My Integral Health Development 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 so that their efforts in healing can take on new and evolved dimensions. When the practitioner has developed his or herself psychologically, he or she can better teach and help heal the patient’s mind. When the practitioner has developed his or herself spiritually, he or she can better assist and guide a patient towards spiritual healing. And when the practitioner has developed his or herself physically, he or she will know from experience the reasons why and how to keep fit, eat healthy, and promote preventative measures of physical ailments.
My own personal goal for development is within all these areas; I want to learn and practice more in order to keep evolving myself. I want to be able help patients heal all aspects of life, not only physically. With that in mind, I need to develop my own aspects in order to fully understand the stepping stones needed to accomplish my goals.
II. Assessment: How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?
Psychologically, I am pretty well and stable. I always keep a positive outlook on all situations, even the ones that are most irritating. Practicing meditation helps me find that inner peace in times of stress and also allows me to focus on what is really important. But the most important part is that I have discovered techniques of acting with intention and have turned away from unconscious reaction. The key is being conscious. I would give myself a pretty high score in the area of psychological wellness; an 8 out of 10. There should always be room for improvement.
Spiritually, I have grown much since the start of this class. Practicing the meditation exercises and reading from other classmate’s experiences has helped me greatly in developing my spiritual self. I have learned how important this aspect of life is and also how suppressed it has been throughout our Western culture. I would rate intentions for wanting to keep up with my mental fitness a 10 out of a 10, but at this point I would rate my overall spiritual domain a 7 out of 10 because I know I still have much more growth ahead of me. I posses a great asset which is openness to the spirituality part of life and this gives me the leverage I need to pursue my inner truths.
Physically, I am a healthy, young adult. My heart is healthy, all my organs and systems are functioning as they should, I exercise regularly, and I eat healthfully too. I am pretty health-conscious when it comes to choosing the foods I eat. I make sure to include fresh fruits and vegetables in my diet every day, as well as fiber and whole grains. I keep myself educated on why these foods are so important and this also gives me motivation to keep it all up. I am overweight, although not by much. I am steadily losing weight every time I get onto the scale so I know my efforts are worth my persistence. I have lost 25 lbs since the fall and I plan on losing around another 20 by summer; I will then no longer be considered “overweight” according to WebMD’s healthy lifestyle site. I would rate myself an 8 out of 10 for my physical area of life because although I am not at my target weight, I do keep myself educated on healthy living and I eat the right things and exercise regularly.
III. Goal development: List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.
One goal that I have for myself in the physical aspect of my life is to lose another 20 pounds by summer. I am already on the path to make this happen because I eat healthfully, exercise regularly, and keep myself motivated in various ways. I believe my efforts are keeping me on the right path in order to make this goal become a reality.
A goal I have for my psychological aspect of life is to become naturally able to act, and not react. I willfully practice this daily but it is a hard thing to make it become a natural response. I have become really good with this when it comes to disciplining my son, but I find it harder when it comes to adults. It is when adults act irresponsible or show hatred, my unconscious reactions want to burst out. But this is a cycle I want to end within myself. I want to be able to think, act, and be proud of how I handle any situation, naturally.
A goal I have for my spiritual aspect of life is being able to permeate my inner love towards all others despite their actions and past frustrations. I find it hard to love people who hate so deeply, but I do recognize that we are all spiritual beings that are all capable of love. I want to be able to spiritually connect with my inner happiness and love and give it to everyone I come across in my day. I know practicing the Loving-Kindness meditation will allow me to fully develop this goal.
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 domain, the strategies I can use to implement growth in this area are dedicating a regular exercise routine, eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fiber each day, and keeping myself educated on health care prevention. This is the anatomical/physiological area of biological flourishing, the most basic step. The next steps that follow the path of biological flourishing are the mind-body and then the spiritual-body. The goal is to evolve in order to reach these higher levels of biology. Practices that can help foster further biological growth into these higher levels are doing yoga, tai chi; exercises that implement the use of meditation. To become fully conscious of our body’s capabilities and realize we are not solid beings that are born into this life and die, but are rather made up of the same particles the rest of our universe is made up of and ever moving and evolving, that encloses our true essence, our spirit, and that is eternal and immortal (Dacher, 2006). Meditation and practicing full awareness and consciousness will be what fosters the full development of my physical domain.
For my psychological domain, the first thing I need to do for myself in this area is to make my mental health a priority since it never really was before I started this class on integral health. Stress is a major issue for mental health because it can turn into physical ailments and become an underlying cause of illness or disease (Dacher, 2006). A great way to melt mental stress is to practice meditation on a daily basis and to practice imagery whenever I need to “escape” the physical place I need to flee. Since anger and fear can deteriorate any mind, being able to close my eyes and imagine a happy and peaceful surrounding can allow my mind to recuperate and find the strength it needs to get through any difficult situation. Then at night before bed, practicing meditation, allowing my thoughts to disappear and to become fully conscious of the present moment will give my inner self the tools it needs to grow, develop, and evolve into the higher levels of psychospirituality.
For my spiritual domain, the practices I can implement into my life in order to foster this development are the subtle mind exercises and the Loving-Kindness exercises. The subtle-mind exercises all me to quiet my mental chatter and mute any physical states I feel that are uncomfortable. Practicing this regularly will help me to find the stillness of my mind which will allow me to meet my higher consciousness; it will allow me to witness myself and answer questions I’ve always wondered about myself. Obtaining unity consciousness is the ultimate goal of my spiritual life, so finding the oneness between my self and life will open my mind and heart to truth. Practicing loving-kindness allows me to meet and get to know my true essence. Having love and giving love will unite me with my soul.
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?
Assessing my progress on my goals for the next six months can really all be determined by the set regime I’ve created; whether I follow it or not. If I follow it, I will develop each aspect of my life over the next six months and beyond. If I do not follow it, then my development will come to a halt until I pick it back up again.
The regime I have created for myself includes eating 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day; exercising at least three times per week; practicing yoga at least twice per week; meditation every night (a mix of calm-abiding, loving-kindness, subtle mind, and visualization). By making sure I stick to this plan, my next six months of living should develop my life physically, spiritually, and psychologically. Each aspect will not only develop into stronger aspects, but evolve further to my goal of integral health and human flourishing.
References
Dacher, E.S., M.D. (2006) Integral health: the path to human flourishing. Basic Health Publications, Inc. Laguna Beach, CA. ISBN-13:978-1-59120-190-8
In the unit 3 assessment of my physical wellbeing, I rated myself an 8 because at the time I was following a specific diet and exercise routine. Since then I have continued and sustained my routines but what has changed is my new awareness of the higher levels of my biological aspect of health: body-mind and body-spiritual. From the Dacher text I learned ways to deepen my understanding and knowledge about how much control I really do have over physiological health using exercises such as biofeedback. I think that I would still rate myself an 8 or a 9 under this aspect because although my knowledge has expanded, I must practice what I’ve learned in order to develop it further.
