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Review of Personal Assessment

Review your unit 3 personal assessment of your psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reflect on these areas . How did you score yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 in unit 3? How do you score yourself now? Has the score changed? Why or why not?

In Unit 3, I rated my physical well-being a 7 and since then I have continued to eat a healthy diet and have lost about 10 lbs.  Every week I walk my dog on a daily basis, do circuit training 1-2 times per week, and do sprints once a week.  I feel my physical well-being has increased from a 7 to a 9.

In Unit 3, I rated my spiritual well-being a 5 and since then I have devoted more time to prayer and meditation.  I still need to be more consistent in my spiritual practices, but I would give myself a rating of 6 now.

In Unit 3, I rated my psychological well-being a 7.  I think I gave myself a higher score than I should have.  I realize after completing this course that my psychological well-being was less than a 7 in Unit 3 and now is more like a 7.  I have been doing a lot of positive self-talk and have reminded myself to be grateful.  My psychological well-being has improved because of this class.


Review the goals and activities you set for yourself in each area. Have you made progress toward the goals? Explain.

In Unit 3, my goal for physical well-being was to increase my walking time from 40 minutes to an hour at least 4 days/week.  I have increased it a couple of times a week, but I also have been consistent with doing my circuit training and sprints, so I feel I have successfully reached my physical fitness goals even if a little bit different than originally planned.

In Unit 3, my goal for spiritual well-being was to spend 5 minutes everyday in prayer and meditationa and I have suceeded in doing this and have increased it from 5 minutes to 10-15 minutes on most days.

In Unit 3, my goal for psychological well-being was to become aware of negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.  I have been very aware of my negative thoughts and learned that I have a choice in controlling them.

I feel I have successfully reached my goals and plan to keep building upon them.  It's very important to re-assess your goals and make new ones.


Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others?

This course has really opened my eyes to the importance of integral health.  Instead of focusing on one aspect of my life, I must focus on all of them to be healthy.  I think I have improved my well-being as a result of taking this course and plan to continue to implement what I have learned both in my personal and my professional life. 

Meditation and prayer and the ability to recognize negative thinking patterns has been really rewarding.  Learning how to treat people with more loving-kindness has also been rewarding.  What has been difficult is practicing mental fitness on a daily basis just like you would do with physical fitness.

My experience in this class will greatly improve the way I treat others both in my personal and professional relationships.  It helped my recognize that all aspects of the human experience need to be developed and recognized as uniue and dynamic.  This class has really opened my eyes and sparked my interest in learning more about integral health and working towards it everyday!

Integral Health Plan

Integral Health Plan

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?

As an integral practitioner you take a sacred vow to enter a personal process of self-development.  We recognize that this development is an inward turn that is supported by the necessary changes in our outer life and is grounded in regular contemplative practice.  As a health and wellness professional the same commitment should be upheld by each and every one of us.  Integral health can only be achieved through an investment in developing our inner life and our inner healing capacities.  Integral health is a mind/body approach to healing that recognizes the role of anxiety, stress, and other mental factors in the development, perpetuation, and recurrence of illness and tailors mind/body approaches to bring awareness to our own personal role in suffering and disease such as psychotherapy, relaxation techniques, yoga, and biofeedback.  These are some of the approaches that substitute internal remedies for outer ones and the result is strengthened self-reliance and personal competence.  Suffering diminishes and a broader sense of health is achieved (Dacher, 2006). 

“We know that the mind is trainable and that robust health can result from the systematic training of our mind through planned, systematic inner development” (Dacher, 2006).  Personally, I started to train my mind on a daily basis by incorporating The Subtle Mind practice.  In this practice, you use the breath as a focal point by either focusing on the rising and falling of your chest or the movement of the breath in and out of your nostrils.  This practice clears my mind of distractions and disturbing emotions and brings me stillness and clarity. 

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

There are two aspects of our outer life: biological and worldly, and two inner aspects of our life: psychospiritual and interpersonal.  The psychospiritual and biological aspects of our lives are personal areas of development and the interpersonal and worldly aspects of our lives are developed and shared with others.  All of these aspects are interconnected and impact one another. 

This class has really opened my eyes to the fact that I have not focused on my health holistically.  I have become aware of the importance of developing each aspect of my life and the one that needs the most focus is the psychospiritual aspect of my life.  The development of our inner life is essential to all aspects of our life.  I am working on developing my consciousness and as I practice this I am amazed at what it is doing to the other aspects of my life.  By developing my consciousness each other aspect of my life is gaining health and wholeness.

The biological aspect of my life is what I put most of my focus on prior to this class.  I exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet.  I have always known that a healthy body means a healthy mind, but this class helped me realize that it goes both ways and that a healthy mind is also necessary for a healthy body.  I feel like this aspect of my life is pretty well developed, but is always a work in progress. 

The interpersonal aspect of my life is always challenging for me.  The development of our interpersonal life involves the shift from I to you to us to all of us.  I have been working consciously on this aspect of my life over the past couple of years because relationships are always a challenge and developing this aspect of our lives brings us health and joy rather than stress and suffering.  I have been working on being less selfish and thinking of others needs more often and going out of my way to care for others.  I have also been working on my communication skills and being open and honest with the people in my life.  I feel this is the most important aspect of my life to focus on and develop right now.

The worldly aspect of my life has been neglected and is also under-developed.  I do not feel I am active enough in contributing to the world.  After I graduate, I feel I will be able to participate more by helping others become improve the quality of their own lives through health education.  I would also like to volunteer so that I can give something meaningful.  When we give to the world it comes back to us as a renewed and revitalized sense of health, happiness, and wholeness.  I think this aspect of my life will really become my focus after graduation.       

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

My physical goal is to do circuit training twice a week in addition to walking my dog on a daily basis.  Osteoporosis runs in my family and I know I have to do weight-bearing exercises to keep my bones strong and healthy.My psychological goal is to do the subtle mind practice every day for 15 minutes in order to identify destructive emotions and replace them with healthier attitudes.  I want to develop a witnessing consciousness in order to stop, see, understand, and make choices about my thoughts and feelings.

My spiritual goal is to find a volunteer job this summer in order to serve others with loving-kindness and care.   

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.

Two physical strategies I plan to implement are: circuit training and yoga.  Through contemplative practice I can foster psychological growth.  Two strategies I plan to implement are: the subtle mind practice and visualization. Two spiritual strategies I plan to implement are: prayer and service to others through volunteering. 

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?

           

In order to track my progress over the next six months I plan to use a bar graph similar to the one that was suggested by Ken Wilbur.  The bar graph can be used to plot movement along lines of development in order to see changes over time.  Using a bar graph allows me to assess my current level of integral health, set future goals, and add further lines and levels to meet my needs and goals. 

Reference:

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Beneficial Practices

Throughout this course we have explored many exercises that are effective in enhancing our health through mental fitness.

My two favorite exercises are the loving-kindness and visualization practices.  The loving-kindness practice has allowed me to become more aware of other people's needs over my own.  It has helped me become more self-less and more aware of other's hardships.  It has helped me be more compassionate and caring no matter how someone treats me.  Through the loving-kindness practice I am becoming more open and working on treating people with respect, fairness, honesty, patience, and acceptance.  We get back what we give.

The visualization practice brings me comfort and relaxation and allows me to become more aware of what I can be... my own healer.  Visualization allows me to go to any place or any feeling I chose.  I have used visualization for goals and motivation, hope and joy, and relaxation.  By visualizing health, happiness, and wholeness I feel invigorated and alive and it allows me to live my life in the moment instead of just going throught the motions.

I have definitely incorporated these two practices into my life on a daily basis and with practice and time I hope they both bring me greater integral health and flourishing.

Meeting Asclepius

The "Meeting Asclepius" practice uses visualization to help us access our inner healer.  This inner healer will guide us to integral health.  It is our subtle mind.  We are instructed to close our eyes and visualize someone we respect and honor.  We are asked to carefully observe the chosen individual we are visualizing and then sit in communion with the individual and feel the wisdom, love, peace, and compassion from that person.  Stay with the mentor and allow the connection to grow deeper.  When the image has stablized visualize a beam of white light from the individual's crown and then allow the beam and energy to enter your mind and allow it to cleanse and bath your thoughts, feelings, and images.  Allow it infuse wisdom, pureness, and stillness into your mind.  Next, allow another beam of light emerge from the heart of this individual and allow it to enter your heart.  Allow it to infuse your heart with kindness, love, and compassion.  Become this person by taking on his or her qualities.  Next, allow the image of this individual dissolve into a bright white light.  allow the light to enter your forehead and permeate your entire being.  Experience what it is like to have the support and wisdom of this inner healer. 

This exercise made me feel cared about and important to this individual, as if my well-being was the only concern.  I loved how I felt towards the end when I realized this healer has always been within me, I just haven't allowed it to be present.  If we didn't have it in us already we wouldn't be able to visualize it. 

The prayer at the end was this:

May you be able to know the preciousness of your life, the beauty of your heart, and the qualities and capacities of your inner life.  May you be able to use the well-endowed form of your body as a vessel to take your toward a life of meaning, depth, profound health, and service.  

Even if it takes a lifetime we can achieve integral health.  As it is said in the East, "A bucket is not filled with water by the first or last drop.  It is filled by the collection of a very large number of drops." 

This exercise has reminded me that I am my own healer and I have the capacity to heal myself through contemplative practice.

The saying "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" means that anyone in a health care profession must work on their own spiritual revolution.  To have a map is not the same as having been somewhere and seeing and experiencing it first-hand. 

I very much agree with this saying and feel I have an obligation to my clients to develop my health psychologically, physically, and spiritually in order to have a better understanding of the process so that I can help others toward their own path to integral health. 

I have been developing my health for a long time now.  I eat a diet of natural foods that nourishes my body, I am physically active, and I spend time in prayer daily.  This class has taught me several different practices I would like to incorporate into my life, especially the loving-kindness practice. 

Universal Loving-Kindness and Integral Assessment

This week's universal loving-kindness exercise instructs us to say the following phrases for 10 minutes.

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.

I love these phrases and by saying them for 10 minutes on a daily basis one can open their mind and heart and rid themselves of anger and hate.  It can help shift the focus from personal love to universal loving-kindness.  I notice I am much more aware of how I treat people after this exercise.  I am slow to speak and want to treat everyone with kindness. 

Integral Assessment

The approach I used to complete integral assessment was to identify any urgent area of distress.  I closed my eyes and asked myself, "What aspect of my life - psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, or worldly - is the source of difficulty and suffering?"  For me it is interpersonal so I focused on this area.  "What line is most essential for me at this time?"  The most essential line is personal.  "What is my current level of development and what can I aim for?"  This line has taken me a long time to develop and I'm still in the process as only time awareness and application can heal.  This is the first aspect of the assessment that may be explored for a few days or weeks. 

Once the area of distress has been identified focus can shift to the second aspect of the assessment: healing and promoting integral development.  So I ask myself, "What area of my life is ready for growth and development?"  Again, the line I am ready to develop is my personal line which is the same area that needs healing.  "What would the next level look like?"  The next level would look like loving and knowing myself, which would allow me to better love my family.   

Positive thinking and belief in myself are the two specific exercises I can implement to help heal myself.  Meditation is also very important to stop my busy mind and witness my own thoughts without judgement or reaction. 

"You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection."  ~Buddha

Subtle Mind

"A peaceful breathing pattern leads to a peaceful mind"

By focusing attention on the breath only you can tame a busy mind.  The voice guides us to concentrate or focus only on our breathing.  When thoughts arise that distract us we must re-direct our focus on the breath.

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

The Loving-Kindness exercise instructed us to focus on something specific and then move on to another specific focus.  It instructed us to be aware of a thought and treat it with care.  The Subtle mind exercise was just about focusing on the breath to remove all other thoughts and distractions.  Instead focusing on each thought, it directed us to let go of that thought by re-directing focus to the breath only.  To concentrate on the breath you can either focus on the rising and falling of your chest or the movement of breath in and out of your nostrils.  I chose to focus on the movement of breath in and out of my nostrils.  At first my mind wandered a lot, but I was able to re-direct my focus to the breath and as time went on I found I was able to focus on my breath without much distraction.  Our mind are trained to focus on outside factors and that keeps us in a constant state of mental stress.  It is important to relax our minds and give them much needed rest by using the Subtle mind exercise.  This exercise takes practice and patience.  We all have a lot going on in our lives and if we never give our mind a rest we become stressed and ill.  The result of mastering this practice is unity consciousness and pure awareness.  When our mind is clear and open so is our heart.

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

Developing the mental and spiritual aspect of our lives is connected to the development of the physical aspect of our lives.  There are 7 major levels of biological development: anatomical, physiological, mind/body, and spriritual body.  Mind/body exercises such as tai chi or yoga strenghthen both the mind and body.  This is important because a healthy mind equals a healthy body and an unhealthy mind creates and unhealthy body.  They go hand in hand.  They go hand in hand, they are not separate and each aspect needs to nurtured and exercised in order to develop greater health and human flourishing.  I have experienced this connection in my own life.  When I was depressed my body was unhealthy.  The symptoms of an unhealthy mind were released in physical illness.  Now that I have a positive mind my phyiscal body is healing along with my mind.