A Plan to Holistic and Integral Health - Final Project

Introduction

“To be born and live as a human is a precious and rare treasure.” (E.S. Dacher, M.D.)

           Life is said to be short, yet I dare say it is also full of opportunities, as well as challenges. When life is good and we don’t feel as if there are any troubles, we are usually cruising right along and taking it all in, often without spending much thought at all on our long-term health and well-being. It is when things take a turn for the worse, when our health or the health of a loved one is failing, when stress gets too much and we feel like fiascos, that we find out the hard way whether or not we were prepared to overcome the hurdles put in our path. Our life and sanity depend very much on the state of our physiological, psychological and spiritual health and wellness, precisely those very areas that are most often sorely neglected in said “good times” to varying degrees. In his book “Integral Health – The Path to Human Flourishing” Dacher (2006) states that “we live blindly among unimaginable treasures, and at the end of our days, we leave life unaware of the great wealth and the great health that have always been right in front of us.” (p.7).  In the recent weeks and months I have come to realize, how important it is to consider health from a holistic and integral perspective and how I might have neglected a few too many things in my own life and which I should, regarding my own health and wellness, pay closer attention to from hereon out in an effort to live life in a more fulfilled manner.

As a future professional in the health and wellness field I understand that I will be at one point in the position to help patients and clients recognize their own shortcomings, change behaviors and benefit from a wholesome approach to life. In order to do my job as a health and wellness professional effectively and successfully, I must live these principles for myself day in and day out, because it is important to not only obtain theoretic knowledge of all manners of healing and care, but also to gain the confidence, conviction, and resulting credibility that comes from having experienced the many benefits thereof on my own. At this point in my life I feel mostly content; I am working on realizing my professional ambitions, I am raising a family with my husband, and I actively take care of my body and mind, yet I want to become calmer, less easily riled up and stressed out by random events in my life, and in the long term I want to become successful in my career by contributing in my own way to human flourishing.

In the following essay I will be assessing my own health in three domains: physiological, psychological (mental), and spiritual. I will establish a goal for continued development in each area, as well as list some practices I think may help me grow in each domain. Lastly I will expand on the matters of commitment and measurable progress, because my health is not a short-term matter, but a question of a lifelong responsibility and pledge to myself.

II. Assessment

           To assess my health status in each domain I enlisted the help of the four-quadrant model of health, as established by Ken Wilber’s “Integral Therapy” (Schlitz, Amorok & Micozzi, 2005, p. xxvii).  These quadrants are meant to represent the exterior and interior influences on health (left and right halves), as well as the individual and collective elements of health (top and bottom halves). The upper two quadrants are representative of the individual, as in the mind and the body, whereas the bottom two quadrats signify the exterior influences on our health, those being relationships (social) and the environment. Each of the quadrants has a close connection to each other; our life is not balanced if either aspect (or quadrant) is out of “whack”. Therefore I looked at these quadrants to determine my own level of health and wellness in each domain.

          

Physical domain

I can truthfully say that I am in good overall health and physical shape, I am not overweight, do not have any current health concerns, I don’t take any medications but for supportive herbal supplements and quality probiotics, and I follow sound nutritional principles. I can see one specific fault in my physical domain and that must be my lack of commitment to quality sleep many nights per week, I am truly the proverbial night owl. For the sake of naming a score I would rate myself to be at an 8 out of 10, because in my mind there is always plenty of room for improvement.

Psychological domain

As a military wife, mother of two young girls, college student and home maker I do have a lot on my proverbial plate, but I never once considered any of it a struggle, but a challenge. I feel that I have good coping skills, I am self sufficient, confident in myself and my abilities and I feel well grounded in my family life, as well as within my circle of friends. Most of the time it is easy for me to go about my days in a good mood (a fact I do attribute to regular exercise and a good diet) and take care of all my responsibilities. There are times however, when I can feel a stressful situation trying to get the best of me, those are the moments when I am known to get a little irate or louder in speech, in those situations of a flaring temper I am best off seeking solace, be that in the gym or at home on my own, if pushed too far and without being able to briefly recoup, I feel frazzled. Therefore, although I would absolutely describe myself as having a sound psychological make-up, I feel as if I must work on my coping skills in stressful situations. My personal score in this domain is consequently a 7 out of 10.

Spiritual domain

I do not practice a religion, so to think of my spiritual well being I had to consider what makes a person spiritual, it surely isn’t depending on ones religion or affiliations with a belief system! Or is it? What I realized upon contemplation was, that I am a fairly spiritual being nonetheless, for I am a true giver and have the good for people at heart.  I am usually the first to volunteer if I sense the need of anyone needing assistance, I deeply care about others and love helping everyone seeing themselves in a positive light, I have the ability to empathize, then to logically and positively influence peoples perception of themselves, often helping them recognize new paths more conducive to their goals and ambitions. Having very keen senses and being of sensitive nature helps me find my own deep fulfillment in having the satisfaction of seeing others succeed. My score in the spiritual domain could be considered a 6 out of 10; because there are many other ways I could explore to deepen my spiritual knowledge.

III. Goal Development

            Having assessed my physiological, psychological and spiritual wellness, I have also had a chance to actually think about the areas in each domain that invite or warrant possible improvement. To improve my physiological wellness I would like to extend and improve my exercise regimen to include more balancing exercises to counteract the weightlifting I do and to improve my core strength. Furthermore I would like to become leaner again and achieve this mainly by skillfully balance my diet in order to find out what works best for my body without having to resort to excessive cardiovascular exercise. The goal for me is to be healthy, lean and achieve a body that is running even more smoothly, like a well-oiled machine.  Moreover I’d like to add some lean muscle to improve my overall strength and body proportions. Last but not least, I’d really like to implement a better sleep routine and get my square eight hours per night.

My psychological wellness would benefit from my learning more efficient methods in coping better with occasional stressors. I would like to keep my temper even, my mind calm and my thoughts serene in light of life’s occasional fallacies, this would be of huge benefit to me for the rest of my life. In terms of spiritual wellness I could think of one issue that has come to mind often before, but I have dismissed or postponed this for various reasons. I would like to expand my capabilities for complete stillness and silence since my mind is often too busy and I worry too much; I would like to become a kinder, more observant and tolerant, as well as more open-minded version of myself.

IV. Practices for Personal Health

            I do not like to set goals that I don’t intend to reach, I am ambitious and it is in my nature to seek a solution to any problem and draw a “road map” to get there in the most straightforward manner. Subsequently I established the following practices to address each of my goals per domain, I fully realize that each practice will take time and I need to reign in my natural impatience and be consistent with my follow-through.

Physiological health and wellness: I recently have hired a well-qualified, reputable nutritionist and trainer, a person whom is now helping me re-learn, update, and fine-tune, my previous nutritional know-how and practice. This is not an easy task, as I have been previously immersed in and taught by, the world of conventional bodybuilding and competitions and of course I was stuck on the conventional (brutal) way of getting stage ready (= lean). I now realize how much depressing nonsense I have learned and adhered to before, and why all these old “tried and true” methods were not working for my body or my mind. I also have recently signed up at a local yoga studio, there I would like to take classes on my off days from the gym about 3 times per week, to improve my balance, core strength, and sense of calm and peace. I may be repeating myself, but I am a very night-productive person for sure and I seem to get most of my school obligations taken care off when the rest of the world sleeps, mostly because I want to be fully present when my family is around and not “hide” in my books. My goal therefore is to become a better planner, schedule my work times and go to bed at night at a decent hour, as more sleep will enhance all other areas of my being.

Psychological health and wellness: Since a lot of my stress issues usually arise when I feel pushed in a corner by strangers or acquaintances alike and react with anger, I feel that although this is a hard exercise for me to focus on, I’d like to continue learning about loving-kindness practice. Despite numerous attempts I have not been able to fully focus on extending loving kindness to anyone, probably because I felt silly imagining or projecting these feelings out from myself. I realize that this will take practice and to master it I am giving myself the time to get the hang of it. Another practice I find interesting and have actually found helpful during this past term is subtle mind practice which helps me calm my mind, I would like to achieve a calm-abiding mind, a state to which I can return to at will in order to gain calm and serenity in unusual situations.

Spiritual health and wellness: I have already established that I am not a person of faith, yet I would love to explore Buddhism and its peaceful, life enhancing teachings. I would like to find out for myself what being of Buddhist faith truly entails, it would help me understand what steps I can take to very simply enhance my relationships with others, how to do the right and calm thing, even though it may feel like turning the other cheek toward a person with a bad attitude. I truly believe if I could learn to keep my temper under cool and to not take every comment personal and let it get to me, I could be more balanced and subsequently happier with myself. Another practice I am determined to make a regular occurrence is meditation. I love to meditate and most always feel so calm and relaxed after I am done, thus I would like to deepen my knowledge and extend my education in that field. I will continue to meditate and try my best to make it a daily ritual, even if I am otherwise engaged or busy.

V. Commitment

                        Setting a goal and creating a comprehensive plan to achieve it are necessary and wise first steps in personal improvement. However, there are two vital components without which any good intention is doomed from the start: lasting, true commitment and consistency. These two components will make or break the success of any endeavor. I have learned a long time ago that good things take time and cannot be rushed; something truly worthwhile will often demand hard work, attention to detail, and personal accountability. I intend to approach my previously described goals with enthusiasm and a good plan. To keep myself in the know about my progress I will take body measurements every two weeks and send honest results to my trainer for review, I also am writing a daily journal about my training habits and fill out an online accountability chart meant to track adherence to my nutritional program. I have learned and understand now, that I cannot expect to make the changes I desire overnight. This time however I will do it correctly, all beginning by changing my mindset along with my habits, as it is often said that where the mind goes, the body will follow. It will be somewhat trickier to track the progress in my spiritual and psychological domains than the physical one, but it will not be impossible. I am planning on frequently noting my state of mind and specific circumstances into a journal, any event that triggers an emotional or stress response, as well as my reactions to them. With due process I hope to see my moods becoming more balanced, my stress levels going down and my happiness and energy staying high. I also set short term, mid term and long-term goals for myself and write them down. I don’t promise myself a trinket or prize if I reach a milestone, I just want to get there and I know that I am doing this first and foremost for myself, second for my family whom appreciates a great, happy family life as much as I do, and third for all the people that will cross my path in life, for they will benefit from my knowledge and experiences in the many aspects of integral healing and holistic health and wellness.

References

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach: Basic

  Health Publications Inc.

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. S. (2005). Consciousness and healing. St Louis, MO:

 Churchill Livingstone.