Integral Health:

A Practical Approach

Cynthia Grothe

Kaplan University

March 31, 2014

People are becoming more and more dissatisfied with the quality of their healthcare,

especially since Health Insurance providers seem to be taking health care decisions out of the

hands of physicians and consumers and turning it into a for profit business with bottom lines and

investors. As a result of this, people are spending more and more on CAM Therapies. However,

the newest trend to hit the US is combining these two disciplines in order to address the issues

from all the angles rather than from just the physiological, or just from the emotional. The

piecemeal approach is becoming obsolete and providers are seeing that the best way to address

their patient’s needs to address these issues all at once. As more trust is engendered, people will

be more willing to come back to their primary doctors. As for me, in order for me to be an

effective healer, I would need to work on the physical area the most, as I am not very good at

sticking to an exercise regimen and tend to give up. I am already taking steps to change that, but

in the meantime, I am in the worst shape I have ever been in and it has really affected the other

areas of my well-being. I find I have days that I do not like my body because of the extra weight,

or because I am in so much pain all the time. This in turn affects my self-esteem and makes me

question my ability to help others. Spiritually, because I already doubt myself, I find myself

wondering if I am worth the Goddess’ notice. On the other side of things, those days are few and

far between. There was a time it was all consuming and I could not breathe for hating myself. I

have come a long way and I am able to shut those thoughts and feelings down and begin again. I

am in such a turn-around period now.

When I began this trip into integral health last term, I had to start looking at the different

aspects of my life and setting the goals I needed in order to reach the dream I set for myself to

help others in all aspects of their lives. My dream is to open up a holistic healing center that

addresses all aspects of the person and to help them to reach wellness in their lives. I had to

change tracks on it though, because my original goal started with the idea that my future father in

law would be moving in with us. He had already agreed to take this path with me in order to help

alleviate the pain and loneliness he had from living alone after his wife died, and from the

Parkinson’s that he was trying to deal with. However, that changed just before Christmas and his

family decided to move him into a nursing home. This was hard for both of us and I felt like I

was in a boat without a rudder. I then had to find a new direction to take my path into. This, of

course, had me looking within myself to see where I wanted to take my path. In doing so, I

rediscovered my spiritual path, and began studying in earnest in order to strengthen my beliefs. I

also began taking stock of my psychological well-being to see what areas I needed to work on. I

discovered that I had become stagnant in my growth along my path. I felt as though I should

have been doing more to help my father in law, I should have been able to figure out a way to go

back to work, and I was questioning my ability to bring up another child after the 18 years I had

already spent raising my other son. Physically, I had been dealing with a lot of physical pain and

doing a poor job of taking care of me. I began going to the doctor’s regularly to seek treatment

for the Fibromyalgia as well as going to a dentist to see about my dental needs. I started looking

into workouts that I could do comfortably but still give me the benefit of better overall health. I

had to look at how I would score myself on a scale of one to ten, with ten being optimal, in these

three areas. For my Spiritual health, I would score at a seven, not quite at my goal, but definitely

on the right track for it. I have been doing very well with my studies and I have been passing on

my knowledge to others as well. For my Physical health, I would put myself at a five. I am still

not quite into a workout routine, but I am eating healthier and taking better care of myself. As for

my psychological health, I am closer to an eight. I have recognized the areas, remembered what

my mentor used to say about should, and have found ways to move beyond that feeling of

stagnation by reaching out and expanding my support networks.

Goals have always been an area of weakness for me. I have always been one to set goals

that in theory sounded good, but were often unreachable. As a result, I would abandon them

fairly quickly without allowing myself to benefit from the work I had already done. So this time,

I am going to attempt to set shorter term goals and work on them in increments rather than

pressure myself to do them all at once just to get them over with. For the Physical aspect, I am

beginning to work-out again. Right now, as I have not done so for a long time, it is 20 minutes a

day as that is all I am able to handle. As I get better, I will be increasing that by ten minutes each

time, until I reach the goal of an hour a day. For the Psychological aspect, I am beginning to

open up more to specific friends that I feel are really my friends. By doing so, I am allowing

myself to be more open and honest with them and myself. By talking out how I feel I am able to

arrive at the crux of the problem and figure out a solution that is doable. For the Spiritual aspect,

I am continuing my studies for now. I have a full lesson schedule and it is going to take a while

to complete it. I am learning to pace myself and not pressuring myself to learn it all at once.

While I complete each lesson, I am contemplating what I have learned and how to apply it to my

life. It is helping me to connect more to the Goddess and what She stands for in my life.

In order to reach my goals, I have to have some plan in place to follow, rather than just

do whatever and hope for the best. That approach has not worked so far, so now I need to be

realistic. For physical growth, I will continue to seek the help I need from the medial field, in

order to alleviate my pain until I am strong enough to not need to depend on them so much. I will

also continue to work on being more active, since it is coming up on warmer weather again and I

would like to be able to play with my youngest as well as our dogs. For Spiritual growth, I will

be seeking out a sacred space to go to when I need to recharge and to connect to the Goddess

when I need her help and guidance. I will also continue to connect with others who believe as I

do, and participate in more community outreach with them. For the Psychological aspect, by

working on the other two, I will be able to continue to grow in this area. It will help my self-

esteem by exercising and becoming more active spiritually. I will also continue to strengthen the

friendships I have in my life and allow myself to be there for them as they have been there for

me.

In one of my other classes, it was suggested to write down both my short term goals as

well as my long term ones. It makes them real and commits me to actually follow through with

them. In this way I will be able to check off each goal I complete. I also will be creating what is

known as a Coo Stick. It is a visual representation of what I have already accomplished as well

as what new accomplishments I have met. It is a Native American tradition and denotes a warrior

spirit, and is something I used to do when my mentor was still alive. It is a way to boost my

health and wellness overall because it is visual, and it is something I will make with my own

hands, rather than it being something someone made for me. This will seal my commitment to

follow through with whatever the next steps are, as I am a visual person.

I know the road ahead of me is not always going to be easy, and I know that I will

probably make mistakes along the way, but it is the journey I now need to make in order to be

not just a better version of myself, but also a more effective friend, mother, wife, daughter and

sister to everyone around me.