Regularly neglecting to get adequate sleep could interfere with developing and maintaining spiritual wellness.
The effect of sleep deprivation on some of the eight dimensions of wellness expectedly seem obvious. The wellness dimensions are physical, emotional, social, intellectual, spiritual, environmental, financial and occupation.
And it would track that being tired or sleepy would affect the ability to regulate feelings, think clearly, have energy to be social or physical and perform well at work to avoid jeopardizing financial wellness.
But spiritual wellness? Diminished by sleep? Yes. And Yes.
“Sleep services all aspects of our body in one way or another: molecular, energy balance, as well as intellectual function, alertness and mood,” said Dr. Merrill Mitler, a sleep expert and neuroscientist quoted in a newsletter of the National Institute of Health, where he works.
Although it can, spiritual wellness doesn’t require practicing an organized religion or living by its precepts. It hinges on a deep knowledge of personal values and living with a sense of purpose.
Community service, artistic creativity and a connection with nature are avenues by which some people cultivate spiritual wellness. Spending time alone to meditate, reflect and engage in self-reflection are options to discover what gives life meaning beyond daily routines and obligations.
Spiritual wellness requires both the ability to self-reflect and to engage in critical thinking about what life means.
A reiki master and spiritual podcaster made the following observation about how insufficient sleep disrupted those abilities when she tried to engage in sacred practices.
“As a spiritual seeker, I find that when I don’t get a good night of sleep, it’s harder to drop in for meditation,” Britt Michaelian shared on a blog post. “I’m more irritable. Less sharp. My intuition feels clouded. And my ability to focus on my goals and manifest my visions can be hindered.”
That disconnection can also happen for people who develop spiritual wellness through creative expression. A study deprived 12 people of sleep for 32 hours to measure how sleep loss effects divergent (“creative”) thinking. Sleep deprivation diminished their performance on every aspect of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, the researcher found.
The investigator concluded that “one night of sleep loss can affect divergent (creative) thinking,” the abstract for the experiment noted.
That finding suggests that rest is essential for the mind, body and soul.
