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A Holistic/Integral Health Plan
It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically. Psychological development, or training the mind, will help the health and wellness professional have a healthy and grounded perspective on life. Training the mind can promote optimal physical health, control and eliminate negative stress reaction, instill calm awareness, open true compassion towards clients, engages the ability to reach out to others, and creates an atmosphere of calmness around the health and wellness professional. (Dacher, 2006) Spiritual development cultivates wisdom, love, and ethics. These character traits are essential in a service industry such as health and wellness. (Walsh, 2001) Physical health will work synergistically with psychological and spiritual well being. It will keep energy levels up and prevent diseases. Physical health along with psychological and spiritual health is important to progressively develop and benefit the health and wellness provider and to provide a testimonial example for the client. A leader wants to be an example for those they are teaching and counseling. (Dacher, 2006)
“The more you learn, the less you know” is a common quote that is extremely applicable to my development in psychological, spiritual, and physical aspects. My goals are to be a leader in my field of healing nutrition therapy. The more I learn about this field of study the more I realize I need a great deal of development in all the three characters of psychological, spiritual, and physical health.
Taking into account the six principles of integral assessment (Dacher, 2006, p. 105-106), I have assessed my health using the four domains of human experiences which are psychospiritual, biological, worldly, and interpersonal. Each quadrant has the body, mind, and spiritual levels of development. (Dacher, 2006) I have assessed my development lines as follows:
Psychospiritual: The three lines of psychospiritual development are emotional, cognitive and conative. Emotional motivation incorporates a more instinctual reactive response and usually is initiated by fear, anger, and lack of emotional control. I can have fear responses to certain situations, usually involving conflict. I would put myself in the mind level of development. Cognitive development levels start with reactive responses (body), progress to logic and reasoning (mind), and ultimately progresses to fulfilling level awareness (spirit). Cognitively my development is in the mind level, somewhat more developed that the emotion line. Conative also starts with instinctual reactions, progresses to character development from our environment, education, and spiritual training; and reaches a fuller development from wisdom, inner-development, and wholeness. My conative development is also in the mind level slightly higher than the cognitive line development. Contemplative practice and mindfulness development will significantly develop each line of the psychospiritual quadrant. (Dacher, 2006)
Biological: The three lines of the biological quadrant are fitness, nutrition, and self-regulation. My fitness line of development has advanced past the minimal movement needed to survive to an inconsistent purposeful physical fitness program. Since I am still below a maintenance stage with my fitness program, I would place my level in the mind level. Nutrition development starts with animalistic feeding and progresses to purposeful selection of nutritious foods that have a low impact on the environment. This line of development changes weekly from mind to spirit in relation to availability of foods and transportation. Self-regulation levels are basic biological balance to contemplative practices to advanced body/mind/spirit capabilities. I am at the low end of the mind level which should continue to progress with the practice of the loving-kindness and subtle mind practices. (Dacher, 2006)
Interpersonal: Interpersonal lines of development are personal, family, and community. Each line is relational based with the same three levels of development, body-mind-spirit. The family line is more developed than each of the other two lines. My devotion to family usually takes precedence over personal and community development. I would place this level of development in the high-mind level. As my children mature, my personal line of development has increased to mid-mind level. Community level is low-mind level. (Dacher, 2006)
Worldly: Worldly lines of development are work, social activism, and generativity. My work line of development is at the spirit level. It comes easy for me to view my work as service to others. This attitude is reflected in the high level of satisfaction from those I serve. Social activism is on a low-mind level. I do not participate in many social events and tend to stay close to home. I am comfortable with this level but see changes developing as my education goals come to an end and career development progresses. Generativity refers to teaching and mentoring others. (Dacher, 2006) I rate my level in the spirit level. I have a teaching, sharing spirit and sharing wisdom gained from education and experiences comes easy.
Setting goals in developing psychological, physical, and spiritual flourishing will help continual life progression. My psychological goal is to develop my self-esteem. I have begun a leadership training program. I view this program as instrumental in developing a healthier self-esteem. My physical goal is to reach a maintenance stage of my daily physical exercise program for a period of six continuous months. I will start this goal on October 24th. My spiritual flourishing goal is to engage in deeper communion with my God. I will develop this goal by continuing the daily contemplative practices of loving-kindness and subtle mind, praying often on a daily basis, and studying and meditating on Bible scripture every night.
Personal growth strategies should be adopted in the three flourishing domains; physical, psychological, and spiritual. Implementing goals in the three domains will lead to the ultimate goal of health, happiness, and wholeness.
Physical flourishing strategies can include a formal exercise program, activities that promote fitness accompanied with relaxation, and nutrition. A formal exercise program includes a ten minute warm up routine, 30 minutes of intense exercise, and is wrapped up with a ten minute cool down and stretching. The body of the exercise program should include aerobic and anaerobic exercises that are performed on alternating days. For example, aerobic exercise could be scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Anaerobic or weight lifting exercises could be scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Examples of aerobic exercise are walking at a fast pace, jogging, running, and intense dance such as Zumba, Jazzercise, and other forms of aerobic dance. Examples of anaerobic exercise are muscle building exercises that target specific muscle groups. Yoga and Pilates can also be considered anaerobic. Flexibility is a priority goal and becomes an important part of the cool down section of the exercise program. Yoga and Pilates have effective moves that increase flexibility also. Formal exercise programs can become boring and too repetitive. In order to maintain the habitual behavior of exercising it would be important to change exercise routines and types of exercises. To avoid becoming too focused on fitness, it will be important to exchange an intense session with something more relaxing such as a slower walk, gardening, horseback riding, and social dancing. I will re-commit to my exercise program. Relapse is normal in most behavior changes. I seem to be more “normal” than I want to be.
Nutrition is an important component to physical flourishing. Progressive improvement of nutrition quality can be a lifelong endeavor. Top current priorities are to reduce sugar and simple carbohydrate intake, increase fresh and raw fruit and vegetable intake, and reduce protein intake. In the essay by Halprin and Samuels (n.d.) they point out the uniqueness of our body and how it “is designed to survive.” I will daily take these steps to give my body the aids it needs to survive and lead toward physical flourishing.
Psychological growth requires knowledge of negative emotions and behaviors that detour psychological growth. Once there is an awareness of the personal detours to ultimate psychological health, a person can learn and replace the stagnating behaviors with healthy emotions and behaviors. Strategies that can be implemented to promote healthy psychological growth are contemplative practice exercises. The Subtle Mind exercise has been particularly beneficial in psychological growth. It develops the ability to control mental chatter and promote focus and inner calmness. This exercise is completed in the following manner (Dacher, 2006):
1. Using belly breathing as a focal point, take ten deep breaths followed by returning to breathing comfortably as you ease into a relaxing state of being. Focus on your breathing.
2. As distractions enter your mind, notice them but let them pass by and then return to focusing on breathing. Forcing your mind to come back to focusing on the breathing after each distraction is essential in taming the chattering mind. As your mind learns to quiet, you can gently ease up on focusing on the breathing and start objectively witnessing your mental activity as opposed to being controlled by the mental activity. Practice this step for several minutes.
This step is enlightening into how the mental activity involuntarily pulls you toward random thoughts. Observe the random thoughts and then let them move on. Disallow any attachment or holding on, let them drift by. You are becoming aware of the witnessing mind, a state of objective observing how the mind works.
3. Be patient during the initial training; always come back to the focus of breathing and then observation of your calming mind. During this phase of calm-abiding consciousness it is the goal to balance the intensity of focusing on your breathing and the relaxation of the chattering mind. You want to be focused enough on the breathing to keep the mind from grasping on random thoughts but loose enough to allow the mind to ease tension.
4. Eventually, with effort and practice, the still mind becomes the focus, not the breathing. At this shift in focus, called unity consciousness, observe how you feel. Think abstractive and observe the qualities of the quiet mind. Explore it; observe how it relates to you as you are now. At first, this may only last a moment but practice will help your experience grow and mature. The goal is to look inward, know your inner self, see the quality of the inner essence and be assured it is always there.
As you finish your exercise, slowly return to the consciousness of the room. Reflect on the experience; allow time for inspiration and vision. Write notes in a journal of your experience. (Dacher, 2006)
I have started consistently practicing the Subtle Mind exercise every morning. Controlling the mind chatter and learning to be objective to the random thoughts is challenging. However, I am determined to continue to progress.
A second strategy to develop psychological health is to seek out skills that will aide in positive behaviors. Some of these skills are positive self talk, learning to forgive, visualization, and being grateful. Being grateful during the difficult times as well as during the happy times can promote a positive outlook. Being grateful is achieved by looking for the opportunity in situations, good or bad. (Steindl-Rast, n.d.) Lee Brower (Byrne, 2006) teaches the activity of carrying a gratitude rock. Every time you put the rock in your pocket, feel it when you put your hands in your pocket, or take it out when emptying your pocket; express gratitude for specifics in your life. This simple but effective exercise produces a positive attitude. I carry my own gratitude rock which continually promotes a positive attitude.
Spiritual development can be directly connected with psychological development in that it is achieved by a deeper inner-self development than psychological health. Spirituality develops wisdom, peace, loving-kindness, and compassion. One contemplative practice that has been helpful in developing spirituality is the Loving-Kindness exercise. This exercise develops compassion and promotes an other-oriented focus. The steps to the Loving-Kindness exercise are (Dacher, 2006):
1. To help in visualizing loving-kindness, picture someone in your mind that you hold an abundance of loving-kindness. Fully experience the feelings by opening your heart and letting the loving-kindness felt for this person completely envelope your being.
2. Turn these feelings toward yourself. Start with your body, accepting every part, every aspect; flooding yourself both physically and mentally with the loving-kindness. Release all holdings and cut all ties that prevent complete freedom in loving and being kind to yourself.
3. Embrace your inner mind, specifically the peace, stillness, and gentleness that now abides in your spirit and soul. Let the loving-kindness permeate your mind, body, and soul.
4. You are precious and uniquely created. Embrace yourself as you are, with complete and unconditional loving-kindness. Take time now to let this self love completely permeate your body to the cellular level.
5. Picture a loved one who is suffering. As you breathe in, all their suffering will follow the breath and be dissolved in your heart. On the out breath, health, happiness, and wholeness will indwell this loved one and permeate every cell in their being. You can picture this as being an instrument in God’s hands as you do this step by the Father’s hand, through the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. This is a time to listen for inspiration in how you can help this loved one.
6. Now expand the taking and giving to include those beyond immediate loved ones to acquaintances and strangers.
7. Enlarge the circle of taking and giving to include your enemies. Continue this step to the end of your practice time. (Mathew 5:43-44, love your enemies)
It is important to reach the goal of deeply feeling this loving-kindness, to expel the self-centeredness, and to quiet your mind. Take time to reflect on the practice noting your feelings and your current state of mind. Write down any notes that come to mind. Quietly return to your normal activities. (Dacher, 2006) I always finish this exercise with a sense of being loved, calmness, and peace. I will practice this exercise two to three times each week.
Other forms of meditation can also provide significant spiritual growth. The Meeting Asclepius can have a tremendously spiritual affect (Dacher, 2006, p. 56). Meditating on the Bible scriptures can also provide wisdom and foresight. Prayer and other religious devotions can lead to human flourishing. (Dossey, 1997) Dossey also defines prayer as a communication tool to the “Absolute”. Dean Ornish (1993) also acknowledges that mind-body techniques such as meditation and prayer provide a transformation and up-lifting demeanor that relieves stress and creates inner peace, joy, and well-being. Personally I will implement prayer on a continual basis throughout the day and at times in the night if I am awakened by an urgent feeling to pray. Scripture study and prayer go hand-in-hand. Although my desire is to study scripture every morning and night, I lack the self discipline to follow through with this daily. However, I can commit to a scripture study every Sunday in addition to sporadic study and meditation during the week.
Remaining motivated to continue the progress toward physical, psychological, and spiritual flourishing can be challenging. As this class ends, so does the main motivational source. However, there are steps that can be taken to ensure continual, life-long progress. Monthly assessments will be set up to help evaluate progress or lack of progress. Involving friends and family to provide accountability with the evaluation process will be a strong motivator in reaching a maintenance stage of practice. Rewards for consistent progress can be a movie night, a night out, and reserving space at a retreat. Having the goal of establishing a nutrition counseling business is also a strong motivator. As a health care practitioner in health and wellness, being well and progressing in wellness physically, psychologically, and spiritually will promote confidence from perspective clients.
References
Byrne, R. (2006) The Secret. Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words Publilshing.
Dacher, E. (2006) Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.
Halprin, A., Samuels, M. (n.d.) Healing and Transformation Through Expressive Arts. Taken from Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., Micozzi, M. (2005) Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone
Steindl-Rast, Bro. D. (n.d.) Gratefulness. Taken from Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., Micozzi, M. (2005) Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone
