Spiritual Routes to Healthy and Active Ageing

India is home to 140 million older persons. Although economic marginalization and lack of knowledge of common determinants of healthy and active ageing remain serious barriers to well-being of older persons, wide spread practice of spirituality is often perceived as self-satisfying way to achieve healthy and active ageing and an effective coping mechanism particularly in old age.

Objectives: To review and interpret the significance of various spiritual domains and their scientific basis for achieving healthy and active ageing.

Methods and Results: Four spiritual domains-Intra-personal, Interpersonal, Transcendental and Environmental are examined.

Intra-personal domain relates one to own self and is practised through praying, worshiping, pranayama breathing and yogic principles of ethical living. The domain strengthens spiritual traits such as forgiveness, optimism, gratitude, empathy and leads to improved psychological, cardiovascular and neurological health through reduced cortisol, C-reactive protein and interlukin-6. Interpersonal domain relates one to others and is practised through forging in-depth bonding and friendliness. Benefits of this domain are equivalent to obesity reduction, smoking cessation and dementia prevention with the likely mediator being social enrichment and oxytocin, the love or the trust hormone. Transcendental domain relates one to something that is beyond human level and is practised through various meditation techniques including transcendental meditation. This domain provides improved cognition and sleep and reduced stress, anxiety and depression with the likely mediators being feel good hormones like endorphin, melatonin, serotonin, vasopressin together with a reduced stress hormone, the cortisol. Environmental domain relates one with wonders of environment and Nature and can be realized by all and even by a cognitively impaired person through non cognitive pathways and utilizing the five human senses like VISION by sighting religious symbols which helps connect with one’s faith or by sighting the nature’s greenery including the anti-polluting plants kept in homes, roof gardens, bird feeder, blue spaces like water bodies, watching TV travel channels for Nature, bird watching, forest bathing and observing Sun rise, Sun set and colours of butterflies, bee’s and clouds etc. all of which help reducing stress, HEARING the music including devotional and yesteryear songs, religious discourses, rustling sounds of leaves, chirping sounds of birds etc. all of which help improving mood and cognition through melatonin and reduced cortisol, SMELL of the fragrance of aromatic plants, aroma filled incense sticks and flowers etc., TOUCH of the bark of trees, foliage and other objects of Nature and TASTE of the ayurvedic foods all of which are known to improve mental health.

Conclusion: Different spiritual domains provide both general as well as specific benefits for active ageing. Practice of spirituality should therefore become a cost-effective interventional component in promoting active ageing programs