UNIT 10! we made it!!!

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?

Physical Well being—I think that I have stayed the same because I workout on a daily basis but I know that there is always room for improvement. I gave myself an 8 or 9 so I think I am still an 8 or 9.

Spiritual Well being—In my Unit 3 entry, I gave myself a 4 I think that I am now most certainly a 7! This is the best thing I could have done for myself.

Psychological Well being—I think that it is a 5 and will remain a 5 until I really set forth the time to make better changes with the relationships in my life. Not to go into my personal life too much but through this class I have identified some significant relationships in my life that I need to change.

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

Physical Well being—I am running and working out every day. I am down to my goal weight and I am going to continue to tone up!

Spiritual Well being—I think that by my openness I have grown but I think that I still have a ways to go because I have not yet made a significant effort to put forward the time it needs to grow. I am going to work on this.

Psychological Well being—I began talking about my relationships in the last question to help me with that I am going to try and grow in that aspect.

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

I have begun to write in a journal because I am trying to be more conscious of my actions and interactions with people. I think that this covers all areas because I write about all three subjects. I think that a year from now I will be able to really see how far I have come.

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?

 I think that you cannot change what is wrong and hurting you in your life until you are made aware of it. I think that this class has made me aware of who I am and what I am doing in my life that is hindering me from being successful. I think that it has been really rewarding because I looked back at my posts and I can really seen how much more open and willing I am to the process of this change. I think that the time has been difficult and I don't always allocate enough time for the work to take place however, I think that it has made me better and more conscious to who I am and how I can help others.

unit 9 final

UNIT 9 FINAL

It is important for health and wellness professionals to be well developed physiologically, spiritually and physically because as we have learned throughout the class all three aspects of the human body must be working at optimal levels to provide for health and wellness. If one of the areas is lacking the body cannot fully function as a whole. How can professionals be expected to give the best care if he or she is not themselves practicing what they preach. I think that I really need to work on patience. I work in an Emergency Room so I have the idea that everything in medicine is suppose to be really fast and quick. When it is not I am really frustrated and get impatient. I think that I need to work on this, I feel that it will really benefit me in the long run to practice patience, not only with myself but with my peers and patients around me.

I think that if I had to assess my health now compared to where I started at the beginning of the class I would say that I have to say that I have improved significantly in many different aspects. I think that I have gone from a four to a solid 6.5 in the realm of spiritual growth. I think that I have become more mindful and conscious of how much time I spend in regards to my spiritual wellbeing and I think that through this class I have made a serious commitment to try and make more time to meditation and loving kindness. I believe that my co-workers have even seen a change. I had one of them mention to me that they felt I seemed like I had less stress than usual. This was very rewarding for me. I think in the realm of philological health I am at the same level as spiritual. I think that those two aspects of my life were always taking a back seat to the physical aspects and I have tried really had throughout this class to work on it and I feel confident that I have improved. Physically, I am the same. It has always been a part of my life I have placed a high level of time and commitment on, I really like the endorphins I get from working out and the “runners” high I get when I run long distances. I have yet to find a natural high I enjoy as much as I do when I work out. I would say that I am a solid 8 or 9 because there is always room to improve but I think that I am doing all the right things to get me there.

Goals are really hard for me to set because my life is very dynamic and it is always evolving and changing as are my goals but, if I had to set some I think for my spiritual life it would be to go on a meditation retreat like the ones I read in the books. I have always wanted to but have never pulled the trigger per say and gone. This year is the year; I am going to go to one. In my psychological life I want to commit to meditation for one hour every day, this is going to become a new habit of mine and I am not going to make any more excuses as to why I am not doing it. For physical health I plan on running my first full marathon in February of this year, I have been training for it for quite some time now and I am finally going to complete this goal and run it!

I think that there are many strategies one can implement when trying to reach his/her goals however; I think that the best one I am going to utilize is the motivation of a strong support team! I have told all my friends and family via facebook or in person that I have made these goals for myself and I have encouraged them all to motivate me and check in with me to keep me honest. I think that having myself accountable to others makes me more likely to follow through with these goals.

I am going to track my progress in a three section notebook. In each section when I go to bed at night I will write a small blurb for each category for what I did during that day. I think it will give me a great representation on where I am in my goals and how far I am to achieving them. I have been trying to think of a reward to give myself to work towards for when I finally reach them all but I have not yet come up with one yet. This class has been more than just a way to get credit and I could not be happier with the results I have yielded.

Reference:

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. S. (2005). Consciousness and healing. St Louis, MO: Churchill Livingstone.

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

unit 8

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.

I think that the loving kindness exercise is really easy and yet you can really apply it to your every day life. I think that I of all people have the fault of really looking at life negatively and  seeing the glass and half empty if not completely empty. I think that I have really tried to utilize the loving kindness exercise when I am driving. I feel that I have "road rage" and find myself muttering four letter words about other drivers instead of letting petty issues go.  Since trying this activity I have been making up reasons why I should not get angry with people while I drive! I know that it is a small step but I am trying really hard.

I really, really liked the human flourishing activity from this week. It gave me a reason to go down memory lane and recall some of my favorite memories that I have long put away. I think that when I am angry or find myself in a negative place I am going to use this to remind me of all the great things in my life and all the reasons that I have to be thankful! Its crazy the details I was able to recall while doing this activity, it really guides you through the memories all the way back to the very smallest details that you may think you have forgotten!

unit 7

This has been a horrible week to try and attempt any form of meditation or wellness. I listened to the exercise and I even tried to allocate a time in my day that I could meditate this however, like usual however more so did not work out. I am currently on leave and I have spent a great deal of time hanging out with my family and eating as many Christmas baked goods as humanly possible. I also have caught up on a copious amount of sleep. I know that in our reading and even in my own life that meditation increases psychological and spiritual wellness however, I think if I could make the time I could really benefit from these things. I just however, have fail to do so.

This is a very true statement. I think that a lot of the help we give out is based on personal experiences. I think that giving advice from a personal place is far more valuable than a non personal one. I think that it almost gives it more credit. We definitely have a sole obligation to our patients to be the best we can be, to give anything less is to "sacrifice the gift". I think that it is always important to take a biased opinion and not subject to much of ourselves on our clients however, I also find it important not to be too robotic. I think that I can implement psychological and spiritual growth by finally committing a real time to meditate!!! as seen from most of my posts I have neglected to do so throughout the course of the class because of either laziness or stress both I think can be improved by meditation!

Unit 6

1. I sat at the kitchen counter and attempted the exercise. I found it to be unsuccessful because I am distracted by different things going on around me. I think that this would be better if I actually had time or made time for this exercise however, I am currently on leave from the Navy and I never get to see my family. I'm not trying to rush this activity however, I am not trying to excessively put more effort than needed into it either.

2. I think that this question in my life at least has multiple answers. For some reason no matter what I do I keep hearing a clock ticking in my head, I cannot fully appreciate the time I have because I am always waiting for it to end... For instance I am home for 17 days, the airport in Eugene is my favorite place in the world when I come in however, on my way out the only word to describe it would be perhaps loathing. I think that if I could learn to appreciate the moment more I would maximize my time more,

3. I discovered that I need to choose patience as my area of growth and development. I heard a song the other day that said "we must have roots before branches" the same concept is applied to walking before running. I think that I need to focus more time and energy on being patient and by doing that I think I will make more out of not only my time but also my life.

unit 5

1. I think that in a lot of ways these activities are a lot alike. I think that I am still having the big issue of allocating enough time to really get the most out of the exercise. This one reminded me a lot of the Loving Kindness exercise, I did like it more than the subtle mind one however, I am in a better mood this week so I think that that may have had something to do with it. I think that this could be really great if I had a group of people to do it with me or help keep me motivated but right now with the holiday and work it really has been stressful for me.

2. I think that the one thing that I have learned through this class is that all things are connected. with one thing off the whole cycle is off. I can relate to this because when my body is hurting my mind focuses completely on that aspect, but if your mind is altered like with stress your body feels the affects. we have learned that we can train the mind and body with the soul to work in perfect harmony. I think that between the two activities I like the Loving Kindness exercise because it is a little bit easier for people that are not really open to the eastern sense of medicine.

mental workout

I am a  Buddhist so the concept of guided meditation is not unknown to me. I tried very hard and listend to the activity multiple times throughout the week however, I was unable to really calm the thoughts in my mind and focus. I went to the yoga gym and sat with my fellow yogies however, even there in the heated room I couldn't find peace.  This lead me to reflect on my week and why I could not balance myself to meditate. I think that between work and the stress of the holidays I have been too busy to really work on my own inner peace and chi. Yesterday I got some sort of virus which I think is the physiological manifestation of my stress, I sat today and for one hour was able to calm my mind and meditate. To my surprise when I finished my headache was gone and my mind clear.

Aristotle once wrote "we are what we repeatedly do, then excellence is not an act but a habit."
I think that this quote best sums up what a mental workout is. According to the book studies have shown that a mental workout can prevent negative emotions and in the same time enhance positive ones. I think that this is an interesting concept that I should try and implement more in my life. We have already learned that through the implementation of integral health and holistic practices a person can go on to lead a much happier and healthier life overall. I think that this week was a great testament in my life to the importance of balancing stress in your life. I am usually a pretty stress free person however, once I let stress manifest in my mind my body was not soon after affected.

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health.