Mindful Living Across Lifespan
Wellness is abroad concept that carries different meanings to different people in a particular setup. Wellness as put by Brown, Creswell, and Ryan is a particular way of life whose orientation is towards optimal fitness and health where the body together with the mind and spirit get incorporated by an individual in order to live years more fully (252). A lot of theories and modalities have been put forward by different people with regard to mindfulness and whose relationship to wellness across lifespan is not worth ignoring. In this paper, the theories of reflexive self-consciousness and the theories of integrative awareness are explored, compared and contrasted exhaustively. Their uniqueness and individual impacts to wellness and mindfulness are examined paying key interest to the pillars that make up the individual theories.
The theory of reflexive self-consciousness holds that individuals have the ability to revisit their past experiences and evaluate them with the purpose of learning from them (Brown, Creswell and Ryan 117). An individual takes his experiences or rather his or her person as a point of attention. The theory further argues that autonomous individuals tend to choose the stimuli that they perceive urgent and important in order to monitor it. It is thought this prioritization of stimuli that goals are selected and pursued courtesy of awareness and attention. On the other hand, the theory of integrative awareness holds that self-exceptional experience, character and behavior serve as the points of evaluative, personal attention, various personality postulations, and clinical theories that cut across a wide range of topics and orientations. The word integrative is borrowed from the fact that the theory involves unbolted explorative attention and consciousness for obtaining pertinent information that facilitate wellness and across lifespan. In the reflexive self-consciousness theory, the strength of attention paid varies right from its relative absence to hyper acute alertness, thus reinforcing the fact that sufficient amount of attention is paramount if self-regulation is to be realized (Langer and Dunne 186)
In the long run, both the theory of reflexive self-consciousness and integrative awareness focus on ensuring that self-regulations that lead to wellness and achievement of goals is achieved. They both maintain that the capacity to monitor and control, where the capacity to monitor is described as an observation function while control is the target-oriented negotiator of continuance and change are important if wellness is to be realized (Brown, Creswell and Ryan 301). Langer and Dunne insists that they support the personality systems interaction approach which connotes that individuals who succumb to self-suppression and external control often lose the capacity to live according to their own values and needs (73).
My wellness plan or rather to do list geared towards the realization of personal wellness would be influenced by these unique approaches since they touch on the pillars that spark self-motivation; self-consciousness and accomplishment of goals. Wellness to me takes various dimensions right from the physical, mental, spiritual, financial, environment and occupational wellness (Brown, Creswell and Ryan 301). In a bid to develop my wellness plan, I would keep in mind my past experience and encounters in order to come up with a suitable plan that would guarantee me the much desired wellness which is in line with the reflexive self-consciousness theory. My persistent and self-driven character would form a basis of my wellness plan alongside my past experience and exceptional encounters. Through applying the basics of the integrative awareness theory which are multi-factorial, I would ensure that the much desired financial and physical wellness is realized. The ability to successfully pay attention, learn, make decisions and refocus my energy in order to realize set goals is something that I would like to have and practice. Through constant evaluation of the outcomes of my efforts, the ability to control situations and achieve self-motivation would be possible. Wellness from the perspective of spiritual and mental satisfaction is achieved when goals are equally achieved.
Personal wellness indicates a multidimensional and dynamic state of health and contentment. The level of wellness achieved depends on our ability to respond adequately to the pressures and unending demands that living put on us and most importantly the capacity to absorb the shock and difficulties of life and learn something from them. The capacity to not only meet but also beat immense challenges lie in the ability to control the cognitive center and this is only possible through self-consciousness. Attaining wellness is a choice that starts from the mind and finally manifests itself as finding our unique niche in the universe.
Works Cited
Brown, Kirk W, J D. Creswell, and Richard M. Ryan. Handbook of Mindfulness: Theory, Research, and Practice. New York: The Guilford Press, 2015. Print.
Langer, Ellen J, and Bernadette Dunne. Mindfulness. Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books, 2008. Print.
