Admittedly when I completed my Unit 3 personal assessment of my psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being, I gave myself high marks.  However in reflection and especially after completing this course, I find that those high marks were because I did not completely understand what well-being is.  I gave myself a 10 in spiritual well-being because I only took into account my Christian experience.  I did not consider it in the realm of or the role it plays in the balance of the three.  So when I give myself a 9 for spiritual well-being now, it is not because I have fallen a notch, it is because I understand better the role my spiritual well-being plays in my overall wellness.

I gave myself a 9 in the psychological realm, when actually this should have been a 6.  I feel that even now after I have learned so much about integral health, I am still a distance from 9.  Right now I rate myself as a 7.  I have a lot more to learn about mind/body exercises and I need to practice them regularly before I can rat myself a 9.  Stilling the mind is very good exercise to gain control over your thoughts.  This is an exercise I feel will help me accomplish my goal for psychological well-being.

I gave my physical an 8 and that was about right.  I have always worked on being well physically and I think this is my where most of my focus has been.  I am in good physical shape.  I have not taken a sick day since I can’t remember.  I exercise daily and enjoy trying new fitness strategies.  I have embarked on trying tai chi, which I feel is an excellent exercise that brings together all three—mind/body/spirit. 

My personal experience throughout this course has been one of a deeper understanding of what integral health means.   I have always been curious about people who seem so at peace with themselves and with the world.  At the same time I have wondered about those who seem angry at everything and everyone in the world.  I have experienced both states at some point in my life, but what I want most is to be at peace with myself and the world and to achieve integral health.  The exercises I have learned in this course are wonderful and have helped me achieve better breathing, a better outlook on life, and a greater appreciation for the world and the people around me.  

This has truly been an enjoyable class and I wish all of you the best in all of your future endeavors.

Peace--Debbie

Hello everyone:

It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically because as a professional who will teach these concepts, it is good to have a experienced them as well.  It would prove difficult to teach someone to drive if you don’t know how to drive or have never driven before yourself.  And how would someone who had not explored the intricacies of the practice be able to answer the questions his client might have about the practice? 

I believe I would have to practice all of the techniques that were introduced in the textbook before I would feel comfortable instructing someone to practice.   Because I have seen and experienced amazing results from practicing just of few of the exercises, I believe in its efficacy.  This is also a requirement for the health and wellness professionals--belief.

Part II—Assessment

When it comes to spiritual wellness, I don’t think I have been as committed to its development and growth.  Like many others I’ve always thought of spirit in the religious sense.  That is not to say that this is a bad thing.  It was through my religious training and upbringing that I learned kindness, concern for others and compassion.  The exercises I have practiced in this course had enhanced my spiritual wellness so I feel that going forward I have raised my spiritual wellness to a nine.

Physically I have also improved.  Now when I walk instead of wishing I had music or spend my time counting number of white or black cars I encounter, I meditate or practice breathing exercises.  This greatly improves my lung function and makes the walk easier.  I have to give my physical wellness a ten.

My psychological wellness is the one that needs the most improvement.  Even though stress puts a strain on all aspects of a person’s health, I feel it most strongly in the mind.  On the job, I find myself feeling estranged and sometimes forgotten about by co-workers.  If I am not careful I will find myself harboring feeling of resentment.   I am learning to practice loving-kindness exercises as a way of eliminating these destructive feelings.  Therefore, I have to give my psychological wellness a six.  But I am committed to improve this number.  

Part III—Goal Development

When it comes to physical wellness I feel I should continue to take care of my body.  I should eat the foods that nourish it and do the exercises that strengthen it.  I should also give consideration to my mind and spirit and make sure they get a workout as well.

 For my psychological wellness I should keep myself open to new experiences.    I should also spend time developing my mind with games and logical puzzles.  It has been shown that exercises like these increase plasticity in the brain so that old memories are stored in a different part of the brain to make room for new memories and knowledge. 

Spiritually I need to continue to meditate and more time for practices such as mindfulness and loving kindness.  I need to work on driving out negative feelings and replacing them with positive ones.  I plan to practice loving kindness more regularly since most of my negative feelings are directed toward people.  I feel that loving kindness practice will re-direct those feelings toward a more positive outcome.         

Part IV—Practices for Personal Health

Recently a fitness coach taught me a 10-minute yoga stretch during an orientation class for a Health Start program.  This stretch worked wonders for my mind and spirit as well as for my body.  After an hour of listening to statistics and facts about the health program, everyone was feeling sluggish and sleepy.  So the yoga stretch was very timely.  The stretch woke me up and was like an instant boost to my mind, body, and spirit.  I was ready to listen to and participate in the rest of the class.  This will definitely be a practice I will continue to follow.

As I stated previously the loving kindness exercises is one of the best practices to eliminate negative feelings.  This will also be a part of my practice for personal health.  One other noteworthy practice was the mental imagery and visualization.  This practice brought me great joy and happiness.

Part V—Commitment

After reading the Integral Vow I found one vow that summarizes my commitment to integral health.  It reads, “develop through person contemplative practice a healing presence that is acknowledged comforting reassuring, non-judgmental and infused with loving-kindness” Dacher, p. 173).  I feel that once I can accomplish this concept, I will be well on my way to meeting my goal for integral health practice.   I am committed to the goal of fulfilling this vow.

Reference:  Dacher, Elliott; Integral Health:  The Path to Human Flourishing, 2006; Basic Health Publications, Inc.; Laguna Beach, California; pp. 164-173

Well I guess this will be my last post for this class. It's been a great term.  I wish everyone the best in all your endeavors.  Best wishes, everyone.

Debbie Battiste 

Loving Kindness and Visualization Practice

            The two practices I feel are most beneficial to me are loving kindness and visualization.  For me these two go hand-in-hand.  In the visualization exercise, I thought about events that brought me great joy and happiness.  I experienced some of that joy on my vacation in North Carolina.  Being so close to some the things I so enjoy brought about a feeling not only of vitality but of accomplishment and wholeness.  Being near the ocean taught me to appreciate this great world, and the people in it.  While I was there, I sent post cards to family and friends and I signed each one with “wish you were here!”  What I probably meant was “wish you could feel what I’m feeling.”     

            Now when I  so the loving kindness practice, I incorporate elements of the visualization exercise into it.  Not only do I wish for health and well-being for the person I am focusing on, I am wishing them the joy and happiness I felt during that vacation at the beach.   

            I chose these two practices because one is for my own health and well-being and the other is for someone else’s integral health.  Implementing these two practices in my personal life can foster “mental fitness” because it assures me that while I will always want integral health for myself, I should never become careless or selfish in that wish.  I should think of others.  This will help me in my future endeavors since I will be dealing on a day-to-day basis with people other than my own family.  If I am not able to sincerely practice the loving-kindness exercise, then I how can be effective in advising and counseling clients about their nutritional health.

Reference:  Dacher, Elliott; Integral Health:  The Path to Human Flourishing, 2006; Basic Health Publications, Inc.; Laguna Beach, California

 The Practice

One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself applies to the health and wellness professional in that when we counsel or recommend a practice to a client, if we haven’t tried it out ourselves, then how do we know it will work.  We should be able to testify to whatever we recommend.  For instance in the “Meeting Asclepius” meditative practice, if a client asks "does it work better if you sit on the floor or in a chair", as a wellness professional you should be able to say what worked best for you. 

I believe I have an obligation to my clients to be developing my overall health because I should be will to go where I’m asking them to go, do what I’m asking them to do.  I want to be able to instill confidence for success in my clients.  If I can’t do that, how then can I claim to have a successful practice?

I can implement psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life by continuing to develop and practice the methods described in integral health.  Many times we see practices as a one-time shot and once we accomplish our goal, we can stop and go back to the way we were before.  But growth does not stop.  If you look at the way a tree grows, it adds height and girth each year that it is alive.  It gets stronger and taller and less likely to bend and break in the wind.  This is the way our psychological and spiritual growth should be—forever reaching for greater and greater strength and height.

There are a number of health and nutrition programs in my community.  There is one in my work place called the Health Start Program.  I participated in it this year.  It is employee based.  It begins with a biometric health screening and a private counseling session to help you decide what areas of your health and nutrition you need to work on.  The Walk this Way portion has participants walk daily and keep a log of their steps with the use of a pedometer.  Prizes are given for those who logged the most steps.  The program is really good.  There is even monetary compensation for participating which is added to your paycheck each pay period.   

A great public health program is “We Can in Cobb County”.  It has programs for a variety of age groups from elementary, to middle school, to adult parents.  The overall goal of the program is to advocate healthy eating and physical activity.  Adult classes are divided into four 1 ½ hour sessions to give a total of 6 hours.  Children classes are 15 to 25 minutes with breaks and fun activity including exercises and healthy snacks.  The program is free and sponsored by the Cobb County Coalition and Nutrition Institute of Health.

Resources: http://www.cobbanddouglaspublichealth.com/health-wellness/we-can-cobb-coalition/ and http://www.wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov 

The Loving Kindness exercise is one that ushers in peace, stillness, love, and gentleness.  It teaches you to be aware of all things, even the unpleasant ones and treat them with equal care, love and kindness.  The act of wishes health, happiness, wholeness, and freedom from suffering is one that deeply touches the heart.  In practicing loving kindness, you reach beyond immediate family and friends to all humankind.

            The integral assessment process allows you to choose your path of focus.  You can choose to concentrate on any area of life such as fitness, personal relationships, or emotional development.  It offers the opportunity to be accurate in the assessment of your development and level of achievement.  It also allows us to choose a path that is most appropriate and will lead us to our goal which is ending needless suffering.

            For me this process will take time.  It seems that during the day, so many problems arise that before I can get one handled another one pops up.  By the end of the day, I am sometimes to weary to practice the loving kindness exercise.  When this happens, I try to go through the subtle mind exercise first to clear away all the random thoughts.  Then I am better able to focus on the loving kindness process.  My integral assessment improves greatly when I do the exercises in this order.

            Hopefully, I will get better at this.

Debbie  

Reference:  Dacher, Elliott; Integral Health:  The Path to Human Flourishing, 2006; Basic Health Publications, Inc.; Laguna Beach, California; pp. 93-115.