The spiritual wellness of an intellectual, novelist, journalist and politician: The meaningful life of Sol Plaatje

The study investigates Sol Plaatje’s (1876–1932) spiritual wellness across his lifespan. He was purposively sampled due to his impact upon South African society. As an intellectual, novelist, journalist, and politician, Plaatje was also a founder member of the South African Native National Congress, which later became the African National Congress. His life history reflected a significant degree of spiritual wellness, which was uncovered through the systematic analysis of publicly available life-history materials, including primary and secondary sources. The Wheel of Wellness (WoW) model by Sweeney and Witmer was applied to interpret the biographical evidence of spirituality and meaning in his life. Spirituality, as the central life task of the WoW, and regarded as the most influential domain of a healthy individual, incorporates religious beliefs and other individualised aspects of meaning-making. Findings indicate that spirituality characterised Plaatje’s childhood years and continued to play a role throughout his adult years. His sense of meaning and purpose was personified in the promotion and preservation of human rights and dignity, which embraced inter-racial respect, compassion, and service to others.

Spiritual Well-being in Patients With Generalized Anxiety Disorder and General Medical Conditions: Demographics in Context

The purpose of current study was to examine the predictive role of various socio demographic variables for spiritual well-being among participants with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and those with minor General Medical Conditions (GMC). Using purposive sampling technique, 90 participants including 40 (22 men, 18 women) with GAD and 50 (23 men, 27 women) with GMC with the age range of 18-58 years completed a socio-demographic questionnaire along with Spiritual Wellness Inventory (Ingersoll, 1998). The findings of the regression analysis revealed that for GAD group, age appeared to be the only significant predictor for spiritual well-being. Analyses on the subscales revealed that Concept of Hereafter was positively predicted by religious inclination, Conscientiousness was positively predicted by age, Mystery was predicted by age and gender for group with GAD; while, for GMC group, gender predicted Practicing Rituals. Furthermore, the findings of t-test revealed that women with GMC utilized more religious rituals than men; however, no such difference was found in the GAD group. The results have important implications to address the spiritual issues concerning anxiety problems during the course of therapy.

Sport Karate and the Pursuit of Wellness: A Participant Observation Study of a dojo in Scotland

Health problems in society are numerous, not least stress and stress-related illness. Physical activities, including martial arts, are increasingly viewed as a means of managing such risks to health. While there are forms of karate that have a philosophical and meditative character that is related to spiritual wellness, karate as a competitive sport is less likely to be thought of in this light. The purpose of this paper is to present through a participant observation study the representations that karateka of the dojo, make of sportive karate as a resource to achieve wellness. Drawing on an eight months' immersion in the dojo, we identify five themes that express these karateka's views of sport karate and wellness, the importance of fitness, beauty in punches and kicks, how to embrace fear, the aggressive attitude as a posture in life, and the superiority given by control. The findings lead us to reflect on the need for further research to see if they are repeated in other martial arts, and if many more groups find wellness as a primary motivation for their participation.

Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on urban park visitation: a global analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in over 33 million confirmed cases and over 1 million deaths globally, as of 1 October 2020. During the lockdown and restrictions placed on public activities and gatherings, green spaces have become one of the only sources of resilience amidst the coronavirus pandemic, in part because of their positive effects on psychological, physical and social cohesion and spiritual wellness. This study analyzes the impacts of COVID-19 and government response policies to the pandemic on park visitation at global, regional and national levels and assesses the importance of parks during this global pandemic. The data we collected primarily from Google’s Community Mobility Reports and the Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker. The results for most countries included in the analysis show that park visitation has increased since February 16th, 2020 compared to visitor numbers prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Restrictions on social gathering, movement, and the closure of workplace and indoor recreational places, are correlated with more visits to parks. Stay-at-home restrictions and government stringency index are negatively associated with park visits at a global scale. Demand from residents for parks and outdoor green spaces has increased since the outbreak began, and highlights the important role and benefits provided by parks, especially urban and community parks, under the COVID-19 pandemic. We provide recommendations for park managers and other decision-makers in terms of park management and planning during health crises, as well as for park design and development. In particular, parks could be utilized during pandemics to increase the physical and mental health and social well-being of individuals.

Janapadadhwamsa and Covid-19—A Systematic Review and Practical Applicability of Trisutra Ayurveda in Samhita

COVID – 19 is an infectious disease drawing everyone's attention globally for public health concern. It is likely zoonotic in origin, and now its person to person spread has made it fatal. Extensive measures have been taken to control this pandemic. As treatment of COVID -19 modern medicine system, is working on trial and error basis but no specific line of treatment/vaccine has been found till date. Ayurveda is a science of life and its basic concepts were evolved during the Vedic period. These concepts were crystallized, refined and advanced further in Samhita’s. The law of uniformity of nature was established by our Acharya’s, which helped in applying the physical laws to the biological field. The entire nature was their laboratory, and their keen observation and divine vision worked as their instruments to arrive at scientific truths. Disease-free condition is the best sources of virtue, wealth, gratification and emancipation while diseases are destroyers of all these sources, welfare and life itself. Samhita's are the most popular texts of ancient essence, and very few are available in complete form. At present, Samhita's are the only representative work of ancient period providing rational guidance and authoritative support to Ayurveda physicians, research scholars and students. Studying the texts of these primary source material is essential for understanding the physical, mental and spiritual wellness of every individual of the universe. In Ayurveda, epidemics are described as Janapadadhwamsajvyadhi. So everyone is enthusiastically expecting Ayurveda for better results. In this review, article COVID-19 has been discussed on the basic concept of Trisutra in Ayurveda. Its hetu (causes), Lakshana (signs and symptoms) and chikitsa (probable treatment) have been discussed here which can be considered in future as the strategies to avoid such pandemics. These guidelines may act as preventive, protective and curative for the entire community in winning the fear of coronavirus disease.

WELLNESS TOURISM IN UBUD. “A QUALITATIVE APPROACH TO STUDY THE ASPECTS OF WELLNESS TOURISM DEVELOPMENT”

This study aims to describe the aspects of wellness tourism development in Ubud. Adopted from Corbin theory (2006) which states the body, mind and spirit as part of the five dimensions of wellness, namely physical wellness, emotional wellness, social wellness, intellectual wellness, and spiritual wellness, authors would therefore to identify product wellness, wellness activities, wellness dimension and life cycle of development of wellness tourism in Ubud. This study uses qualitative research methods, starting with literature studies related research about wellness tourism and in-depth interviews with wellness service providers in Ubud. In this study, the authors reviewed the literatures and analyzed the information collected from eight wellness service providers. The eight informants are determined by considering the type of wellness service scale such as spa resorts, health resorts, retreat centers, and wellness centers, located in Ubud. The results showed that wellness tourism in Ubud had fulfilled aspects and dimensions of wellness. This is reflected from the identification which was resulted where the highest-demanded wellness products in Ubud, namely yoga retreats, meditation retreats, spiritual retreats, detoxes and spa resorts. While wellness activities in Ubud are considered more relevant to Balinese-Hinduism lifestyles such as customs, cultural-religion activities and valuable-local knowledge of Balinese herbs in which are part of the wellness experience offered in Ubud. While in the terms of phase of development, the current situation of wellness tourism stays in development phase.

Exploring the linkages between spiritual wellness and ethics in international education: a phenomenological study

Despite increasing interest in the notion of spiritual wellness, there has been a lack of qualitative research conducted to date in connection with the relationship between spiritual wellness and ethical considerations. This is especially the case in the context of international education. Such research would help to shed valuable new light on the feelings and perceptions of the relevant individuals, particularly the senior-level and junior-level managers charged with ensuring the efficient and effective delivery of the relevant educational offers. The purpose of this qualitative study concerned developing an inductive and comprehensive understanding of the lived experiences of international college managers based in the UK (Oxford and the wider Oxfordshire area). This was with respect to the variegated nature of the relationship between spiritual wellness and ethical considerations in international education, the phenomenon under consideration. Phenomenological analysis revealed ten essential themes, namely noble and timeless values, respect and awareness, compassion and empathy, cultivated metacognition, readiness to challenge and transcend, reciprocity, plurality, solidarity, sustainability and subsidiarity. Inter alia, it was found that both senior and junior managers in international colleges in Oxford and the wider Oxfordshire area perceive the various issues potentially linking spiritual wellness and ethical considerations in an imaginative fashion, being able to draw links but not necessarily with ease. One clear implication arising from the findings was that if the relevant establishments focused more on adhering to robust codes of ethics, this is likely to have a positive effect on the level of spiritual wellness within the same organisations. Another clear implication stemming from the findings is that the issue of spiritual wellness vis-à-vis ethical considerations, viewed at from a phenomenological perspective, is clearly a structural problem.

The Support of Juvenile Offender Learners in Correctional Centre Schools: A Spiritual Wellness Perspective

This qualitative, phenomenological study, explore the support of juvenile offender learners in correctional schools from a spiritual wellness perspective. The study aimed to explore ways in which supporting juvenile offender learners' spiritual wellness can enhance teaching and learning, rehabilitate, and reduce recidivism. Twenty-one juvenile offender learners and seven teachers were selected from seven correctional schools in South Africa on the bases of availability and willingness. The study intergraded Ubuntu and spiritual wellness frameworks as a lens to understand the current study. Findings revealed that teachers support juvenile learners’ spiritual wellness and it enhances teaching and learning, thus, resulted in a positive behavioural change of the juvenile offender learners. The study recommends that teachers and security official be trained on how to identify the spiritual challenges of juvenile learners and address them in order to improve their learning and rehabilitate. The DCS can do this through collaboration with various stakeholders who have knowledge and expertise in the spiritual wellness scope.