I.

Introduction:
Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop
psychologically, spiritually and physically? What areas do you need to develop
to achieve the goals you have for yourself?
It's important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically,
spiritually, and physically because health is a state of being which involves all three of
those aspects to be expanded and to assist your patients through services to foster their
well-being requires knowledge of these domains. As a professional in the Western
medicine world, it is easy to get tunnel vision and treat the patient from only one
aspect of health, the biological/ physical part that is easy to grasp due to scientific
tests. So to broaden your knowledge and ability to help guide patients heal themselves
requires the professional to know what its like in order to teach. I need to work on the
development of my psychospiritual and interpersonal domains of the Integral health
paradigm while actively researching and reading articles of research conducted in my
health and wellness field.
II. Assessment:
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your
wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?
To assess my health in each domain I had to look inward for the Integral health
assessment provided by Dacher, and really listen to what my mind, body, and spirit
had to say and then connect the pieces to issues as each domain is intertwined in the
web of integral health. I would rate my wellness spiritually on a scale of 1-10, with 10
being perfect development, a 6. Through this course I have been exploring my
spirituality with nature and my body to mind dynamic progression, yet am still
underdeveloped in terms of my spirit and sense of unity. But with any inner
development I still remind myself to be open and understand that it is a process. I
would rate my wellness physically a 7, as I am getting so strong fitness-wise and
mental fitness as well, but am still dealing with biological issues with my
digestion/assimilation and lowered adrenal function from time to time which I think I
due to psychological issues manifesting. Finally I would rate my psychological
wellness a 5. This is the lowest aspect of my health as I need to clean house and
develop from the ground up with many fears, stressors, and anxieties that I have let
control me and after my illness.

III. Goal development:
List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical,
Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.
In the Physical domain one goal I have is to heal my stomach function by eliminating
food intolerances by subduing my immune system response, restoring healthy inner
bacteria, and minimizing fight of flight triggers. Then once I have a biological
flourishing all my fitness hard work will be visible more than just 60%, but I will be
functioning at 100%. Im sure when this happens and all things on a physiological
level are working properly I will not feel as if Im working so hard against my body
and instead an ease and inner power will just be. Also I would like to continue my
yoga journey and connect deeper with my breathe and movement. My goals for my
psychological area is to increase my self-esteem, have ease when communicating in
my interpersonal relationships, build a support group of friends on a deep level of
understanding, small goals to conquer something that I have a fear or anxiety
associated with since my illness hit. I want to break free from my psychological
constraints and fear laden walls I have set up and start living life with intention. For
my spirituality goal I plan to explore other religions and travel to where they are
practiced as I have been finding that the basis and fundamental morals and teachings
are profound insight and words that are resonating with me more than ever currently. I
want to explore Hinduism and the many different types of Buddhism and meet the
people that believe in many different things. I want to also want to continue my
personal connection and relationship with nature as that seems to be the one thing that
just feels right to me.
IV. Practices for personal health:
What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following
domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual. Provide at least two examples
of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each
example.
To foster growth in the physical domain I plan to continue the schedule I have started
5 weeks ago that involves integrated training sessions with a variety of all different
types of physical fitness throughout the week. After training solely with running and
body weight exercises a few times a week and yoga one day for my half marathon
training it is a nice change to cross train my physical body and increase my strength
and power. I plan to continue implementing some sort of physical fitness daily and to
practice good habits for digestion which right now include enzymes, glutamine, aloe
vera, anti-inflammatory teas, and newly added colostrum. To develop my
psychological domain I plan to continue implementing meditative practice and yoga,
as well as add guided imagery and visualization to my daily routine to help lower my
stress response and return to homeostasis mentally and physically. Two exercises I
want to utilize are one of the meditative ones provided by Dacher and to use a mantra
or daily affirmations that I can repeat to myself to remind me that I am strong, smart,
and confident to boost my self-esteem from an inner source, not external sources of
confirmation. When I wake up I want to use the meditative practice before I do
anything else besides drink water and then use it again in the evening to unwind from
the day. The daily affirmations can be printed out and posted somewhere I look
frequently, as a positive boost and reminder. Spiritually to foster growth I plan to first
build my knowledge of the many different types of religions and spiritual beliefs and
then I will be able to decide for myself what I believe and then progress to the feeling
of support and unity. Daily I would like to read a short bit about a different religion,
their views, culture, possibly before bed to get a general understanding. Then I can
visit a church or temple and be enveloped by the physical grounds, feelings I get
emotionally, and people I meet. Also, go in nature at least for 30 minutes minimum
daily to breathe the fresh air, ground my feet, smell and appreciate all the living things
surrounding me and feel the sun on my face or wind on my cheeks. As nature is my
original peace of mind and serenity.
V. Commitment:
How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months?
What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices
for health and wellness?
To asses my progress in the next six months I will take the Integral Assessment again
and carefully comb through all of the domains of my life. To maintain my long-term
practices for health and wellness I believe it will be imperative to have small daily
tasks or goals, weekly goals/tasks, and monthly goals that asses and progress to the
next month with a six month plan set in writing that can be tweaked each month. To
remember all the fine details and exercises I would like to check off what I achieved
daily and move to the next day and physically see my steps that build into my
transformation. I think regular assessments, being honest with myself and
determination for human flourishing are the basics to what will help me achieve and
maintain my health and wellness goals. As a final goal to keep me on my daily
schedule I would like to add journaling that includes things I am grateful for, set an
intention for each day and reflect on it at night, and then practice gratitude,
thankfulness, and forgiveness until it is second nature.