When we talk about health, we often focus on the physical and mental pieces. But what about our spiritual health?

And what does spirituality actually mean if you don't consider yourself religious?

In this episode of The Human Health Collective Podcast, I sit down with Kate Caldwell for a conversation about spirituality, embodiment, identity, meaning, purpose, belonging, and the many ways our spiritual health overlaps with how we experience ourselves and care for our bodies.

Kate takes a body-based approach to spiritual care, using practices including facilitated dialogue, breathwork, trauma-sensitive yoga, and self-aware movement to help make spirituality feel more practical and accessible. We talk about how awareness of the body can help us recognize choices, reconnect with a sense of agency, and better understand what we may need.

We also explore the difference between spirituality and organized religion and broaden the conversation beyond traditional definitions. Kate describes spirituality through the lenses of identity, meaning and purpose, connection and belonging, and the values that shape how we move through the world.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What "spiritual health" can actually mean
• Spirituality versus organized religion
• Why you don't have to be religious to explore your spiritual health
• Identity, values, meaning, and purpose
• Connection, belonging, and our relationship with ourselves
• The relationship between spirituality and the physical body
• Embodiment, interoception, and developing greater self-awareness
• Breathwork, movement, yoga, and other awareness practices
• Agency and creating more choices when we feel stuck
• How religious and spiritual traditions can influence the way we view and care for our bodies
• Worthiness, self-care, sacrifice, and shame
• What it can look like to care for ourselves as whole human beings

This conversation is a reminder that whole-person health may include pieces we don't always know how to name. Spiritual health doesn't have to look one particular way, and exploring it may begin with simply asking: What gives my life meaning? What do I value? Where do I feel connected? And how am I actually living those things?

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to The Human Health Collective Podcast, leave a rating or review, and share this conversation with someone who might enjoy thinking about health from a different perspective.

Connect with Dr. Libby Schwartz:
Instagram: @movementmantra.pt
Website: movementmantrapt.com

Follow The Human Health Collective:
Instagram: @humanhealthcollective

Better health starts with better conversations.