A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO HUMAN GROWTH
Ken Wilber with Isaac 
"Today we are faced with an astonishing opportunity. For the first time in history we have access to all the great transformational traditions of humanity. The introspective technologies of the mystics, east and west...The elemental power of the earth-based creeds...Body- and energy-centered practices...The deeply personal revelations of theism...The martial and aesthetic arts...all are vividly transmitted to us through the voices of their most accomplished masters. And that's not all. We also hold the priceless gifts of science: deep insight into our own physiology, psychology and social dynamics-plus the time, in leisure and life span, to make the most of it. This new wealth of opportunity calls us to a new, comprehensive approach to human growth and development. The call is to integrate, to take a panoramic view of self, culture and nature, and to embrace the insights and tools that serve the highest potential for All."
Ken Wilber
from Integral Institute
This vision statement gets fleshed out for me by using five general areas of focus or components that comprise the action centers for developing an integral path. They are; the physical, the cognitive, the psychodynamic, the spiritual and the professional. I will comment on each component here to give you (me) and idea of where I stand currently and the immediate direction in which I hope to proceed.
The Physical: Right now I try to walk each day for about half an hour. I need to lose a significant amount of weight and this aerobic exercise serves that purpose and I am making some progress. My benchmark is to lose one pound a week over an extended period of time and at some point switch my attention from weight loss to body fat percentage. As mentioned in a previous post I work with weights twice a week. If I were younger I would be using a three session per week routine, but I find I need a little more time to recover from my workouts at this stage of my life. I use framework #4 from Stuart McRobert's Beyond Brawn p.239. I also use his Weight Training Technique to learn the exercises and proper form and his The Muscle and Might Training Tracker to keep good records. Next is diet. I have cut out most of the fat I used to eat and try my best to eat six small meals a day; three of the normal type although the portions are much smaller, and three liquid meals. Because meal supplements are quite expensive I have a poor mans version using Carnation Instant Breakfast and add malted milk powder, three large scoops of nonfat dry milk and a tablespoon of vegetable oil which provides the fatty acids needed in a good diet plan. I work out at home with a starter set of dumbbells so I have no excuse for missing a workout. I have encountered a bit of a learning curve with the various exercises and need to continue improving my form and adding weight slowly on a weekly or bi-monthly basis. Doing all this underscores the need for plenty of sleep and that's at least eight hours for me.
The Cognitive: I have always enjoyed reading so I'm pretty well covered on this base. I have started to explore the use of affirmations and currently use the ones for my type in Don Richard Riso's Enneagram Transformations. I just completed a certificate program in engineering graphics and because of the speed at which software platforms are changing in this field I will remain a perpetual student in this area for the duration of my career. I recently completed the Integral Institute's workshop on Integral Transformative Practice and would like to attend their seminar on Integral Organizational Leadership within the next eighteen months. I resurrected my Gibson acoustic guitar from my closet and am resuming practice using video lessons where I left off many years ago. I would love to say that I have a mentor to accompany me on this ever expanding process, but they don't come cheap. I try to keep in touch with some key people I met during my ITP seminar to share ideas and inspiration for the work ahead.
The Psychodynamic: I continue the practice of receiving counseling on a weekly basis in the form of psychodynamic psychotherapy. I have been with my current therapist for over a year now and plan to continue that work indefinitely. As I mentioned in a previous post, the nature of our sessions is gradually evolving from a focus on pathology to one of growth and continuing development. I regard this part of my integral path very highly. As I mentioned above, I recently attended an Integral Institute seminar on Integral Transformative Practice. I won't describe that experience at this time other than to say it was magical for me. I will return to this subject in a future post. The creation of this blog came out of a motivation in the wake of the ITP seminar to share my experience and from a personal desire to give expression in images and writing to what happened during that week. Much of it still remains a mystery to me and more than once I have found myself commenting "How did they do that?" To say there were times I can only describe as facets of resurrection would not be hyperbole!
The Spiritual: Centering Prayer twice a day for about twenty minutes a period is the foundation of my spiritual practice. I want to begin to include what Thomas Keating describes as active prayer in the weeks to come. I used to read through the Bible each year for many years and then dropped the practice, feeling that I was just going through the motions and at the end of the year simply adding another notch to my belt. I'm beginning to think about taking up that devotion again but with a new perspective. There are some books on lectio devina that I want to read to this end to help me see scripture in a new light. I will keep you posted. For many years I used to spend ten days each August at St. Benedict's Monastery for an intensive centering prayer retreat. I currently am unable to afford that special time, but hope to save up for it in the next year or so. In a previous post I described my time there as very special.
The Professional: I have just completed a certificate program in engineering graphics and am in the thick of looking for a job now, so this consumes most of my energy in this module. I joined the American Institute of Architects and am hoping to arrange a mentoring relationship through that organization. I have broken the initial learning curves of two very powerful and complex programs, AutoCAD 2005 and Inventor 9. My next project is to begin learning Revit 6.1 and I have found some excellent free tutorials on line for this purpose. I am currently reading Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins and have put together a very good reading list in the genre of business that I will share at a later date.
So that about wraps it up for now; a little of where I have been, where I am currently and a little of where I want to proceed in the weeks and months ahead.
"Today we are faced with an astonishing opportunity. For the first time in history we have access to all the great transformational traditions of humanity. The introspective technologies of the mystics, east and west...The elemental power of the earth-based creeds...Body- and energy-centered practices...The deeply personal revelations of theism...The martial and aesthetic arts...all are vividly transmitted to us through the voices of their most accomplished masters. And that's not all. We also hold the priceless gifts of science: deep insight into our own physiology, psychology and social dynamics-plus the time, in leisure and life span, to make the most of it. This new wealth of opportunity calls us to a new, comprehensive approach to human growth and development. The call is to integrate, to take a panoramic view of self, culture and nature, and to embrace the insights and tools that serve the highest potential for All."
Ken Wilber
from Integral Institute
This vision statement gets fleshed out for me by using five general areas of focus or components that comprise the action centers for developing an integral path. They are; the physical, the cognitive, the psychodynamic, the spiritual and the professional. I will comment on each component here to give you (me) and idea of where I stand currently and the immediate direction in which I hope to proceed.
The Physical: Right now I try to walk each day for about half an hour. I need to lose a significant amount of weight and this aerobic exercise serves that purpose and I am making some progress. My benchmark is to lose one pound a week over an extended period of time and at some point switch my attention from weight loss to body fat percentage. As mentioned in a previous post I work with weights twice a week. If I were younger I would be using a three session per week routine, but I find I need a little more time to recover from my workouts at this stage of my life. I use framework #4 from Stuart McRobert's Beyond Brawn p.239. I also use his Weight Training Technique to learn the exercises and proper form and his The Muscle and Might Training Tracker to keep good records. Next is diet. I have cut out most of the fat I used to eat and try my best to eat six small meals a day; three of the normal type although the portions are much smaller, and three liquid meals. Because meal supplements are quite expensive I have a poor mans version using Carnation Instant Breakfast and add malted milk powder, three large scoops of nonfat dry milk and a tablespoon of vegetable oil which provides the fatty acids needed in a good diet plan. I work out at home with a starter set of dumbbells so I have no excuse for missing a workout. I have encountered a bit of a learning curve with the various exercises and need to continue improving my form and adding weight slowly on a weekly or bi-monthly basis. Doing all this underscores the need for plenty of sleep and that's at least eight hours for me.
The Cognitive: I have always enjoyed reading so I'm pretty well covered on this base. I have started to explore the use of affirmations and currently use the ones for my type in Don Richard Riso's Enneagram Transformations. I just completed a certificate program in engineering graphics and because of the speed at which software platforms are changing in this field I will remain a perpetual student in this area for the duration of my career. I recently completed the Integral Institute's workshop on Integral Transformative Practice and would like to attend their seminar on Integral Organizational Leadership within the next eighteen months. I resurrected my Gibson acoustic guitar from my closet and am resuming practice using video lessons where I left off many years ago. I would love to say that I have a mentor to accompany me on this ever expanding process, but they don't come cheap. I try to keep in touch with some key people I met during my ITP seminar to share ideas and inspiration for the work ahead.
The Psychodynamic: I continue the practice of receiving counseling on a weekly basis in the form of psychodynamic psychotherapy. I have been with my current therapist for over a year now and plan to continue that work indefinitely. As I mentioned in a previous post, the nature of our sessions is gradually evolving from a focus on pathology to one of growth and continuing development. I regard this part of my integral path very highly. As I mentioned above, I recently attended an Integral Institute seminar on Integral Transformative Practice. I won't describe that experience at this time other than to say it was magical for me. I will return to this subject in a future post. The creation of this blog came out of a motivation in the wake of the ITP seminar to share my experience and from a personal desire to give expression in images and writing to what happened during that week. Much of it still remains a mystery to me and more than once I have found myself commenting "How did they do that?" To say there were times I can only describe as facets of resurrection would not be hyperbole!
The Spiritual: Centering Prayer twice a day for about twenty minutes a period is the foundation of my spiritual practice. I want to begin to include what Thomas Keating describes as active prayer in the weeks to come. I used to read through the Bible each year for many years and then dropped the practice, feeling that I was just going through the motions and at the end of the year simply adding another notch to my belt. I'm beginning to think about taking up that devotion again but with a new perspective. There are some books on lectio devina that I want to read to this end to help me see scripture in a new light. I will keep you posted. For many years I used to spend ten days each August at St. Benedict's Monastery for an intensive centering prayer retreat. I currently am unable to afford that special time, but hope to save up for it in the next year or so. In a previous post I described my time there as very special.
The Professional: I have just completed a certificate program in engineering graphics and am in the thick of looking for a job now, so this consumes most of my energy in this module. I joined the American Institute of Architects and am hoping to arrange a mentoring relationship through that organization. I have broken the initial learning curves of two very powerful and complex programs, AutoCAD 2005 and Inventor 9. My next project is to begin learning Revit 6.1 and I have found some excellent free tutorials on line for this purpose. I am currently reading Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins and have put together a very good reading list in the genre of business that I will share at a later date.
So that about wraps it up for now; a little of where I have been, where I am currently and a little of where I want to proceed in the weeks and months ahead.
posted by Rick Lemmer at 5/11/2005 04:02:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home