Fostering Growth and Health

Kaplan University

HW420-01 Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Growth and Health: Spiritual, Physical and Psychological methods in our Personal Life.

Kaplan University

Growth and Health: Spiritual, Physical and Psychological methods in our Personal Life.

By

 

Daniel James

 

Kaplan University

 

HW420-01: Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

 

9/27/2012

 

 

Part 1: Introduction

Integral health involves every aspect of the human experience. In order for health care to evolve, three things need to be treated; the disease, the patient, and the physician (Schlitz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2005). That being said, it is very crucial to be proactive with your approach to health and healing. Preventative measures should be taken to avoid disease whenever possible. This process requires the development of our entire being, including psychological, spiritual, and physical areas of our lives.

It is particularly important for physicians to develop mentally, physically, and spiritually if they wish to assist others in their journey through life. It is crucial to practice what you preach for two reasons. One, a patient is not going to take weight loss advice from a physician who is overweight, the same as they would not take advice on optimal mental health from somebody who is an emotional wreck. Second, it is one of the physicians job to inform and educate the patient. This requires not only education, but experience and true wisdom.

I plan on working on relieving stress in a more positive manner and also attempting to alter my perception of stressors in general. Perception of stress may make all the difference in how our body reacts to it (Dacher, 2006). We can train our mind to cease, or alter the stress response to non-physical threats. I tend to get highly upset from words or actions of others and I know this is bad for my health. I plan to implement mental training exercises and meditation into my daily routine in an effort to alter my perception of stress and integrate better coping mechanisms for existing stress. 

Part 2: The Assessment

                    Following the six principals of Integral Assessment, I examined my life and broke down each area to see where I am strong and where I need work.

Psychospiritual Flourishing – I have come to realize that I am more reactive than I would like to be.

I have uncontrolled desires and almost no control over my emotions.

Biological Flourishing – This area is probably where I feel most in control. I exercise regularly and eat a healthy and balanced diet. I cannot attribute any ailments to nutrition or lack of physical activity.

Interpersonal Flourishing – I tend to balance my focus between myself and my family. I rarely make time for anything community related. I have decided that this is the line I should begin to further develop.

Worldly Flourishing – I feel that I am lacking in this area as well. However, I am actively pursuing my degree and plan on earning my DC (Doctor of Chiropractic). I plan on utilizing my knowledge to assist others in their own development. This is the concept of transforming work to more than just a pay check. We can complete our work in a manner that encourages personal development and eventually service to fellow mankind (Dacher, 2006).

 

Health and human flourishing is not something that has an end. We do not just reach a goal and all of the sudden experience the rest of our days in perfect health and happiness. It is an ongoing journey and we must adapt and attend to whichever area of our lives calls for attention. Physically, I score my wellness highest. I still plan on losing a little weight though. My optimal weight is about 15 pounds lighter than I am. This gives me a realistic goal.

My mental and spiritual wellness each score fairly low. I would score them both equally as I really have not paid any attention to either until now. I feel that mental wellness is best to focus on first to pave the way for spiritual practice.

Part 3: Goal Development

Physical – I plan on continuing to find new ways of remaining active. I have always wanted to try rock climbing. It is my goal to keep my exercise routine ever-changing and to evolve as necessary. I also have a target weight of 185 pounds. I am currently 198 pounds.

Mental – I can already recognize improvement with my psychological health. My goal is to be able to consistently quiet my mind and be able to remain in this state. I would love to be able to sleep through the night. I will make getting a full, well rested night of sleep my first priority.

Spiritual – I am still in the infant stages of spiritual development. I always attended Catholic Mass as a child and teenager. However, there are many reasons I have for not continuing with that religion. I plan on remaining open to all possibilities. I will take the practices from different religions that I feel are relevant to my life and live by them. I do not wish to subscribe to any single religion and hope I will not be judged for this. 

Part 4: Practices for Personal Health

 

Physical – Nutrition is a great place to start developing personal health. The food we eat is the fuel we use for all of our other activities throughout the day. You are what you eat is not just a saying, but a true statement. I still have some changes to make in this area. Dietary changes should be implemented slowly and methodically, preferably one at a time (Seaward, 2009). My next step is eliminating all soda from my diet. I rarely drink it anyway, but coke and other soft drinks will be replaced with water at meals completely.

                 Swimming – Swimming is the next activity that I will begin to practice. I used to swim often, but have completely stopped. This is an excellent activity to perform when the body needs a rest from the pounding it takes from higher impact sports like running, mountain biking, and football. I will switch to swimming when I start to feel too much strain on my muscles and joints; particularly knees.

Psychological – Two practices that I will implement to foster greater psychological growth will be mental training in the form of the Subtle Mind Exercise and the Loving-kindness exercise. I plan on using the subtle mind meditation at night before bed. I expect this to calm and quiet my mind before bed and hopefully help me sleep better. In the morning I will practice the Loving-Kindness exercise. This should put things in my life into perspective and allow me to enter the world that day with an open heart as well as an open mind.

Spiritual – I intend on growing spiritually my getting in touch with nature. I will take time to sit in nature and either just be in the moment or actually meditate. I usually hike up a mountain and then look around, but I will now sit and actually take in all of the beauty of the world. I will remember that we are one with the entire Earth, Moon, Sun, and stars. I hope this will foster a greater connection with the entire Universe.

                 The next activity for spiritual growth will be yoga. I believe that yoga attends to the physical, mental, and spiritual growth of the individual by combing all of the aspects into one practice. I will begin by taking a class for beginners. I have practiced a few times before, but it may be helpful to get some help from people with experience so I have the tools to perform it successfully on my own.

Part 5:  Commitment

 

I plan on utilizing integral health for exactly how it is intended and that is to promote human flourishing and to alleviate needless suffering (Dacher, 2006). Over the next six months I will take time to assess my progress. If I am not sticking with my plan I will consider the reasons for doing so and attempt to address them. It is also possible that my needs will change. If this is the case then I will turn to the integral assessment in attempt to understand the new areas where I am lacking and which need attention. If I stick with my plan of mental training, then there is a good chance that my newly expanded consciousness can help me find my direction more effectively than when I began.

Variety is the key to maintain long-term growth. Take running for example. I will run around my neighborhood one day and may be a high school track the next. Switching up the scenery can prevent boredom.

Mental training and meditation comes in many different forms and practices. I will also change these up on a regular basis to, not only prevent boredom, but to also address the broad spectrum of my mind. When I come back around to a practice that I have stopped for awhile perhaps it will have new found meaning.

I can honestly say that I am only speculating about prolonged growth ideas. I am excited to continue the journey, but I have no idea how I will feel six months from now. I am hoping that the health, happiness, and wholeness that I feel will be motivation enough to continue on a lifelong journey of healing. Thank you for reading. Best wishes and be well.

 

Danny

 

References

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. S. (2005). Consciousness & Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier.

Seaward, B. L. (2009). Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Well-Being. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection

The Subtle Mind was a practice that I found particularly useful. It seemed like an obvious place to start for me. I have a great deal of mental chatter and find it difficult to quiet my mind during the day. It sometimes hurts my concentration while reading. For example, I will sometimes read an entire page in the text book and quickly realize I have no idea what it was about. This is because my mind has wondered to a number of other things going on in my life. The Subtle Mind exercise is geared toward training your mind to not dwell on these random thoughts and to actually remain in the space between them. The time when my mind is busiest is at night so this is probably not an ideal time to practice. I plan on continuing this exercise, but doing so in the morning when my mind is slightly calm. Then with time I may try it throughout the day or even at night.

Another essential tool in achieving mental fitness will have to be meditation. I have decided to begin by using guided meditation and mental imagery to begin. There is no shame in crawling before you walk and I am just not familiar enough with the process to do it on my own. I will begin by finding a guided meditation that best suits me. I feel there are certain aspects that are very crucial. For example, I have to like the person’s voice narrating. If I cannot understand them or their voice is not soothing then it will be a waste of time. I will definitely be focusing on meditation just before bed. I feel this is the best time for me as it is when I am most keyed up and can benefit from the relaxation. Hopefully this will allow me to get a better night sleep.

 

Danny

Meeting Aesclepius

This week's practice was another mental training exercise called Meeting Aesclepius. It is geared toward locating the inner healer inside all of us. We were asked to picture a person who is very wise and stabilize their image in your mind. I immediately thought of His Holiness The Dalai Lama so I stuck with his image. I can't think of anyone to better teach us about loving-kindness, mental training, or meditation.

We are asked to focus on all of their characteristics and they are to become your focal point. An image of white light entering this person's mind is next pictured to be entering your mind as well. After every direction you are given a minute or so to remain with this new image. Next. a beam of light from their throat and into yours. Finally from their heart and into yours.

You are ultimately asked to let the image of this person dissolve into a bright white light, enter, and begin to permeate your entire being. This is supposed to represent your inner healer. Everything good about this person is now inside every cell of your own body and has the potential to heal your entire being. We not only have the potential to heal our own body, mind, and spirit, but also have the ability to offer these gifts to the world and help others.

This practice felt very empowering. It made me realize that our health is truly in our own hands, or in our minds to be exact. This is a great practice to go back to when we need reminding of the power we have inside of us.

It is somewhat true that one cannot lead another where one has not gone himself. However, we are constantly on our own journey and this is an ongoing practice. We are always changing and modifying our practice to fit our needs at the moment. That being said, I don't feel you need to be a wise and all-knowing healer to help others find their way. I plan on sharing what I do know for myself with my patients and explaining that they will ultimately lead their own path and guide themselves through the power of the mind.

It is certainly important for the physician to holistically develop their own health. This doesn't mean that they can draw a road map for somebody else to follow their exact route, but it is important to gain their trust that you do have the ability to help guide them down their own path to human flourishing though integral health.

Danny

Universal Loving-Kindness

The Universal Loving-kindness exercise is thought of as the last step in our interpersoanl development. That being so, I am quite sure I have lots of work to do on the previous steps before I can expect much of this. One thing I can say is that the exercise did give me a feeling of accomplishment. I felt like it is an intention to stop being selfish and judgemental. It allows us to see the rest of human kind as a single entity. We are all connected and love sent out to the world will be realized in our own heart as well.

The integral assessment only confirmed what I know is the area I need to focus on. That being psychospiritual development. The fact that it stands out so easy for me just means that I have lots of work. My mind seems to hardly ever be at ease and I am bombarded by mental chatter constantly. I plan on practicing the subtle mind exercise regularly in a effort to train my mind. I was also intrigued by the different types of meditation and will begin utilizing them in my life as well. The Transcendental Meditation or Relation Response seemed most fitting for me at the moment.

Danny