My Final Project:

A Personal Plan of Action Towards Integral Health

Ken Wilbur’s theory of integral medicine is based on all aspects of a human life and their experiences within the world.  This is the abundant knowledge of theories and practices on a multitude of fields (Integral Health, 2012).  The organization, coordination and harmonization of many different areas of focuses including  “cultural studies, anthropology, systems theory, developmental psychology, biology, and spirituality, ecology, sustainability, psychotherapy, psychiatry, education, business, medicine, politics, sports, and art” (para. 5). Western health is focused on the physical aspects of the body and medicine that works as a temporary relief of illnesses of the body.

While the focus of conventional medicine is the physicality, make-up or structures and how they functions as a unit to develop a highly advanced organism, integral healing brings three other components to add to health and healing.  The four components of the integral health model are subjectivity, objectivity, intersubjectivity, and interobjectivity.  Subjectivity is intentional and is the interior (ideas, views, feelings, etc) of an individual person; the “I” component. Objectivity is behavioral and the exterior of a person or the make-up that conventional medicine focuses on; the “it” component.  Intersubjectivity is the collection of the surrounding culture and it’s effect on an individuals mythologies; the “we” component.  Finally we have interobjectivity, which is the collection of knowledge from the surrounding environment including social; the “its” component.  Integral healing brings all four of these components together as one and treats it as one unit of health and healing. 

For physical wellness in a person’s life, I think that nutrition and exercise are important steps that an individual can take to bring such wellness.  The anatomy and physiology of our body relies on the intake of food and drinks to keep the body functioning properly.  Diet and nutrition provide the necessary components that the body cannot to keep it functioning (Thibodeau & Patton, 2010).  Psychological wellness I think can be achieved by not letting the natural stressors of life interfere with the way in which one view and acts in the world.  I think that can bring less depression, anxiety and anger, which are the pitfalls of mental health (NIMH, 2014).  For spiritual wellness, I think that a person can figure out their place in the world.  It is accepting the world in how it is and working in unison with it (Dacher, 2006) and actually living life to the fullest.  All these areas need to be developed for me to achieve the goals I have for myself. 

As a reflection on myself to measure my abilities in the three domains I used a scale of one to ten with ten being optimal wellbeing, rating myself for physical wellbeing, spiritual well-being, and psychological well-being.  On a scale of 1 to 10 for physical well-being, I rate myself a 5 because I think that I could have healthier life-style choices.  On a scale of 1 to 10 for spiritual well-being, I rate a 2.  I feel like that is where I need the most work.  I have never been a spiritual person but can understand the idea of what it means in a different perspective.  It is more about my level of connection with the world and I feel I do not have one as strong as it should be.  On a scale of 1 to 10 for psychological well being, I am a 6.  I have a great logical mind that is based of facts and evidence that I can see and understand, also making it my possible weakest point.  I have studied so much about mental health for others, but never for my self.  This is how I have measured myself to understand where I am in each domain and what areas of focus are necessary for my optimal well-being and human flourishing. 

A goal in my physical aspect is to exercise more and stop being lazy all the time.  Making healthier eating habits and taking better care of my health is important to me as well and a goal to going to the doctor on a regular basis rather than expecting problems to just go away.    My goal for psychological health is to be more open-minded and dedicate a time for practice.  With the loving-kindness, relaxation practices, subtle mind, visualization, and meditation practices, I feel like I did not get the full effect of what they can offer me.  I have been going through hard times and find myself reacting without intention.  It is important for me to be able to get a grip on all these practices to help me gain the knowledge these practices can offer me.  The spiritual goal is to become more interconnected with my world and the people in it.  This is where I lack experience and I see conflicts with my daily life.  I need to learn to control my own anxieties with life and keep them from interfering with my life and daily goals.

Meditation is a practice that I find will be most beneficial to my growth in all three domains.  “Stress management techniques and meditation can help people with anxiety disorders calm themselves and may enhance the effects of therapy” (NIMH, 2014, p. 20). The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2014), provide a bountiful amount of information on meditation and what it can do for your overall health.  The four core principles of medication include a quiet place, comfortable posture, open attitude, and a complete focus of attention.  The benefit that it can provide is the decrease is stress that adds to daily life.  This can ultimately help lead me to my goals in all three domains as long as I continue with the practices.  If I can be sure to make these practices part of my personal and professional life I can be sure that they are guiding me in the direction of Integral Health and human flourishing. 

References

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

Intergral Healing. (2012). Ken Wilbur. Retrieved from http://integrallife.com/contributors/ken-wilber

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Mental health information. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/index.shtml

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). (2009). Anxiety disorders. Retrieved          from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxietydisorders/nimhanxiety.pdf

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2014). CDC features: mediation and health. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/Features/Meditation/

Thibodeau, G.A. & Patton, K.T. (2010). Structure and function of the body. Mosby: Elsevier. 13^th ed. 

Schiltz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M.S. (2005). Consciousness and healing:integral approaches to mind-body medicine. Elsevier, Inc. St. Louis: MO