Unit #10 Reflection

As I look back on my blog for Unit 3 and how I assessed myself, I am a bit disappointed with my progress.  I have had quite a few challenges occur in my life over the last few weeks which have slowed my progress in all areas of my life.  Even though I am discouraged and unhappy about some of the results, I know that this is just a test and life goes on.  With that said, my scores for Unit 3 were as follows:

Physical Wellbeing – 3

Spiritual Wellbeing – 6

Psychological Wellbeing – 5

My score now for physical wellbeing would be a 4.  It has only increased a bit because I still have not been faithfully getting exercise.  I do walk, but not with the program I had set for myself.  I have added a bit of weight training at the gym, but haven’t remained extremely faithful to the regimen.  My shoulder injury responded very badly to the training so I have avoided the gym for over a week.  I need to get over that and get back to the gym.  I have been looking for more ways to get exercise with everything I do.  I did participate in the March of Dimes walk for babies on Sunday.  It was a two mile walk.  It wasn’t bad, but for someone out of shape, I thought I was going to die.  I kept getting my heart rate too high and struggled to keep it within the range set for me by my trainer.  On a good note, I am learning to listen to my body more to discover just when the rate is too high and then backing off.  I will keep working at this.  It is my hardest area to stick to the changes.

My score now for spiritual wellbeing would be a 9.  I have been getting outside more and appreciating things around me.  When I first got injured, I would sit on my lawn swing for big parts of the day.  I would just focus on the sounds and sights all around me.  It was a good way to take my mind off everything that was taken away from me because of the injury.  I lost that for a while because I became consumed with so many other things, but I started getting back to nature so I could remember how good life can be even when things seem so awful.  There is something very therapeutic in nature and how it can make you feel loved and protected no matter what you are going through at the time.

My score now for psychological wellbeing would be an 8.  I continue to move closer and closer to a 10.  Every day I have been looking at things differently.  The stress in my life is not as consuming as it was before.  I have really learned to control how I react to the stressful events that occur.  I have also been doing a daily challenge which seems to be transforming my life pretty well so far.  I love the changes which are taking place and how easy things seem to be getting. 

I haven’t completely met my goals yet.  Normally I would be extremely disappointed with myself and feel sorry for myself, but not anymore.  I have made gains in every area and I feel that is the important thing.  Even if I had gone backwards with my goals, I still gain because I gain experience.  I develop knowledge through every event that happens in life and I just need to figure out what lesson I was taught.  The only thing setting me back from reaching my goals is me.  I tend to slack on the things that are important and I need to stop doing that.  I need to remember to always put myself first if I want to truly be able to help others.  The most important therapy starts with me and how I feel.

This course is a true awakening for the mind, body and spirit.  It sets you on a path to great things in your life.  I can’t imagine anyone not having some sort of change occur in their lives due to taking this class.  If there was no change, they weren’t paying attention.  I have discovered so many rewarding things about myself since taking this class that it can be intimidating, but very refreshing.  I have further developed my well-being and like where it is going.  I can’t pick just one thing that has been rewarding about this class.  I truly enjoy my time in this class and all that it has to offer for better well-being.  The only thing difficult during this class has been looking at myself differently and realizing where my faults are.  It can be hard to admit we need to work on something in our lives because we have been doing it wrong all this time.  Discovering that I am the reason my health is at risk is not an easy pill to swallow.  Knowing I have had the knowledge and ability to heal myself was hard for me to understand and implement into my life.  I am getting much better at it thanks to this class.  I also feel I have a better understanding of how to help my clients.  I have already started using some of my knowledge to guide my clients to understand themselves better as well.  I took a lot away from this class and will share my knowledge with others because it is extremely important. 

Thank you all for sharing in this journey with me!  I hope to still see the progress everyone is making during their lives posted in a future blog.  Good luck everyone!

Unit #9 Project

This class has been a great eye-opener even more so after taking it the second time.  Integral health wasn’t even something I knew anything about until I took this class.  I thought health meant you were either in good or bad health.  I didn’t realize how much there was to a true approach to holistic/integral health.  The more I learn about natural healing and the body’s abilities, I become more fascinated.  I have been doing a lot of research on my own to more natural approaches to health care.  I see myself advancing my career even further to holistic practitioner.  So this is my journey as I see it for now to reach holistic/integral health.

Introduction:

Health and wellness professionals must develop their psychological, spiritual and physical wellbeing in order to provide their clients with the best possible care they can.  Most clients will not believe what the professional is telling them unless the professional lives by the same rules.  I don’t feel any professional can truly provide top care unless they are comfortable with their knowledge and have experienced what a client is going through.  A professional needs to be at their best when dealing with clients.  If they come in all raggedy and look like they haven’t slept in days, I don’t want them giving me advice on how to take care of myself.  Some professionals can sympathize with a client, but can never truly know what they are going through because they don’t live their life.  I would never treat a client like I know what they are going through unless I have actually been through it.  I do sympathize with their issues and try my best to handle their situation within my knowledge or experience.  I’m not afraid to admit when I don’t know something because I don’t want to hurt my clients.

I still need to develop in all these areas to achieve my goals.  I have almost reached my goals for spiritual wellbeing, but physically and psychologically I am still lacking.  I feel I am getting closer and closer every day with my psychologically wellbeing.  Physical wellbeing is always a big challenge for me.  I have come to realize that to reach these goals I need to see these set-backs as learning experiences.  I can still achieve my goals.  I will just take a bit longer to get there.

Assessment:

My spiritual wellbeing has evolved to amazing levels.  I have accomplished several of my goals I had set for myself when I started this class the first time.  I feel I have come closer to nature once again and allowing it to help heal me.  I still have days when I allow other things to interfere with my spiritual wellbeing.  I don’t think I will be truly happy with my spirituality until I see deeper into my mind, body and spirit.  There are so many layers to go through to see the true me and how I function.  It shall be an exciting adventure I’m sure.

My physical wellbeing is a little above my initial assessment.  I always seem to find a way to neglect my physical goals.  I think I invented new excuses to put it off even when I know I need to do it for my health and family.  I have still cut out the junk food for the most part and continue to add healthy choices when I eat.  I did finally join a gym, but suffered with pain for a week after due to my arm injury.  I know I can’t give up, but finding the right combination that won’t cause pain is the difficult part.

My psychological wellbeing has been getting much better since my absolute first assessment with this class.  I have found new ways to handle stress when issues arise.  Stressful events don’t rule me as much anymore.  Some still get the best of me, but everything is a work in progress.  It can be a fun challenge to see if I can handle a situation differently than I normally would.

Goal development:

A physical goal for me would be to stick with the regular exercise routine the personal trainer set up for me at the gym.  I also want to finally free myself of my soda habit.  Incorporating healthy on-the-go meals into my daily diet and cutting out the take-out food completely is another goal to my physical wellbeing.  I am worth getting physically fit and want to be around longer for my kids and granddaughter.

Spiritual goal is to open my heart and stop worrying about getting hurt again.  I have allowed others to cause pain to me and I built a huge wall around my heart to protect myself.  Meditation has shown me the way to forgive my enemies and open my heart again.  Now I need to do the same to open up for love once again.

Psychological goal is to let life happen and stop letting the stress beat me.  I can’t change the events that occur, but I can change how I react to them.  Learning to handle things better has started to make my life less stressful.  Everything happens for a reason.  We just need to be smart enough to know what lesson we are supposed to learn from the event and move on with our new knowledge.

Practices for personal health:

To foster growth physically, I would make up a meal plan for the entire month including healthy snacks so I wouldn’t be tempted to fall off my plan.  I would also set up my exercise schedule for the entire month so I could work my schedule around my routine.

To grow spiritually, I would take the next two levels of Reiki training.  At the third level, you get to introduce yourself to your spirit and gain understanding of yourself on a whole new level.  It is a very exciting concept for me and I can’t wait to get there.  I will also continue using meditation to feel more connected to myself and the world around me to reach a state of wholeness.

To grow psychologically, I have been using positive affirmations to boost my mood to relieve the stress.  Positive affirmations are always available and can be used when needed.  I have also started a new 28 day challenge about gratitude from a book called The Magic by Rhonda Byrne.  I can feel the difference when I do the daily exercises.  More positive energy is being put out in the universe to return to me when I show my gratitude.  I learned about this from a client.  We share the same love of learning and she mentioned it to me.  I truly enjoy it and recommend it to anyone who needs a boost.

Commitment:

The best way for me to assess my progress is by writing down my goals and periodically checking my progress.  I wouldn’t wait until the six months were up.  I would do a regular check-in with myself so I could make sure I am on track.  If I wasn’t on track each month, I would make some adjustments to get myself back on the path to reach my goal. 

Strategies to help me maintain my long-term practices for health and wellness would include things like keeping a picture of my kids and granddaughter next to my goals to keep me focused on why my health is so important and rewarding myself when I reach a goal so I have something to look forward to each time I achieve one. 

This is just a plan that may change as my life changes and I reach my goals.  Once one goal is reached, I will probably add more.  A thought I would like to end this with is wise words from Elliot Dacher.  He said, “It is essential to explore the subtle mind, enhance our capacity, extend our abilities and seek human flourishing rather than dumbing integral health down to an assortment of relaxation techniques, self-improvement programs, psychological understandings, or more remedies and therapies (Dacher, 2006).”  This hit home for me and made this whole course worth every minute I spent on doing the work.  It isn’t all about the techniques we try, it is about us and how we choose to take our journey to integral health.  I plan on enjoying every minute of the journey and hope to teach others how to start their own adventure to integral health.

References:

Byrne, Rhonda. (2012). The Magic. Atria Books: New York.

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health Publications:

            California.

Unit #8

The most beneficial practice for me has been the subtle mind exercise.  It eases my mind and lifts the negativity from my body.  It leads you on a journey of forgiveness even when you didn’t realize you needed it.  It has helped break the walls down to lead to a life of positive feelings and forgiveness.

I took each person who I felt negativity toward and wrote those negative feelings on a piece of paper.  I didn’t mix them onto one piece of paper.  I felt they all needed their own separate sheet to rid myself of the negativity just for that person.  After I felt I was done with all the negativity of each person, I held a burning party.  It was very therapeutic and refreshing.  I could feel the negativity wash away and recommend this for anyone who needs to lighten their mind, body and spirit.  Getting rid of these negative events allow for mental fitness to occur without any blocks.

The second beneficial practice for me is meditation.  I have many I use now for different moments in my life.  The soothing words and music allow me to get into a better frame of mind so I can handle anything that comes my way.  Meditation doesn’t have to be a long session to get you in a better mood or state of mind.  I have a couple 5 minute meditations that bring my mental state back to a calmer time with more focus. Great mental fitness can be achieved using meditation.  I love to visualize myself on a relaxing vacation listening to the sound of the water, feeling the cool breeze and warming sun all at the same time.  It brings me peace and serenity.  My mind is very open and carefree after a mental vacation.

I use both of these practices on a regular basis.  I feel my mental state can use all the fitness it can get so why not incorporate more than one technique.  As I learn more techniques that improve my mental fitness, I add them to my daily routine.  The more the merrier.  

Unit #7

My meditative practices for the week consisted of a chakra meditation and practicing Reiki on myself.  The “Meeting Asciepius” exercise was hard for me the first couple of times doing it.  I kept visualizing my grandmother with the light coming through her which made me think of death.  It is an uncomfortable feeling to associate the light with death, but my grandmother is in her late 70s.  I guess the fear of losing her is what made me uncomfortable.  So I tried the exercise again and saw the light as a positive energy flowing through her to give her energy and strength.

Meditation has greatly increased my psychological and spiritual wellness.  I have felt a great amount of release from the anger I had bottled up for years.  My spirit feels lighter.  I feel more connected to my inner self since I chose to incorporate meditation into my daily schedule.

“One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself.”  This means to me that you can’t take someone on a journey that you haven’t traveled on without getting them lost.  It’s hard to lead a person to the wonders of self-healing if you haven’t already experienced the journey yourself.  There aren’t many people who will follow someone who hasn’t already done it. 

The same is true for a health and wellness professional.  A client will be more willing to try a new procedure or therapy if they professional has had a personal experience or a lot of knowledge about the recommendation.  I had never experienced a massage before starting my training as a massage therapist.  It was a requirement to experience other therapist’s work and techniques.  This opened my eyes to how unique people can be in their techniques and therapies they offer.  One therapy I experienced was reflexology.  If I hadn’t tried it, I wouldn’t be able to refer my clients.  Will I could, but would they really take the recommendation seriously?  They might consider it, but probably wouldn’t try it.

We have an obligation to our clients to develop our health psychologically, spiritually and physically.  We can’t give our best to clients if we aren’t at our best.  Professionals need to take care of themselves before they can care for others.  If I’m having a bad day, my massage will make the client feel bad as well.  They won’t come back if they feel bad when they leave.

I already implement psychological and spiritual growth in my life with meditation and affirmations.  I also have hobbies like crocheting which helps my growth.  I’m sure there are more things to incorporate to continue my growth.  What ideas can you come up with and how will it help me grow?

Unit #6

Universal loving-kindness exercise gives an intense feeling of my heart expanding when saying the words.  I did struggle with forgiveness until using this exercise.  Forgiveness is a great focus for growth and development.  It is the best way to release negativity and let the good back into my life.

This exercise was a great start to wellness.  The best therapy I found to implement forgiveness was writing a letter to the ones who hurt me.  I was holding on to the negativity because I couldn’t find a way to talk to the person or they couldn’t be found.  Once I threw all the negativity onto paper, I felt relief.  The true freedom came from the burning party I had to completely get rid of the negativity.  I use this same procedure whenever I need to release myself from negativity.

The Integral Assessment helped me analyze my inner issues which have been paralyzing my ability to love myself and help others.   The goal has been to learn to love myself and take care of me for a change.  This goal will lead to the ultimate goal to help others.  I will really be able to care for others once I understand myself better.

I have been using positive affirmations and listening to inspiring talks all the time.  They really boost my spirits and make me feel like a much better person.  There are so many websites on how to do proper positive affirmations which can be extremely beneficial and an easy therapy.

Unit #5

                I truly enjoy the subtle mind exercise over the loving-kindness exercise.  It gives the feeling of great peace and calming.  I can get through the whole meditation.  I love using the blockage part of the exercise.  It helps me to get rid of any issues which seem to be preventing me from moving through my day with ease.  If I’m having a particularly hard day, I use this meditation to get me back on track.

                The benefit to the subtle mind exercise compared to the loving-kindness exercise is I can use it daily with results.  I tend to get frustrated with the loving-kindness exercise because of some imagery issues.  They tend to block my ability to get through it sometimes.  I like to finish things so not being able to get through a meditation causes stress.

                If your spiritual wellness is not doing well, it will affect your mental and physical wellness as well because they are all connected.  I know with me personally that if my physical wellness is off, my mind and spirit feels disconnected.  I found the best way to improve aspects of my life is to start with my mind and the rest tends to fall into place.  We can change our health and life by making sure we take care of our mental, spiritual and physical wellness.  We can determine our destiny instead of just letting it happen with the use of our mind.

Unit #4

                The Loving-Kindness exercise has proven beneficial for me since I first started this class.  I have learned how to let go of past bad feelings toward enemies as I continue to use the exercise.  Life has taken a different turn since I have let go of the terrible feelings I harbored against people who I saw as enemies.  I no longer see them as enemies.  They may still harbor bad feelings toward me, but my spirit is much lighter since I have used this exercise to rid myself of the negativity.  It truly is a unique feeling to finally be free of such a heavy weight.

                I would highly recommend this exercise to anyone who needs to get rid of past negative feelings toward someone.  This is an exercise that can be used over and over again.  I found it took me more than once to start really feeling the benefits of this exercise.  It has been well worth the effort for the results I have seen.

                A mental workout is daily exercises to evolve our lives and develop our minds.  An hour a day will condition our minds and physical body to develop our lives.  This also creates the ability to heal and flourish our own mind, body and spirit.  Meditation is a great tool to use for mental workouts since it is proven we don’t always use our whole mind.  Meditation will help develop the mind and unconsciousness.  It can also make you feel calm and centered.  Life could be quite different if everyone could learn to give their minds a mental workout every day.