In his book Integral Health,
Elliot S. Dacher, M.D. states that the human flourishing he has witnessed
has come from self-cultivation instead of some extrinsic source of healing (Dacher,
2006). An individual’s healing begins the choice to heal. It is
important for each health and wellness professional to make the choice for an
integral path to health. On this path
they will develop psychologically, spiritually and physically. A health and wellness professional that has
embarked on this journey will be able to lead from example. There is no need to conquer each domain but
when you make the choice to acknowledge each area you will no doubt experience
successes on your journey. Those
successes will show in your work; they will give clients hope that they can
actually achieve what is being set in front of them.
For myself, I have spent the past few years developing
psychologically and would like to focus on the spiritual and physical
domains. I would not say that I have
completed my psychological journey but for some time now I have felt like I
have reached a limit where in order to go any further in this domain I must
focus on my spiritual side. I also feel
like there are ways that I can work on my physical being that will help
compliment my spiritual and psychological growth.
In order to create a plan of what areas a
person needs to improve they must first figure out what their starting points
are. After getting an accurate gauge of
where they stand it is easier to see what areas must be improved upon. In Dacher’s concept of integral health there
are six principles of integral assessment: the goal of integral health is to
decrease unnecessary suffering and as a result promote human flourishing,
integral health recognizes there is a difference between short and long term
relief, integral health recognizes a difference between immediate pleasure and
long term flourishing, psycho-spiritual development is an important piece in
achieving human flourishing, in order to assess the process of integral health
one must rely on deep listening and guidance, and integral assessment looks at
all areas of life that are relevant to our current lives (Dacher, 2006). Keeping these six principles in mind a person
will want to look at the psychological, biological, interpersonal and worldly
connections in their lives. There are
further subcategories to look at under each of those categories and
assess. These subcategories are listed
in the chart below.
I’ve assessed myself in each of these
categories so that I am able to create a plan of what areas of change make the
most to address at this point in my life.
Using the chart below I can see that my strengths and subjects that lie
in the spiritual realm include my emotional growth, personal growth and work;
my greatest weaknesses that sit in the mind range are fitness and social
activism; and the areas that lie within the body realm are conative, cognitive,
self-regulation, nutrition, family, community, and generativity.
The
levels of development: 1= Body, 2 = Mind, 3 = Spirit
After assessing my starting point, it’s time to set some
goals. I shall set one goal to improve
upon my physical health, one goal to improve my psychological health and one
goal to improve upon my spiritual health.
Physical Health: Become
more physically active. Some
possibilities include: participate in a yoga class and/or start walking 3-4
days a week for at least 30 minutes.
Psychological Health: One
area that lies within the mental realm that I’d like to improve is social
activism. I’d like to find at least one
social cause that I can become involved in.
An example could be donating money or supplies to a friend of mine whom
I know that is actively involved in helping a community in Africa.
Spiritual Health: Consistently
meditate daily and when possible visit a Shambhala meditation center.
Once we set a goal to
achieve we must plan the route that we will take in order to achieve those goals. When starting at something new the best way
to improve upon a skill is to practice it.
Therefore in order to achieve our goals we must practice. There are certain principles that must apply
to our practices in order for them to be effective in helping us to obtain
integral health. Dacher, has listed
eight principles of integral practice they are as follows. All integral practices must have as their
final aim the evolution of our knowledge, capacity, and abilities beyond what
is no considered normal – Our goal must be to evolve. What is a person’s normal state when they
start their journey will be completely different and expanded upon as they
continue their journey. All integral
practices must be supported by inner development – In order to continue along
the path of integral practices one must expand their consciousness and reach
new levels on the inside. All integral
practices must be infused with an aspiration for loving-kindness – Every step
must be taken with loving-kindness towards yourself, friends and family,
enemies and everyone and everything in between.
All integral practices must be infused with virtue – Our actions must
match the words we speak and read, even in the most difficult of moments. All integral practices must be tailored to
the individual’s needs – Everyone is unique and therefore everyone will take a
different path and need different things.
Different areas in everyone’s lives need to be addressed at different
times. There is no generic solution to
any one problem. Integral practice
requires more than one helper or mentor – The integral practice is all
encompassing and it would be impossible to have a mentor be a master of all
areas of development. Integral practice
requires we take responsibility for our own development – No one can take the
path to integral health without choosing it and actively participating in each
step. Integral practice emphasizes
activities that are broad-based, simultaneously touching multiple aspects of
our life – Integral practices focus on the whole picture therefore activities
should focus on the whole instead of separating pieces of ourselves.
I think the activities that
I have listed in the previous paragraph that outlines my goals are good
practices to follow that will help me to obtain integral health. Some of these practices such as yoga fall
under the category of contemplative practices which will help me physically,
mentally and spiritually all at the same time.
I’ve listed both yoga and walking to help me with my physical practice;
I will add finding a local organization to volunteer at to becoming involved in
a global charity cause for my psychological practice; and creating a daily
meditation habit and visiting a meditation center or hopefully a retreat for my
spiritual practice. Again, some of these
practices will help with multiple domains at once.
I
believe that once you start to see the rewards of your practice it is those
natural consequences that keep us motivated to continue along the path. The early and important step of creating an
awareness of our thoughts and actions, that witnessing mind will help us to
keep ourselves on the right path. On the
other hand it is important to remember that we are human and it may be tempting
to fall into old traps and habits. The first
six months may be the most difficult because it is then that we are cultivating
these new habits. I think creating
monthly check ins will be a good idea.
Keeping a daily journal that you take time review each month will help
me to step back and see what is actually going on. After six months if the journaling is
successful, I will continue to do it.
Another way would be to find a guide who can help me along my journey
and be an outside source that is watching me along my journey. My final way to assess where I’m at and what
I’ve accomplished is to check the goals that I’ve set in this paper every 3-6
months. If I’m having trouble achieving
a goal I will look at what is happening within my practice and adjust as
necessary. Knowing that this is a life
long journey is an important thing to know, change does not come easy but with
patience, practice and loving-kindness anything is possible!
References
Dacher, E. M.D. Integral
Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health Publications Inc.
Laguna Beach, CA