• Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Annie B Kay

holistic nutritionist, yoga therapist

Header Left

Header Right

Mobile Menu

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About
    • Start Here
    • Media
    • About
    • Contact
  • Read & Recipes
    • Blog
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Books by Annie B. Kay
      • Every Bite Is Divine
      • Yoga & Diabetes
  • Let’s Work Together
    • Energy Immersion Costa Rica Yoga Retreat
    • Workshops & Speaking
    • Personal Telehealth Coaching
    • Contact
You are here: Home / Integrated Life / Do You Integrate? Integration is…Everything
Do You Integrate? Integration is...Everything by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

Do You Integrate? Integration is…Everything

August 16, 2017 //  by annie//  Leave a Comment

Do You Integrate? Integration is...Everything by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com
There is much talk of integrative health these days. We’re all happy when we have an integrative physician. So just what is integrative health? What is integration?

Integrative Health

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) – part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – thinks a lot about this, and has helped with some definitions that feel like a good (conservative, to be sure) place to begin. They say integrative health care is bringing complementary (treatments not part of Western medicine) and conventional Western medicine together in a coordinated way. So, using both the Western allopathic medical system, but also things like yoga, nutrition (yep, still pretty much considered, for the most part, complementary), acupuncture, and meditation in a skillful and informed way. These complementary modalities are ones that might not have a deep collection of Western scientific studies that verify their clinical use, but each of these modalities has been shown to be helpful. If we consider practice-based observational evidence, many of these practices have thousands of years of evidence. I like that way of thinking about integrative health. The skillful use of a wide array of modalities to support an individual’s care.
That’s health – but what does integration mean in life? We live in such a spinning world, where we often don’t have time to reflect on nor absorb what happens to us or around us. Experiences come fast and furious. It is, without question, an excellent time to practice.
I honestly think that it’s impossible to avoid stress and that we need to think about how we manage stress differently today. The world is different than it was even twenty years ago. The planet is a lot less stable and it’s impacting everything. In order to be healthy today, we need to be adaptive. Adaptive to chaos. Relax while tumbling. Release into the flow.

Integration

Integration, in an experiential or spiritual context, happens after an experience, when you take time to be quiet, restful and take in what happened. Integration is the energetic digestion of an experience. It requires time, quiet, rest, reflection. Relaxation. Usually more than is convenient in your busy day. Thus the rub.
When we hop from event to event in our lives – and no judgment here, I do it myself when I lose hold of that pesky schedule and over-schedule myself  – we just don’t integrate. The pieces of us don’t come together in a new way (which is often the point, particularly if we seek positive or expansive ecstatic experience).

Try Less

So, we practice. We smuggle five minutes of reflective practice into our morning routine. We turn off the news during dinner. We eat breakfast in silence. One the wisest pieces of advice I got from an Astanga yoga teacher (the incomparable Bhavani Maki in Kauai) was “Try Less.” When I feel overwhelmed, I think about what in my schedule I can let go of. What is not really serving me? What perhaps used to work but no longer does? It’s not an easy practice.
We resist the temptation to reprimand ourselves for not being perfect. We breathe and relax instead.
We fall in love – on purpose – with our contemplative practice. We fall in love with our breath and the amazing places it can take us if we only just settled down to feel it. We fall in love with our meditation or our deep relaxation practices for the expansive velvet depth of our interior landscape they open to us. Maybe for 5 minutes. Maybe for a day.
So, if you are one to have experiences – expansive experiences – then please take a day or two afterward – if possible, to give yourself the gift of integration. Of reflection and relaxation and allowing the pieces of you to come together in a new way. Of silence – be it listening to the birds, meditation or walking in nature.
Here’s wishing you integrative health within a wonderful collection of loving and talented health providers, and deep integration of the expansive experiences in your life.
Do You Integrate? Integration is...Everything by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

Pinterest

Category: Integrated LifeTag: integration

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

eat well for less

Eat Well for Less: Doable and so Worth It

Pre-Holiday Tune-Up Coaching Session

Women Finding Fulfillment, Passion, and Purpose After 50

Subtle Body Nourishment: Benefits of Learning the Art & Science of Energy

Do Goals Make You Anxious? What to Aim for Instead

Holiday Health Roundup by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

Holiday Health Roundup

Genetics and Diet - What it Means for You by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

Genetics and Diet – What it Means for You

This Simple Tool Crushes Resistance by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

This Simple Tool Crushes Resistance

Navigate the Fall Transition by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

Navigate the Fall Transition

How Mindful Presence Transforms by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

How Mindful Presence Transforms

Feeling Diabetic? Let's Fix It. by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

Feeling Diabetic? Let's Fix It.

Do You Get Fat Shamed? 5 Ways to Channel That Hate into Love by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

Do You Get Fat Shamed? 5 Ways to Channel That Hate into Love

Previous Post: «Elderberry Syrup Recipe by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com Elderberry Syrup Recipe
Next Post: Hail Tulsi – Green Mahadevi Hail Tulsi - Green Mahadevi by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com»

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Topics

  • Heal with Food
    • Yoga of Eating
  • Heal with Nature
    • Plant Alchemy
    • Plant Medicine
  • Heal with Yoga
    • Meditation & Breathing
  • Integrated Life
    • Balanced, Happy, Blessed
    • For Health Pros
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Desserts
  • Uncategorized
  • Wellness
  • Yoga Therapy
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Annie’s Books on Goodreads

Every Bite Is Divine: The Balanced Approach to Enjoying Eating, Feeling Healthy and Happy, and Getting to a Weight That's Natural for You
Every Bite Is Divine: The Balanced Approach to Enjoying Eating, Feeling Healthy and Happy, and Getting to a Weight That’s Natural for You

reviews: 4

ratings: 14 (avg rating 3.21)


Yoga and Diabetes: Your Guide to Safe and Effective Practice
Yoga and Diabetes: Your Guide to Safe and Effective Practice

reviews: 1

ratings: 6 (avg rating 3.83)



Footer

Inspiration

“Every day is another chance to get a little stronger, to enjoy a little more, to make choices that help you live a little healthier, and to be a bit more of your own true self.”

Be You

Recent Posts

Hungarian-inspired Mushroom Soup Recipe
Eat Well for Less: Doable and so Worth It
6 Benefits of Mindful Eating
Holiday Gift Guide: 5 Gifts of Health & Healing for Every Budget
Holiday Stress? Mindfulness Can Help
Gwen’s French Carrot Soup Recipe

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2019 Annie B Kay · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme