This week we explored a new activity
called the Integral assessment. To say it simply the integral assessment is an
inventory of what is happening at the moment in your life, what area needs your
attention the most and then helps you plan action towards fixing that problem
(Dacher, 2006). We always start by meditating, clearing our mind and focusing
on our breathing. Next we are to examine our life as a whole, I always think of
things as rectangles, when there is a problem then my rectangle is pulled in
one direction more than another. Once we have identified what area needs to be
fixed we are able to formulate a plan on how to fix it (Dacher, 2006).
The integral assessment also asks what
area of our life is ready to strengthen or enhanced (Dacher, 2006). In my case
I am ready to start working on how I can handle stress and increasing my
physical activity.
What I learned about myself doing the
Loving Kindness and the Integral Assessments is that my psycho-spiritual
element of myself is suffering the most (Dacher, 2006). When referring to our
“psycho-spiritual” element I am talking about the mind, how it relates to the
world around it (Dacher, 2006). In Western culture we often are consumed with
the external elements about a person such as size, weight, height, color,
features and so on. What the Western health fails to worry about is the affect
the mind has on the body. When doing the assessments this week I learned that
my mind is very preoccupied about things that have happened in the recent past
and are yet to happen the in future. For instance; while I am fighting for my
life battling cancer I have had to kick my son and his wife out of my home
because of them not helping with anything finically or otherwise. This bore
down on my soul very hard but now with me being ill I have no income to support
them. I have always put everyone before me in my life and this is a very hard
issue for me to take on. I still love them and continue to give them my
emotional support but at this point in time I need them to stop spending the
money they make on things not needed and support their family. I have been
using this class to help me deal with not only the physical health but my mental
health as well. I will happily set forward a motion on loving and understanding
for everyone and not only what I have been going through but their struggles as
well.
