Final Project

I.              Introduction:

One’s level of each aspect of human development: psychological, spiritual and physical, is dependent on the others to make a whole, well rounded person. Each area is important to total wellness because they are all part of each other. As Wilber wrote in Consciousness & Healing,

 “Body and mind and spirit are operating in self and culture and nature, and thus health and healing, sickness and wholeness are all bound up in a multidimensional tapestry that cannot be cut into without loss” (Schlitz p. xxxi). 

As a health and wellness professional it is important to develop these aspects of one’s self because teaching clients and patients about the benefits of integral health is easier and more realistic having experienced the results first hand. In my own journey as a health care professional I need to further develop my psychospiritual area; focusing on spiritual practices, mind training, and coping skills (Dacher, 2006).

II. & III. Assessment & Goal Development:

Six weeks ago I rated my physical wellbeing at 8. Currently I would keep the same rating because still I’m in good physical shape. For the first time I am putting a very demanding strain on my body: I’m pregnant. This adds challenges and new obstacles to being physically well but I feel I have a strong foundation in this area. I set a goal to run more, even when the weather isn’t nice but I haven’t been able to follow through on that goal. A goal I did achieve is to start yoga again. I am really enjoying the physical and mental benefits. The goal I am working toward now in my physical wellbeing is to have a healthy pregnancy. This includes my diet, exercising, the development of the baby, weight gain, and successful labor and delivery.

Six weeks ago I rated my spiritual wellbeing at 6. Day I rate this area at an 8. I don’t know if it’s this class, or bring pregnant, or the holidays; I’ve been able to find some peace that I’ve never quite had before. It’s a peace that I’ve felt moments of but I’ve never had a sustained feeling of calm in my soul like I do now. My goal in this area was to find peace; even if the peace is intermittent. I’ve achieved that goal. Mindfulness meditation has been very powerful. The goal I am working toward now in my spiritual wellbeing is to continue my meditation practices beyond this class and into the New Year.

Six weeks ago I rated my psychological wellbeing at 7; today I rate this area at 9. My goal in this area was to maintain my objectivity of my life and be kind to myself as I follow the journey of my life. I have been able to achieve that goal by journaling. It’s given me a better perspective and viewpoint to look at myself. The goal I am working toward now in my psychological wellbeing is both maintain my current level of health in this area as well as share and teach the success I’ve had with my loved ones.  

IV.          Practices for personal health:

For my physical wellbeing I plan to continue to do yoga as a weekly practice. I just started a new part time job at the hospital which is close enough to my house to walk which I do each time I work. Lastly, because I’m pregnant and concerned about my husband and I both maintaining a healthy weight we have made a commitment to exercise at our gym together at least twice a week.

For my psychological health I plan to implement a technology-free day once a week to relieve myself from feeling burdened by the need to always be online, checking texts or Facebook. The down time will give me time to relax and reflect on my immediate surrounding world. I have also added saying positive affirmations as part of my routine for psychological wellbeing. I’ve posted various positive messages around my house (on my bathroom mirror, on my bedside table) that remind me about a wonderful part of myself.

For my spiritual health I am attending church for the first time in my life. It is a Unitarian Universalist Fellowship which is open to all ways of thinking and believing. A lot of the discussion during each week’s gathering surrounds how our lives are impacting the world around us and what we are doing to make the world a better place. I feel more connected to myself and my fellow man than ever before. I will also continue my mindfulness meditation.

V.           Commitment:

Just as I revised the ratings of my physical, spiritual and psychological wellbeing today from six weeks ago, I will revisit and revise those ratings moving forward. As with an exercise regime goals must be set, reevaluated, reset and worked towards. With physical wellbeing the results are easier to see by stepping on a scale, running a mile or even looking in a mirror. Spiritual and psychological wellbeing requires a different kind of mirror. They both require looking inside to evaluate the progress. I will use this paper and other assignments to look back at how I was feeling at different points in time. I will continue to journal as another record of my feelings. Using these records I will be able to chart how my wellbeing in changing, improving or declining.

References

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

Schlitz, M. (2005). Consciousness & Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis: MS: Elsevier.

Effective Practices

The most effective part of practice that I’ve implemented into my life comes from my preparations for the actual exercises. Having faith in the “unique and precious opportunity of human life” has been a very profound and motivating concept in my life over the past few weeks (Dacher p. 50). When I’m struggling in my day to day tasks or even struggling in my loving-kindness or meditation I can find peace quickly in the reminder that my mere existence is incredible. With that foundation I have experienced benefits from both the loving-kindness practice and in meditation.

With the loving-kindness exercise I have been able to open my heart to people I don’t know in a genuine, loving way. I recently started a job at the hospital in my city. Being able to take care of patients and their loved ones requires an open heart. The aspiration of this practice is “to assist others in alleviated needless suffering and gaining happiness” (Dacher p. 51). With this practice I will continue to work toward that goal.

Meditation has been extremely helpful for me to reduce my stress level. I have two jobs, I’m in school full time, I run our household, I own and operate a small business, and I’m pregnant! There are times when my stress level is out of control. Taking 15 or even five minutes each day to sit in a comfortable chair, close my eyes and focus only on my breathing has been absolutely wonderful. During my meditation I can let go of all the thoughts, to-do lists, and deadlines that are crashing around in my head. After the mediation I give myself time to re-organize my lists; I let go of the tasks that aren’t priorities and focus on what I really need to get done.

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

Meeting Asciepius

This week I’ve been doing a lot of mental imagery to try to bring about a change to a physical situation I’m going through. Using some of the techniques we practiced with the first two tracks of Dacher’s CD, I’ve been redirecting my blood flow to my problem area as well as finding the life and light emitting from that area. I’ve been trying to “invite” my body to be well again though my mind’s power of suggestion. At times when I am meditating or using the practices we’ve learned in class, I still have to remind myself that there is a great amount of research that shows how the mind can affect the body. When I’m discouraged or don’t see or feel results I have to remember that this kind of practice takes time to develop into habit and lifestyle changes. To my delight, this weekend I had a break through experience with my physical problem. The images I was focusing on and meditating about came to life! That is all the proof I need! I will continue to use loving-kindness meditation and mindful meditation to improve my wellness.

The phrase "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” (Schlitz p. 447) exemplifies the importance of the leader. As I listened and participated in track four of Dacher’s CD I realized how important the person I was picturing (a friend named Fred) has been and is to my journey. His voice is routinely the voice in my mind while I’m meditating. He is exposed me to new ideas about the mind-body connection. And he has listened as I’ve discovered new levels of my own consciousness with an encouraging smile. Without having experienced the journey for himself he could not be my guide. The trust I put in him comes from knowing that he has been down this road before me and that he knows the way. As a health care provider I feel that I can best serve my patients by being qualified to be their guide down a road I’ve been before.

Schlitz, M. (2005). Consciousness & Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis, MS: Elsevier.

Universal Loving-Kindess

Wow! What a powerful exercise. For 10 minutes I read aloud the following:
May all individuals gain freedom from suffering.
May all individuals find sustained gain freedom from suffering.
May I assist all individuals gaining freedom from suffering.
May I assist all individuals in finding gain freedom from suffering. 

After completing the exercise I feel connected to the world! I feel like my love is out in the universe giving people strength and positive energy for their hardest conflicts. I feel like my love can impact the world! This was an amazingly powerful exercise.

Reading the phrases out loud made my intentions more real than if I’d read them silently to myself. As I grew comfortable with the words I actually stood up, raised my voice and declared the words with conviction and real intention!! Wonderful!

Random Thoughts Exercise

I am completing this assignment on the last day of the school week. I’m barely fitting it in between work, my husband, preparing for Thanksgiving, and shoveling snow. As I sat down to listen to the subtle mind exercise my mind everywhere. I could call this exercise the random thoughts exercise. I couldn’t keep my focus on my breath and I could barely stand to spend 20 minutes sitting still. I wish the circumstances of my day didn’t have such an effect on my ability to grow from this exercise, but it did. There were, gratefully, a few moments of true introspection in which I was able to witness my thoughts and let them drift away as I focused on my breath.

The loving kindness exercise from last week focused outside my body; I was focusing on loved ones and even strangers. This subtle mind exercise focused internally. I had an easier time last week when the exercise gave me a person, a loved one to direct my thoughts to.

These exercises are all part of the integral health process which aims to increase one’s overall health. The spiritual, mental, and physical parts are all connected and therefore if one is not healthy, all are not healthy. On the flip side improvements made in one area positively affect the others. I experience this most noticeably when I am not exercising regularly. If I feel dragged down and out of shape physically my mental fitness and spiritual wellbeing are also unfit.

Loving Kindness Meditation

Listening to the first two tracks of the Integral Health's accompanying CD I tried to experience and pass along loving kindness. Dacher describes loving kindness as “embracing others” (p 51), “a heart to heart connection” (p 51) and “a practice to open our hearts to other and gradually diminish self-centeredness” (p 65). I started the CD and focused my thoughts first on my husband. I felt a warm surge come from deep in my abdomen and a much focused energy on the love I have for him. After only a few minutes of sending that feeling to him my phone rang. It was my husband calling to check in. We tend to “check in” with each other once or twice a day, just to see how the other person is doing. I immediately asked why he’d called at the moment?? What he feeling something particularly loving?? Laughed and asked why…and that yes, he’d felt a quick surge of warm feelings and called. I was amazing as was he when I told him what I’d been doing. I’m still very excited about that experience, and excited to put this meditation to practice.

The concept of a mental workout is similar to a physical work out. In order to move beyond rest and relaxation and into a “progressive development of an expanded consciousness and its healing capacities” the practices must be part of one’s everyday life. Research has shown that by doing contemplative practices one can change their brain’s neural pathways which can have a positive impact on attention, memory, perception and imagery (Dacher, 2006).

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

Today!

I took my own advice and went to a yoga class today!!! It was amazing and I feel GREAT!