Integral Life or Something Like it

I Introduction:

It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop themselves psychologically, spiritually, and physically in order to personally understand the practices that they teach. Also it is important to be a good role model to your clients. If someone does not convey that they believe in what they are teaching, then it is extremely difficult for others to believe and follow their recommendations.

All three aspects go hand in hand so it is important to balance and center ourselves as teachers and as students. Because of this I believe that I should personally develop every area equally to receive the most benefit. I could use to enhance my physical activity, but in doing so I know that I will also find moments when my mind is clear and relaxed and my spirit is lifted. Initial practices will begin to develop larger goals which will thus require new dynamic practices and so on. It is a perpetuating cycle.


II Assessment:

When assessing my total wellness I must look individually at three domains. First, psychological wellness is the hardest domain to secure in my opinion. I feel that I am in a good place mentally, but will admit that my sensitivity frequently affects the ability for this area to flourish.
Physically, I am in pretty good shape. I am at the correct weight for my height as a small framed woman. I have no disabilities or diseases, and I am not taking any medication that would affect my physical fitness. I also consume a healthy diet that I try to base largely on organic fruits and vegetables. When I prepare my own food, I rarely ever cook meat anymore unless it is fish. The only negative would be that I do not go to the gym often and I spend a little too much time on the computer.

Spiritual wellness, I feel is closely related to psychological wellness. If you are mentally well, then you can enhance your overall health by incorporating more activities that are good for your soul. This is because you will actually enjoy them more and feel able to reap their benefits. To clarify, I feel that it is almost impossible to reach enlightenment if one cannot secure the right mindset to enter the deepest inner mind. Since I am currently, satisfied with my psychological wellness I have been able to get the most out of my spiritual practices. I believe that the two are also inversely related in that once I am able to enter my deepest mind and become familiar and comfortable with the journey, I will then be ensuring better, more stable health psychologically. It is a cycle between the two. Happiness leads to the ability to meditate fully, which leads to knowledge of loving kindness, which leads to acting with intention and love toward others, which is contagious and reflects love from others back to the individual, and so on and so forth.


III Goal development:

While I feel positively in each of the domains; there is always room for improvement. Physically, I think I could improve the most. Right now I am implementing activities that are meant to seem more of a pleasure than a chore. If I have trouble getting motivated to go to the gym, than I will alternately take the dogs for a walk as the sun is setting. At this time of day, the sweltering sun is not beating down on me so the environment is pleasant. If something is pleasant then there will be more of a desire to repeat these actions. An article that I found this term stated that people who walk their dogs become motivated to do more (Walking dogs can lead to more physical activity, researchers find, 2008). I definitely can attest to this. I notice that when I am walking the dogs and I see someone on a bicycle, I want to ride a bicycle. As I pass the beautiful houses, I am inspired to replicate some of the creative elements that I see, such as build a garden, create lawn art, paint my house, etc. I become excited about life, and I feel right in the middle of it, like I matter, like I have things to share with the world. So isn’t this interesting that my progressing physical activity goal has now become an exciting spiritual and psychological experience.

Psychologically, my goal is to evolve happiness into something more personal for myself. If I am too sensitive to outside elements then I am at the mercy of the world, but I can also deepen my spirituality to find inner peace within myself then happiness can be a little bit more constant. If I am able to maintain a positive outlook then I believe that this will positively affect other people as well. To clarify, if I am sensitive to the point where anyone having a bad day is able to affect my mood for the worse then negative energy will spread to others, but if I create stable inner happiness then the person having the bad day will not be able to penetrate my mood and perhaps my kindness will be able to, in fact change their mood for the better so that we can spread positive feelings together.

Spiritually, my goal is to share more uplifting activities for the soul with others, for example hiking through a wooded area, fishing with my grandparents, sharing laughter at a comedy show, social eating at dinner parties, or just sharing stories and experiences over coffee. There are a lot of things I can think of to do, but without people to share these experiences with we are truly providing a disservice to all. Humans are social creatures, so by giving the gift of love and friendship all parties will flourish.


IV Practices for personal health:

Strategies that I can use to reach my goal of becoming more physically active include not sleeping too much and not overeating. This will give me more energy to get up and get out of the house. Planning out the week is also helpful especially if you include others in your planned activities. This way you are creating a support system of people that will hold you accountable and vice versa. Sometimes I get socially anxious so I stay inside for most of the weekend working on school work and playing on the computer by myself. Everyone needs some time alone, but constant repetition of this can lead to a more sedentary lifestyle and increased social anxiety which is hindering to one’s psychological health. It is good to get out and try new things or just enjoy regular activities that you know you like because you’ve done them before.

As you can see my physical strategy also incorporates elements that link to my psychological goal. A social network can boost happiness and decrease anxiety with mental practice. This can also aid in the decrease of useless over-sensitivity. Meditative practices can aid in using this boost to its fullest potential thus creating mental and spiritual balance. This balance leaves us feeling whole and protected. The principles that I am practicing through thought concentration are helping me to build a more secure inner being and more stable emotions.

Spiritually, as I mentioned before a social network is important for health and happiness, and it can aid a person in maintaining accountability. I am starting to implement this a bit more often. At certain times during the year this endeavor seems to be less of an obstacle, but then there will be a few weeks back to back where I feel like all I do is go to work and spending time with my husband or alone. It is beneficial to network and do things that teach us to grow, learn, and love. Austin is a city full of interesting and creative events held throughout the year. I want to know more about other cultures, I want to learn more about my own culture. I want to be as aware as I can be of the world around me, and experience what life has to offer.


V Commitment:

Within the next six months, I think a lot will have changed and within the next year, even more. I definitely feel that taking this class has been beneficial because as we know juggling school and work can be stressful, but when the course requires one to practice meditation and other stress relieving exercises, then the amount of stress decreases significantly. Feeling good is definitely something to be desired, so I think that feeling bad will be a red flag that I must continue to promote balance within. My current state of happiness will always be the best alarm for my entire wellbeing. My husband is helpful in providing motivation for me to join him at the gym. Also I recently learned that one of my dogs was gaining weight even though she was eating the same amount of food; keeping her weight in check is also a good motivator for me to walk her more regularly. A good social network takes work and effort to maintain, so this too will create a perpetuating effect once I get the ball rolling it will be easier to maintain the flow. All of these elements have the ability to stay constant, but it is always beneficial to reassess your goals and keep up the dedication and effort.


References:
(2008). Walking dogs can lead to more physical activity, researchers find. Nation's Health, 38(10), 29. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database.