HW420, Unit 9 Final Project

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Holistic/Integral Health Plan
Unit 9
Cheryl Brasel
Kaplan University
HW420-01 Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing
October 19, 2011

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A Holistic/Integral Health Plan
It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically,
spiritually, and physically. Psychological development, or training the mind, will help the health
and wellness professional have a healthy and grounded perspective on life. Training the mind
can promote optimal physical health, control and eliminate negative stress reaction, instill calm
awareness, open true compassion towards clients, engages the ability to reach out to others, and
creates an atmosphere of calmness around the health and wellness professional. (Dacher, 2006)
Spiritual development cultivates wisdom, love, and ethics. These character traits are essential in
a service industry such as health and wellness. (Walsh, 2001) Physical health will work
synergistically with psychological and spiritual well being. It will keep energy levels up and
prevent diseases. Physical health along with psychological and spiritual health is important to
progressively develop and benefit the health and wellness provider and to provide a testimonial
example for the client. A leader wants to be an example for those they are teaching and
counseling. (Dacher, 2006)
“The more you learn, the less you know” is a common quote that is extremely applicable
to my development in psychological, spiritual, and physical aspects. My goals are to be a leader
in my field of healing nutrition therapy. The more I learn about this field of study the more I
realize I need a great deal of development in all the three characters of psychological, spiritual,
and physical health.
Taking into account the six principles of integral assessment (Dacher, 2006, p. 105-106),
I have assessed my health using the four domains of human experiences which are
psychospiritual, biological, worldly, and interpersonal. Each quadrant has the body, mind, and
spiritual levels of development. (Dacher, 2006) I have assessed my development lines as follows:

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Psychospiritual: The three lines of psychospiritual development are emotional, cognitive
and conative. Emotional motivation incorporates a more instinctual reactive response and
usually is initiated by fear, anger, and lack of emotional control. I can have fear responses to
certain situations, usually involving conflict. I would put myself in the mind level of
development. Cognitive development levels start with reactive responses (body), progress to
logic and reasoning (mind), and ultimately progresses to fulfilling level awareness (spirit).
Cognitively my development is in the mind level, somewhat more developed that the emotion
line. Conative also starts with instinctual reactions, progresses to character development from
our environment, education, and spiritual training; and reaches a fuller development from
wisdom, inner-development, and wholeness. My conative development is also in the mind level
slightly higher than the cognitive line development. Contemplative practice and mindfulness
development will significantly develop each line of the psychospiritual quadrant. (Dacher, 2006)
Biological: The three lines of the biological quadrant are fitness, nutrition, and self-
regulation. My fitness line of development has advanced past the minimal movement needed to
survive to an inconsistent purposeful physical fitness program. Since I am still below a
maintenance stage with my fitness program, I would place my level in the mind level. Nutrition
development starts with animalistic feeding and progresses to purposeful selection of nutritious
foods that have a low impact on the environment. This line of development changes weekly
from mind to spirit in relation to availability of foods and transportation. Self-regulation levels
are basic biological balance to contemplative practices to advanced body/mind/spirit capabilities.
I am at the low end of the mind level which should continue to progress with the practice of the
loving-kindness and subtle mind practices. (Dacher, 2006)

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Interpersonal: Interpersonal lines of development are personal, family, and community.
Each line is relational based with the same three levels of development, body-mind-spirit. The
family line is more developed than each of the other two lines. My devotion to family usually
takes precedence over personal and community development. I would place this level of
development in the high-mind level. As my children mature, my personal line of development
has increased to mid-mind level. Community level is low-mind level. (Dacher, 2006)
Worldly: Worldly lines of development are work, social activism, and generativity. My
work line of development is at the spirit level. It comes easy for me to view my work as service
to others. This attitude is reflected in the high level of satisfaction from those I serve. Social
activism is on a low-mind level. I do not participate in many social events and tend to stay close
to home. I am comfortable with this level but see changes developing as my education goals
come to an end and career development progresses. Generativity refers to teaching and
mentoring others. (Dacher, 2006) I rate my level in the spirit level. I have a teaching, sharing
spirit and sharing wisdom gained from education and experiences comes easy.
Setting goals in developing psychological, physical, and spiritual flourishing will help
continual life progression. My psychological goal is to develop my self-esteem. I have begun a
leadership training program. I view this program as instrumental in developing a healthier self-
esteem. My physical goal is to reach a maintenance stage of my daily physical exercise program
for a period of six continuous months. I will start this goal on October 24th. My spiritual
flourishing goal is to engage in deeper communion with my God. I will develop this goal by
continuing the daily contemplative practices of loving-kindness and subtle mind, praying often
on a daily basis, and studying and meditating on Bible scripture every night.

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Personal growth strategies should be adopted in the three flourishing domains; physical,
psychological, and spiritual. Implementing goals in the three domains will lead to the ultimate
goal of health, happiness, and wholeness.
Physical flourishing strategies can include a formal exercise program, activities that
promote fitness accompanied with relaxation, and nutrition. A formal exercise program includes
a ten minute warm up routine, 30 minutes of intense exercise, and is wrapped up with a ten
minute cool down and stretching. The body of the exercise program should include aerobic and
anaerobic exercises that are performed on alternating days. For example, aerobic exercise could
be scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Anaerobic or weight lifting exercises could
be scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Examples of aerobic exercise are walking at
a fast pace, jogging, running, and intense dance such as Zumba, Jazzercise, and other forms of
aerobic dance. Examples of anaerobic exercise are muscle building exercises that target specific
muscle groups. Yoga and Pilates can also be considered anaerobic. Flexibility is a priority goal
and becomes an important part of the cool down section of the exercise program. Yoga and
Pilates have effective moves that increase flexibility also. Formal exercise programs can become
boring and too repetitive. In order to maintain the habitual behavior of exercising it would be
important to change exercise routines and types of exercises. To avoid becoming too focused on
fitness, it will be important to exchange an intense session with something more relaxing such as
a slower walk, gardening, horseback riding, and social dancing. I will re-commit to my exercise
program. Relapse is normal in most behavior changes. I seem to be more “normal” than I want
to be.
Nutrition is an important component to physical flourishing. Progressive improvement of
nutrition quality can be a lifelong endeavor. Top current priorities are to reduce sugar and

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simple carbohydrate intake, increase fresh and raw fruit and vegetable intake, and reduce protein
intake. In the essay by Halprin and Samuels (n.d.) they point out the uniqueness of our body and
how it “is designed to survive.” I will daily take these steps to give my body the aids it needs to
survive and lead toward physical flourishing.
Psychological growth requires knowledge of negative emotions and behaviors that
detour psychological growth. Once there is an awareness of the personal detours to ultimate
psychological health, a person can learn and replace the stagnating behaviors with healthy
emotions and behaviors. Strategies that can be implemented to promote healthy psychological
growth are contemplative practice exercises. The Subtle Mind exercise has been particularly
beneficial in psychological growth. It develops the ability to control mental chatter and promote
focus and inner calmness. This exercise is completed in the following manner (Dacher, 2006):
1. Using belly breathing as a focal point, take ten deep breaths followed by returning to
breathing comfortably as you ease into a relaxing state of being. Focus on your
breathing.
2. As distractions enter your mind, notice them but let them pass by and then return to
focusing on breathing. Forcing your mind to come back to focusing on the breathing
after each distraction is essential in taming the chattering mind. As your mind learns to
quiet, you can gently ease up on focusing on the breathing and start objectively
witnessing your mental activity as opposed to being controlled by the mental activity.
Practice this step for several minutes.
This step is enlightening into how the mental activity involuntarily pulls you
toward random thoughts. Observe the random thoughts and then let them move on.

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Disallow any attachment or holding on, let them drift by. You are becoming aware of the
witnessing mind, a state of objective observing how the mind works.
3. Be patient during the initial training; always come back to the focus of breathing and
then observation of your calming mind. During this phase of calm-abiding consciousness
it is the goal to balance the intensity of focusing on your breathing and the relaxation of
the chattering mind. You want to be focused enough on the breathing to keep the mind
from grasping on random thoughts but loose enough to allow the mind to ease tension.
4. Eventually, with effort and practice, the still mind becomes the focus, not the
breathing. At this shift in focus, called unity consciousness, observe how you feel.
Think abstractive and observe the qualities of the quiet mind. Explore it; observe how it
relates to you as you are now. At first, this may only last a moment but practice will help
your experience grow and mature. The goal is to look inward, know your inner self, see
the quality of the inner essence and be assured it is always there.
As you finish your exercise, slowly return to the consciousness of the room. Reflect on
the experience; allow time for inspiration and vision. Write notes in a journal of your
experience. (Dacher, 2006)
I have started consistently practicing the Subtle Mind exercise every morning.
Controlling the mind chatter and learning to be objective to the random thoughts is challenging.
However, I am determined to continue to progress.
A second strategy to develop psychological health is to seek out skills that will aide in
positive behaviors. Some of these skills are positive self talk, learning to forgive, visualization,
and being grateful. Being grateful during the difficult times as well as during the happy times
can promote a positive outlook. Being grateful is achieved by looking for the opportunity in

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situations, good or bad. (Steindl-Rast, n.d.) Lee Brower (Byrne, 2006) teaches the activity of
carrying a gratitude rock. Every time you put the rock in your pocket, feel it when you put your
hands in your pocket, or take it out when emptying your pocket; express gratitude for specifics in
your life. This simple but effective exercise produces a positive attitude. I carry my own
gratitude rock which continually promotes a positive attitude.
Spiritual development can be directly connected with psychological development in that
it is achieved by a deeper inner-self development than psychological health. Spirituality
develops wisdom, peace, loving-kindness, and compassion. One contemplative practice that has
been helpful in developing spirituality is the Loving-Kindness exercise. This exercise develops
compassion and promotes an other-oriented focus. The steps to the Loving-Kindness exercise
are (Dacher, 2006):
1. To help in visualizing loving-kindness, picture someone in your mind that you hold an
abundance of loving-kindness. Fully experience the feelings by opening your heart and
letting the loving-kindness felt for this person completely envelope your being.
2. Turn these feelings toward yourself. Start with your body, accepting every part, every
aspect; flooding yourself both physically and mentally with the loving-kindness. Release
all holdings and cut all ties that prevent complete freedom in loving and being kind to
yourself.
3. Embrace your inner mind, specifically the peace, stillness, and gentleness that now
abides in your spirit and soul. Let the loving-kindness permeate your mind, body, and
soul.

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4. You are precious and uniquely created. Embrace yourself as you are, with complete
and unconditional loving-kindness. Take time now to let this self love completely
permeate your body to the cellular level.
5. Picture a loved one who is suffering. As you breathe in, all their suffering will follow
the breath and be dissolved in your heart. On the out breath, health, happiness, and
wholeness will indwell this loved one and permeate every cell in their being. You can
picture this as being an instrument in God’s hands as you do this step by the Father’s
hand, through the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. This is a time to listen for
inspiration in how you can help this loved one.
6. Now expand the taking and giving to include those beyond immediate loved ones to
acquaintances and strangers.
7. Enlarge the circle of taking and giving to include your enemies. Continue this step to
the end of your practice time. (Mathew 5:43-44, love your enemies)
It is important to reach the goal of deeply feeling this loving-kindness, to expel the self-
centeredness, and to quiet your mind. Take time to reflect on the practice noting your feelings
and your current state of mind. Write down any notes that come to mind. Quietly return to your
normal activities. (Dacher, 2006) I always finish this exercise with a sense of being loved,
calmness, and peace. I will practice this exercise two to three times each week.
Other forms of meditation can also provide significant spiritual growth. The Meeting
Asclepius can have a tremendously spiritual affect (Dacher, 2006, p. 56). Meditating on the
Bible scriptures can also provide wisdom and foresight. Prayer and other religious devotions can
lead to human flourishing. (Dossey, 1997) Dossey also defines prayer as a communication tool to
the “Absolute”. Dean Ornish (1993) also acknowledges that mind-body techniques such as

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meditation and prayer provide a transformation and up-lifting demeanor that relieves stress and
creates inner peace, joy, and well-being. Personally I will implement prayer on a continual basis
throughout the day and at times in the night if I am awakened by an urgent feeling to pray.
Scripture study and prayer go hand-in-hand. Although my desire is to study scripture every
morning and night, I lack the self discipline to follow through with this daily. However, I can
commit to a scripture study every Sunday in addition to sporadic study and meditation during the
week.
Remaining motivated to continue the progress toward physical, psychological, and
spiritual flourishing can be challenging. As this class ends, so does the main motivational
source. However, there are steps that can be taken to ensure continual, life-long progress.
Monthly assessments will be set up to help evaluate progress or lack of progress. Involving
friends and family to provide accountability with the evaluation process will be a strong
motivator in reaching a maintenance stage of practice. Rewards for consistent progress can be a
movie night, a night out, and reserving space at a retreat. Having the goal of establishing a
nutrition counseling business is also a strong motivator. As a health care practitioner in health
and wellness, being well and progressing in wellness physically, psychologically, and spiritually
will promote confidence from perspective clients.

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References
Byrne, R. (2006) The Secret. Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words Publilshing.
Dacher, E. (2006) Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic
Health Publications, Inc.
Halprin, A., Samuels, M. (n.d.) Healing and Transformation Through Expressive Arts. Taken
from Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., Micozzi, M. (2005) Consciousness and Healing: Integral
Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone
Steindl-Rast, Bro. D. (n.d.) Gratefulness. Taken from Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., Micozzi, M.
(2005) Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St.
Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone