Unit 9 Final Project My Integral Health Plan

I. Introduction:

Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically? What areas do you need to develop to achieve the goals you have for yourself?
It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically because it helps them to better understand themselves first and then afterwards when working with their clients. Personal experiences are very beneficial in sharing with others that we can relate to them. We all have the choice of how we want to live our lives and how we choose to live it out depends on what we make of it. It is a lifelong process that is usually not the same for anyone.

The areas that I need to develop to achieve these goals for myself are in all three areas (psychologically, spiritually, and physically) along with health, happiness, and wholeness, which are the “unseen sweet essence of human life” (Dacher, 2006). In addition, love, forgiveness, and gratefulness are critical components to wellness because they are all ways to make me feel better by knowing that I have cleared my mind of negative thoughts that are floating around inside (Schlitz & Amorok, 2005). These concepts can be integrated in my life by making sure I take the time to love those around me, forgive those who I may have hurt, and be very grateful for all that I am blessed with. All these areas will help in my journey along the path of integral health and well-being.

II. Assessment:
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?

I have assessed myself in each domain by focusing my full attention in each domain by following the six principles of integral assessment. According to Dacher (2006), the six principles include the following: the goal of integral health is to alleviate needless suffering and promote human flourishing; recognize the distinction between short-term relief of needless suffering and permanent relief along with immediate pleasure and long-term flourishing, psychospiritual development is an essential component of integral health, and integral assessment relies on deep listening and guidance along with addressing each aspect of our current situation. I first make a mental list of which area needs attention. Depending what is going on at certain points of my life, I select an area that needs some adjusting in the specific lines of development. Then I finally imagine the jump to the next level of development.

I would score my wellness spirituality, physically, and psychologically as an 8 out of 10 (10 being the highest, 1 being the lowest). I have not noticed a big enough change to raise my number when I initially scored it of an 8. Spirituality is a little different than how I interpreted it at the beginning. I have come to realize though that is not exactly the same as other people or I think of it. It is not just all religion based like one would think.

III. Goal development:

List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.

A goal for the physical aspect is to work on my nutrition, physical body, and exercise. I need to take better care of myself and make the time each day to do it.

A goal for the psychological aspect is to focus on working on my mind each and every day to relax and calm it.

A goal for the spiritual aspect is to focus on who I am as a person and grow from all my experiences that I have had recently and in the past. I can start by believing in myself first and work from there.

IV. Practices for personal health:

What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual. Provide at least two examples of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.

For my physical exercise or practice, I am going to implement a mind/body exercise where I will use my mind to enhance the results of my workout (Dacher, 2006). While I am exercising, I will focus my attention on my breath. I will also work on cross-training, which will involve the mind/body activities such as yoga, tai chi, qigong, the martial arts, and other types of body and energy work.

For my psychological exercise or practice, I am going to implement mental training. It can 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).

For my spiritual exercise or practice, I am going to implement contemplative exercises. It will offer me the opportunity to enter into a relationship with my inner self. Also, it will help with progressive development of an expanded consciousness and its healing capacities (Dacher, 2006). With the Loving-kindness practice, I will “open my heart to others while gradually diminishing self-centeredness where it primes my mind for further development (Dacher, 2006).” The next practice focuses is on the three levels of the subtle mind (witnessing, calm abiding, and unity consciousness) where the “mind is opened and reveals a penetrating wisdom that knows the truth of our life and of existence (Dacher, 2006). “ I am able to focus and keep my mind calm especially in stressful situations.

V. Commitment:

How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months? What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices for health and wellness?

I will assess my progress in the next six months by keeping track of a journal entry every day of what I do along with my thoughts even if they are positive or negative. These entries will allow me to learn what does and does not work for me. Strategies that I can use to assist in maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness are to have short and long-term goals along with getting other people to try different exercises along with me. I can teach them how to help themselves towards integral health, which in turn makes me feel good in knowing that I can help make a difference. Also, I will start out slow and work my way to a level that I am comfortable doing and maintaining. I will base and assess my approaches off of the five essential characteristics of Aesclepian healing, which are holistic, evolutionary, intentional, person-centered, and dynamic (Dacher, 2006). With these characteristics, I am now more aware of how Dacher explained the two ways to achieve human flourishing – from the bottom-up and from the top-down.

References

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic

Health Publications, Inc.

Schlitz, M. & Amorok, T. (2005). Consciousness & healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body

Medicine.St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

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Unit 8 My Most Beneficial Exercises

1. Review the exercises and practice sessions you have completed in this course. (Loving Kindness, Subtle mind, Visualization, meditation etc.) Choose two practices that you have determined to be most beneficial. How can you implement these practices in your personal life to foster “mental fitness”? Provide specific examples.

Of all the exercises and practice sessions completed so far, I found the Loving-Kindness and Subtle Mind exercises to be the most beneficial. The background noise of crashing waves was very soothing to listen to. As I close my eyes and get into a comfortable position each time, I am able to relax and focus much more easily. I can implement these practices in my personal life to foster “mental fitness” by practicing it on a daily basis for it to be effective. These practices are an essential aspect of my overall health and wellness, which can help attain integral health and true flourishing of my mind, body, and spirit (Dacher, 2006). They allowed me to reduce disturbing emotions while enhancing positive emotions to help promote well-being. Also, I can calm my mind and enrich the mind/body connection.

References

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

Unit 7 Meeting Aesclepius

For the week, I have been making time to incorporate the meditative practice of Meeting Aesclepius.  I thought this exercise was very effective.  The background sound of waves is very calming to me.  In this experience, I was asked to use visualization to access my subtle mind.  An individual was chosen, alive or passed on, whom I respect, honor, and whom I feel a special sense of connection.  I did not find this difficult to choose someone so no other person had to be created.  After feeling this person’s presence, I was asked to reflect on his or her qualities, characteristics, peace, wisdom, compassion, love, and joy.  After the image was set in my mind, a strong beam of white light was to form at the crown of the head to enter into my mind.  It allowed me to bathe and purify my thoughts, feelings, and images while transforming my mind into a still, pure, and wise mind of this person.  Another beam came from the throat where I was to take on the qualities of loving, wise, and sensitive speech.  My speech becomes the speech of this wise one.  The final beam of light came from the heart where it was to bathe and purify the heart with kindness, love, and compassion.  It was then formed into a heart of loving-kindness and wisdom.  After experiencing a purified mind, speech, and heart along with taking on the qualities of this wise one, I became this person.  This image was dissolved into a bright white light where it entered the body at the forehead and went to the rest of the body.  This essence is my inner guide, healer, and gift giver (Dacher, 2006).  Meditation has fostered an increase in my psychological and spiritual wellness by using my mind, body, and spirit.  I can continue to apply these practices by focusing a set time every day to do them.

One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself means that each of us our different in our experiences so that we cannot tell someone else where he or she will be thinking in the mind.  It applies to the health and wellness profession because each individual has different ways of experiencing contemplative exercises.  I would say I have an obligation to my clients to be developing my health psychologically, physically, and mentally so I can understand and help with any of their questions. Also, I can grow myself along with them.  I can implement psychological and spiritual growth in my life by exercising my mind, body, and spirit through meditation, prayer, and contemplative practices daily.        

References

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

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Unit 5 Blog: universal Loving-Kindness exercise and the Integral Assessment

Unit 5 Blog universal Loving-Kindness exercise and the Integral Assessment

            In this week’s blog, I was asked to practice the universal Loving-Kindness exercise, complete the Integral Assessment, and describe the process for each.  Also, questions were asked including the following:  What did you discover about yourself? What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and development? Why? What are some specific exercises or activities that you can implement to foster greater wellness in this area?

In the universal Loving-Kindness exercise from Dacher (2006), I was asked to first close my eyes for a minute or two to relax my mind and body. Immediately after, I was asked to repeat four phrases for 10 minutes, which are the following:

May all individuals gain freedom from suffering.

May all individuals find sustained health, happiness, and wholeness.

May I assist all individuals in gaining freedom from suffering.

May I assist all individuals in finding health, happiness, and wholeness.

This process can be worked on at any time whenever needed. 

I found the universal Loving-Kindness exercise to be quite boring in a sense because I am not one to want to sit and repeat phrases like that for 10 minutes.  I did much better listening to the mp3 instead from other exercises.  I discovered that I can be a very impatient person and someone that does better listening to an exercise than reading about it.

According to Dacher (2006), the integral assessment is the tool we need to choose to transform our health and life from conventional to integral, from ordinary to precious.  It focuses on six principles of integral assessment to help guide us, which are the following:  1) The goal of integral health is to alleviate needless suffering and promote human flourishing, 2) Integral health recognizes the distinction between short-term relief of needless suffering and permanent relief, 3) Integral health recognizes the distinction between immediate pleasure and long-term flourishing, 4) Psychospiritual development is an essential component of integral health, 5)  Integral assessment relies on deep listening and guidance, and 6) Integral assessment addresses the aspects, levels, and lines of development that are relevant to our current circumstance.  In the assessment, one is asked to close his or her eyes and relax the mind and body where the mental activity is released.  From Dacher’s first area of assessment (2006), the first question asked is “what aspect is the source of difficulty and suffering in my life out of psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, or worldly.”  This area of healing is to be focused on.  The next questions asked are “what line of development at this time is most essential for me, what is my current level of development, and what can I aim for?  This area can be explored over several days to weeks.  The second part of Dacher’s assessment (2006) focuses on promoting integral development.  Questions asked are “what area is ready for growth and development in my life, is this area the same area that also needs healing or is it another area, and what is the next level of development look like.”  My area of difficulty and suffering in my life is from the biological aspect.  The line of development that is most essential for me is self-regulation.  My current level of development is not up to par as what I would like it to be.  I would like to aim for progress from homeostasis to subtle mind/body practices to highly refined spiritual/mind/body abilities (Dacher, 2006).  In the assessment process, I found that it was hard to narrow down to one specific area that I need to work on. I also discovered about myself that I need to work on all four aspects of the human experience along with the lines of development that are part of each one.  I have chosen the biological area to work on first for my focus of growth and development.  This area I chose was because it includes the three lines of development of fitness, nutrition, and self-regulation, which are essential to me in my overall wellness.  Specific exercises that I can do in improve this area are in strength-training, flexibility, endurance, agility along with meditation and yoga.  I can also incorporate the Loving-Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. 

References

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

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Unit 5 Loving-Kindness exercise versus the Subtle mind exercise

For this week’s blog, I am asked to answer the following:

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

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

The Loving-Kindness exercise and Subtle mind exercise are very similar with the background noise and the way of trying to focus the mind, but in different ways.  It was hard for me to concentrate this time because I was very distracted with getting ready for vacation.  I was just not in the mood to concentrate like I did with the Loving-Kindness exercise.  I have to say that both exercises were beneficial if I made the time to do them each day.  I preferred the Loving-Kindness exercise over the Subtle mind one because I was able to relate to it a whole lot more by the saying we give back what we give.      

The connection of spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness is all in the concept of integral health.  The three components (mind, body, and spirit) all lead to human flourishing.   If I believe in my mind, then my body will be the way I want it to.  My spiritual aspect of wellness, such as through prayer, will take over and bring all three areas together to allow me to do so.