My Integral Health Plan

Introduction 

            It is incredibly important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically because it takes them to the next level of healing.  Being developed in all three aspects keeps health and wellness professionals from being limited in their field of expertise.  Being well rounded in mind, body and spirit means that they have achieved integral health and this is a mixture between Eastern and Western medicine.  Far too often as Westerners we are only focused on the biological aspect of our health and never go into the spiritual and psychological level of healing.  Health and wellness professionals need to be aware of every aspect in order to properly counsel clientele.  Properly counseling clientele means that they can not only offer information on how to achieve physical wellness, but also counsel them on the evolutionary process of getting there mentally.  This is offering a wealth of knowledge in whatever their spiritual practice is, but also offering them information on holistic approaches like meditational practices and physical aspects that intertwine both like yoga and tai-chi.  I myself have always been involved in the physical fitness aspect of healing.  Having been a physical fitness instructor for five years I found myself only focused on healing clientele by means of achieving a goal of weight loss and physical training.  I never realized that there were two other very important aspects of healing for clientele.  I have since learned that one cannot truly achieve physical fitness for life without being properly educated on the psychological and spiritual aspects of health healing.  I am lacking and have been lacking in both of these aspects, because I was never aware that I needed to focus on them to achieve true healing. 

Assessment

             I have assessed my health in each domain and have found each area to be lacking on my part for several different reasons.  I’ll start with my scores for each area and then elaborate on the reasons for each.  My scores are as follows:  psychologically I scored myself at a six, spiritually I scored myself at a seven and physically I would score myself at a six also.  The reason for the six physically is because I am currently pregnant and expecting my third child.  Prior to conception I was very physically active and exercising on a regular basis, because I had gone to the doctor six months earlier and found out that I had modest hypoglycemia and high blood pressure.  I changed my eating habits and incorporated physical fitness into my routine at least 4 days out of the week.  I ended up losing 40 pounds and feeling better than I have in a few years.  I had not quite hit the level of fitness I would like to have been at so the score is a six because of those things.  As for my spiritual health, my score was a seven because I have always been in tune with myself spiritually, but not regularly practicing.  It seems that daily activities, family and school got in the way or was the excuse for not doing what I should be spiritually.  The psychological score was a six, because after taking this course I realized that I have a lot of room for improvement.  A lot of room and I have learned so much about where I should be.  Honestly speaking, the improvement will happen over the next year, but nothing happens overnight therefore I left room for improvement with the six. 

Goal development

             I have one goal that is important to me in each area of healing.  Physically, I hope to continue on my track to lower my blood pressure and manage my weight gain, physical activity level and nutrition throughout my pregnancy.  Psychologically, I would like to learn to manage my stress better.  Unfortunately, I am aware that my stress management goes hand in hand with my blood pressure because it is stress induced.  Prior to taking this course I was not aware that there were other ways to manage stress and struggled with it on a daily basis.  I have since learned that there are other outs to manage this issue and it is a definite goal of mine for the future.  As for my spiritual health I would like to learn to really and truly incorporate meditation into my life on a daily basis.  I feel that even though this is a spiritual goal, it goes right along with my physical and psychological goal to manage my health and stress.  I have learned that meditation is not only important for me to achieve my goals, but also important for me to learn in order to truly teach as a health and wellness professional.

Practices for your personal health

            Obviously, with each goal comes, strategies for implementing them in order to succeed.  My first strategy for achieving my physical goals during and after my pregnancy are to continue to power walk at least twice weekly and implement an additional thirty minutes of activity one other day during the week.  My second strategy for achieving my physical goal is to continue to monitor my nutrition, which is easier said than done when expecting.  Cravings can be overwhelming, but I know controlling them will allow me to succeed (especially with my blood pressure) in the long run.  The two strategies I am going to implement for success in my psychological goals are attending stress management courses and focusing on my Loving Kindness portion of meditation on particularly stressful days.  The classes will allow me to learn new ways to manage my stress and the Loving Kindness practices have been very beneficial for me throughout this course.  Loving Kindness forces me to focus on others and not to be selfish in my thinking.  Spiritually I plan on implementing other forms of meditation into my weekly practices to be well rounded and to start attending church regularly in the New Year.  The second strategy is especially challenging for me because of transportation issues and time availability on the weekends.

Commitment

             Assessing my progress or lack of progress in the next six months will be done in several different ways to ensure success.  I am committing myself to journaling, which has helped me in the past with weight loss.  Journaling on this occasion will include my progress on my goals not only with nutrition, but also with my meditation practices and number of times I am able to make it to church.  I am also committing myself to recruiting one close friend and one close family member that I share my goals with in order to be accountable (in the beginning) to someone other than myself.  Lastly, continuing to utilize my blog that I have created during this course to chart my progress will help me to be accountable also.  These are all very useful tools that I feel will help me succeed in the long run.  If I fail or fall behind I am accountable to my journal, friend, family member and blog for an explanation and for how I will get back on track.  The point in setting goals is not to be perfect, but to have intentions.  Good intentions can only help one succeed at their goals.