Spirituality lingered the air as students were introduced to the divine world of self-healing.

Holistic Health and Wellness Week featured guest speaker Margaret Broughton on Wednesday morning. Broughton, who spent 30 years working in psychiatric nursing, currently guides mentally disabled patients in spiritual healing. During her hour-long discussion at Ventura College, Broughton asked students to acknowledge their spiritual sides.

“Each of us is a divine, sacred, holy being,” she said. “Spirituality is common to all living things. It’s not specific to any religion, group or dogma.”

Broughton is currently studying Sufism, a mystical form of Islam that relies on the natural world and allows individuals to purify their inner selves from filth. Broughton, who prefers to go by her Sufi name Hamida, recently returned from a 10-day expedition in Morocco, where she spent her days praying and educating herself on the Sufi way of life.

Broughton also shared her experiences in spiritual healing with those in attendance, allowing students to express themselves and illustrate their definitions of spirituality. Broughton explained that allowing students to grasp the idea behind this way of thinking is one of the first steps in healing the inner self.

“It has to start with one of us,” Broughton said. “We can’t save everyone else because we’ll end up ignoring ourselves. If we individually connect with our own selves, we can make a more peaceful world.”

Joan Aggers, a 33-year-old business major, found spirituality to be a personal commitment.

“I feel as if it’s promise we make to take care of ourselves,” said Aggers. “I think when we clear our minds and release all of the pressures from the world around us; we end up in a more divine state.”

Broughton expressed her delight in having students discover the meaning of spirituality.

“It fills my heart with joy when I see young people realizing the spirit within them,” Broughton said. “I see enlightenment happening all over the world.”