January 27, 2010  

Did you hear the one about the guy who decided to swim the English Channel?  He swam half way across and decided he couldn't make it, so he swam back again!

Hi.  I'm Jim Arsenault.  In 2008 I resigned from my 17-year career as a programmer to write a book of comedy and insight.  During the writing process, I suddenly realized my life purpose: to help others realize their full potential.  As a result of this realization, I have devoted my life to improving myself in service to others.  Becoming a Life Coach was a natural fit for me, and since I've also been interested in the Integral approach basically forever, I am now an Integral Life Coach. 

In a nutshell, "Integral" means "all-inclusive" or "comprehensive".  The integral Model was created by the great American Philosopher Ken Wilber.  The aim of Integral is to cultivate body, mind, and spirit in self, culture and nature. 

 The goal of the Integral-in-action Article Series is to introduce you to Integral through my and others experience at a Fitness Center.  In this way we can explore the many advantages of taking an Integral approach to fitness. Interestingly, one of the requirements of becoming an Integral Life Coach is that in order to better serve others, we need to be continuously improving ourselves.  So, I figure what better way to improve myself than to join a Fitness Center?

This series is very much intended to become a co-creation, and, since this is my first experience at a fitness club, I look forward to working with trainers and key members to share best practices as well as identify and explore areas where members could use more support.  Although I have experience in the areas of sustainable change and coaching, I have very little idea of how to work out safely and healthily.  This is where I plan on making use of best practices at the Fitness Center as well as getting advice and insight from key members as experts of their own workout routines.  Since we are in this together, I believe that together we can dramatically increase our likelihood of our long-term success.

So with that rather lengthy introduction, welcome to Integral-in-action!  This long-term article series aims to achieve several goals:

* To share tips and tactics on how to stay motivated and inspired to "swim to the other shore" throughout life's inevitable ups and downs;

* To demonstrate how taking an Integral approach to fitness can lead to greater levels of health and wellness;

* To show how an understanding of the Integral model can lead to greater understanding of self and others, and finally;

* To map my own progress at the Fitness Center as just one example of adopting an Integral approach to sustainable change.  Integral-in-action!

Please join me on this adventure toward decreased levels of stress, better overall health, stronger relationships, increased confidence, and among other things, sustainable change.

The next Integral-in-action! article will focus on motivation and inspiration amidst all the perspiration, and will introduce the first component of the Integral model: the Quadrants.  Although you will find that ALL aspects of Integral are already available to you, I believe that the elegance and simplicity of the model will immediately begin to shift the way you view yourself and others, allowing for greater levels of understanding and compassion, and for just a little bit more of that "get up and go" to sink your teeth into.

So, stay tuned, friends, for the next installment, coming soon...

Best regards,

-- Jim Arsenault
Integral Life Coach