Unit 10 Final Post!

Hi there,

My personal assessment from Unit 3 was as follows:
Psychological - 8
Spiritual - 4
Physical - 8

I would most likely rate myself the same now as I did before.  The only reason that the score did not change is that I have not changed much of my lifestyle in any of those areas too dramatically to warrent the scores to change.  Perhaps as life continues down the road and certain aspects of my life change, those numbers may change.

As far as the goals that I set for myself in each of those areas, I have not really worked on them too much except for the physical part.  I adopted another dog from the Humane Society last Friday so I need to take two dogs on a walk so that does force me to walk a bit more and be more active in keeping two wild pups in line and not chasing all the ducks and lizards that we come across.  Psychologically I am pretty content where I am in life.  My stress levels do peak from time to time but it is not anything that I cannot handle. 

What I have learned from this course will help me in life with learning Loving-Kindness to always lean towards the positive in people no matter how much you want to strangle them!  I think that I have improved well-being by just learning little tricks on how to meditate in the shortest of times to help calm myself and relax when things get tough and stressful. 

Unit 9 Final Project

Introduction

Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically? What areas do you need to develop to achieve the goals you have for yourself?

Any health professional that really wants to be integral practitioners needs to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically.  Physically speaking there are so many benefits of physical fitness and wellness plans that men and women of all ages can gain from and obtain a higher quality of life.  As a health professional they must be able to help their clients see the benefits of this and also be able to speak for it themselves and show that physical fitness and spiritual wellness can grow into a positive attitude.  This will help people see their life’s full potential and work towards their goals.  The mind, body, and health are all interlocked together and cannot work to its fullest extent if one is lagging behind. 

Personally I need to develop my physical body and my diet.  While my weight is right on the spot for my height, I do not eat very well which does not do any good for my body.  As I age my bad eating habits will be sure to catch up with me and my perfect weight now will balloon upwards.  I have actually started trying to eat better in the mornings and instead of eating a few donuts and cupcakes I am bringing instant oatmeal to work and adding in fresh fruit.  Over time I hope to develop better eating habits for lunch and dinner as well but one step at a time for me or my poor body will go into shock!

Assessment

How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?

In Unit 3 this was how I assessed myself on a scale of 1 (lowest) – 10 (highest):

Physical well being – 8

Spiritually – 4

Psychologically – 8

I feel that physically my health is very good even though I do have some poor eating habits that I need to address.  Psychologically I keep a smile on my face every day and am always looking for a positive in everything no matter how bad.  Even when I am feeling down I try to force a smile because just the act of doing so can help cheer me up.  I keep my stress down to a minimum by only worrying about what I can control.  If I cannot control the final results of it then I do not see a reason to stress about it and possibly get myself sick with worry.  My biggest area that I need to address is my spirituality.  I scored myself somewhat on the lower side only because I do not have any religion or any person or thing that I look up to for guidance.  I also have a lot of things going on in my life right now that does not allow for inner peace and calmness. By working on those issues I will be able to raise my rating of spirituality.  

                                                     Goal Development

List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.

One physical goal that I have for myself is to exercise a little bit more.  While I do end up walking 6-7 miles a day at work over an eight hour period, it is not a very strenuous walk and my heart rate does not go up much if at all. I just adopted another dog from the Humane Society yesterday so that will give me even more reason to get up off the couch and take the pups for nice long walks every day at least once. 

Psychologically my goal is to continue to work on loving-kindness every day no matter how hard life gets.  Working in retail I deal with a lot of not so smart people so it does try my patience and stresses me out but if I practice loving-kindness it will allow me to open my mind and heart to love everyone and not take any frustrations out on them and it will reduce my stress at work too.  By shifting my vision to practicing I can accomplish this goal (Dacher, 2006).

Spiritually I am going to work on keeping a calm abiding mind.  While I do not see myself meditating or anything like that, I do see myself making time out of my day to give me some quiet personal time where I can just lay down and focus on nothing.  I will work hard on not thinking about all the things going on in my life and just focus on the quiet and empty my thoughts.

Practices for Personal Health

What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual. Provide at least two examples of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.

            To foster growth in my physical domain I am going to implement longer walks outside with my puppies.  With the great south Florida weather it is mostly sunny all year round so there is no reason why I should not do this.  I get home from work about 3:00 p.m. and if I take the dogs for a walk first thing when I get home I should be able to get in a good 30 -60 minutes of walk time for both them and myself.  I will be sure to walk briskly so that I can get my heart rate up so it is at least worthwhile.  Another strategy to help with my physical domain would be to eat healthier.  By replacing junk food for breakfast with instant oatmeal and fresh fruits I will be starting out my day on a better foot instead of running on pure sugar.  I am also going to try to work in a salad every night before dinner instead of munching on chips or cookies. 

            My strategy to foster growth in my psychological domain is to increase my energy. Accomplishment depends a lot on energy.  The higher the energy that I have, the greater the chance of accomplishment in my life.  By challenging myself to have higher aspirations, the greater the energy that I have generated in my personality and spiritually.  By accomplishing my aspirations, I will be better psychologically.  I need to pick a goal that I want to aspire to reach and create energy to hit that goal.  Being positive is another practice that I can do to help myself psychologically.  By thinking and feeling positive about myself, my goals, and life in general I will reflect that onto people I know and meet by giving them a smile and a happy attitude.  When people are greeted and given a smile they react the same way thus raising their psychological domain as well.

            In order to foster my spiritual growth I plan on always trying to look on the bright side of life.  I am always trying to find the positive in every situation no matter how poor things look. By making an effort to think positively I shut the door to negative thoughts that can sometimes dictate my life and how I feel.  Positivity helps raise the spirit.  Another practice that I will work on is by doing my best to be tolerant, patient, tactful, and considerate.  While people in life do push my buttons, I need to practice loving-kindness and learn to be tolerant and patient with people no matter what the situation.  When I run into a guest at work that is negative, I will treat them with kindness and consideration and be patient with them while they scream and insult my store and myself. 

Commitment

How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months? What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices for health and wellness?

            I will assess my progress or lack of progress in the next six months by evaluating the lines of development in the four quadrants of human development which include the psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly areas where we look for balance (Dacher, 2006).  Any of those areas that seem to be lacking or not reaching its full potential that it needs to be addressed quickly.  The psychospiritual line of development has me evaluate the stillness of my mind from a witnessing mind to a calm-abiding mind and then finally to unity consciousness (Dacher, 2006).  If I see a problem in this area like I am not able to focus and still my mind then I need to address it by learning how to heal with meditation and maybe some breathing exercises.  Next, the biological quadrant relates to fitness, nutrition, and self-regulation.  By knowing my body and its subtle signals I can maintain a fit and healthy body.  I know when I am starting to come down with a cold or if I have pushed my body too far so I course correct and make things better.  Interpersonal is a tough one when constantly bombarded with friends, family, and co-workers.  They pull me away from focusing on myself so this is an area I do need to work on by practicing loving-kindness.  Worldly is another quadrant that involves knowing all that is around you.  By being aware of my surroundings whether it is people, places, or things, I need to be aware of them to allow for peacefulness.  If I notice a lag in any of those quadrants in the next six months then it needs to be addressed and fixed quickly.

            A good way for me to assist in maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness is to make a list of my stressors and then throw the list away.  This is something I learned a long time ago was that if something was bothering me I would write it down on a piece of paper and then crumble it up and throw it away.  The act of throwing away that paper would make it feel as though I was throwing away that trouble or stressor and it would then be gone.  It seems silly but it does work for me. 

Reference:

Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Unit 8

I guess if I had to chose two of the practices that we have been trying over the last 8 weeks that I found most beneficial, I would choose the subtle mind and meditation.  The subtle mind one was my favorite because it did not have you imagining colored lights coming out of people's bodies or anything too far fetched.  The subtle mind was all about focusing on your breathing and listening to your thoughts.  To me this seemed something simple enough that you can do just about anywhere and for any length of time.  It can be done on your 15 minute break at work or before bedtime at home.  Just focusing on breathing always seems to calm the mind down for me.  You really need to focus on that in order to breath deeply and properly.  I have used this concept before at work when customers push my nerves a little bit too far with all their whining and complaining.  Instead of following my need to punch them in the face, I smile and say no.  Afterward I go outside for a minute to breath and focus on my thought. 

Unit 7 Meeting Aesclepius

Hi all!

So I am sorry to say that when the mp3 started of Meeting Aesclepius and I heard a man talking with what sounded like a New York accent, I almost turned it off!  (Sorry if I offended anyone!).  But once he was done talking and the smooth and calm voice of the woman came on I settled back down.  I did not have a hard time thinking of "The Wise One" and used my Uncle Ron.  I hold very high respect for him.  I did have a hard time imagining beams of lights coming from his head, throat, and heart though.  I found it a bit disturbing.  Making the best of it, I did what the lady asked me to and found myself very calm and feeling like I was next to and becoming one with my uncle.  Fully becoming my "Wise One" did feel odd but having the guidence and healing of my uncle's mind, spirit, and heart made me feel very relaxed and safe. 

The saying "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself", to me means that I cannot take you to a place that I haven't been before.  If I am not familiar with it then how can I guide you there correctly?  As a health professional I cannot help a client with something unless I have thurough and accurate knowledge of it.  Also, I do have an obiligation to my clients to be developing my healthy physchologically, physically, and spiritutally so that I can, in turn, help them with the same.  I am sure I can impliment psychological and spiritual growth in my perosonal life by trying to bring medication or tai-chi into my routine. 

Unit 6 Mind - Body- Spirit Wellness

I practiced the Universal Loving-Kindness exercise and was not able to really get the full effect of it I think.  I just cannot seem to wrap my mind around repeating those phrases and allowing my heart and mind to expand because of them.  I feel that I do have some sort of universal loving-kindness instead of just personal love.  I will keep practicing this one and see if I can get my mind to focus better.
Next I tried the Integral Assessment.  I started with a still and silent mind and focused my attention on the four quadrants of the integral map. One area that I need to address for myself would be my nutrition.  I live off of junk food and hardly eat anything that is even remotely healthy for me. I will eat cereal or TV dinners for my dinners and cookies and/or candy for snacks throughout the day.  Thankfully my mom gave me good genes so that I can do this and not gain any weight but I know my eating habits are not good for me once I get older.  I can start to eat healthier slowly by incorporating fruit into my diet for breakfast and then day by day I can add in more fruits, vegetables, and grains into my daily meals. 

The Subtle Mind

I enjoyed the subtle mind exercise better than the loving kindness one.  The subtle mind exercise was more focusing on breathing and what was in your mind.  Watching the mental movements of my mind and learning how my mind works with the thoughts that occur. I like this one better than the Loving Kindness exercise because it did not have me think about colored lights going through my body at different points.  To me that was a little....odd.  The subtle mind was a simple exercise of breathing and focusing on my mind and my thoughts.  I felt a bit more at ease doing that since it was basic and did not require me to turn into a rainbow. 
Spiritual wellness and mental and physical wellness are all linked together.  When they are all harmonious that body and mind is a happy place.  When a person's spiritual wellness is not at its best, then health and the mind can suffer through stress and illness.  To be happy and healthy spiritually, mentally, and physically a person needs to focus on all parts to create a whole. 

Loving Kindness

While listening to the Loving Kindness mp3 I found myself really enjoying the sounds of the waves and the flute.  They were very soothing.  I felt like I was in a spa or something.  I would like to think that I do practice loving kindness to some degree every day of my life.  I do unto others as I would like done to me.  I try to smile at everyone I see either at work or around town.  I make sure that I hold doors open for people as I walk in and out of stores and while I am at work I make sure I always treat my customers as I would want to be treated, like a close friend.  I have always believed in karma and how it always comes back to a person whether it is good or bad. When I first moved into my new place, I decided to get a dog.  Everyone was telling me to go to the puppy store but I wanted to try out the Humane Society.  I went there once a week for almost 5 months until one afternoon I walked in, said Hi to all the employees and volunteers, and saw a dog that seemed to be circled in heavenly light!  Her name was Pumpkin and was 10 months old. She was an abused stray that was missing her front teeth and half of her beautiful tail.  She was huddled in the corner of the cage shaking and avoiding eye contact.  I felt like I could sympathize with this little girl so I adopted her.  She felt like my soul-dog.  Since I have brought her home she is growing out of her shell and has turned into a beautiful and sweet dog.  Pacha seems grateful every day for the love I give her and in return, karma has given me my most trusted friend and companian. 
 I am not sure if I would recommend listening to that mp3 to others only because to me while it was soothing, I found it annoying. I do not have the patience to sit and listen to 18 minutes of someone talking.  I get distracted too easily.