A Healing Moment: A Reflection on how Arts-based Spiritual Care can Benefit both the Patient and the Practitioner

Krista Heide
Oct 21, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Nov 1, 2024

Written by Kurt Schwarz, who is a Spiritual Health Practitioner at the Health Science Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba and part of our Art and Spirituality Research Team. Kurt leads a multi-disciplinary team at this large urban hospital in the study and application of arts- based practices within an addictions recovery program. He has been in the field of spiritual health for over twenty years and is the author of a book entitled, Moving into Stillness- On Finding Meaningful Activities that Nurture and Sustain the Inner Life.

Personal Exploration - Using a Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice.

Recently, I have been testing out a few ideas and activities related to the Arts-based Spiritual Care study that I am participating in. This study on how the arts can assist people in their healing process is affiliated with the Trinity Western University, under the direction of Dr. Kendra Rieger. During one such session, I decided to introduce the participants to how walking a labyrinth could be a spiritual tool for finding spiritual renewal and healing.

The labyrinth has ancient origins, and has used by a variety of cultures and religions as an avenue for embodied reflection and spiritual pilgrimage. Lauren Artress, in the book, Walking a Spiritual Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice, describes labyrinths as a spiritual container which can help facilitate healing and transformation. Labyrinths can also be used as a spiritual container to shift and transform energy.

Leading up to this particular session, I had been aware that I was feeling low and emotionally depleted from providing support to patients facing complex challenges. Not to mention the state of our world, given the numerous conflicts happening around the world. It all made me feel anxious and fearful of the future.

As a spiritual tool and practice, the labyrinth can be a helpful way to release of anxiety and worry while walking its circular shape. I experienced these benefits first-hand. When using the labyrinth in spiritual care with patients, they commented on how it helped them to embrace their lives directly and it gave them the freedom to walk their own path in their own way and with confidence.

I found that as a facilitator, I could offer the experience and let the labyrinth offer its healing properties with patients. But I also experienced healing. I found that as a result of this session, I walked away from it feeling less anxious and worried. The labyrinth had done its work in the context of the ritual. It had helped both the patient and the healer. It truly was a holy and a healing moment; one which I will never forget.

How Does the Arts Assist to Promoting Healing?

Arts-based Spiritual Care is a research study that intends to study and understand how the arts can assist in promoting healing. I have tried to incorporate some arts-based practices into my life and have found that it has enabled me to stay present to the pain and suffering of others, while not being consumed by the intensity of the sharing and patients’ experience. Arts-based Spiritual Care allows the patient and practitioner to have a voice in naming and describing their experience. Personally, I have found that this approach has deeply impacted me, even in the challenging times that we are living in.

My Personal Arts-based Spiritual Practice

The following pictures are from my own arts based spiritual practice over the past year. I hope that this will encourage you to engage in art-based spiritual care yourself!