Qualities of peak emotional, mental and spiritual health

What are the qualities of peak emotional, mental and spiritual health?

I got started thinking about this when I read an excerpt that described a person doing meditation as an Olympic level emotional or spiritual athlete. We each could probably describe the physical characteristics of an Olympic level athlete, and what they had to do to get to that level, and even how we might compare to an Olympic caliber athlete, but what would be the equivalent characteristics of peak mental, emotional or spiritual health, and what would you need to do to get to that peak level, or even just "fit?" We talk about people who are mentally ill, or emotionally unstable, or spiritually deficit, but what are the positive ways to describe health in those areas and what practices and exercises would we have to do to get to a level of fitness mentally, emotionally or spiritually?

"These are the Olympic athletes, the gold medalists, of meditation," Davidson says. … "In Buddhist tradition," Davidson explains, "'meditation' is a word that is equivalent to a word like 'sports' in the U.S. It's a family of activity, not a single thing." Each of these meditative practices calls on different mental skills, according to Buddhist practitioners. The Wisconsin researchers, for example, are focusing on three common forms of Buddhist meditation. "One is focused attention, where they specifically train themselves to focus on a single object for long periods of time," Davidson says. "The second area is where they voluntarily cultivate compassion. It's something they do every day, and they have special exercises where they envision negative events, something that causes anger or irritability, and then transform it and infuse it with an antidote, which is compassion. They say they are able to do it just like that," he says, snapping his fingers. "The third is called 'open presence.' It is a state of being acutely aware of whatever thought, emotion or sensation is present, without reacting to it. They describe it as pure awareness." ("Is Buddhism Good for Your Health?" by Stephen S. Hall, New York Times, September 14, 2003)

Post a comment with your list of qualities that describe Olympic caliber spiritual, emotional and mental health.

If you have ever been or are affiliated with a religion or religious institution, how does that community or institution affect or contribute to your spiritual, emotional and mental health or practices of relaxation, reflection and restoration?