Celebrate Your Faith for Well-Being

I love parties and celebrations because they make me feel good. And there's a reason. Celebration raises serotonin in your brain and aids in spiritual well-being. You benefit as you celebrate your faith this holiday season.

For instance, one December holiday, Hanukkah, features an eight day Festival of Lights. During yearly Jewish festivities, families light beautiful menorahs filled with brightly colored candles, enjoy excellent food, sing Rise Up, My Light and exchange gifts. Children especially enjoy an old tradition, spinning the driedel.

In light of peoples' spirituality, recently a team of Swedish researchers, found a brain receptor that regulates serotonin activity. In this capacity, humans transcend life in this world to understand spiritual realities that cannot be explained objectively. And now there is proof from brain scans linking the capacity for spirituality with a major biological element. And this shows that religious behavior is not just determined by environmental and cultural factors as many believed in past.

So what does that mean in a practical sense? We gather more spiritual well-being by joining in to celebrate holidays. For instance, the lighting of menorah candles reminds Jewish faithful that God saved and thus they now come to worship and celebrate.

And, as you celebrate, be good to you and do not overdo to gather the most serotonin and avoid stressors.