Unit #9 Project

This class has been a great eye-opener even more so after taking it the second time.  Integral health wasn’t even something I knew anything about until I took this class.  I thought health meant you were either in good or bad health.  I didn’t realize how much there was to a true approach to holistic/integral health.  The more I learn about natural healing and the body’s abilities, I become more fascinated.  I have been doing a lot of research on my own to more natural approaches to health care.  I see myself advancing my career even further to holistic practitioner.  So this is my journey as I see it for now to reach holistic/integral health.

Introduction:

Health and wellness professionals must develop their psychological, spiritual and physical wellbeing in order to provide their clients with the best possible care they can.  Most clients will not believe what the professional is telling them unless the professional lives by the same rules.  I don’t feel any professional can truly provide top care unless they are comfortable with their knowledge and have experienced what a client is going through.  A professional needs to be at their best when dealing with clients.  If they come in all raggedy and look like they haven’t slept in days, I don’t want them giving me advice on how to take care of myself.  Some professionals can sympathize with a client, but can never truly know what they are going through because they don’t live their life.  I would never treat a client like I know what they are going through unless I have actually been through it.  I do sympathize with their issues and try my best to handle their situation within my knowledge or experience.  I’m not afraid to admit when I don’t know something because I don’t want to hurt my clients.

I still need to develop in all these areas to achieve my goals.  I have almost reached my goals for spiritual wellbeing, but physically and psychologically I am still lacking.  I feel I am getting closer and closer every day with my psychologically wellbeing.  Physical wellbeing is always a big challenge for me.  I have come to realize that to reach these goals I need to see these set-backs as learning experiences.  I can still achieve my goals.  I will just take a bit longer to get there.

Assessment:

My spiritual wellbeing has evolved to amazing levels.  I have accomplished several of my goals I had set for myself when I started this class the first time.  I feel I have come closer to nature once again and allowing it to help heal me.  I still have days when I allow other things to interfere with my spiritual wellbeing.  I don’t think I will be truly happy with my spirituality until I see deeper into my mind, body and spirit.  There are so many layers to go through to see the true me and how I function.  It shall be an exciting adventure I’m sure.

My physical wellbeing is a little above my initial assessment.  I always seem to find a way to neglect my physical goals.  I think I invented new excuses to put it off even when I know I need to do it for my health and family.  I have still cut out the junk food for the most part and continue to add healthy choices when I eat.  I did finally join a gym, but suffered with pain for a week after due to my arm injury.  I know I can’t give up, but finding the right combination that won’t cause pain is the difficult part.

My psychological wellbeing has been getting much better since my absolute first assessment with this class.  I have found new ways to handle stress when issues arise.  Stressful events don’t rule me as much anymore.  Some still get the best of me, but everything is a work in progress.  It can be a fun challenge to see if I can handle a situation differently than I normally would.

Goal development:

A physical goal for me would be to stick with the regular exercise routine the personal trainer set up for me at the gym.  I also want to finally free myself of my soda habit.  Incorporating healthy on-the-go meals into my daily diet and cutting out the take-out food completely is another goal to my physical wellbeing.  I am worth getting physically fit and want to be around longer for my kids and granddaughter.

Spiritual goal is to open my heart and stop worrying about getting hurt again.  I have allowed others to cause pain to me and I built a huge wall around my heart to protect myself.  Meditation has shown me the way to forgive my enemies and open my heart again.  Now I need to do the same to open up for love once again.

Psychological goal is to let life happen and stop letting the stress beat me.  I can’t change the events that occur, but I can change how I react to them.  Learning to handle things better has started to make my life less stressful.  Everything happens for a reason.  We just need to be smart enough to know what lesson we are supposed to learn from the event and move on with our new knowledge.

Practices for personal health:

To foster growth physically, I would make up a meal plan for the entire month including healthy snacks so I wouldn’t be tempted to fall off my plan.  I would also set up my exercise schedule for the entire month so I could work my schedule around my routine.

To grow spiritually, I would take the next two levels of Reiki training.  At the third level, you get to introduce yourself to your spirit and gain understanding of yourself on a whole new level.  It is a very exciting concept for me and I can’t wait to get there.  I will also continue using meditation to feel more connected to myself and the world around me to reach a state of wholeness.

To grow psychologically, I have been using positive affirmations to boost my mood to relieve the stress.  Positive affirmations are always available and can be used when needed.  I have also started a new 28 day challenge about gratitude from a book called The Magic by Rhonda Byrne.  I can feel the difference when I do the daily exercises.  More positive energy is being put out in the universe to return to me when I show my gratitude.  I learned about this from a client.  We share the same love of learning and she mentioned it to me.  I truly enjoy it and recommend it to anyone who needs a boost.

Commitment:

The best way for me to assess my progress is by writing down my goals and periodically checking my progress.  I wouldn’t wait until the six months were up.  I would do a regular check-in with myself so I could make sure I am on track.  If I wasn’t on track each month, I would make some adjustments to get myself back on the path to reach my goal. 

Strategies to help me maintain my long-term practices for health and wellness would include things like keeping a picture of my kids and granddaughter next to my goals to keep me focused on why my health is so important and rewarding myself when I reach a goal so I have something to look forward to each time I achieve one. 

This is just a plan that may change as my life changes and I reach my goals.  Once one goal is reached, I will probably add more.  A thought I would like to end this with is wise words from Elliot Dacher.  He said, “It is essential to explore the subtle mind, enhance our capacity, extend our abilities and seek human flourishing rather than dumbing integral health down to an assortment of relaxation techniques, self-improvement programs, psychological understandings, or more remedies and therapies (Dacher, 2006).”  This hit home for me and made this whole course worth every minute I spent on doing the work.  It isn’t all about the techniques we try, it is about us and how we choose to take our journey to integral health.  I plan on enjoying every minute of the journey and hope to teach others how to start their own adventure to integral health.

References:

Byrne, Rhonda. (2012). The Magic. Atria Books: New York.

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health Publications:

            California.