Final Thoughts

In unit 3 I rated my psychological at 3, my spiritual at 4 and my physical at 7.  I would say that my scores probably haven’t changed that much.  Since I have finished all of my final projects in my final term my stress level from that is gone.  I still have other stresses but I would up psychological to 5 now.  To be honest physical is probably down around 4-5. I have not been to the gym in weeks and my job is a little more sedentary than it used to be.  This will change next week and definitely when the weather warms up.  Spiritually will stay the same and again now that I have more time I am going to try to improve this. 

I really have not progressed at all yet in my goals.  I really do have plans to start back for real next week.  I have not really implemented any of the activities either.  It has not really sunk in that I am finally done school and my body is sort of still in that mode. I have to take some time to adjust to having time on my hands and then be productive in how I use it. 

This class has been very helpful in giving me tools to use in order to meet my goals of well being.  Although I have not been very pro-active about implementing them they are there and when I am ready I will have the techniques I need.  The exercises were mixed. Some of them, like the one in unit 3 with the colors was not so difficult.  Other ones like the first one with the talk of gastrointestinal tracts was more difficult. 

Overall I think this class will help me because I have tried, even if I haven’t succeeded yet, and so I can try to teach others the benefits.  It will take time but I know that we all have the potential to have peace and calm in our lives. 

Final Project

Introduction:

 It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically in order to be able to guide their clients and help them find their paths to integral health.   You cannot teach someone practices and exercises unless you practice them yourself. 

Personally I need to work on all of these aspects in order to achieve the goals I have for myself. Psychologically I need to work on calming my mind and learning to relax.  I also realize that another thing I need to do more for my psychological and spiritual is laugh more.  I just happened across a comedy show on TV the other night and started to laugh and realized that I haven’t really laughed in a long time. It felt good and I will need to open myself to finding things to laugh at.  Spiritually I need to do a better job of connecting.  I believe in God and I used to go to church all the time.  I have fallen away from that and I think going back would do me good.  I don’t necessarily have the same belief system that I had a few years ago but I still think that an hour in church a week would be good for me.

Assessment:

I would say I am about a 5 in each of these categories.  Physically I need to get back into my exercise routine, it has gone severely downhill this past couple of months.  Psychologically and spiritually I need to do what I mentioned in the introduction.  Looking at my life I can see that I have let stress get to me more than usual and I have to try harder to let things go and just know that I can only do so much and not everything is in my control.  I think going back to church will help with this as well.  Spending more time alone and doing things for and not having the constant pressure to do homework will also help me psychologically as well as spiritually.

Goal Development:

Physically I plan to get back to the gym at least 3 days a week to do cardio and resistance training for at least 45 minutes.  I also plan on starting back at Pilates at least once a week maybe twice depending on finances.  Psychologically I am going to try to laugh more and not get so anxious about the future, and spiritually I am going to try to get back to church once a week and try to incorporate some type of meditation into my day.

Practices for Personal Health:

 For my physical I will try to do at least 30 minutes 3 times of week of either fast walking on the treadmill or the elliptical and when it is not so cold anymore I will walk outside and dust off my bike. I will also get back into Pilates.  This is not only good for physical but for psychological.  It not only tones the body but it helps to relieve stress and I have said that the hour I spend in Pilates is the only time that nothing else is on my mind but doing the exercises.  The other thing I would like to try again for psychological as well is spiritual is yoga.  I have done it several times with different results. I need to keep trying until I find the teacher who I can click with.  For spiritual as well I will start going to church and start trying to connect with that piece of myself again.  I think all of this will help to be calm and more focused and much less stressed.

Commitment:

I will assess my progress in my physical well being by how my clothes fit, they have been getting tight, and also by how I feel.  I generally have more energy and just feel better when I exercise regularly.  My psychological and spiritual I will monitor by how I react to things, how I deal with stress how I sleep.  When I am stressed and not focused or calm I do not sleep really well.  I may sleep, but I will have weird dreams and often wake in the middle of the night and not be able to go back. I will also gage by how well I am enjoying life.  Now that I will be done with Kaplan I will start back doing things that have been put by like reading, cooking, and watching movies.  

This class has been a journey.  Although I can’t say everything has been helpful much of it has and it has started me thinking and given me some tools to practice with to develop the skills I need to find my path to integral health. 

Exercises

If I had to choose I would have to choose the Loving-Kindness and the Subtle mind exercises to incorporate into my routine.  Focusing on those I love can help me to forget the stress of everyday life.  It is difficult to concentrate sometimes, but the calming music and the sound of the water helps. 

The Subtle mind exercise helped to relax and helps me to remember to breathe and be conscious of my breath along with the calming ocean noises is very good way to unwind.  I still know that I need to practice these more and learn how to calm my mind.  This is a journey and enjoying the journey is important.  I need to focus on that more instead of constantly looking ahead and missing what is right here now.

Can You Lead?

The term "one cannot lead another where one has not gone himself " is definitely important for any health care provider.  It is important if you are trying to teach someone how to develop their psychological and spiritual then it is important to be developing your own as well.  Unless you have been to a place whether it be a physical place like a different country or an emotional place you cannot tell another person how to get around in that place unless you are familiar with it. 

In order to help your clients you should not only teach them the exercises but also do them with them and take the time to get their feedback as to what works for them and what they need to work on.  This is not only true for emotional and spiritual journeys but physical ones as well.  If you are trying to help someone to become physically fit you should be physically fit as well. 

The bottom line is be a good role model.

Meeting Asciepius

I am going to do Unit 7 in 2 parts. 

I did the exercise and I must admit that this was one of those I had trouble focusing.  I tried to picture my grandfather who died close to 20 years ago.  Just like the other exercise where we were picturing people in our lives, I cannot just keep one thing in my mind.  I really like the ocean, and that is what I liked most about the last one as well.  I had trouble picturing the light and transferring it, I just can't get focused enough.  I did not feel any different when I was done than when I  started. 

I hope as more time I will be able to incorporate some meditation into my life, but I think the kind that I like best are the ones that help you clear your mind and not think of anything or anyone.  Right now because things are so busy that I need mind clearing.  These exercises have definitely shown me what I am missing in my life and how much I do need to find time for meditation, so even if I haven't reaped any benefits immediately at least I have learned what I need to do in the future.

Integral Assessment

After doing the Integral Assessment I realized even more that what I need to work on is my psychospiritual aspect.  I still have my belief system in place and know that there is a power greater than me and I believe that everything we need is already here, we just have to be open to it. I just have not given myself enough time to really sit down and allow that calm into my life. 


I know that I need to get back into my exercise and Pilates routine and I should add yoga.  I also need to find some more quiet time and start reading for pleasure again.  I have not read a book for pleasure in a long time and I cannot wait to have time to do that again.  I keep saying when I am done school I will have time for all of this, but you know that nature abhors a vacuum, so if I am not careful I will be sucked up by something.

The Universal Loving Kindness Exercise is an exercise that I should incorporate more often.  I get so wrapped up in the stuff I am dealing with that I do tend to forget that there are others who are dealing with far more. Especially this time of year this is a good one to remember.

Happy Holidays to all and a Blessed New Year!

Subtle Mind

This exercise is the sort of exercise I would enjoy more if I ever get the time to do meditation like I should.  I found that just focusing on breathing along with the calming sounds was much easier than having to think of certain images and focus on that.   It is difficult for me to keep my mind still so any type of practice that I do will take just that, practice, but I do know that taking time to focus on yourself and nothing else is beneficial to your overall health.

 I know that there is a connection between spiritual wellness and physical wellness.  I just know that when I under stress I can feel my body react to it.  I used to be much better at handling stress than I am now.  I don't know if it just me getting older or am I under more stress than I ever was before? Either way I really need to find time to do exercises like this.  I am sure it would help me sleep better at night which would go a long way to obtaining spiritual wellness.