Can Marriage Extend Your Spiritual Journey and Keep You Healthy?
Article first appeared in Prediction Magazine , July 07 Issue, page 51
Summer is, finally, here. It is also the most popular time for weddings! Whether you are attending or planning a wedding, it is important to remember that a marriage is one of the important spiritual acts you might be participating in, as you tread the path of spiritual development. Love is not something that we just fall into, as the romantic songs suggest. Love is a spiritual practice which we get better at it over time!
Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway, interfaith minister and author of “Wedding Goddess: A Divine Guide To Transforming Wedding Stress into Wedding Bliss,” talks about how to stay sane and soulful about weddings: “The Big Day is a sacred day. It is not just a party that needs planning–it is a marriage that you are preparing for.” She explains that “Some brides are downright demanding …sucked into the vortex of wedding planning stress, and overwhelmed by the pressure and expectations of those around”. It is easy to forget that a marriage is about ‘growing up’, going form being a single woman with a boyfriend, to a married woman with a husband; “ into the kind of commitment you once only dreamed about”. If you think about it, in marriage, “two complete and whole individuals with their greatness and their flaws are merging into a partnership that is beyond any union”.
“In a separate study about married men, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh found that the more frequently men talk to their wives, the less their arteries clog, and the healthier their hearts are”
She explains further that the sacredness of a marriage is the huge commitment to love, honour, and cherish another human for a lifetime. And that is extraordinarily meaningful in itself. “The wedding ceremony is just the ritual that establishes and honours the commitment, and makes it legal. And the wedding reception is a way for you to celebrate your commitment with family and friends, to share your joy, and receive their blessings, plus the nice little envelopes they give you to commemorate the occasion.” If you are getting married and have decided to plan a wedding, you might as well enjoy it and make it special in your own way. Or if you can’t perhaps follow Rev. Laurie Sue’s suggestion and “elope”!
If you are having last minute getters about crossing that bridge, or remaining young , free and single; a recently released Healthy Women Study at the University of Pittsburgh says that “happily married women and single women have healthier profiles than divorced or unhappily married women”. The study defines “healthier” as less likely to develop “metabolic syndrome,” which is linked to health risks, especially heart disease. In a separate study about married men, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh found that the more frequently men talk to their wives, the less their arteries clog, and the healthier their hearts are.
Loves, and the commitment to marry another different and individual human being is about learning how to integrate two complimenting energies- the female and male principle, the Yin and Yang, if you like; in order to create a new awakened state of being and the rewards that it can bring.
Pointers to Spiritual Bliss
Focus on what is truly important- your union. Communicate with your partner through out planning your wedding. You are both likely to, according research- be happier and live longer! Remember that the wedding is about your union and commitment to each other. Take time out to write your own ‘contract’, what you expect and hope to achieve within it.
Note That Quote
“Wedding planning is not about how to put the whole event together. It is about how to keep yourself together, how to stay close to your groom, how to be loving yet set boundaries with your family….”
Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway, interfaith minister and author of “Wedding Goddess: A Divine Guide To Transforming Wedding Stress into Wedding Bliss
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