Unit 9: Integral Health-Practitioners and Personal

INTRODUCTION:

            It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically because then they can come to help others from a more holistic place and be a centered and self-aware as possible.  It is always important to “practice what you preach”.  This question reminds me of a conversation that I had with my mother so many years ago.  My father was a counselor and she told me of a discussion they had early in their relationship where they both agreed that a person should never go to a counselor if he or she doesn’t choose to go to one him or herself.  It’s always important to believe in what you’re teaching and to live the word that you spread.  When trying to help others heal, it’s important to empathize for the struggles that they may be having and to truly understand the successes that they achieve by having gone through those things yourself as a healer.  Focusing on holistic health in mind, body and spirit is also important for a professional because then he or she can truly come to his or her patients from a place of loving kindness and can truly listen to a patient’s needs without letting a cluttered mind get in the way.

            I have already been making great strides since the beginning of this course; however, there are still many areas for improvement.  I must say that my psychological wellness is still lacking, however, it has vastly improved from just a few short weeks ago.  My physical wellness has been an area that I’m continuing to work on, however, I don’t feel that I have made as great of strides.  After looking into how I have changed and grown, this is an area that I may want to start focusing on more again.  My spiritual health is strong.  I have felt this from the beginning and I continue to work on my spiritual health with great success.  It’s helping me grow and flourish as an individual.

ASSESSMENT:

            In unit 3 of this course, we were asked to assess our status in physical health, spiritual health and in psychological health.  In week three, I rated myself a 6 in physical health, I gave an 8 for spiritual health and only a 5 for psychological health.  After revisiting my status, I have found some things to be the same while others have changed.  My physical health is still a 6 which slightly upsets me because I have been making an effort to get sleep and take time for me to work out.  With added stresses and responsibilities in my life, however, this has been hard.  I have been sleeping, but my diet has gone by the wayside a bit and I’m not running as much as I would like.  My spiritual health has remained at an 8.  I am very happy where I am spiritually, but I know that there are higher levels yet to achieve, so I will keep working toward them.  Psychologically I feel I have made great strides and have moved my level from a 5 to a 6.  I am in such a better place than I was at the beginning of the course psychologically, and this fact inspires me to improve even more.  The gains have been achieved through hard work and focus, now, I hope to keep my eye on the ball and continue to grow and find my balance in life in all aspects of my health.

GOAL DEVELOPMENT:

            Goals are always so important in life.  If we don’t have anything to reach for, then why will we ever get up and try?  I have set many goals for myself, large and small, immediate and long ranging.  Physically, I still plan on getting back into running races.  I also plan on getting back to eating the way that I want to and have been in the past.  I’d like to drop 15 to 20 lbs. which will make my running easier and get me back into the shape where I am most comfortable in my body.  Spiritually, I’d like to continue to find time to meditate.  It’s becoming harder and harder with more and more demands from both my full time job and my part time job as well as my small business with my boyfriend and being in school full time, but, even if I can spend just 15 minutes once or twice a day to center myself and put my mind into the right place, then I believe I will be just fine!  I would like to get back into going to church regularly, however, with my schedule as it is now, this will have to be a long term goal.  I would also like to take a spiritual trip either to a health and wellness vacation spot in the US or abroad.  Getting into a meditation and yoga group locally is also a goal. Psychologically, I need to continue to try to get rest.  I have been working very hard at it; however, it does still elude me quite often.  Getting sleep really affects my mood and train of thought.  The meditation can also be used to continue to put myself in the right mind frame and to quiet my mind, so this goal carries over to this aspect of my health and wellness.  I also would like to cut out several more of my stressors by the end of the year.

PRACTICES FOR PERSONAL HEALTH:

            Several of the practices that I would like to participate in cover multiple aspects of my total wellness.  I have already started walking with one of my friends in order to de-stress and to get my body moving.  I now have another friend who goes to the same gym as me and we try to encourage one another to go and hold each other accountable for not showing up if we agree to meet there.  I have two friends who have agreed to run races with me.  We have a 10K coming up in April and a 5K in May.  Social support is very important for me.  Eating well was another goal and to reach this one, I will stop eating out or just grabbing food as I go from one job to the other.  I plan on planning ahead for my meals and preparing easy, on-the-go, healthy meals for myself.  This will save me money, which is another stress and will help me mentally as well as physically, and calories.  Having a part time job at a bar/restaurant, it can be easy to allow myself to stay after shift and accept a drink from my customers.  This practice, however, is adding liquid calories to my diet that I don’t need and taking time away from being able to get other things done.  I will try to find a balance in this situation as well and set aside one day per week that I will stay out and be social with my friends after work while refocusing myself on the other days and getting other obligations done.  Spiritually, I will continue to pray and give thanks every day.  It uplifts me and puts me in a good frame of mind.  I will continue to meditate and do yoga and pilates which not only works out my mind, but also connects my mind to my body.  I also will try to act with loving-kindness which, I believe, is the way that God wants us all to act toward one another.  I hope to study under a person who has reached a higher level of enlightenment so that I too may grow.  I also plan on trying to find a way back to church, although, right now, this is going to be hard with my schedule, but that just means that I may have to make some adjustments with work in the next year.  Psychologically, I will continue to try to get rest.  I will try to organize my time better in order to do this.  I will keep putting things into perspective and will ask myself often when I am getting upset if this situation will affect me at all one year from today.  If the answer is no, then I will try to relax my mind and let it go.  I will also try to recognize when I am stressing over something when I can’t do anything about it at the time.  I will recognize it as a fact in my life and I will either act on it to make it better or I will let it go.  Meditation has already started helping me do this.

COMMITMENT:

            I feel the best way to stay committed to something is to hold yourself accountable for very specific goals and then sharing those goals and dreams with those around you.  Once you have shared the goals out loud, and people are supporting you, then it’s hard to back down from them.  Also, enlisting friends and family that may have similar goals into your own will help.  That way, you can encourage and push one another, just as I am doing with my friends with running and working out.  Making a very specific list and setting time frames in which to start checking off items on the list helps me greatly.  It organizes what I want to accomplish in my mind, breaks it down into smaller goals and makes it more manageable for me so that I don’t become overwhelmed and shut down.  Some of the best ways to achieve my goals in the long run, however, will be to sit down and decide just where my priorities lie.  First, I will make a list of what seems to be my priorities by the way that I am living today.  Then, I will write down where I want my priorities to lie.  I will then compare the two and see how close or far apart they are.  I have done this in the past and it has helped motivate me to make changes.

 Reference:

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

Health.