Unit 10: Final Post For Class

I have seen some great changes in my life as I most toward health, however, I have a long way to go.  I rated myself a 6 in physical health in Unit 3 and continue to feel that I am at a 6.  I have found a workout buddy that helps motivate me to continue working out and I still plan on doing runs.  Once again, I have found buddies to do it with.  Having someone else to answer to is also great for motivation.  Psychologically I have made great strides.  I have moved from a 5 to a 6.  I am de-stressing and also trying to live in the moment.  Meditation has helped greatly to put things into perspective and I continue to give thanks and have gratitude every day.  Spiritually, I am still at an 8 and very happy for it.  When my schedule regulates, I plan on going to church regularly.  I want to continue to study works on integral health and would like to take a trip to one of the retreats in the near future.  I pray every day which helps me feel connected to God and the universe.  I'm trying to live my life focused more on love and kindness, gratitude and giving.  It makes me happier as a person and I feel that I'm a better person for it. 

I have absolutely loved being in this class.  It has been life changing.  I couldn't be happier that I was allowed to get into this course.  I feel that it has changed me as a person and has changed the course of my future career for the better.  I think that I will be able to help more people for the better.  I will be forever grateful to this course for putting me on my own path to integral health.

Unit 9: Integral Health-Practitioners and Personal

INTRODUCTION:

            It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically because then they can come to help others from a more holistic place and be a centered and self-aware as possible.  It is always important to “practice what you preach”.  This question reminds me of a conversation that I had with my mother so many years ago.  My father was a counselor and she told me of a discussion they had early in their relationship where they both agreed that a person should never go to a counselor if he or she doesn’t choose to go to one him or herself.  It’s always important to believe in what you’re teaching and to live the word that you spread.  When trying to help others heal, it’s important to empathize for the struggles that they may be having and to truly understand the successes that they achieve by having gone through those things yourself as a healer.  Focusing on holistic health in mind, body and spirit is also important for a professional because then he or she can truly come to his or her patients from a place of loving kindness and can truly listen to a patient’s needs without letting a cluttered mind get in the way.

            I have already been making great strides since the beginning of this course; however, there are still many areas for improvement.  I must say that my psychological wellness is still lacking, however, it has vastly improved from just a few short weeks ago.  My physical wellness has been an area that I’m continuing to work on, however, I don’t feel that I have made as great of strides.  After looking into how I have changed and grown, this is an area that I may want to start focusing on more again.  My spiritual health is strong.  I have felt this from the beginning and I continue to work on my spiritual health with great success.  It’s helping me grow and flourish as an individual.

ASSESSMENT:

            In unit 3 of this course, we were asked to assess our status in physical health, spiritual health and in psychological health.  In week three, I rated myself a 6 in physical health, I gave an 8 for spiritual health and only a 5 for psychological health.  After revisiting my status, I have found some things to be the same while others have changed.  My physical health is still a 6 which slightly upsets me because I have been making an effort to get sleep and take time for me to work out.  With added stresses and responsibilities in my life, however, this has been hard.  I have been sleeping, but my diet has gone by the wayside a bit and I’m not running as much as I would like.  My spiritual health has remained at an 8.  I am very happy where I am spiritually, but I know that there are higher levels yet to achieve, so I will keep working toward them.  Psychologically I feel I have made great strides and have moved my level from a 5 to a 6.  I am in such a better place than I was at the beginning of the course psychologically, and this fact inspires me to improve even more.  The gains have been achieved through hard work and focus, now, I hope to keep my eye on the ball and continue to grow and find my balance in life in all aspects of my health.

GOAL DEVELOPMENT:

            Goals are always so important in life.  If we don’t have anything to reach for, then why will we ever get up and try?  I have set many goals for myself, large and small, immediate and long ranging.  Physically, I still plan on getting back into running races.  I also plan on getting back to eating the way that I want to and have been in the past.  I’d like to drop 15 to 20 lbs. which will make my running easier and get me back into the shape where I am most comfortable in my body.  Spiritually, I’d like to continue to find time to meditate.  It’s becoming harder and harder with more and more demands from both my full time job and my part time job as well as my small business with my boyfriend and being in school full time, but, even if I can spend just 15 minutes once or twice a day to center myself and put my mind into the right place, then I believe I will be just fine!  I would like to get back into going to church regularly, however, with my schedule as it is now, this will have to be a long term goal.  I would also like to take a spiritual trip either to a health and wellness vacation spot in the US or abroad.  Getting into a meditation and yoga group locally is also a goal. Psychologically, I need to continue to try to get rest.  I have been working very hard at it; however, it does still elude me quite often.  Getting sleep really affects my mood and train of thought.  The meditation can also be used to continue to put myself in the right mind frame and to quiet my mind, so this goal carries over to this aspect of my health and wellness.  I also would like to cut out several more of my stressors by the end of the year.

PRACTICES FOR PERSONAL HEALTH:

            Several of the practices that I would like to participate in cover multiple aspects of my total wellness.  I have already started walking with one of my friends in order to de-stress and to get my body moving.  I now have another friend who goes to the same gym as me and we try to encourage one another to go and hold each other accountable for not showing up if we agree to meet there.  I have two friends who have agreed to run races with me.  We have a 10K coming up in April and a 5K in May.  Social support is very important for me.  Eating well was another goal and to reach this one, I will stop eating out or just grabbing food as I go from one job to the other.  I plan on planning ahead for my meals and preparing easy, on-the-go, healthy meals for myself.  This will save me money, which is another stress and will help me mentally as well as physically, and calories.  Having a part time job at a bar/restaurant, it can be easy to allow myself to stay after shift and accept a drink from my customers.  This practice, however, is adding liquid calories to my diet that I don’t need and taking time away from being able to get other things done.  I will try to find a balance in this situation as well and set aside one day per week that I will stay out and be social with my friends after work while refocusing myself on the other days and getting other obligations done.  Spiritually, I will continue to pray and give thanks every day.  It uplifts me and puts me in a good frame of mind.  I will continue to meditate and do yoga and pilates which not only works out my mind, but also connects my mind to my body.  I also will try to act with loving-kindness which, I believe, is the way that God wants us all to act toward one another.  I hope to study under a person who has reached a higher level of enlightenment so that I too may grow.  I also plan on trying to find a way back to church, although, right now, this is going to be hard with my schedule, but that just means that I may have to make some adjustments with work in the next year.  Psychologically, I will continue to try to get rest.  I will try to organize my time better in order to do this.  I will keep putting things into perspective and will ask myself often when I am getting upset if this situation will affect me at all one year from today.  If the answer is no, then I will try to relax my mind and let it go.  I will also try to recognize when I am stressing over something when I can’t do anything about it at the time.  I will recognize it as a fact in my life and I will either act on it to make it better or I will let it go.  Meditation has already started helping me do this.

COMMITMENT:

            I feel the best way to stay committed to something is to hold yourself accountable for very specific goals and then sharing those goals and dreams with those around you.  Once you have shared the goals out loud, and people are supporting you, then it’s hard to back down from them.  Also, enlisting friends and family that may have similar goals into your own will help.  That way, you can encourage and push one another, just as I am doing with my friends with running and working out.  Making a very specific list and setting time frames in which to start checking off items on the list helps me greatly.  It organizes what I want to accomplish in my mind, breaks it down into smaller goals and makes it more manageable for me so that I don’t become overwhelmed and shut down.  Some of the best ways to achieve my goals in the long run, however, will be to sit down and decide just where my priorities lie.  First, I will make a list of what seems to be my priorities by the way that I am living today.  Then, I will write down where I want my priorities to lie.  I will then compare the two and see how close or far apart they are.  I have done this in the past and it has helped motivate me to make changes.

 Reference:

Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic

Health.

Unit 8: Favorite Practices

It's hard for me to pick just two of the practices because several of them are making their way into my every day life.  I am so much better for having taken this course and learning these tools to a better life!  I use the loving-kindess practice in the morning along with listing things, both great and small, that I am thankful for that day.  I will use the subtle mind practice during the day when I find myself harping on something that either I can't change right now or that isn't really worth worrying about at all.  I will stop, focus on the breath and try to let my thoughts come and go without allowing myself to get attached to them.  I also use this practice at night when I'm trying to fall asleep.  At night, I also use visualization.  I see myself taking the run that I plan to take the next day or working out in a different way.  It helps calm me in the moment and psych me up for the next day's activities!  My absolute favorite, however, is the happiness, wholeness and health visualization.  It brings me to such a sense of complete freedom and happiness that I have done it now a few times.  I would love to feel this way and live this way for most of my life, so I plan on focusing on that feeling when things get tough in my everyday life and take time to regroup when I'm tired or upset to remind myself of the way that life can be when I choose to let go and be happy.

I really am so thankful for this class and plan on doing more studies into integral health.  Should I choose to get my doctorate one day, I have already been working out a thesis idea based on things that I have learned in this course!

Unit 7: The Meeting

This week was a hard week for me.  I started it off not sleeping at all on Monday night and working doubles most days, so I was VERY tired and fell asleep during many of the meditations.  I did wake up very refreshed, however, so I still see this as a good way to spend my time.  I pictured a Ghandi-type older male who kept smiling (when I could actually visualize the face, for me, that part was hard).  I felt happy and peaceful with him.  When we did the different color light meditation, it was hard for me, but to picture the light coming out of my "teacher" and coming toward me, it wasn't hard at all and was uplifting.  I really liked this practice.

Has anyone figured out how to download these meditation practices to their computers?  I don't want to lose them when this class ends!

I think that the saying means that you really can't speak about something or try to guide someone into a certain practice or way of being if you're not willing to do it yourself.  You need to know what it's like, to experience the healthy balance in your own life.  Plus, being in a more enlightened state will help keep your own personal prejudices out of the picture and let loving-kindness guide you in helping others.  I want to be a nutritionist and a nutritional psychologist, using a mind, body spirit approach.  How can I expect results for my clients if I don't expect the same thing out of myself?!

Victoria

Unit 6-Evaluating priorities

I love the loving-kindness practice and see it as a prayer for all of those in the world.  Even those we don't love so much. It helped me at work.  I've been working around the clock lately with no time for myself and very little time for sleep, if any.  It has left me being quite a bit crankier with people and a bit less tolerant.  At these times, I try to remind myself of the loving-kindness.  When there are drunk people at the bar who are busting my chops and being rude and heartless, I can find myself getting resentful and angry.  I'm trying so hard to realize that some of the people in my life who are cruel and rude may really be just suffering from his or her own pain.  It isn't for me to judge them, but rather, wish them the happiness that may make them kinder to others.  Do unto others as you'd have them do to you...sort of things.

I really want to work on my psychospiritual aspect of my life.  I feel a need to focus and calm my mind and increase my awareness of God and the universe.  I want to feel the connection to a greater power.  I want to feel the peace that I used to have that came along with my spirituality.  It will help me continue to be kinder to others and keep myself moving forward toward all of my goals.  I tend to get stress, overwhelmed and stationary.  This will again carry over to my physical goals of doing the 10K with my friends.  I haven't run a race in well over a year and need to get myself back into running shape!

I plan to pray, meditate, and use mantras to keep my mind focused, open and loving.  I believe that it is important to keep reminding yourself of the way that you want to be...and continue to surround yourself with things that can help you be that way.  Finding our ways to integral health and human flourishing is in our grasps...if only we intend to get there.

Victoria

Unit 5: Subtle Mind and Loving Kindness

I am so excited about both of these practices, but for two different reasons.  During and after the loving kindness practice, I felt happy, slightly energized and excited about life.  After doing it a few times, I even felt a bit ready to bury the hatchet with some old grudges (of which I really only have about one or two...I try to not live that way).  After the subtle mind, I felt peaceful and somewhat centered.  I did have some issues during the latter, however.  Some of the times I was doing it, I would be able to really focus, while others, I would catch myself after some time drifting off to thoughts.  I am really working at not having emotional reactions or attachments to my thoughts, feelings and images.  It works sometimes, while not so much during other times.  I really enjoy both of these practices and plan on continuing them in the future.

I believe that the mind, body and spirit are all interrelated and that by increasing the health of one will absolutly increase the health of the others.  By doing some mental workouts before actually going and doing my physical work outs, I'm in a better place and I have a better result.  I also try to calm my mind and just focus on the run while I'm actually working out now.  It helps quell the panic that sometimes still arises in me from my childhood when I was very sick for a very long time and breathing had become an issue.  It helps me relax now and push through the hard parts of the workout.  I feel that, by trying to live my life without stress and with a greater focus on what's important, my spiritual side is coming back into focus.  I have always considered myself to be a spiritual person, but now I'm finding that I am excited about it again and finding peace from it again, which is absolutely amazing!

Victoria

Unit 4- Loving Kindness

I loved this exercise so much.  In the beginning, it was a little hard for me to think of a loved one and just feel that all encompassing feeling of love and kindness.  There was love, don't get me wrong, but I have gone through so much in my life with my family, that a lot of pain came along with the love.  I moved from person to person in my mind and still, there was the pain as well....til I thought of my nephew.  This beautiful little boy is the one thing in this world that I love the most. (I'm sure his new little brother will equally join him on this list when I get to meet him at the end of February)  His image came to my mind and I thought about the changes he's going through with the addition of his little brother to the family and I thought about the time I flew down to SC to take care of him for a weekend and he got a fever and was just so sick.  The feeling of wanting to wrap him in my arms and hold him and make him feel better was overwhelming.  Then, as I spread out my thoughts, I kept getting this same image of wrapping my arms around those in pain and comforting them with warmth and kindness.  Then, when I moved to those that I may have seen as my enemy, I felt the same feeling.  I knew that this one woman was so horrible to others because she was really just so miserable inside. I even wanted to help take her pain away (the fact that I had just found out about something she was going through the night before may have helped bring out my compassion, but I'm glad that I was able to feel that way regardless).  I felt almost buzzing when I was done, my arm felt heavy and I had a smile on my face.  I felt peaceful, calm and happy.  I loved it!  I have done the exercise a few times and plan on continuing it in the future.  It just makes me feel so good and it really helps reset my mind frame.

A mental workout is just that, a work out.  Just as you would work out a muscle in your body to make it look and respond as you wish it to, so must you work out your mind.  This way, your thought processes can work the way that you wish them to and you can view life in a peaceful and calm way.  Practices like the loving-kindness exercies are good "workouts" to get your mind into shape.  After time, and LOTS of practice, you can work your mind into higher and higher levels of consciousness, eventually joining the spiritual growth that you may so desire.

Victoria