In unit 3 I rated my physical health as a 6. I rated my spiritual health as a 7 and I rated my psychological health as a 7 as well. I actually feel that I have declined in my physical health; I would now rate myself as a 5. I would like to do more to keep myself healthy such as eating healthier foods and exercising on a daily basis. I would rate my spiritual and psychological health now as an 8. I feel that I have improved a little in both of those areas. Throughout this course I have learned techniques to help me feel better overall and to help create a more calming feeling within myself.
The goals I set for myself in unit 3 are as follows:
A goal for the physical area in my life would be to lose 5 pounds. A goal for the spiritual area in my life would be to have a deeper relationship with God. A goal for the psychological area of my life would be to feel good about myself everyday.
To reach my physical goal I have started a diet. I have also started exercising at least 3 times a week. I would like to exercise more often though. To reach my spiritual goal, I have noticed that I am praying more often. To reach my psychological goal I am exercising. This helps me to feel better about myself.
I have learned a lot from this course. I have learned how important it is to take care of all areas in my life. I have learned different meditation exercises that I probably would not have learned had it not been for this course. I enjoy being able to share the information that I have learned with others. I now feel a little bit more prepared to tell other people how they can lead a healthier life.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Unit 9, Final Project
Final Project
It is important for health and wellness professionals to also develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically. They must not be directing clients to change their lifestyle if they are not willing to do so themselves. Would it seem right to go see a doctor who tells you all the dangers of eating fast food and then you happen to run into him at the local McDonalds, where he is chowing down on a double bacon cheeseburger, large fries, large soda, and a couple apple pies? I am sure in your head you would think twice about going to see him again or following any advice he gave you. Health and wellness professionals will see better results in their patients when they are also developing the psychological, spiritual, and physical areas in their lives. Personally, I need to work on each area of my life. Continual growth, development, and improvement are needed psychologically, spiritually, and physically.
Throughout this course I have been focusing more and more on my overall health. I took a look at myself and realized there was more I could be doing to promote flourishing and well-being in myself. I focused on my physical health and realized I could be doing more to make myself healthy. I decided to start walking as a way of exercising. I focused on the spiritual area in my life and again realized there was more I could be doing. I decided to strengthen my prayer life. I find great comfort in talking to God and I began to realize how much better I actually did feel after deep prayer. I focused on my psychological health and realized there was more I could be doing to promote health in this area as well. I actually felt better psychologically when I prayed often. It just helped me to feel better overall; I felt more at peace. Assessing my progress from time to time will help me to be aware of what areas I need to work more on and in which areas I might have improved. I would score my wellness spiritually as a seven because I realize I need growth. I need to continue to develop my prayer life and my overall relationship with God in order to further develop in this area. I would score my wellness physically as a five because I realize I am far from where I would like to be physically. I would like to be a little bit more in shape to feel better physically. I would score my wellness psychologically as a seven because I do feel good in this area but I do realize I could do a little bit more to help improve in this area.
Throughout this course I have realized how important it is to develop goals. I have developed a goal for each of the areas in my life, physical, psychological, and spiritual. My physical goal is to exercise on a daily basis for at least twenty minutes. My psychological goal is to practice breathing exercises on a daily basis. This will help control my stress level which will help my psychological health. My spiritual goal is to pray a total of sixty minutes a day. Doing so will help bring me greater peace and help bring me closer to my God which will positively affect my spiritual growth.
One strategy I can implement to foster physical growth in my life is to have a better diet. Good nutrition is essential to positive physical growth. I know if I change my eating habits up a bit, I will see positive results physically. Another strategy I can implement to foster physical growth in my life is to begin exercising daily. This will not only improve my physical health, it will also play a part in improving my psychological and spiritual as well. To foster psychological growth I could start to work more on a hobby that I am interested in. This will help keep my busy when I am bored and it will give me the feeling of doing something creative and fun. Another strategy I can implement to foster psychological growth in my life would be to read more positive books. This will help me have a more positive outlook on life and will begin to help improve my psychological health. A strategy I could implement to foster spiritual growth in my life would be to continue to strengthen my prayer life. This will undoubtedly have a positive impact on my spiritual health and growth. Another strategy I could implement to foster spiritual health in my life would be meditation. This will help clear my mind and help me become calm and at peace. This not only will help to improve my spiritual health and growth, but it will also positively impact the psychological and physical areas in my life.
In order to assess my progress or lack of progress in the next six months I will want to take a moment once every two weeks to determine whether or not I have improved in the physical, spiritual, and psychological areas in my life. It would also help to journal any feelings I had along the way. I have found it helpful in the past in other situations to blog or journal my feelings. If I do this throughout the start of this process I can be better aware of any positive changes occurring as well as any areas I might need to switch things up in. In order to assist in maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness I will involve my husband in this process as much as possible. It will be helpful to have someone rooting my along, positively. It will also be helpful to have someone who can help me get back on track if I ever fall off.
It is important for health and wellness professionals to also develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically. They must not be directing clients to change their lifestyle if they are not willing to do so themselves. Would it seem right to go see a doctor who tells you all the dangers of eating fast food and then you happen to run into him at the local McDonalds, where he is chowing down on a double bacon cheeseburger, large fries, large soda, and a couple apple pies? I am sure in your head you would think twice about going to see him again or following any advice he gave you. Health and wellness professionals will see better results in their patients when they are also developing the psychological, spiritual, and physical areas in their lives. Personally, I need to work on each area of my life. Continual growth, development, and improvement are needed psychologically, spiritually, and physically.
Throughout this course I have been focusing more and more on my overall health. I took a look at myself and realized there was more I could be doing to promote flourishing and well-being in myself. I focused on my physical health and realized I could be doing more to make myself healthy. I decided to start walking as a way of exercising. I focused on the spiritual area in my life and again realized there was more I could be doing. I decided to strengthen my prayer life. I find great comfort in talking to God and I began to realize how much better I actually did feel after deep prayer. I focused on my psychological health and realized there was more I could be doing to promote health in this area as well. I actually felt better psychologically when I prayed often. It just helped me to feel better overall; I felt more at peace. Assessing my progress from time to time will help me to be aware of what areas I need to work more on and in which areas I might have improved. I would score my wellness spiritually as a seven because I realize I need growth. I need to continue to develop my prayer life and my overall relationship with God in order to further develop in this area. I would score my wellness physically as a five because I realize I am far from where I would like to be physically. I would like to be a little bit more in shape to feel better physically. I would score my wellness psychologically as a seven because I do feel good in this area but I do realize I could do a little bit more to help improve in this area.
Throughout this course I have realized how important it is to develop goals. I have developed a goal for each of the areas in my life, physical, psychological, and spiritual. My physical goal is to exercise on a daily basis for at least twenty minutes. My psychological goal is to practice breathing exercises on a daily basis. This will help control my stress level which will help my psychological health. My spiritual goal is to pray a total of sixty minutes a day. Doing so will help bring me greater peace and help bring me closer to my God which will positively affect my spiritual growth.
One strategy I can implement to foster physical growth in my life is to have a better diet. Good nutrition is essential to positive physical growth. I know if I change my eating habits up a bit, I will see positive results physically. Another strategy I can implement to foster physical growth in my life is to begin exercising daily. This will not only improve my physical health, it will also play a part in improving my psychological and spiritual as well. To foster psychological growth I could start to work more on a hobby that I am interested in. This will help keep my busy when I am bored and it will give me the feeling of doing something creative and fun. Another strategy I can implement to foster psychological growth in my life would be to read more positive books. This will help me have a more positive outlook on life and will begin to help improve my psychological health. A strategy I could implement to foster spiritual growth in my life would be to continue to strengthen my prayer life. This will undoubtedly have a positive impact on my spiritual health and growth. Another strategy I could implement to foster spiritual health in my life would be meditation. This will help clear my mind and help me become calm and at peace. This not only will help to improve my spiritual health and growth, but it will also positively impact the psychological and physical areas in my life.
In order to assess my progress or lack of progress in the next six months I will want to take a moment once every two weeks to determine whether or not I have improved in the physical, spiritual, and psychological areas in my life. It would also help to journal any feelings I had along the way. I have found it helpful in the past in other situations to blog or journal my feelings. If I do this throughout the start of this process I can be better aware of any positive changes occurring as well as any areas I might need to switch things up in. In order to assist in maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness I will involve my husband in this process as much as possible. It will be helpful to have someone rooting my along, positively. It will also be helpful to have someone who can help me get back on track if I ever fall off.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Unit 8
The two exercises I found to be most beneficial were the Meeting Asciepius exercise and the subtle mind exercise. I enjoyed these two the most and I found that I was the most calm during these particular exercises. I can implement these practices into my personal life to foster mental fitness by practicing them daily. If I do not feel comfortable enough doing them daily I could start off by doing them weekly and working my way towards making it an everyday thing. These particular exercises help to create a calm and stable mind. I know if I practice them daily I will see improvements in my mental fitness as well as other areas in my life.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Unit 7
1. Complete the "Meeting Asciepius" exercise on track #4 of the Dacher CD. Describe your meditative practice(s) 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?
I enjoyed this exercise more than the first. I found that I was peaceful and calm during the entire process. I also found it easy to create an image in my mind of a special person and I noticed that I could keep this image in my mind during most of this exercise. Mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in my wellness by making me more patient in some situations, it has helped me feel more of an overall sense of calmness, and it has helped me to be more loving and forgiving towards others. I should continue practicing the art of meditation or mindfulness each day in order to foster greater health and wellness.
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?
"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (George, 2005 pp. 477). This means to me that one must know what lies ahead from experience, not research. If health and wellness professionals are not practicing what they preach, so to say, they cannot begin to properly teach others. I do have an obligation to my clients to be developing my health psychologically, physically, and spiritually because I will want them to also do the same. I can implement psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life by practicing meditation on a daily basis.
George, L. (2005). Transformation of the Healer: The Application of Ken Wilber's Integral Model to Family Practice Medicine. In M. Schlitz, T. Amorok, & M. Micozzi, Consciousness & healing: Integral approaches to mind-body medicine (pp. 465-477). St. Louis: Elsevier Inc.
I enjoyed this exercise more than the first. I found that I was peaceful and calm during the entire process. I also found it easy to create an image in my mind of a special person and I noticed that I could keep this image in my mind during most of this exercise. Mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in my wellness by making me more patient in some situations, it has helped me feel more of an overall sense of calmness, and it has helped me to be more loving and forgiving towards others. I should continue practicing the art of meditation or mindfulness each day in order to foster greater health and wellness.
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?
"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (George, 2005 pp. 477). This means to me that one must know what lies ahead from experience, not research. If health and wellness professionals are not practicing what they preach, so to say, they cannot begin to properly teach others. I do have an obligation to my clients to be developing my health psychologically, physically, and spiritually because I will want them to also do the same. I can implement psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life by practicing meditation on a daily basis.
George, L. (2005). Transformation of the Healer: The Application of Ken Wilber's Integral Model to Family Practice Medicine. In M. Schlitz, T. Amorok, & M. Micozzi, Consciousness & healing: Integral approaches to mind-body medicine (pp. 465-477). St. Louis: Elsevier Inc.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Unit 6
The exercise and assessment process for this week was very relaxing. However, I discovered that I have a harder time actually focusing on this calmness than I feel I should have. I think that in order for me to feel comfortable with the quiet and calmness that comes from with doing these exercises I will need to practice it more. The quiet just does not come natural for me, obviously with two young children in the house, quiet time is hard to find.
I find a lot of peace through prayer. I think that if I can set up a certain time to pray during the day, where I surround myself with quiet, I will find exercises such as these to be easier. Also, I realize that I need to work on my psychological side more. Sometimes I allow the stresses of the day to overwhelm me. I need to learn that quiet is a good thing to create and that it can indeed help foster greater wellness in this area of my life as well as others.
I find a lot of peace through prayer. I think that if I can set up a certain time to pray during the day, where I surround myself with quiet, I will find exercises such as these to be easier. Also, I realize that I need to work on my psychological side more. Sometimes I allow the stresses of the day to overwhelm me. I need to learn that quiet is a good thing to create and that it can indeed help foster greater wellness in this area of my life as well as others.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Unit 5
1. The loving-kindness exercise was somewhat similar to the subtle mind exercise in that both involved focusing on breathing. The subtle mind exercise involved trying to still the mind and the loving-kindness exercise focused on bring things to mind.
I enjoyed the subtle mind exercise more than the loving-kindness exercise. I found it to be more peaceful and calming. Although I still find it hard to not focus on somethings that come to mind, practicing the subtle mind exercise on a daily basis can actually help me create a still mind. It was an interesting exercise and I do feel that over time it will prove to be very beneficial.
2. Just as our physical and mental wellness can impact other areas of our lives, so can our spiritual wellness. Having a high level of spiritual wellness can positively effect my physical wellness levels. It can help improve my breathing by practicing meditation. Having a high level of spiritual wellness can help reduce my stress level which improves my mental wellness.
I enjoyed the subtle mind exercise more than the loving-kindness exercise. I found it to be more peaceful and calming. Although I still find it hard to not focus on somethings that come to mind, practicing the subtle mind exercise on a daily basis can actually help me create a still mind. It was an interesting exercise and I do feel that over time it will prove to be very beneficial.
2. Just as our physical and mental wellness can impact other areas of our lives, so can our spiritual wellness. Having a high level of spiritual wellness can positively effect my physical wellness levels. It can help improve my breathing by practicing meditation. Having a high level of spiritual wellness can help reduce my stress level which improves my mental wellness.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Unit 4
1. I felt somewhat emotional when asked to think of a loved one. I could not really "feel" the sensations in my body to become fully at peace with them like suggested. However, I did find the sounds to be peaceful and very calming. However, I could not get to where I felt I was supposed to be during this exercise. During the last half, I felt almost as if I were simply praying but just paying more attention to my breathing while doing so.
2. A mental workout, which goes beyond simple relaxation, is basically a way to train our minds. The loving-kindness exercise is a way of opening our hearts to others and a way of reducing self-centeredness, while preparing our mind for more development. Another exercise can be utilized to open our mind while revealing penetrating wisdom that "knows the truth of our life and of existence" (Dacher, 2006 pp 65). Doing these exercises everyday for an hour can help to improve my psychological health.
References:
Dacher, E. (2006). Psychospiritual flourishing. In Integral Health: The path to human flourishing (pp. 59-69). Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications, Inc.
2. A mental workout, which goes beyond simple relaxation, is basically a way to train our minds. The loving-kindness exercise is a way of opening our hearts to others and a way of reducing self-centeredness, while preparing our mind for more development. Another exercise can be utilized to open our mind while revealing penetrating wisdom that "knows the truth of our life and of existence" (Dacher, 2006 pp 65). Doing these exercises everyday for an hour can help to improve my psychological health.
References:
Dacher, E. (2006). Psychospiritual flourishing. In Integral Health: The path to human flourishing (pp. 59-69). Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications, Inc.
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