mind

background information

    The idea of mind has been a widely accepted aspect of wellness for the last several decades. Starting around the 1950’s with Halbert Dunn’s book “High Level Wellness,” wellness was no longer defined as the absence of disease, but rather a balance of mind, body, and spirit.

    Modern research of the mind-body connection has shown the intimate relationship between an individual’s stress (mind) and the effect on their physical health (body). In 1975, Richard Adler created the field of“psychoneuroimmunology” or PNI. PNI holds that psychological processes within an individual deeply impact the nervous system and immune system functioning of that individual.

    Needless to say, the mind as an integral part of wellness is not a new idea. The Integral Wellness approach includes all of this research and understanding and further elaborates on the idea of “mind” within the framework of wellness.

taking multiple perspectives

     Along with decreasing stress in our lives as a way of embodying wellness, the mind plays other pivotal roles in the Integral Wellness framework. For one, the mind allows individuals to hold multiple perspectives on the world. One definition of intelligence is the number of perspectives a person can hold in any given situation.

    A child with an egocentric level of development is going to have difficulty understanding how their actions affect another person. At this level of development, the child is looking out for their own needs and is unable to cultivate empathy until they can take the perspective of another person. Ideally, as we continue to grow, our ability to take multiple perspectives increases.

    As development progresses we are able to not only take a second person perspective, but also a third person perspective. An example would involve being able to look objectively at an interaction you had with another person. From a third person perspective, you could see both where you were coming from in a conversation, as well as where another person is coming from. Therefore, people are able to have opinions but there are no absolute “right” or “wrong” ways to think or be.

     It may sound relatively simple, but most wars and countless millions of lives were lost because people were not able to take a third person perspective and had to prove their perspective was right by killing people with a different perspective on a given situation.

more perspectives, more freedom

    As one develops, the more perspective they can see in a given situation, the more internal freedom they have. They can speak with someone who is very certain that there perspective is the “right” perspective and not feel threatened. The developed individual can hold that the person who thinks they are “right” has a version of the truth that is not necessarily universal to all people.

    The more perspectives you can take, the less rigid you become. The less rigid you become, the greater openness and inner stability you have to be able to move with the ebbs and flows of life. The analogy of the tree in high winds illustrates this idea. The tree that is rigid and firm will be eventually snap in the face of high winds. Yet the tree that is flexible and bends with the wind, will survive the storm. Life provides countless storms, during the high winds it is those people who are flexible that will come out the other side intact and balanced.

cognition as necessary but not sufficient for integral wellness

   The mind is an essential ingredient in Integral Wellness. It is our ability to take multiple perspectives (especially on ourselves) that enable us to develop in a balanced way. By understanding ourselves better, we can acknowledge our strengths as well as cultivate our weaknesses.

    Harvard developmental psychologist Howard Gardner, brought forth the notion of multiple intelligences. Cognition is necessary to develop interpersonal, emotional, moral, and other intelligences and is therefore a staple of Integral Wellness.

    We do not need to be highly advanced in all areas, but we do need to have an understanding of what intelligences are pathologically underdeveloped and are impeding our daily functioning. We may be cognitively brilliant, but if we cannot interact socially, then it will be difficult to find happiness and embody a comprehensive sense of wellness.

it’s easier than you think!

   You have been practicing the mind module simply by reading this information and working to grasp the framework of Integral Wellness. Another way is to challenge yourself through study of topics that you do not yet understand. A great way to cultivate the mind is also to learn about Integral Theory, which is where the Integral Wellness model spawned from.

    Click here for a free introductory presentation of Integral Theory. Each month in the “Life as Practice” Newsletter, you will also be provided ways to continue to develop your mind module as a crucial piece of the journey towards Integral Wellness in your life. Also, www.integralwellnessmb.com will be providing more information to help aid you in your development of the mind aspect of Integral Wellness as time progresses through information on the actual website as well as on the Integral Wellness Blog.