The Value of an Integral Life Practice
Achieving wellbeing and optimal health requires an interrelated set of disciplines and approaches. All are important.
My entry into adulthood was not auspicious. I was shaky, filled with anxiety and low on social skills. I had some monkeys on my back. The silver lining was it drove me to seek answers. I simply had to.
I asked my transcendental meditation teacher why I often felt like crawling back to bed after meditating. Her answer was, “Do more practice.” A psychiatrist’s answer to my complaints of terrible mood swings and feelings of malaise was antidepressants. Christian friends advised me to surrender to Jesus. Workout buddies pumped iron and took supplements. Each person I asked for advice had a specific viewpoint they saw as a cure-all.
I had no way to see down the road and visualize where I was headed. I couldn’t tell for sure what to struggle against and what to lean into. I couldn’t see how facets of my life were separate and distinct, yet interrelated.
An integral life practice (ILP) takes the blindfolds off. It provides a cohesive, sensible framework that pulls everything together. It’s a way to chart a course through the unique, complex and many-faceted challenges we all face.
