Unit 10 Review

Well, well. In unit 3 I scored a 5 in psychological, a 6 in physical, and a 6 in spiritual. This was interesting, to say the least. I found that when I took a deeper look into myself with contemplative practice that I am not that advanced in the psychological and spiritual areas, so I would actually drop each one a point.

My physical area has remained the same, though. I am still anal about my food, and still eat well. I have not advanced in my physical fitness goal, so the score has not changed. I have about two weeks before I am doing a 5K walk/run, and so I know that I have to start training. This has been the toughest term I have ever had in my years of school at Kaplan. I am a nutrition major, but with an emphasis in health and wellness. I found my nutrition courses to be very challenging, but not to the degree that both of my health and wellness classes were this term. If I did not spend full-time staying focused on those two classes, I would not have been able to finish the weekly unit work. My third class was much easier, but still a burden on the workload.

So I found that even with time management, I struggled to meet Tuesday deadlines, and for the first time since I started Kaplan in 2008, I forgot items I had to do, and lost points for missing things I needed to. I am tired, exhausted, really, and am accustomed to getting 3 or 4 hours sleep per night throughout this entire term. 

I think that my psychological area may have improved a bit, and I believe that it is from our readings from this course more so than practice. I am much more forgiving and grateful for everything I have, and not down about what I do not have, and my new awareness of love and loving-kindness has totally reframed my way of thinking in the interpersonal area. This new aspect of my personality has also improved the spiritual area, because of the increased mental capacity and awareness that these three traits have brought me. As stated, the only difficult area is that of finding time to exercise and regular contemplative practice. I want these things to be a part of my life, so I am willing to keep working towards my goals.

I did practice the activities I determined would help me reach my goals, but just not often enough. One thing that helped was when I felt overwhelmed while sitting at the computer.  I would do one of the mindfulness meditation practices we learned in this class. I found that every time I practiced either the subtle mind or loving-kindness practice, or took myself on a visualization trip, I felt refreshed, energized, and kept on moving forward. So while my goals have not exactly changed and barely improved, I do have the technology, and the healer within me to keep practicing and evolving my inner self. As long as I develop and maintain the habit of constant practice, it will not be long before I reach my goals in all three areas. :)

Unit 9 Final Project

Diane Scudder HW420 Unit 9 Project Rachel May The theory of integral health was developed by Ken Wilbur, and placed into practice for us by Dr. Elliott Dacher (2006). Ken Wilber coined the quote "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself or herself" (George, 2005, p. 477). There is a strong ethical component to this. Wilbur (2005) goes on to say that it is not what a healer knows, but what he or she does not know that can harm a patient. Health and wellness professionals must experience human flourishing before practicing integral healing. It is not as simple as becoming a role model for our patients. We want to look as healthy on the inside as we are on the outside. We must recognize that we are our own healer and experience oneness with others. This means that we must develop our psychological, spiritual, and physical being in all four aspects of the human experience. We must follow the integral map and its five guiding principles of integral healing, and that it is holistic and evolutionary, as well as intentional, person-centered, and dynamic. Once we have fully developed our inner conscious through contemplative practice we discover that we have a variety of transpersonal tools that allow us to become a healer. Our attitudes and beliefs have changed, and we are no longer relying on outer sources of healing. We have transcended ourselves into spiritual beings, and have developed new skills and the capacity to be healers. We must have an open heart of loving-kindness so that we can breathe in the suffering of others and dissolve it in our heart. Then we can breathe out health, happiness, and wholeness to them, as well as feel in our heart how to help our patient. (Dacher, 2006). We must have a subtle mind, quiet and still, so that we can become intense listeners without any outer mind interference. Listening is the key to understanding the essence of each patient, and connects patient to the healer. This transpersonal approach is something that must be developed. It cannot be learned in a textbook, and must be mastered in order to take the integral vow into practice (Dacher, 2006). My wellness plan is “self-generated and self-cultivated” (Dacher, 2006, p. 3). I must develop all four areas of the human experience, the biological, psychospiritual, interpersonal, and worldly, but I must start with psychospiritual development. It is a key area that impacts my ability to develop the other three areas. I must look to inner sources of healing rather than short-term outer sources that are temporary at best, and damaging at worst. If this area remains undeveloped I will never meet my goal to transform my health from ordinary to extraordinary (Dacher, 2006). The purpose of a holistic personal assessment is to find my weakest areas that that cause me the most distress and demand development. Through contemplative practice I can clear my mind, and study the entire map of the human experience, its areas, levels and its lines, and decide which line is of main concern. Next I will ask myself if I am ready to improve this line, and then look deeper and let my mind tell me what I have to do to improve this area. Then I can continue to the next most important line I need to develop. This way, I can create my own wellness plan in a multi-dimensional pattern. Through my assessment, I found lines from each area that need development. The emotional line, the cognitive line, the personal line, the fitness line, and the work line are my weakest. After grading myself, my well-being scale comes in at a 6 in physical health, because I am too sedentary, a 6 in spiritual health, because I need to increase the capacity of my inner consciousness, and a 5 in psychological health due to an uncontrolled mind (Dacher, 2006). My wellness plan and assessment is personalized and individualized by and for myself. The self is the prime focus for the purpose of discovery. I have my own distinct personality and set of bad habits, and negative emotions that are barriers I need to overcome (Dacher, 2006). Dacher (2006) tells us to master one line, and the others can fall into place as well. I understand that my integral path to wellness is holistic and evolutionary, and I that each step will further my integral process. My first goal is to learn how to still my mind and free it from unwanted thoughts and ideas. The mind is capable of creating a state of optimal wellness and integral health, but can also be a psychosomatic enemy, causing illness and disease. What is important here is that I change my attitudes and beliefs so that stress cannot control me. This is an intentional form of healing. I must reframe my thoughts from being reactive to intentional, and take control of my mind. I must be able to develop my inner conscious, and that cannot happen until I develop a clear and undisturbed mind. The path to integral health is to train my mind to become mentally fit and reach my full mental potential (Dacher, 2006). Therefore, my psychological goal will focus on the emotional line. I live in a survival mode most of the time, and allow too much stress to enter my life and that is not conducive to my integral path. Through awareness from my assessment, I find that I am still reactive instead of intentional. The mind is all-powerful, and it must be calmed so that I can continue my integral journey. My focus is on improving emotions such as love, and to improve my ability to be grateful and learn how to forgive (Schlitz, Amorok, and Micozzi, 2005). My worldly lines are the most developed. I love to share knowledge with others, and am an activist against genetically engineered food. My work is service oriented, and I take pleasure in helping people become well, but my goal here is to transform my way of thinking when things do no go my way. I am rather anal about my diet, and eat as much organic as possible, so my biological goal is to become physically fit. I do know that although aware of the need to exercise, I find it difficult to fulfill that requirement for myself. I have always felt that I am a spiritual being, but I realize that there is a long holistic and evolutionary path to reach a level of the pure awareness and peace of unity consciousness. I feel a sense of awareness and connectedness to nature and have felt the experience of peace, calm and joy enough to know that I want to always feel that way. My spiritual goal is focused on the cognitive line to master a witnessing mind before I can move up a level to a calm-abiding state, which is the stillness of a subtle mind with an open heart, so that I am healthy, happy, and whole from the inside out, and not the outside in. Then hopefully, I will transcend my awareness to unity consciousness (Dacher, 2006). There are several approaches to meeting my physical, mental, and spiritual goals. I love to go for walks and dance, but there has been no time, so I must set aside time to walk in the morning and afternoon, and since Zumba is very popular these days, I can make it a point to join a class two days per week. Yoga is another excellent method of developing physical, mental, and spiritual areas through stretching and mindful meditation. Contemplative practices calms my mind. I can clear away the clutter of negative thoughts, while opening my mind up for expansion into the inner conscious and greater awareness (Dacher, 2006). There are many types of contemplative practices. Mindfulness meditation is intentional and insightful. It is controlled by breathing, which allows me to set aside the mind clutter and reach deep into my inner conscious and simply observe it, then watch it dissipate. Mindfulness can also be called a witnessing mind. With my mind clear, I can concentrate on what I want to without interruption from my overactive mind. My favorite mindful practice is the Subtle Mind practice. It is a practice that can transform my mind from being reactive to intentional. I find that this practice, which uses breathing to control my mind, has been the most beneficial for mental and spiritual development. It is quite the mental workout, but I feel very calm and relaxed after doing this exercise. I find that I can calm myself down during daily stressors simply by thinking of this practice and using my breath to observe those thoughts and feelings that are inhibiting my evolution from a witnessing mind to calm-abiding, and to finally transcend to the ultimate and final level of psychospiritual development; unity consciousness. Sometimes I am able to reframe distressing thoughts or reactive anger or fear, but there are times that I find that impossible, so the subtle mind practice is what puts me back on track again (Dacher, 2006). Mental imagery and visualization exercises also prove to be wonderful methods of calming my mind and reducing stress while increasing my spiritual capacity. By taking my mind on a “trip” to a place where I feel happy and peaceful, I have the ability to reach deep into my inner conscious and feel no emotions except for the quiet enjoyment of the picture I have created for myself. It is a glimpse into the pure awareness of unity consciousness, and the feeling is irresistible. This is the place where I will eventually evolve to as long as I continue practicing mindfulness meditation. I find that it becomes easier to automatically change negative perceptions from one of a threat to completely dissolving that threat (Dacher, 2006). I recently attended my first T’ai Chi lesson. This was a remarkable practice that incorporates meditation into movement. I found it to be an extremely beneficial tool that is teaching me to manage daily stressors at their moment of inception since life is ever changing and dynamic (Dacher, 2006). The loving-kindness meditation is another crucial component of my mental workout and my integral process. It results in an open mind and an open heart that is integral to further development. It is interpersonal and transpersonal by improving my relationship with myself, others and the universe (Dacher, 2006). I feel energized after this practice, and am ready to take on the world with love. I realize that I have a long way to go before I meet my final goal of optimal wellness and human flourishing. The integral process is slow and evolutionary, and I have to be committed to maintaining practice. Mastery of all practices evolves all areas, levels, and lines of the human experience, because they are all intertwined and interconnected (Dacher, 2006). Physical fitness improves mental fitness, and is an important facet of biological health that I need to focus on. Making myself physically fit will take commitment, but at least I am motivated right now because I will be training to walk a 5K in November. Where Olympic physical fitness has limitations, Olympic mental training is unlimited (Dacher, 2006). Once I become psychologically literate, the rest is not only possible, but a guarantee that I will be able to evolve towards a greater capacity of my inner consciousness, while keeping the evolutionary process moving forward. The subtle mind practice is probably the greatest tool I can use to develop my mind and improve my psychospiritual state. The importance of developing this quadrant cannot be understated. Psychospiritual flourishing is integral to the evolution of all areas, because it is the condition of the mind that dictates whether or not I will experience integral health and optimal wellness, or live my life in a normal state of stress and disease. The loving-kindness practice directly advances the psychospiritual, interpersonal, and worldly quadrants, and the indirect benefit is physical health. This is a common thread to all contemplative practices, because all areas of development are interconnected (Dacher, 2006). Science has shown the grave importance of integral practice and its effect on the mind/body connection. Ader and Pert studies of psychoneuroimmunology fame showed that the mind is intimately connected to the brain and the immune system. Davidson showed that the brain’s left-prefrontal cortex is enhanced by positive emotions and optimism, while negative emotions increase activity in the right prefrontal cortex, which is associated with pessimism. The Green’s showed that mental imagery is closely associated with changes in physiological processes, and Schnall showed that negative emotions can create permanent changes in the body that can result in disease. Lutz proved that the increased mind capacity of contemplative practice increases the level of gamma waves in the brain, which results in better organization (Dacher, 2006). These studies are profound and integral to the mind/body connection. I recognize that my path to integral health and human flourishing is not linear. Life and its tragedies are bound to temporarily get in the way, but the importance of remaining committed to myself and my growth must remain. It is with awareness and continued practice that will make me immune to adversity. Since I have learned that holistic and evolutionary healing is permanent, it is important for me to follow my integral path to human flourishing. One of the best strategies to stay motivated is to spend time at an Aesclepian-style retreat, or see a wise healer to help me along. Group sessions with like-minded people also support my efforts. I should have a wise person help me with self-assessment, because this process is ongoing while my evolutionary process is working toward being fully integrated and balanced. An objective healer can make certain that I am locating all of my areas in need of improvement (Dacher, 2006). Western medicine is only dependent upon the biological. It is incomplete healing, because it does not include the mind/body/spiritual connection or the mental, emotional, and physical aspects of wellness. Eastern principles balances the mind and spirit, which then makes the body healthy (Dacher, 2006; Schlitz, Amorok & Micozzi, 2005). We are conditioned to look only at the physical, but my progress depends upon not only taking care of the body, but also the aspects of the mind/body/spiritual connection. My motivation is to transform myself from living in a survival mode to a spiritual being of awareness and wisdom under the principle of non-duality. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but the parts must be healthy for the whole to be healthy. My health is dependent upon all of them if I want to experience human flourishing (Dacher, 2006). References Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, California: Basic Health. George, L. E. (2005). Transformation of the healer: The application of Ken Wilbur’s model to family practice medicine. From Schlitz, Amorok, and Micozzi’s, Consciousness & Healing: Integral approach to mind-body medicine. St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone. Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., and Micozzi, M. S. (2005). Consciousness & Healing: Integral approach to mind-body medicine. St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone. Wilber, K. (2005). Foreword. From Schlitz, Amorok, and Micozzi’s Consciousness & Healing: Integral approach to mind-body medicine. St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.

Jen's Spot: Meeting Asciepius

I have the same problem getting focused. I can tell you what works for me. I think the best practice is to clear the mind before attempting to "meet" Aesclepius. One thing I love about the subtle mind practice is that breathing is a great method of creating a still and subtle mind. Even though it is not the loving-kindness practice, this practice opens your heart and allows the mind to enter a deeper conscious state that will allow you to be successful with Aesclepius. It is wonderful that you were able to recall some wonderful memories of your grandfather' this leads us to an open heart, but it

is vital to be able to set your own foundation in your outer mind, and experience the realization that you are your own wise healer. I know that this protocol works for me, but you can individualize your own (and you should, because we are all different!) method of reaching the goals you have set for yourself. Hope it helps you out! :)

My Favorite Practices

My favorite two integral practices are the subtle mind and visualization practices. Why? I am very sensitive and respondent to both of these, and both have the ability to calm my mind and clear away unwanted thoughts and emotions that are conducive to a stressful state, and retard the opportunity for mental development.

The subtle mind practice is very effective, but I have to keep practicing so that I can incorporate it into daily life at a moment's notice when I need it. The same thing with the visualization exercise. I think it is wise to be able to put a halt to negative feelings and emotions before they get a chance to settle in and affect my daily life. For example, an every day occurrence, that bothers me, such as being subject to crazy drivers on the road, can be quickly reframed and resolved so that I do not allow one incident to ruin my day!

Okay, this one is huge. A real test for my newfound integral practices. I am getting hassled by property insurance companies. I live in an environmentally sensitive part of the country that happens to be in the hurricane zone. Because we are islands, insurance companies do not want to insure us for policies that mandated by mortgage companies. So our only insurance options are with federal and state companies called "insurers of last resort". This sets up what I call a "blackmail" scheme that both my flood insurance and windstorm insurances have created for me. I have nowhere else to turn to purchase those required insurance policies. This leads me to a state of frustration and helplessness, because I have to jump at their every whim. Despite all of my compliance and efforts to appease their requests, they are still harassing me, and threaten to either cancel my policies, or at least raise the rates. What happens then is that my mortgage company will assign insurance to my account at the most exorbitant rates one can imagine. My bank already assigned a flood policy that normally costs $400. per year to a $6200 policy for something that is not likely to ever pay off. Flood insurance does not cover the downstairs portion of my house, so it would take something catastrophic to flood the second story.
 I feel so trapped and angry. This is where I need extra resources to cope and more than ever bring my mind to stillness. Okay, I should probably do the loving-kindness practice for this one too, but as long as I have the ability to first clear my mind of this recent catastrophe, I will be able to deal with the whole process much better. It is a real test for my integral practices, and I know that many of you are being tested as well. I aim to stay on track because I simply do not like feeling this way.

I believe that the more I do these practices, the faster I will achieve mental fitness, and the day that I will no longer need these practices will come sooner; maybe not soon enough for my liking!  :)

Meeting Aesclecpius

I know that I have a lot to do this week. Each class has a ton of reading, projects, exercises, postings, or a blog. I am feeling a lot of pressure. My home is a wreck, my office is a wreck, and I am a wreck. So it could be why I had such a hard time meeting Aesclepius. The first problem I had was finding a wise person to focus on. I went back three times to the beginning to try and stay focused on one person.  I kept thinking of other possible people, and analyzed everyone I had chosen. I decided that they may have been brilliant people, but not necessarily wise. To me, this was an important distinction. I have been very fortunate to be around a few genius people, but that did not mean that they developed an inner conscious. So I finally just imagined a wise healer throughout the rest of the practice. Then I was alright for the rest of the exercise, but was still fidgety. I remained with this practice until the end. I can say is that I felt lighter, but not necessarily wiser, and my speech did not seem to have improved either. Okay, I am being funny. I know that this is only a practice, and I have a ton of evolving to do. My mind was still racing around to other things, but I felt better, go figure. I had first imagined a beam of light shooting into me, first my head, then my neck, and finally my heart. I decided that I did not care for the light to be shooting at me, so I made it softer; a gentle cloud of energy that surrounded each area until it covered my entire body like a cloud. Then I imagined the light entering my cells and organ systems. It was calming, and perhaps that is why I felt lighter once finished. I can clearly see why integral practice is such an individualized process, and once I started doing these practices I understood how evolutionary it truly is.

There is no doubt that as I continue integral practice that mindfulness and meditation is furthering my psychospiritual development. After last week's revelation that I am dealing with stress-related emotions, I have already begun to act in a calmer manner. meditation does that for me. There is greater awareness when I collide with a daily stressor, and I have been reframing them as each encounter seems to melt away. Then I laugh at the miracle I just created for myself. I was under so much pressure today, but managed to get my work done and cheerfully get home in time for my first class. I wrote down the universal loving-kindness practice, and referred to it when needed. I also breathed my way out of a few bad thoughts as well. I think these coping practices are creating positive change for me, because I feel better and stronger from within.

I also feel more intuitive, and am viewing people differently. I feel a greater connectedness with those I encounter in my daily life.  I find that I now have a critical awareness with others that is similar to my reaction during the Aesclepius practice. It is not an intentional criticism, but I am sensing their pain and suffering. I believe that I can better feel and "see" the stress in their lives, the anxiety, the anger, depression, you name it. It almost seems that every time I meditate that I am feeling more receptive and perceptive to the feelings to others. I want to ease their suffering and make their lives better. This is a paradoxical situation, because I have a lot of learning to do before I can be of service to others, yet I am feeling their pain. Could this be what is known as compassion? I did have success last week with my practices, but I am still taking baby steps. In any event, I feel spiritually uplifted when I can be of service to others, and it takes away much of the mindless clutter that keeps coming along.

Ken Wilber coined the quote "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself". We simply cannot follow a model of integral healing to be able to practice it. We may as well maintain the reductionist and cook-booked practice of Western medicine. We do have an obligation to our patients if we want them to  flourish, but it takes a trained mind to do it. There must be meaning in our work.  Even if we are caring and compassionate, the entire life experience needs to develop to accomplish the feat of calling ourselves a healer. Integral healing impacts us as much as our patients, and it requires a conscious mind. We must accomplish our own healing so that our compassion and wisdom emanates to all those we touch. Our healing must be intentional, holistic, intuitive, and integral with an open heart; a healing that touches the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of all life.

As I continue to grow and flourish, I understand the cause and effect principle of life. People respond to what I do. It becomes much easier to establish relationships with loving-kindness, and improve and eventually dissolve unwanted thoughts and stress. I am more intentional than reactive, and others feel that. I know I do. I feel more confidence in my work, and feel closer to my clients.

PowerPoint?

I always thought I was a bit computer savvy, but I just cannot get my powerpoint to upload. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Loving-Kindness redux & self-assessment

I decided to do the full loving-kindness practice again before I did the universal loving-kindness practice. Wow, I could not believe the different experience with the full loving-kindness practice. It was like an awakening! I am easily able to follow this practice completely now. It was an amazing feeling once I learned how to absorb and then remove suffering from others.

If it were not for the fact that I have done the video version, I would have had a very hard time remembering and keeping focus on the written universal version, and it took a bit to memorize the universal loving-kindness practice. I think this might be an line of personal growth that revealed itself. It was only a few related lines. My mind was too cluttered with other thoughts to maintain focus. So I did have a little bit of trouble getting it down, and it took several tries before I was successful.   I did feel a sense of calmness and my spirit was uplifted.

I ran into problems this week with a terrible stomach bug. Thought at first it was food poisoning, but it hung in there for a few days. What an inopportune time for that to happen, with so much to do this week. I am normally overwhelmed with everything in my life, so this was a set-back for me. Everything seemed to be a struggle as I felt the pressure to get things finished before Tuesday. I found it very hard to stay focused when not feeling well. This an an area of development I must work on. With regards to my self-assessment, I have been outwardly aware of a few things this week. They are related to negative emotions, such as anxiety, frustration, anger, and the stress that takes it all in. This involves lines within the interpersonal quadrant, but because weakness in this area makes me prone to biological problems, I need work in those lines as well. Had I been more developed in this area I would not have even gotten that bug in the first place. Its a downhill slide. When I did the assessment exercise, I found that I was able to focus more on those lines. Since it was important to focus on only one line, my consciousness helped me lean towards those interpersonal lines. That area is ready for development! Emotions are one of the biggest problems that make people sick, and by feeling overwhelmed all the time, I am setting myself up for disaster. I also realize that psychospiritual development is crucial to all other practices and the integral process itself. So emotions are the line that I must begin with. Once they are under good control I can do a reassessment and see what else becomes evident...

There are several things I can do to focus on my interpersonal lines and develop my psychosocial quadrant. I am going to a T'ai Chi session next week, and I am taking time for mindful meditation. Meditation is what helps me still my mind, and I need to further develop my witnessing consciousness. Here is where the loving-kindness and subtle mind practices are so relevant, and I intend to practice both frequently. The more I do them, the faster I can develop love and compassion for others, and remove those unwanted thoughts cluttering my mind. Just saying that really bothers me, because I have always thought I was so empathetic to others, but I guess that is different than helping them to heal.  I also need to exercise more. Now that the brutal summer heat is passing, I can get out and start walking again. I find walking to be a total stress reliever all on its own. Once I incorporate meditation into my walks, they will be even more meaningful.