Integral assessment

1.      Introduction:
Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically? What areas do you need to develop to achieve the goals you have for yourself?

The integral practice must follow the eight principles of healing and one of the eight principles states that “all integral practices must be supported by inner development” (Dacher 2006). A health care professional cannot or should not expect to be the best possible healer he can be unless he himself is healthy spiritually, physically and psychologically (Dacher 2006). When people seek the help of another they do so with faith in their knowledge not just from what they learned in school but from life as well. For me personally, I need to develop all areas of my life psychologically, spiritually and physically be for I can begin to give advice to others on the subject. Integral healing is a path of infinite learning, teaching and healing that I will forever be walking on.

2.      Assessment:
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?

When I see myself, I see a person that has it in their heart the things that need to change, but feel overwhelmed when it needs to get done. I feel compelled to keep pushing my needs to the back in order to keep my family happy, I take care of them first.  I would give my physical wellbeing a 6. When I was in younger up to 29 years old I was very active I worked out for 2 hours a day 4-5 days a week. Since the birth of my daughter in 2006, I have needed to lose about 30 pounds to put my 4’11” body at the weight that is optimal for me which is about 105-115. I am a chronic back pain sufferer so this puts a damper on my wanting to walk for long distances due to the fact that after about a half a mile my back gets extremely tight but I will not let this keep me down. Spiritually, I have always known that you don’t have to belong to a religious group to be in touch with your spiritual side you just have to have faith in what you believe. I respect others beliefs and practices, I consider myself to be generally kind and considerate of others as well as observant to the needs of others, so I might rate my spiritual health a 6, just because there is always room for improvement. Psychologically I give myself a score of about 7; I am a generally happy person, I don’t let things worry me so much that it makes me sick, I try to radiate my happiness with life into my kids with laughter and just being downright silly.

3. Goal development:
   List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.

I have many goals for myself and am trying to be realistic with them. As far as may physical health is concerned I want to continue to be active even if that is just going for a brisk walk in the neighborhood, which will not only help me with my weight loss goals but leads my into my psychological health as well. Walking to me is very relaxing even when I’m doing it at a moderate pace. This helps me to clear my mind and think about things that might be bothering me. Walking can also help my spiritual wellbeing especially if I can walk in a quiet places such as out in the desert near my home, it is in this peacefulness that I can kind of step away from reality for a few moments and focus on the things in this world that mean the most to me such as having life and being able to care of the two most gracious gifts God has ever given me, my son and my daughter.

4. Practices for personal health:
   What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual. Provide at least two examples of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.

There are many strategies that I can use to foster the growth of my physical, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing. To better my psychological wellbeing I will use the subtle mind technique (Dacher 2006).  I want to learn how to calm down, to concentrate on myself, to become more patient, to feel wiser and to become completely happy.  Along with the subtle mind practice I will also practice loving kindness, to send the same peace to the loved ones in my life (Dacher 2006). Spiritual training in my mind, coincides with the psychological and physical health, when doing anything that betters myself I am also becoming spiritually whole. Spiritual training can also be done using the subtle mind technique and loving kindness. Physical strength is what I desire perhaps more than spiritual and psychological strengths. I don’t want to be that little old lady that can barely open the fridge; I want my mental strength to match my physical strength. I am only 36, so that will be a few years away.  I will continue to get as much physical activity into my life as possible. I love to hike the mountains here in Arizona in the spring before the snakes come out, I also love to lift light weights and ride bicycle with my daughter. 

5. Commitment:
   How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months? What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices for health and wellness?

My physical assessment will hopefully come in the form of a moderate weight loss, only about 10 pounds. I can possibly do this with the nearly 3 mile walk to and from work a day. My diet needs only minimal modification; I actually need to eat more.  Psychologically I will hopefully be able to meditate longer in 6 months, which is if I can convince my family that they can live without me for about 15 to 20 minutes a day. Spiritually, I want to be at peace with everything in this world even though I don’t like a lot of the things I am seeing. Being a Christian, I notice all of the bad things going on in this world that might cause some people to lose faith in what is good about the world, I don’t want to lose faith. I believe that there is a divine plan for us all and God is out there on our path waiting to walk it with us. I want to find my path.