The role of leisure in the spirituality of new paradigm Christians

Nature-Based Recreation and Spirituality: A Complex Relationship

“…Heintzman (2008b) observed in a study of men's wilderness experience that unlike other wilderness experience studies (e.g., Fox, 1997;Fredrickson & Anderson, 1999;Heintzman, 2007a;Stringer & McAvoy, 1992), wilderness was important to spirituality as it was viewed as God's creationa finding consistent with this group being Christian. Livengood's (2009) study of New Paradigm Christians also found that recreation in natural settings provided participants with the opportunity to connect with God as well as experience and enjoy God's creation. Many of the adventure education, environmental education, and outdoor education studies have explored the influence of these programs on Christian spirituality (AndersonHanley, 1996;Bobilya et al, 2009;Daniel, 2007;Griffin & LeDuc, 2009;Heintzman, 2007b).…”

“…Nature has also been a recurrent theme in qualitative research on leisure and spirituality. Nature-based recreation has been found to be: conducive to spiritual well-being (Heintzman, 2000; N = 8), a trigger to spiritual leisure experiences (Schmidt & Little, 2007; N = 24), a facilitator of spiritual experience during counselors' and psychologists' leisure (Grafanaki et al, 2005; N = 10), and a way for New Paradigm Christians to connect with God and experience God's creation (Livengood, 2009;N = 17).…”

“…Reasons why nature is helpful to spirituality vary. Nature elicits a sense of wonder, awe, and amazement (e.g., Fox, 1997;Grafanaki et al, 2005;Heintzman, 2000;Loeffler, 2004;Schmidt & Little, 2007); helps some people connect with their God or a higher power (e.g., Heintzman, 2000Heintzman, , 2007aHeintzman, , 2007bHeintzman, , 2008bLivengood, 2009;Loeffler, 2004); provides a sense of peacefulness, calm, stillness, and tranquility (e.g., Grafanaki et al, 2005;Fox, 1997;Heintzman, 2007a;Loeffler, 2004;Stringer & McAvoy, 1992); creates space to explore spirituality through reflection (Bobilya et al, 2009); and is powerful and therapeutic (Fox, 1997). Some of these reasons are consistent with features of the restorative environments theory (Kaplan, 1995).…”

Investigating climbing as a spiritual experience

“…Marsh (2008) surveyed backcountry skiers and found ninety five percent of participants reported that a bona fide wilderness setting was the strongest component that contributed to spiritual experiences in the backcountry. Heintzman (2000) reported that wilderness setting was conducive to spiritual well-being, and Livengood (2009) found that New Paradigm Christians connected with God and God's Creation in nature. White and Hendee (2000) found that naturalness was an important factor leading to spiritual benefits while areas with more development led to fewer spiritual benefits.…”

“…Nature elicits a sense of wonder, awe, and amazement (e.g., Fox, 1997;Grafanaki et al, 2005;Heintzman, 2000;Loeffler, 2004;Schmidt&Little, 2007); helps some people connect with their God or a higher power (e.g., Heintzman, 2000Heintzman, , 2007aHeintzman, , 2007bHeintzman, , 2008bLivengood, 2009;Loeffler, 2004); provides a sense of peacefulness, calm, stillness, and tranquility (e.g., Grafanaki et al, 2005;Fox, 1997;Heintzman, 2007a;Loeffler, 2004;Stringer & McAvoy, 1992); creates space to explore spirituality through reflection (Bobilya et al, 2009); and is powerful and therapeutic (Fox, 1997). (p. 78) Nature has been shown to be an important component in the relationship between recreation and spirituality, though there is some variation in the literature in the exact role that nature plays.…”