The Integral Assessment is a tool to aid in detecting areas of our life that need attention. It is a good way to determine the areas where we need to grow. There are four main aspects, or quadrants, of our life. These are psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly. Within each of these quadrants there are three specific lines of developement. Within each line of development, there are three levels of growth to attain. Generally, the first level is self-focused, the second is other focused, and the third is focused on the greater good in a global sense. (Dacher, 2006).
I will begin my assessment in the psychospiritual quadrant. The three lines of development are; conative (the source of our motives), cognitive, and emotional. As I assessed myself in each of these areas, I realized my development is similar within each line. I tend to move between the second and third level in each line. I have invested time and energy doing psychospiritual work, and am not surprised to find myself evenly developed in that area.
In the biological quadrant the three lines are; fitness, nutrition, and self-regualtion. Nutrition is my passion, and I am solidly in the second level, and often in the third level. I do make food decisions based on their environmental impact, but not always. On the self-regulation line, I am glad to have attained a degree of homeostasis in my life, and have practiced my own mind/body practices, but after this class, and learning some specific techniques, I will continue to develop more in that area. The fitness line is where I think my next focus should be. I have had a hard time getting back into an exercise routine. So, I am in between the first and second level. I believe the thing that is holding me back is that I need more meaning in my exercise routine. I plan on using mindfulness techniques to improve my exercise by focusing mentally on the exercise being performed. Combining exercise with enjoying nature, impoves my mental well-being as well as provides physical benefits.
In the interpersonal quadrant, I am happy with my development on the family and personal relationship lines. I am not very advanced on the community line, I am involved within my church community, so I gather that is the second level. I am more developed on the family and personal lines because I have devoted time and effort developing those relationships. I believe the phase of my life I have been in, has been the time I was meant to be focused on my family. I feel that as I grow and develop as a person, and my kids get older I will naturally evolve into being more community focused, so I do not feel it is necessary to devote effort in that area right now.
I believe the same is true for my involvement in the worldly quadrant. Currently, in my work as a mom, I am somewhere between the second and third levels. Maybe back and forth between them. As far as social activism ... I recycle... hahaha, that's the first level though! I do venture out to the third levvel of global concern when I support efforts others are making globally. The same is true of generativity (tranmission of knowledge and skills), I am mostly in the first level there as well. Once in a while I get slightly involved in supporting a social policy. I know that as I grow as a person, and my children are older and do not take as much of my time and energy, I will naturally begin to develop in my work as a nutritionist, and in my social activism and generativity. I feel confidant this will occur in its proper time, and so I do not feel a need to focus energy on developing in these areas right now.
After performing this assessment, I can see the two areas where I need to put in some intentional work are both in the biologiccal quadrant. Interesting! I wouldn't have guessed that initially. The two lines of development I will focus on are self-regualtion and fitness. For self-regulation, I plan to continue practicing the suble-mind practice. The changes I plan on making along the fitness line are mentioned above.
I am glad to have had this chance to perform the integral assessment. I now have a better understanding of each line of development within each quadrant, and will be able to recomend the assessment in the future.
Kathy
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