This quarter is coming to a close but this does not mean my life or growing or learning is coming to a close. Seven weeks ago I assessed my psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. At the time I gave myself a 8, 8.5, and 8, respectively. At this point I feel that I have stayed the same on the physical and psychological levels but improved on the spiritual level to a 8.5. I feel the exercises from this quarter have really helped me explore my spiritual well-being and improve somewhat. I also feel that I well on my way to achieving the goals I set forth. I am continuing to train for the half-marathon, I have cut down on body fat, I have stayed active on all the things I wanted to do. I am also in progress of reaching my psychological and spiritual goals as well. I have made it a point to tell people thank you or just compliment them randomly. It has been hard but each time I do it, it gets easier and easier. Each day I review my goals and ask myself if I am working on them or if I have been ignoring them. So far am on track. I seem to be putting a lot of time in to working on my spiritual well-being and I have noticed that this is making it easier to achieve my goals in other areas. Overall this has been one of the most rewarding classes I have ever taken. It is not often that you get to take a class that promotes your own health and well-being, especially as a nurse. The only part I found difficult this quarter was taking part in the Loving Kindness exercise. At first I was very uncomfortable with the exercise but I like with the end result is suppose to be. That is why I have been trying to do that particular exercise at least once a week. The more I learn to love myself, all of myself, the more I will be able to give my family, my patients, friends, etc.
This has been a wonderful class and I have truly enjoyed getting to meet everyone through discussion and blogging. I wish everyone peace, love, laughter, happiness, and wellness in all they do. Prof, thank you so much for such a truly rewarding learning experience.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Integral Health: A Personal Map for Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual Growth
“ The competent physician, before he attempts to give medicine to the patient, makes himself acquainted not only with the disease, but also with the habits and constitution of the sick man” – Cicero
The healthcare professional is more than just a healer of the sick. They are the role models, liaisons, dispersers of information, and vital to communication with the public. Their responsibility transcends the Hippocratic Oath or the Nightingale Pledge. Western medicine has taught us to view the patient on separate levels rather than all aspects, psychological, spiritual, and physical, as one. In doing so, it has also caused the healthcare professional to become removed from the patient and through this process the healthcare professional has also become detached from their own inner being contributing to the further decline of the patient-provider relationship. It is important for the healthcare professional to exhibit a healthy balance of their own inner makings so as to provide the most optimal care for their patients. Healthcare providers that demonstrate a high level of psychological, spiritual, and physical functioning are able to lead productive, creative lives that provides positive examples for the patients and the communities of which they serve.
Personally and as a healthcare professional I know that I need to continue to grow on all levels. To think that I have reached a definitive level in my inner growth would only be an injustice to myself and the patients that I serve as a nurse. In order to develop a holistic level of wellness I must focus on growth on each level, psychologically, spiritually, and physically. Each aspect is deeply intertwined. Improving in one area should promote growth and enrichment in the other levels. As I learn and incorporate mindful practices that enrich my psychological and spiritual levels, I will also benefit on a physical level. In having a clear, peaceful mind I will alleviate the emotional and psychological issues that can manifest as physical symptoms. Developing a holistic level of wellness will enable me to achieve all of my goals on a personal and a professional level.
Assessment
Periodically it is beneficial to take a time out and assess yourself. This allows you to see if you have made progress in goals that you have set for yourself or to get a baseline idea of where you currently stand in regards to setting new goals or just for a personal evaluation. Our health is one of those components of our lives that should have a periodic assessment but this should also encompass the psychological and spiritual aspects.
If using a scale of 0 to 10 I would rate my physical well-being as an 8.5, my psychological well-being as an 8, and my spiritual well-being as an 8.5. I don’t think that I will ever reach a10 because I feel there will always be room for learning, growth, and improvement. In order to assess myself in these three areas I first sat down with the list of goals I gave myself at the beginning of this year. In some areas I stayed the same and in other areas I met the goal and exceeded the goal. For example, about a month ago I was asked to rate myself from a psychological, spiritual, and physical standpoint. I gave myself an 8 for the spiritual component at that time. Now, I feel that I have improved because I have incorporated several practices that enhance my spiritual aspect and in doing so I feel that I have begun to develop a higher awareness of this aspect. I assessed my psychological well-being by going over my stress journal. I started keeping a stress journal about two years ago so that I could pinpoint exactly what was causing me to feel so overwhelmed. I could be more diligent about making entries but the entries I do have provide a baseline of where I was at two years ago and show my progression over the last two years. As I read over the entries I realized that I have continued to make progress with stress management, so much that I can say I only experience feeling overwhelmed or ‘stressed’ every couple of months now. I assessed my physical well-being by re-evaluating progression, if any, in areas that were identified as being troublesome. My knee has been giving me trouble over the last few months and is most likely the result of overuse, degenerative changes, and exacerbation of a previous injury. The other health issue is related to a dental injury I sustained while on a recent deployment. Overall, I know that I have excellent health and the two issues that I am having are easily fixable.
Goal Development
My mother was, to me, the wisest person I have ever known. She always had a witty quip or wise saying she had picked up from reading or from her childhood to incorporate in teaching me lessons about life. One of her favorite sayings was, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step”. She always stressed that you have to have goals in life or otherwise you will go nowhere and nowhere fast. But she also stressed that you have to start small and work your way through things in order to achieve them and understand their value. Here are my current goals.
Physical Goals- Physically, I would like to run a half-marathon and lose an additional 2% body fat.
Psychological Goals- Psychologically, I would like to continue to work on my issues with saying, “no” when I am put in the position of accepting too much responsibility.
Spiritual Goals- Spiritually, my goals are to develop a deeper sense of ‘Loving Kindness’ and ‘Calm-abiding”. Studying these topics mad me aware of how unaware I was to their existence and their benefits.
Practices For Personal Health
We have learned from Dr. Candice Pert that, “The mind is the body, the body is the mind” (Dacher, 2006, p. 18). The things that we are able to accomplish externally are a direct reflection of our inner capacity be it great or small. With that said we must also acknowledge that we cannot stimulate growth on any level unless we implement strategies to make that growth happen.
In order to work towards achieving my physical goals I will need to re-evaluate and re-assess the plan I currently have in place for this goal which is cutting down body fat and to run a half marathon. Each month I will continue to monitor my nutrition and diet and body measurements. I will also need to test my run times and how I physically feel before, during, and after the run and adjust my workout routine and nutrition so that I maintain a desired level of fitness. Visualization is also another tool I have used and will continue to use for my fitness goals. Every time before a workout I visualize myself running, with perfect form, in perfect rhythm, without distraction, and focused. This helps throughout my workout; if I can see it in my head; I know I can make it happen for real.
Achieving my psychological goal will start by first evaluating how much I feel this interferes with my life and health. Learning to say “no” has been an ongoing issue but over the last few years it is something that I have worked on very hard. Determining how bad I feel the issue is will help guide my strategies from improvement and growth in this area. At this point it would be beneficial to re-examine the types of boundaries I have in place. It is possible that I have let some of these boundaries slip and that could be the cause of feeling pressure again. The next thing I would implement is reviewing my positive affirmations. Since guilt is the biggest issue I struggle with in saying “no” it is important for me to acknowledge the emotion but not allow myself to succumb to the emotion or allow the emotion to define me as a person. Positive affirmations would enhance having a positive mindset.
Spiritual growth paves the way for an inner awakening and higher level of consciousness. My spiritual goals will be achieved by continuing to use the Subtle Mind and Loving Kindness exercises while incorporating meditation, seeking new exercises that build upon the Subtle Mind and Loving Kindness exercises, changing negative thoughts, and most importantly understanding that I am not just a physical body with a spirit, but a spirit with a physical body. I have a very close friend who says that the latter mentioned is the most important for achieving your spiritual goals. In order to implement these practices in my life, it is important for me to take advantage of any alone, quiet time I can get. I have time early in the morning, on my way to and from work, right before my step-daughter gets home from school, and that quiet time right before drifting off to sleep. After all, meditation does not have to take place for hours at a time to be effective; 15 minutes a day is a good start.
Commitment
We have all started a program or made a vow with whole hearted intent to follow through with our plans, but more often than not, we find ourselves back at square one, wondering why no progress has been made or why following through with the commitment was so hard. As previously mentioned, personal reassessment is a powerful tool that can be used to track progress. Six months from now I will sit down, take a time out and reflect on where I stand physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Journaling is an excellent way to keep track of baseline assessments, periodic assessments, accomplished goals, thoughts, feelings, and emotions. It is something that can be kept for months or even years and for me this has been the best tool in tracking my personal progress on many levels.
Regardless of our profession, holistic wellness is the responsibility of each and every one of us. Development of a positive inner being will shine through to the world around us and foster the environment we are meant to live and thrive within. We cannot develop and grow on one level without affecting the other; this is what drives us along the path to integral health and healing. We learn that to find that perfect balance we cannot just take care of our physical needs. We must also take care of the needs of our hearts, minds, and of the spirit.
References
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