham, Cohen, Jones and Spaniot?, 1989?
Chapman 1987a, 1987b) 9
How do I Recognize Spirit in My Daily Life?
Reminders that sacred, soulful and spiritual opportunities are found in everyday
living have dotted the popular literature. For example, in Care of the Soul (1992),
Thomas Moore offered many suggestions for finding spirituality in ordinary events,
noting that it's as simple as hanging clothes on a line can be soulful. JO Fulghum (1995)
observed that appreciating the beauty and simplicity of everyday occupations can meet
spiritual needs. Reading (especially poetry and mythology); the expressive arts; visiting
museums, historical places and galleries; music; walking in and retreating to nature;
meditation; gardening; and letter writing are among many special activities that nourish
the soul by providing opportunities for creating meaning, says Fulghum. II We might
identify all these as Activities of the Spirit. It has been suggested that any occupation can
be spiritual if attention is given to its style and context (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, ..... 12