Summarizing Experiences

The Assessments:

Based on self-reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal well-being), the following areas of physical well-being, psychological well-being and spiritual well-being have been rated in comparison as:

                                                     Unit 3   Unit 10

Physical Well-being rating:             6           6.5

Psychological Well-being:              6           7

Spiritual Well-being rating:            7           7.5

The Changes Noticed:

Physical Well-being:  Positive results are becoming evident due to healthier eating, increased awareness, and exercise habits.  Less caffeine consumption is showing me that I sleep better and feel more rested upon rising.  I have also begun to lose some weight.  Motivating myself toward these new well-being goals is improving which also contributes to well-being.

Psychological Well-being:  This is where I see the most improvement which is directly associated with regular meditation practices, and intentionality, awareness, and observance exercises.  Something that I have added on my own is to do a ‘repetitive mantram’ as a way to promote the reduction of negative mental chatter and increase a sense of spirituality.  I credit this choice to Eknath Easwaran (2011) who said “A mantram is a powerful spiritual formula which, when repeated silently in the mind, has the capacity to transform consciousness. There is nothing magical about this. It is simply a matter of practice. The mantram is a short, powerful spiritual formula for the highest power we can conceive of – whether we call it God, or the ultimate reality, or the Self within. Whatever name we use, with the mantram we are calling up what is best and deepest in ourselves.”

Spiritual Well-being:  Due to meditation and mindfulness exercises; and intentionality, and observance exercises, I am seeing new spiritual experiences appear and it becomes the authentic understanding that you do not know, truly, what some of these experiences are until you ‘have’ them yourself.  One example:  I have heard it said that it is best to love yourself.  My thought response?  “Yeah, yeah….I love myself” but until you ’feel’ love wafting within and without and experience the depth of the loving vibration itself, you really do not understand it specifically.  When I was working on the Unit 7 exercise and researching Eknath Easwaran and the Eight Point Program (2011), I began to feel good, then really good, then joy running around on the inside of me, then joy from every cell in my body.  At this point part of my mind wanted to analyze what was going on and another part just wanted to stop and observe.  I stopped, observed, was quite taken aback by the feelings and thought that if I started back into the Unit 7 assignment that I would lose the feeling.  After experiencing tears of joy running down my face, I figured it could not get better than that, so I decided it was time to step forward and I went back to work.  I felt, not as good, but had an elevated sense of well-being for the rest of the evening.  With that said, I am so looking forward to future spiritual experiences.

The Goals and Implementations:

All identified goals in the areas of physical, psychological and spiritual are being acted upon and shifts are becoming evident, which support and encourage me to continue in all areas.

Thank You:

This class has covered a myriad of intricate information that, if applied, can lead to positive shifts and unimaginable experiences.  Dacher (2006) states “We just need to train ourselves to surf the waves of outer adversity rather than to drown in them.”  The glimpses of some of those possibilities that I have experienced, I’m thinking, are some examples of what Elliott S. Dacher (2006) mentioned in our course textbook Integral Health as “fruits will begin to emerge early”.  The body follows what goes on in the mind, thus making the mind a very important point of focus in this journey, and therefore a beautiful and precious gem that can reflect exquisite experiences.  Prior to this course, I had the understanding that there was definitely something more to human existence than what was seen and touched.  I’ve had far too many experiences that hinted at something more.  This course has connected some of those dots and I am very happy and grateful for this!  So much of what we have learned has filled in so many blanks that the upgraded awareness of what is possible is completely and positively stimulating.  With these tools, the understanding that integral health is limitless is invaluable.

“Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!”

References

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health:  the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publishing, Inc.

Easwaran, E. (2011). The eight point program. Retrieved from http://www.easwaran.org/the-eight-point-program.htmlEaswarrdklkfj

Understanding Integral Health

Introduction:

Health and Wellness Professionals that desire success for themselves and their clientele should have a well-established understanding of the importance of holistically developing the physical, psychological, and spiritual areas for balanced well-being.  To develop one area and not another brings about an out of balance condition that does not serve the professional or their clientele.  Professionals not skilled in integral health can bring more harm than good when guiding clientele toward human flourishing.  As this is the beginning of my journey to integral health, it is apparent that work is needed in all three areas.

Assessment:

Dacher (2006) gives us an Integral Assessment tool that helps to not only identify areas in need of attention but to prioritize them as well.  While in a contemplative state, one can begin to take inventory of ones’ integral health, thus identifying areas that are in need of attention.  This process may take several attempts spread over a few days or even weeks (Dacher, 2006).  After defining which areas are in need of improvement, focus can be given to just those areas to determine their priorities.  For example, my physical assessment is average, my psychological assessment is just less than average, and my spiritual assessment is less than average.  I have great enthusiasm in addressing all of these areas with what has been described in Dacher’s book, Integral Health (2006), through exercises and practices.

Goal development:

Goals in these areas are identified as the following:

1)     Body/Physical – Manage weight to a healthier level; eat healthy, nutrient dense foods; increase exercise; sleep more soundly and wake refreshed

2)     Mind/Psychological – Adjust mental activity to be less reactive, pause, and opt for the more positive events and outcomes; become an observer to thoughts

3)     Spirit/Spiritual – Expand consciousness and connectedness by contemplative practices; meditate, practice forgiveness, compassion and gratitude; focus more on others

Practices for personal health:

Implementing the following will foster my growth:

1)      Physical practices:  Walking meditations, Qigong, stretching meditation, focused labyrinth walking, awareness and observation exercises, and swimming meditation

2)     Mind practices:  Deep breathing exercises, focus and inner listening exercise, skillful action exercise to minimize ‘knee-jerk’ reactivity, mindfulness exercise, intention exercise, and subtle mind meditation

3)     Spiritual practices:  Meeting Asclepius meditation, A taste of human flourishing meditation, mantra repetition exercise, contemplative music observance, deep listening exercise, and prayer

Examples of Exercises:

1)     Physical:  ‘Walking meditation/Intentionality, awareness, observance, listening and focus exercises’ – With each breath, intentionally let go of stress and become lighter.  With each step bring up your senses of the environment you are in, observe and listen to the details of it.  Next focus on proper posture, stride and arm swing to be in rhythm.  Then focus intentionally on the inner awareness of breathing, the effect of increased oxygen flow, the magnificent movement of muscles and become the witnessing mind.  The witnessing mind flows into calm-abiding, and if you can catch a glimpse of unity consciousness, that would be excellent.

2)     Mind:  ‘Mindfulness exercise/Intentionality, awareness, and observance exercises’ – At any time of the day or night, intentionally become completely aware of the present moment and witness/observe all that is taking place, letting go of everything else.  It is stated perfectly in the movie Peaceful Warrior “there is never ‘nothing’ going on” and “there is only this moment” (IMDb, 2006).  To that end, be non-judgmental and non-attached as a practice, yet very in the moment and very observant, including all inner activity as well.

3)     Spiritual:  ‘Contemplative music observance/Witnessing mind/Intentionality and observance practice’ – This is a beautiful exercise and very easy on the mind.  Once you find a piece of contemplative music to your liking, in a quiet setting, listen gently while letting go of the outer world and practice the observance of the witnessing mind which will eventually lead into calm-abiding.  Then intentionally visualize blending with your higher self, allowing the transference of knowledge, wisdom and deep gratitude.

Commitment:

The commitment to health and wellness is therefore a life journey and periodically, assessments are needed to refresh the understanding of where we are and what needs a little more of our love, focus and attention.  Any time that boredom or a non-forward movement is noticed, it is time for a reassessment.  Dacher’s (2006) Integral Assessment tool is an excellent choice for reassessment, as described above, and can be used for short-term or long-term review.  This course has been a powerful positive thrust in the journey toward integral health and I very much appreciate the experience and the knowledge.  Wishing loving-kindness to all in their future endeavors. 

References

Dacher E S 2006 Integral health:  the path to human flourishingDacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health:  the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publishing, Inc.

IMDb 2006 Peaceful WarriorIMDb (2006). Peaceful Warrior. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438315/quotes