Unit 10 Reflections on Personal Welllness

Namaste,

Well our journey together in this class is rapidly drawing to a close. I have looked back to see what I assessed myself at in Unit 3 and compared it to my current assessment.

In Unit three I assessed myself as follows:

•  Spiritually: 7
• Psychologically: 6
• Physically:5

Now I assess myself at:

• Spiritually: 7
• Psychologically: 7
• Physically: 5

I have progressed in my goals and I have been able to incorporate many things from this class into my life which I feel resulted in a psychological maturation. I am now able to look at things from a less emotional vantage. However, even though I have worked towards better physical health, I have hit a few road blocks. My auto accident resulted in me having to deviate from my physical fitness routine. In addition, I had gotten a bad upper respiratory infection and was given steroids. Now, I am gearing back up to my normal fitness routine and hope to be back to regular within a few weeks.

This class has improved my wellbeing and made me less reactive to situations thereby reducing distress! In addition, the change and calmness in my behavior makes other people calmer too. 

                                                              

Unit 9: Final Project: Plan for Personal Flourishing

Personal Flourishing Plan

Introduction: 

            It is crucial for professionals in the health and wellness field to incorporate health practices into their own life because doing so brings personal awareness of the amazing possibilities that can result from integral health and healing (Dacher, 2006).

            From the firsthand experience of how magnificent the evolution can be, and how powerful the transformation towards true flourishing can be, we begin to take ownership in the whole process and through that ownership we become the best advocates for integral health. Our work becomes our responsibility in making our world a better place (Dacher, 2006).

            What better way to motivate clients then to be the change they want to see in themselves. By developing psychologically, physically and spiritually we give our clients a living breathing example that they can emulate. Realistically the old adage , “do as I say, not as I do” just doesn’t hold true. I could not seriously follow the advice of a healthcare professional who did not incorporate integral health in his or her personal life as well as his or her professional life.

            Looking at my own personal growth, I need to focus more on my physical health. My physical health is the least developed domain however; I still need growth in both my psychological and spiritual domains as well. The only way for true growth will be through dedication and changing traditional habits.

           

Assessment:
           I assessed myself using the six principles of integral assessment (Dacher, 2006). I looked at the areas of my life that are my most significant sources of distress and found that the area that was most distressful was also the area that had the greatest possibility for growth and development (Dacher, 2006). It was my physical health. Looking at all the domains I realized each area must be assessed and examined in order to achieve permanent relief and long term flourishing.  At this stage, I am not at the mastery level at looking inward so I may employ the help of master in order to help me formulate my assessment in this area. I do know that as I grow and change my personal assessment will need to be modified as well.

Goal Development: 

·         Physical : To lose more weight and increase my physical strength and endurance.

·         Mental: To view things less reactively and to be more in control of my own emotions.

·         Spritual: To grow more internally and also become more interconnected with my environment.

Practices for personal health: 

·         Physical : Schedule my physical activity and increase time and duration in order to reach my goals. In addition add yoga and pilates back into my schedule so that my physical exercise are also exercising my mind. I will develop a monthly schedule for my physical activity.

·         Psychological: Practice breathing exercises and reframing to become more in control of my own emotions. When I feel anger or anxiety building, I can use breathing techniques to reduce the anger and then evaluate the situation without emotion. In other areas I can use reframing to change a negative situation into either a neutral or a positive one.

·         Spritual: Gradually increase meditation time from 15 minute to 30 minutes per day. Practice loving kindness and increase my time with nature and the world around me. To do this I will meditate outside whenever possible and will gradually increase my time by adding a few more minutes each week..
What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual. Provide at least two examples of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.

Commitment: 

           There are a number of ways in which I can assess my progress or lack of progress over the next six months. The first thing is that I am going to create a Journey to Flourishing journal. I will record my current state of physical, psychological, and spiritual health and then list my goals in each area. Each month I will reassess my state in each domain as a way to track my progress. I will visualize what I will be like when I have achieved these goals and use that visualization as a form of motivation. I will also create a number of incentives, which I will award myself when I reach certain goals along the way. For example, each week that I lose weight I will award myself a prize… the prize may be as simple as going to get a massage or treating myself to a night off with a good book. In order to maintain long-term practices I need to make my exercises both for my body and mind to become a habit and to do that I will do them consistently on the same days and times. I will also expand them as I become better developed to continue to progress.

Reference

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

Unit 8 Blog incorporating exercises into our life

Namaste,

Of all the exercises we have done in this class I think i like meditation and the subtle mind the best. I have incorporated meditation into my day. I start my day with meditation and them I go for my morning walk/run the combination of doing these two actions sets my day up for success. As I am exercising both my mind and my body. In addition because I walk the golf course I often get to interact with nature as well it reminds me our of interconnectedness with all life.

While I still have a long way to go on my path to true flourishing I believe these steps are helping me become a more whole person.

This week I was in an auto accident. The other driver merged into my lane and impacted my SUV. In the past I would have been angry, perhaps used some colorful vocabulary and been severely stressed out. My stress would have grown because we waited for over two hours for the police to come and it was extremely hot out. However when it occurred I was very calm. It was almost if time slowed right before the accident. I saw his vehicle coming into my lane. I quickly glanced in my rearview mirror as I began to break. Thankfully, the car behind me was a good distance back. I looked quickly to the left and saw that lane was filled with traffic so I moved as far to the left as possible in my lane and continued braking as his vehicle impacted with mine. We drove to a place that we could safely stop at. I remained calm and simply asked him if he did not see me. In the past I would have gotten really mad waiting so long but again I remained calm. I think that this class and learning to use meditation, and breathing exercises really helped me handle this situation much more effectively.

Unit 7 : Finding my inner healer

Namaste,

Earlier this year, my grandmother passed away. She was the kindest, most compassionate person I have ever known. Even wild animals trusted her. I remember once she was sitting on a lawn chair in the back yard very still. She motioned for me not to move and I watched in wonder as a squirrel approached with its baby in its mouth. The squirrel put the baby at my grandmother's feet then scurried up the tree and brought her babies one by one and laid them at my grandmothers feet. She then went to another tree made a new nest and came back and retrieved her babies one by one.

So for this exercise it was easy to visualize my grandmother as my inner healer. In my mind's eye I could see her. Her ivory white skin, her pink lips and her silver gray hair curled and held back with bobby pins. I could feel her love and compassion and feel it transfer to me. I was filled with loving-kindness I felt it course through my body like a warm golden syrup filling me with goodness. 

I have used this exercise on a number of occasions and it makes me feel more whole, happier and vital.

In the health and wellness profession, you should practice the same things you recommend to your clients. Why would I change my diet, my exercise or start meditation or use other techniques if my healthcare provider didn’t live a lifestyle that included these daily habits. As healthcare providers we owe it to our clients to develop all aspects of our health which includes psychologically, physically and spiritually.

Taking time each day, preferably in the morning, for a mental workout sets the stage for the rest of our day and helps us to implement psychological and spiritual growth.

Unit 6 Loving Kindness and my personal assessment

Namaste,

Practicing the loving kindness exercise is becoming more and more focuses I can really feel myself expanding the circles of loving -kindness and the power of positive thoughts.

The personal assessment is like giving ourselves a report card and the greatest thing is that we do not have to excel in every area . At the present time in my life, nutrition and fitness are still areas that I am working on. I would also like to expand in the areas of social activism, work and community. Even though I am fairly developed in these areas I would like to continue to expand.

Unit 5 Blog: Subtle Mind Exercise

Namaste,

Forgive me for not posting earlier, I was off the grid. Camping at a primitive site and had no internet, electric or even phone service for that matter. I must admit I enjoyed not having those distractions but being in a different environment also presented some challenges to performing the exercise.

I enjoyed  both the loving kindness exercise and the subtle mind exercise. It is difficult for me to compare and contrast the two because I was in a different environment when practicing the subtle mind technique because I was distracted by my surroundings it was harder for me to focus. At first, when doing the subtle mind exercise I had some difficulty ignoring the chatter going on in my own mind.  Now that I have done it several times, I feel more comfortable and can witness more and not feel as though I am drowning in a sea of distraction.

I have found that since I began meditating again I feel more alive and healthier. It is like a ball of energy is growing within me and the more I turn inward the better I feel outward.  I now look forward to meditating and doing exercises like the loving-kindness and the subtle mind. I am more aware of my breathing and I feel calmer.

Loving Kindness Unit 4 B;log

I found this experience to be beneficial. First, by thinking about a person that I love  and focusing on those feelings visualizing love and kindness I was then able to feel love and kindness both spreading within me and spreading out of me.

A mental workout is the daily practice where we gain greater access into our minds through contemplative thought. Research has shown that these mental workouts can diminish negative emotions and heighten positive emotions and that we can achieve a greater resistance to mental stress and physical disease.

To begin simply make time to add these mental workouts to our schedules by carving out  short times and gradually expanding that time as we become more comfortable in contemplative thinking.