last week...

I scored myself as a 8 in physical well being, a 7 for spiritual well being, and a 8 in psychological. I would still rate myself about the same in each are.  I have done a lot better with my physical well being so maybe I am a 9 now.  I have committed myself to fitness again…some people same I am obsessed but I think it is because they are jealous I am motivated.  I have added yoga back to my fitness routine at least once a week…working on twice a week.  I meditate and pray every night before bed which has really helped calm my nervous from the day.  I am still working on cutting junk food back out of my diet…I am doing much better with will power which makes me happy.  Eating junk food doesn’t help my mood at all.  It might help for the minute but after I eat it I regret it and it’s not good for my digestive system.  In general my scores haven’t changed too much but I feel like I am pretty balanced in life. 

As far as my goals, I have reached them.  I have incorporated yoga at least once a week.  It has helped with flexibility as well as calming me.  I have also improved my attitude during stressful situations.  I have learned to take a minute away from the situation and then handle it after I have calmed down (usually through breathing or visualization).  Five minute breathers definitely have helped me.  One thing I haven’t worked on too much is reading the bible more.  I feel I am more connected to God with prayer but still have a lot to learn, so I need to make time for the bible.  For the most part I have added my goals and activities to my routine. 

This class has helped me focus on myself a little more.  I have learned to have more me time especially right before bed.  I love meditation and how it helps me get rid of negative energy from the day.  It can be difficult to focus on yourself but when you realize your health is suffering, you have to make time for yourself even if it is 15 minutes before bed time.  I hope everyone else got as much out of this class as I did!

self assessment

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 everyone to be developed and balanced psychologically, spiritually, and physically. As a health and wellness professional it is important to develop yourself in all three domains so that you can help others in their lives. This profession is meant to help others become and stay healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally. If you are not balanced yourself how do you expect to help others properly? I feel like I am fairly balanced in three areas but I also believe people are continuously growing and can always improve psychologically, spiritually, and physically. I fall off the bandwagon but always get back on track.

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

Psychological: On a normal day I am pretty balanced in each domain. There are days where I feel completely insane from being overwhelmed but I can turn to spirituality and or exercise to improve my psychological well being. I feel each of the domains help each other out and I prove it daily. Work can be stressful for each of us so when I get overwhelmed or feel like I can not take any more I go to the gym or take a moment to pray or meditate. I am fortunately to have a gym in my place of employment so it is really helpful to be able to go work out in the middle of the day.

Spiritual: I feel spirituality can always be improved as well. There are days I pray more or meditate depending on my mood. I try to start the day with a positive mantra such as Today is going to be a great day” or “Stay positive”. Starting the day with a positive thought can lead to a positive day.

Physical: I incorporate physical activity in my life on a daily basis. I weight train at least 4 days a week and cardio every other day. I have a six year old so I am constantly on the go whether it be his practices, running around in the yard with him, or going to games. I think my physical well being grows daily as I push myself and try to stay active in some way.

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

Physical: My goal is to incorporate yoga into my weekly routine. I usually do yoga at least once or twice a month but I would like to do it at least twice a week instead.

Psychological: My goal is to weed out the negative people in my life. Bad attitudes usually roll over to me so if I do not associate with them I am less likely to have a bad attitude.

Spiritual: My goal is to find a church where I feel at home and not judge as soon as I walk in the door. My old church was very judgmental so it has been hard for me to go to other churches due to a bad experience. Also growing up I was made to go to church by my grandmother. I think it is important for people to have their own choice about religion and not forced into it. I do believe in God and would like to develop my faith more.

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: I plan to incorporate yoga to help with my physical being as well as spiritual. Yoga is good for lean muscles as well as releasing stress. Concentrating on breathing and poses can help reduce stress levels and relax the mind. I will also increase my cardio. I use to walk, jog, or sprint almost daily but lately I have only being doing this once or twice a week. I felt better doing my cardio so I will increase it back to at least 4 days. It helps me physically and mentally.

Psychological: I can incorporate meditate at bedtime to help release any negative energy from the day. Meditate is great for stress which I tend to have often. Another practice I can incorporate is visualization. Visualizing my future tends to help reduce stress because I know what I am going through is temporary. Going to school and graduating will help me better my future.

Spiritual: I feel prayer and meditation are great ways to improve spirituality. I plan to pray and then meditate each night. This is me time and helps me not only develop my faith (reading the bible more) but also helps release the negative energy from the day.

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 am going to print this out, sign and date it like a contract. In six months I will assess my goals and see what I have improved and what has not improved. Then I will set new goals and go from there. If I have reached my goals I will reward myself with new clothes or something new. If I don’t reach my goals I won’t reward myself, but set new goals. I don’t feel consequences will help reach goals.

week 8

I have found the loving kindness and meditation practices to be most beneficial this semester.  The loving kindness exercise helps me think about the people and things that truly make me happy.  Any time I have a bad day or a bad situation arises I think about my son who makes me smile.  When I think about my so, all the bad things wash away in life.  He helps me focus on the positive and let the negative things go.  I feel this helps me mentally by improving my thought process.  Loving-kindness helps me remember what you give is what you get in return.  If you do your best at giving kindness instead of hatred to others, good things will come your way.  People with positive attitudes tend to attract good things and people. 

I use meditation on a daily basis.  At night before I fall asleep I take a few minutes to meditate about the day.  If I had a stressful day I focus on the good like actually conquering the situation.  If I had a good day, I focus on the good thoughts and feelings I had throughout the day.  I have learned to focus on the positive in my life.  When I focus on the negative my attitude is awful which tends to make the rest of the day seem bad.  But if I focus on the good like conquering the stress or remembering I get to see my son after work (who makes me the happiest), it helps me get through the day.  Meditation helps me mentally clear my mind.   

Balance

This week’s technique was strange for me.  I had to think about someone I think is wise and then connect with them in my mind.  When the speaker said to imagine a white beam of light between me and this wise person, I found it a little odd.  I was thinking of my mother who is wise and I respect her in many ways.  I already feel like we are connected but trying to think of these beams of lights between us just seemed so weird.  I already feel like we are a lot alike: strong, independent, amazing mothers, family oriented, and we put others first.   I feel like I am wise because of her...she has taught me a lot. 

       “One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself”.  This saying means a person cannot teach another something they have not already been through.  It reminds me of the saying
“Practice what you preach”.  To me you cannot tell someone how to life or better themselves if you do not do the same.  As a wellness professional you do have an obligation to your clients to be balanced in health.  I would not get help from someone who did not seem balanced.  As an example, I am really into fitness.  I would not let someone train me who was overweight or ate awful.  My trainer would have to be fit and show they live a healthy life.  I feel like anyone in the wellness field should practice whatever it is they are teaching.  As far as psychological and spiritual growth, I am working on adding yoga into my weekly routine.  Yoga not only helps me physically but psychologically as well.  Any kind of exercise makes me a happy girl!  Spiritually I pray every day which is kind of like a rant session sometimes but I also give thanks for everything I have in my life.  I have been working on being grateful for what I have and letting go of what I do not have.  There is a reason we go through what we do in life even if we do not always know why

Loving Kindness and Integral Assessment

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

I definitely couldn’t do this exercise with my eyes open as I had to read the sentences over and over.  I don’t feel like I gained anything from this exercise since all I was doing was repeating a sentence over and over.  I know it was suppose to help me with loving Kindness but repeating over and over did not do anything for me.  I feel trying to read something and focus on inner thoughts is kind of difficult.  This exercise would have been easier if it was a listening exercise that paused and gave time to think. 

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

First you are to find out which aspect of life (psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, or worldly) is the source of difficulty and suffering.  Once you determine which aspect is the problem you are to focus on it.  Then ask yourself what is the current level of development and what can I aim for?  After you have focused on this you are to ask yourself what area of my life is ready for growth and development. Eventually you will be able to ask yourself daily how have I handled this or that experience or situation.  In what way could I improve my attitude or actions?  How can I move my live to a more sustained health, happiness, and wholeness?
This Integral Assessment helped me realize what I need to work on in my life.  I do feel I need to have more “me time” so that I can meditate.  I think it is important to evaluate each days ups and downs that way you can try and fix how you may have handled a situation poorly.  I know there are times when my attitude is poor so I don’t put my best foot forward.  I have been working on leaving my attitude at the door and not pushing it over into another situation.  I think before I act more which has helped with communication especially at work.  I am also working on exercising more.  I use to workout 6 days a week and I have gotten kind of lazy so now I am getting back on track.  I find eating healthy and exercising more really helps me not only feel better but I am healthier.  I have also incorporated a type of mediation each night before I fall asleep…I pray and thank God and also reflect on my day.  In the morning I start the day with a positive though such as today is going to be great!  I feel being positive helps improve everyday life for me. 

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

Subtle Mind

The Loving Kindness exercise was meant to focus on loving people you know as well as enemies and those who have done you wrong.  I found it easy to focus on loving someone such as my child but when it can to someone who has done me wrong it was hard to show a love.  Both help you to focus on something and are meant to relax you.  I found the subtle mind exercise to be a bit easier since I didn’t have to focus on certain people just my mind alone. 

The Subtle mind exercise uses breathing to calm the mind.  I focused on the rising and falling of my chest during this exercise.  At first I found it difficult to concentrate on breathing alone being that my mind is going a million miles a minute.  Once I let everything go out of my mind and focused on my chest rising and falling I became a lot calmer.  What’s strange is at first my heart seemed to be racing but by the end of the exercise it was slower…I was calmer at this point.  The mind is an amazing thing…it tries to focus on everything but emptiness.  These are called mental movements.  I can definitely see how a feeling or thought can take over but it can also disappear once you focus on breathing alone.  I think this exercise would be easier to do if I was alone lying in bed.  It was rather difficult trying to focus on breathing with my child home (spring break), the dogs barking in the back yard, and the TV on even if it was low volume.  The sounds of the waves in the background always relax me however…makes me think of being on the beach watching the waves crash into the sand.  I will try this exercise again tonight when I am in my quiet room alone.  I think it will be much more effective. 

I feel mental and physical wellness lead to spiritual wellness.  The body requires balance to work properly.  When a person is mentally and physically stable they are more likely to have spiritual wellness.  I find without exercise my entire wellness balance is off.  Exercise helps me become a stronger person but it also keeps my mental state healthy.  Without exercise I am moody and get angered easily.  When I meditate or practice yoga I feel more in tune with my mind and body.  Both practices help focus on breathing which calms me.  These exercise that we have done weekly have helped me realize the mind is even more amazing than I thought before.  It is amazing how you can make your mind focus on one thing or completely clear it by focusing on breath alone.  

Mental Workout

Loving kindness attracts loving kindness…you receive what you give.   I loved this statement said at the beginning of the recording.  I tend to think what you give to others you will receive back fully.  It may not be at this very minute but it will come. 

Begin by thinking of someone you love with great tenderness...the first person I thought of was my six year old son.  It is not hard at all to open my heart even more to my son.  I love him with every inch of my soul.  He is the reason I wake up every morning and strive to be a better person.  Then when I was told to turn this same feeling to  myself…this caught me off guard but I feel I love myself almost as much as I love my son.  I feel it is important to love yourself fully before you can love anyone else.  This exercise was great…I felt like it opened my heart even more and the ocean waves relaxed me.   When it was time to think about someone who is suffering it made me sad to think about a woman whose daughter recently took her own life.  This child was only 16 and I don’t even want to imagine what her mother is going through.  I pray for her daily and hope she is staying strong for her other children.  I wouldn’t take her feelings for myself but I wish I could take the hurt away.  Then I was to think about strangers even my enemies.  I don’t let people who have done me wrong keep me down.  I forgive and pray for them.  This exercise was nice because it helped with opening up my heart and remembering to forgive those who have done me or someone I know wrong.  Forgiveness is important to live a healthier, happier life in my opinion.

Mental workout is actually thinking about inner feelings such as love and anger.  Mental workouts can help us understand things more.  I feel these workouts can be helpful to balance one’s life and help one love more.