Unit 10 Review

In unit 3 we were asked to do a personal assessment of our psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being.  At that time I rated my psychological well- being as 8, my physical well-being as 8, and my spiritual well-being was rated at a 6.  I feel like I have  improved in each area.  psychologically I now think I am at a 9, my physical well-being has improved from an 8 to a 9, and my spiritual well-being has improved from a 6 to a 8.  Out of all the areas I think I have improved the most spiritually, or at least it is the one that I needed the most improvement in.  Every goal that I set for each area I have accomplished.  Psychologically I didn't really set a goal but I feel I have improved in this are because of the improvement I have made physically and spiritually.  Psychologically I am in a good mental and emotional state.  I am managing stress even better than before because the techniques that I have learned from this course.   Physically I set a goal to increase my exercise regimen for 6 days a week  from 30 to 45 minutes and to eat healthier whole foods.  I have increased my exercise regimen from 30 to 45 minutes, and since I have added yoga booty ballet to my regimen some days I am exercising 60 minutes.  I have increased my food intake to whole foods and eating smaller portions more frequently.  Spiritually is where I think I have improved the most.  My goal was to spend a little bit more time in prayer and meditation.  I feel I have improved in this area, because I pray morning upon awakening and at night before going to sleep.  At these times I meditate  also.  I have implemented loving-kindness and subtle mind in each area and it have improved every aspect of my well-being.  I have improved in every area.  The main thing is that it has worked out so well with me that I feel I can continue to implement the techniqus on a daily basis.  I think the most difficult and frustrating part of the experiments was the crime of the century, because I could only see a glimmer of each color, it was hard to concentrate.  I will have to keep working on that one.  This course has helped me to be  much kinder nd patient with others.  I will continue to work on myself, so that I can pass on what I have learned to my others.

Unit 9

  Marilyn Garvin HW 420-01 Creating Wellness Unit 9 Project

I.                 Introduction:  It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop with your clients to provide the services required for them to achieve health and wellness. For myself I would like to develop on a spiritual aspect of health and wellness.  I am not where I use to be but I am still not where I want  to be in this area.

II.               Assessment:   I have assessed myself in each domain and I found that since I started this class that I have progressed a lot in each area.  I have overcome some obstacles that were holding me back.  Psychologically, I feel that I have made the most progress in this area because I learned to accept the things that I can change and those that I can ‘t change and the wisdom to know the difference.  Physically, I have a little ways to go, I am not where I want to be but I am not where I was.  I have made many changes in my diet and exercise regimen, and I seem to be  moving at a good pace toward my goal.  Spiritually I am not quite where I want to be, but thanks to this class I have acquired new ways of getting there.   

III.             Goal Development:  When setting goals I start with something I know I can accomplish, for instance when I want to lose a few pounds I start with 5 pounds per month, this is a realistic approach and something I know I can accomplish.  I try to implement this practice with everything that I am working to improve upon.  At the beginning of this class I rated my physical wellbeing at an 8, but I still have room for improvement in this area and I have already implemented some changes to improve it.  I have problems with  portion control in my diet.  I am going to try eating smaller meals more frequently.  Psychologically  I am at an 8, I have learned to manage my stress enough that it doesn’t interfere with my ability to enjoy life and participate in society.  The goal that I set for myself to try to get all of the negative thoughts out of my head and replace them with positive thoughts.  I can accomplish this by meditating and getting into the word more often.  With God all things are possible.  At the beginning of this class I rated my spiritual wellbeing a 6.  I am not where I used to be, but I am not where I need to be.  I plan to spend more time in prayer and meditation to accomplish spiritual wellbeing fully.

IV.            Practices for personal health:   I try to implement at least one of the practices that were introduced to me in this course at least once a day.  Physically I exercise every day for no less than 30 minutes per day.  I stay away from processed fast foods, and stick to whole foods.  I try to eat only the foods that are nutrient dense fruits, vegetables, ect.  Psychologically, I pray every day for strength and guidance, and try to think positive thoughts.  Most of the time I am pretty stable emotionally and mentally, but sometimes I have some new stressor to deal with.  This is where the breathing techniques are most helpful.  I like the focus of breath, because there is a direct relationship between the breath and the mind.  Peaceful breathing leads to a peaceful mind.  Spiritually, I like meditating because it helps to clear everything from my mind so that I can concentrate and focus.  Prayer, of course changes things and makes me able to handle whatever life throws at me.  1^st Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 17 says to pray without ceasing.

V.              Commitment: I will assess my progress by the subtle mind practices.  It assists me in progressing toward Psychospiritual flourishing.  This will involve daily practice 15 to 30 minutes.  According to Dacher, using the breath we stabilize the mind by developing a witnessing consciousness, and we progressively experience calm-abiding, and calm abiding gradually evolves into unity consciousness (2006, P. 75)  Biological flourishing is part of the development process of the body to mind to the spirit, these apply to the four aspects of life.  If I can get portion control in my diet, then everything will fall into place for my physical wellbeing.  My spiritual body is not what I want to be, but it is not where it used to be.  I am not at a place yet, where all of the qualities of peace, alertness, wisdom, oneness, and grace is effortless.  To achieve the afore mentioned qualities I would have to put into practice daily all of the practices that our text book has outlined to enhance my ability to promote well-being.

References:

Dacher, E.S. (2006) Integral Health, The Path to Human Flourishing. 

      Laguna Beach, CA.  Basic Health Publications, Inc

Schlitz, M. Amorok, T. & Micozzi, S. (2005  Consciousness & Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine.   St. Louis Missouri. 

Elsevier Churchill/Livingstone.

                  

Unit 8 Subtle Mind & Loving- Kindness

Out of all the practices the ones that were most beneficial to me is subtle mind and loving-kindness.  I like the focus of breath, because there is a direct relationship between the breath and the mind.   Peaceful breathing leads to a peaceful mind.  I found that rhythmic and peaceful breathing brings the same rhythm to the mind.  Loving-kindness is basically what was taught to us at home and in sunday school.  About showing love or being close to someone outside your circle of friends and family.  It's about even showing love to our enemies.  When we practice loving-kindness it is like a weight being lifted off our shoulders.  It is like laying down all of our burdens so that we can be free to do what we have been called to do.  Implementing these two practices everyday can help me focus and achieve peace of mind.  I think what I really like about these practices is that you can do them anywhere.

Unit 7

This week I have practiced many of the exercises that were introduced to us in the class.  The practice that I am most familiar with is praying.  1 Thessalonians 5th chapter and the 17th verse says to pray without ceasing.  I practice the breathing exercises, for this gives me great release from the stressors of the day.  All of the practices that are mentioned in the book that I have tried seem to work, I just need to set aside a time each day to incorporate them into my life so that it is a part of my daily routines.  The saying "one can not lead another where one has not gone himself".  This applies to anyone who is trying to give someone advice about differant problems that happen in their lives.  If you haven't experienced any of the things that someone else is feeling how can you help them get through it.  I can not tell an obese person how to eat healthy if I don't practice it myself.  I can not understand what that obese person feels when someone makes fun of them, if I haven't been there myself.  You have an obligation to your clients to develop your own health psychologically, physically, and spiritually, because you can't help someone else to heal if you're sick yourself.  As simple as that.  I implement psychological and spiritual growth in my life by striving each day to make improvements on myself performing physical exercise, prayer, meditation.  Developing a positive attitude about everything in my life, it is the only way that I will truly flourish.

Unit 6 Universal Loving-Kindness

 Universal Loving Kindness  is a practice that I already do.  It is like praying .  It is exactly what I put in my prayers though not in the same words.  I always pray for those who are in hospital, nursing homes, or in their own homes who are ill whether in body, spirit, or mind.  I also prey for the health and strength and wholeness for everybody and myself, and to help somebody everyday to ease their suffering so that my living won't be in vain.  Always thinking up ways to help somebody else, to be a blessing to someone else.  I always feel good when I pray, this exercise is no differant than what I do already, it is just worded differant.
Integral Assessment is about focusing on self improvement and what you want to improve upon first, or what aspect of your life would you like to focus on to day.  You close your eyes and rest into the stillness of your mind and body, just release all mental activity.  When you are quiet, you ask yourself what aspect of your life is the most difficult.  You can focus on the psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, or wordly.  Focus on what ever area that is most difficult for you, or that you have done the most suffering.  I chose the biologial aspects for my focus.  It is what is giving me the most difficulties and suffering.  I focus on this, and think if I am ready for this, because some times we fail at things that we are not ready for or, it is simply not time for this to happen. Then I think about the next thing that I should focus on in order to get to one aspect I have to address another.  I am clear and unbiased in my assessment. This will take lots of practice, and I think that if I try this at least once a week and journal my thoughts.  As I gain more experience with this process it will be a great tool to use for integrl health and healing.  

Unit 5 The Subtle Mind

I really liked this practice better than I did the loving-kindness.  With this one I could really get that breathing thing going on.  I have done a breathing exercise before when I couldn't sleep.  I would breathe  in through one nostril while hoding the other nostril, and then let the air out while holding the other nostril.  After doing this about ten times I would fall asleep.  This practice really helps me to clear my head.  I am learning how to focus on the breathing more every time I do it.  With more practice I can be free from mental movements, and be able to choose what I would like to direct my attention to and create the foundation for calm-abiding and integral health.

Unit 4 "Mental Workout"

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

 I used my husband to focus on, because he is my best friend.  I used my grandson, because he is my first grand child, and we've been best pals since he popped his little head out and looked me right in the eyes, as if to say I'm  Here! are you satisfied?  I allowed all of the feelings to expand, and the experience was great.  I then focused on myself, I experienced the pleasant and the unpleasant, and I tried giving them my loving-kindness.  After giving loving- kindness,  I found this experience beneficial because it is something differant that I haven't been doing, but got such a positive outlook doing it that I will try it again.  The next time I will focus on differant loved ones and try it for a longer period of time.


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" means exercising the mind.  Just like we exercise our body's we have to exercise our minds to improve that part of our body too.  If we don't use it we lose it.  It means we have to actively engage the brain in differant ways.  It may mean doing something new or doing something old in a new way.  Do activities that stimulate and challenge us intellectually seems to be best.  Building cognitive reserve is beneficial to maintaining mental alertness and decreasing the risk of developing alzheimer's.  The brain craves a challenge.  I notice that the more I am stress free and tension free the better my memory is.  If you want to remember something later concetrate, and pay attention.  Reducing distractions help me to focus better.