Reflections of my journey...

Looking back at Unit 3 when this all started, I can see some areas that I improved and some that need the little push to move forward again. Starting with my physical status with a 6-6.5, I would say unfortunately it hasn’t improved much. Since then I had another knee injury that set me back to not being able to cycle for a month. I then slacked off with my other attempts of daily exercise, which was more due to the frustration of the pain I was in. I have now added some new supplements and made small changes in my diet and I have seen some improvement with my OA in my knees. I am slowly getting back into my cycling moving to 34 miles this week and happily without much increased pain! Score wise I’m probably still at a 6 but working on changing that over the next month.

Spiritually I had scored myself previously at about an 8 and I would say it’s about the same. I am working on achieving a daily meditation practice which has given me wonderful results in quieting the inner chatter and going through the day with an inner peace and calm. Psychologically I was at a fluctuating 8 and I’m about the same now. I feel this goes hand in hand with the spiritual practice. I had slipped below an 8 with the frustrations of my pain, but feel I am gaining control over that while at the same time I’m seeing improvements in my outlook on other things in my daily life.

My goals were to add yoga or Pilates to my exercise routine for my physical wellness, continue with daily meditations/visualizations for spiritual, and take the time with renewing both old and new friendships and spending more time with “fun” activities each week for my psychological well-being. These practices are all in progress, while still working on making them a priority in my daily life. Time management, physical constraints, and setting a daily routine has been part of the issue with me and I am working on establishing a better method.  

I enjoyed this course and it has been a great reminder of the importance of daily practices in all three areas (spiritual, physical, and psychological). As I continue to work on all three to reach my goals of improvement in these areas, I am reminded on any given day that I leave out my meditation practice, of how much it is helping me to feel more grounded with a sense of peace on the days I do practice it. Going through a difficult time this term with my physical health challenges kept me from some of my practices at times, but it is a great reminder of how all 3 areas feed each other to achieving a balanced sense of well-being.

This experience only helped me to better understand and inspire others through my own experiences and achievements. I look forward to being able to help others overcome some of their health and wellness obstacles by sharing what I have learned and helping them implement new practices.

A special thanks to Professor Beth and all my classmates who shared knowledge and experiences, and inspired me in this journey over the past 10 weeks! 

All the best,

Lynne 

Only the Beginning: Plans for a Continued Journey to Integral Health

     Here we are at the end of my 10 week journey in class, and just the beginning of a lifetime of working towards integral health. Looking at the definitions of health and wellness will help us understand why reaching integral health is so important. Health is the absence of disease, while wellness is enjoying good physical and mental health. Without a balance of mental health and stress management, chronic conditions of stress or unresolved psychological or spiritual issues can result in chronic disease. So integral health is the goal, and to achieve this we each must foster the three domains; psychological, spiritual, and physical development. Before a practitioner can do this for others, they must experience this journey themselves. This doesn’t mean the professional must be at a point of integral health when working with their clients, but engaging in daily practices themselves in all areas are crucial to helping others determine their own path. By embodying the image of peace and balance in these areas, it can give others a goal they see as attainable. With this personal experience of the practitioner, they can help the client determine which exercises and methods may fit into their individual lifestyle and personality.

     My journey had started out a little difficult this year with surgery and some other medical issues. To assess my health in each of the domains of spirituality, physical, and psychological, I compared to my times when I was in more optimal health to how I have grown and handled the issues I have been faced with. Starting with spirituality I would say I am about the same as my earlier assessment at an 8. Although it is the same, I have grown in some ways through my meditation practice. I continue to have a strong faith and religious practice, and would like to work on the meditation and reaching more of an inner peace to grow in dealing with life’s issues in a calm, thoughtful way.  Physically I would say I am still about a 6-6.5 due to physical constraints, and psychologically still fluctuating around an 8 or a little below.

     My goals are to continue to grow in each domain, where I can see improvements by the end of the year. Starting with my physical health I have found some exercises I can do with my limitations, but need to begin doing these on a regular basis (5-6 days per week). My psychological health has fluctuated mostly due to not making time for myself. My goal is to return back to setting aside time each day for relationships and “me time”. Spiritual goal is to have my meditation practice become a daily exercise.

     There is one thing that comes to mind with developing strategies for my personal health; consistency. This is what keeps me from progressing to the next level in some areas. Time management and planning will be a big part of keeping these practices. Let’s start with my physical practice and two main strategies. These include at least 30 – 60 minutes of exercise each day, along with transitioning to a plant based diet. To implement the exercise will be by setting a specific time each morning to do this, and planning it into my morning each day. As for the diet, this will be done by planning out and preparing recipes and dishes in advance, as well as freezing some for those busy days.

     My spiritual practice will be twofold. One is to get back to a regular weekly practice of going to church, and to determine meditation times (preferably two) each day that will be set aside for this. These will be done at a time when I can relax and tune out the mind chatter and long list of things to do.

     My psychological practice will be a little more difficult to implement as I generally leave out the “me time” that is so needed by each of us. Again I will revert back to time management and a schedule, even though I tend to resist them. I will plan for my daily times to spend with my husband, along with at least one time during the week for a fun activity away from the home. Secondly I will plan out a lunch or get together each week with a friend. These are the areas that recently have been neglected and I see the need for planning them out in advance.

     Assessment is an important key to measuring progress and staying on track. If we don’t assess our progress at certain intervals, how do we not only stay on track, but modify our exercises to continually develop in each area or domain. So I will set up measurements for myself in each area. Starting with the physical domain, I’ll monitor my progress with my exercise, along with modifying the plan each month to continue gaining benefits. These can be done by keeping a log of my daily diet and physical activities. The spiritual domain can be measured first by ensuring 1-2 daily meditations, then measuring the quality of reaching that inner space of calm and how I feel after the exercises. Psychologically is to continue my meditation practice which goes hand in hand with psychological health. In addition to this, I need to look at the quality of time spent on relationships and quality time doing things for enjoyment.

     We can help others aspire toward integral health to eventually change the culture we live in to a more peaceful, generous, and loving one. For us to affect this change it must start with us, as practitioners, and the example we can set for others.