Unit 7

Complete the following and post in your blog:

1.        Complete the Meeting Aesclepius mp3 (located in the Doc Sharing area). Describe your meditative practices 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 was not sure who to visualize.  I do not currently have anyone that fit the description so it took me awhile to figure one out.  Because it took me awhile to decide on a person, I feel that my wandered much more easily than it did for the loving-kindness meditation.  Eventually I picked a friend of my mothers who is also a massage therapist.  She is the most open-minded, spiritual, loving, nurturing person I know.  I hesitated using her at first because it has been awhile since I have seen her.

I’m not sure what it is about using light coming out of a body that bothers me.  Something about it didn’t seem natural and so I had a hard time focusing on it.  I don’t know why, but white light was much easier than the previous meditation where we used multiple colors.

The longer it went on the easier it got to focus.  I like the thought of actually becoming the person that I was imagining.  I would love to be as positive a healer as she is.  It gave me a little self confidence that maybe one day that I can be.  It made me realize that those same traits are inside me, I only need to develop them. 

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?  If you have never meditated, how can you truly explain to someone how to meditate and the benefits of it.  Any aspect of health that we need to teach to another, exercise, diet, stress management, spirituality, etc. are hard to teach if you have never done them or if you don’t believe in them.  For example, if you don’t see yourself as a spiritual person and have no faith or beliefs, how can you help someone further develop their spirituality? 

Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? If you do not progress in your own development, how can you teach it to others?  Also, others will look to you for guidance, if it seems like you are an unhealthy person, who will want to follow you?  People want to follow people that they admire and people who seem to have all the answers.

 How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?  I need to work on my stress management, use more positive affirmations and make meditation a regular practice in my life. 

Complete the following and post in your blog:

Describe the exercise and assessment process. What did you discover about yourself? What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and development? Why? What are some specific exercises or activities that you can implement to foster greater wellness in this area?
I liked the loving-kindness exercise.  It definetly made me focus on being more kind to others around me, especially my boss.  I have been having a hard time with her lately and this helped me alot.

As for the assessment, my emotional development is the area that I would like to work on most which is part of the psychospiritual flourishing.  The book asks “is our emotional life dominated by uncontrolled desires, anger, fear, and other reactive emotions.  Or do we live in a more neutral state where we move between afflictive emotions and transient pleasures?” (Schlitz, Amorok, 2006).  I would have to agree that I tend to over react to my emotions.  I let negative thoughts get into my head and have free reign.  I really need to work on controlling the sway my emotions and fears have on me. 

It is hard for me to control these emotions and fears because I often do not realize that I am reacting to something and that I need to not until the situation has passed.  It has become a habit of mine, and a hard one to break it seems.  I need to try being more aware of my thoughts and feelings so that I can change them to more positive ones.  Once I realize when I am having these feelings I can work on using positive affirmations to change them, relaxed breathing to calm myself and meditation to resolve some of these feelings. 

I could use work in all areas of integral health, but more seem more important to me at this point in my life.  I would like to work on the emotion/psychospiritual aspect as well as the biological flourishing.  I have really been working on becoming a healthier person and I would love to lose some weight and one day be able to run a half marathon. 

Relaxing subtle mind

Complete the following and post in your blog:

Your mental fitness practice this week incorporates the concept of the subtle mind (Dacher p.75). This week, replace the Loving Kindness exercise of unit four with Practice 2: The Subtle Mind practice mp3 (located in the Doc Sharing thread).

1.        Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.

After reading the text and really understanding and seeing the importance of calming the mind and detaching from feelings and emotions of a thought, I think I tried harder for this one than the last.  I found this one easier to relax to.  I liked the wave sounds, the music was distracting when it played.  The woman’s voice scared me when she started talking after the second stretch of silence.  Then I think I didn’t relax as well for the next stretch of silence because I was waiting for her voice again.  Overall very relaxing!  The most effective so far in completely relaxing me.  I think this is something I will stick with for a while and see if I can become better at it.

2.        Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

When I am feeling frustrated, stressed and overwhelmed I talk to God.  I am not Christian, but I do believe in God.  I talk to him and work things through in my head.  I believe that everything happens for a reason and that God is guiding us.  This gives me some mental wellness because I feel like I am not alone which reduces my stress and helps me deal with things easier.  When my mental health is in good condition, so is my body.  I feel less stressed which results in less wear and tear on my body. 

Unit 4

Upon completion of reading chapter 6, review the section ‘Getting Started’ (p.66). Begin practice 1: Listen to the Introduction mp3 and Loving Kindness mp3 (both located in Doc Sharing). Practice the Loving Kindness exercise this week. In your journal (blog), record your reaction to the exercise.

Answer each of the following in your blog:

1.        Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

Very relaxing!  I am an emotional person and so talking about love and what to do with that love was easier for me than the other guided relaxation things that we have done in this class so far.  Some of the pauses between the things we needed to think of were a little too long so my mind would wander.  Turning the love inward at first was hard for me and as my back was sore I could not completely be at ease with my body’s sensations but was definitely more at ease with them then before.  When she asked us to let our negative and positive emotions flow I became less relaxed.  I think that there is some negative feeling that was trying to surface but my mind wouldn’t let it.  Overall I think it was a great experience and I would recommend it to others.  It is very relaxing, and has you dig through some emotional stuff as well. 

2.        What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

We use contemplative practice when having a “mental workout”.  There are two types of contemplative practice explained in the book.  The first one is loving-kindness.  “The great sages have continuously reminded us that an enduring well-being requires a diminished focus on ourselves and our own needs and an enhanced concern and compassion for the welfare of others” (Dacher, 2006).  Practicing loving-kindness on a daily basis can be a lot of work for those who are new to it.  However the longer that you practice it for, the easier it becomes.  Going out into the world and looking for people that you can help is a great way to start you on the path to skillful loving-kindness. 

The second contemplative practice is the subtle mind.  “We cultivate wisdom by taming and training our mind, accessing its deeper levels, and exploring the essential nature of mind and experience” (Dacher, 2006).  Once we learn how to slow down our thoughts and emotions we can develop a witnessing mind. 

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

2.        Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

3.        What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal?

Physical well-being

            Currently my muscles are tense and sore from stress and a feeling of being overwhelmed right now.  Exercising has been helping to release some of the stress and make me feel better about my body.  My body is not the weight that I wish it would be, but I am trying to accept and love it the way it is.  My goal for this area is to love my body more the way it is.  I need to stop looking for faults when I look into a mirror and instead see a beautiful woman.  Whenever I see myself in a mirror I need to find one thing I love about my body.

Spiritual well-being

            I am spiritual but not religious.  I believe in a higher power and that that higher power is a loving and supportive one.  My goal is to feel comfortable telling others about my beliefs, without feeling judged because I am not Christian.  I can start by telling my boyfriend what I believe.  I have told him to some extent, but not everything.  If I can feel comfortable telling someone close to me, then maybe I can tell others. 

Psychological well-being

            I try to think as positive as I can throughout a day.  It is a work in progress.  I can sometimes feel overwhelmed and stressed, as I currently do.  I think my goal should be to meditate, even if it’s only for five minutes a day.  I could think of a different positive affirmation that I want to work on for that week, and meditate on it. 

4.        Complete the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century. To hear this exercise, click here. Describe your experience. (What it beneficial? Frustrating? etc.)

I had a hard time keeping my mind focused on what he was saying.  I usually have that problem though with these kinds of exercises unless it is something really interesting to focus on.  The thought of beams of light shooting out of my body was weird for me to imagine.  I like the affirmations (I feel grounded, I chose to love, etc.).  My goal for the day (that he said to make) was to relax.  I feel that I don’t let myself just enjoy my day without filling it with business.  Even though I had to keep redirecting my mind back to what he was saying, it did work to help me to relax.  I think if I did it a couple times, each time it would get easier.

I realized I never introduced myself.  My name is Nikki and I am 24 and currently enrolled in the Health and Wellness program.  I have an Associate's Degree in Early Education and I hope to one day combine the two degrees.  The guy in the picture with me is my boyfriend (dating one year May 29!) and we are at a Brewer's game.  If there is anything else you would like to know, just ask.  Otherwise see you all on here or the Discussion Board!

Unit 2

So I have never blogged before so I hope this goes well.  I am sorry that I did not post this sooner.  It has been a crazy week and Monday night my computer wouldn't start up at all.  The guy who fixed it said there was a virus on it and now everything is fixed.  :)  I did enjoy the guided meditation that we were to listen to for Unit 2.  I have listened to similar guided meditations by what sounds like the same guy in my Stress Management class.  I liked some of the other's better than this one, but I like how this one explained how the body was responding to it.  However my mind kept wandering as he was explaining it because it was interesting to me and I was going over it in my mind.  Had to listen to it twice to really get where it wanted me to go, but I always have had a hard time doing those.  Calming my mind is not something I try to do often and I can see I need much more pracitice at it!  Looking forward to reading all your blogs!  Nikki