Unit 10

The personal assessment of my psychological well being was a three. This is because I do not have a regular exercise program in my life and have not had one in years. Now I am actually trying to incorporate at least a ten minute walk into my daily program for my physical area of my life. So my score now is a four. My goal is to slowly work on my physical exercise program because this is my weakest link to good health and wellness. 

My psychological area was not mentioned though I feel my psychological area of my life is a nine, along with my spiritual area to be a ten. I am very spiritual and this has helped my psychological area to be in good health and wellness. If I could get my physical aspect up to an eight would make me very healthy in mind, body and spirit. I am also over weight and I have already begun to lose weight. So far within two weeks I have managed to lose seven pounds.

My goals and activities I set for myself in each area have progressed toward my goals. I have already started a ten minute walk every day and I will work up to getting towards the hour a day walk then I can start with sprinting and then running. Many of my friends attend the walk and run-a-thons they hold almost every weekend in my area.

My whole experience in this course is enlightenment and encouragement along with a great understanding. I come to know my weaknesses and how I can improve and strengthen certain areas of my life so I can have a complete and full filling life of good health and wellness.

The many enlightening part of the course were the meditations and how I can reach other areas of my spiritual self through other different types of meditation. The encouragement part of the course is that because I already was practicing some meditation, this course reinforced my understanding on areas I may need to work on. All that I have learned in this course was rewarding and will benefit me throughout my life.

The difficult part of the course is saying good-bye because this course has come to an end and we now must move on. The experiences I have gained in this course will help me to pass it on to others that I will encounter in my life. I have already started passing it on to an individual and I see the difference and the change in her and her life and how she is dealing with her life now.  

Thank you all for all the comments and the support and most of all for being a part of my learning experience in this course. Good-bye and good-luck.

Unit 9 Project

Unit 9 Project

I.                Introduction:
Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically? What areas do you need to develop to achieve the goals you have for yourself?

Health and wellness professions must develop psychologically, spiritually and physically in order to relate to their clients. Health and wellness is taking a holistic approach meaning taking the whole and using everything to their own application. The best way for professionals to apply a holistic approach is to know and to apply their own experience because it is stronger than only applying by knowledge. Experience, strength and hope make it easier to apply when it is applied by one’s own experience. The only area I will need to develop to achieve the goals of a professional would be my physical part.

II.                Assessment:
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?

I have assessed my health in all three domains and I am content with my spiritual and psychological wellness and I have a good score regarding these aspects. I may be over a bit on the spiritual wellness. I need a lot of work on my physical wellness because I do not have a regular exercise program.

III.                Goal development:
List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.

My goal for the physical area is to get some kind of exercise program started. For my psychological area I just need to keep balance in my life and not overwhelm myself with working with others. Rest is very important if I want to stay healthy in the psychological area of my life. My spiritual area too I have to keep balance. Working with others who are sick can drain me spiritually, physically, and psychologically. These all need to always be kept in balance if I want to obtain holistic flourishing.  

IV.                Practices for personal health:
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.

Strategies I can implement to foster growth in each of the following domains is keeping in mind how all three of them are interconnected to each other. When one does not have enough the other two have to work harder. All of the meditation practices I have learned in this course I can use to my benefit. I have two out of three pretty much in good practice. I know that by continuing to practice the exercises and starting up a physical fitness program I would be in a good place with my health and wellness. Two exercises I have yet to implement to see which works best for me. One plan is walking and the other would be spending time at the gym. I need to see if morning, during my lunch hour or in the evening would work best for me.

V.                Commitment:
How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months? What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices for health and wellness?

I am going to take my weight and all my vital signs when I get started. Then I will keep a daily journal on the changes I feel as I continue to progress or lack to progress in my plan. The strategies I would need to maintain in my long-term practices for health and wellness is keeping in mind that I cannot be there for everyone if I am not there for myself. Time management is going to play a big part in helping me to incorporate an exercise program for my physical fitness area.

Unit 8: Optimal Well-being: Psychological, Spiritual and Physical keys to Health and Thriving

Loving Kindness practice is a simple practice that helps me to get in touch with my inner self and find peace and understanding most of all my purpose in life. The loving kindness exercise is very beneficial for me because it helps me to be in touch with myself and teaches me the true self is through loving kindness and it helps me with accepting life as it is meant to be and to be ok with everyone, everything, and every place as it is suppose to be just as it is.

The subtle mind practice helps me to go even deeper to my inner self and helps me to feel as though I am whole with my mind, body and spirit. When I feel pain in certain areas of my body, whether it be a migraine headache or even tired from a long day and my neck is sore or my back hurts I can sit and meditate and the pains disappear as I come in complete connection with my mind, body and spirit.

The subtle mind practice brings me to the state of being calm, tranquil and serene. With this practice I am capable of making fine distinctions and perceive and understand many of the situations and problems I am encountering I see everything for what it really is. I find ease and I am able to make better judgments. I have an understanding that is beyond explanation, just that it is a spiritual feeling one that makes me feel happy, joyous and free.

Implementing these practices in my life already has helped me not become so stressful working with others who are very sick in their disease. I can actually listen, and talk to these people and not feel drained from their energies of anxiety, stress, and anger. I can keep the calm abiding mind and meditate even while I am listening to them as they share their anxieties, stress and anger. It’s like drifting away and still being able to comprehend what they are saying.

I use to feel very tired after even an hour working with sick people. Now I am able to find connections with my whole self – mind, body and spirit and continue to work with sick people without being drained anymore.  

I find I can use these practices any time of the day or night to get in touch with my inner self and feel relieved from any stress I am encountering at any time. The more I practice the exercises the easier it is to go into the state of connecting with the mind, body and spirit. Both the loving kindness and subtle mind practices are for me the keys to health and they are the practices I will continue to thrive.

Unit 7: Current Trends and Research Supporting the Mind-Body-Spirit Paradigm

Meditative practices for the week with track #4 of the Dacher CD on “Meeting Asciepius”. In the beginning of this meditation it was hard for me to grasp taking the power from the individual I was meditating upon. As the meditation of the CD told me to take the next step into finding my inner self as that of one I was idealizing I realize where I was to lead my consciousness and how to get there. Realizing I was to lead my inner self to the character of my own belief as one very calming, peaceful, and serene made it easier for me to choose who that character was going to be that I could meditate upon. This made the meditation process easier to accomplish and relate. The meditation process was much easier once I was able to concentrate on the practice and the goal to the practice. I enjoy this meditation and after completing it I felt lighter, calm and whole. I felt more in tune with my inner self then I did before the practice.  

“One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself.” The ability to see divine in someone else is possible when you are able to see the suffering of illness and it is possible to help someone else in such suffering and illness into the grace of healing, when you yourself has had the experience. Empowerment is within an individual with so much experience of suffering and illness and has gone through the changes from suffering and illness toward a spiritual path of integral healing. This one experienced individual can look at their prospect and relate to their troubles and sufferings and help and guide them toward grace and wellness this helps both the healer and the prospect transform their respective lives. It’s a process and through the process both the healer and the prospect transform. Both gain wisdom, serenity, grace, a spiritual awaking and wellness.

I have an obligation to pass on my experiences in turn my rewards are flourishing health psychologically, physically, and spiritually. I practice my own spirituality with others and as I see others come to the understanding of the great healer and how the great healer works through others I have gain great wisdom. This implements the psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life. Seeing one come from a state of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual sickness into wellness over a period of time and watching the change and growth they go through is an awesome experience to see such changes and I understand it very well. I am not the cause for their healing I am only the guide towards them healing themselves. This is a spiritual experience that I practice daily and see slowly over time. It is an experience that gives me full gratitude towards the spiritual way of life and knowing and understanding how it works has helped me to overcome many of my own life’s obstacles.