Unit 10 Post.

Well, here we are.  We have come to the end of our journey--or is it only the beginning?  This course has taught me a lot about integral health and the mind-body connection.  The meditation exercises that we have practiced have greatly increase my overall personal health.

For example, my physical health at the beginning of the course I rated a score of 5.  As of this post, I would have to say that I'm now at a 6.  I still have a long way to go, but we all have to start somewhere, right?  I have actually been more motivated to get up and moving ( as much as my bad knees will let me, of course).  I have also been able to control my arthritis pain somewhat by doing these meditation-type exercises.  Now that the weather has warmed up, I plan on taking short walks whenever possible, along with keeping a food journal to help with my eating habits so that I can start losing weight.

My spiritual well-being is now at an 8.  I have started to say a short prayer right before bed each night, and another one when I wake up in the morning.  I still need to get back to church, though.  My next step is to start reading a chapter or two in the bible each day.

My psychological well-being is still at a 9.  There are still quite a few stressors that I need to learn to control, but the meditation exercises help me to focus on the more positive side of things in my life, and get a better grasp on the stressful situations, so that I can figure out the solutions to the problems that arrive.

Good luck to everyone!

Unit 9 Final Project

To me, it is extremely important for health and wellness professionals to develop both physically, spiritually, and psychologically.  When these professionals make the developmental changes to their own lives, they will have a better knowledge of what will work and what won't, and can have a better concept of suggestions to make to their patients/clients that will help them make successful changes in their lives.  I myself need to make changes physically, so that I can achieve the goals that I have set for myself.

Since this class began, I have reassessed myself.  Physically, I'm now at a 5--this is an area that I have a long way to go yet to get myself where I want to be.  Spiritually, I'm at an 8 now.  I've taken to saying a short prayer every night before bed, and when I get a few spare minutes, read a bible verse or two (the Psalms are my favorite--always have been.  They have a poetic quality that has a calming effect on me).  Psychologically, I'm still at a 9.  I still have stressors that I have to learn to deal with, but, as with anything, it will take time and patients.

My main goal is to start making time to eat a lot better than I have been, and to start an exercise and fitness routine (starting slowly with short walks, now that the weather is warmer).  This will help me to get to my goal of losing weight and building muscle tone.  I plan on keeping a food journal, so that it will help me keep track of the food that I'm eating, and that will help me know what I have to change.  I will also take before and after photos of myself, so that in 6 months, I can do another assessment of myself and where I stand physically.

As far as spiritual goals, my plan is to start out by reading one chapter of the bible per day (I had started to do this a long time ago, but never actually completed it).  My psychological goal is to do daily puzzles (such as crosswords) to keep my mind sharp--in fact, I have actually started using the Lumosity website.

In six months, I plan to sit down and take stock of the things that I’ve done to achieve the goals that I’ve stated above.  An example of this, as I have stated, is the before and after pictures of my physical self.  I also plan on taking measurement, to see how many inches I’ve lost.  For my spiritual self, I plan to keep up with the meditation exercises, and to keep a calendar of how many nights that I concentrate on my prayers.  Psychologically, I plan to keep a journal of my feelings.  This will help me to deflect many of my stressors.  I will also keep doing not only puzzles and word games, but reading as well.  This will help to keep my mind sharp and strong. 

Unit 8 Post

For me, the Subtle Mind and Meeting Asclepius meditative exercises were the most beneficial.. Both of them had a very calming, soothing effect on my crazy mind.  As I focused on my breathing, and the visualizations came to mind, it made my crazy world slow down, and I was able to gain a better perspective of my life in general.

To incorporate these "mental fitness" practices into my daily life, I plan to take 15-20 minutes out of my busy schedule to do these exercises.  As a working mom who goes to school full time, I tend to put everyone else first, and forget that I'm only human, and end up driving myself crazy!  And all the while, everyone in the house is telling me that I'm trying to take on too much, and that I worry about things too much.  These exercises will help me to calm down and prioritize the items on my schedule, to where I can get the important things done, and put the unimportant things to the end of the list, or discard them altogether.

Unit 7 Post

I think of all the exercises we've done for this course, the Meeting Aesclepius meditative exercise was by far my favorite.  When trying to visualize a wise mentor, for me, it was my mother (who passed away in September of 2011.  I never had closure--she passed while I was at the ER with my daughter, and that's where I got the phone call).  Doing this exercise gave me the greatest sense of inner piece that I've eve known.  I could feel her love for me just completely surround me.  And it was almost as if I could hear her voice inside my head, comforting me.  I feel that whenever I feel overwhelmed, I can turn to this exercise--and, by extension, to her.

The saying, "One cannot lead where one has not gone himself" means that an individual cannot teach someone something that we ourselves do not know.  For example, if I can't drive a car, it would be a waste of time for me to even begin to try to teach my daughter how to drive one.  This especially applies to healthcare professionals--we would not want to prescribe a certain diet or exercise routine if we haven't done it ourselves.

As a healthcare professional, we do have an obligation to our clients to develop ourselves both physically, psychologically, and spiritually.  We do with our clients as we would do with our children--we lead by example.

Unit 6 Post

Practicing the Loving Kindness exercise seems to have gotten a little easier--not much, but a little.  I still struggle a bit with the taking in of the loved one's suffering, but I think that the more I work on it, the easier it will eventually become.

With the assessment, I decided to focus on the biological aspect of my life as the area for improvement.  This is because I really don't eat as healthy as I should, or exercise as much as I should.  I am also on the go so much with work, school, and kids, that I just don't take time to "stop and smell the roses", so to speak.  My psychospiritual self is the area I chose for growth and development.

Some things that I can do to improve in both areas are to write down things that I am eating, to figure out where I'm going wrong with my eating habits, and write healthy menu options for meals for both myself and my family.  Now that it's spring, I can start taking daily walks, short ones to start, and work my way up until I can extend the distance.  In the psychospiritual area, I can start going back to church on the Sundays that I don't have to work.  I can also start praying before I go to bed each night.

Unit 5 Post

Well, after doing the Subtle Mind exercise this week, I found it very relaxing.  To me, it was easier to grasp than the Loving Kindness exercise, because you had a main focal point (your breathing).  However, every now and then, for me, anyway, it was a little hard to stay focused (got to love the 4 year old's timing--lol!).  It took me several tries to keep my mind in one place, and not wanting to go wandering.

As for the connection between spiritual, mental and physical wellness, it's simple.  These parts make up what I call "the human condition"--in other words, it makes us who we are.  When one of these parts is out of sync with the rest, all sorts of things can happen, both to the good and the bad end of the spectrum.

Unit 4 Post

For me, this week's exercise was a little more difficult.  When it came to visualizing my loved one and contemplating my feelings, I was fine.  When I got to the part about the loved one who was suffering, and taking in that suffering, I felt a little lost.  I'm not sure if I would recommend this to other people, but those who want to try it should--I just don't think it's for everyone.

The "mental workout" means to exercise the mind, just as we would exercise our bodies to keep them in tip top shape.  Research shows that the more we do mentally, the more results are shown.  Whether it's writing in our blogs and journals, writing poetry, doing puzzles, or even doing something like the exercises for this course--activity will keep our minds sharp.

Each day, I implement a "mental workout" into my daily routine.  When I'm not keeping up with my blog posts or my other course assignments, I lose myself in a good book, or I break out with my puzzle books.  I've even taken to writing poetry every now and then.

Unit 3 Post

After doing what I call my "self-awareness checkup", I would have to rate my physical well-being a 5, my spiritual well-being a 7, and my psychological well-being a 9.  My physical well-being isn't bad, but it could use a major overhaul--I'm overweight, and have arthritis in both of my knees.  I don't really exercise as much as I should, due mainly in part to juggling a crazy work schedule, kids, and school schedule.  My spiritual well-being is a lot better--growing up, I was basically raised in a church, and enjoyed going to Sunday School and worship services.  However, it's been a while since I've actually been to church, and I really should get back into a habit of going (however, I still have a close connection to God).  My psychological well-being has gotten a lot better, although it took a while to get there.  At one point, I would have rated myself a 4, due to issues that I was having with my husband at the time.  In this one area, I seem to have proven the old adage, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"--and at this point, I could probably bench-press an army tank! :)

The goals that I have set for myself in the other areas are to start watching what I eat, and incorporate more exercise into my life, which will help me to not only lose the weight that I need to lose, but it will also help ease the pain in my knees, and make me more able to physically do things with my kids.  I also plan on going back to church, as often as my work schedule will allow me to do.

I really enjoyed doing the The Crime of the Century exercise for this unit.  As I closed my eyes and focused my breathing while listening to this exercise, I could actually visualize the different colored rays of light emanating  from my body.  I really felt really relaxed--my feet actually felt centered onto the floor below my chair.

Unit 2--Journey On

Hello everyone--welcome to my blog (and my crazy life!.....lol).  I have a lot going on--4 kids, school, and work.  There are days that I wonder how I muddle through my stressful day, but I manage it.

I listened to the Journey On relaxation exercise that accompanied this Unit.  I found it very helpful.  Right before I started to work on this post, I had just finished a very aggravating day at work, and I found myself all tensed up because of the stress--I could feel it in my shoulders.  After doing this exercise, the stress decreased tremendously.  This is not the first time I've used this type of exercise, however.  I use a similar exercise when I find myself unable to sleep.  As I lay in bed, I close my eyes, breath deeply, and "shut down" my body piece by piece--first my toes, then my legs, then hips, etc., until I reach the top of my head.  By the time I get there, I'm relaxed, and I fall asleep.

First Post

This is the first time I've ever done a blog.  Something new and exciting--hmmmm, wonder how this will turn out!