Unit 9 Project

Hello all!  Here is my unit 9 project.

It is important for health professionals to develop an all-around since of integral health.  It is important because “integral health can only be known achieved through the development of our inner life and our inner healing capacities” (Dacher, 2006).  When health professionals seriously develop their spiritual psychological and physical aspects of life it helps with our healing process and aiding those in need.  “The moment we start to seriously invest in growing our inner life and acquiring its natural healing resources, we simultaneously step out of our ordinary ideas about health and begin the climb toward the treasures at the summit of extraordinary health” (Dacher, 2006).  In a nut shell, that quote exemplifies the importance of having focus in all three aspects and all aspects of integral health for health professionals.  Personally I need to develop more so in mental health, it is an aspect that is under developed in my life.  Through the duration of this course I feel I have learned new methods and will continue on with these practices.  The goals I have are to be more relaxed and not allow small things to irritate me as often, through meditation and relaxation methods I believe I can achieve this.

I score my overall health in each domain as very good.  Although psychologically I’m not as sure about the very good standpoint because I don’t really talk out my feelings or emotions often to anyone.  I need to be more expressive with people and tell them how things are really going rather than bottle up and hold inside.  My spiritual health has actually grown into what I consider very-good through prayer, and through relationships through co-workers.  Physically I feel that I am in very-good shape and would rate myself that.  It’s been quite a while I have been exercising to achieve the results that I would like and it is finally starting to pay off.

Goals that I have for myself are, physically to maintain and continue to eat healthier and to lose some extra weight that is hanging around.  I can complete this by watching what or how often I am eating.  Since I have been, wanting this goal I have really taken a look at portion sizes and have incorporated that in my daily eating habits, which helps result into this goal.  Psychologically I would have to say my goal would be to talk out my feelings rather than hold them in.  Often times it’s easier to not say anything and just get madder and walk away from a situation than speaking out and resolving at a lower level.  So having a calmer and more talkative approach is my goal for psychological health.  Lastly for my spiritual goal I would like to continue my spiritual growth through new founding relationships, such as friends, coworkers and even church members.  I would like to accomplish inner peace within myself, for instance know my being and wake up every day with purpose.

To accomplish goals in each domain there are various exercises that I can participate in to get closer to my aspirations.  For physical I feel that if I participate in activities that work both body and mind I will benefit the most.  Perfect examples of these sorts of exercises are yoga and Pilates.  And within this exercise routine in particular one exercise seems to soothe my mind and put my body in a great position to get more physically flexible, this pose is the Child’s pose.  Also in Pilates I have practiced doing an exercise called ‘the hundred’ which is a position while lying on your back on the ground and heels are about 6-12 inches above the ground and the hands are reaching toward your toes this is also lifting your back slightly.  I enjoy this exercise because it is rather difficult to hold for a while and it allows me to work through the mental pressure and exceed my expected results.

Exercises for psychological health are a bit simpler sounding but the actual exercise is more difficult than physical for me.  The exercises I will do to keep thriving for the best mental health I can have are, assisted meditation sessions and my own mediation.  Assisted meditation sessions can be done with CD’s or recordings and simply let the mind let go of everything and follow the prompts throughout the recording.  And with my own meditation I enjoy exploring new areas walking or jogging this is physical yes, but I feel the mental pressures breakdown and I feel relieved afterwards.  Therefore I feel this is more psychological for me and will be a good practice to continue for my psychological health.

Lastly for spiritual health the two exercises I can do to further my spiritual health are, prayer and developing stronger relationships with friends/coworkers.  Through prayer it is not necessary to accomplish spiritual health but I feel that having a since of being and purpose gives me the drive to be more positive days on out.  While I pray I feel more connected and uplifted.  Also spiritually developing relationships with my peers coworkers and friends it can also be uplifting for myself feeling that there are people out there looking out for me and wanting the best for me.  This can be a huge boost to my spiritual health and I can only gain from it.

I will assess my progress throughout 6 months much like we have done in this course and how I have in prior courses.  Do some written exercises/journals where maybe once a week I can really track what’s going on such as diet, tiredness, depressed, etc.   I believe doing this will help me in 6 months and will also help me over long time in assisting my long term goals and as a health professional.  Alongside this I can write (record) which methods of integral health I am finding most beneficial and what may help others out the most.  Through all of these exercises and goals that I am going to implement I truly believe I will live happier and healthier.

References

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