Past, present and future...

I.  It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop in the three areas of wellness; psychologically, spiritually and physically, because you cannot lead someone where you yourself have not gone. A professional who is practicing integral health has a profound sense of the depth and importance of total health and a desire to assist their patients/clients in achieving them. As Dacher points out, “We begin to know firsthand what can actually happen as we evolve a more expansive life.  We come to know that the alleviation of suffering and the ascent to human flourishing are more than ideas”. In my personal quest for integral health my weakest point is spirituality. I have been working on reconciling some deeply ingrained beliefs and incongruencies in order to work toward a spiritual peace and unity within myself.

(Dacher, Elliot S. M.D., “Integral Health: The path to human flourishing”, 2006)

II. I have assessed my health in the three domains. I will give the physical area a 9, the psychological area 6 and spiritually a 5. The physical health aspect is a much easier one to make for myself and most of us in general. We have tools such as the scale, or cholesterol tests and other “physical” exams that can quantify it. My own personal health ranks pretty high. My weight and body fat percentage are in healthy ranges. My lab numbers are healthy; my stamina and cardiovascular output exceed the norm for my age range. Maintenance is my daily health goal. My psychological health is not as easily measured but I can easily see that it is not at par with my physical health. After this course though I can see when my mind is racing and running into distant points in the future in order to cope and deal with stresses or mental and emotional anguish of the moment.  A purposeful and mindful attempt to stay in the moment is how I am coping with that in the short term with meditation being the long term practice. Spiritually I struggle more with just letting go of thoughts and opinions that bind me and hold me back from becoming at peace and developing a loving-kindness. But again I truly believe that awareness of this is the key to developing an integral health in this area and seeking out resources that will teach me practices to turn my thoughts from the outward constraints of religion and spiritually that I have always known to the inner and innermost aspects of peace and tranquility.

III. My personal goal in the physical area is to compete in a figure show. Figure competition for women is a step below bodybuilding and very popular with women my age. My purpose in competing is to make the commitment to the amount of work it would take to successfully go on stage. Psychologically and spiritually go hand in hand. I have been doing some research in the Buddhist traditions and I would like to learn more about the three areas and find a center nearby where I can study them in further detail and to also have a teacher to offer me the guidance it would take to help me grow and move towards spiritual and psychological health.

IV. In my opinion a strategy is a plan implemented in order to achieve a goal. Since my goal is to improve in each of the three areas then a daily plan is needed. Again, the physical aspect of my health is easy for me because I am a fitness professional who counsels people on a regular basis on the benefits of a healthy diet and exercise program. In this regard I follow my own advice. My passion in this area is evident. Two ways I can practice this is to follow a daily exercise regimen and to keep a food log so that I am assured I am eating a nutritious daily diet. I also believe the spiritual and psychological aspects go hand in hand so my daily strategy must include ways to improve them both. As previously mentioned, I plan on studying the Buddhist philosophy but since access to a center is limited then I must learn to meditate on my own. My plan is to practice meditation and if that seems unattainable then I will at least practice positive affirmations daily.

V.   The best way to measure my success is to create some kind of accountability. In the area of physical improvement I can set a date for the figure competition and train at the intensity level in order to achieve the physique needed to compete by that date. Having a training partner with the same goal is also a way to stay accountable. The spiritual aspect will be more difficult because people in my immediate circle of concern are not necessarily supportive. In my upbringing Buddhism was considered a “religion” and any religion other than Christianity was not accepted. I think if I can participate in a retreat of some kind that will greatly improve my success rate in my quest to learn the Buddhist tradition and accept the fact that my family may not understand. Also finding a nearby center will connect me to other people like myself and keep me committed to the quest. Psychologically is also a difficult area to be held accountable to. I once was able to see a counselor who taught me certain practices such as learning to stay in the moment and chant my mantra and positive affirmations. If financial circumstances prevail I would like to resume my visits with her. Otherwise I will continue to set aside time each evening to improve my meditation skills and to learn some relaxation techniques.