As part of this search, a few months ago, a good friend and I had the opportunity to attend a weekend conference sponsored by the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies (http://www.eomega.org/). Titled "Inspiration: Tap into the Source," it was attended by over 1,000 people from all over the nation. Maya Angelou, Wayne Dyer, and Carolyn Myss were the keynote speakers, and there was a selection of more than 50 workshops to attend over the 3-day period. We wanted to use this time to think about the importance of the spiritual part of a "holistic wellness program mosaic" for people with disabilities. Not unlike my personal mosaic, this curriculum is an unfolding montage still in progress.

We wondered why spiritual wellness has been a missing piece in the health promotion literature and programming research supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Medical and Rehabilitation Research, and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Why, when it comes to healthy living, is addressing spiritual health still so politically incorrect. Courageously breaking this slightly forbidden path, we sought to find out more about how to structure information about spiritual health in a holistic wellness program curriculum for people who live with physical disabilities. The conference itself served as a "starter-model." We delightedly discovered that the Omega Institute is quite disability-sensitive and accommodating when it plans retreats and workshops. As a result, there were several people with disabilities at the conference and we singled them out for new ideas.