I just finished a research paper for grad school on mental health and spirituality. Here’s the abstract for anyone curious: Addressing the root cause of mental illness requires a holistic and multidimensional approach to healing that includes spirituality. The root causes of mental illness are overlooked in allopathic care, and medications are handed out as band-aid solutions. This disempowers and hinders a person’s ability to grow mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Intergenerational trauma plays a significant role as pain, trauma and stress get passed on through generations. The nervous system holds the memory of traumatic experiences and can keep an individual stuck in the past through the sympathetic nervous system's constant fight-or-flight activation. An individual also experiences safety through the nervous system; thus, activating the parasympathetic nervous system must be prioritized in mental health care. Meditation as a spiritual practice is beneficial in reducing anxiety and depression while also regulating the parasympathetic nervous system and providing an entry point for spiritual experiences. Most individuals are not taught the tools required to self-regulate, heal and release trauma from the mind-body. As long as this continues, mental illness rates will continue to rise, people will suffer and lack a clear path on how to transcend their problems through spirituality, self-work and activating the body’s healing response. In this age of rapid change, challenge and polarity, individuals must be empowered with tools and knowledge that promote physical, mental and spiritual sovereignty.