Mindfulness, meditation, yoga, prayer, and other psycho-spiritual practices for health and wellbeing are pervasive in our world today. Until now though, the religious traditions taking up the bulk of real estate in the 'health and spirituality' movement have been Buddhism, as in the case of mindfulness and meditation, Hinduism, as in the case of yoga, and Christianity as in the case of prayer. A glaring absence is the second largest religious tradition in the world - Islam - yet it is full of such practices waiting to be explored. The purpose of this edited volume is to examine Islamic spiritual practices and healing modalities within the context of health and wellbeing and to lay some groundwork to advance this line of scholarship, practice, and application. Written by experts in a way that is accessible to any reader, this volume is a resource for students, scholars, clinicians, pastoral caregivers, healers, or anyone interested in the various topics covered including Islamic psychology, spirituality, health, wellness, complementary and alternative medicine, and more.
Carrie M. York, PhD is founder and president of the Alkaram Institute, a 501c3 non-profit institution dedicated to advancing Islamic psychology to benefit society and improve lives and whose vision is to become the first Muslim graduate school of psychology in the United States. She is also publisher of Alkaram Press. Dr. York's areas of interest include Islamic psychology and spirituality, spiritually integrated psychotherapy, and virtue and character development. Over the past twenty years, she has researched, taught, and published extensively on these and related topics at the intersection of psychology and religion. Having lived outside her native United States in various countries for nearly 17 years, she now lives in Great Falls, Virginia. In her free time, she enjoys jogging, traveling, and spending time with loved ones. She also enjoys real estate and property investment as a side hobby.