Spirituality and Me: Sadgun, Alex and Chris discover ways, and the reasons, young people seek spirituality.
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00:00Hi, I'm Dr. Chris Deasy, and I'm Sadgun. I'm an expert in the study of religion,
00:05and I'm a high school student. We're here to ask questions like,
00:08where does faith and religion come from? And why do people believe in a higher power?
00:13And why do a lot of people have no religion? Spirituality, science, conflict,
00:18society, and life after death. We'll be exploring all of this in...
00:22Generation Y!
00:47In this episode, we're looking at spirituality.
00:49This isn't just in terms of organized religions. Spirituality comes in many shapes and forms
00:56across a whole range of beliefs. To me, as someone with a Hindu
01:00background, spirituality means believing in something bigger than myself.
01:03This means trying to have a connection with God, the planet, and everyone and everything in it.
01:08And many people have those same feelings, even if they don't believe in a higher being.
01:14And nature is one way strong feelings of spirituality can be triggered.
01:19Many find comfort, enjoyment, and a sense of belonging when surrounded by nature,
01:25as I've been finding out.
01:31Many of us turn to nature to find meaning, and I've come here to London to discover
01:38what wild swimming means to young people.
01:41Leo, Vivi, Eloise, Jonathan, and Paddy all like nature, particularly swimming.
01:48I'm keen to find out what draws them all to the water.
01:51You forget about all of the, like, the stress you have, like, in the city and stuff like that,
01:56and the water, like, takes it away.
01:58And, yeah, I think it, like, makes you delve deep in with nature.
02:01It's more peaceful outside than in a busy, um, swimming center.
02:07Some of you have already talked about, like, spirituality being maybe one with nature,
02:12but is that something that you've ever thought about before?
02:14Not really, because I just, I just go in, and it just makes me feel like that.
02:19I don't, like, think why it makes me feel like that.
02:23Yeah, when you go in, you forget about everything that's happening outside,
02:26and it's just a safe place away from everything.
02:30So it probably is a good moment to take the plunge and jump in the lake.
02:39Are we all ready to go?
02:40Yeah.
02:40Let's go for it.
02:45Make sure you can tread water. Are you all okay?
02:48When you're doing this, do you kind of feel that you're not thinking about all the things
02:52to do with your school and all the other things that happen in the world?
02:56Yeah, I think the cold water, like, kind of stimulates your brain a bit.
03:00Yeah.
03:01And you become more awake.
03:02If you had to sum this experience up in one word, what would that be?
03:06I'd probably describe it as, well, exciting and peaceful.
03:13Probably magical.
03:15There's not many experiences like it.
03:17Relieving and adventurous.
03:19Maybe, probably calming.
03:21First of all, I was a bit, I think even a little bit frightened in the water,
03:25but then I sort of regained myself, and I thought, I could stay here.
03:30And I wasn't expecting that.
03:32Would you recommend this to everybody?
03:33Yeah, it's really calming, yeah.
03:35First, it's cold, but you can find a place to relax.
03:38If, like, I know a friend who has stress, they're, like, new,
03:42because they forgot about, like, all the stress they've had before they went in.
03:46And did you all find that you were closer to nature when doing that?
03:51Yeah, because, like, water, it's, like, where all life comes from, basically.
03:57So in that sense, yeah, it made me feel, like, closer.
04:02You can breathe the fresh air and see all the trees around.
04:06Another thing that I picked up on is not being able to see the bottom,
04:09just staring into nothingness.
04:10It makes you feel very close to nature.
04:18That looked really cold, Chris.
04:19Was it fun?
04:20Yes, it was definitely fun.
04:22And I think I've only just warmed up.
04:24Hearing how it relaxes people makes me think of meditation,
04:27which is often linked to spirituality.
04:28And meditation is a practice where you focus your mind on something
04:32to achieve a clear and calm mental and emotional state.
04:36It can help some people reduce stress and anxiety.
04:39And many types of meditation were traditionally religious.
04:42One example is yoga, which I tried in Bradford.
04:45But before we see that, here's yoga coach Angie Tewari to explain its history.
04:50I'm a yoga, meditation and breathwork coach
04:52and an Ayurvedic lifestyle and nutrition consultant.
04:55Yoga is a practice that has been around for thousands of years.
04:58The first place it was written about is the Vedas.
05:02So those are the ancient scriptures from ancient India.
05:05Prior to that, it was believed that it was passed down orally.
05:09So there was an oral tradition of chanting mantras,
05:12of teaching certain yoga poses, certain cleansing practices known as kriyas.
05:17It has got links to religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism.
05:23And spirituality really is something that all of us can connect with,
05:28not just one particular group of people.
05:30When we go back and we look at the ancient scriptures,
05:33there's a sentence that is,
05:35which is all in Sanskrit.
05:38And that translates as yoga is the suspension of the fluctuations of the mind field.
05:45So the practice of yoga is allowing us to slow down or to stop
05:50the frantic movement that's happening in our mind,
05:54that internal chatter that goes on.
05:56And it's very noisy for us.
05:58And that might impact our sleep,
06:00that might impact our relationships with people.
06:03That was fascinating to hear from Anji.
06:05And I'm going to head on into my temple and give yoga a go myself.
06:09I'll also be joined by a couple of my friends
06:11and my younger brother, Yashwe, who's coming along too.
06:13While Yashwe hasn't done yoga before, Robert and Phoenix both have,
06:17but none of us have really given any thought to the spiritual side of the practice.
06:21And yoga is to unite the mind, body and souls.
06:25Guiding us through the session is Kamal,
06:27who regularly teaches yoga at my temple.
06:31We're going to inhale and exhale.
06:34When you're breathing out, all the toxins coming out and your body feeling very relaxed.
06:41Can everybody listen to the heartbeat?
06:44You can feel your palpitation?
06:46Right, okay.
06:47That means you're totally relaxed.
06:49That means your body's under your control.
06:51Now we're going to stand up now, slowly.
06:53Don't rush because we're going to do the standing exercise now.
06:58We're left.
07:01Breathing again.
07:05That was a very wonderful and relaxing session that we had from Kamal.
07:08I feel completely new right now.
07:10I feel energised.
07:11I feel more energetic than ever before.
07:13How do you guys feel?
07:14I feel more like calm and I feel like I've got more air
07:18and I can just breathe better and just a lot more relaxed than before.
07:22I feel more calm and peaceful and relaxed.
07:24Do you think we need to have yoga and not just yoga,
07:27any other mindfulness activity in our school PE?
07:31Yeah, for sure.
07:32Helps clear our mind and helps us with all the difficult exercises.
07:36Yeah, because all the children can feel more relaxed
07:39when they're writing an exam or doing something hard.
07:42We've got loads of exams, mocks coming up.
07:45So I think when we have yoga, I think as Kamal said,
07:48it connects our mind, body and soul together.
07:51And then that means that we, as a person, understand ourselves more.
07:54What do you think that you can take away from the session that we did just now?
07:58Doing more of it to feel more relaxed if you're feeling really stressed
08:02and get more connection to the things around you.
08:07I felt my heart when I was like really relaxed and Kamal said that
08:11that's when it shows that your body is in control of yourself.
08:14Yoga has made me calm my body down and take away all the stress
08:17and forget all about it for a second.
08:21Doctors are now prescribing activities like yoga on the NHS
08:25to help with issues like stress and anxiety.
08:27Well, another issue in society is addiction.
08:30And research has shown that activities which bring people together
08:34in recovery can also be spiritual.
08:37Alex has been along to witness a unique example of this in Chester.
08:43I'm heading in to meet a group of people who share their recovery stories with a twist.
08:47Well, quite a few twists actually.
08:51I'm meeting the Fallen Angels Dance Theatre Company
08:54which was set up in 2011 to help people in recovery from addiction.
09:00Artistic director Paul became addicted to drugs and alcohol
09:03while training to be a ballet dancer.
09:05It left him in an incredibly dark place.
09:09Using dance to rehabilitate is not something I've ever heard of.
09:13Using dance to rehabilitate is not something I've ever heard of.
09:17I want to understand how participating can spark spiritual feelings.
09:22And so, before I know it, I'm thrown into the group.
09:26Do you want to go in here?
09:27Yeah, great.
09:29Letting go of the mind.
09:33Surrendering.
09:36Releasing.
09:37So, we're just, imagine you're pushing through, trying to resist something
09:44and then releasing into the space.
09:47So, it becomes really slow but it has that kind of tension.
09:53There's this term in ballet, akate, which means to pull apart.
09:58So, it's like in mental health and recovery,
10:01sometimes we feel like we're broken.
10:03So, it's like in mental health and recovery,
10:05sometimes we feel like we're being pulled apart.
10:09Dancing with the group made me feel awkward at first,
10:12but I soon became balanced and calm.
10:15It's clear that coming together and sharing their journeys
10:18through recovery is empowering.
10:20There's something spiritual about letting go,
10:23being in the moment, connecting with the breath.
10:25I've never done this before,
10:27but I could feel a lot of connection with,
10:29do you guys know each other a lot?
10:31Yeah.
10:31I can tell because you all stayed together
10:34and some of you were creating movements around each other and together,
10:37which I found was really cool.
10:38It's really powerful how we've used movement and dance as a tool
10:43to be able to kind of rehabilitate people a little bit
10:47and allow them to feel connected.
10:49How can addiction recovery be spiritual?
10:52When I was using it, it's like,
10:55how can I get more? How can I scam you?
10:57Yeah, it's really selfish.
10:59Recovery is the opposite of that.
11:01So it's like putting back, getting out of self,
11:04connecting with other people that are totally broken and lost.
11:08And by helping other addicts, I get freedom from myself.
11:11They say religion is for people that don't want to go to hell.
11:17Spirituality is for people that have been to hell
11:20and don't want to go back.
11:22And that's kind of me.
11:24I've been to hell a few times and yeah, I don't want to go back.
11:29I never knew something like that existed.
11:35Well done, Alex, for taking part.
11:36Absolutely.
11:37And seeing a group of people coming together
11:40after going through so many difficult personal troubles
11:43and channeling that into performance is really inspiring
11:46and sums up a lot of what we've been exploring in this episode.
11:50We're going to take a closer look at spirituality
11:52in our Generation Y group chat after the break.
11:54So stick around.
12:00Welcome back to Generation Y.
12:03In this episode's group chat,
12:04we went to St George's Church of England School in Kent.
12:07Yes, I spoke to yoga teacher Puravi,
12:10student and nature lover Leela,
12:12Alex, who's a shaman,
12:13and medical expert Dr Julian Spinks.
12:16And I sat down with four brilliant students
12:18to talk more about spirituality.
12:20Spirituality really is just really connecting with yourself
12:24to go in a little bit more inwards,
12:26to help shut off the noise that's going on outside
12:29and really just connect with you, your values,
12:32and how you want to be.
12:33That's my definition of it.
12:35And in terms of your work, Leela,
12:37in terms of nature conservation,
12:39what does spirituality mean in your understanding?
12:41To me, it just means to, yeah, really connect with yourself.
12:44And I think that's really important.
12:45I think it's really important to connect with yourself
12:48To me, it just means to, yeah,
12:49really connect with yourself and other people
12:52and the world that you live in.
12:54A lot of us are very disconnected from that.
12:56We all have these ropes of relationship
12:58that we create with everything around us.
13:00And the shamanic view is really one
13:02where we should prioritise these connections
13:05as much as we can.
13:06In your case, Julian,
13:07do these sort of questions come up a lot
13:09in terms of what should be prescribed on the NHS?
13:12Should the NHS be funding spiritual practices?
13:17Well, spirituality is a really important part of health.
13:20It's very easy just to think about physical health
13:23and mental health,
13:24but it's actually the third arm of that.
13:26And as a GP, I have to consider that
13:28when someone's in front of me,
13:30I just can't say, oh yes, it's that illness.
13:32I need to put it in the context of their beliefs,
13:35whether it's a formal religion
13:36or it's just the way they explore the world.
13:39So absolutely, it's part of the work
13:42that we have to provide in the NHS.
13:44Does spirituality come up a lot
13:47in the people that you work with
13:49in terms of your own, perhaps, spiritual experiences?
13:53Yeah, I'd say it does come up a lot.
13:56You know, we're all part of the spiritual world.
13:59We're all naturally connected anyway,
14:02but as I said earlier,
14:03we're also disconnected.
14:05And a way to reconnect is through nature,
14:08through, you know, observing wildlife
14:10or going out wild swimming
14:11or just walking through the woodland.
14:14And I'm just thinking,
14:15because we have so many, obviously,
14:17young people in the audience here,
14:18what are the best ways,
14:19what's the best advice
14:20that anyone here on the panel can give
14:22to those in the audience
14:23about how they can undertake
14:25these sort of practices?
14:26I mean, there's so much, isn't there,
14:27in this about, you know,
14:28what spirituality is all about,
14:30what communing with nature can do,
14:32being in the right kind of sort of mindset.
14:34We have 70,000 thoughts going through our minds
14:36every single day,
14:37using three to 5% of our conscious minds.
14:40So our minds are constantly processing information.
14:43So when the overwhelm comes,
14:45my best advice is to just stop,
14:47place one hand on heart,
14:48one hand on your belly,
14:50take five big deep breaths
14:52and just notice everything melt away,
14:54your stress melt away,
14:55and you come back to the present moment,
14:57to the here and now,
14:58and you can then proceed
15:00with whatever you have to do.
15:01We advise people to look
15:04whether they can build some time
15:05into their lives to do this sort of thing.
15:08And, you know,
15:09whether it's someone's back garden,
15:10my house is near quite a busy road,
15:12but actually when I'm sitting there
15:14and the birdsong starts to appear
15:16and other things happen,
15:17I have a fox that visits and so on.
15:19And that noise of that road
15:20and the bustle of life starts to disappear.
15:23Most people are only a short bus ride
15:25away from somewhere,
15:26whether it's a park or here in Gravesend,
15:28you can go down to the river
15:29and watch the boats float past.
15:30It's not natural,
15:31but at the same time, it's calming.
15:33So it's finding those opportunities
15:35and taking them that's important.
15:38What is your name,
15:39age and question for the panel?
15:41So I'm George, I'm 12,
15:42and my question is,
15:43what is religion to you?
15:45I'm a Christian.
15:46I go to church.
15:47And for me,
15:48it actually provides something
15:50to centre my life around.
15:51It gives me guidance.
15:53It also inspires me.
15:54A lot of the things I do voluntarily
15:57is because my faith actually says
15:59it's good to do this.
16:01Also, there is the ability
16:02to share with other people
16:03within a church or in a group of people
16:06who think in similar ways
16:07and support each other
16:08through those difficult times in life.
16:10I don't kind of practice religion much.
16:15It's more of just a way
16:17of how I live, really.
16:18You know, I follow, you know,
16:22the cycles of the earth,
16:24the changing seasons.
16:25I'm a practicing Hindu.
16:28Hinduism is, again,
16:29one of the oldest religions.
16:31And again, it relates quite closely to yoga,
16:34which is where the spirituality
16:35comes into it.
16:36And yoga in itself
16:37is not just an exercise.
16:38It is, there's eight moral guidelines.
16:42And similarly in Hinduism,
16:44it's more of a way of being,
16:45a way of living
16:46and having those values
16:47and sticking with those values.
16:49Religion is a, for me,
16:51it's an agreement made
16:53between people in a locality
16:56that then people subscribe to
16:57to give themselves meaning.
17:00And I think religion at its core
17:03throughout all religions
17:04have a unified principle.
17:07What is your name, age,
17:08and question for the panel?
17:10My name's Jakey, I'm 12.
17:11And I was going to ask,
17:12this spiritual thing,
17:13how does it impact
17:14on mental health kids' lives?
17:17Like, how does it impact in their minds?
17:19In general, it's a very positive thing.
17:21It's something that often supports people
17:23through difficult times in life.
17:25I have to say, occasionally,
17:27one of the problems is that
17:28if things are going terribly wrong
17:30in your life,
17:31that it actually makes you question
17:33your spirituality, question your faith.
17:35I tend to point people
17:37towards getting support from,
17:39if they are within a particular religion,
17:41within that religion,
17:42or to look at ways
17:44to actually use spirituality
17:46to tackle their mental health problems,
17:48because it is a way
17:50of sort of recentering people
17:51and taking people away
17:53from those very negative thoughts
17:54that you can get.
17:55We all have a spirit within us.
17:58And within that spirit,
17:59there will be a gift
17:59that we will offer our community.
18:02And that is implicitly
18:05connected to our health.
18:07So if I can't express my true spirit
18:09and what I'm here to do,
18:10I will become sick.
18:12What is your name, age,
18:13and question for the panel?
18:14My name's Lucy.
18:15I'm 11 years old.
18:16My question is,
18:17how can yoga benefit your mental health
18:19and spirituality?
18:20Amazing question.
18:21So when we think of yoga,
18:24in the Western world especially,
18:25we just think of the asana practice,
18:27the physical practice.
18:28That is one component of yoga.
18:31The rest of it includes yamas and niyamas,
18:34which are our moral guidelines.
18:35Meditation is a component of yoga.
18:38Hymns are non-violence to ourselves,
18:39non-violence to others, non-harm.
18:42All of these components
18:43really allow you to get into
18:46the ultimate final destination of yoga.
18:49And the reason we practice the asana
18:51is to find our comfortable seat.
18:53And by a comfortable seat,
18:54it prepares us for meditation.
18:55But what that also does
18:57is it allows us to get rid of the noise
19:00and allows us to come
19:01into the present moment.
19:02So it lets all of our thoughts
19:04fade into the background
19:05and it allows us to be
19:06connected with ourselves.
19:07And that is the whole purpose of yoga.
19:09What is your name, age,
19:10and question for the panel?
19:12My name's Ruby.
19:12I'm 12.
19:13And my question is,
19:14how did you find your passion for religion?
19:17Confusion and wondering
19:19what on earth was happening around me
19:20and disconnection essentially.
19:24And then it became a search
19:25for what is going to make sense
19:27and seems healthy in this world.
19:29And I was very grateful
19:31to bump into someone
19:32with bright, shiny eyes
19:34who is into shamanism.
19:37What do you find interesting
19:38about religion?
19:40Like how Jesus died
19:41and he came back to life.
19:43Like I just thought it was like crazy.
19:46Like understanding different cultures
19:48and religion.
19:49I like how there are different beliefs
19:50and different people follow them.
19:52How big do you think
19:53that religion influences you?
19:55It like calms me down.
19:56It helps me like keep on going
19:59and keep pushing into my life.
20:01So what does spirituality
20:03mean to you guys?
20:05It means like being able
20:07to connect with each other
20:08and share emotions with each other.
20:11To me, it means that it's a way
20:12of calming myself down
20:13and relaxing my mind.
20:15To me, it's like your religion
20:17and your faith
20:17and your compassion towards others.
20:19To me, it's like calming yourself down.
20:21Spirituality is such a big term
20:23and it has so many different
20:24connotations to it.
20:26And the one way to look at it
20:27might be because I'm a Hindu
20:29and it's about devotion
20:31and allocating your time
20:32and space to God
20:34and giving the time to worship to God
20:36and understanding about who you are
20:38might be one part of spirituality
20:40but I know there's a lot to it.
20:41And how important do you think
20:44it's being spiritual is?
20:46I think it's important to like
20:47you can share how you feel to each other.
20:50And I think it's important
20:51because it helps people
20:52on a day-to-day basis.
20:54I think it's important
20:55because it helps you
20:56understand each other.
20:57One topic that we've listened to
20:59about in the panel
21:00was about addiction.
21:01People who are really addicted
21:03and then they find
21:04a second chance in life
21:05and then they use that second chance
21:07to change their life around.
21:09And then do you think giving
21:09that second chance to people
21:11is really important?
21:12Yes, because they can change over time
21:15and it gives them an opportunity
21:18to change their future.
21:19Another way we saw about connecting
21:22being spiritual is by nature
21:24like going to wild swimming
21:25and all that.
21:26And because I come from a city,
21:28I'm from Bradford
21:29and we don't have so many
21:30green spaces around.
21:31So do you think having more green spaces
21:33really helps with your mental health
21:35and spirituality?
21:37Yeah, I think it does.
21:38And why do you think that is?
21:39All the stuff around you,
21:41it's all like natural
21:42and it's not just put there.
21:45I think you need more
21:46because if you go into a green space
21:48it will help you reflect
21:49on what you've done.
21:50I think it's a calm area
21:51because it's natural nature
21:53and if you need somewhere
21:55to calm down
21:56you can just sit down and relax.
21:58Why do you think learning
21:59about spirituality and religion
22:01is so important in modern day life?
22:05So it helps us understand
22:11how religions are
22:13and understand religions.
22:14I think it will help you understand
22:16and make yourself a better person.
22:18I think it helps me
22:20just as a person in general.
22:21I think it helps you understand
22:22other people's religions
22:23as well as your own.
22:25Yeah, and personally
22:26learning about other religions
22:27is like you discover
22:28and you expand your knowledge
22:29about what you learn
22:30and then what you hear
22:31because everyone's different.
22:33Everyone has different backgrounds,
22:34different ethnicities,
22:36different religion
22:37and that's what makes
22:37this world so diverse.
22:39Say if you go to their own country
22:42they might do something different
22:44and then you can pick up on that
22:46and then you can tell your friends
22:47when you get home
22:48like I learned this and stuff.
22:50And if you think about religion
22:51does religion influence you
22:53to be thinking about spirituality
22:55in a different way?
22:56What do you think?
22:57I think it does
22:58because there are some things
23:00from each thing that's kind of similar
23:03like it affects your choice
23:05of what you do.
23:06I think it just helps you
23:09understand others
23:10and understand yourself
23:12and your culture.
23:13Yeah, I think it also helps
23:14you understand others.
23:18Such incredible topics to discuss
23:19and with a great mix of people too.
23:21But for now, that's all from us.
23:23See you next time on Generation Y!
23:51you