Body-mind-spirit: What is Spirituality?
Walking the Labyrinth

Holistic Teaching: An Interview with Kim Stiles
By Jeanette Plodek

Holistic nursing recognizes that understanding a client involves
understanding the interrelationship of body-mind-spirit. It also acknowledges that the individual field is integrated within the environmental field. It is this interconnectedness that nurses strive to use in co-creating or patterning energy fields
   In the current medical model great emphasis is put on recognizing signs and symptoms of disease and sing medicine or technology to correct the disease. Where and how do we begin to teach that the client is not a sum of the signs and symptoms of his or her illness? And how do we teach that an individual is not the disease and the disease is not the individual?
    Undergraduate nursing students are overwhelmed with all the details and technical information that needs to be memorized and integrated into their knowledge base. This author interviewed Kim Stiles, a College of New Rochelle (CNR) graduate about how she integrates the philosophy of wholeness into her teaching as a clinical instructor for the undergraduate nursing class at CNR.
    At her clinical site, Ms. Stiles, is attempting to integrate holistic nursing by encouraging students to assess his or her own field and to identify a centering technique they use before entering a client’s room. This approach helps the students to become aware of the need for self-care and how the nurse’s energy field impacts the client’s environment, thus influencing patterning for wellness.
      Students are required to list the clients’ strengths and three nursing diagnoses that are not all related to the same problem on their care plans. This encourages the student to begin to view the client as an integrated whole and not as the sum of parts. This also encourages the student to see the patient’s strengths as opportunities for empowerment.
     Ms. Stiles also teaches a course called The Human Body in the school of New Resource at The College of New Rochelle. She had designed her curriculum to stimulate the "whole" student. About one half of the content consists of lectures on scientific facts and objective quizzes, which is a more conventional left brain approach. The other half of the content challenges more of the right brain, by having students write papers or work on projects that show how the knowledge had been integrated into their lives. A graduate level course in Hypnosis and Imagery made Ms. Stiles aware that students do not all learn the same way. Therefore she uses a variety of teaching methods that will reach the audio, visual, and kinesthetic learners.
    Ms. Stiles particularly enjoys presenting the class with a Cosmic thought to think about at the end of each class. An example of a typical class is as follows. Say the topic is the overall organization of the human body. The first half of the class would concentrate on the physical science, covering atoms, molecules, cell structure, and tissues. Then the second half of the class is spent on discovering the body as and energy field. Auras and chakras are presented to the class by charts, Kirlian photographs and exercises such as locating chakras with a pendulum.
       The Cosmic thought for this class is, "What is the largest component of an atom?" Space is the correct answer. If space is the largest component of an atom, then students are made aware that most of our physical sciences have concentrated on the physical components of the atom and that science has yet begun to explore the "inner space" phenomenon. Also if space is the largest component of the atom and the body is made up of atoms, then the human body has a lot of space within its physical form. Maybe all physical forms are not as solid as they are perceived to be!
    Ms. Stiles’ methods are certainly a wonderful step towards integrating holistic nursing philosophy into conventional classes. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. For more information you might try:

www.omega.inst.org

www.ahaa.org/

www.opengroup.com/open/fabooks/157/1573241164.shtml

www.metamodels.com/maps/authoeindex.html

www.educate.co.uk/homeedl.html

Body-mind-spirit: What is Spirituality?
by Jeanette Plodek BSN, RN

Holistic nursing views the client as an integral whole of body-mind-spirit but there is no clear way to assess the Spirituality of our client. Before we can assess the spirituality of our client, nursing must define, describe, and research spirituality.

The March 1999 Journal of Holistic Nursing published a Grounded Theory study, Spirituality of Patients Recovering From an Acute Myocardial Infarction by Joni Walton. The purpose of this study was to answer, "What does spirituality mean to patients recovering from Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI)?"(Walton, 1999). And secondly, to ascertain the patients perception of how their spirituality influenced their recovery (Walton, 1999).

Holistic nursing focuses on caring for the client as a whole. Although this body-mind-spirit concept includes the spirituality of the client, the literature review for this study did not find a universal definition for spirituality or theory based research to direct nursing practice. There have been some studies that define spirituality as a relationship of self to others or a higher power. Some described spirituality as a wholeness or having meaning and purpose within one's life.

The criteria for participants was anyone diagnosed with an AMI post seven day of onset, documented stable vitals signs, and able to speak English. There were 13 participants selected. After informed consents were signed, each participant was interviewed for about sixty minutes in a private hospital room. The conversations were recorded and transcribed by a professional transcriptionist.

The data was analyzed and theoretical menos were typed into a computer. "Menos are conceptual thoughts and ideas of the investigator related to the emerging concept" (Walton, 1999, p 37). Data was clustered together with the participant's own words until the categories became saturated.

Participants defined spirituality as 1) a life giving force from within one's self; 2) a force that was nurtured by God, family, friends, community, and nature; 3) a force that was founded on developing faith; 4) discovering meaning and purpose; and 5) a giving of one's self (Walton, 1999).

The data also demonstrated that the participant's spirituality has a positive influence on his or her recovery.

The category of positive influence could be broken down into 4 sub-groups. The sub-groups are a 1) "divine presence; 2) presence of friends, family, or community; 3) presence of health care providers; and 4) presence of creation "(Walton, 1999, p 39).

The participants described a decrease of fear and anxiety while expressing an increase of comfort and peace. The participants also found an increase in their coping skills along with inner strength as well as an increase of courage and hope. There was and expression of having a sense of wellness.

The article goes into depth on each of the categories and sub-categories. The findings are supported with examples.

It also brings out that most men receive this support and comfort from theirs wives, but most women receive their inner strength and comfort from a divine source.

During the taped interview of the focus coronary care nurses, the researches and nurses clarified several nursing interventions for the promotion of spirituality.

The nursing interventions are to:

1) acknowledge that a heart attack is frightening experience; 2) listen to the patient's concerns; 3) allow the spouse to be present with the patient whenever possible; 4) provide encouragement and reassurance; 5) individualize visiting hours to accommodate friends and family; 6) provide intervention in a warm caring manner; and 7) spend as much time as possible with the patient (Walton, 1999, p 51).

This study begins to integrate nursing research of Spirituality and its impact on patient outcomes into nursing practice. And is definitely worth reading and incorporating into ones own nursing practice. The following web sites contain more information:

www.alternative-therapies.com

www.ahna.org

www.holisticmed.com

Walking the Labyrinth
Jeanette Plodek BSN, RN.

The College of New Rochelle's Holistic Nursing Program and the Campus Ministry are co-sponsoring a Labyrinth. The canvas Labyrinth will be set-up in Maura's Ballroom courtesy of Helen Curry's The Labyrinth Project of Connecticut Inc. The Labyrinth will be open for walking Tuesday March 30, 1999 from 4-7pm only.

Now you might be asking yourself, "What is a Labyrinth?' A Labyrinth is an ancient tool used by many cultures for the purpose of meditating. There are examples of labyrinths found in Tibetan, Native American, and European cultures. This walking meditation crosses all religious fields because it is a journey of spiritual enlightenment. A Labyrinth is not a maze. Mazes have many entrances with twist and turns that can lead to dead ends. A Labyrinth has only one entrance and one path. There is no attempt to confuse the walker.

A seeker, who enters the path, starts by concentrating on each footstep. This focused concentration quiets the mind. There is no special pace for walking the labyrinth. You may choose to walk the labyrinth as quickly or as slowly as you like. The path leads one into the center of the Labyrinth. One can envision the walk to the center as a journey into our own spiritual well. Some walkers enter the path with complete openness to whatever they might experience during the walk. Others may choose to enter the Labyrinth with a particular question or problem in mind. A seeker may choose to stay in the center for awhile before re-entering the path to return to the entrance.

Dr. Jill Strawn of the Holistic Nursing department states, "It is helpful to have a planed time to slow down and look inward. There are many revelations within ourselves that come to light when we take time to self reflect." Insights can come to a seeker anywhere along the path or at the center.

A Labyrinth, like life, has no right or wrong turns just one continuos path and we are all on the same path.

This Labyrinth is a classical eleven-circuit form based on the Labyrinth at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California. The Labyrinth at Chartes Cathedral in France, which was built around 1200 AD, was the inspiration for the Labyrinth at Grace Cathedral and Veriditas the Grace Cathedral Labyrinth Project.

More information about Labyrinths can be found in Dr. Lauren Artess's book Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering

the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool. You may also want to visit any of these web sites:

www.geomancy.org/labyrinth.html

www.gracecathedral.org/labyrinth/

www.anglfire.com/tn/sacredlabyrinth

www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/smc/labyrinth/index.html

www.gmtnet.co.uk/indigo/EDGE/MAZES.htm

http://ilc.tsm.soton.ac.uk/caerdonia