Full Spectrum Human Development By Adam Leonard

“Practices” have accompanied humans from our first steps up from Eden to now. A practice entails some form of disciplined action, custom, or regular exercise performed with intention. Spurred by the irresistible desire to improve oneself and the world, human beings has never ceased to invent practices for growth.

Two special circumstances coexist to allow this historical period to birth a new breed of practice. First, thanks to the globalization of knowledge, a person can access the world’s entire collection of growth techniques—across cultures and through time. The diversity of transformative practices is truly astounding, from the complex to the simple, the mainstream to the obscure, the scientific to the artistic, the traditional to the outrageous. All of these are available to us right now.

Second, a comprehensive vision of reality—an Integral vision—is taking form through the efforts of pioneers around the world. Integral mapmakers chart the many dimensions and waves of the evolving human being. The resulting Integral maps create enough space to include all facets of Being in a balanced manner. But Integral embrace involves more than just recognizing multiple clumps or listing eclectic jumbles. It joins, links, and fits them together by finding underlying patterns and relationships. Integral maps push us to consider all the areas in which we can grow through practice, so we do not unwittingly limit our tool boxes. In short, an Integral map offers a uniquely powerful and efficient way to organize and practice the many growth techniques invented by humans throughout the ages.

Therefore, it stands to reason that an Integral understanding of practice honors all forms of health. On the one hand, an Integral view is an evolutionary perspective, one that implicitly values the healthy expansion of consciousness and complexity. When development rises freely with few hang-ups, “vertical health” can be said to exist. On the other hand, an Integral perspective simultaneously acknowledges “horizontal health” by including the foundational dimensions where growth occurs, namely the self, relationships with others, and the world.

Integral practice involves cultivating both vertical and horizontal health by nourishing the full spectrum of human capacities in participation with all areas of life. Ken Wilber has described integral practice as “the conscious exercise of Body, Mind, and Spirit in Self, Culture, and Nature.” Ultimately, Integral practice draws the practitioner into a way of life that expresses an overarching intention to cultivate health and well-being, happiness, and growth in self and others.

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