1. Review your unit 3 personal assessment of your psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reflect on these areas . How did you score yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 in unit 3? How do you score yourself now? Has the score changed? Why or why not?
PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
From Unit 3, I rated myself at a 7. For Unit 10, I have raised it to an 8 because I feel better about my physical activity, but I am not at a 10 because I still have my eating habits to work on.
SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING
In Unit 3, I rated my spiritual well-being at a 6. Because of learning how to connect with my innerself in this class, for Unit 10 I have raised it to an 8. I feel more connected with the universe and with God. I still have much improvement on saying more fervent prayers and giving gratitude to the Lord.
PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING
In Unit 3, I rated my psychological well-being at a 6 also, but I have learned to heal from the inside out and have been able to take myself off medication that made me feel depressed. I now have control of my emotions and rate myself in Unit 10 at a 9.
2. Review the goals and activities you set for yourself in each area. Have you made progress toward the goals? Explain.
PHYSICAL
Unit 3: My physical goals are to improve my stamina, strength, flexibility, and balance, and improve my diet.
Unit 10: I have definitely improved my physical wellbeing with my exercise, but I still need to improve my commitment of healthy eating habits.
SPIRITUAL
Unit 3: For my spiritual well-being, I will increase my faith and meekness.
Unit 10: I have definitely had to increase my faith with life challenges that have happened, and I feel that I have become meeker.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Unit 3: My psychological goal is to reduce my stress.
Unit 10: Ha Ha Ha, how does one reduce stress? I have learned that when I have let go of one thing that stresses me out, I have more focus on another. I have been able to handle my stressors better, so they don’t affect me as much.
3. Have you implemented the activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain.
PHYSICAL
Unit 3: To improve my stamina, I will run 2 miles every day. To increase my strength and balance, I will exercise to my Insanity DVD Monday through Saturday. To increase my flexibility, I will stretch for ten minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night. To help me with my diet, I will use my account at MyPyramid Tracker to help with tracking the balance of my meals. This will insure that get all that I need nutritionally. I will also implement the Lemonade Diet the first weekend of every month to help cleanse my body.
Unit 10: My goals in this area changed greatly. Because of time and moving, I didn't run everyday, but I did aerobics 5 days a week. I failed at using MyPyramid to keep track of my eating and calories.
SPIRITUAL
Unit 3: To reach my spiritual goal of increasing my faith, I will pray more diligent and more frequently. I will include a family prayer where I can help my children feel safer and increase their faith as well. I will also feast more in the Lord’s scriptures and listen or read other uplifting music, talks, books, and magazines. To help me become meeker, I will use a calmer voice to talk to my kids when I get frustrated with them. I will use the practices I learned from my Parenting with Love and Logic class.
Unit 10: I have done well in implementing these activities in bringing and keeping the Spirit in my home.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Unit 3: For reducing my stress, I will prioritize my activities and get rid of those that are unnecessary and waste my time. I will use time management to get my school work done early in the day so I can give my husband and children my undivided attention in the evenings. Also by using the deep breathing technique, I will learn to breathe through my frustrations and take the time to really assess my thoughts and actions.
Unit 10: I buckled down and was able to achieve time management and feel less stressed in the evenings. Things are much quieter and lovely when there is peace. The peace I have learned starts with me; If mom ain't happy, no one's happy"
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 really feel that this class has steered me in the health and wellness profession I want to work in. I have a great desire to help others to feel connected with their inner self so that they can heal and get over anything troubling them. This class has helped me to find myself, so now that I have done that, I will be able to help others do the same. The things we have learned have taught me that being a wellness coach does not have to be black and white, there are many aspects to healing and many resources available. I can use more than one aspect to help someone heal, but we have to identify where the problem generates; physical, emotional, or chemical. I am grateful that I was able to learn how to use spiritual healing because that is very important to me and in my life.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Unit 9: Personal Application of the Aspects of Healing
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?
Reflecting on the saying, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” (Schlitz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2005, p 477), I believe a true teacher has gone through them self what they are teaching. It’s easy to tell someone you are sorry for what they are going through, but when you have actually been to that level yourself, compassion and love come into play. I feel this does apply to the health and wellness profession. By practicing the mindfulness and meditation exercises learned from this class, I can actually help people know what to expect and feel because I have practiced them myself. I will be able to recognize better what they are feeling and help them know what step to take next. An example of me teaching what I have done myself and believe in is through the products I take from Herbalife. I had to learn about the products before I could help others know what they need. Also by taking the products myself I have developed a testimony of their healing attributes. Because of this testimony, passion is developed and others will be drawn to what I know and have and want to know and have what I have. By developing my physical, psychological, and spiritual growth in my personal life I will be a better health and wellness coach. Life is developed in a circle; we are constantly bettering ourselves in every way. We never reach perfection because we are always learning and growing. Life circumstances change us as well, so we have to change our outlook and practices to fit our needs. When we are developing ourselves personally, we are then able to reach out to others and help them fit their treatments with their current life circumstances.
I have a goal to be in true connection in mind, body, and spirit. After we have accomplished the ability to know how our bodies physically work, and what works for our body, we then can move onto the development of the mind. Mental wellness focuses on is being able to have a still, calm-abiding consciousness and a unity of consciousness. When the unity of consciousness taps into the higher consciousness, deeper realms of our biological and mental abilities are then connected to the spiritual capacity. “An ease and lightness enter our life and cleanse our mind and body. In this manner, biological development progressively extends our ability to prevent mental distress and physical illness, enhances recovery from disease, and promotes integral health, happiness, and wholeness” (Dacher, 2006, p 86).
Once I am able to connect mind/body practices to achieve a higher consciousness, I will be able to cleanse all negativity and self-centeredness from myself. Once I allow myself to be approachable by the light of spirituality, my higher consciousness will help me feel connected to God and all that He has created. I know that I have felt the feelings described by Dacher, “weightlessness, the ability to be in more than one location at the same time, extrasensory capacities, luminous bodies, super –vitality and movement, intuitive experience, transcendence, transformation, resurrection, and mystical ecstasy” (2006, pp 85-86). These experiences were felt when I was in deep meditation, prayer, or listening to others describe testimonies of spiritual experiences. These are feelings that are desired and needed often. When we can feel these often, we then can have the connectedness to our Creator.
II Assessment:
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?
PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
I rate my physical well-being at 7 out of 10 right now. I exercise 5 days a week, and am in better shape than I have been in a long time, but I haven’t quite mastered the mental aspect of it. I still lose motivation in exercising, and allow other things to interfere. I feel that I lose a few points because I don’t have control over my eating habits yet. I haven’t found what direction of food is right for me yet. I know how I feel after eating some foods, but I don’t get rid of those that make me feel ill. I have tried many things like the Eat Right for Your Type, omitting sugar and even omitting dairy.
SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING
I rate my spiritual well-being at a 6. I have neglected my spirituality greatly. I have been focusing more on my physical and psychological more, and I have felt the great imbalance in my life. I know that when I start to put my spiritual well-being first, my family life, school life, and worldly relationships will be more balanced.
PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING
I rate my psychological well-being at a 6 also. I allow negative thoughts and feelings interfere with my life, which in turn, creates a negative person in me. I let past emotions and experiences still affect my life now. Letting go and moving on should help me foster positive feelings and begin to heal.
III Goal development:
List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.
PHYSICAL
My physical goals are to improve my stamina, strength, flexibility, and balance, and improve my diet.
SPIRITUAL
For my spiritual well-being, I will increase my faith and meekness.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
My psychological goal is to reduce my stress.
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.
PHYSICAL
To improve my stamina, I will run 2 miles every day. To increase my strength and balance, I will exercise to my Insanity DVD Monday through Saturday. To increase my flexibility, I will stretch for ten minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night. To help me with my diet, I will use my account at MyPyramid.gov to help with tracking the balance of my meals. This will insure that get all that I need nutritionally.
SPIRITUAL
To reach my spiritual goal of increasing my faith, I will pray more diligent and more frequently. I will include a family prayer where I can help my children feel safer and increase their faith as well. I will also feast more in the Lord’s scriptures and listen or read other uplifting music, talks, books, and magazines. To help me become meeker, I will use a calmer voice to talk to my kids when I get frustrated with them. I will use the practices I learned from my Parenting with Love and Logic class.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
For reducing my stress, I will prioritize my activities and get rid of those that are unnecessary and waste my time. I will use time management to get my school work done early in the day so I can give my husband and children my undivided attention in the evenings. Also by using the deep breathing technique, I will learn to breathe through my frustrations and take the time to really assess my thoughts and actions.
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?
When we take our goals through the complete Integral Assessment, we learn to prioritize and organize our goals. When we take the goal through with the assessment, we learn to follow through and see it to the end. When we do this, we will feel an accomplishment and satisfaction. The assessment steps are;
• Begin with a still and silent mind
• Focus on the four quadrants
• Take inventory of the four aspects and choose which needs attention
• Identify specific lines of development that need the work
• Set a plan in motion to help balance the problem
• Live the plan and development
Also living up to your goal will help you continue to change your life and maintain the new lifestyle change. I’ve learned that by giving excuses, there will be no healing. Without this personal healing, there will not be a unity in mind, body, and spirit.
To help me maintain my long-term practices for health and wellness I have chosen to take the four aspects and divide them up in each month. Each week I will focus on a different aspect and help my life become balanced. I think by focusing on each aspect will help me assess my weakest areas and discover my strongest. For example, week one could be to strengthen my Psychospiritual aspect in particularly my emotional line of development. With my daily added stressors of being a wife, mother, and student, keeping my house tip top shape to show at any given moment so that it will sell, and packing to move 1700 miles and across 3. I have felt that my “uncontrolled desires, anger, fear, and other reactive emotions” have taken over (Dacher, 2006, p 108). I have become too emotional and am too quick to react. This has caused me great sorrow and pain for myself and for my family. Assessing myself after practicing the Loving Kindness exercise has made me realize that love is more powerful than any other emotion. With loving-kindness, all negativity will disappear.
Loving-kindness is the exercise that I will implement to help with this assessment. I feel that if I always remember to use kind, gentle, loving words and actions, I will become more calm and meek. I took a great 6-week class a year ago called Parenting with Love and Logic. It was hard work, but I felt that my kids and I were connecting more often, and I was yelling less often. I will again start implementing the exercises that I learned from that class.
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., and Micozzi, M. (2005). Consciousness & Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingston Publications.
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?
Reflecting on the saying, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” (Schlitz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2005, p 477), I believe a true teacher has gone through them self what they are teaching. It’s easy to tell someone you are sorry for what they are going through, but when you have actually been to that level yourself, compassion and love come into play. I feel this does apply to the health and wellness profession. By practicing the mindfulness and meditation exercises learned from this class, I can actually help people know what to expect and feel because I have practiced them myself. I will be able to recognize better what they are feeling and help them know what step to take next. An example of me teaching what I have done myself and believe in is through the products I take from Herbalife. I had to learn about the products before I could help others know what they need. Also by taking the products myself I have developed a testimony of their healing attributes. Because of this testimony, passion is developed and others will be drawn to what I know and have and want to know and have what I have. By developing my physical, psychological, and spiritual growth in my personal life I will be a better health and wellness coach. Life is developed in a circle; we are constantly bettering ourselves in every way. We never reach perfection because we are always learning and growing. Life circumstances change us as well, so we have to change our outlook and practices to fit our needs. When we are developing ourselves personally, we are then able to reach out to others and help them fit their treatments with their current life circumstances.
I have a goal to be in true connection in mind, body, and spirit. After we have accomplished the ability to know how our bodies physically work, and what works for our body, we then can move onto the development of the mind. Mental wellness focuses on is being able to have a still, calm-abiding consciousness and a unity of consciousness. When the unity of consciousness taps into the higher consciousness, deeper realms of our biological and mental abilities are then connected to the spiritual capacity. “An ease and lightness enter our life and cleanse our mind and body. In this manner, biological development progressively extends our ability to prevent mental distress and physical illness, enhances recovery from disease, and promotes integral health, happiness, and wholeness” (Dacher, 2006, p 86).
Once I am able to connect mind/body practices to achieve a higher consciousness, I will be able to cleanse all negativity and self-centeredness from myself. Once I allow myself to be approachable by the light of spirituality, my higher consciousness will help me feel connected to God and all that He has created. I know that I have felt the feelings described by Dacher, “weightlessness, the ability to be in more than one location at the same time, extrasensory capacities, luminous bodies, super –vitality and movement, intuitive experience, transcendence, transformation, resurrection, and mystical ecstasy” (2006, pp 85-86). These experiences were felt when I was in deep meditation, prayer, or listening to others describe testimonies of spiritual experiences. These are feelings that are desired and needed often. When we can feel these often, we then can have the connectedness to our Creator.
II Assessment:
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?
PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
I rate my physical well-being at 7 out of 10 right now. I exercise 5 days a week, and am in better shape than I have been in a long time, but I haven’t quite mastered the mental aspect of it. I still lose motivation in exercising, and allow other things to interfere. I feel that I lose a few points because I don’t have control over my eating habits yet. I haven’t found what direction of food is right for me yet. I know how I feel after eating some foods, but I don’t get rid of those that make me feel ill. I have tried many things like the Eat Right for Your Type, omitting sugar and even omitting dairy.
SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING
I rate my spiritual well-being at a 6. I have neglected my spirituality greatly. I have been focusing more on my physical and psychological more, and I have felt the great imbalance in my life. I know that when I start to put my spiritual well-being first, my family life, school life, and worldly relationships will be more balanced.
PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING
I rate my psychological well-being at a 6 also. I allow negative thoughts and feelings interfere with my life, which in turn, creates a negative person in me. I let past emotions and experiences still affect my life now. Letting go and moving on should help me foster positive feelings and begin to heal.
III Goal development:
List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.
PHYSICAL
My physical goals are to improve my stamina, strength, flexibility, and balance, and improve my diet.
SPIRITUAL
For my spiritual well-being, I will increase my faith and meekness.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
My psychological goal is to reduce my stress.
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.
PHYSICAL
To improve my stamina, I will run 2 miles every day. To increase my strength and balance, I will exercise to my Insanity DVD Monday through Saturday. To increase my flexibility, I will stretch for ten minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night. To help me with my diet, I will use my account at MyPyramid.gov to help with tracking the balance of my meals. This will insure that get all that I need nutritionally.
SPIRITUAL
To reach my spiritual goal of increasing my faith, I will pray more diligent and more frequently. I will include a family prayer where I can help my children feel safer and increase their faith as well. I will also feast more in the Lord’s scriptures and listen or read other uplifting music, talks, books, and magazines. To help me become meeker, I will use a calmer voice to talk to my kids when I get frustrated with them. I will use the practices I learned from my Parenting with Love and Logic class.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
For reducing my stress, I will prioritize my activities and get rid of those that are unnecessary and waste my time. I will use time management to get my school work done early in the day so I can give my husband and children my undivided attention in the evenings. Also by using the deep breathing technique, I will learn to breathe through my frustrations and take the time to really assess my thoughts and actions.
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?
When we take our goals through the complete Integral Assessment, we learn to prioritize and organize our goals. When we take the goal through with the assessment, we learn to follow through and see it to the end. When we do this, we will feel an accomplishment and satisfaction. The assessment steps are;
• Begin with a still and silent mind
• Focus on the four quadrants
• Take inventory of the four aspects and choose which needs attention
• Identify specific lines of development that need the work
• Set a plan in motion to help balance the problem
• Live the plan and development
Also living up to your goal will help you continue to change your life and maintain the new lifestyle change. I’ve learned that by giving excuses, there will be no healing. Without this personal healing, there will not be a unity in mind, body, and spirit.
To help me maintain my long-term practices for health and wellness I have chosen to take the four aspects and divide them up in each month. Each week I will focus on a different aspect and help my life become balanced. I think by focusing on each aspect will help me assess my weakest areas and discover my strongest. For example, week one could be to strengthen my Psychospiritual aspect in particularly my emotional line of development. With my daily added stressors of being a wife, mother, and student, keeping my house tip top shape to show at any given moment so that it will sell, and packing to move 1700 miles and across 3. I have felt that my “uncontrolled desires, anger, fear, and other reactive emotions” have taken over (Dacher, 2006, p 108). I have become too emotional and am too quick to react. This has caused me great sorrow and pain for myself and for my family. Assessing myself after practicing the Loving Kindness exercise has made me realize that love is more powerful than any other emotion. With loving-kindness, all negativity will disappear.
Loving-kindness is the exercise that I will implement to help with this assessment. I feel that if I always remember to use kind, gentle, loving words and actions, I will become more calm and meek. I took a great 6-week class a year ago called Parenting with Love and Logic. It was hard work, but I felt that my kids and I were connecting more often, and I was yelling less often. I will again start implementing the exercises that I learned from that class.
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., and Micozzi, M. (2005). Consciousness & Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingston Publications.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Unit 8 Reflection
The two practices that I have determined to be most beneficial are the Loving Kindness and the Rainbow Meditation. The Loving Kindness exercise helps a person to stop being selfish and focus on love. When we are capable to love others, we then in turn feel loved. When we feel loved and are able to give love, nothing else seems to matter. We feel safe, peaceful, and full. The Rainbow Meditation is important to me because it helps the mind and body to be relaxed, and this exercise brings positive phrases and affirmations to the person. These specific phrases and affirmations help the listener focus on priorities, and putting them into perspective. The phrases and affirmations will also help the listener to gain a balance and feelings of being alive and loving it.
These two exercises implement self control, and when we are able to control our thoughts, actions, and feelings, we will have mental fitness. To implement them in our daily lives, we must first desire them to help us heal.
* The Loving Kindness exercise can be done any time of the day, especially in the times when we need to feel calm. Put yourself in time out and have controlled breathing while you go through this exercise. Forget about the negativity in your life and focus on one or two positive things that you love. Let go of hate and embrace love of yourself and for others. Give yourself time to do an activity that you love and makes you feel good and refreshed. When we feel refreshed, we are able to give back. Dacher says, "We cannot give to others what does not yet exist within ourselves. So we must turn this loving-kindness inward. Next, we show it to those who are closest to us. We practice opening our hearts with kindness, care, patience, and generosity toward their needs" (2006).
* In the Rainbow Mediation, the outcome is feeling wholeness within. During this exercise there is reflection on; feeling grounded, feeling centered, feeling loved, choosing to love, feeling a meaningful purpose of life, feeling balanced, and feeling connected with the universe. When you can feel complete love and understanding of the inner self, you are more likely to love yourself and then others. If you have a hard time focusing mentally with this exercise, I recommend finding a beautiful picture of a rainbow to help guide you visually through this exercise. Another great tool from this exercise is to post the phrases and affirmations around the house to help see them daily and to help keep you motivated and uplifted in your thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
These two exercises implement self control, and when we are able to control our thoughts, actions, and feelings, we will have mental fitness. To implement them in our daily lives, we must first desire them to help us heal.
* The Loving Kindness exercise can be done any time of the day, especially in the times when we need to feel calm. Put yourself in time out and have controlled breathing while you go through this exercise. Forget about the negativity in your life and focus on one or two positive things that you love. Let go of hate and embrace love of yourself and for others. Give yourself time to do an activity that you love and makes you feel good and refreshed. When we feel refreshed, we are able to give back. Dacher says, "We cannot give to others what does not yet exist within ourselves. So we must turn this loving-kindness inward. Next, we show it to those who are closest to us. We practice opening our hearts with kindness, care, patience, and generosity toward their needs" (2006).
* In the Rainbow Mediation, the outcome is feeling wholeness within. During this exercise there is reflection on; feeling grounded, feeling centered, feeling loved, choosing to love, feeling a meaningful purpose of life, feeling balanced, and feeling connected with the universe. When you can feel complete love and understanding of the inner self, you are more likely to love yourself and then others. If you have a hard time focusing mentally with this exercise, I recommend finding a beautiful picture of a rainbow to help guide you visually through this exercise. Another great tool from this exercise is to post the phrases and affirmations around the house to help see them daily and to help keep you motivated and uplifted in your thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Unit 7 Reflective Journal
1. Complete the "Meeting Asciepius" exercise on track #4 of the Dacher CD. Describe your meditative practice(s) 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 finally able to sit through this exercise and really focus. I enjoyed spending some time with my grandfather that passed away 13 years ago. He always had a lesson to teach me about health, life, finance, and freedom. He was a strong leader that demonstrated wisdom and compassion.
If it is easy to experience a meditative state with my grandfather, then I should be able to do the same with God. He is the light, the love, the healer. By continuing in mindfulness prayer with my Heavenly Father, then I will be able to find the wisdom and healing that is most needed in my life. No matter what life throws at us, we can get through it because; If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
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? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?
I believe a true teacher has gone through them self what they are teaching. It’s easy to tell someone you are sorry for what they are going through, but when you have actually been to that level yourself, compassion and love come into play. I feel this does apply to the health and wellness profession. In doing these mindfulness and meditation exercises in this class, I can actually help people know what to expect and feel because I have practiced them myself. I will be able to recognize better what they are feeling and help them know what step to take next. I have been involved with Herbalife now for over ten years. I cannot help others know what they need without knowing what the products do. By taking the products myself I develop a testimony of their healing attributes. Because of this testimony, passion is developed and others will be drawn to what I know and have and want to know and have what I have.
Developing psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life will only make me be a better health and wellness coach. Life is developed in a circle; we are constantly bettering ourselves in every way. We never reach perfection because we are always learning and growing. Life circumstances change us as well, so we have to change our outlook and practices to fit our needs.
I was finally able to sit through this exercise and really focus. I enjoyed spending some time with my grandfather that passed away 13 years ago. He always had a lesson to teach me about health, life, finance, and freedom. He was a strong leader that demonstrated wisdom and compassion.
If it is easy to experience a meditative state with my grandfather, then I should be able to do the same with God. He is the light, the love, the healer. By continuing in mindfulness prayer with my Heavenly Father, then I will be able to find the wisdom and healing that is most needed in my life. No matter what life throws at us, we can get through it because; If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
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? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?
I believe a true teacher has gone through them self what they are teaching. It’s easy to tell someone you are sorry for what they are going through, but when you have actually been to that level yourself, compassion and love come into play. I feel this does apply to the health and wellness profession. In doing these mindfulness and meditation exercises in this class, I can actually help people know what to expect and feel because I have practiced them myself. I will be able to recognize better what they are feeling and help them know what step to take next. I have been involved with Herbalife now for over ten years. I cannot help others know what they need without knowing what the products do. By taking the products myself I develop a testimony of their healing attributes. Because of this testimony, passion is developed and others will be drawn to what I know and have and want to know and have what I have.
Developing psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life will only make me be a better health and wellness coach. Life is developed in a circle; we are constantly bettering ourselves in every way. We never reach perfection because we are always learning and growing. Life circumstances change us as well, so we have to change our outlook and practices to fit our needs.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Unit 6 Journal
1. Practice the universal Loving Kindness (meditation) exercise on p. 93.
This exercise is great. It helped me to feel the full capacity of love that I should be exercising. This pure love also is how Christ lived on this earth.
2. Complete the Integral Assessment discussed in chapter 11 (p.115).
• Begin with a still and silent mind
• Focus on the four quadrants
• Take inventory of the four aspects and choose which needs attention
• Identify specific lines of development that need the work
• Set a plan in motion to help balance the problem
• Live the plan and development
3. 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?
This exercise for me wasn’t easy. I tried to give myself excuses as to why I am the way I am. I’ve learned that by giving excuses, there will be no healing. Without this personal healing, there will not be a unity in mind, body, and spirit.
I have chosen to take the four aspects and divide them up in each month. Each week I will focus on a different aspect and help my life become balanced. I think by focusing on each aspect will help me assess my weakest areas and discover my strongest. For this week I am choosing to strengthen my Psychospiritual aspect in particularly my emotional line of development. With my daily added stressors of being a wife, mother, and student, keeping my house tip top shape to show at any given moment so that it will sell, and packing to move 1700 miles and across 3 states in less than 30 days. I have felt that my “uncontrolled desires, anger, fear, and other reactive emotions” have taken over (Dacher, 2006, p 108). I have become too emotional and am too quick to react. This has caused me great sorrow and pain for myself and for my family. Assessing myself after practicing the Loving Kindness exercise has made me realize that love is more powerful than any other emotion. With loving-kindness, all negativity will disappear.
Loving-kindness is the exercise that I will implement to help with this assessment. I feel that if I always remember to use kind, gentle, loving words and actions, I will become more calm and meek. I took a great 6-week class a year ago called Parenting with Love and Logic. It was hard work, but I felt that my kids and I were connecting more often, and I was yelling less often. I will again start implementing the exercises that I learned from that class.
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
This exercise is great. It helped me to feel the full capacity of love that I should be exercising. This pure love also is how Christ lived on this earth.
2. Complete the Integral Assessment discussed in chapter 11 (p.115).
• Begin with a still and silent mind
• Focus on the four quadrants
• Take inventory of the four aspects and choose which needs attention
• Identify specific lines of development that need the work
• Set a plan in motion to help balance the problem
• Live the plan and development
3. 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?
This exercise for me wasn’t easy. I tried to give myself excuses as to why I am the way I am. I’ve learned that by giving excuses, there will be no healing. Without this personal healing, there will not be a unity in mind, body, and spirit.
I have chosen to take the four aspects and divide them up in each month. Each week I will focus on a different aspect and help my life become balanced. I think by focusing on each aspect will help me assess my weakest areas and discover my strongest. For this week I am choosing to strengthen my Psychospiritual aspect in particularly my emotional line of development. With my daily added stressors of being a wife, mother, and student, keeping my house tip top shape to show at any given moment so that it will sell, and packing to move 1700 miles and across 3 states in less than 30 days. I have felt that my “uncontrolled desires, anger, fear, and other reactive emotions” have taken over (Dacher, 2006, p 108). I have become too emotional and am too quick to react. This has caused me great sorrow and pain for myself and for my family. Assessing myself after practicing the Loving Kindness exercise has made me realize that love is more powerful than any other emotion. With loving-kindness, all negativity will disappear.
Loving-kindness is the exercise that I will implement to help with this assessment. I feel that if I always remember to use kind, gentle, loving words and actions, I will become more calm and meek. I took a great 6-week class a year ago called Parenting with Love and Logic. It was hard work, but I felt that my kids and I were connecting more often, and I was yelling less often. I will again start implementing the exercises that I learned from that class.
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Unit 5 Journal: The Subtle Mind and Spiritual Wellness
1. Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle Mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.
The Loving-Kindness exercise was more of a mental work out, where the Subtle Mind exercise was a mental relaxation. Both exercises are meant for the person doing them to focus and take control of their thoughts, actions, and feelings. Through the Loving-Kindness, my thoughts and feelings were guided into a more pleasant state. I was able to grasp onto the loving-kindness that I have for myself and for others. Dacher teaches that by consistently continuing with the Loving-Kindness exercise, I will gradually diminish self-centeredness that will prime my mind for further development (2006, p 65). Through the Subtle Mind exercise, my thoughts and feelings were controlled in the sense that I was able to focus on my inner self and stop all unnecessary mental chatter.
The Loving-Kindness exercise was easy for me to do. I was simple and I achieved a light and happy feeling when done. The Subtle Mind exercise was a little harder for me. I guess for being the first time doing the exercise, I was a little annoyed at the length of the exercise. Dacher does explain that it will need to be a daily practice and “it will evolve over time” and I must exercise patience for progression, and “regardless of your efforts, you may lose your focus many times in each session” (2006, pp 75-76). I did enjoy that it was a breathing exercise and that having breath at all times, I can do this exercise anywhere.
2. Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.
After we have accomplished the ability to know how our bodies physically work, and what works for our body, we then can move onto the development of the mind. Mental wellness focuses on is being able to have a still, calm-abiding consciousness and a unity of consciousness. When the unity of consciousness taps into the higher consciousness, deeper realms of our biological and mental abilities are then connected to the spiritual capacity. “An ease and lightness enter our life and cleanse our mind and body. In this manner, biological development progressively extends our ability to prevent mental distress and physical illness, enhances recovery from disease, and promotes integral health, happiness, and wholeness” (Dacher, 2006, p 86).
Once I am able to connect mind/body practices to achieve a higher consciousness, I will be able to cleanse all negativity and self-centeredness from myself. Once I allow myself to be approachable by the light of spirituality, my higher consciousness will help me feel connected to God and all that He has created. I know that I have felt the feelings described by Dacher, “weightlessness, the ability to be in more than one location at the same time, extrasensory capacities, luminous bodies, super –vitality and movement, intuitive experience, transcendence, transformation, resurrection, and mystical ecstasy” (2006, pp 85-86). These experiences were felt when I was in deep meditation, prayer, or listening to others describe testimonies of spiritual experiences. These are feelings that are desired and needed often. When we can feel these often, we then can have the connectedness to our Creator.
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
The Loving-Kindness exercise was more of a mental work out, where the Subtle Mind exercise was a mental relaxation. Both exercises are meant for the person doing them to focus and take control of their thoughts, actions, and feelings. Through the Loving-Kindness, my thoughts and feelings were guided into a more pleasant state. I was able to grasp onto the loving-kindness that I have for myself and for others. Dacher teaches that by consistently continuing with the Loving-Kindness exercise, I will gradually diminish self-centeredness that will prime my mind for further development (2006, p 65). Through the Subtle Mind exercise, my thoughts and feelings were controlled in the sense that I was able to focus on my inner self and stop all unnecessary mental chatter.
The Loving-Kindness exercise was easy for me to do. I was simple and I achieved a light and happy feeling when done. The Subtle Mind exercise was a little harder for me. I guess for being the first time doing the exercise, I was a little annoyed at the length of the exercise. Dacher does explain that it will need to be a daily practice and “it will evolve over time” and I must exercise patience for progression, and “regardless of your efforts, you may lose your focus many times in each session” (2006, pp 75-76). I did enjoy that it was a breathing exercise and that having breath at all times, I can do this exercise anywhere.
2. Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.
After we have accomplished the ability to know how our bodies physically work, and what works for our body, we then can move onto the development of the mind. Mental wellness focuses on is being able to have a still, calm-abiding consciousness and a unity of consciousness. When the unity of consciousness taps into the higher consciousness, deeper realms of our biological and mental abilities are then connected to the spiritual capacity. “An ease and lightness enter our life and cleanse our mind and body. In this manner, biological development progressively extends our ability to prevent mental distress and physical illness, enhances recovery from disease, and promotes integral health, happiness, and wholeness” (Dacher, 2006, p 86).
Once I am able to connect mind/body practices to achieve a higher consciousness, I will be able to cleanse all negativity and self-centeredness from myself. Once I allow myself to be approachable by the light of spirituality, my higher consciousness will help me feel connected to God and all that He has created. I know that I have felt the feelings described by Dacher, “weightlessness, the ability to be in more than one location at the same time, extrasensory capacities, luminous bodies, super –vitality and movement, intuitive experience, transcendence, transformation, resurrection, and mystical ecstasy” (2006, pp 85-86). These experiences were felt when I was in deep meditation, prayer, or listening to others describe testimonies of spiritual experiences. These are feelings that are desired and needed often. When we can feel these often, we then can have the connectedness to our Creator.
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Unit 4 Journal
Loving Kindness
I really enjoyed doing the Loving Kindness exercise. It allowed me to really feel the deep love I have for others and for myself that I haven’t felt in a long time. I found it beneficial to open my heart up and feel those feelings, even for those suffering and to those that I have negative feeling toward. We as humans have a natural ability to love and love well when we allow ourselves to. For emotional and spiritual health, we have to exercise/give our love just like we exercise our body for optimal physical health. I believe in Dacher’s words, “loving-kindness attracts loving kindness” (2006, p 65). When we use the fullness of our hearts to give to others, it will get refilled by receiving love in return.
The loving kindness exercise is very easy, and it will only get easier the more it is practiced. It is an exercise definitely needed by all. For our psychospiritual health to flourish, we must follow the council and commandment given to us in John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
Mental Workout
Just like everything else, psychological health needs persistent effort. For the mental workout, contemplative practice is implemented; loving-kindness and the addressing the levels of the subtle mind. Research indicates that benefits of the Mental Work Out “help us to tame and train the mind, open the heart, expand consciousness, and progress us toward psychospiritual flourishing. They introduce us to the two wings of integral health—loving-kindness and wisdom” (Dacher, 2006, p 66).
To implement mental workouts to foster my psychological health I will open my heart to others. I will start within my family until I am comfortable to spread out to friends, and then search out those that are in need. I feel it also necessary to address taming my busy mind. When I can simplify my thoughts, in turn, my actions will also be simplified. With this new simplified life, I will more enjoy this journey called life, and then I can help others feel joy in their journey.
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
I really enjoyed doing the Loving Kindness exercise. It allowed me to really feel the deep love I have for others and for myself that I haven’t felt in a long time. I found it beneficial to open my heart up and feel those feelings, even for those suffering and to those that I have negative feeling toward. We as humans have a natural ability to love and love well when we allow ourselves to. For emotional and spiritual health, we have to exercise/give our love just like we exercise our body for optimal physical health. I believe in Dacher’s words, “loving-kindness attracts loving kindness” (2006, p 65). When we use the fullness of our hearts to give to others, it will get refilled by receiving love in return.
The loving kindness exercise is very easy, and it will only get easier the more it is practiced. It is an exercise definitely needed by all. For our psychospiritual health to flourish, we must follow the council and commandment given to us in John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
Mental Workout
Just like everything else, psychological health needs persistent effort. For the mental workout, contemplative practice is implemented; loving-kindness and the addressing the levels of the subtle mind. Research indicates that benefits of the Mental Work Out “help us to tame and train the mind, open the heart, expand consciousness, and progress us toward psychospiritual flourishing. They introduce us to the two wings of integral health—loving-kindness and wisdom” (Dacher, 2006, p 66).
To implement mental workouts to foster my psychological health I will open my heart to others. I will start within my family until I am comfortable to spread out to friends, and then search out those that are in need. I feel it also necessary to address taming my busy mind. When I can simplify my thoughts, in turn, my actions will also be simplified. With this new simplified life, I will more enjoy this journey called life, and then I can help others feel joy in their journey.
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
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