Greetings everyone!
I think that I have made great improvements since week 3. I don't know if my scores have gone up or down, but I do know that I am making an effort to better these areas.

My physical wellbeing is still a 7. I've not stopped smoking and I am still not working out as much as I would like. Until I quit and I am doing my regular exercise routine, I will not be able to score myself any different. My spiritual wellness is an 8.5. I am meditating everyday at least once, usually more. I feel as though I have made a connection within myself that I did not have before. I feel more focused on my spiritual health now and I know that my connection with God has changed for the better. I realize how blessed I am everyday. I will continue to study and grow in this area. My psychological wellbeing is an 8. I know that I am at a better place now than 7 weeks ago. I am definitely less stressed. I am consciously changing my thoughts to put me in a better place all of the time. I am not feeling the anger that I was feeling with the people that I work with. I sleep better and can concentrate a lot better than before. I do not have too many wandering thoughts anymore. I am aware of my thoughts now and try to keep them from taking over. I enjoy being more focused. It gives me an energy that seems more pure than the energy I felt when I let my rambling thoughts guide me.

I feel that I have a lot of work to do on myself before I can teach someone else. Although, I have no problem showing them what I am learning and letting them grow with me. This course has been a great eye opening experience. I have learned so much more than I thought I would. I am excited to see what the future has for me and how I will grow in all of these areas.

Good luck to you in your future endeavor's!

Unit 9 Project

I.                   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?

I believe it is very important for a health professional to be on the path of health and wellness. This makes it easier to understand what issues someone has, and what someone may need such as, mentoring and help to get to a healthy place in their flourishing. It will never be the same for any two people, but the common goal is the same. I feel that I will always need growth in all areas. I do not believe that there is an end to the possibilities of human flourishing. I will always be searching for more possibilities for myself. I have a thirst for this knowledge and I am working on creating a healthy body, mind and spirit path for myself.

II.                Assessment:

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

I see my physical health on a score of 1-10 (1 being very low, 10 very high), as a 6-7. I really have to get back to taking better care of myself. I am blessed to have been a healthy person most of my life. I need to get back physically, where I was a year ago.

My psychological health is a 7-8. I am a very high strung person. I am quick to snap when I feel pressure or negativity. I feel that I have made quite a bit of progress with the exercises that were provided in this course. I am less stressed and feel like I can handle stressful situations a lot better than before. I am glad to have the reminder in my mind to focus on my breath, and everything in love. I have been a whole different person these past few weeks.

Spiritually I feel I am an 8. I have a very firm foundation in my faith. This path that the universe has given me is crazy at times, but I am guided. The exercises that I do regularly, while including the ones in this course, have given me a great way to stay focused on my spiritual health. I believe it is the extra push of this class that made me realize that there is much more for me to focus on besides this area, but there is always room for growth here as well.

III.             Goal development:

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

Physically, I want to lose the 12 pounds that I have gained over the past 9 months. I had a succession of family deaths, I moved, and my work schedule has been anything but stable. I went from working out 1-2 hours a day to nothing. With the hectic life comes the life style associated with it. Not eating properly, not sleeping enough and just not taking care of myself. The added stress causes me to smoke more. We have hired 2 new cooks, I am in a stable home now and the stress is starting to subside. My goal is to start making time each day for at least 30 minutes of exercise each day, working my way back up to my 1-2 hours.

Psychologically, I need to breathe and not stress out so much when things happen outside of my control. I feel like I need to have control over everything that happens in my life. I have set a goal of trying to stop trying to control everything that happens on the outside, and focus on what I can control. That is I, my thoughts, my words and most of all, my actions. I want this to become a habit for me.

Spiritually, I want to learn more about myself and what I am actually capable of. I know that I have done some great things in my life, but I wonder if I could have done a better job if I was in a state of love and gratitude. I am making new positive friends that practice the same faith as me, and I am practicing the loving kindness exercise in hope of growing in this area.

IV.              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.

Biological wellness focus is on smoking cessation and getting back on a regular exercise schedule. I have made an appointment with my doctor to discuss the options to quit smoking and I am also looking into some herbal supplements that may help curb the craving and withdrawal. I have been writing my entire day  in my journal, and trying to figure out where I can fit in some workout time. I will have to manage my time wisely so I can focus on doing everything well, yet getting the time I need for me. I have also acquired some 10 minute fitness videos that will help me get back in the habit of working out daily again. Yoga is one of the exercises that I would love to have time for on a regular basis. Psychological wellness will be my focus on relaxation and practicing a calm mind. I am regularly practicing this while at work and at home. I am doing the practices that we were given in this class and using these breathing and visualization techniques throughout the day as well. These practices are helping to keep me calm and able to not react to others when they are being negative. Spiritually, I intend on focusing on my faith and meditating every day. I feel that it keeps me closer to the energy that I prefer to draw from. I have been going outside when I get home from work and talking to my plants, hugging my kitten and meditating every day.

V.                 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 have a calendar where I write which meditations I do for that day. I am doing 2 a day right now. (My work schedule made it hard for 3). I set a timer so that I do not go over the time I have selected for the various practices. I have been keeping a journal over the past couple of months. I plan on keeping that journal, but I have started a new one. I want to be able to keep track of my goals and where my strengths and weakness are. I plan on writing in the journal daily to keep track of my little victories and hiccups and then reassessing myself every 2 months. I will be reading the journal every couple of weeks so that I can see if there are patterns that I need to correct or subtle habits that I may not be aware of. I have also cut my contact with a few people that were in my life. They were not only negative to me but to everyone, including themselves. I have noticed that not having them in my life constantly has given me more opportunity to have a better relationship with myself. I think that is one of the best gifts that I could give to myself, and I will be keeping that strategy for maintaining a positive atmosphere forever.

 

Dacher, M.D., E. (2006). Integral Health The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Unit 8 Blog

I have a hard time trying to determine which two of the exercises that I like best, and which ones I will continue to use. I feel that they are all beneficial and enjoy doing them all.
I know that the exercise that we practiced this week and the loving kindness exercises were the ones that made me feel like I could stay there in that state all day. I truly feel great after I do them, but the reason I enjoy them so much is because of the love that I can feel radiating from myself all day after practice. It feels so awesome! I also feel less stressed and less fearful. I find myself continuously saying, 'do and say it with love and intention'. This reminder every so often during my day, has started to become a habit. One that I can say that I am happy about.

Unit 7 Meeting Aesclepius

This is so late... I have been ill these past few days. With that said, the meeting Aesclepius exercise did help me to relax but, I have been running a fever and on medication I tend to relax too much. I found my mind wandering. This week it was very hard for me to do any of the exercises. I did all of them. The one thing I did like about this weeks exercise was that I was able to take someone I admire and focus on them and that connection that I had with them. Shortly after that connection, and when I felt like things were going well, I lost my focus. Every time! I will continue to do this exercise because I would like to connect with a few different people in my personal life on this level.

I believe that you can only teach someone something if you have learned it yourself. You can not teach someone how to get over grief or sadness if you have not done so yourself. I also believe that you can not show someone a better way of doing something if you have not learned that path yourself. I also find that if you walk a path, people will follow. Good or bad. My kids are watching me struggle financially, while working full time and going to school. I keep telling them that it will all be worth it in the end. They are more supportive than ever. They see how happy I am attending class, and I talk about my classes with them. They get excited and are mimicking some of the changes I am making. Eating better. Going to bed earlier. Not watching so much TV. Taking courses at the junior college. I think that is the coolest part for me. I do believe it is important to be an example for others.

I wanted to share something that I've noticed this past few days. As you have read in my past blogs, my work life has been far from ideal. When we started the loving kindness exercises, I focused on all sorts of people. Then after a week or two, I started focusing on those people in parts of my life that needed loving kindness. I have focused on my job and all of the people I work with several times. My boss has been kinder. The servers at work are starting to show a bit more kindness to everyone, although sometimes it feels like they are forcing it. Everyone seems to be less stressed and happier there. I'm not saying that I am 'making' this happen but, I think that all that I am doing out of kindness and sending them love is working. It is a cool feeling. Makes me want to do it more! Blessings!

Unit 6 Universal Loving Kindness and Assessment

I really love this weeks exercise. It reminded me of a prayer I say all of the time. Its funny, I say this prayer a lot. Do I really feel the meaning? I don't think I really did until this exercise. I felt my heart soaring for the rest of the day. I really think that putting that energy of love and concern for all is energizing and inspiring. I found myself meditating after this exercise on how awesome this world can be, and how great it could be! I will be practicing this one all day from now on. Repeating it during the day while I am working.
The assessment was hard for me. I feel like I am not living up to where I thought I was. Not to mention where I want to be. I am hard on myself sometimes. I am going to wait a few days until my next days off and I am relaxed, without work on my mind and do it again. It seems as though every area of my life is effected by my job. I don't think it is suppose to be that way (Maybe I need a vacation). I am going to keep a separate journal for a few weeks and do a similar assessment every week to see if my job is really that much of me, or if I may be a bit burned out right now. It should be interesting. I want to help people, I don't want it to become a negative feeling for me. I am trying to find somewhere new. I know when the right place is ready for me, I will be there. Where I am now is teaching me to be calm in the middle of the storm.

Trying to calm a part of my life

  This weeks exercise of the subtle mind practice was a little hard at first, in contrast to the loving kindness exercise. The loving kindness exercise used visualization and thoughts to project love and healing to others. This I can do easily, and I try and do it often. The subtle mind practice... Trying to get feelings, thoughts and pictures in my mind to stop, this is a bit more difficult. My mind is always going 100 miles per hour. I did however, get my mind to calm down quite a bit. It was very nice to be still. I now find myself doing this throughout the day. I focus on my breath and let things just blow by. I find that when I do not cling to things, they tend not to stay long or they lose impact. Especially with the negative garbage that I do not like. I noticed after doing this practice for just the past few days, I feel calmer.
  I think that this exercise is making me very aware of just how awesome it can be to have a flow of health between mind, body and spirit. I feel more calm and way less stress. I notice I am observing more and reacting less. I have been really putting a lot of effort into this class and over the past 5 weeks, I feel like I am maturing in a way that I did not know about. It feels nice. At the same time, I asked myself yesterday "What the heck is wrong with me!!". As I am opening up parts of my mind and trying to become a better and healthier me, I am finding "garbage" all over the place. Things that we do, then sweep under the rug so we don't think about them again. I have a lot of healing to do. In the meantime, I will continue my journey with all of you and hope that I can continue to grow. I am not afraid of cleaning up this mess. I am excited to do it now.
Blessed be!

Loving kindness

I found this exercise to be a difficult one at first. Once I got used to where the prompts were and could almost do it without having to listen to the audio, it was way easier. I chose different people every time, as I wanted to share the love I was feeling with everyone! Yes, I am a hippie...
I would recommend this exercise to anyone that wants to spread loving kindness and to everyone that needs to feel some of that loving kindness. Turning that onto ourselves and really feeling it, is awesome. Not very many people truly love themselves. That is a shame. You HAVE to live with you everyday. Why not love you!
Mental workouts are important for growing in our psychospiritual lives. Praying and Contemplative practices are great ways to still and train the mind. This practice can help to achieve the ultimate in human flourishing by helping to train our mind to stay away from negativity, keep the body free from stress and the spirit in touch with God. Thus, we are treating ourselves kinder and this will manifest outward. Isn't that a great thought?