Unit 10 Blog

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

On a scale of 1-10 I rate my physical well-being at a 6 right now. I say this because I feel as if I have fallen into a rut lately with eating unhealthy and not taking the time to get back in shape. I have a 3 and 4 year old  and I have been feeling so run down lately that I haven’t had time to focus on me and get back in shape and shed those few extra baby pounds.
Now I would rate my physical well-being at an 8. I just got a gym membership and started to exercise and  juice fruits and veggies everyday. I have felt my energy level increase and I just feel better in general. I have also lost about 10 pounds, so that is a great start to getting back in shape!
When it comes to my spiritual well-being I would rate it at a 4. This is something I would like to change and really get back to practicing my religious beliefs. I would like for my children to grow up knowing their religion and having their faith to help guide them through life.I am going to start going back to church within the next few weeks along with my children and get them acclimated with that type of atmosphere.
 I would rate my spiritual well-being at a 5. This is not a big jump, but I feel that I have started to integrate religion back into my life. I have started to read to my son about the bible and have really enjoyed teaching him the valuable life lessons within it. I hope to get back to church in the future.
 I would rate my psychological well-being at a 8. I have an amazing support system around me and I have so much help that when I feel overwhelmed that I have someone to ease my mind. It is not easy being a full time single mother and student, but I am so excited being as though as of next week, I will be finish with school until I next year when I go for my Masters.
I would now rate my psychological well-being at a 9. I have really enjoyed learning the meditation techniques and have practiced them almost each night before bed. They really help me to unwind from the day and to clear my mind. The also allow me some “me” time where I focus solely on myself.

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

Physical: I would like to loose some weight within the next 3 months. This means cutting out fast food as well as junk food and to start a reasonable work-out program.
I think that I have been working toward this goal. I have started to exercise each day and I have began to juice and eat healthier overall. This has helped me to loose 10 pounds, so I feel as if I am going in a positive direction.
Spiritual: I am going to start going to church at least every other Sunday to start out and get my kids comfortable in that atmosphere.
 I did not reach this goal, but I have however started to read children’s bible stories to my sons, which they love.
 Psychological:  School is over for now so I can spend more time with my kids doing different activities and taking them different places. I won't be doing homework every day and night.
 I have set up a day for us next Saturday to take them to the aquarium in Baltimore. It will just be our day without any stress.

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

 I think that what it really comes down to is to make time for each goal. If you do not stop and just give yourself that little bit of extra time you will never move forward with each goal.
 I have slowed down in general to make time for each goal. I feel that this has really helped me to see what is important in life and has made me see things from a different perspective!

4. Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others?

 I feel as if I have grown a whole lot  throughout this course. I have learned to take more time for myself, which has helped me to relieve a great amount of stress through meditation. I have also found that I am more perceptive towards others. I think that the one thing that was the most difficult was to open my mind up to these new ideas, but once I did I found that I will always incorporate them in my life from now on. I feel that through my experiences, I can help others to do the same. It is always so important to have experienced the things you teach others.

Unit 9 Project

Introduction
I feel that it is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically in order for them to be well rounded both individually and professionally. One must always lead by example; one of my favorite sayings is “Do unto others as you want done to you.” You have to first take care of yourself in order to take care of someone else.
I feel as if I can always develop further in each area, however, the one area I could use the most improvement is the physical. I use to be very fit and loved to exercise, but since the birth of my children I feel as if I have just settled. I need to start to add exercising back into my daily routine not only to look better, but to feel better as well. I feel that this will also give me the confidence that I need to become a more rounded individual as well as to help my confidence in my professional life.

Assessment
On a scale of 1-10 I rate my physical well-being at a 5 right now. I say this because I feel as if I have fallen into a depression with eating unhealthy and not taking the time to get back in shape. I have a 2 and 4 year old and I have been feeling so run down that I never have time to focus on me and get back in shape.
When it comes to my spiritual well-being I would rate it at a 4. This is something I would like to change and really get back to practicing my religious beliefs. I would like for my children to grow up knowing their religion and having their faith to help guide them through life. I have strayed away from my church and I think that it is time to find my way back.
 I would rate my psychological well-being an 8. I have an amazing support system around me and I have so much help that when I feel overwhelmed that I have someone to ease my mind. It is not easy being a full time mother and student, but I feel so excited to think about our future once I am finished with school.

Goal Development
Physical: I love to listen to soft music when I have free time, it allows me to just relax my mind and escape from my everyday craziness. I would however like to devote more time to exercising, I feel as if I need to get out of “mommy mode” and get back in shape for myself.
Psychological: I would like to open myself up to others more. It’s just very hard for me because of the negative things that have happened in my past. Opening your heart will allow you to let others know how you are feeling and be open to their feelings as well. This is something that I try to do on an everyday basis with my children and family, you have to have unconditional love even in those moments of trial.
Spiritual: I would like to open my mind up to my religious beliefs more. I have not been to church on a regular basis in about 3 years. I would really like to get back to church on a weekly basis and even join a church group, maybe one for parents. This would allow me the opportunity to make new friends and to connect with other individuals that share my religious beliefs. I would also like my kids to get involved in the children activities there as well.

Practices for Personal Health
An example of an exercise an individual can implement in his/her life to foster greater physical wellness is to walk. Walking is a great way to get exercise while not being too demanding on the body. I can implement this in my daily life by walking in the evening with my children, even if it is just around the block. Another example of physical wellness would be to implement healthier eating habits. Healthier eating habits will allow for an individual to not only feel better but to actually help their body. I can do this by trying to reduce my sugar intake and to eat more fruits and vegetables.
An activity one can do to foster greater psychological wellness is to journal. Journaling can provide an outlet for an individual to express his/her thoughts and feelings so that they are not just kept and bottled up inside. I have started to journal my thoughts about what I have been through as an outlet because of the lack of trust I have for someone else’s confidentiality.
An example of an activity one can do to foster greater spiritual wellness is meditation. Meditation allows for an individual to relax and clear his/her mind of all their thoughts and problems in a calming, peaceful environment. I have really enjoyed all the meditation activities that I have learned in this class and try to find some quiet time at the end of the night when the kids go to sleep to practice meditation.
All these things are beneficial to holistic wellness because they all work together to keep an individual at ease and keep their mind and body healthy so that if they were to have an illness they could focus on the illness rather than all the other aspects in their life.

Commitment
I will assess my improvement or their lack of in the next six months by journaling my progress. I will journal my daily experiences and how these things have helped me throughout my days and what I feel I could do differently in the future. Therefore, by journaling I can look back and assess either my progress or lack of progress and which areas I need to make improvements in.
The strategies that I can use to assist in maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness are to make a goal list and to check off things on it as I complete them. I think that this will give me a great sense of what I have accomplished and what I have to work toward. I also think that I can have my husband participate in some of the activities with me, which will motivate me further knowing that we are on this journey together.






References

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

Unit 8 Blog

The exercises that I have completed in this course have overall been a beneficial experience. The one exercise that I did not find beneficial was the loving kindness exercise, which was too emotionally draining for me. I was not able to get past my emotions to feel the benefits of it.

The subtle mind was very easy for me to follow along and helped me to relax. I have actually practiced this exercise a few times this week. I try to incorporate meditation into my daily routine now because  it helps me to calm my mind and gives me some time to focus on myself.

The loving kindness exercise allowed me to open my mind up towards others and it made me feel really good. It allowed me to think of others and to feel as if, with my thoughts, I was helping them even in the smallest way. It is an amazing feeling when you give every bit of yourself in order to help someone else. I feel as if this is another exercise that I could do more than once a week, I loved the way it made me feel and think that it is important to think positively of others.

Unit 7

The Meeting Aesclepius exercise was a bit difficult for me at first. I had a hard time trying to decided on someone, but then it came to me, this person would be my father My father passed away 6 years ago, and envisioning him during this exercise which brought a sense of calmness over me.

Meditation has had an increase in my psychological and spiritual wellness because it has allowed me to focus on myself for even a short time, rather than on the craziness of my everyday life. It has allowed me to open up not only my mind, but my heart to look back and reflect. I feel as if I can use these exercises on a daily basis in my everyday life just to allow myself to unwind from my day.

I feel as if the saying: “One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” is such a powerful one. I love the message that it sends to the reader. How can you give advice and know exactly what you are talking about if you have not been through the experience before? I feel that this applies to the health and wellness profession on many levels, but the most important being with health professionals and patients. I feel as if sometimes patients have such an opinion about things, whether it be from others giving them the information or from them trying to go online to find it. They are getting so many different ideas, that they can think they can self diagnose themselves. However, in most cases, the professional knows best and the patient has to remember that they do this on an everyday basis.

I do feel as if I have an obligation to my clients to develop my health on every aspect. The more I learn about my body, the more I can help others. I feel as if I can grow in m personal life my using these different meditation techniques on a daily basis because they allow me to relax and to focus on myself for a change, rather than on everyone else.

Unit 6 Post

The universal Loving Kindness meditation exercise was a very rewarding experience for me. It allowed me to think of others and to feel as if, with my thoughts, I was helping them even in the smallest way. It is an amazing feeling when you give every bit of yourself in order to help someone else.

The integral assessment helped me to focus back on myself and the areas in which I personally needed to focus on.

These exercises made me realize more about who I am as a person. It allowed me to reach within and connect even further to my spiritual beliefs. I have chosen to focus on my interpersonal development. The reason that I chose this particular area is because I often have a hard time giving up control and allowing others to take charge of a situation. I’m not sure if I do not trust others enough to relinquish control, or that I just like to know that they are done right, so it is easier to do them myself. Some things I can do in order to work on this are to delegate a little more, let others help me when I need help and not think that I can always do it all.

Unit 5 Blog

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

The subtle mind exercise was easier for me to get into and follow along. To me, the loving kindness exercise was too emotionally draining. So, I would have to say this exercise was a better experience. I was able to just focus on myself and to relax; it did bring me to a calm state of mind.

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

Spiritual wellness is connected to physical wellness because the two go hand-in-hand. If you are not able to relax your mind and be in a peaceful place, then you are not able to physically be in a good place. An example of this would be when I am emotionally drained it carries over to my physical body and makes me feel tired and not able to rest.

Unit 4

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

My experience with this exercise was both positive and negative. Although I did have some amazing positive thoughts about my children I had more of a negative experience with other parts. I could not seem to get past when it asked to take in all of a loved one’s suffering and pain. I was so overwhelmed by this that I literally had to stop the exercise, I almost felt like I was going to have a panic attack. I know that it said to bring in those negative feelings but then to release positive ones, I just could not get past the negative emotions. I think the rest of the exercise went downhill from there. I do not feel as if this was very beneficial, just because I could not get past this. I personally would not recommend this to others, however, I know that someone else might benefit from this, I personally could not.


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?

The concept of “mental workout” is to keep your mind alert and sharp. Research on the physical results of thinking has shown that just using the brain actually increases the number of dendritic branches that interconnect brain cells. The more we think, the better our brains function – regardless of age. (The Human, 2004)

I can implement mental workouts in my daily routine by playing games that stimulate my mind and reading more. This will help to keep my mind sharp and to continue to read and add to my daily vocabulary, having a 2 year old and a 4 year old, it is easy to forget about grammar.

The Franklin Institute. (2004). The Human Brain. Retrieved on October 13, 2012 

http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/exercise.html