Unit Nine-It's been a great Ride

Introduction:

     By incorporating the integral process into our own lives, I am certain that we will each discover the profound possibilities of integral health and healing. (Dacher, 2006). This statement made me really come to grips with how damaging the statement “do as I say, not as I do” can be to both the health professional and the client. How can we possibly know the benefits that integral health plays in the life of someone if we ourselves do not have a clear understanding, the personal practice, and the ability to honestly share in the obvious benefits  of incorporating this into our own lives. This is one thing I try to pick up on even when I am at the doctor’s office. Is she/he just giving me book advice or are they really looking at me as an individual and giving me advice based on that. I can tell when they are on a time crunch or just cookie cutter treating me.  Like Dacher (Dacher, 2006) goes on to explain, by incorporating what we know about integral health into our own lives we truly come to the realization that it is far more than book knowledge. We can have the same experience we are sharing with our clients, which then allows us and them to create a whole new and better world for themselves and helps us to realize that good health and healing are very much alive and well when we integrate mind, body, and spirit.

     For me, the area I most want to work on at this point is my health and wellness from a physical standpoint. With spending the last couple of years sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day which was the polar opposite of any other job I have ever had and the surgeries and recoveries I went through this past year, I can safely say I feel like and probably look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy for the first time in my life. I am a very healthy eater and now that I am fully recovered and on my feet again, I am planning my goals for physical recovery to be becoming fit thus sharing with my clients that no matter what curve balls you might get thrown in life, you can always make the choice to do all you can to gain back what might have been lost or not maintained properly in not only the psychological and spiritual, but the physical as well.

Assessment:
     If I were to use a scale of one to ten with one being in desperate need of attention and ten being fairly confident that I am on the right track, I think this is how I would rate the following

     Spiritually, I think I would rate myself an 8. Spiritual growth is a lifelong journey. I feel that I “get it” in my own spiritual awareness and I feel that I am very open and accepting of whatever spiritual means to someone else. We are all different and we all have our own ideas on spirituality. Mine happens to fall under the category of following Jesus Christ. I would hope people would respect that and I would like to know that I exude the exact loving kindness that Jesus shared with others. I also want to make sure that if someone else is Jewish or Buddhist or a naturalist that I would respect that just as much if not more.

     Physically, I feel I am currently at about a 4. That is not okay with me. I explained above about the reason for this but everyday that I do nothing to get back on track is another day I am taking a hit on my health, my self esteem, and my ability to relate to others just how important to our integral well being physical health can be.

     Psychologically, I would say I am a strong 9, maybe slightly nudging towards a 10. I think I have my goals, priorities, understanding, and stress level under better control than ever. After I struggled and stressed out to get caught back up with school work after Hurricane Sandy, I think I just took a deep breath and looked back and worked through it and learned a lot about how to handle that type of a situation. I have loved learning the meditation techniques in this class and have been using them on a regular basis to look inside and then focus outward instead of trying to just battle to get through another day. I am paying attention to my surroundings and the people I share life with in far greater detail and have absolutely loved spending the time to remember times, events, and people that have gotten me this far and I want to have my kids look back and think the same about me.  

Goal development:

     Again, physical is my biggest hurdle at this point. I do have free membership at the gym where I work. I am at one end of the campus and it’s at the other making it about a mile long hike to get there so I tend to procrastinate when it comes going there. Once I am there, I am always so happy I am and leave there feeling great. So my goal in the physical area is to make use of that gym membership at least three times a week until our Cleveland winter weather clears up and then get back to riding my bike like I used to.

     Psychologically I have recently set the goal of being keenly aware of what my thoughts and actions based on those thoughts are. Like I mentioned earlier, I do not want my kids looking back and thinking that mom was a crazy loon, always struggling and stressing about how to balance school and work and the family. I want them to look back and say wow, mom really kept her cool when she had so much on her plate. I do not want to back burner life because of all that I have going on right now.

     Spiritually, my goal is to get back out there and do what I love, which is serving. We go to church and I spend time with the Lord but I want to get my sleeves rolled up and be out there helping others. Sharing the loving kindness and the ability to take what I have and share it the way I always feel so drawn to do. I am not a religious person per say. I think being spiritually sound is such a simple thing and people tend to make it way more complicated than necessary. If someone is in need, help them, if they are going through a rough time, pray for them and with them, if they are celebrating a joyous occasion, don’t be jealous or envious, celebrate with them. We all have a story and it is so much easier to live it out in love within ourselves, our families, our friends, and that total stranger that you might meet today that may change your life and/or his forever.

Practices for personal health:

     To foster growth in a physical domain, I plan to get back to a regular routine at the gym and my husband and I have recently starting going for walks after dinner. I also plan to get my beloved bike back out of the dusty corner in our garage where it has spent the last year and get going on that. I also think I want to look into yoga. It’s free where I work and people just love it. I think it will help me a great deal with getting my flexibility back. From a nutritional stand, I feel I eat healthy now but I also love trying new recipes and learning what I can about how to alter my diet to suit my physical needs. For example, now that I am ready to be more physical I need to make sure that I adjust my portions or various ingredients so that I am still attaining the correct amount of nutrition to help cover the extra energy that will soon be needed.

     Fostering a psychological domain for me will to continuously learn and grow. I have learned quite a bit about how to become aware of my attitude and how that can affect not only me but those around me. I love little pick me up saying or funny quotes. Happiness and contentment are fostered in so many ways if we are in tune with them. When or if I start feeling stressed or negative, I will replace those thoughts with the above mentioned and for me, I soon get over negativity and look for positive in my life and the life of those around me. I’m not saying I will not have times of trial but I will definitely try to train my brain to look for the bright side of things.

     Fostering in a spiritual way is so easy but somehow I can just as easily place that on a back burner until I “get the right amount of time” or I “can be still and focused” I think my two most important plans for this area will be to get back into a small group with my husband and others for the support, friendship, accountability, and flat out people to travel the journey with. We were in a group for years and years and slowly other priorities crept in and we have felt something missing ever since. My second response to this would be to realize that God doesn’t care if I am sitting in a quiet room with a pretty little cup of tea and my Bible, pen and paper. He wants a relationship with me. I don’t treat any of my other relationships like that, so I want to start making Him more of a priority in my day. Whether that means chatting it up with Him on my hour commute to work or spending time with my husband just praying together, I’m not sure but I do know that if I continue to wait until everything is perfect, it will only become a more and more distant memory for me. Oh, and one more, I need, need, need to get back out there and serve others like He has done for me.

Commitment:
     If I don’t think this through and write out a goal and plan to reach that goal, I know how quickly I can get to tweaking it just for today until I can get back on track tomorrow. I really want to write it in a journal and not every single day, but often, I want to pull that journal out, read the goals, read what I have written so far and jot a few notes down. How quickly we forget how we thought or felt or reacted until we go back and read about it six months later. It think that if I am setting goals and I am following through on the  plan, that my clients will clearly see that there is something about me that makes them want to listen and learn and work with me to be completely healthy and well in the way we were intended to be…integral approach and follow thru. 

References:

Elliott S. Dacher, M. (2006). Integral Health The Path to Human Flourishing. Lagun Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.