The central question of all of the great religious traditions has to do with human suffering, the meaning of life, and our relationship to the divine. Roger Walsh, MD, PhD has studied religion for more than two decades. He believes that the great religions, offer a great gift. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, the yogis of Hinduism, or the disciplines of Taoism all offer consistent spiritual practices that awaken and help us reach the goal of self-discovery.

The form of spirituality you use to manage fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue immunodysfunction, or chronic myofascial pain is not important to me, but it is important to you. The practice of spiritual rituals and beliefs is just as significant to each of us as is our medication, therapies, and support.

My thoughts on the power of body, mind, and spirit are firmly grounded by the basic principles of the Native American Medicine Wheel. The wheel has four directions, north, south, east, and west. The northern point is considered the elder or the "spiritual" view. Clockwise at 90 degrees is east and is considered the male or "mental" direction, south at 180 degrees is the child or the "physical" aspect of ones life, and at 270 degrees is the west, which represents the female or "emotional" phase.

I think of the medicine wheel as a four-seated teeter-totter. When any of the seats, say the physical, is laden with untreated burdens, it becomes heavy and drops to the ground. When this happens, the other three seats (mental, emotional, and spiritual) suffer in some way. The same is true if one of the seats is empty. For instance, if the spirituality seat is unoccupied the other three are unbalanced and this results in unhealthy discord.

Research on the interaction of faith and healing clearly demonstrates that faith and action (e.g. prayer) creates positive change in physical conditions. When we are experiencing times of stress, such as when learning to deal with chronic pain, our spiritual beliefs gives us not only comfort, but also helps us go about our lives. This balance is soothing and reliable.

Do me one favor today. Define what you can do to bring your four directions into balance. Work at creating and executing a plan with completeness and over all well-being as your goal.