My Integral Assessment

This week's assignment was to complete the integral health assessment in Chapter 11 of our text (Dacher, 2006). I already knew I had a lot I needed to work on so I wasn't really looking forward to the uncomfortable truth of my results. It was helpful to keep in mind that integral health does not mean we have to be fully developed in every aspect of our life. "The path to integral health requires that we at least become aware of the sources of needless suffering, distress, and dissatisfaction and the possible sources of future development and flourishing" (Dacher, p. 111). Basically that means we don't have to be perfect, we just need to be AWARE of what areas of our life need improvement. Phewf! I can totally do that!

So we already know that the "body, to mind, to spirit" approach should be applied to the four aspects of our human experience (psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly) (Dacher, 2006). For the integral assessment, the text breaks each of these categories down even further. Each of the following sub-categories are specific areas in our life that we can assess.

Psychospiritual

• conative
• cognitive
• emotional

Biological

• fitness
• nutrition
• self-regulation

Interpersonal

• personal
• family
• community

Worldly

• generativity
• social activism
• work

I completed the integral assessment by asking myself which of these areas is a source of difficulty or suffering in my life. I was definitely able to pinpoint a specific area that I need to work on: the biological, and even more specifically, my fitness. I feel that not being as physically fit as I once was (pre-baby) has allowed me to hold myself back in multiple areas of my life. In order to develop and improve this area of my life I have chosen to sign-up for a regular yoga class again. I am really excited to get back to regularly practicing yoga with others. I know that yoga will not only increase my body's strength and flexibility, but it will also serve as an integral practice that will quiet and calm my mind. Now that's definitely something I always need :)

In health & happiness,

Hannah

Universal Loving Kindness

This week's practice was universal loving kindness. While reading about universal loving kindness in our text, I especially loved the line that says "to see another, acknowledge another, hear another, be present with another, and feel one with another- a lover, a partner, a friend, a stranger, and even an enemy- is a profound healing gift for oneself and the world" (Dacher, 2006, p. 93). I do believe that practicing universal loving kindness is extremely worthwhile and that these things would indeed help heal ourselves as well as heal the world. The text also gives an example of a universal loving kindness mini-practice. After 2 minutes of sitting with eyes closed and resting, you are supposed to repeat the following 4 sentences to yourself for the next 10 minutes:

May all individuals gain freedom from suffering.

May all individuals find sustained health, happiness, and wholeness.

May I assist all individuals in gaining freedom from suffering.

May I assist all individuals in finding health, happiness, and wholeness.

I must admit, this was not my favorite practice. While I did feel relaxed and peaceful at the end, I personally thought repeating the same 4 sentences over and over seemed monotonous. I definitely had to focus on staying aware and conscious of what I was saying and not go into robot-Hannah. I think I'm discovering that chanting or repeating the same thing over and over isn't my preferred style of practice. I much prefer the audio-guided practices in the past units where I got to focus on visualizing something instead of just repeating a phrase.

In health and happiness,

Hannah


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

Loving Kindness vs. The Subtle Mind Exercise

So, once again, I had a hard time with the contemplative exercise this week. (I have begun to realize that I really have a problem quieting my mind :/ ) To me, the subtle mind exercise was even harder than the loving kindness because there was less "guiding," so to speak. In the loving kindness practice, first you are instructed to focus on a loved one, then yourself, then a group...yada yada yada. The point is, I was relaxing my mind but was also constantly alert or actively following the directions. (Basically my mind thought it was still busy, so it didn't seem as awkward for me.) However, in the subtle mind exercise, the focus was to quiet and relax the mind by focusing on my breathing. That's it. No more steps really, no more guiding. Just focus on my breath and don't think. Guess what?! When I'm trying not to think, all I seem to want to do is THINKTHINKTHINK. It must be my mommy-brain taking over, but I tend to continuously think 10 steps ahead of myself. And I know the exercise says to just bring your focus back to your breathing if you get distracted, but I seemed to have to do that constantly! I even caught myself thinking "Up.Down.Up.Down" with each breath, which is obviously not helping to quiet my mind any. So my overall impression is that while this exercise seemed a lot harder, it is probably just because I really need it. I'm definitely going to make this a daily habit from now on since I obviously NEED the practice.

In health and happiness,
Hannah

Loving Kindness for Everyone!!

Practicing the loving kindness exercise this week has been difficult for me. It isn't necessarily hard for me to mentally picture feeling loving kindness towards myself, loved ones, or strangers. I consider empathy as one of my best traits, often being overcome with emotion simply because someone else is experiencing it near me. It sounds hokey, but I always say that I genuinely love people...everything about them, the differences, the similarities, the quirks, everything that makes us each unique. So mentally extending the feeling of loving kindness to others and reducing their pain and suffering felt awesome in this exercise.

The part I struggled with was actually just relaxing and getting my brain to SHUT UP for once. I went back and forth from participating in the exercise to racing, random thoughts of "AmIdoingthisright? Idon'treallyknowwhatIamsupposedtobedoingexactly. Man,Ineedtopracticethis. CrapnowI'mnotevenlisteningtotherecording. Ahhhhhhh!" Overall, I did enjoy this exercise and would recommend it to others. I would also recommend practicing often (but that is more just a recommendation to myself!)

I think of a mental workout as mentally practicing something that does not come natural to you/your state of mind. Whether it is loving kindness, inner peace or stillness of mind, these things take lots and lots (and if you are me, lots more) practice. Research suggests that the mental exercises of feelings such as compassion, loving kindness and empathy can lead to actual changes in the brain's functioning. When we continually practice these attributes we can eventually get to the point where our mind is naturally in this state of compassion, peace, etc. I obviously need to practice stillness of mind a LOT in order to improve my psychological health. Too much chatter and not enough substance going on up there if you know what I mean... :/

 

In health and happiness,

Hannah

My Mental Rainbow

So, I reeeeaaaaalllllly enjoyed this week's relaxation exercise :) At first I was frustrated because it was seemed hard to calm my mind this evening. My mind kept racing through random thoughts and I had to really work at focusing on the exercise. It must have worked eventually though, because by the end of it I was actually starting to nod off! It's pretty impressive to go from very alert, nonstop thinking, to struggling to stay awake in just 10 minutes! (Well, it's impressive for me at least) I really appreciated the imagery of the beams of light as well. Trying to imagine the various colors beaming from different areas of my body definitely helped me stay focused. Overall, I think practicing relaxing and mental rainbows should be on my To Do list a lot more!

In health and happiness,

Hannah

My Own Level of Wellness

When reflecting on my own level of wellness, there are some obvious deficiencies. On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being optimal, I would give myself the following scores:

Physical Well-being:               5         

Spiritual Well-being:               6

Psychological Well-being:       8

My physical well-being is my worst area at the moment. I am currently (slowly) working my way back to pre-baby health. It's been almost an entire year since I had my son, so I don't think I can get away with calling it baby weight anymore! While I do eat extremely healthy in general, it has been really hard to make exercise as much of a priority as I would like. Learning how to juggle taking care of two kids instead of one and going to school has definitely been tricky for me! I know that exercise is important, as well as getting back to my pre-baby health. My goal is to get back into the shape I was in before pregnancy (or better) by getting up early (before everyone else wakes up) and exercising each morning. My health needs to be a priority in order for me to do my best taking care of my family.

My spiritual well-being is rated a *little* higher because I feel that I do a *little* better at making that a priority. I am very aware of my spirituality and do many things to encourage growth. Whether it is through my church or through my yoga practice, this is one area I feel I am constantly aware of and in touch with. However, I do feel that I always have room for improvement. My goal is to spend at least an extra hour a week developing my spirituality, whether it is by attending an extra church class or furthering my yoga practice.

Psychological well-being seems to be my best area of the three. I think I am pretty sane, so that's a start! Haha :) But in all honestly, I think one of the best things I do to encourage my psychological well-being is that I actually allow myself to have/express/feel/communicate my emotions. Whether it is happiness, sadness, fear, anger, etc, I don't hold it all back. I think too many people stifle everything back for so long that they eventually explode with emotions... or implode, depending on the person. Either way, it's an unhealthy way of dealing with things. I don't go crazy and overwhelm others with my emotions but I think I have found a healthy balance of expressing myself and effectively communicating with others. One goal I do have for my psychological well-being is to do better at de-stressing. I need to take a break now and then to relax, unwind and recharge. I think my first physical well-being goal of incorporating more yoga practice into my routine would also benefit me in this category as well. Yoga is an awesome way to clear my mind and re-focus on the important things in life.

Well it seems like I have a lot to get started on!

 

In health and happiness,

Hannah