Introduction
It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically in order help others to their full potential with confidence; in other words walk the walk, talk the talk. The professional who does not flourish in these aspects cannot tell others how to flourish nor can the individual take what the professional is saying seriously. In all honesty I have to develop all areas but I will say that my physical aspect is what is the most developed over the others. I still have to develop spiritually and psychologically.
Assessment
Using Dacher’s integral health assessment principles and lines of development I have assessed where I am in the three levels of health. I realized that I am lacking significantly in spiritual health however it does not cause me distress. The area that causes me the most distress is my psychological health. In this area I have the most potential for growth. In my assessment of spiritual health I assess low on all aspects of spiritual flourishing: conative, cognitive, and emotional. I rank especially low with cognitive level. I am definitely more reactive than I should I be but I am aware of this. My physical health assessment is significantly higher than my psychological health. I followed the three lines according to Dacher of fitness, nutrition, and self-regulation. The nutrition aspect is the highest ranking for me. I am a vegetarian who is very conscious of what I eat; however no one is perfect and there is always room for improvement. Self-regulation is something that I could develop further especially with my workout regimen.
Goal Development
A goal for physical development is to keep up with my exercise plan. I work out now but I often find myself creating lapses by making excuses like I am too tired or too busy and I often regret it after. Exercise actually helps with my goal of psychological development as well. I do not meditate and my mind is often racing with all the things I have to do. When I exercise, my mind is clear and calm; this is the time I can be clear and develop psychologically. My goal for psychological development is to relax my mind and find calm. Exercise for me is killing two birds with one stone. A goal that I have for my spiritual health is to connect with nature and understand that all the stress and the fast paced life are small compared to Mother Nature. Nature is what I feel the most spiritual connection with; I am not religious.
Practices for Personal Health
Practices that I can utilize to foster growth for my physical health is preventative measures and self-regulation. Prevention is important to ward of sickness. Prevention is something that Western medicine does not concentrate on; they treat after illness. Preventative measures will be eating well, exercising, and stress management. Self-regulation would be maintaining these preventative measures in order to be successful; self will and self control.
Practices that can be used to foster my spiritual growth are subtle mind practice and loving-kindness practice. Subtle mind practice I can do while exercising. All of these practices are going to be modified to fit my individual needs. I am not one that can sit for long periods or meditate. My mind is calm while I exercise and this is when I can utilize the subtle mind practice. I know this may seem counterintuitive but it works for me. A principal for integral health is person-centered in which this applies. Loving-kindness I will really have to work on. I already am open to new ideas, non-judgmental, and inclusive. I appreciate other cultures, beliefs, and attitudes though I may not agree. However, it will be my love for strangers and things I am not familiar with that I will have to practice. Connecting with nature will help me with the loving-kindness practice as well since we are just a small part of a large world it will help keep this in perspective.
Practices that can be used to grow my psychological growth are work as practice and animal bonding. Work as practice can have different forms for me. I am a hairdresser and my first and foremost reason for doing it is because I enjoy it. I enjoy making people beautiful and making them feel good. I keep the person in mind and individualize each and every style that I do. This not only makes them feel good but me as well. I also like helping people get healthy and giving them advice. Animal bonding is something that I utilize every day since I have two cats and two dogs; they keep me sane. They give unconditional love and this is easy for me to do. It also goes with the nature theme that works for me. It is just not just my pets that bring me joy; it is all animals (well except spiders, some wild rodents, and lizards).
Commitment
To assess my progress or lack thereof in the next six months I will use Dacher’s integral health assessment and lines of development just like I will do in the beginning. Just like a weight loss plan, you weight yourself in the beginning then in intervals to see your progress; the same is for integral health. I will be able to see where I have grown or what I need to work on further. There is no limit on integral health so growth will equal success. I think that taking these assessments will keep me motivated to maintain long-term practices for health and wellness. I do not like to fail. After I begin this program just feeling better (mind, body, and spirit) will motivate me to keep going as well.
