Quote of the Day

Integral Health Plan

Introduction:

The development of psychological, spiritual, and physical aspects to achieve health and wellness are not solely for patients but for all individuals, especially professionals, who seek to lead a life with sustained health, authentic happiness, and genuine wholeness. The transformation of an enlightened way of life through one’s consciousness and the path to human flourishing is vital to a health provider’s comprehension and effectiveness of integral health. Without experiencing the shift of gaze inward, a professional will not be able to address or relieve needless distress in his or her patients. Another words, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself". (Schlitz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2005) When professionals experience the power of the integral health practices first hand they gain understanding, credibility and knowledge about its possibilities.  

Often I find myself observing other individuals and thinking to myself about the positive qualities I noticed of the individuals. I never truly tell myself that I have the ability to perform to the same degree as the individuals I just evaluated in my head. Due to this awareness, I believe the area of myself that needs to have fostered growth is that of psychological development which involves mental capacities and abilities. My goal in life is to touch the lives of others through the promotion of various health and wellness components. This may be through education about preventative care, lectures on nutrition, screening for diseases such as diabetes or reaching out to communities about the importance of exercise. All of these elements of my future require certain qualities in an individual and if I do not see them in myself, I feel that it will be hard for me to appear confident within someone else’s eyes. Decreasing the negative thoughts through a subtle mind, reaching levels of understanding about myself as an individual, and utilizing affirmation techniques will allow me to mentally build or acknowledge my strengths.      

Assessment:

Assessment is the tool we need to choose to transform our health and life from conventional to integral, from ordinary to precious.(Dacher, 2006) Throughout the course of this class there have been numerous occasions that I have assessed my health in each domain; spiritual, physical and psychological. Am I defined by my circumstances? Do I have a secondary lifestyle? What is my outlook on life? These questions, along with multiple others, are all ways in which I use self-reflection and am able to look at all of the aspects individually to truly find the specific changes I wish to address. Furthermore, this assessment allowed me to base my personal levels of wellness on a scale of 1-10 (one being poor well-being and ten being optimal well-being) and score my strengths and needs in each area.

Spiritual well-being would be rated as 8 out of 10. I believe that the quality of my life lies in my experiences. Although I do not feel that I have found my purpose in this world, I do feel as though I accept and grow from what life throws my way, thus building my character. I believe that spirituality is an individual’s empowerment and realization that even though they have concerns, stressors, and challenges, they are not defined by those circumstances and that there still is hope, faith, and love that will get them through any situation. However, I do have moments of doubt and uncertainty in my life that I know can be altered by experiencing further positive spiritual wellness.  

Physical well-being can be described as 8 out of 10. I determined this number by the actual amount of physical activity I due in any given week. I walk at least an hour everyday and 3 times out of the week complete yoga sessions. Two points were taken off because I do not participate in strenuous cardio or aerobic exercises. I am in shape, plan healthy meals, and am well within the body mass index requirements for my height. However, I know this is something that I need to employ and I am working toward incorporating it into my daily routine.

          Psychological well-being score is a 7.5 out of 10. This area is challenged everyday with homework assignments, daily activities, work environment and my mental attitude. Overall I would say that I am extremely happy and satisfied with my life. I experience positive emotions all throughout the day thanks to close family, loved ones and friends around me. I have a positive outlook on life and feel that every day my personal growth is developing to higher levels. However, I occasionally evaluate my situation, try to figure out who I am and make personal judgments which can require the use of a mental health day to relax and unwind. Majority of the time I enjoy my perception on life but some days the weaknesses like these and the one I mentioned previously seek up on me.

Goal Development:

Spiritual Goal: My goal in this area is to maintain a balance and control over my life along with finding my purpose in this world. I know this will demand time and patience but I believe I need to take time everyday for about ten minutes at first gradually moving toward thirty minutes a day to reflect inward resulting in achievement of stability. This solitary time will allow me to find my inner peace and potentially help me reveal the purpose of my life as well.  

Physical Goal: My goal in this area is to add cardio and aerobic exercises slowly to my regular routine starting with an hour once a week and then shifting my workouts to an hour three to five times a week.

Psychological Goal: My goal in this area is to never settle for what I already have because if I continue to strive for higher levels of psychological well-being I have the potential to receive a higher income, perform better at my job and increase my life satisfaction and happiness. Additionally, I would like to diminish my negative thoughts by recognizing and replacing them with my strengths and positive qualities.

Practices for Personal Health:

Spiritual strategies: With patience and time I will be able to reveal the elements of this domain that I wish to pursue. However, to aid in the process I think that incorporating spiritual guidance classes with a mentor and the use of relaxation exercises (such as the Subtle Mind technique performed in this class) at the very minimum two times a day, twice a week with each duration lasting for a half hour will assist me in moving in the direction of a higher level of inner spirituality. Once I feel comfortable with this routine, I will evaluate my growth and if necessary, implement an extended period of time for these exercises along with potentially changing the amount of days per week that I practice these methods.    

Physical strategies: A mixture of workouts such as Insanity, Hip Hop Abs, Biggest Loser fitness videos, Zumba classes, and running trails outside will all be part of the exercises that assist me in moving toward this goal. These activities are high impact and will be suffice for rigorous cardio and aerobic workouts. Obviously I will not do these classes all at once or even in one day. These practices will need to be spread out throughout the course of a week and alternated so they work various areas of my physique. I would like to keep the intensity level of these exercises between low to medium at the beginning to prevent unnecessary injuries, the duration of the sessions would normally depend on the intensity but since I would like them to average about the same I think I can safely say I will perform all techniques for an hour, and the frequency of the workouts would be 3-5 times per week with the alteration of days and alteration of the exercise I execute.

Psychological strategies: A few activities that I can implement into my life to help with never settling for less is to educate myself on various topics by reading books to expand my knowledge. I will complete brain training activities to strengthen my mind, grow and maintain intimate through loving and caring relationships with others close to me. I will embrace my independence by experiencing new things on my own and exploring my personal values. Lastly, I will develop a sense of mastery in my environment by setting future goals such as completing this class and receiving my bachelor's degree. To replace my negative thoughts with positive ones I will need to rely on affirmation and visualization. By simply stating to myself detailed positive messages, such as I will do well in this interview or I believe in myself that I can achieve my dreams, I will be able to activate specific neural pathways that when strengthened tend to promote self-esteem and well-being. The visualization exercise will employ important neural structures that further enhance optimism, confidence, and personal effectiveness. All of these techniques that I have described will be a continuous and never ending quest to fill. Every day will involve at least one of these exercises, even for a mere ten minutes, and every day I will be able to notice myself gaining strength in this area.      

Commitment:

            Assessing progress within the next six months will be important in achieving my goals of integral health. Acknowledging the difference between short term relief and long term solutions will be the first strategy I will implement in my practices for health and wellness. Once this understanding has been imbedded into my mind, the use of appropriate spiritual, physical, and psychological techniques will be applied at specific times to maintain my priority of long-term flourishing. Next, managing an accurate way to document my progress will be conducted. This will be done through the use of my class blog, utilizing it as a journal and way to track my commitment. With this visual way of seeing my potential growth I will be able to monitor my assessment and modify my progress when applicable.    

References:

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. (p.134) Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. (2005). Consciousness and healing: Integral approaches to mind body medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingston, Inc.

Quote of the Day

 

Beneficial Practices to Gain a Good Mental Workout

Two practices that I have determined to be the most beneficial to my personal growth are that of the relaxation technique The Subtle Mind and the use of meditation. I feel that these practices can be implemented into my personal life to foster mental fitness in a variety of ways. As we discussed mental workouts in Unit 4, I remember that these exercises have to be done on a daily basis to perform at its best. Learning to condition my thoughts and feelings through strengthening the fitness of my mind can be done with the practices of relaxation and meditation. I plan on employing these practices in the morning when I wake up and right before I lay down to sleep. These methods will allow me to start and end my day with a calm and clear mind. In the morning I will be able to start my day off in a positive mood with a sharper mind than previously and at night it will let me wipe out any negativity that may be left behind from the day. Consistent and regular exercise will additionally boost my memory. With both methods focusing on inhaling and exhaling, it allows me to pay close attention to my breathing. As I perform this my mind becomes clearer and less distracted from outside factors. This permits me to teach my mind to concentrate as I am performing these techniques. Every time I apply these types of training, my deeper consciousness becomes more developed and expanded. Utilizing these exercises at least twice a day will alleviate stress, anxiety and potentially ward of mental disease or illnesses. 

Quote of the Day

Leading by Example

If I were to tell you to be kind to others while at the same time I yell at you every chance I get, would that encourage you to do as I told you? What if I asked you to work on your spiritual awareness even though I am not willing to evolve my own? Would that be fair? As the saying goes, one cannot lead another where one has not gone him or herself. (Schlitz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2005) In order for you or anyone else to fully practice what I am saying, I would have to practice it first. If I asked you to be nice to others, I would have to display this kind of behave toward you and actually represent what I am saying. Or if you were to experience spiritual evolution I would have to model this ability. I do not think it is fair when others ask or expect you to do something that they are not willing to do themselves or have never done before. Therefore leading by example is the best way to implement the importance of what you are trying to say. This allows you to understand and explain to others why they should work toward the things that you have asked them to do. Additionally, if you make something clear, precise and have already experienced what you are asking from others, it makes it easier for others to respond to your requests in a more positive way and know that they can look to you for guidance. 

            This can be applied to health and wellness professionals in a majority of cases. If a health care provider advises you to eat healthier and perform routine exercises to achieve greater levels of wellness you would be more amp to do so if you didn’t just see they eat a double quarter pounder with cheese. If an individual has never gone through the exercises or applied healthy choices to their lifestyle then trying to get others to follow your advise on doing so is going to be very difficult. As a health care professional you want your patients and clients to know that you are credible about what you are asking of them to do. Once they have experienced or gone through similar situations it will help them relate with their patients and advance their understandings of why they are asked to do specific things.   

I believe that all health care professionals have an obligation to developing their health psychologically, physically, and spiritually. If a health care provider is not willing to help themselves in these areas how are they going to be able to guide someone else through these experiences? If I knew a dietician that was well above the normal body mass index I would not go to that individual for advice about nutrition because I would not feel that they were practicing what they preached. This would translate to me that they were not willing to help themselves and would make me question whether they would be able to help me cut calories. Having the ability to experience spiritual, physical and psychological growth will not only increase a health care professional’s health and wellness, but also their relationship with their patients. They will be someone they can turn to when they have questions and need advice. They will be role models that others can look up to.

Implementing psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life would be a little bit easier if I had more time in the day. But this can be the excuse for everyone and if we left it at that then no one would flourish to their full potential of integral health. I think practicing and preserving a time a few times a week will allow me to create a foundation in which I can start to practice the techniques to develop my psychological and spiritual growth. With this start I can then continue on with these exercises to a more in-depth understanding of myself. As time and patience permits I will slowly experience a shift in my inner thoughts and consciousness to encompass a more positive, calm, and still mentality.             

Reference:

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. (2005). Consciousness and healing: Integral approaches to mind body medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingston, Inc.