My Plan for Practicing Integral Health

Health and wellness professionals need to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically to provide quality assistance in helping others reach their health and wellness goals. Professionals are expected to have advance knowledge in their particular field. After all, that is why people seek them. Developing their inner self gives professionals firsthand experience of the struggles associated with improving one’s health and allows them to better relate to their clients/patients. Practicing what you preach also conveys the professional’s personal passion toward health and wellness to the client/patient. Clients/patients are more likely to trust the professional’s recommendations because they have walked in similar shoes. Through psychological, spiritual and physical development, health and wellness professionals are more equipped to address the needs of all their clients/patients.

To better address the needs of my future clients/patients and achieve the goals I have for myself, I should further develop myself in all areas; but my spirituality and psychological self need the most attention. My spiritual development has been a long process. As a child, I conformed to Catholic beliefs because that is how both of my parents were raised. Children are highly influential, so I believed what was being preached to me for years. After I stopped going to Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD), I still believed in most of what was preached because I knew nothing else. Today I no longer believe in the God, but do think a higher power exists. To further develop my spirituality, the next step is to get a grasp on what this higher power is. Doing so would help complete my system of beliefs and allow further development of my spiritual body.

Understanding my spiritual body would not be possible without further developing psychologically. My teenage years brought heartache, disappointment, and distrust. I felt surrounded by negative disturbances and neglected who I was. At the age of 19, I began the quest to find my true self. It has been quite a journey. The internal reward associated with learning to love yourself is incomparable but I know there is more. I want to further expand my consciousness to be able to show and feel loving kindness towards all as well as experience stillness in my mind. I have a lot of work to do to reach these goals but the prize is worth it. Not only will I have enhanced my health, expanded upon my spiritual beliefs and conceptualized the interconnectedness of the world; but I will be able to better address the needs of my clients/patients (Dacher, 2006).

To determine if I am on the path to achieving my goals, I regularly assess my physical, psychological, and spiritual health. The most universal way to rate each domain is on a scale of one to ten (ten representing optimal well-being). My spiritual and psychological healths have been put on the back burner to my physical health for most of my life thus far. I have always been active but have rarely taken the time to be with my mind. Being an only child, I have spent my fair share of time alone but have always preoccupied my mind with some sort of physical action. Within the past year I began to recognize the importance of stillness within the mind as well as understanding my beliefs associated to the origin of life. Now, the trick is to incorporate spiritual and psychological workouts into my life like I have done with physical workouts.

Physically I am in the best shape of my life but I always feel there is room for improvement. In the morning Monday through Friday, I can be found exercising. Physical activity is a fundamental component in my life. I love taking my dogs for jogs, bike rides, and hikes and I can tell by their behavior they love it as well. I also enjoy the time I get to spend with my fiancé at the gym. I am very fortunate to have met someone who shares my passion of optimizing one’s physical well-being. Nutrition is also a core element of physical well-being that I have become infatuated with. We are what we eat. An area of physical health that I need to give more attention to is the mind/body connectedness. Doing so would bring my workouts to an entirely new level. I would no longer be just exercising my physical self but my psychological self as well. For this reason I rate my physical well-being as eight and a half.

Lately, I have spent a lot of time assessing my psychological health and how I would like to further develop this area. My journey towards developing a sound psychology began with self-confidence and self-efficacy. Establishing this as my foundation required a lot of reading and contemplative thought but so far has been one of the greatest gifts I could give myself. I am an extremely happy person and am fully satisfied with the direction of my life. In the steps ahead my focus is going to be put on acting with intent and extending my love and kindness to all whom I encounter. Somewhere along the way I lost my ability to thoroughly think through every action and thought before I acted upon them. I do not know exactly how this came to be but I admire my ability to once act with intent and plan to get it back. Being able to treat everyone with loving kindness will help reduce my animosity towards the working of the world and accept every individual as is. I do not know everyone’s history and it is not fair for me to judge them based on what little information I know about them. Since there are endless improvements I can make to my psychological development, I rate my psychological well-being as a six (Dacher, 2006).

Unlike psychological and physical health, I have put very little effort into developing myself spiritually. I think this is in part due to instant gratification. Developing the physical and psychological me is far more pertinent to where I currently am along the journey of life. I know that I do not believe in the same God Christian based religions follow but feel a higher power is responsible for this world and all creatures that exist. I have a desire to further discover my spiritual beliefs but it is not as pressing as my desire to explore my physical and psychological self. To help further my path of spiritual discovery, I want to expand upon my beliefs about what happens to us after our physical body passes. Establishing such beliefs will help me further define my higher power. Since there is very little I know about my spiritual self, I rate my spiritual well-being as a two.

To help me follow through with all of the goals I have laid out for my physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being I need to strategize. This will help ensure that I meet the goals I have set for myself and continue on my path towards integral health.

Since I want to strengthen my physical health by experiencing the connectedness between my mind and body, while I am weight lifting I am going to focus more on my breathing as well as feeling the resistance in my muscle. There is a strong mind body connection in weight lifting. I have experienced this connection on a basic level but want to expand my abilities. Engaging in yoga once a week will also help me develop a relationship between my mind and body as well as increase my flexibility. With these additions, I expect to see a big improvement in my physical health.

To foster psychological growth by attaining my goal of acting with intent and being an example of loving kindness I am going to meditate. Listening to the loving kindness practice on The Path to Human Flourishing: Contemplative Practices: An Audio Companion to Integral Health, will help me to develop such feelings (Adams & Zuch, 2006). Engaging in meditation will help me calm my being and decrease my reactionary tendency. Another way I intend to act with intent is to thoroughly ponder on my actions and thoughts before doing/saying them. Along with fostering my psychological growth, meditation will help me reach my spiritual goals (Dacher, 2006).

Discovering one’s spiritual beliefs takes a lot of time. To help me learn more about my spiritual roots I am going to meditate. My spiritual meditations will be different than my psychological mediations because I have a different outcome. Rather than focusing on other being I am contemplating a being that does not physically exist. I am also going to talk to my fiancé about his spiritual beliefs and what he thinks happens to us after we die. He has a deeper understanding of his spiritual beliefs and his thoughts will help me generate my own set of beliefs as well as allow us to share with each other. Through talking to him and spending time with my mind I will greatly improve my spiritual well-being.

In determining whether I have progressed in my spiritual, psychological and physical well-being, in six months I will perform the same assessment. If I have stuck to the goals and strategies I have laid out for myself, I expect my rating for each domain to increase. To help ensure that I maintain my long-term practices for health and wellness, I will always continue to read about integral health and ways that I can foster development of my inner self. With the goal of health, happiness, and wholeness always on my mind I will make integral health my way of life (Dacher, 2006).

References

Adams, Elaine., & Zuch, Michael. (2006). The Path to Human Flourishing: Contemplative Practices: An Audio Companion to Integral Health. [CD-ROM]. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications Inc.

Dacher, Elliott S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications Inc.

Favorite Mental Workouts

I enjoyed the "Journey On" relaxation exercise from Unit 2 and the Subtle Mind exercise the most. After finishing the "Journey On" exercise I felt very rejuvenated. This would be a great exercise to do first thing in the morning before going to the gym. I think doing this exercise first thing may even improve my strength training routines. The Subtle Mind exercise was also one of my favorites because of how relaxed but energized I felt when I was done. I think this practice would best fit into my life either after my gym workout or those days where I just feel the need for an escape and what to get lost in my own presence. I really appreciate all of the exercise we have done in this class, as I have learned a great deal about myself and life from them.

Unit 7

For some reason I had great difficulty staying focused during the "Meeting Asciepius" meditation. I was able to envision the light coming from the various body parts mentioned (head, neck, and heart); but in between those instructions my mind was either wandering or beginning to fall asleep. Every time the woman spoke I awoke or  became focused on what she was asking but then I would always revert back to a wandering or sleeping mind. I think doing this exercise outside in the sun had a lot to do with my wandering/sleeping mind and next time I'll try this exercise indoors.

Engaging in mindfulness and meditative practices has increased my psychological and spiritual wellness. I think spending time just being enables me to develop a better sense of self. I then carry what I have learned through the meditation and mindfulness practices into my daily life; so my daily life because my place of practice. These exercises have significantly given more meaning to my life.

The saying "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (p. 477) give meaning behind a similar saying "practice what you preach." How can a health professional advise another individual to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and expand their consciousness if they have not done so themselves. Without actively participating in what you preach, the health professional is minimizing the validity and importance of their advice as well as missing out on the knowledge they could gain through practicing what they preach. Actually engaging in whatever advice may be given promotes first hand knowledge about the hurdles their patients/clients may face and methods to overcome them. As a health and wellness professional, you have an obligation to your clients to develop your own health: spiritually, psychologically and physically. You are their role model and they look to your for advice. By continuing meditation and practicing mindfulness in my everyday life,  I will continue psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life. My fiance and I are also going to do some couples meditation with me, which I think will be a great addition!

Loving-Kindness & Integral Assessment

Hi Everyone,

I'm happy to say that I had much more success in understanding my limitations with the Loving-Kindness exercise. I really enjoy the beginning but again had some difficulty taking in others pain and suffering. I think I struggle with this because a lot of people's pain and suffering is self-inflicted or used for self-gain. At work I see endless patients with ailments who do not work, nor want to work, and live a government assisted life. It's hard to me to take in pain and suffering of those who do not want to heal their bodies and are just looking for handouts and a quick pharmaceutical fix. I can take in the pain and suffering of others due to an emotional disturbance within or some other natural aspect of their being that causes unrest. I guess it all boils down to the person's morals, as to whether or not I can do this part of the exercise. On the other hand no matter the individuals moral compass I do with health, happiness and wholeness for all.

Due to my difficult with this exercise, I have chosen this as an area for future focus of growth and development. Since it is embedded in the nature of my work, my job will be a constant test and help me improve in universal loving-kindness. Remaining unbiased and free of judgment will not only transform my relationship with patients but also lay the groundwork for a mind free of mental chatter. Rather than being consumed by my discontent with certain patients morals, I will accept them for who they are and wish them health, happiness and wholeness in hopes their morals will improve. Doing so will create a healthier work environment for myself since I will no longer be consumed with thoughts about their behavior. Implementing this thought pattern isn't going to be easy, but I think my work provides a great atmosphere for self-growth and development.

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!
Janelle

Unit 5

1. Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.

I enjoyed the Subtle mind exercise a lot more than the Loving-Kindness exercise. In the Loving-Kindness exercise there is more instruction and talking which distracted me from being able to fully relax. I was more focused on doing what the next set of instructions were. The Subtle mind exercise allowed more time for the mind to wind out and enter a state of stillness. My mind did wander quite a bit but I tried to just let the images and thoughts pass. Overall, my mind was able to follow this exercise a lot easier than Loving-Kindness

2. Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

From experience, focusing on the physical is the easiest for me and it's where I began my journey a little over three years ago. In high school and my freshman year of college, I was in a hostile controlling relationship full of negative emotions. When it all finally came to an end in March 2008, I decided to invest a lot of time developing and re-establishing who I was. I've always had a natural love for physical activity and was involved in many sports before this relationship, so that's where I started. Being able to go for runs and to the gym was liberating, since it was once listed as "prohibited." Weight training and cardio became a part of my daily life. I finally felt happy again; with who I was and my future plans.

Fast forward five months later. Very unexpectedly, I met a man, Corey, who had an air about him. All I knew about him was I graduated high school with his younger brother. He was home to celebrate his birthday with his family, but during that short stay we spent all the time we could getting to know each other. To my complete surprise and some hesitation, we began a journey together. Corey went back to North Carolina and I went to the University of New Hampshire. I was struggling trying to manage working 30 hours a week, going to school full-time, working out and affording to live. I was completely drained, mentally and physically. I'd visit him about once a month to escape from my hectic life, and that is where my connection to mental wellness began. Christmas lost much of its meaning when my parents divorced and my relationship with my father became extinct, so in 2008 I spent it in North Carolina. Little did I know, this trip would change my view of the world forever. It was unseasonably cold in the mountains on this particular day, but I wanted to go for a walk anyway. The area was breathtaking and Corey had a few things he wanted to show me. The first stop on our walk was the neighbors barn. Living in the country, I have seen endless barns but this particular barn had the most bright lime green I don't know what "growing" on the back of it. He took me to this "growing" color to appreciate its beauty. To this day I distinctly remember that color green its eye catching ability. Next we pet the horses and got fresh eggs for dinner from the farmer. Before going back inside, I went down the river in front of his house. This is where I learned to appreciate the beauty of being. The day's 10 degree temperature is a rarity there, so ice was just beginning to form on the river banks. I became infatuated with this process. I'm not sure how long I sat there, but time after time I watched the river water splash the ball shape that developed on the edge of the ice and drip back into the flowing current. I had never felt so in tune and appreciative of nature and its habits. Everything seemed so simple yet complex.

That was the day my journey to mental wellness began and I thank the man who helped enlighten me everyday (and am so excited and fortunate to have found my other half). Since that experience I have also used yoga, meditation, and mind/body activities within my workouts to enhance my mental wellness. I don't feel as though I have developed my spiritual self yet but am looking forward to the process.

Loving-Kindness

So I have tried the loving-kindness exercise a few more times since I first blogged about it and am having a little more success taking in the suffering of others. I find this much easier to do towards those who are close to me (fiance, dogs, mom and the like) but very difficult to do towards strangers. While trying to do so, images of people I know pop rather than the unknown because they are familiar. When this happens I try to avert my attention to the people I don't know. Does any one else run into this habit?

Unit 4 Questions

Describe your experience. (Did you find it beneficial? Difficult?) Why or Why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or Why not?

I enjoyed many aspects of the loving-kindness relaxation exercise. By the end of it, I was in a very relaxed state and was feeling positive about sending out good energy. The one part I did not like about the exercise was when it asked breath in the suffering of others. I had a very difficult time doing this and don't feel it is my proper role to absorb others pain. I reserve that role for some high power. I haven't done this exercise enough to know if I would recommend it to others.

What is the concept of “Mental Workout? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a Mental Work Out? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

A "Mental Workout" aids in developing our inner world. By doing these workouts we enter higher states of awareness and are able to access subtle levels of the mind. Research indicates mental workouts "transform the mind by reducing disturbing emotions that cause anger, hatred, fear, worry, confusion, and doubt while enhancing positive emotions such as patience, loving-kindness, openness, acceptance, and happiness" (Dacher, 2006, p. 63). Mental workouts help us transform within. Since I'm new to mental training, the best way for me to implement these workouts is through short 5 to 10 minute sessions throughout the day. It would be best for me to have the sessions in the same quiet place every time to prevent distractions, until I become more comfortable with this training.

I look forward to reading your thoughts!

Janelle

Reference

Dacher, Elliott S. (2006). Integral Health. The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.