Unit 9 ~ Final Project

Integral Health Plan

As a Health and Wellness professional I need to be able to “practice what I preach”. It is essential that in my field I am a living testimony to all the aspects of integral health that I may be trying to teach clients and patients to incorporate into their lives. It would be very hypocritical for me to encourage a patient or client to strive for complete integral health when I am not developed psychologically, spiritually, and physically. I am a “work in progress” in which I still have needed growth in all three of these areas. Dacher (2006) posed the question in Chapter 2: Consciousness and Health: “If negative emotions can be so destructive to our health, can healthy mental states and even “supernormal” mental states affect our health in an increasingly positive direction?” My answer is “yes”. The negative consequences of stress manifest in illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cause weigh gain, and heart disease. Conversely, training the mind to generate positive thoughts and emotions will have the opposite affect ~ lowering blood pressure, diminishing stress levels, lower heart rates, and not producing high stress levels. Being able to train one’s mind provides a vision of success and happiness. This area of psychological development is my greatest area of opportunity. Positively conditioning my mind will ultimately contribute to the condition of my body. Spiritually I have grown a great deal and am able to define what is meaningful in my life. I have a deeper appreciation for the more important aspects (family, friends, and a developing relationship with God). This will take continued daily practice of meditation and this is my time to commune with God ~ to be able to sit still and listen for His guidance. Physical development is an ongoing aspect as well. However I do know that when other areas of my integral health are falling into place it is inevitable that my physical health will follow suit.

As I have previously stated, my overall integral health is a work in progress. I am thoroughly enjoying this journey to get there. I recently had a conversation with my mom who provided me with her definition of “wisdom”. We were discussing a quote by Maya Angelou, “When people show you who they are believe them” and I told her that I have come to a point in my life that I don’t look for something different in people over and over. That takes up too much positive energy that I could be using for something else. She said to me, “Well....when folks figure it out, that's what I call wisdom.... some folks never get it, some folks catch on right away, most folks are some place in the middle.... but once you got it, you got it for good... and, like I said, that's part of wisdom.” That resonated with me and I reflected on that and how what we have learned in this course applies to her statement. When I look at the six principles of Integral Assessment I recognize what is needed to follow these guidelines. For example, principle one states that we must acknowledge what the sources are of our distress (Dacher, 2006). I know immediately that one major source of distress is my job. It is not what I want to do however I do believe that it is in my plan to get to where I want to be. My career goal is to be in the Health and Wellness profession and even though my current job description does not fit into that profession at all I have found an avenue within my company that does fit my goals. I am using this current source of distress to open up doors to my desired goal. I love principle two in that it re-iterates the need for overall holistic healing and therapy instead of a quick fix that only addressed the topical need and not the root cause of the illness or disease. Same as with principle three ~ again focusing on the difference between immediate responses versus a long lasting response. In my physical development this principle has reminded me to take my time. I believe my integral assessment has me on a good track that is well paced. I do believe in taking my time and being able to sit peacefully and soak it all in as I continue to go through these lessons. Goals that I have in each area are physical ~ to continue to stay the course. I have a current fitness regime that is working. One of the biggest obstacles that I have overcome within this aspect is to not get discouraged. When I get off track not to beat myself up about it and just get right back on track. Psychologically I will continue to train my mind specifically using techniques such as visualization. I have found this to be effective when working out and when I need to be able to refocus. Spiritually I am continuing to stay in prayer and constant commune with God. What I have found is that as each of these areas continues to grow and develop they automatically sync or intertwine with each other.

Meditation has been the best tool to use for fostering growth in all these areas. I use meditation to start my day mentally. Twenty minutes in the morning of deep breathing and setting the tone for my day. I practice it during the day when I may need to calm my surroundings and I use it at the end of my day during a workout to push through. Visualization goes hand in hand with meditation and I will continue to practice this technique as well. My commitment to developing my integral health is lifelong. One way that I have been able to gauge success is by others people around me. I often have people ask me how it is I can remain calm when everything around me is in some form of chaos. When I am asked this I know that what I am doing is working and that it is reflecting outwardly as well. In addition, physically I will know by how well I am resting, if my energy levels are good or not, if my mental focus is clear and clutter free.

Unit 8 ~ Optimal Well - Being

I have really enjoyed what I have learned thus far throughout this course. The different methods of training the mind in efforts to achieve integral health have all been beneficial. The two practices that I enjoy the most and will continue to incorporate into my everyday routine are meditation and visualization. Both of them are practices that I have already been using but with the information from the readings I believe I have been able to fine tune them so to speak. For my own personal benefit I believe that both of these practices are the foundation of integral health. Meditation brings me to a focal point and allows for me to be able to navigate throughout my days with a clear mind, a loving kindness, and peace. It eliminates all the unnecessary noise around me and enables me to be able to focus on all the more important things. I use visualization in many different areas of my life. I use it as a motivational technique when I am exercising. I keep my goal of achieving a healthy body weight in the for front of all my thoughts. I visualize the end result ~ a sleek, slender, sexier me!!! I use it when I meditate, visualizing the ocean beach front and the warm sand. Both meditation and visualization have both been instrumental in fostering optimal health and will continue to be.

Unit 7 ~ Practice What You Preach

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself”~ I completely agree with this statement. It is very difficult and to some degree hypocritical to mentor, teach, train, and develop someone in any area that you are not well versed in or that you have experienced yourself. I have a doctor who would tell me about my weight and all the consequences that can arise from being overweight. Although I know he is trained in this profession he tells me this as he sits across his desk from me with a MCDonald's bag sitting on his desk. In addition, he himself is morbidly obese. As a professional in your field of choice (medical, fitness, education, and ect) you need to lead by example and be able to really provide a testimony to what it is you are trying to teach someone else. The passion for what you do needs to be conveyed to and received by your client/patient.

Unit 6 ~ Biological Flourishing

My Integral Assessment has identified that I need to continue on my Biological Flourishing and that it has been the biggest distress in my life. This is something that I have known and struggled with for most of my adult life. Prior to KU I began my journey to better over all health and well being. I couldn't just make changes physically (this also encompassed nutritional changes) but I needed to learn how to stop sabotaging me. I needed to build up my self confidence and teach myself how to love me. I needed to stop beating myself up whenever I would have a set back and develop the mindset that it was just a bump in the road and not to let it get me off track. In addition, patience had to become one of my better virtues. This is something that I have always struggled with because I was the type of person who needed to see results quickly. It's kind of ironic for me because as we learn more about love - kindness and calm - abiding I find that I had been attempting to apply these practices to my everyday in efforts to put my mind in a better place. Learning about them now is an affirmation that I am on the right track. Things that I have done to continue my Biological Flourishing ~ I created a Self Affirmation that I have on my refrigerator. I read it everyday as a reminder. It expresses my love for self and that in doing do I am so much better for everyone else in my life. I keep God first ~ I have learned to be patience, sit still, and listen for Him to guide me. When I tell people this they often ask me where is it He is guiding me....my answer is that I do not know but I do know that I am getting there. I know this because I am filled with a content and peace that at times is overwhelming. Even with my developing in my Biological Flourishing, this has been one of the most difficult journeys in my life but at the same time the most enjoyable. I have learned so much and been able to really focus on the truly measurable aspects of my life.