Integral Health Resources » mindfulness meditation http://www.integralhealthresources.com Exploring holistic approaches to well-being & personal growth, balancing open-minded inquiry with evidence-based critical thinking. Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:12:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The Embodiment of Freedom: An integral approach to optimal health and personal transformation (Part 1: Introduction to the inquiry) http://www.integralhealthresources.com/the-embodiment-of-freedom-an-integral-approach-to-optimal-health-and-personal-transformation-part-1-introduction-to-the-inquiry/ http://www.integralhealthresources.com/the-embodiment-of-freedom-an-integral-approach-to-optimal-health-and-personal-transformation-part-1-introduction-to-the-inquiry/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:53:49 +0000 admin http://www.integralhealthresources.com/?p=1105 Continue reading →]]>

A view of the Organ Mountains from my neighborhood in Las Cruces, NM

We’ve all had moments when we feel particularly full of life, especially present to whatever we’re engaged in — times when we’re simply more on, more there, more tuned in to life than usual. I was in my mid-twenties when I started to realize that these experiences of wakeful presence and intense vitality were becoming few and far between in my life, scattered here and there amidst the languid grind of everyday existence. The more I inquired, the more it became increasingly clear that I was also progressively losing touch with the sense of wonder and possibility that I had come to know as the deepest, most precious part of myself. As the prize of maturity stood waiting for me to grasp hold, I was paralyzed by the fear that somehow this growing sense of disconnection and diminished vitality was simply the terrible and inevitable cost to be paid, the price of admission into the world of adulthood. Before too long, however, I’d be graced with another wide-awake moment and, for a time anyway, I would feel certain that there was a better way forward, a way of becoming more connected and more fully alive instead of less so as we get older.

Abraham Maslow used the term “peak experiences” to describe these windows of full-living, and my initial question regarding them was three-fold: What is the nature of such experiences; why are they becoming so few and far between in my life; and can I learn to live in such a way as to have more of them?

Over the years this initial inquiry has become a sustained, passionate pursuit of personal truth that has always been, at heart, toward a deceptively simple end: to be as fully myself as often as I can be. Along the way I have discovered a few things that I hope others will find to be interesting and useful. I also hope that writing my way through the process — of where I’ve been, where I am, and what may lie ahead — might open new avenues of inquiry and new territory to explore as I continue on this journey.

My intention is to update this series of posts regularly — at least once a week. In the next installment I’ll define in detail what I mean by the terms “integral” and “personal transformation”, and I’ll also lay out a broad outline of some of the territory I hope to explore.

]]> http://www.integralhealthresources.com/the-embodiment-of-freedom-an-integral-approach-to-optimal-health-and-personal-transformation-part-1-introduction-to-the-inquiry/feed/ 0 Integral Health Coaching http://www.integralhealthresources.com/integral-health-coaching/ http://www.integralhealthresources.com/integral-health-coaching/#comments Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:06:01 +0000 admin http://www.integralhealthresources.com/?p=61 Continue reading →]]> I’ve been working on a new project lately, namely to resolve this ongoing career dilemma of mine and finally start doing the kind of work I’ve been wanting to do for the past ten years. Through a stroke of good fortune/sweet synchronicity, I recently discovered Duke Integrative Medicine, which is right around the corner from me at Duke University. They have a brand new Integrative Health Coaching Training Program that is so “right up my alley” it’s just crazy. Check out the brochure if you’re curious to know the details.

I’ve been searching for years for a profession that would allow me draw upon my unique background, interests and strengths. This has been a struggle, because aside from my bachelor’s degree in Psychology and my fifteen years experience in mental health, most of my other interests and experiences are more “off the beaten path,” like my master’s degree in East/West Psychology, my training in Hanna Somatic Education, and my interest in mindfulness meditation. As an “Integrative Health Coach” (I prefer the term “Integral” to “Integrative” — which is nod to my grad school days at the California Institute of Integral Studies, as well as my fascination with philosopher Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory), I can bring all these things together, both to help people move toward better health and to help me finally feel at home in the work I do week in and week out.

So, I applied to the program, was accepted, and now damn it, I’m gonna do it! Look for my new website (integral health coaching dot com) a few weeks from now.

Boo-ya!

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