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1st post after class ended!

Hey everyone! I hope you are all well! These breaks are so weird, I have time on my hands! OMG I can clean!!! LOL!!!

I have decided to put on here fun things that we do, things that interest me, and anything yummy that I would like to share the recipy for that we eat!

TTYS! Sara

Last Main Blog Post For Integral Health! =)

Hey Everyone!~ I have enjoyed this so much! I just have to say thanks to all of you for making this class so fun and educational!

1.Review your unit 3 personal assessment of your psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reflect on these areas . How did you score yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 in unit 3? How do you score yourself now? Has the score changed? Why or why not?

I would say that my score has changed a bit! I am much healthier and because of that I am so much happier! Whereas before my scores were all mediocre I would now say that I would be a 9 in each area. If I continue on this path I would say that I could someday in the near future reach a 10 in each area as well!

2.Review the goals and activities you set for yourself in each area. Have you made progress toward the goals? Explain.

I have begun meditative practices for not only the spiritual aspect of this, but also for the mental and physical aspects as well. To work more physically I have been taking daily walks with my daughter and doing mamma yoga. As soon as I am able to switch back I will be doing regular yoga! Mentally I have begun to talk about my feelings more and journal. Back at the beginning I had goals mainly of staying off bed-rest and not having to be in the hospital all the time like my previous pregnancy, so I have surpassed that goal all together and moved on to new and better things!

3.Have you implemented the activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain.

I have already been doing each of these activities, and plan to add things as time goes on and see where my journey with integral health can lead me!

4.Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others?

This coarse has opened my eyes to what is out there and the connections that are in our own bodies. I have already begun to improve and can see that these improvements will continue to help me until I am much older. The meditation experiences have been the most rewarding thing to me. They have helped me in many ways. The tests were the worst for me though; I am a terrible test taker! I truly enjoyed and learned from everything in this class. I have already been and plan to continue to help others understand how these practices have helped me and can help them if they try. I think that spreading the word about these practices is necessary to integral health!

Thanks again so much everyone! I hope you all enjoyed this class!

Sara

*** To keep in touch***

If any of you are wanting to keep in touch, I plan to continue blogging! But as always it is easiest to reach me on Facebook! (Sara Wulf in O'neals, CA) It was such a pleasure to read and respond to all of your posts and learn more about you! I hope that I will be able to do this in more classes! Thanks for a great term everyone!

I also had to do another final on health care reform and as this is something that affects us all, and many people have not taken the time to research it, I thought you may like to read it!

Health Care Reform in America

                Health care is a necessity that some Americans are unable to achieve. Health care reform is something that makes the unachievable something more people are able to access. The federal government has been working on health care reform to assist people who have no insurance. Past proposals have changed the way that health care was provided in America. Current proposals will change many things in the health care system. There are positive and negative aspects of health care reform.

                Health care reform is a way of discussing and changing or creating major health policies. It takes place in congress and can provide many changes. Things that health care reform normally focuses on are the uninsured or underinsured populations. Health care reform commonly attempts to provide care to more citizens, improve the access to health care and health care specialists and decrease costs of health care. Often times there are strong opposition to health care reform because it can lose the larger corporations undeserved profits while making prices and policies more fair for consumers.

                Many times in the past health care reform has taken place. In 1912 President Theodore Roosevelt campaigned promising national health insurance (Goodridge, 2011). In 1929 Baylor Hospital in Dallas Texas began a prepaid program with a local teaching union (Goodridge, 2011). This was thought of as the first example of modern health insurance program. Then in 1931 in Oklahoma Dr. Michael Abraham Shadid formed the Farmers’ Union Co-operative Health Association (Goodridge, 2011). This was thought of as the first HMO or Health Maintenance Organization. In 1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to implement a national health insurance program, but because of legislation it was never seriously considered (Goodridge, 2011). Plans such as this are still opposed by the American Medical Association because they feel it would increase bureaucracy and limit physician freedoms (Goodridge, 2011).  In 1938 the popularity of prepaid hospital insurance increased and was advertised at three cents a day, but excluded persons 66 and older (Goodridge, 2011). In 1945 President Harry S. Truman called on congress to increase hospital coverage and double the number of doctors and nurses  in a 10 year plan, but was held up in congress after the American Medical Association warned it would create socialized medicine (Goodridge, 2011). Truman tried once again to implement this plan in his 1948 re-election but the plan was abandoned by outbreak of the Korean War (Goodridge, 2011). In 1954 a tax exemption was created to exempt employee benefits such as health insurance from income taxes, which has been hotly debated ever since (Goodridge, 2011). Just in 2008 the tax cost an estimated $226 billion in lost taxes (Goodridge, 2011).  The birth of Medicare and Medicaid occurred in 1965. In 1973 Nixon signed the Health Maintenance Organization Act (Goodridge, 2011).  1974 brought the Employee Retirement Security Act which exempted large corporations self-insured health plans from state regulations (Goodridge, 2011).  1986 was the year for Cobra. Congress passed the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act allowing employees to continue their health care coverage for up to 18 months after losing their jobs (Goodridge, 2011). At the same time the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor act was brought around, which required hospitals to screen and stabilize all patients coming into emergency rooms (Goodridge, 2011).  Before this act people would be turned away from hospitals and forced to seek care somewhere else or not receive any care at all. This has single handedly lowered death rates. President Clinton began a reform act which faced universal coverage based on the idea of managed competition in 1993, but the plan failed to pass through congress in 1994 because of powerful lobbying by interest groups such as drug companies and doctors (Goodridge, 2011). Clinton then created the State Children’s Health Insurance Program in 1997, which is now covering more than seven million children nationwide (Goodridge, 2011). Then in 2006 confusion was created when Medicare Part D began (Goodridge, 2011). This caused beneficiaries to report confusion through dozens of private plans trying to avoid the gap in coverage. This gap was nicknamed “the doughnut hole. In 2009 Barak Obama was elected president and began work on the current health care reform plan. March 23, 2010 President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (U.S., 2011). This act will change the way we look at health care in America.

The new law is supposed to go into effect fully in 2014, but some changes will take place immediately. These essential changes will make life better for everyone. First and foremost a new Patients Bill of Rights will be put into effect to stop abuse of consumers in private health care (White House, 2011). Through this law up to four million small businesses will be eligible for tax credits (White House, 2011). This will make it so that it is easier for employers to provide coverage for their employees, and will make premiums more affordable. Another change that will take place is young adults being able to stay on their parents plans (White House, 2011). This will make it so that many young adults will have health care coverage on their parent’s plans until they are 26. Many people in this age group are unable to afford insurance and are not offered it through work. If these young adults are re offered coverage through their jobs they are also available to receive that aid. Out of 2.4 million young adults 1.8 are uninsured and nearly 600,000 people in this age group that currently purchase this insurance would be available to receive this change (White House, 2011).  Another part of the law that will benefit many people is that uninsured Americans with preexisting conditions will be able to get insurance through the new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Program or PCIP (White House, 2011).  This means that many people who were before unable to attain insurance are now able to reach it. One incredibly beneficial policy is in effect for businesses, non-profits, state and local governments and unions. It will make it so that early retirees between age 55 and 64 will be able to maintain reliable health care (White House, 2011). More than 2,000 employers have been approved to participate in this $5 billion Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (White House, 2011).  The last immediate change that will be taking place is states receiving critical assistance from the $30 million grant program to establish consumer assistance offices (White House, 2011). This will make it so that consumers will have a place to receive help when needing assistance with their insurance company. Because of this 46 states are using resources that were provided by the Affordable Care Act to make sure that there are no unreasonable premium increases (White House, 2011).

2014 will begin a new revolution of changes for many people. Competitive private health insurance exchanges will provide millions of Americans with the ability to pool together funds and purchase affordable and quality coverage (White House, 2011). The health care market place will be changing completely. Health care will be made affordable for all. The new law will take steps to cut health care costs and reduce deficit. The law will reduce deficit by over $100 billion the first decade and $1 trillion the next decade (White House, 2011).  The law ensures that seniors will still be protected and guaranteed Medicare benefits. Waste, Fraud and abuse will be fought. The new law is supposed to close the donut hole gap for seniors by 2020 and the seniors who fall into that gap will receive $250 rebate checks and a 50% discount on brand name prescription medications (White House, 2011). The new health care market will be established in 2014.  Many things will change in the new market. There will be a new competitive private health insurance exchange that will offer some of the same choices of coverage as some members of congress. This will make it so that people are able to purchase affordable coverage the same way as large employers do. Small businesses with less than 25 employees will be eligible for enhanced tax credits to pay for their employee’s coverage (White House, 2011).  Small businesses with up to 100 employees in one state will be able to join SHOP exchanges where they can pool together with other businesses and get larger plans with affordable quality insurance (White House, 2011). All together the provisions of the law are supposed to expand coverage to 32 million Americans (White House, 2011).  There are things that this law is doing to strengthen Americas Fiscal Health as well. The law is cutting health care costs and reducing deficit in different areas. When this new law goes into effect Americans will be able to purchase comparable insurance to what they had before, but the premiums will fall by 14 to 20 percent and the total cost to Americans would fall by $3,000 a person (White House, 2011). The new law will provide tax credits for Americans whose income is up to 400 percent of the poverty level (82,200 per year for a 4 unit family) so that they are able to purchase health insurance through a state based exchange (White House, 2011).  Persons who are in the individual market who qualify for tax credits could see premiums drop by 60 percent (White House, 2011). Strategies that this new law will do to increase fiscal health are to fight waste, fraud and abuse, to reward providers for delivering high quality care, and to reform our health care delivery systems by developing innovative ways to manage patient care, especially with chronic conditions (White House, 2011).  These changes will encourage providers to deliver higher quality services because payment structures that promote value will be used. Over all the deficit will be reduced by $100 billion this decade and $100 trillion in the next decade.  The protection of our seniors is a necessity. Before the Affordable Care Act the fiscal health of Medicare was weak at best, this new law took steps to shift the course of Medicare and secured its long term future. This law will extend the life of the Medicare trust fund by 12 years from 2017 to 2929 so that future generations of seniors will be able to use it (White House, 2011). Today Medicare pays Medicare Advantage insurance companies over $1,000 more per person on average than Original Medicare and the payments are paid by increased premiums by all Medicare beneficiaries, so this new law will make it so that overpayment to insurance companies like this will be eliminated.

                There are many people that are completely for health care reform. There are also many positive aspects going for health care reform.  The positive reason for health care reform is that fewer uninsured people will lead to a lower costing health care system. The health care reform could make it possible for 30+ million uninsured Americans to be able to have coverage (Johnson, 2010).  This is a benefit not only to the people who will be receiving insurance, but to everyone else too. Health care provided to people who have no insurance is a burden to everyone and creates higher costing health care benefits. The next beneficial change will be no more cap on coverage. This is a big change because previously insurance companies were able to cut service on specific things when a patient had hit a specific amount paid out for that service. This will help people who have chronic conditions or who are injured and need temporary care. The next change will be that insurance companies will no longer be able to refuse coverage based on preexisting conditions. Many people were unable to seek medical care or had to use the emergency room as a basis for medical treatment because they were denied insurance because of a preexisting condition. Starting in 2014 this will change and everyone will have an equal opportunity to access health insurance (Johnson, 2010). The next positive change is keeping children on their insurance plan unless they are able to access care through their jobs. Keeping kids on their parents plan is cheaper than if they are insured individually (Johnson, 2010).  More employers will also be offering coverage because they will be able to afford it either with low cost group plans or by grouping with other like companies. Possibly the largest change will the change in preventative care coverage. The new law says that these things should be free (Johnson, 2010). This will cover things such as physicals and other preventative care. A better appeals process has also been created. More assistance for seniors has also been added to the law.

With everything there are positives and negatives. The thing is that this reform has not been fully passed through congress so it may not even go through. Another feeling that many people have is that over the next 10 years the cost of the reform is expected to come just short of a trillion dollars. Many people say that this is a terrible thing, but others state that it will still be saving money even though it is costing money. There will be more fees for drug companies and insurers, and fees on employers who don’t offer coverage to their employers (Johnson, 2010).  These places feel that this is going to cost them too much money if they don’t want to comply with the new law. Increased governmental involvement in healthcare is one of the largest concerns of many individuals (Newport, 2009).  Many people are worried that they will not have adequate access to the same healthcare they previously had and that the quality of health care will be diminished because there will be more patients (Newport, 2011).  Others feel that healthcare will not expand to enough people in enough areas.

Health Care reform is a necessity for America. We can see that through past health care reform many things have changed  or been created. The current health care reform program will slowly begin to change things now and continue to change them until 2014 when the program will be fully put in place. There are many positive things about the changes that will be occurring. There are as in everything people who oppose this change, and don’t want it to go through. Although it has not been put through congress yet, it is needed and will happen sooner or later. The current plan is strong and will help many Americans. Many changes in the past have been beneficial to Americans while other changes have been overturned by congress due to excessive lobbying.

*** My daughter just was diagnosed with asthma, so I took the chance of a final to learn more about it and figured why not share!!! =)

Childhood Asthma

                Asthma is a chronic disorder that can affect children. Asthma obstructs the airways and the lungs. Many children have been affected by this, and suffer constantly from it. Asthma is caused by many different things. There are many safe and effective treatment methods for it in children. Asthma has been on the rise in the more recent years and there are many theories as to why. Current statistics prove that there are more and more people contracting asthma every day in the US.

                Asthma is a chronic disorder where the airway is obstructed and the patient has trouble breathing. It can cause shortness of breath, wheezing or coughing in many patients. These symptoms are experienced because of an inflammation in the airway, causing a tightening of the muscles. This causes excess production of mucous. When an asthmatic child is exposed to a trigger the airways will become inflamed and make it so the child has a difficult time breathing (Healthcare South, 2001). There are different categories for types of asthma. Allergic asthma is caused by allergic reactions. Seasonal asthma is caused by different allergens depending on the season. Non Allergic asthma is when people have asthma caused from man made things, such as tobacco and room fresheners. Exercise induced asthma is another type, that is triggered when taking part in fitness. And the last type is nocturnal asthma, which occurs as the name states at night.

                Each category of asthma is caused from different things. Children who encounter allergic asthma normally have a history of allergies or have people in their families that have allergies (Healthcare South, 2001). The allergens that are more likely to cause an asthma attack are pollens and pet dander.  Seasonal asthma is another thing that affects many children. Tree pollen, grass pollen and mold spores all can be triggers of asthma (Health South, 2001).  Many children have seasonal issues in the spring when the plants are flowering, or in the summer when the ragweed is at its most potent state. Non allergic asthma is one of the most severe forms of asthma. It has nothing to do with allergies and is caused mainly by man made products. The number one cause of this is smoking. Many children are around adults that smoke, or wood burning stoves (Health South, 2001). Other things that can cause issues with this are pine odors, room fresheners, cleaning products and outdoor air pollution (Health South, 2001). Flu’s and colds can also trigger these symptoms. Other things that can cause this are changes in temperature and gastro esophageal reflux. Exercise induced asthma is asthma caused by any kind of physical fitness. Symptoms of this can be found during, or after exercise. It is recommended that patients with exercise induced asthma should not exercise excessively during winter months or in cold environments. Nocturnal asthma occurs in the middle of the night. It typically happens between 02:00 and 04:00 (Health Source, 2001). This can happen with all types of asthma, but is normally worse if the child has a sinus infection or post nasal drip and can be made worse by dust mites and pet dander.

                There are many different ways to treat childhood asthma symptoms. These ways depend on the age of the child and severity and frequency of the asthma. The ways of treating asthma are based on three main things, control, monitoring and understanding.  The first step is to control and avoid asthma triggers that may be affecting the child (Sawicki, 2010).  The next step is to regularly monitor the asthma symptoms and lung function of the child (Sawicki, 2010). Last is understanding the treatment and medications needed to battle this issue (Sawicki, 2010). The most important thing to do is control the asthma triggers. Different medications can be used in treatment. Bronchodilators can relieve asthma symptoms, as well as metered-dose inhalers and nebulizers (Sawicki, 2010). Inhaled glucocorticoids, leukotriene modifiers, long acting bronchodilators, and cromolyn are other treatments for childhood asthma (Sawicki, 2010). If allergens such as dust, pollen or animal dander are found to be at cause, there are ways to eliminate them or make them less of a problem. The best thing to do for this is to clean often and remove all carpets and drapes from the home. Installing wooden blinds and wood or tile floors is the best recommendation. Installation of heap filters and special air conditioning units with specialized filters is also a good idea. It is also important not to allow children to sleep around pets. Keeping children away from cigarette smoke and people who smoke is also another great idea. Monitoring of asthma comes after controlling it. Keeping an asthma journal or diary, and letting a health care professional know when attacks happen is necessary. Having testing such as peak expiratory flow rates, where the amount a child can exhale is measured, is recommended (Sawicki, 2010).  Reviewing asthma treatment with a physician every one to six months is also needed so that if any issues arise the medications may be changed. Understanding asthma is the last thing to do. It is necessary to understand asthma as a parent and a child so that any time symptoms occur they are likely to be noticed and treated within a timely manner. Another good idea is when a child is school age is to let teachers and other students know what is going on and what to do in an emergency.  Most importantly every child with asthma should have an action plan. Often times color cards can be used with this method. Green cards can mean that the child feels ok. Yellow can mean that the child is having exerted breathing, and red can mean that they feel they are in complete attack mode and need assistance immediately. Children can be given an emergency medical bracelet to point this out to adults and others around them in an emergency where they are unable to speak.

                There are many theories as to why asthma is on the rise. This is a health disparity and it affects everyone even if they don’t have it. Everyone knows someone with asthma. There are more and more people becoming diagnosed with this every day. The first cases were put into medical literature in the early 1800’s when 5 patients total had asthma symptoms (AAFA, 2011). It was considered very rare at that time. In 1901 the use of bronchodilators began (AAFA, 2011).  Early research stated that it was caused because of psychiatric issues. In the 1960’s the inflammatory component of asthma was discovered and anti-inflammatory medications began to be used.  This was not a condition that many people had two or three hundred years ago. Some of the theories as to why asthma is on the rise include lifestyle and behavioral impacts, such as being overweight or having a low amount of physical activity (Redd, 2002). Other reasons can be due to the environment and pollution (Redd, 2002). As we have been polluting more and more we are able to find more and more cases of asthma. Some studies have shown that children who attend daycares have higher amounts of asthma (Redd, 2002).

                Currently more than five million children have asthma. African Americans are 2-3 times higher to need hospitalization, or emergency room visits than white Americans (Redd, 2002).  The cost of asthma to Americans has increased from 12.7 billion for the total population in 1998 (Redd, 2002). This is because there are so many more people with asthma coming into this world every day. The population of persons who have asthma has doubled from 1980 to 1996, and is still on the rise (Redd, 2002). It has the greatest rate in children that are among preschool ages, but has prevalence in groups of all ages and races (Redd, 2002). This could be because they are exposed to so much more than they were before they began going to preschool.  Few deaths occur in children and most are in adults over the age of 35 (Redd, 2002). Costs have increased more than 50 percent since 1980 for persons suffering from asthma (Redd, 2002). This is partly because hospital rates and medication prices have increased. In 2007 more than 5.6 million children ages 5-17 reported having asthma (CDC, 2009).  2.9 children have reported having an asthma attack within the last year, and three out of 30 children are likely to have asthma (CDC, 2009). Asthma is one of the leading causes of children not being in school. This is because there are often things at the schools that trigger symptoms, such as old carpeting or harsh cleansers.  In 2003 12.8 million school days were reported to be missed because of asthma (CDC, 2009). White children have the least amount of asthma; whereas other races were reported to have a higher prevalence.  Non-Hispanic black people have an incidence rate of 9.4, whereas non-Hispanic white only have an incidence rate of 7.7. The cost to treat those under 18 is over 3.2 billion each year (CDC, 2009). Asthma is the third highest reason of hospitalization in children under 15 (CDC, 2009).

                Asthma affects many people. It is particularly concerning when it is a child because they cannot take proper care of their self’s, and don’t understand what is going on. It is a chronic disorder affecting the breathing ways and the lungs.  There are different causes and treatments that can be used to conquer this.  There are many theories on why asthma is on the rise, the most predominate being the environment and all of the pollution humans have caused to it. The numbers of children that have asthma is alarming. We can at least see that there are ways to make sure that we are treating and battling this disorder. Children just need to be taught what is going on in their bodies so they are able to help with their treatment and management of their condition.

Unit 9/Final Project

So here is is guys! The dreaded week 9 Project! LOL!!! Enjoy reading! I hope it copies and pastes ok, these projects always look so much better in word! I have enjoyed having all of you in class!

Integral Health

                Integral health is a key to fulfillment of health and happiness in life. To begin this process we need to learn what integral health really is and how to use it to our benefit. Then we have to assess our own situation and see what changes we need to make and what programs and ideas we need to adopt to foster health in our own lives.  We then need to focus on our goals and do what we can to attain them. To have complete integral health we need to have a plan to follow. Last we need to commit to the activities and programs we have chosen so that we can achieve and maintain our process of integral health.

                Integral health is a term that is somewhat new in the western forefront. Many people hear it and think that it is a new age fantasy that only hippies must embrace, but that is not it at all. We are used to modern medicine which is based more on treating the body, rather than treating the whole self. Integral health focuses on all aspects of oneself, the psychological, spiritual and physical realms. When integral health is achieved we are able to determine the cause of illness and discover a proper path of treatment. As a health and wellness practitioner it is key to engage in integral health practices so that you can show your patients how well it works for you and spur them to do the same. When you practice integral health you will be healthier in all aspects of your life so you will be able to share that health with the ones around you including patients you see. It is important to set goals and see how far you have come through the years. It is necessary to see how your health has improved since beginning your journey through integral health. Once you have met these goals you can begin to show others how to do the same thing. It is necessary to learn as much as you can about different techniques so that you will be able to teach others how to do them and see what works best for them. It is also important to understand that not everything will work for everyone, so when teaching or counseling in this you need to be open yourself. Practitioners often tend to rely on what they have learned and only teach that. In the integral health field it is necessary to understand that there are many ways to do everything and many different things to do. Integral health practitioners have a rare opportunity to reach people in many ways, whereas practitioners of western health care normally only see patients in hospitals and medical center settings. So much research has been done in this field to prove that there is a mind body connection. Candace Pert led some important research in this field, when she discovered a series of body proteins called neuropeptides, that circulate throughout the body and carry messages back and forth (Dacher, 2006).  This research proved that the systems in the body work together, and in a way talk to each other. This means that they can actually affect the way that each other function. Dr. Peter Schnall also completed some important research about stress in the workplace (Dacher, 2006). His research proved that stress is only experienced if one perceives it as stress, mid-level business managers who loved their jobs were more likely to enjoy the stressors of the workplace where as people who disliked their jobs were more likely to feel the effects of the stress (Dacher, 2006). This shows us that an integral health program is something that we all need to embrace to make sure that our bodies are functioning properly as well as our minds.

                It is important to understand yourself and see where you need to focus more attention. One way of doing this is by preforming a self-assessment. I am personally new to integral health so I like to look at every area and see where I can use some work. Psychologically I need to work on having more self-confidence and self-esteem. I often have issues remembering that even though my life may not be on the path I originally assumed it would follow, I will still one day get to where I want to be and hopefully help people who have had to go through the same type of experiences as I have. Spiritually I need to focus more on finding a connection to myself and becoming more spiritual in my practices. I need to work on loving myself and keep up my practices of loving kindness. I need to learn to be interconnected with my thoughts and feelings and seek what I truly need in life. Physically I need to maintain good health and continue to work on losing weight and toning my body. Especially now, I need to keep a balanced diet and to maintain a low blood pressure during my pregnancy.  Physical health is an aspect I believe to be necessary. We need to focus on our bodies more and learn what they need and give it to them when they need it. Laziness is not a way to foster health, so I will be implementing little things as I continue on with my pregnancy. According to my physician I will be going on full mandatory bed rest soon to protect myself and the baby, so I will take up small things like quilting and crocheting. Other things that I can do from bed to foster physical health are stretches and meditation.

                Now that an assessment has been made, all the areas need to be focused on and goals need to be set. A psychological goal that I could make would be using mantras to help me remember that I am doing well and I am worth it and life is good. I could say or think something along the lines of “I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.” I could plan to practice this often to plant feelings of happiness and wholeness, and then gradually begin to work with my family to make sure these values are instilled. I could also seek holistic counseling to learn how to control my feelings more efficiently. Spiritually I need to set a goal of maintaining the loving kindness activity on a regular basis. Because if we learn to love ourselves first then we will be able to share and spread that love to others around us. I need to become more interconnected with myself so I will keep a journal, so that I will be able to read my thoughts and see how I am really feeling and make sure that I understand myself. Physically I will keep up my power walking, yoga and meditation practices. After pregnancy I will begin a biking and a fitness program. I will also continue to cook and eat healthy and organically.  Working on achieving all these goals will assist me in achieving integral health.

                Implementing strategies in each of these areas is another step in the integral health process. Psychologically a practice that I could do to maintain optimal health is positive visualization. When using this method I could concentrate on things that are really bothering me, such as a test, and imagine myself doing well on it and getting an A. Another exercise I could do to maintain psychological health could be keeping up with mental fitness and keeping my mind strong. Although I will most likely never be a mental Olympian, I can still try to learn as much as I can to ensure that I am on top of my game.  A spiritual practice that I could do to promote health both spiritually and physically could be a form of martial arts such as Tai Chi Chuan.  By doing this I would become more interconnected with my spiritual side. Another spiritual influence I believe would be perfectly implemented would be painting. I would love to just take some time for myself and paint what I am feeling at the time with no goal other than self-expression.  Some physical exercises that I could use to benefit my integral health process are flexibility exercises and aerobic exercises. Some of the flexibility exercises that I could do are stretching and yoga. Some aerobic exercises I could do right now are swimming and power walking. After giving birth I could implement more things such as hiking, tennis, bicycling and running. Each of these will work to create health in my life. With any exercise a good cool down is necessary as well, so I would also continue with my meditative practices to keep my mind open and clear.

                With any program commitment is necessary. Making sure to choose activities that I feel comfortable doing and know I will do was the first step to committing to them. Short term goals of practicing these things once this week would be a great start. Then when it feels comfortable I would move up to two, then three times weekly to support my health program.  After that I would set monthly goals. Once I achieved a one month process, I would go to a six month achievement process. I believe that once you have been doing these things for a certain time they begin to become routine and I would not have to worry about remembering what to do, or how to do it, or when to do it. Some strategies that can be used to make sure that all programs are followed can be charting and scheduling. By using a computer program and imputing times and days I could make sure that I complete each activity. By doing this I could also be able to see if I miss something so that I can complete it at a later date. I can also begin to shop at stores that have more organic items and make sure that I am not tempted to purchase foods that would not be as acceptable.

                To maintain our own integral health steps have to be followed. We first had to learn about what integral health is. Then we had to assess ourselves in all aspects of integral health. From there we had to choose areas that needed work and develop plans to ensure that we met the needs of each area. From there we had to determine what practices would be best to use to make our goals become a reality. Last we had to decide how to commit to the goals set forth and see how to follow them in the future to get the best benefits from our integral health process. This has made it so that we will have a more accurate view of what we need to do to foster health in our own lives and how to support every area of our mental self. 

Reference:

Dacher, E. (2006) Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health Publications, Inc., Laguna Beach, CA.