Unit 9 Final Project
Integral Healing
Monte D. Quinn
Kaplan University
HW420-03
Dr. Cindy Fouhy
February 12, 2011
- Introduction:
Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically? What areas do you need to develop to achieve the goals you have for yourself?
As health and wellness professionals we must strive to flourish. Developing our psychospiritual aspect of our lives will help us reach our goals. Practicing to become a Mental Olympian we can achieve integral silence and stillness. Through meditation and visualization we can calm the mind and focus on our inner development. Biological aspects of life are usually what one thinks about when talking about human health. Wellness requires mind, body, and spiritual healing to experience life-wholeness.
The area I need to address is balance. To achieve wholeness, happiness, and health I need to engage my spirituality as I do my biological wellness. Stress in my life is almost non-existent because I deal with adversity rather well. I believe that physical exercise creates a mind-body connection that is essential to the balance of life. Knowing your body in times of physical stress we can consciously improve our response to mental stress. Balance in my life will be achieved by the mental exercises learned in this class. Utilizing thirty minutes a day to calm the mind through meditation I will climb my way through the evolutionary spiral eventually reaching unity-consciousness. The final level of human flourishing is an obtainable goal with dedication and commitment.
- Assessment:
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?
The Integral Assessment tool was an opportunity to redirect our focus from conventional to integral. The six principles Elliott Dacher included in the questionnaire covered the path of change and human flourishing. The overall goal of integral health is to alleviate needless suffering and promote health. Recognize the difference between short and long term relief. Prioritize long-term flourishing and not just immediate pleasures. Psychospiritual development is essential to expand our consciousness. Integral assessment requires an unbiased open-minded listening. Assessing our all the aspects of development is essential in moving our character towards human flourishing.
What are the significant sources of distress in my life and where are possibilities for growth? Job satisfaction is the biggest contributor to my distress. To some this might be confusing and I am sorry. The Air Force as a career is great I have stability with job security and pay. My actual job for the past twelve years as an aircraft mechanic has become a road block to professional growth. Years of trying to change has left me a bit disgruntled and wanting more for myself. Dacher’s story about Learning from the Woodcarver and a Psychologist helped me see my own career in a different light. From the story I have learned to accept my destiny and realize it’s a stepping stone away from my next career in health and wellness.
On a scale of 1-10 I score my physical aspect of my life a 9 ½. I exercise regularly, I feel great even with sore muscles from working out. I compete in triathlons and run races, short and long. I think biologically I’m well. I believe a healthy diet is the hardest part of physical health. I have increased my knowledge enough to be confident with both exercise and nutrition.
Grading my spiritual and psychological being I come back to the term psychospiritual. Being Catholic I have faith in a higher power. Until recent classes I thought that religion and spirituality was one and the same. Now knowing that faith in self is spiritual I can separate the two. I have the hardest time with consistency and I attribute that to my spiritual health. Our class reading about work environment and our path to human flourishing being aligned can enhance our spiritual being. Work with intention and our integral life will become more balanced. For this I give my spiritual health a 5 but getting better every day.
Judging my psychological wellness I go back to my job satisfaction and the struggle to embrace what I have mentally so my score is a 7. I find it amazing that life has so many aspects and levels and with one unbalanced there is a decrease in wellness. Integral health brings to light where we fall short. Recognizing the area in need of repair or development we can improve our wellbeing.
- Goal development:
List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.
Physical: An Ironman Triathlon consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a complete 26.2 mile marathon run. I have this as an ultimate physical goal. I have completed several shorter triathlons and will run my second marathon this fall. I believe I will need all three aspects of wellbeing to complete this goal.
Psychological: Like the woodcarver, I will embrace my Air Force Duties and be the best leader. This is a tough place to apply a goal. Psychological health or mental wellbeing refers to wholeness and happiness. My overall goal will be to consistently be positive about my current career.
Spiritual: Meditation every day. Finding peace and striving for that enlightening next step of calm-abiding is my goal. I think consistency will be the key here also. The three aspects of wellness will have to be balanced to achieve any goal worth setting. Setting personal standards high will keep you striving for challenging goals. I think in my case I need to recognize I’m exercising my psychological and spiritual being while working on my physical exercises.
- Practices for personal health:
What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual. Provide at least two examples of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.
There are many practices we can implement into our lives to foster growth. I believe many of them overlap their effectiveness domain. I will list personal favorites and how they will be applied to my personal life on my journey to human flourishing.
Physical fitness has two aspects aerobic, and anaerobic. An aerobic strategy is to improve your cardiovascular system and muscular endurance. I suggest running for all levels of fitness. Whether you are outside getting fresh air or indoors on a treadmill, running is considered a whole body workout. Aerobic exercise is used to improve your VO2 or weight loss. Anaerobic exercise is shorter bouts of effort and works on muscular strength. Lifting weights isn’t for everyone but has great benefits such as strengthening muscle and bones. Gaining muscle also boosts metabolism which helps with weight loss.
Psychological exercises that I liked included creative visualization and mantra or chanting. To me these choices gave me the most freedom to use my imagination. The Dacher exercise A Taste of Human Flourishing brought us to a time of great happiness, wholeness, and exuberant vitality. Using all our senses eventually these times of visualization will become an inner experience. Practicing a mantra reinforces a positive message and when used correctly becomes reality. I believe this is a good way to improve character flaws and scare away negative thoughts. The Universal Loving Kindness exercise is a good example of a mantra.
Spiritual exercises that I felt most beneficial are the Subtle Mind and other forms of non-guided meditation. The concept behind the Subtle Mind exercise is to acknowledge our random thoughts, feelings, and images then refocus on our focal point. The focal point for this exercise is the breath, either the inhale or exhale. I found exhaling easier to concentrate on. This is mindful exercise that forces you to witness our mind wandering and then pull it back to our focal point of breathing. Practicing this before bed has quieted my mind and eventually releases my mind of the day’s events. Guided meditation for me is a bit much but after practice has become much more effective. Using simple meditation can be much more personal. Utilizing background sounds can help induce a better focus. Water, wind, nature sounds, and instrumentals can intensify our focus and drown out distractions. I love going to a masseuse, the first time I got a massage I thought this is some crazy music she’s playing. A few minutes into it I was so relaxed and was stuck in the moment forgetting everything else.
- Commitment:
How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months? What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices for health and wellness?
Notes From A Fellow Traveler and The Loving Kindness exercises will be my personal progress checks. Sticking to concepts found in the Integral Health book provided for our class will be my commitment. Using the exercises that came easy and eventually adding in the harder ones that I couldn’t focus on at the beginning seems the best for my mental growth. Using the principles of integral assessment is a good six month strategy. The profession of health and wellness requires our long-term commitment to better ourselves so we can help others. The final goal of integral health is human flourishing. Holistic practices prevail where western medicine fails. Treating the whole person as an innate being is a concept that isn’t easily grasped. Practicing what we have learned and implementing new strategies will ensure our future as effective health practitioners.
Reference
Amorok, T., Micozzi, M., Schlitz, M. (2005). Consciousness & Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. Elsevier Inc. St Louis, Missouri
Dacher, M.D., Elliott, S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health
Publications, Inc.
