Tim Z. Brooks On Nonduality: Presence, Practice, Paradox

My Wholeness Plan: A Journey of Balance and Transformation

By Tim Z. Brooks
12 months ago
4 Min read
410 comments

Over the next 10 days, I’m diving deep into establishing priorities, setting goals, and creating the foundation for my Wholeness Plan (WP). For me, this practice is like a holistic, life-long cross-training routine—covering everything from physical health to mindfulness, from financial stability to ethical living.

When I talk about my WP, I’m referring to a balanced approach to life that addresses multiple aspects of my being: physical, psychological, mental, and beyond. I have followed the principles described in the book Integral Life Practice. WP is a way to make sure I’m growing in all dimensions of life, not just focusing on one at the expense of the others.

Below are some of my tentative ideas for the next year, as I map out how I want to approach each of these core areas:

Physical Health

Managing my health has always been important, and this year I’m committing to improving how I handle it. I plan to get more disciplined about my medication management and nutrition to keep my diabetes under control. Regular exercise is non-negotiable—whether it’s walking or hitting the gym for cardio, I aim to do this 3-4 times a week for cardiovascular health.

Weight-lifting

I’m starting almost from scratch with resistance training, but this year, bodybuilding will be my primary hobby. The goal is to lose 10-15 pounds of fat while gaining 10 pounds of muscle. This means serious commitment to strength training 3-4 times weekly. It’s going to take work, but I’m excited about treating this as a key part of my daily routine.

Psychological Well-Being

Mental wellness is just as important as physical health. I’ll continue seeing my Integral Recovery Coach weekly (or bi-weekly) to keep myself aligned with my holistic goals. Journaling will be an important practice too, as a way to complement my coaching. I also want to deepen my connections with friends and family, nurturing those relationships as part of my overall well-being. Strive to include greater presence, spontaneity, and lovingkindness in my sexual expression.

Mental Stimulation

I’ve always been drawn to philosophy, psychology, and spirituality, and I’m setting the intention to dive deeper into these topics. This means reading non-fiction, writing about it here, and, whenever possible, discussing these ideas with others in the integral community. I also plan to stay informed about current events by reading The New York Times and other news sources daily.

Financial Security

Staying focused at my day job is essential to maintaining my income, and I’m aiming for excellent performance reviews that might lead to a promotion. At the same time, I want to reduce my debts and increase my frugality—living more simply to build long-term financial stability.

Ethics

This year, I’m exploring neo-Confucian ethical principles to see how they can apply to practical, everyday life. I want to integrate some of these ideas into a broader vision of post-ideological Integral Politics. Additionally, I’m going to practice voluntary simplicity when it comes to finances and focus more on philanthropy and giving back through volunteer work.

Integral Recovery

Part of my ILP journey involves using this practice for addiction recovery. I’ll chronicle my progress both here and in a private journal, regularly discussing it with my coach and making necessary adjustments. I also plan to attend recovery-focused social meetings, like Twelve-Step or Buddhist recovery groups, to keep myself accountable.

Parapsychological

I’ve been meaning to return to my practice of divination, and I’ll be reintroducing that into my routine at least weekly to support my other life practices. By “divination”, I don’t meet fortune-telling; I mean a technique for accessing non-rational, intuitive, and meta-physical aid for discerning hidden aspects of reality. Shadow work, both personal and transpersonal. A related goal is to complete and publish my poetry project, Tai Xuan Jing, within the year.

Spiritual Practice

It’s time to bring meditation back into my daily life. I’m planning to explore a few different methodologies—starting with Vipassana, Centering Prayer, and Taoist contemplation. My goal is to gradually build up to 30 minutes of meditation each day. Attending spiritual fellowship meetings will also be part of the journey, as I look for external motivation and guidance.

That’s quite a list, I know! But my focus is on progress, not perfection. I’m giving myself the space to take it one step at a time.

Top Priorities

Of all these goals, my top three priorities (in order) are:

  1. Financial security
  2. Nondual Recovery (an approach that blends Integrative Recovery with nondual spirituality)
  3. Weight-lifting

These are the areas where I want to see the most progress, even if things get overwhelming in other parts of my life. If I can stay grounded in these three priorities, I’ll consider this year a success.

Let the journey begin. Easy does it!

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Tim Z. Brooks

"Tim Z. Brooks" is the pen name for the anonymous author of Nondual Recovery.

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By Tim Z. Brooks 12 months ago
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Tim Z. Brooks On Nonduality: Presence, Practice, Paradox

Tim Z. Brooks is a site with blog posts and drafts of several books-in-progress on the topics of spirituality, integrative metatheory, and Sacred Words. You can also subscribe to Tim's newsletter and follow him on Facebook to read daily notes on his Integral Life Practice.