It's not the end it's the beginning! ( Unit 10)

In unit 3 I rated my physical well being a 7, spiritual an 8 and psychological an 8 also. In my final I listed them the same except I rated my spirituality a 9 because I feel like through the meditation and visualization it was very spiritual to me. I use that a lot now even on my runs. I recorded the universal loving kindness on my phone and when I am on a path in the woods I just turn that on and close my eyes and repeat that over and over. To me it is almost like praying. For the physical and psychological I know they will improve over time when I am better physically since I still have to improve eating habits and being more thorough with my workouts. After that they will all come together and I will have great improvement.

Although my numbers haven't gone up in the other areas I know that I am making progress but I don't want to raise my number just yet because I still think I need more time to be continuous with what I am doing. So I don't want to jump the gun and raise it I want to be consistent a little longer outside of the class. Right now I was really disciplined because I was doing the activities for class.

I did start the activities I planned in my final on Sunday. Along with that I added something else to encourage me a little more. Just something visual and that is putting little start stickers on my calendar on all the days I have worked out. When I see them I think I will be more inclined to keep going so I can fill the calendar up.

I really enjoyed this course because it has taught me so many other ways to relax, be more stress free and feel healthier all around. The most difficult thing in the course was finding what exercise worked for me and making the time and place that was quiet enough so I could concentrate because with two boys and a needy husband its hard to have any quiet time! I hope to really stay committed to this because my last semester starts in March and then I graduate and I would like to get a job where I can communicate with others and help them feel as good as possible. I love talking to people and helping them so if I can give them one word of advice and this would be it then my goal is accomplished because I think it is something that everyone should give a try.

I hope you all will consider following me on my other blog that I will be posting to about my journey. It was great working with everyone and I look forward to reading any other blogs you have and will continue to follow the blogs on here also. Here is my other blog!    http://smileyshealth.wordpress.com/

Personal Reflection

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 important for health and wellness professionals to develop in these areas in order to gain trust and understanding in their patients. What better way to help people then to actually have gone through it yourself. The knowledge will be helpful because they will have a better understanding of what a patient is going through and can help them on a more personal level. Practice what you preach would be my motto when I am a health coach because I will know what the patient is trying to achieve and I can help them reach these goals.

In the mind and spirit asset I think I am pretty secure but physically I am not where I want to be. Working out needs to be a number one priority to me and need to develop longer workout sessions. I already exercise but some days I can be lazy and then my mind starts to remind me that. When I do my workouts I always feel energized and have a great rest of day eating and getting things accomplished. So I know that my physical self needs work because I do not feel secure with the way I look and feel sometimes so to be more consistent with workouts and adding more to them such as weights and stretching can really help me in the long run.  

Assessment:

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

I have assessed my health in each of the areas, mind, body, spirit, by a number system of 1-10. 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. When we started this class one of the first blogs we did we had to asses these areas. Physically I would say I am around a 6-7. I need to make better choices when eating and extend beyond cardio when doing my exercises. Perhaps adding in more weight training will help me feel more accomplished and tone up faster. After I accomplish this I think psychologically I will be in a better place because I would say I am an 8 but once I get my physical part better I will be better mentally because I always feel guilty after not exercising or eating something bad. Spiritually I am at least a 9. I pray, meditate and some yoga sometimes. But I know I could pray more often and read the bible more for more spirituality. So I am very close to having all 10’s in my life and feeling good each and every day.

Goal Development:

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

Physical- One goal I have is to lose about 10 pounds in two months because I have a cruise I am going on and would love to be in better shape. So if I lost about a pound a week I would be in better shape when the trip comes. I will have to run at least 5 days a week, eat healthier and also do some weight training.

Psychologically- My goal in this area is to continue to meditate in order to stay calm in stressful times and to stay focused on my school work. I am doing great in school and almost finished so I need to look at what I have accomplished so far and how far I have come. In order to maintain this I think I will meditate at least 4 days a week. Sometimes when I am running I also do my own type of meditation with applications I have on my phone to help me focus and get through a workout but it also has me connect to things around me and really zone out and appreciate things.

Spiritually- My goal in this area is to feel more connected and deeper with God. This is how I am spiritually now but I feel as though I lack somewhere. To attain this I need to make time to read the bible daily such as just reading a passage or two a day. Praying in the morning and night is something I need to remember to do.

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.

Physically- 1- running 5 days a week to stay in shape. This will be my cardio workout. I will use an application on my phone to keep track of my workouts and how many calories I am burning which in turn will hopefully give me more incentive to keep going when I see what I am accomplishing.

            2- Weight training- I need to do this at least 3 days a week because although I am doing cardio I need to tone up and it could make me feel better by being stronger. I will mark this down in my phone on an application on how many reps and I will take measurements on myself so I can see how things change on my body.

Spiritually-1- Daily praying- What I need to do is daily praying in the morning to get the day started good. I figured I could set my alarm earlier than normal and add a note to it saying something like “Time to talk to our Savior” or something along the lines of that so I do not forget. Taking the time out daily to do that will surely bring me closer to myself and to God and I will spiritually be where I want.

            2-Universal Loving Kindness meditation- I really loved this because I was sending out loving feelings to people that needed it and I was saying these 4 sentences over and over which to me is almost like a prayer but different. I liked this because I did not have to focus on one person. I can think of people freely so I will be sure to do this exercise every day or every other. 

Psychologically- 1- I really loved writing a blog and keeping things written down about my experiences so I think I will continue to do so. This is an outlet for me to write and people respond and it’s something I enjoy. Maybe I can even help someone if they read it and enjoy it themselves.

            2- Yoga- I love yoga because of the stretching techniques’, great for you, and great for our mind. During this time I want to just clear my mind and focus on stretching and being healthy. I think this will help me really think about things I want to change in my life in all other areas since I will be fully concentrating on that.

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?

First and foremost I think I need to grab a journal or even start another blog. Next I need to write down the goals I want to accomplish. I need to rate again all my areas I want to work on. Writing daily any problems or accomplishments I have will give me more incentive and just keep me going. I will ask my husband to help cheer me on for support and perhaps he can even join me because sometimes it is easier when someone is doing the same thing with you. As I accomplish goals such as doing my weekly runs 5 days a week, losing 2 pounds or just eating healthy I can just cross them off and I will be happy to see how many I have done. If there is anyone that is a negative influence to me I will spend less time around them if they cannot understand. I will continue to focus and learn in school and use that to obtain daily progress in my goals.

Maintaining Wellness

Two exercises that I seemed to find a lot of results from would be the Universal Loving Kindness and the Visualization on pg. 145-146. The Universal one was nice because it was 4 sentences that to me felt like a prayer and I didn't have to focus on just one person. The visualization exercise on pg 145 was easy to think of something for health, happiness and wholeness. My children, excelling in school and my accomplishments in my 5k's are what gives me the incentive to keep moving because I know I can do anything if I put my mind to it.

These exercises will be easy for me to do because I have recorded a lot on my phone into little sections so for the Universal Loving kindness I can hear the words and repeat them when I am out on a run which usually gives me the most thinking time to myself and I really take in my surroundings and enjoy nature. It is where I feel the most at peace and connectedness. Also I do have the time to implement these into my daily activities because I have the time and I would always make the time. So I will go for a run or meditate before my kids get up in the morning so I have complete quiet and no interruptions because I see how doing this daily makes me feel. I feel more relaxed and at peace mostly. But when I am out on a run and I am doing it I feel that I could run forever!

Meeting Aesclepius

Unit 7

Hello All
I really enjoyed the Meeting Aesclepius mp3. The only part I didn't really like was the beams of light coming out the 3 different parts of their body. I instantly visualized my grandmother who I respected and loved dearly because I did live with her for some time. She passed away at the beginning of this year. She is exactly the type of woman I hope to become which I do think I am pretty close. She cooked from scratch, cleaned, loved everyone and took care of her home because that is where everyone loved to be together. She just loved taking care of everyone and that is what I love to do.

I have been meditating and taking a lot of time out to have my own quiet time. I even downloaded an app on my phone that I can be anywhere, even in the middle of the woods during one of my runs, and I can sit and meditate and listen to the lady tell me what to do. I do not need any of her background noises since I have nature around me so I can shut that option off. It has made me feel more relaxed and happy. I feel I am in better shape mentally to remain more calm during certain situations like my kids arguing for instance. The only way I can continue to get these results is to make sure I definitely do the meditation or guided imagery. Everyone needs a time to relax and have down time. I will continue to do daily exercising of running or walking. Eating better is also important to me because that is what I am fueling my body with so it needs to be healthy items because junk food will get me no where.

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself"

To me this sentence means to practice what you preach. You can't tell another person what they need or how to do it if you haven't done it yourself. This is useful to a health and wellness professional because that person needs to have been through things and continues to live a healthy life in order to tell someone else how it must be done. They have to know what works good and best. I believe that if someone is going to be a professional in this area they have to be well physically, mentally and psychologically. You can't understand fully if you are not truly connected. Now that I know how much meditation can help but you have to find what kind of exercise works for you I will continue to work on these areas. Maybe since I am just starting off I will continue to meditate everyday but eventually cut it down to maybe 3 days a week. I feel like I am coming together just through this class and it has been only 7 weeks. So in this short time if I can feel a difference I think I would be able to tell someone how well it can really work. 

 

Unit 6 Integral Assessment

Hello All

The Universal Loving Kindness exercise I did like. To me it was almost like saying a prayer. As I was saying those lines over and over I thought of people in my mind that could use the freedom from suffering or health , happiness and wholeness. It was especially quiet in my house today since the kids are back to school so maybe that is why I was successful in this exercise. Once you memorize these words it is very easy to sit there for 10 minutes repeating them.

May all individuals gain freedom from suffering.
May all individuals find sustained health, happiness and wholeness.
May I assist all individuals in gaining freedom from suffering.
May I assist all individuals in finding health, happiness and wholeness.

These are very powerful words to me and basically sums up everything people need in life.

For the integral assessment I basically thought of all the things I was happy with in my life and then what I was unhappy with. This is how I determined where I wanted help at. I realized that mostly what was coming up was I needed more work in the biological flourishing. My nutrition level is where I need more discipline. I am good at working out and being disciplined with that but when it comes to eating it goes out the window and then I feel guilty. I feel that my other areas do not need as much work as this one. I think that if I would eat better and have more healthy options available then I would not feel so bad. All around I would feel better with myself if I ate good on top of my good exercising routine. So then I would be feeling more positive.

In order to improve this area I could start a food journal to write down everything I'm eating. This way I can look and see how I am doing through the day. On my phone there are also lots of apps that are available for scanning a product to input into a journal or I can add my own. Only problem with this is that when you make homemade items it is harder to figure out. Writing down what I eat and maybe how much will be beneficial even if I do not know the calories because sometimes it is more about portion control and what you ate.

Subtle Mind

I found this exercise much more productive then the loving kindness. Feeling like I had to work to hard on the Loving kindness it didn't feel natural to me but this subtle mind one was great because I heard the waves and I focused on my breathing and felt way more productive like I didn't have to over think it or have to many things going on in my head or to many tasks to do.  I just felt like some parts of the subtle mind were to long with the ocean wave sound and I started to get bored just sitting there. Maybe if they cut some of that down and moved on it wouldn't have been so bad but it just felt long to me and focusing on my breathe felt forever. But I really liked this one more then the loving kindness.

The connection of spiritual wellness to physical and mental wellness is really important if we want to be totally connected and have integral health. Physically we have to take care of our body to feel good, which in turn mentally makes us energetic and aware and we have to have that spiritual connection of where we stand in life. Spiritual wellness is what kinds of values and beliefs that give us purpose in life. Once we know that we can focus on the physical aspect so we keep our bodies fit in whichever form we chose and then with those combined with help with our mental wellness making us feel healthy and alive.

I do this in my own life by making sure I take that time each day for my own spiritual wellness. Sometimes it is while I am doing my physical wellness like while I am out on a run. I focus on my surroundings and I actually pray or have my own meditation in my head on how I can improve what I am doing. I think about my speed and how far I want to run and what I will look like after I run for a few weeks. This helps me have a goal in site and all this helps me mentally focus and pursue what I want.

These three things combined have helped me in many ways but I am hoping to go to a deeper level and make it even more intense. Really getting into some deep meditation which this subtle mind one did make me focus a lot and I think it was because of the waves in the background just made me zone out. I could have a thought and I just recognized it and moved on. It was really cool. The things we could do if we did this everyday could be amazing.

Love and Kindness

My experience during this exercise wasn't what I expected. As I was thinking about the person I love which was my husband because he is my first true love I could picture his face but when it said to spread my love out I just wasn't feeling it. I tried to experience the feelings and I just felt myself getting dizzy in my own mind. I don't know if I was trying to hard or what but it didn't seem to come to me like it should. I didn't find this beneficial because I should not have to try this hard to have something work. Even when the exercise was focused to myself. I would still recommend this to others because just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean it won't for someone else.

The concept of mental workout to me is exactly how it sounds..exercising the mind to be healthy. According to Dacher(pg. 63), mental training can transform the mind by reducing disturbing emotions that can cause anger, hate, fear , worry, confusion and doubt. At that time it will help positive emotions such as patience, loving-kindness, acceptance, openness and happiness. So through this mind- body connection we help reduce the mental distress and physical disease which are usually linked together.

In order for my to implement this I need to take the time out each day to mentally train my mind. If I just take 15 minutes a day maybe after the kids have went to sleep and focus I can make a difference in my life by relieving the stresses that way so I don't have to worry all the time.

This is a picture of my family.. <3 LOVE