Today in America there is an unprecedented level of people in poor and deteriorating health with no evidence that this situation is getting better or will get better any time soon. The evidence of this negative situation can be seen in the statistics that ranks the United States as the 37th healthiest country in the world (Holtz, 2008). This can be worded also as the 37th unhealthiest country in the world. What makes this significant is the fact that we are the wealthiest country in the world and we spend more money than anyone else on health care. But an even better example of our poor health is the statistics that say we now have over 65 percent of adults overweight or obese and 1 out of 5 children overweight before age 21. It is obvious our conventional health care system is overwhelmed and un-equipped to handle this situation. One solution is a total paradigm shift in the way we think of health care and that shift to a holistic/integral health model.
A holistic/integral health model will attack the root cause of our health challenges today and make us whole starting from within. But in order to use this model the practitioner must follow the model themselves for it to work to best. The integral/holistic model address the psychological, spiritual and physical aspect of our health and wellbeing and in order to best meet the needs of our clients and our personal needs we must master these three areas ourselves.
It is important for the health and wellness professional to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically because it provides the foundation of knowledge and experience required to practice a holistic/integral model of health and wellness. However, what may be even more important or as important is that it sets the example for those we intend to help. When we demonstrate by our own actions, behavior and beliefs what we want others to follow it adds credibility to us and makes us more believable. When the practitioner develops these three areas of their life, not only will they become more effective at helping their clients they will improve their own health and wellbeing.
To achieve my goals as a health and wellness educator I will need to continue to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically. As a logistical expert in health and wellness one would need to be a life long learner and be in a perpetual state of growth and development. Our need to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically is similar to our need to bath. If we stop bathing we will create a health problem over the long run; if we cease to develop our psychological, spiritual and physical wellbeing in the long run we will encounter heath related issues and problems.
I would assess my overall spiritual, physical, and psychological wellbeing as good. The range actually goes from very good to good. Individually, however, there is room for development and growth in all areas. Even though I consider myself a spiritual person maybe even religious, after studying integral health and contemplative practices I can see I am a long ways from where I want to be. For my age my physical wellbeing is outstanding, actually for any age I think my physical wellbeing is great. However, I can see how with contemplative practice I can get better. I can eat better and exercise more. Psychologically I feel I am well balanced and in good shape. However, the death of my mother has shown me that we can all benefit from strengthening our psychological wellbeing on a regular basis.
Even though I feel I am in excellent physical health I am only like that because I constantly set goals to improve and maintain various aspects of my physical health. My goal after completing this course in integral health is to improve my cardiovascular level by preparing to run in a mini marathon. The physical conditioning to prepare for this will surely improve my overall physical condition and specifically my cardiovascular condition.
My psychological goal is to improve my stress tolerance. Having spent more than 31 years in the United States Marines I thought I was immune to or at least totally capable of handling stress until the death of my mother. This event taught me or made me aware of how stress actually saps motivation, energy and focus. With this new knowledge my psychological goal is to develop my mental toughness though contemplative practices to make me even more tolerant to stress. I will do this by developing a daily practice of meditation, qigong and other contemplative exercises. On technique I have started using involves recording the practices we learned in Integral Health into my Iphone recorder and meditating off of them daily. The one I use most and I think has the biggest effect is the Subtle Mind practice.
Between the three area of physical, psychological and spiritual development the spiritual development is the one I’m most excited about is spiritual development. Spiritual development though contemplative practice is extremely interesting to me and the one I spend the most time working on. My goal in spiritual development is to practice at a minimum of 1 time a day one contemplative exercise. I will also make a habit of reading one source of spiritual knowledge on a daily basis.
The strategy I will use to foster growth in each of the domains of physical, psychological and spiritual development begins with have a clear vision of what I want to accomplish and this vision will be written down and act as a blue print. Next I will set specific goals stating clearly what I want to achieve and put a date on each of when I will complete them. Once the vision is developed and goal set with a date I will than develop a plan of action. This plan will describe what I will do daily, weekly and monthly.
To assess my progress in the next six months is simple. I have specific results goals set that I want to meet at the six month interval. My physical goal for the next six months is to get my running up do 6 miles a day. My spiritual and psychological goal is a behavior goal; I want to be at the point where I practice contemplative exercise for at least 90 minutes a day.
The strategies I will use to stay on track with my goals begin with having goals in the first place but most importantly having them written down and put in a place that will keep my aware of them. This will include my bathroom mirror, and my car dashboard. Having the goal in front of me all the time will keep the goal a center of my focus. Second I will do affirmations and visualization daily to build my unconscious behavior towards the goals. And third I will put up a dream board in my office that will constantly remind me of the positive rewards of staying on track. Last but not least I will join a networking group interested in contemplative practices.
