Unit 10 - My Summary

1) Referring back to my assignment in unit 3, this is how I scored myself in the following areas.  Psychological – 6, Physical, – 5 and Spiritual – 6.  My scores will increase from a 5 to 6 in Psychological and physical areas because I am now participating in yoga.  My score will remain the same in the spiritual domain because I am not consistent with implementing meditation or praying every morning.

2) Yes, I have made progress towards the goals and activities I set for myself in each area.  I have identified the tasks I can implement to help me attain all of my goals and set aside time to make them reality.

3) I have implemented about 90% of the activities I chose for my well being in each area.  Physically and psychologically, I have begun my free yoga classes on the beach.  I’m not sure if these old bones can take all of that stretching though, LOL!  Also, I am now carrying around my gratitude to rock to intentionally remind me of all the things I should be grateful for instead of complaining.  Spiritually, I am not consistent with getting up every at a specific time each morning to pray or meditate.  In order for both to be effective, I must be consistent.  I practice and pray at least 3 mornings out of the week.

4) To summarize my personal experience throughout this course is referred to as “The Discovery of Me.”  I discovered the potential, the strengths and weakness, the power and purpose, and how to promote health and healing of my mind-body and spirit.  Developing and improving my well-being is in progress.  The rewarding part of this discovery is learning the different types of meditations and how they benefit my WHOLE body (mind-body-spirit).  The difficult of this journey has been making the time to implement a routine that will enable me to reap the full benefits of the practices.  This experience allows me to offer my clients/patients diverse options, other than traditional Western treatments, and it will allow my patients to participate in their own health and wellness.

Unit 9 Final Project - Personal Application

I – Introduction

In order to integrate the methods and practices of integral health that produce human flourishing, we must commit to refocusing our energy, attention and efforts on exploring the uninhibited areas of the mind and its healing capabilities (Dacher, 2006).  Health and wellness professionals must develop psychologically, physically and spiritually if they wish to gain a full understanding of integral health, to recognize and assess the lack in the lives of their patients and to provide instruction and guidance to patients seeking integral health and wellness.  Dacher explains that one can not lead others to places they have never been (2006).  To achieve my goals, I need to develop all areas, some more than others to create the healthy balance that produces human flourishing

II – Assessment

The integral assessment has allowed me to assess my health in each domain by turning inward and honestly inspecting each domain.  On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest score, psychologically I rate myself a 6, spiritually I rate myself a 6 and physically I rate myself a 5.

III – Goal Development

A physical goal I have for myself is to loose 50 pounds by the end of the year, which will be my 50^th birthday.  I also would like to condition myself so I can participate in a few of the local marathons for charity.  A psychological goal I have for myself is to incorporate the loving kindness subtle mind and meeting Asclepius practices into my morning routine.  A spiritual goal I have for myself is to be consistent with my morning devotions and to carry my gratitude rock so I am constantly reminded to give God thanks for everything, especially when I find things to complain about.

IV – Practices for Personal Health

Strategies I can implement to foster growth in my physical domain is to modify my eating habits.  I will begin by devising a menu where I am slowly minimizing, until I have completely removed red meat from my diet (this helps reduce my chances of red meat) and incorporate a cardiovascular program for about 4 days out the week to help me reach my weight loss goal of 50 pounds by the end of the year.  Strategies I can implement to help foster growth in my psychological domain is to join a yoga class and master some of the meditation teachings.  This week I discovered that free yoga classes are being offered on one of Sarasota’s prettiest beaches every morning, by a 32 year seasoned instructor.  This was meant to be.  I will also continue to practice the subtle mind, loving kindness and meeting Asclepius exercises until I am able to perform them in any type environment.  Strategies I can implement to help foster growth in my spiritual domain is to begin ALL of my mornings with prayer and thanksgiving.  I plan to intentionally say something nice, or perform a kind deed to someone in need, or make someone feel special.

V – Commitment

I will assess my progress or lack of progress through journaling, the use of the buddy system, and allow a professional, such as a yoga instructor to evaluate my progress.  I plan to journal this new journey, so others can benefit from it and I can identify my areas of weakness and strength.  I plan to develop a buddy system with someone who is unbiased, that can quickly recognize when I am slacking or loosing focus and has my best interest in mind.  Strategies I can use to help me maintain my long term practices for health and wellness is to educate myself on the benefits of different practices (the more I know, I can make better choices), use a variety of workouts and make them fun (power walking, swimming, hip hop abs, or kick boxing) so I do not become bored.  I will use my journal to measure my growth, progress and development, reward and celebrate my accomplishments and milestones.  Also, I will include someone new in my journey that can challenge my new found skills and so that I can teach and share what I have learned.

Reference

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

Unit 8: Review

The two practices that I have determined to be the most beneficial are the subtle mind practice and meeting Asclepius.  I feel that I was able to truly relax, calm myself, rid the mental chatter and clear my mind.  Of course, the instruction and sound effects made the practices enticing.  I already practice these two each morning around 5am.  I can also implement these practices to rid myself of negative energy I encounter while at work. I can truly feel the difference in how I respond to some of my daily challenges.  I can also teach these practices to my sons.  I will have to intervene less with in their sibling disputes and probably spend less time trying to take the fire out their heated battles.  Hopefully, by the time they have fully learned the practice, the dispute will be few in number.

Unit 7: Meeting Asciepius

The first time I did this exercise, I fell asleep about 7-10 minutes through the track.  I can remember feeling so relaxed, compared to the other times I performed the meditation exercises.  It took less time for the mental chatter to cease.  I guess I can consider that as a positive, as it is now taking less time for the mental chatter to stop.  My second attempt to complete the Asciepius exercise, I found myself really into this.  I felt like I was communicating with my grandmother.  She passed away about 15 years ago and we were very close.  She was kind, generous, compassionate and affectionate.  I have consistently completed these practices each week, but I feel I have a ways to go.  Continuing these practices with a skillful practitioner can help me apply these practices and foster greater health and wellness.

The saying, "one cannot lead another where one has not gone himself," implies that practitioners must be active participants in their own health and wellness in order to assist others.  As a professional, I can not be effective in treating my patients if I am not or have not participated in similar exercises.

Unit 6: Meditation and Mindfulness

This exercise was my reality check.  I had to face the music about myself and be honest with my assessment because I really want to change and see some positive improvements in my life as a WHOLE.  I discovered that I was not in love with myself.  As I ponder this question further, I am made aware of how I bend over backwards to serve and help others reach their goals of self help, I am neglecting myself in that same area.  I discovered that I constantly feel undeserving or unworthy of the nice things people say or do for me.  Specific exercise (s) or activities I can implement to foster greater awareness in this area would be to implement both subtle mind and loving kindness practices daily to help me intentionally change my thought about myself.  I should also pamper and reward myself often and not leave my self worth up to others.  Does anyone else have other suggestions for me?

Unit 5: The Key Role of Thought in Wellness and Healing

The past  two weeks have been somewhat chaotic and depressing for me because my best girlfriend of 20+ years was diagnosed with breast cancer - stage 2.  When she told me, it felt like a ton of bricks hitting me in my chest.  We both cried for days.  I missed a few days of work and maybe a week or so from class.  I completely detached myself from everything and everyone.  A kiss and a hug from my son let me know I was needed.  After tending to their needs, I listened to Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind Practices.  They were right on time for me and what I was experiencing.  According to the Loving Kindness Practice, I must be concerned about the health and welfare of others with a diminish focus on myself and focus on others.  This practice was difficult and I could not seem to focus, all kinds of thoughts were coming from everywhere.  I could not get it to still.  As for the Subtle Mind Practice, it was all about me, my breathing, the busyiness of my mind.  This exercise was a little more complicated because I was not hearing voices to guide my thinking.  The sound effects of the sea helped me to relax but I still lack total focus.  This is going to take lots of practice on my part.

The connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness are vital, intricate parts to the whole person.  They are interrelated.  All parts must be well and in sync with each other for optimal health and wellness (human flourishing).  This connection is manifested in my life through prayer, moderate exercise (my long walks on the beach), reading and engaging in board games with my sons.

~Deborah

Unit 3 - Rainbow Relaxatin Exercise

1.       Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal well-being), where do you rate your A-physical well-being, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?

A.      My physical well-being as 5

B.      My spiritual well-being as 6

C.      My psychological well-being 6

My mid range ratings are primarily due to me always attending to the needs of others and putting myself last.

2.        The I will set for myself in all three areas would be to take care of my needs so I can be more equipped to help others that are in need.

3.       Exercises and activities I can implement in my life to assist in moving toward

A.      My physical well-being will be to implement a cardiovascular program and continue to modify my eating habits (no sugars and no red meats and increase fruit and vegetable intake)to help stimulate weight loss.  My goal is to loose 30lbs by August without any dietary supplements.

B.      Meditation, prayer, speaking kind words or performing kind deeds for someone each day will help my spiritual well-being.

C.      Thinking positive, reading material that encourages and empowers me will help my psychological well-being.

4.       The Rainbow Exercise was amazingly relaxing.  Again, I had to listen to it about 3 times before I was fully able to relax and follow the exercise.  I felt as if I was floating on a raft and allowing the colors of the rainbow to completely engulf my body. In essence, this was yoga without the physical stretching.