Spirituality: Sample Assessment Tools, Resources and Practices

• Brown, D. R., Carney, J. S., Parrish, M. S., & Klem, J. L. (2013). Assessing spirituality: The relationship between spirituality and mental health. Journal of spirituality in mental health, 15(2), 107-122.

• Cashwell, C. S., & Young, J. S. (Eds.). (2011). Integrating spirituality and religion into counseling: A guide to competent practice (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association Press.

• Dailey, S. F., Curry, J. R., Harper, M. C., Hartwig Moorhead, H. J., & Gill, C. S. (2011). Exploring the spiritual domain: Tools for integrating spirituality and religion in counseling. Retrieved from http://counselingoutfitters.com/ vistas/vistas11/Article_99.pdf

• Davis, D. E., Rice, K., Hook, J. N., Van Tongeren, D. R., DeBlaere, C., Choe, E., & Worthington, E. L., Jr. (2015). Development of the Sources of Spirituality Scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62(3), 503-513. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cou0000082

• de Jager Meezenbroek, E., Garssen, B., van den Berg, M., Tuytel, G., van Dierendonck, D., Visser, A., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2012). Measuring spirituality as a universal human experience: Development of the Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List (SAIL). Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 30(2), 141-167.

• Kapuscinski, A. N., & Masters, K. S. (2010). The current status of measures of spirituality: A critical review of scale development. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 2(4), 191- 205.

• Paloutzian, R. F., Bufford, R. K., & Wildman, A. J. (2012). Spiritual well-being scale: Mental and physical health relationships. Oxford textbook of spirituality in healthcare, 353-358.

• Piedmont, R. L., Kennedy, M. C., Sherman, M. F., Sherman, N. C., & Williams, J. E. (2008). A psychometric evaluation of the Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments (ASPIRES) Scale: Short form. In Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 19 (pp. 163-181). Brill.

Relevant Online Resources

Counseling-related Web Sites Related to Child, Youth, and Adult Spirituality

• • Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling

    • ASERVIC (a division of ACA) is an organization of counselors and human development professionals who believe spiritual, ethical, and religious values are essential to the overall development of the person and are committed to integrating these values into the counseling process.

    • ASERVIC creates an environment that empowers and enables the expression, exploration, development, and research of evolving spiritual, ethical, and religious values as they relate to the person, to society, and to the profession of counseling and human development.

    • ASERVIC's spirituality competencies: https://aservic.org/spiritual-and-religious-competencies/

  • Duke University's Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health

  • International Association for Children's Spirituality

  • Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy: "Integrating Spirituality and Religion into Psychotherapy Practice" (see PowerPoint presentation from Dr. Barnett: Integrating_Religion_and_Spirituality.ppt )

  • Faith/spirituality and the Brain -- PBS video (2009)

  • The Sacred: Spirituality and Movies (good article on films that address spirituality)

  • How Spirituality Affects Mental Health (WebMD)

Centering Prayer

Most faith traditions have some form of meditation or contemplation. Virtually all methods of meditation have a goal of expanding, or deepening, the consciousness of the practitioner. The details vary. The Contemplative Society focuses on Centering Prayer, a surrender method of meditation, or contemplative prayer, that reaches back to the early days of Christianity.

HOW TO “DO” CENTERING PRAYER:

• Find a quiet space where you are unlikely to be disturbed.

• Sit in a way that allows you to be relaxed in body and alert in mind. Use a chair, meditation cushion or prayer rug, according to your own physical needs and preferences.

• Gently close your eyes.

• “Allow your heart to open toward that invisible but always present Origin of all that exists ” (p. 6)

• Whenever you become aware of a thought, no matter what its nature, let it go.

• Use a “sacred word”.

This is a word or short phrase that helps you to let go of thoughts. It is a reminder of your intention to remain open to the silence. Generally sacred words fall into one of 2 categories: “God” words/phrases such as “Abba”, “Jesu, “Mary”, “Reality”, “Come Lord” or “state” words/phrases such as “love”, “peace”, “be still”. Sacred words are not used as mantras, as in constantly repeating them, but as a reminder of your intention to remain open.

• Continue this practice for 20 minutes. At the end of the time get up and go about your business, leaving the practice behind, in the same way you let go of your thoughts.

• People who are just beginning, and are particularly restless in mind and body, may find it easier to start off with shorter prayer periods, perhaps only 5 minutes per sit to start. Then after a few days extend the time to 10 minutes and so on until you are able to sit for 20 minutes. Give the practice at least 2 weeks before you decide if it is right for you.

• Two 20-30 minute sits per day are considered ideal. It is strongly recommended that no one meditates for more the 60 minutes a day unless you are attending a structured retreat with experienced leaders.

Source: Cynthia Bourgeault https://www.contemplative.org/

Tonglen: A spiritual practice for healing our hearts

adapted from Richard Rohr: Week One Summary and Practice, A Time of Unveiling, January 3 - January 8, 2020

https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/?&utm_source=cm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dm&utm_content=footer

Tonglen is a method for facing our fear of suffering and for dissolving the tightness in our hearts. Richard Rohr, a Franciscan monk and teacher shares a version of this meditation from Tibetan Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön. He encourages us to be gentle with with ourselves as you try this practice. As he tells students "when we practice this together, we are not holding or healing the pain of the world ourselves; we are simply breathing in and out with the one breath of our loving God." As Chödrön describes:

Tonglen practice, also known as “taking and sending,” reverses our usual logic of avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure. In tonglen practice, we visualize taking in the pain of others with every in-breath and sending out whatever will benefit them on the out-breath. In the process, we become liberated from age-old patterns of selfishness. We begin to feel love for both ourselves and others; we begin to take care of ourselves and others. . . . Breathe in for all of us and breathe out for all of us. [1]

When you do tonglen as a formal meditation practice, it has four stages:

1. First, rest your mind briefly, for a second or two, in a state of openness or stillness. This stage is traditionally called . . . opening to basic spaciousness and clarity.

2. Second, work with texture. Breathe in a feeling of hot, dark, and heavy . . . and breathe out a feeling of cool, bright, and light—a sense of freshness. . . . Do this until it feels synchronized with your in- and out-breaths.

3. Third, work with a personal situation—any painful situation that’s real to you. Traditionally you begin by doing tonglen for someone you care about and wish to help. . . . If you are stuck, you can do the practice for the pain you are feeling and simultaneously for all those just like you who feel that kind of suffering. For instance, if you are feeling inadequate, you breathe that in for yourself and all the others in the same boat, and you send out confidence and adequacy or relief in any form you wish.

4. Finally, make the taking in and sending out bigger. If you are doing tonglen for someone you love, extend it out to those who are in the same situation. . . . Make it bigger than just that one person. . . . You could do tonglen for people you consider to be your enemies—those who hurt you or hurt others. Do tonglen for them, thinking of them as having the same confusion and stuckness as your friend or yourself. Breathe in their pain and send them relief. [2]

Experience a version of this practice through video and sound.

Pema Chödrön and other teachers often close their practice times with the traditional words of the Buddhist Metta (Lovingkindness) Prayer: May all beings be filled with lovingkindness. May all be well. May all be peaceful and at ease. May all be happy.

[1] Pema Chödrön, “How to Practice Tonglen,” Lion’s Roar: Buddhist Wisdom for Our Time (August 26, 2020). Available at https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-tonglen/

Being Silent With God

1. Reading a Psalm every morning. Psalms are enduring prayers that address the full range of human emotions and I’ve found they often supply words when I have no words of my own.

2. Sitting silently for five minutes. Five minutes of silence can feel surprisingly uncomfortable and LONG! But the act of slowing down, listening, and taking the time to identify and reflect on my thoughts and concerns has been incredibly calming and restorative.

3. Taking a 15-minute observation walk. The experience of being outdoors and paying attention to the subtle changes that I see taking place in my surroundings has strengthened my gratitude muscle and deepened my appreciation for the ways God reveals Himself through creation.

Deborah Taylor

Provost and Senior Vice President, Biola University

March 16 2021 in midst of pandemic

The Seven Homecomings

The Seven Homecomings, a practice taught by Tibetan Buddhist Lama Rod Owens, invite us to recognize and honor our own personal “circle of care.” These instructions are just a template; let this practice change to meet your needs. Pause briefly between each section.

• Begin contemplating the first homecoming of the guide. Reflect on any being who has been a guide, a teacher, a mentor, an adviser, or an elder for you. Reflect on the beings in your life whom you’ve gone to for guidance and support. . . . Invite them to gather around you in a circle and say welcome. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by your guides.
  

• The second homecoming is your wisdom texts. [Reflect] on any text that has helped you to deepen your wisdom. These texts can include any writing, books, teachings, sacred scriptures . . . that have helped you to experience clarity, openness, love, and compassion. . . . Say welcome to your texts. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by your wisdom texts.
  

• The third homecoming is community. Begin by reflecting about the communities, groups, and spaces where you experience love or the feeling of being accepted and supported in being happy. . . . Where do you feel safe to love? Where are you being loved? . . . Say welcome to your communities. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by your communities.
  

• The fourth homecoming is your ancestors. Begin by reflecting on those ancestors who have wanted the best for you, including wanting you to be happy and safe. You don’t need to know who those ancestors are. . . . Also reflect on the lineages you feel connected to, like the lineage of your spiritual tradition, or tradition of art or activism. . . . As you invite your ancestors, remember that you too are in the process of becoming an ancestor. . . . Say welcome to your ancestors and lineages. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by your ancestors and lineages.
  

• The fifth homecoming is the earth. Begin by reflecting on . . . how [the earth] sustains your life and the lives of countless beings. . . . Coming home to the earth means touching the earth, acknowledging the earth . . . and allowing it to hold you and, as it holds you, understanding that it is loving you as well. . . . Say welcome to the earth. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by the earth.
  

• The sixth homecoming is silence. Begin by reflecting on the generosity of silence as something that helps you to have the space to be with yourself. . . Reflect on how you can embrace silence as a friend and/or lover invested in your health and well-being. . . . Say welcome to the silence. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to being held by the silence.
  

• Finally, the seventh homecoming is yourself. Begin by reflecting on your experiences of your mind and body. Consider how your experiences are valuable, important, and crucial. Invite all the parts of yourself into your awareness, including the parts of yourself that seem too ugly or overwhelming. . . . Say welcome to yourself. Relax. Inhale. Exhale and come home to yourself. . . .

Now imagine that your circle of benefactors begins to dissolve into white light, and gather that white light into your heart center. Rest your mind and relax.

Experience a version of this practice through video and sound.

Source: Lama Rod Owens, Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger (North Atlantic Books: 2020), 87–91.

Posted on Fr. Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation From the Center for Action and Contemplation on Saturday, March 13, 2021