Health and wellness professionals have given their lives to
help and assist their clients to develop the highest levels of health and
wellness and ultimately integral health. For that level of health to be
attained, the ‘whole’ person in terms of body, mind and spirit must be taken
care of completely and thus a holistic approach to health should be used. In this
profession, the experiences of the professionals will go a long way in helping
their clients and it is my personal opinion that the professional will need to
be a living example of what is possible and thus they need to develop
themselves first before they seek to help their clients. The journey to
integral health will need a guide who has been there, seen it, and they are now
able to lead and guide others instead of pointing out a path that they do not
know the pitfalls or the terrain (Dacher, 2006). I consider myself to have made
tremendous steps in all the aspects but I feel that I need to attain the highest
level in each aspect and I am therefore all areas are important to me and I
have goals to achieve in all areas.
In the spiritual wellness part, I am a spiritual
person who has got very strong Christian convictions, I believe that I am
created to be able to serve other people and I gauge that by my involvement in
service as well as how I am able to be useful to other people. I know that I am
not perfect because there are some things I should be doing but I’m not doing
them but at least I can be able to trace my steps and see where I am at. In the
physical part, I am able to assess my nutrition and my exercise regimens. I try
to track what I am eating and what makes me to eat and I believe that it can be
tied up with psychological health. The way I deal with situations will also
affect my physical health. If I am able to react positively to situations that
may be stressful in my day to day life, I will also be able to control eating
by impulse and I therefore believe that daily assessment of both my reaction
and my nutrition. I feel that I am doing well in all the aspects but still
there is room for more improvement.
I have a goal of maintaining my physical wellness by at
least doing 15miles run per weeks as well as making sure that I eat healthy. If
I am able to maintain that, I will keep my weight in check. In the spiritual
aspect, I have a goal of making sure that I serve my community especially the
homeless every month and looking to increase that to at least twice per month. As
for mental health, I feel that being physically and spiritually healthy will
translate to better psychological state. I am however trying to make sure that I
am able to maintain a level head especially in my workplace where sometimes the
clients and co-workers may drive someone to react angrily and be upset.
Practices that will foster physical health like I had
mentioned earlier is to exercise regularly and watching my nutrition. I am
cutting down so much on meat in my diet and am glad I have been able to do away
with soda. As for exercises, I am currently doing at least 10 miles run per
week and I am already seeing the effects of the changes. Spiritually, I have found
the loving-kindness practice to be something that works wonders and I am planning
on doing the practice daily as well as the subtle mind practice in form of
taking some time to do some meditation and I am sure that a calm abiding mind
will be possible. Visualization is one of my other exercises that I plan on using consistently for the sake of psychological wellness. It is my belief that meditation in whatever form will be
beneficial for my psychological wellbeing and having a consistent and
intentional program of doing it will be beneficial in all aspects.
In this
journey of integral health, I believe that accountability is a virtue and it is
my aim to be accountable to someone and by doing so, the person will be able to
help me know where I am and what I need to do. Looking at the eventual benefits
and being able to internalize what I want to be and where I want to be maybe a
motivating factor. I am well aware that the journey is not a simple one but
knowing and having a role model who have made it will also serve as motivation
and I am planning on keeping my goals in focus and being accountable to a
teacher who will be able to point out my missteps and help me overcome them and
keep on course.
References
Dacher, E. (2006). Human Flourishing. Chapter 14. Integral Health; The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA. Basic Health Publications
David,
ReplyDeleteAccountability is a good way to ensure that you are where you need to be. Sometimes it takes someone else knowing what we are doing or are not doing to keep us inspired and motivated!
It is amazing what impact that certain foods can have on our moods and how our bodies feel. For three months, my husband and I were eating paleo which is only unprocessed meats, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. We both felt amazing! No indigestion. We were happy. Aches and pains were gone, and recovery after exercise did not include muscle soreness. We somehow strayed from that way of eating, and the joint aches and pains have returned. I cannot believe that I felt this way for so long that I accepted it as normal. I want to change the way we eat again, but it isn't the easiest thing to do. I think it would really help my kids, too. It even affected how I sleep. When eating paleo, I was able to fall asleep quickly, but now I cannot fall asleep for hours. Choosing the right foods affects so much more than just our bodies. I'm glad that you recognize the necessity of good food choices! Keep up the progress and good work!
Thanks,
Amy Davis
David, I too have strong spiritual convictions however, I feel that there always are more ways to serve the lord and if we have an open mind these paths will present them self’s to us. I also feel as you do that accountability is important and that we all are accountable for our actions at one point or another. I am glad that you have found ways to keep your self-healthy. I too am a beginning runner and am working toward my first 5k so the fact that you are running 10 miles a week pushing our self’s is a great way to stay fit. I feel that moderation is the key to any diet because many different foods have valuable aspects that they bring to the health of human beings. I really liked what you had to say and wish you the best of luck and health, Thanks Sam
ReplyDeleteHi David,
ReplyDeleteI agree that an Integral practitioner needs to live a balanced life, practicing what they are teaching to their patients. To lead by example in all areas physical, mental and spiritual. I also agree that accountability is important. It is easier for those around us to hold us accountable for physical things such as eating habits and exercise programs. However when it comes to accountability for our spiritual growth that is between us and our creator. I believe that when we are living a spiritual life the peace of mind and love we experience from it shines through and is visible to those around us.
Best of luck to you,
Anne Marie
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed your posts and agree with you that balance is important. I will have to try that visualization exercise again, since you recommend it. I too like the loving-kindness and subtle mind practices.
We all have busy lives and strive to have time for everything. I think being a good example is imperative when working with others. We cannot lead if we do not have our lives together. Something I am working on too.
Take care,
Robin