Reassessing

Looking back to unit 3 my life is definitely different and I am able to focus on other areas of my integral health. I was hyper focused on family due to necessity back in unit 3. Now I am able to focus more on myself and bring some balance back to my life. One way I am doing this is by going into work a bit early so that I can sit and do a body cleanse for a half hour at least once a week. During the body cleanse I bring a book, sit in silence and read. It is a very healing time for me. Spiritually not much has changed because I feel very balanced in this area. I suppose the one thing that I have started doing which could be considered spiritual is keeping a journal. I don't write in it everyday but at least I have spent time writing in my journal. My intention is to write in it more frequently. Physically I have reassessed myself and I am doing much better. I am taking the time to stretch and rebound in the morning before I go to work. Weather and time permitting I also go to the track next door and walk 1 or 2 miles. It feels so good to be exercising again. Nothing has been difficult for me during this class in terms of my experience. Since I am not hard on myself and realize that I can only do that which I am capable of I find that I don't focus on the negative but only the positive. This has been very healing because when you focus on the positive you get positive results. This class has been my favorite of all classes in my Kaplan experience. I feel that this class has helped me the most to figure out my career path. Integral health is such an important part of our life. In fact it is our life. I have enjoyed this class and the interactions with all my classmates and Professor Maule. I only want the best for all of you and myself :)

Personal Integral Health Plan

It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically because they are in the business of health. In order to be an effective practitioner you must practice what you preach. If you lose the desire to advance your wellness then maybe it is time to find another profession. But more than anything, if you lose the desire to have integral health as the mainstay of your life than you have lost the meaning of life. The goals for my life are to continually assess, develop and grow in each area of integral health; psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal and worldly (Dacher, 2006). All of these areas are important to me and all need to be developed to achieve my goal of integral health. Currently the areas I feel need attention are biological, interpersonal and worldly. Through assessing each of these areas I am focusing on fitness for my biological aspect of healing. I have neglected to maintain my exercise routine these past few months due to extenuating circumstances. Interpersonally I am focusing on self. I have neglected myself for many years. I have set the intention to have fun this year and to do things that I enjoy. I have only two classes left until I graduate Kaplan. Kaplan has taken up the majority of my “free time” for the past 4-5 years. Worldly I am focusing on work. Since my daughter was in the hospital for three weeks, work suffered. Now that my daughter is on the road to recovery I have more energy to focus on work. This class has helped my focus remain centered psychospiritually. This class has helped me through a very difficult time in my life and I am thankful for the timing. Although the other three areas of my integral health have not been nurtured these past couple of months, I do not feel a sense of discouragement or loss. Instead of feel hopefully because I was able to remain intact psychospiritually which was what I needed at this time. My physical goal that I have set is to recreate a physical fitness plan. I am on a healthy eating regimen because that is a part of my life. However, I am exploring “Eat right for your blood type” (Dr. Lam, 2014) which I may implement fully into my life. My fitness plan will include yoga, I will be taking a yoga class twice a month, since it will be held where I work it will be easy and convenient to attend. Also, I will do a ten minute yoga stretch each morning before work and include a ten minute weight bearing exercise routine. I live next door to a track so I will also walk a mile 3-5 times a week. I really enjoy playing tennis and as the weather warms up I will play tennis at least once a week. I have also set the intention on hiking at least once a month. I love outdoor activities and since I live in East Tennessee right next to the Smokey Mountains the possibilities are endless. My psychological goal is to keep a thankful/grateful journal. I have had the habit of starting and stopping journals in the past but I have set the intention on writing in my journal 3-4 times a week. I realize if I set the goal for every day then I am setting myself up to not write at all. I feel that when I focus on things that I am grateful and thankful for then I do not focus on the negative. There is always something to be grateful for in my life. Spiritually I am setting the intention to meditate 3 times a week. Also, I like to listen to Tibetan healing sounds that I found on youtube.com. This music really relaxes me and I like to play it in the background especially when I am studying. I’m not sure if “grounding/earthing” (Sinatra, 2010) fits into the spiritual or psychological aspect of integral health. Regardless of where it fits, probably both arenas, I will be integrating this technique into my daily regimen. I have been “grounding/earthing” for years but never knew it had a name and didn’t realize the health and psychological benefits of grounding, I just knew it felt good. Grounding/earthing raises my vibration which is such a healing feeling. When I think about it, I want to raise my vibration in every aspect of my life. A healthy/vibrant vibration is energizing which appeals to me. I intend on evaluating or assessing my integral health at the beginning of each month. I have also set the intention on finding a like minded friend that can hold me accountable for my progress. I think the intention that I set several months ago has manifested. I recently met this woman and we instantly connected. We are meeting next week and I plan on asking her if she would like to create a “loose” accountability team with me. I realize she may not be interested but intuitively I think she will be! Since most of my children are integral health minded we tend to hold each other accountable. Even though I don’t always want my children to pay attention to what I’m doing (I think this may be pride) and to call me on it, I am willing to listen and consider their input. This is also why I wanted to find someone outside of my house to help hold me accountable. I am excited for my present life and my future. I feel like this year is going to be a year of self discovery and enjoyment. References: Dacher, E. (2006). Integral health the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Lam, M. (2014). Blood type diet. Drlam.com. Retrieved January 12, 2014 from http://www.drlam.com/blood_type_diet/index.asp?blog=1 Sinatra, S. (2010). Grounding/earthing. Youtube.com. Retrieved January 12, 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XumPQLTzPWI Tibetan Healing Sounds, (2013). Youtube.com. Retrieved January 12, 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5dU6serXkg

Visualization and Meditation

For me, visualization and meditation are the two practices I like to go to for relaxation. Since I am a visual learner, visualization works really well for me. It is easy and relaxing for me to visualize some of my favorite places that I haven't been to in awhile but bring so much joy to me. Also, the practice of meditation really helps me relax. I find myself being tense frequently but I don't notice it until I take a few moments to meditate or when I do my breathing exercises. Meditation brings a calmness into a hectic life, which I have right now. Calmness is always a welcome sensation. Both practices can be done almost anywhere. I definitely don't recommend trying either practice while driving in a car! But if you are the passenger, go for it! Calming the mind helps us to walk through life in a more relaxed state. When you are more relaxed you are calmer and more tuned in to your surroundings. I think this puts you in a frame of mind where you are present and aware. Being present and aware fosters mental fitness. You need to use your brain and keep it fit especially as you age. A fit brain is a healthy brain.

Meeting Jesus

The timing of my meditation was perfect. I tried to meditate earlier in the day but kept on getting interrupted. Then there were some family issues going on that started to escalate, you know what happens around the holidays when people start to get a bit edgy. Even though the holidays are supposed to exude "loving-kindness" this doesn't always happen. Well, right after the family situation, which remained unresolved, I went into my room and proceeded to meditate. I really needed this to calm my inner mind. I imagined Jesus as the loving source. It was really easy to do and to bring his light into my existence was overwhelmingly peace generating. Now, I can be mindful of my family members, not take things personally and continue unconditional love for all. The saying, "one can not lead another where one has not gone himself" rings true to me. You can not teach someone well, about a topic you are unfamiliar with. If I went to see a health coach who smoked, was obese and unkempt, I would question their authority on the topic of health. It would be unwise of me to seek council from someone who really does not follow their own advise. To me this is the perfect example of a hypocrite. If I wouldn't go to someone that doesn't practice what they preach then I would expect no less from myself. Integral health is an on-going journey which you must be actively present in order to flourish. When you stop the process you stop flourishing. There are so many different modalities to achieve integral health, by learning and exploring knew modalities you can continue the process and find what works best for you.

Integral Assessment

As usual, I really enjoyed the "Loving Kindness" meditation exercise. It is always very relaxing. I always use headphones when I'm at home listening to these exercises because there are a lot of people living here and I get distracted if I don't wear them. It was no surprise to me when I completed the integral assessment and learned which areas I needed to work on. Right now my focus is on family out of necessity to help my daughter heal. I also have to keep in mind my other children need my attention to. This is pretty much consuming all of my time. I realize my life is completely out of balance and I know that "this too shall pass". Once things calm down, which I think should be in about a month, I intend on taking another assessment to see which areas I would like to focus on. In the meantime, I need to have a little time to myself to nourish my soul. Driving to work seems to be a good time for me to listen to some healing music. I also have a CD of Louise Hay which is very soothing and healing.

The Subtle Mind

These past two weeks of my life have been a roller coaster of emotions because my daughter was rushed to the hospital and was in the ICU for almost two weeks. She is still in the hospital and we don't know when she will be able to come home. Practicing the subtle mind is something I started doing without even knowing it. It has helped keep me sane. I have enjoyed both "the subtle mind" and "loving kindness" exercises. I really don't have any negative comments about either. I love trying out knew types of meditation techniques and using the ones I like over and over. Both of these techniques really help me to stay calm. In my opinion you cannot be healthy if you do not take care of every aspect of yourself. You must nurture mind, body and spirit. You may be a top athlete with a great physique but if you do not take care of your inner health you only look healthy on the outside. Personally working on my inner health encourages me to make sure I take care of my physical body. Our mind, body and spirit works together to create wholeness, but it won't happen by itself, we must nurture and train ourselves daily.

My experience with the "Loving Kindness" exercise by Dacher was easy to do. First, I love the sound of the waves because I am a coastal California girl and it felt like home to me. Also, the woman who spoke had a soothing voice. I was able to think about my daughter who is currently in the hospital and feel very strong emotions about this situation. It wasn't as easy to transfer those emotions to myself. I had to take a few moments to mentally process some of these feelings and emotions. Overall it was a good exercise. The concept of Dacher's (2006)mental workout is to practice our inner development and consciousness particularly for its healing benefits. One of the ways to practice a mental workout is to do kind things for others. Many people do things for others because they themselves want to get "paid" back at some time in the future. It is best to do kind acts with no other motives than the act of kindness itself. Reference: Dacher, E. (2006). Integral health the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach: Basic Health