Final Review

In Unit 3 I gave myself a score on a 1-10 scale a 4 physically, 7 spiritually and a 5 psychologically.  Throughout this course I have made goals for myself and have been working on these areas so that my rating has improved a little.  Now I would rate myself as a 5 physically because I have made steps to incorporate exercise into my daily life.  Spiritually I give myself an 8 because I did begin attending church again.  Psychologically I give myself a 7 because I have been working hard to improve my mental health.  I have enjoyed the meditation exercises I began to include in my daily routine and I am taking steps to start taking a yoga class in the near future. 

I have made changes in each of these areas and I have taken the necessary steps to improve my health and well-being. Therefore, I feel that I am well on my way to achieving my goals in attaining integral health and human flourishing if I stick to my plan and not let anything get in the way. I still have work to do though. However, I have learned and experienced the importance of maintaining balance in all areas and believe that will be the motivation I need to continue forward.

Learning that I can control my migraine headaches through meditation has been most rewarding to me.  Incorporating these steps and activities into my daily life until they become a habit has been difficult; however, I know that if I just keep being consistent it will all become second nature to me. 

In order to help others, I must first help myself.  I need to experience these changes and newly learned habits in order to provide assistance to others so that I know what I am talking about and can have an understanding what the people I am assisting are going through.  I have to maintain good health and well-being in all areas so that others will look at me and know that I know what I am talking about and they will want that for themselves.   

Final Project - Personal Application of the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

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?

It is important for health and wellness professionals to incorporate all the areas of integral health practices into their own lives.  As a healthcare professional one should have a working knowledge and live the lifestyle in order to be effective and to be considered legitimate.  In other words, this means practice what you preach, or “walk the walk” before you “talk the talk”. 

The two areas that I need to develop in order to achieve an optimal and balanced physical, psychological, and spiritual wellness is implementing a daily exercise routine and daily meditation practices.  I believe that if am successful in developing these areas that my overall health and wellness will improve and I will be closer to achieving the complete integral health and human flourishing I am seeking.

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

Spiritually I give myself a 7 on the scale of 1-10.  I am a very spiritual person.  I pray daily.  I listen to Christian music daily.  I read uplifting and inspirational books including the scriptures frequently.  I try to watch only good, wholesome television programs and movies. I gladly enjoy helping others and look for ways to serve as often as I can.  I give myself a 7, though, because I have not been attending church regularly for the two years I have lived where I do now. It’s mostly that I hate being the “new” person.  Once I go I will be fine.  It’s just getting myself to do it is the problem.  Attending church regularly is important to me and is how I view myself in being a spiritual person.

Physically I would rate myself as a 4 on a scale of 1-10.  I am overweight and out of shape.  While I don't have any known illnesses or diseases such as diabetes (yet), I know that I am taking a risk with myself in this area. The weight loss battle I have fought on and off since I was in my twenties.  I have gained and I have lost and gained it all back again. I know what I need to do.  I know how I need to do it and why.  I just need to get back on the wagon and do it.  I know how wonderful I feel when I am eating right, exercising regularly and losing weight.  

Psychologically I give myself a 5.  Six years ago I went through a very difficult and nasty divorce after 22 years of marriage to the father of my kids.  During those 22 years he was abusive to me not physically, but verbally and emotionally.  Coming out of that I have dealt with severe self-image issues.  It has been a very rocky road for me to climb out of that hole I felt I was in.  I am; however, glad to say that I am on the mend. I now have a wonderful husband who treats me like a queen and has helped me overcome some very serious issues.  Without him I probably would not be here today.  With a little more refining in this area I will be able to give myself a 9 or 10 in the near future.

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

Spiritually, I have set a goal to attend church this week.  Once I go and get the “newness” formalities out of the way it will be easy for me to continue attending church on a regular basis.  With that said, I foresee my rating in the spiritual area will move up into the 9 to 10 area over the next few weeks. 

Physically, I have already begun to work towards achieving goals in this area.  I recently joined a gym and I purchased a treadmill.  Now I am scheduling time into my week to walk and do resistance training.  I am starting out slow with a goal of walking 15 to 20 minutes 5 days a week with the goal of increasing that to 30 minutes per day within a month’s time.  I also made a goal to go to the gym twice a week for 30 minutes to start with and then progress into 3 to 4 days per week.   I have also joined weight watchers, where I have to keep track of my daily food intake, as well as daily exercise.  I also am required to weigh in each week. 

Psychologically, I have been working on goals in this area since my divorce 7 years ago.  I am progressing well, through the love and encouragement I receive from my husband.  My self-image and self-worth is so much better than it used to be.  I have a self mantra that I say to myself every day.  It has taken me a long time to believe in myself and know that I am worthy of love.  I am finally feeling that way.  With a little more time, I will be where I want to be.  I believe my self-image will also improve once I start to see results in the physical area with weight loss and better health.  Regular meditation exercises being included in my daily routine will also improve my psychological health. 

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.

Strategies I will implement in the spiritual domain include continued prayer, reading the scriptures, regularly listening to Christian music, watching wholesome television programs and movies as well as regular church attendance.  All of these actions will help me stay where I desire to be on the spiritual level.     

Psychologically I will use the subtle mind medication exercise to calm my mind and relax.  I will continue to use the mantra I repeat daily to help improve my self-image and self-worth.  I am also considering giving yoga a try improvement in this domain as well as in the physical domain. 

Physically I will use the treadmill for my walking program, and resistance training at the gym with weights.  The key here is consistency and motivation.  Having my husband and sister who check up on my results will keep me motivated and consistent because I won’t want to let them down.  Being accountable to Weight Watcher’s is another motivator.  I am required to weigh in each week and I want to show significant weight loss each week. 

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?

To keep track of my progress I will be keeping a simple journaling tool on my phone where I can jot down activities I did that day or what got in the way of eating healthy on another day etc.  I will also continue to use my blog I created for this class as a way to report my results each week.  Additionally, I am also a member of weight watchers online where I will log in my daily food intake, daily exercise activities and weekly weigh-ins. 

All of these tools will provide a way for me to go back into the past to see where I started and how I have progressed along the way.  I believe that evaluating oneself is an important part of the growth process.  

The most beneficial meditation exercises

The two most beneficial exercises throughout this course for me have been the Subtle Mind exercise and the very first relaxation exercise we had.  That first exercise surprised me by how quickly I was able to relax and enjoy the stillness for those few minutes.  Afterwards, I felt I had a renewed energy that made the day easier to get through.  The subtle mind exercise was even better.  I focused on my breathing and felt my body relax to a whole other dimension of relaxation I didn't know I could get to. I was also amazed because it relieved a migraine I had when I began the exercise.  Plus, I felt amazing afterward.

I am trying to incorporate one or both of these into my daily life.  It still isn't a habit yet so its a hit or miss some days; however, I am really trying to make this an everyday routine.  I want to practice using the subtle mind exercise whenever I have a headache because I believe it can be a helpful cure to headaches without the use of medication.  I am beginning to see and feel the benefits of meditation in creating complete wellness in mind, body and spirit.

Meeting Aesclepius

Meeting Aescelpius was an interesting meditative exercise for me.  I was able to capture the image of my grandmother who is my hero and the person I look up to the most.  She is the image of wisdom, strength, and endurance. However, I kept losing focus of her as other thoughts would enter my mind and I had to keep bringing her back into focus over and over.  The one thing that I did find interesting when I did have her in focus, was all the images of her that ran through my mind like a movie from when I was a little girl to the present.  In that sense it was pretty neat. The one thing that I could not do, however, was bring her spirit and light into myself as was suggested in this exercise; at least I don't think I did.

I enjoyed the background music and listening to the ocean.  I was definitely able to find my sense of calm and relaxation.  In a way I felt I was floating.  Towards the end I felt like I was floating out into the sea and for a couple minutes think I fell asleep.  When it was complete, I had a hard time coming out of that place I was in.  I felt weak, disoriented, and I felt like I needed to take a nap!  In fact, as I write this I still fell like my head is in the clouds.  Maybe because I was feeling so relaxed?

Overall, it appears that I have a hard time with some of the imagery that is included with some of the meditation exercises; but I do feel calm and relaxed when it is complete.  In that respect, using the meditation exercises is beneficial for me when I need to relax or to clear my mind, and this will be the reason why I will use these practices from now on.  Additionally, I believe that by my taking the few minutes everyday to do this, can really help my physical and my mental well-being. I haven't tested it yet but I feel like my blood pressure is lower after these meditations.  Which I hope is true because I just learned that my blood pressure is pretty high right now and I need to start watching it. I will be monitoring my blood pressure more frequently from now on before and after meditation to see if there are any significant changes.

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone him or herself"- Ken Wilbur

I believe this means that without myself first experiencing something, how can I teach or help someone else? In other words, I need to walk the walk in order to talk the talk!  This can be applied with anything but for the purpose of a health and wellness professional, a person who has not suffered from a disability will not have a complete or full understanding how the person who is suffering from that disability may feel.   The other side of that would be me, an overweight person, being a nutritionist or a personal trainer.  However, after a lifestyle change where I have lost all my weight, have become nutritionally healthy, and include exercise and gym time into my daily life; I might be the best person for a job like that because I have first been where the people I would be helping don't want to go and because I can truly understand what they are going through to make that lifestyle change themselves.

With all this being said, I would have to say that I do have an obligation to my clients to become whole and well psychologically, physically and spiritually.  How can a broken person help someone else?  I don't think that it is really possible.  That is why it is important for me to continue on the path of integral health and human flourishing.  I have a a lot of work ahead of me to get to where I feel I need to be, but have faith in myself that each step, even baby steps, will get me there as long as I am progressing and not receding.  I have a vision of my future self.  This class has given me knowledge to the changes I need to make as well as the activities I need to incorporate into my life in order for myself to become the me I envision.

Loving Kindness Exercise & Integral Assessment

I had a really hard time focusing and getting through the loving-kindness exercise, which is pretty much the same way I felt about the loving-kindness guided meditation.  First of all I was supposed to keep my eyes closed but I couldn't remember what I was supposed to say so I had to keep looking at the book. Memorizing the lines didn't help because I got all confused and still had to look at the book.  I like the words we are supposed to repeat.  I even believe in those words.  I want to have hope that I can expand my mind and my heart to feel what I am supposed to be experiencing here, but I have not.  Maybe I just need more practice at it?

I did, however, enjoy the integral assessment.  I discovered a couple different areas that I need to work on that will help give me the balance that I am needing in my life.  The area that needs the most growth and development is in the biological level.  More specifically with fitness and nutrition. This is an area that bothers me and affects me every day.  I am overweight and out of shape. It affects how I feel about myself and am self conscious to how others view me as well.  I am not at peace or happy with myself because of this, and have found it really difficult to get motivated until recently.  I recently purchased a treadmill for my home and a gym membership for weight and resistance training, and just this week I joined weight watchers. Now I just need to make sure I stay on course and follow the plan so I can reach my goals.

Another area for development is interpersonal. Specifically with relationships.  I have had a falling out with some members of family where words were said between us that hurt me and them too.  Now stubbornness and  pride have gotten in the way of apologizing and forgiving.  It's not just me but on both sides.  However, I know that in order to feel balance in the interpersonal level I need to be the one to break the ice so that I can begin to heal and find balance in this area as well.  I am a work in progress!

The Connection

Loving Kindness vs. Subtle Mind

The loving kindness exercise "opens our hearts to others and gradually diminishes self-centeredness, priming our mind for further development....it diminishes the focus on ourselves and our own needs and enhances concern and compassion for the welfare of others" (Dacher, 2006 p. 65).  

Whereas the subtle mind exercise requires the "cultivation of wisdom by taming and training our mind, accessing deeper levels, and exploring the essential nature of mind and experience.... while focusing on our breathing we diminish the ceaseless mental movements of thoughts, feelings, and images in order to still the mind and develop a witnessing consciousness that progresses forward to a mind of calm-abiding" (Dacher, 2006, p. 65). 

I already shared with you in a previous post about my experience with the loving kindness exercise, so I will only tell you about my experience with the subtle mind exercise in this post.  

I really enjoyed the subtle mind exercise.  I was able to focus on the rise and fall of my chest while breathing and I noticed how certain thoughts entered my mind and began to make me wander off, but then I was able to bring myself back to focusing on my breathing again and being able to clear my mind.  I had to refocus many times as I would find myself wandering off; however, I felt in control of my thoughts for the most part. In addition to that I was very relaxed but not so much that fell asleep unlike previous weeks.  I found it interesting how some thoughts would pop into my mind and I would wonder why I would be thinking about that right then.  By the end of the audio I believe I did reach a level of stillness in my mind.  One last thing I found important for myself to note here is that when I began this exercise I had been fighting a migraine most of the day.  After this exercise the headache was gone.  With that being said, I will be practicing this exercise frequently especially when I have headaches just to test this out again.  

Mind, Body & Spirit

The connection of spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness is an important one in order for us to obtain integral health and human flourishing.  The mind, body and spirit are interconnected and they have to become one in order to reach a complete wholeness.  This is something I am working on in my life; to achieve balance in each of these areas.  For instance, I can exercise my body to keep myself healthy and fit; but I also need to be exercising and training my mind.  I can do that through meditation and mantra's I repeat daily, or yoga. Additionally, I can make sure I am fulfilling my spiritual needs through prayer and in attending church.  When I have achieved balance in each of these areas I will be have created wellness and healing in my life.  

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

The Practice of Loving Kindness

The first day of my practice with the loving-kindness exercise I fell asleep about 2 or 3 minutes into the audio. I didn't wake up for at least a half hour and then I just couldn't bring myself to complete the exercise. I think I must have been extremely exhausted! The second day I fared a little better. I got through the exercise but found my mind drifting off several times. It was hard for me to stay focused on the exercise. The next few days of practice I really tried hard to stay focused and do exactly what I was being told. However, it was not easy for me to envision the people and areas I was supposed to be focusing on and sending out love and peace etc. to them. I did get very relaxed though and I was able to concentrate on my breathing. I just don't feel I was very successful at this exercise practice this week. I have had a lot of personal and family "stuff" going on lately which has kept my mind on other things. Maybe that is the problem? With that being said I think I need more practice in this area, a better "mental workout".

A "mental workout" to me means training your mind to focus and concentrate, as in meditation. Dacher tells us that “Mental Workout” means utilizing contemplative practices to help tame the mind’s constant mental activities and train it along with opening one’s heart, expanding consciousness, and progressing towards psychospirtual flourishing (Dacher, 2006). Research has indicated that the proven benefits of a mental workout results in awareness and experiences of the mind and its many levels and capacities in healing and the development of the qualities of human flourishing which are health, happiness, and wholeness (Dacher, 2006).

I feel that in order for me to implement mental workouts to foster my psychological health, I will need to spend more time practicing using more effort and more discipline. I feel that I need to dedicate at least thirty minutes per day to incorporating the loving-kindness contemplative practice into my daily routine. In doing so I believe that I will feel more calm and peaceful, my mind will be more disciplined, and it will help me in creating wellness for my whole self.

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