Personal
Aspects of Integral Health
Introduction:
Integral health is the
process of health development through personal spiritual, mental, and physical
approaches. According to Dacher (2004), “Integral health can only be achieved
through the development of our inner life and our inner healing capacities” (p.
9). It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop
psychologically, spiritually, and physically because healing of oneself take
son the combination work and development in all these areas. Psychological
development improves how one sees themselves and has a love for themselves
which can then be shared with others. Spiritual development shows a sense of
caring and sharing of feelings and includes ideas that help with healing such
as prayer and meditation. Physical development combines exercise and regimens
that promote healthy lifestyles. The combination of all these impacts health in
ways that reach the inner and outer body and allow the mind to react based on
healthier living choices and focus on happiness, success, and future
developments.
The areas that I
believe I need to work towards to achieve the goals I have set for myself include
more time to focus on my future goals. This incorporates time to relax and
think only on what I need in life and try to block out those things that aren’t
necessary such in a way to develop myself more spiritually and psychologically.
Assessment:
My
idea of optimal well- being would be to be at a point in my life where my
physical health, mental state of mind (emotional, intellectual, psychosocial),
and my spiritual state are in line to where I feel I don’t have any need to
make major changes. Although minor changes can be made in consideration to what
is going on at a particular time in life, I feel comfortable that all these
aspects of my life are very well where I want them to be and I am living the
best life possible in reference to each.
At
the point in my life, I feel that I am very much at ease with my physical well-
being and would rate it a 7. After having my youngest son almost 10 years ago,
I gained a lot of weight and got to the point where I was not satisfied with
myself and saw a need to be healthier. I began by cleaning up my diet and
started with fitness videos and lost almost 30 pounds, which was 10 pounds
lighter than my weight before I was pregnant. After starting this fitness
regimen, I joined a gym and started working out 5 times a week. Since then, I
may stray a little on a well- balanced diet, but I tend to eat healthier than
the average person, and I have continued to maintain at least 3 to 4 gym days.
The one thing I can say I don't do is regular health check -ups and although I
feel that I am very healthy, I am 36 years old and as nurse, I have seen very healthy people out of
nowhere end up sick.
Currently
I rate my spiritual well- being at a 5. I don't see myself as being a very
spiritual type person although I grew up with a family that centers healing and
devotion on prayer and uplifting God. I do see that prayer and believing in the
impossible can change things through dedication and heart felt prayer. I feel
the need to become closer with believing in the powers of the spiritual healing
and well- being and I need to actively take part in spiritual services.
Psychologically,
I rate myself as a 5. I am currently in need of about 10 stress balls at once.
I feel myself stressing over the smallest situations that I encounter and I
need to find a means of relaxing and letting my mind ease itself. It is easy to
stress the need for techniques to help relax and calm the mind so that barriers
that cloud logical thinking can be removed, but it is hard to actually
implement them when I feel that nothing is going my way. Psychologically I see
the need to stop and refocus attention on myself and let myself know that I am
doing a great job in school, work, and with family. The stressors I encounter
will be overcome and for now, letting them go and relaxing will not change any
major circumstances.
Goal
development:
My
goal physically now is to begin a regular physician visit at least yearly or
twice yearly to maintain an appropriate health status from a physician physical
and point of view. My spiritual goal is to become more humble in myself and my
belief that change can occur through spiritual healing and prayer. I am
currently looking for a church to worship at least once a week to gain a closer
connection with others that have the same faith as I, and I want my children to
understand the power of and connection of spiritual healing and faith. My goal
psychologically this year is to take time for myself and family and relax and
have fun with my life. I also plan on communicating needs during stressful
periods to seek resolutions and help from others when appropriate. I currently
feel I am struggling to get through these last 2 semesters in school, but
coincidentally with the spiritual goal I have combined with physical time to
relieve stress , I plan on overcoming all challenges. It takes mind control
sometimes to let go of negativity and I have to learn that if I don't stop
mentally abusing myself and begin uplifting myself, I can't expect it from others either.
Practices
for personal health:
In
implementing strategies to foster growth in physical, psychological, and
spiritual domains, it will take more than just saying I want to make changes,
but I have to commit myself to change to increase my overall health and promote
a better lifestyle for myself. Physically, I want to implement a different
workout program that increases my endurance. I want to actually start running
more because I have cut back on cardio in my exercise routine which is better
for my heart. I also plan on making myself more aware from a medical standpoint
on what I need to change physically by having regular physicals and also
following up with medical questions when I have concerns rather than from a
nursing standpoint trying to treat and diagnose myself. It is so important to
take care of the body physically to lead a more productive and longer
life. Psychologically, I want to be able
to have a better connection with my own true feelings and able to communicate better
with others both family and friends. I plan on keeping a journal so that I can
express myself on paper and then maybe I can re direct my thoughts into words
and express myself more openly with others. I also want to possibly get some
counseling because I still feel that I have anger towards someone in my life
that truly hurt me and I am unable to let these feelings go. I believe that
some effective communication about what I am feeling will help me get passed
these emotions I have and move on with my life rather than feeling that I am at
a standstill. Spiritually, I want to have a better connection with myself and
with God. I have been out of going to church and participating in regular prayer
sessions and I believe as a Christian, it has affected my living. I feel that I
am not as open to believing in the healing of God and somewhere lost my hope in
the spiritual being that can provide healing for me. I plan on getting back
into church on a regular basis and begin prayer every day and night to gain my
connection again with a higher being so that I can gain my hopes and beliefs
again in him as well as myself. My last strategy
spiritually is to practice meditating so that stress can be put to the back of
my mind and I can focus more on what I need to do in life. There are many
distractors that occur too often and meditating will help me re focus my mind
on the more important areas in my life and help me relax.
Commitment:
In
the months to come it will be important for me to maintain a track record of my
progressive development psychologically, spiritually, and physically. My plan
to track my progress is to keep a journal. My goals physically would be to maintain
my check- up appointments, and keep a log of them as well as keep a written log
of my cardio time in the gym. I can do the same spiritually by writing down my
dates of attending church services and prayer as well as when I meditate. Psychologically,
it will be easy to maintain constant inserts on my feelings with sessions of
any counseling. I believe journaling is the best and easiest way to see that I am
following my plan and staying on track to maintaining a lifestyle that promotes
Integral health. The main strategy I plan to implement is constant practice and
focus on my goals. I believe the ability to reach a set goal once a focus has
been made is to remain consistent and take it one step at a time. My strategy is
to begin with my physical goals and once I have begun to maintain a regular
regimen then begin my focus on psychological and spiritual. The focus is to do
one at a time as opposed to beginning all of them at once and not reaching any.
The
ability to reach integral health is to be focused in reaching attainable goals
while at the same time implementing the opposed strategies. The main way to
reach such a success and have an all-around healthy outlook for myself is to
practice in each of the domains while achieving growth one step at a time. It
is up to myself however to want to achieve integral health. As Dacher (2004),
expresses when we start a new program, we identify the changes we wish to make,
we set goals, affirm our intention, and commit ourselves to this change. This
is how I must look at achieving Integral health.
References
Dacher, E.S. (2004).
Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic
