Unit 9: Integral Plan

I.                   Introduction

As a health and wellness professional my clients look to me for guidance on health and wellness issues. As a massage therapist my clients ask me for advice n many subjects dealing with their health. Now, as a massage therapist I am not able to diagnose or prescribe but I can help guide my clients in the direction to find the information they need. Also as a health and wellness professional my clients look to me as an example of a healthy person. All these reasons and more are why it is important for health and wellness professionals to constantly be working to strengthen their physical, spiritual, and psychological well-being.

II.                Assessment

I have not been able to fully assess my integral health as much as I need or would like. My schedule is starting to become more organized and opened and this will allow me to spend the time I need to do a full assessment and plan. I will use the six principles of integral assessment (Dacher, 2006) to find the areas that need the most immediate attention and devise a plan from there. I know even without the assessment that all aspects need strengthening, but the assessment will give me a starting point and a plan. As of right now I would score my spiritual wellness at a 3, physical wellness at a 5, and psychological wellness at a 4.

III.             Goal Development

As I mentioned before I need to strengthen all aspects of my well-being. To do this I have set some goals for myself in each area.

Physical:

1.      Work out at least three times a week.

2.      Do a mud run

Psychological:

1.      Practice meditation every day

2.      Work on controlling my emotions

Spiritual:

1.      Assess my beliefs

2.      Practice my beliefs

IV.             Practices for Personal Health

There are many practices and/or exercises that can help foster growth physically, spiritually, and psychologically. The following are exercises that I choose to use.

Physical:

1.      Walk 45 minutes twice a week.

2.      Circuit train twice a week.

Psychological:

1.              Meditation

2.              Journaling

Spiritual:

1.      Study religions/spiritual practices

2.      Chanting/praying

I plan to use walking and circuit training to build my strength and stamina for the mud run. Practicing meditation every day (even if for only a few minutes) will help strengthen my mental well-being. I will use journaling to help express my emotions positively and to help reduce stress. Spiritually I need a lot of work. I figured by studying religions and spiritual practices I can find the one that most matches my beliefs and personality and begin to practice and strengthen my spirituality.

V.                Commitment:

Over the next six months I will continue to focus on strengthening all aspects of my well-being. I will assess my progress by using the integral assessment once again. I will also re-evaluate my ratings for my physical, spiritual, and psychological well-being and compare my ratings. These steps will show me in what areas I have improved and in what areas I still need to work on. I will need to stay focused and motivated in order to maintain my long term practices for health and wellness. I will try to seek our professional help if I get stuck in a particular area and need guidance. I will work developing my meditation skills by trying different exercises and finding the ones that work for me.

I have a lot of work to do on my journey to integral health. It will not be an easy journey but I know it will be worth the time and effort.

Reference

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications.