Unit 10 blog

Review your unit 3 personal assessment of your psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reflect on these areas. How did you score yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 in unit 3? How do you score yourself now? Has the score changed? Why or why not?

When I assess my overall wellness I can definitely say that I have room to learn and grow. On a scale from 1 to 10 I would rate my spiritual well-being at an 8. Spiritual well-being is one of the biggest things that sustain me, without it I would be nothing. I chose to rate myself at an 8 because I feel like there is more room for growth in this area. I believe in God and have accepted Jesus into my heart and have a personal relationship with Him.  I also know that my life is in His hands. However, I have a hard time fully relying on Him and placing my worries, cares, and fears at His feet. This is one thing that I would like to overcome and I know that through Him I can do all things. Spiritually I have a hard timing fully relying on the Lord and placing my worries, cares, and fears at His feet. This is one thing that I would like to overcome and I know that through Him I can do all things. I would also like to be better about setting aside quiet time with Him. I need to be more intentional about waking up an hour or so before I wake up my kids to have my personal quiet time and pray and meditate on my day. I have a “Jesus Calling” devotional that I try to read every day as well as daily devotions that I receive via email like Proverbs 31 ministries and Girlfriends in God. I love that they take scripture and make it very applicable to my life.                   

On a scale from 1 to 10 I would rate my physical well-being at an 8. I fell that my physical well-bring is good but I want to continue to strive to do better. I exercise five days a week for an hour to an hour and a half. My daily exercise includes either walking briskly on the treadmill for an hour, walking four miles in my neighborhood with a friend, or going to a body-sculpting class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday I am obsessed with going to spin/cycle class. My BMI is good, but I would like to lose about ten pounds to feel completely satisfied with myself. I try to buy all organic foods, as well as grass fed lean meats, non-GMO, minimally processed and artificially free foods. I try to meal plan weekly for my family and try to incorporate as many fruits and vegetables into our meals as possible. My physical goal is to lose ten pounds.  One thing that I would like to try is to go on a juice fast. I love the documentary “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” by Joe Cross and would like to get a juicer soon to get myself in to great physical health

On a scale from 1 to 10 I would rate my psychological well-being at a 6.This is one area that I would say that I struggle with immensely. I am so grateful to be in this class to learn ways to cope and deal with my emotions. I had a very complicated childhood growing up and continue to deal with the repercussions of it. I have also experienced the loss of several loved ones including my dad who passed away three years ago. Because of experiencing so many losses throughout the years I constantly deal with the fear of death and dying on a daily basis. I am so grateful that I have my faith, and without it I would be nothing. I have to come to a place in my life where I need to stop focusing on the “what if’s” and start living without stress. I feel stress on a daily basis and school only escalates it. I feel very guilty that I am even going back to school because I feel that it is taking away from my husband and kids and that I can’t give them everything they need from me. Going back to school has always been something that I have always wanted to do but I personally wanted to wait until all of my kids where in school and then focus on me. However, due to much pressure from my older brother and knowing that my deceased father would be so proud, here I am. I have such a passion for health and wellness and know that there is a purpose and reason why I am where I am; I just have to continue to trust in the Lord’s provision for my life and know that he has a bigger plan than I do. My psychological health will be able to grow if I practice training my mind. I have such a passion for health and wellness and know that there is a purpose and reason why I am here but I need to find better coping strategies to help maintain my stress level, fears, worries, doubts and guilt. I know that taking this class has helped me find what I need to cope and I can’t wait until the day that I can incorporate all of the exercises and techniques I have learned to cope with all of my anxieties. I know that there is an end in sight in pursuing my degree and cannot wait for August 2013 to get here so I can graduate and move on to the next chapter of my life.

Have you implemented the activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain.

I have not been able to implement the activities that I have chosen for my well-being. My family, and school have been at the top of my to do list and then I have not been feeling well so that has not helped matters. I am hoping that after the holidays have come and gone that I will be able to implement my activities and goals.

Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others?

Taking this course has improved my personal health and wellness. I have learned so much and have been given so many useful tools to improve my personal life. This course has helped me find what I need to cope with many of my fears and anxieties and I am excited to incorporate all of the exercises and techniques into my daily life. One of the biggest tools I have learned throughout this course is the visualization exercises, “The Subtle Mind” and “The Taste of Human Flourishing.” These exercises have helped me to clear my mind and become relaxed, renewed, refreshed and calm and brings me to a place of happiness, wholeness, and health. One of the things that has been difficult for me in this course is time management. Finding the time not only to study and complete my assignments but also be able to incorporate everything that I have learned from this course. I am thankful for this course and all that I have gained from it and cannot wait to share many of the useful tools that I have learned with others.

May God Bless each of you! Merry Christmas!        

Final Project

Introduction:

As a health and wellness professional it is my job to lead by example. In order for my patient’s or client’s to achieve optimal integral health psychologically, spiritually and physically they need to know that their health care professional is practicing what they preach. Fostering physical, psychological and spiritual wellness is beneficial because it deals with the whole being not just one aspect of it. Health professionals who are focused on achieving integral health will be better able to provide their patients with the best care because they themselves are in good psychological, spiritual and physical health. When health professionals practice and foster integral health on all three levels we are able to have a special understanding of what it takes to develop integral health and we can relate and empathize with our patient or client.

In order to foster integral health I need to grow and develop in every aspect of integral health. The first step is for me to become aware and remove the causes of any unnecessary suffering in my life. I have a really bad habit of saying yes to anything that anyone asks of me which ends up causing me stress. I need to learn how to say no and remove the unnecessary stressors in my life. Dacher states this as knowing what to cultivate in your life and what to abandon. The things to cultivate are actions that support integral health and the things to abandon are obstacles or hindrances. I need to begin removing and abandoning all the stressors in my life that are weighing me down and I need to begin by knowing when to say no. The second step for me is to train my mind and replace any bad thoughts with loving-kindness. When we have any negative or disturbing thoughts we need to have our minds trained to replace them with thoughts of loving-kindness. By practicing meditations like loving-kindness, calm–abiding, and the witnessing mind we can begin to remove our negative thoughts and behaviors with positive ones. The third step is to develop your consciousness to have an inner calm, a discerning wisdom and an open heart. I need to become aware and develop my consciousness so that I can create peace and tranquility. When I begin applying all of these steps I will begin training my mind to move from suffering to human flourishing. The more I practice the more I will grow and I will develop health, happiness and wholeness (Dacher, 2006).

Assessment:

            When I assess my overall wellness I can definitely say that I have room to learn and grow. I would rate my spiritual well-being at an 8. Spiritual well-being is one of the biggest things that sustain me, without it I would be nothing. I chose to rate myself at an 8 because I feel like there is more room for growth in this area. I believe in God and have accepted Jesus into my heart and have a personal relationship with Him.  I also know that my life is in His hands. However, I have a hard time fully relying on Him and placing my worries, cares, and fears at His feet. This is one thing that I would like to overcome and I know that through Him I can do all things.

I would rate my physical well-being at an 8. I fell that my physical well-bring is good but I want to continue to strive to do better. I exercise five days a week for an hour to an hour and a half. My daily exercise includes either walking briskly on the treadmill for an hour, walking four miles in my neighborhood with a friend, or going to a body-sculpting class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday I am obsessed with going to spin/cycle class. My BMI is good, but I would like to lose about ten pounds to feel completely satisfied with myself. I try to buy all organic foods, as well as grass fed lean meats, non-GMO, minimally processed and artificially free foods. I try to meal plan weekly for my family and try to incorporate as many fruits and vegetables into our meals as possible.

I would rate my psychological well-being at a 6.This is one area that I would say that I struggle with immensely. I am so grateful to be in this class to learn ways to cope and deal with my emotions. I had a very complicated childhood growing up and continue to deal with the repercussions of it. I have also experienced the loss of several loved ones including my dad who passed away three years ago. Because of experiencing so many losses throughout the years I constantly deal with the fear of death and dying on a daily basis. I am so grateful that I have my faith, and without it I would be nothing. I have to come to a place in my life where I need to stop focusing on the “what if’s” and start living without stress. I feel stress on a daily basis and school only escalates it. I feel very guilty that I am even going back to school because I feel that it is taking away from my husband and kids and that I can’t give them everything they need from me. Going back to school has always been something that I have always wanted to do but I personally wanted to wait until all of my kids where in school and then focus on me. However, due to much pressure from my older brother and knowing that my deceased father would be so proud, here I am. I have such a passion for health and wellness and know that there is a purpose and reason why I am where I am; I just have to continue to trust in the Lord’s provision for my life and know that he has a bigger plan than I do.

Goal development:

My physical goal is to lose ten pounds.  One thing that I would like to try is to go on a juice fast. I love the documentary “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” by Joe Cross and would like to get a juicer soon to get myself in to great physical health.

My psychological health will be able to grow if I practice training my mind. I have such a passion for health and wellness and know that there is a purpose and reason why I am here but I need to find better coping strategies to help maintain my stress level, fears, worries, doubts and guilt. I know that taking this class has helped me find what I need to cope and I can’t wait until the day that I can incorporate all of the exercises and techniques I have learned to cope with all of my anxieties. I know that there is an end in sight in pursuing my degree and cannot wait for August 2013 to get here so I can graduate and move on to the next chapter of my life.

Spiritually I have a hard timing fully relying on the Lord and placing my worries, cares, and fears at His feet. This is one thing that I would like to overcome and I know that through Him I can do all things. I would also like to be better about setting aside quiet time with Him. I need to be more intentional about waking up an hour or so before I wake up my kids to have my personal quiet time and pray and meditate on my day. I have a “Jesus Calling” devotional that I try to read every day as well as daily devotions that I receive via email like Proverbs 31 ministries and Girlfriends in God. I love that they take scripture and make it very applicable to my life.

Practices for personal health:

In order for me to implement and foster growth physically I need to continue to implement an exercise routine into my daily life. It is important for me to carve out time in my day so that exercising remains a priority. It is also important to continue my daily routine and also every now and then change things up a bit so my exercise routine doesn’t become monotonous. I would really like to begin training for a 5k and I would also like to begin working out with my husband. In order to do begin training for a 5k I need to find time everyday to incorporate running. In order to begin working out with my husband we have to take time to clean out our garage. De-cluttering and organizing our garage has been a big part of my anxiety since we moved into our house two years ago, getting this done would help me in more ways than one. Incorporating physical activity and exercise not only brings about physical wellness but it can also help with psychological and spiritual wellness.

There are two exercises that have been the most beneficial to me and will definitely help foster growth psychologically. The visualization exercises “The Subtle Mind” and “The Taste of Human Flourishing.” Both of these exercises allowed my mind to be calm, freed, relaxed, and come to a place of happiness, wholeness, and health. I am determined to implement these practices into my personal life and practice and foster my mental fitness. This class has opened my eyes to a whole new way of healing, health, and well-being. I am going to try to practice at least one of these visualization exercises each week by making time in my schedule to make sure that it happens. One thing that I would like to do is practice these exercise with my husband. I also would like to pass these helpful exercises onto my children. I believe that using these helpful exercises at an early age our children can really learn and grow and also develop integral health at a young age.

In order to foster my growth spiritually it is important for me to spend daily quiet time with the Lord every morning before my kids get up. Reading my bible daily and meditating on God’s word will help me to start my day off in a positive way.  Spending time with the Lord will also grow me closer to Him and will allow me to grow spiritually. Another way for me to grow spiritually is to incorporate a weekly bible study with other women. Learning God’s truths through studying the bible with other women will help me to apply God’s word to my life and grow.

Commitment:

In order for me to continue to grow, develop and flourish I need to hold myself accountable by creating a wellness journal that I can write in every time I practice integral health. It is also important for me to establish an accountability partner. My accountability partner will be my husband. I will ask him to help me maintain my integral health by making sure that I stay committed and on track with my physical, spiritual and psychological well being. There will be days that life won’t go as planned and I don’t feel like I am fostering my integral health but as long as I have my husband to encourage and motivate me on this journey, I know that when I look back years from now I will be able to see how I have grown and developed more into integral health.

References:

Dacher, Elliott. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health Publications Inc. Print.

My favorite exercises.....

The two exercises that have been the most beneficial to me were the visualization exercises “The Subtle Mind” and “The Taste of Human Flourishing.” Both of these exercises allowed my mind to be calm, freed, relaxed, and come to a place of happiness, wholeness, and health. I am determined to implement these practices into my personal life and practice and foster my mental fitness. This class has opened my eyes to a whole new way of healing, health, and well-being. I am going to try to practice at least one of these visualization exercises each week by making time in my schedule to make sure that it happens. One thing that I would like to do is practice these exercise with my husband. I also would like to pass these helpful exercises onto my children. I believe that using these helpful exercises at an early age our children can really learn and grow and also develop integral health at a young age.

Meeting Aesclepius

I loved the analogy that our minds being like waterfalls but after much practice in training and calming our minds we go through different stages and end up like the stillness of the ocean. Just hearing those words brought a sense of calm to me. As I began this exercise and had to think of someone I immediately thought of my dad. He passed away three years ago at the young age of 57 from a massive heart attack. It was very calming to me to think of him for this exercise and visualize that he was right here with me. I want nothing more than to have him here with me everyday. I miss my dad so much and loved observing him and purifying my thought of him. I was able to transform my thoughts and welcome him into my heart which was so interesting and very fulfilling. I know everyday that my dad is with me but this helped me feel connected to him on a deeper level.

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself."
This saying helps people understand that if they are going to lead someone they need to have experienced what they are about to put that person through. When someone wants to learn about health and wellness they don't want to listen to someone who doesn't have a clue what they are talking about or who isn't in good physical shape and in good health. It is important to practice what we preach so that we can show others first hand how important it is to take care of ourselves.

Exercises for Mind-Body-Spirit

Practice the universal Loving Kindness (meditation) exercise on p. 93.

Complete the Integral Assessment discussed in chapter 11 (p.115).

Describe the exercise and assessment process. What did you discover about yourself? What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and development? Why? What are some specific exercises or activities that you can implement to foster greater wellness in this area?

                                                       

The Loving Kindness meditation exercise was great. I loved being able to think about others and speak positive words on them. I want nothing more in life than for others and myself to find freedom from suffering and find health, happiness and wholeness. To be able to repeat this over and over was freeing and powerful.

The Integral Assessment was a great way to look inward and assess what needs to be worked on in my life. The area I have chosen to focus on is my psychospiritual growth and development. I feel that this is where most of my problems stem from and I need healing in this area. In order to foster a great wellness in this area I need to practice meditation and exercises such as the universal Loving Kindness exercise so that I can focus on others instead of myself. It is also important for me to practice having a calm abiding mind.  It is also a good idea to continue to assess myself to make sure that I am benefiting from these exercises and making positive changes in my growth and development.

The Subtle Mind

Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.

The Subtle mind exercise was so much more calming and relaxing to me than the Loving Kindness exercise. One reason that I enjoyed it so much is that I could just listen to the waves crashing and focus on my breathing rather than listen to someone guiding me and giving me instructions. I felt like I was able to transform my clinging thoughts to a witnessing and calming mind. Releasing my mind was exactly what I needed to do and I really felt free and relaxed. There were no racing thoughts running through my head and I was able to be still, calm, relaxed and free.

Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

Our mind, body and spirit are all interconnected and it is important for us to take care of each of them to achieve and maintain optimal wellness. If we do not have spiritual wellness it is hard for us to achieve mental wellness, and if we do not have mental wellness than we cannot achieve physical wellness. In my own personal life if my spiritual life is not good then my mental and physical wellness will suffer.

Unit 4: Mind Body Spirit

Loving-Kindness          

I found the Loving-Kindness exercise to be difficult. I had a hard time focusing, especially on the part when it talked about suffering. Taking in someone’s suffering and breathing out health, happiness and loving-kindness was very difficult and interesting to me. I look forward to listening to this exercise again and really trying to focus more and let go off all the distractions in my life. I would definitely recommend this to others. I think the next time I listen to this I will let me family listen to it as well. I am sure it would be beneficial to each of us.

Mental Workout                                                 

Our mind is capable of limitless development and it is important to train our minds. When we train our minds our inner development allows and encourages our minds to go further than we ever thought we could. If we train our minds properly we can undergo permanent change and our mind can go from ordinary to exceptional. When we implement this in our personal lives by exercising for as little as one hour a day we begin to experience a flourishing of our health and life from the onset of our inner practice. By starting off with 5-15 minutes of quieting our minds we will be more comfortable with it and work our way up to an hour.