Unit 10

1.        Review your unit 3 personal assessment of your psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reflect on these areas . How did you score yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 in unit 3? How do you score yourself now? Has the score changed? Why or why not?

Unit 3 personal assessment I scored myself as: physical-7, spiritual-6, and psychological-8.

Doing a personal assessment now I would score myself in the following:

Physical-6. I went with a lower score because I have not had much time for exercising, but I still eat good and take a multivitamin everyday along with a natural supplement called valerian root for helping me with stress. I also take probiotics for healthy digestion.  

Spiritual-7. Through meditation and prayer I have learned a lot about myself and how much I really enjoy relaxing my mind. Prayer helps me feel better about situations that I am in and I feel it helps create a more positive outlook.

Psychological-7. I rated myself a lower score here because I have learned that it is really tough replacing negative feelings with something positive. Its easy to get rid of the negative, but there is a hole that needs to be filled.

2.        Review the goals and activities you set for yourself in each area. Have you made progress toward the goals? Explain.

The three goals that I set for myself were:

Physical- scheduling a time to work out at least once a week.

Psychological- more practice with loving-kindness.

Spiritual- continue going to church and praying.

I have made some progress with these goals, but I still have lots of room for improvement. I have not been able to implement a regular workout routine because of my busy schedule, but it is something that will happen in the near future. I have signed myself up for a 5k in June, which will help me reach my fitness goals.

I think I have done a great job in implementing loving-kindness to my daily life. While meeting new people as well as people that I have known that I did not get along with very well. I am becoming more understanding and learning more about myself while practicing loving-kindness.

Going to church and praying is something I recently found out that helps me get through tough times. I really enjoy going to church because of the positive feelings I have when I come out. Praying has also helped me become more spiritual.

3.        Have you implemented the activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain.

I have implemented 2 of the 3 areas into my life. I am working on scheduling a workout time that works best for my schedule.

Psychologically- I have implemented loving-kindness into my lifestyle while meeting new people as well as people that I have known.

Spiritually- I have been praying when I need or want to and attending church on Sundays.

4.        Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others?

Personally I have grown a lot throughout this course and have learned a lot about myself. I have improved my wellbeing by being more calm minded and having more of an open heart.

The most rewarding and most difficult thing was learning how to replace negativity with positivity. After meditating and thinking about this I have noticed I have less gray hairs, stress zits, and have an overall good feeling everyday. This can be difficult because when I am caught up in the moment of stress it is hard to calm myself down sometimes. I have learned that sitting in a quiet spot closing my eyes and relaxing my mind really helps me.

Learning about integral health and consciousness will help me assist others by informing them of the holistic practices out there that can help them heal themselves with their body, mind, and spirit. This can help me personally with family and friends as well as professionally after getting my degree and helping clients.  

Project 9

1.            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 develop mentally, physically, and spiritually because these are the three main keys to developing and growing into wellness. You need to develop these important aspects of life to become more whole and achieve better wellness. After achieving these aspects teaching others will be easier to do and help them understand better as well.

Personally I need to achieve better in all aspects. I think there is always something to learn and can be better than what it is now.

2.            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 domain mentally, physically, and spiritually. I do this by keeping a record of things I do each day and how it makes me feel physically, mentally, and spiritually. On a scale of 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent) I rate myself in the following 3 aspects:

Physically- 7. I rate myself a 7 because I feel like I am active person, I love to be outside or at the gym whenever I have a chance. I take care of my body and use a lot of natural remedies for staying healthy.

Mentally- 6. I believe I can do better with more time practicing integral health. Thinking positive and practicing loving-kindness exercises have taught me that I have a lot of growing to do, but I am doing a good job so far.

Spiritually- 7. After losing my grandma while taking creative wellness I learned being spiritual is very important during the mourning process. Using different ways of thinking has really helped my family become much closer.

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

Physical- a goal for my physical development would be to make it a habit of working out at least once a week. Having a time scheduled would help me to become more fit and also increase my activity level.

Psychological- a goal I have set for myself psychologically is to practice loving-kindness. For a while I was stuck in a negative attitude and after thinking more positively I have felt much more open and wiser.

Spiritual- my goal is to continue going to church and pray. I have learned that praying makes me feel good and it also makes me feel like I think more positively. 

4.            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.

Physical- increased activity and taking care of my body. I can increase my activity by scheduling a time to go to the gym every week to become stronger and have more endurance. I can take better care of my body by visiting CAM professionals as well as traditional doctors. I interned on seeing an herbalist as well as going to a chiropractor to keep myself well.

Psychological- practicing calming my mind, and loving-kindness. To calm my mind I can practicing meditating on a daily basis this will help me put my mind at ease for a few moments be more observant.

Saying out loud a few positive sentences can promote loving-kindness. I can do this daily before going to work or after a stressful situation.  

Spiritual- praying and listening exercises. I have experienced a lot of positive feelings from praying and I plan on praying whenever I feel I need to, for myself, for loved ones, and for anyone I feel needs positive energy. I can also continue practicing the listening exercises to become more experienced with spiritual growth through visualization exercises.  

5.              5.       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?

Strategies that can help me maintain my long-term health and wellness are keeping a diary of things I have practiced, how I felt doing them and continue to grow and learn about other ways of staying positive. I assess my progress by reflecting daily and taking notice to if it has changed myself or if it had helped others in some way.  

Two most beneficial...

Review the exercises and practice sessions you have completed in this course. (Loving Kindness, Subtle mind, Visualization, meditation etc.) Choose two practices that you have determined to be most beneficial. How can you implement these practices in your personal life to foster “mental fitness”? Provide specific examples.

The two exercises that I found to be most beneficial was the subtle mind and universal loving-kindness practices.

These two practices for me are very simple to do daily. Universal loving-kindness is very easy to memorize a few loving sentences, close my eyes, and think of expanding my mind to new more positive areas. This practice is easy to do daily because I can do it in the car, at home, or even at work.

Subtle mind exercises it was easier to feel relaxed because of the sound track of the beach and the waves hitting the shore. Focusing on my breath helped me relax my mind and become calmer. I really like this exercise and think it’s a nice way to calm my mind before going to bed.

Meeting Aesclepius

1.            Complete the Meeting Aesclepius mp3 (located in the Doc Sharing area). Describe your meditative practices for the week and discuss the experience. Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?

The meeting Aesclepius meditation exercise this week I was completely lost. In the recording we were supposed to imagine a person living or dead, or make up a person to imagine that I would want to be. I imagined mother Teresa because of her loving-kindness to others. It was hard for me to imagine what she would tell me, other than treating others as one and treating them with loving-kindness. I do not understand how to imagine someone with light coming out of their head and their neck, but I tried. The speaker also made me jump a few times because I was trying to focus really hard.

I can see this kind of meditation to be helpful to others because it promotes increasing psychological and spiritual wellness. Some people need to identify with a person (alive, dead, or imaginary) to help them follow where they want to go with integral wellness.  To foster better health and wellness I can practice this listening exercise everyday or just meditate on what the wise loving person I imagine would say or do and try to learn off of them.  

2.            Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (p.477). How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?

This is like trying to explaining how to meditate when you have never done so yourself. I think it is important for a health and wellness professional to practice what he/she preaches. It is better to have experience with something especially when clients have questions.

Implementing psychological and spiritual growth can be implemented throughout my personal life by meditation, praying and going to church, and practicing relaxation exercises. All of these I have been doing every week since I started this class, and I think I am learning more and more about myself every time I do these things.  

Loving Kindness Exercise & Integral Assessment

1.            Practice the universal Loving Kindness (meditation) exercise on p. 93.

2.            Complete the Integral Assessment discussed in chapter 11 (p.115).

3.            Describe the exercise and assessment process. What did you discover about yourself? What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and development? Why? What are some specific exercises or activities that you can implement to foster greater wellness in this area?

The universal loving-kindness practice was very powerful for me. Having those 4 sentences to say to myself out loud was helpful to expand my mind and think of my family, friends, neighbors, and people I do not know kindness. This sort of practice has helped me socially because I have noticed myself striking up conversations with people that I do not even know and becoming much more social.

The integral assessment consists of six principles:

·      Alleviate suffering and promote flourishing

·      Recognizes short term and permanent suffering

·      Recognizes immediate pleasure and long term flouring

·      Psychospiritual development

·       Deep listening and guidance

·      Assessment of all aspects of life and being dynamic (Dacher, E. 2006).

I believe that I had done a great job growing into integral health, changing my mind to think more positively has helped me in many was at work, at home, and daily struggles. My goals and focus areas now are in recognizing suffering and pleasure I find that help me or do not help me. I think if I put more thought into the reasons my mind starts to think negatively I could set myself up to foster better health and wellness. Some things that I could implement in my schedule could be meditation and keeping a journal for reflection.  

References

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications. 

Loving-Kindness vs. Subtle Mind

1.              Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.

The subtle mind exercise was much easier for me to understand because listening to the waves hit the beach my body felt so relaxed. Focusing on my breath kept me awake and aware, but still at ease. This helped my mind to not wonder.

 The loving kindness exercise was more difficult for me because it was hard from me to visualize taking in others suffering and replacing it with peace, love, and kindness. This exercise was also very long and I think it is mainly used for people who are more experienced with these types of exercises. It was hard for my mind to settle down and focus on the exercise.

2.             Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness.                         Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

Taking this class at this time of my life now has helped me mentally, spiritually, and physically. My grandmother died who I was very close with the day before my birthday. It was unexpected and I am glad I was able to learn about integral health so I could help my family and also myself through this grieving process. Learning about loving kindness and loving yourself first gave me the strength to give it to others. Spiritually I have grown into a faithful person who prays everyday and I feel empowered to pray for others.

Having my spirituality now has helped me get through many days I would have normally been depressed, and unmotivated to do anything. I have understood that my life will go on and I have learned many things through this grieving process. I am able to go about my day and with my work out regimens I have started to push myself further. 

Loving-Kindness

1.            Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

I found this exercise very difficult. The problem I had most was trying to imagine what the speaker was explaining. I tried to think about my family members and think about the suffering that they might be going through, but I could not imagine brining their suffering in and breathing out peace. There was a point when I was thinking about my aunt and her suffering that my head became very heavy and started to hurt.

I would not recommend this exercise to people who are just looking for relaxation techniques. I think this is more of a spirituality technique. 

2.            What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

The concept of a mental workout is a training that controls emotions and how it affects mood. Implementing mental workouts can foster integral healing techniques by promoting positivity for the body, mind, and spirit. Mental workouts can help reduce negative emotions like anger, hate, and distress and improve positive emotions like loving-kindness, acceptance, and happiness (Dacher, E. 2006).

I could implement mental workouts by focusing on the positive, rather than harboring on negative emotions or feelings.

References

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications.