More than a nudge of satisfactory

I posted in Unit 9's blog from last week how much of a change on the health and wellness scale I have accomplished. I feel it, I see it, I know it! I'm on my way and I will continue to move forward to a more integral way of life.
I have made progress towards my goals. And what I have learned is that by getting closer to my spiritual and psychological goals I am getting ever further in my physical goals...without even trying!!!!Just by feeling better about me and the world around me has "lifted" the extra "weight" off of my shoulders while working out- like I'm floating:)
I have implemented the activities I chose for my well being. I'm up for trying anything new..as long as it makes sense. We learned a lot of new ideas in this class for creating well being, whether it be from the texts or from classmates. I have since week two been implementing these new ideas.
I thought this class was the best thing for me at this time. I have changed dramatically for the better. I now feel great about myself and I feel like I have an importance that I NEED to share with others. It really hasn't been difficult to follow the ideas of this class. I think that it could possibly seem time consuming to some people, but I don't like spare time- so It works out perfectly for myself.
Not only was the class itself GREAT but so was the students in the class. For all other terms (in Kaplan, or other universities I have attended) the students in this class seemed to be more involved and interested in it's learnings.
I will continue to do my daily practices and push myself to learn more about health and wellness. I want to help others feel that they DO in fact have control of their thoughts and how they respond to them.
What an incredible class!!!! I would take it 3 times fold if I could :) Good luck to all in your own personal conquests.

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?

Better in the end!

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?

Health and wellness professionals need to develop integral health for credibility. For a client or a patient that looks to a professional for advice they want to see that the professional practices what they preach. For a professional to never experience their own teachings they would not be able to fully understand how their advice works or perhaps does not work.
Personally I need to develop my spiritual and psychological areas a bit further. This class has provided much growth in these two areas. I find myself more easily able to quiet my mind and I now feel that I have a purpose in my life. Of course I would also like to continue growth in the physical aspect of my life, but this is an easier area for development for me because I enjoy it so much. I will continue my daily practice of quieting the mind, meditation on feeling connectedness with the environment and my surroundings, and acknowledging my personal gifts by helping others by using those gifts.

II. Assessment
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?

When assessing my spiritual health I go by the loving kindness I feel towards others. If I start worrying about myself and start being judgmental I know that my spiritual health needs more practice. My physical wellness is assessed mainly by how energetic I feel and by if I start to lose interest or feel “drained” throughout the day. If I’m not feeling myself I need to focus more on my physical wellbeing. My mental health is assessed by how much chatter is swarming my thoughts. If I sitting down reading the same paragraph over and over because my mind is wandering I know it’s time to focus on my psychological health. Being able to quiet the mind gives me an indication that I’m doing well with this area of my wellbeing.
On a scale of 0-10 (10= the highest level of wellbeing and 0= that of not being practiced at all) I score a 9 on my physical wellbeing, an 8 on my spiritual wellbeing, and a 7.5 on my psychological wellbeing. My spiritual and psychological scores have taken a drastic rise since the second week of this class. My physical wellbeing is at the same level because I feel that I do very well in this area even though there is always room for improvement.

III. Goal development
List a goal for yourself in each area of physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Physical health= I will be able to run a 7:30 minute per mile pace for an off-road half marathon by the end of November 2010.
Mental health= I will take 15 minutes daily to focus on breathing and quieting the mind. At the beginning of September of this year I will practice the same technique but for 30 minutes daily.
Spiritual health= I will compliment at least 3 people daily with purpose and true feelings towards my compliments.

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 exercise or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.

Physical, psychological, and spiritual strategies that I can implement to improve integral health include: Loving kindness, quieting the mind, and leading a healthy lifestyle. To practice quieting the mind I can (A) focus on my breath, or (B) get up early to spend time with my dog, petting him and focusing on the rise and fall of his chest. To practice loving kindness I can (1) be aware of my judgmental thoughts and change them to a positive appreciation way of thinking, or (2) meditation- feeling the connectedness between myself and the surrounding environment and people. To practice leading a healthy lifestyle I can (I) choose organic food over non organic foods, and (II) exercise on a regular basis.

A) Focus my breath- take 15 minutes each day to quiet the mind while focusing on my breath.
B) Spending time with pet- every morning (before family awakens) I will energize myself by quieting the mind through focusing on my dogs breathing.
1) Being aware of thoughts- I will notice my thoughts, understand why I may think like that, then change them to a positive loving thought.
2) Meditation- When I start to feel as though I need help in my spiritual development I will put aside 20 minutes to meditate. I will focus on the relationship and connectedness I have to everything else… everywhere else.
I) Food selection- I will only buy organic food and local food when grocery shopping.
II) Exercise- I will exercise at least one hour daily 6 days a week.

V. Commitment
How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next 6 months? What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices of health and wellness?

I will assess my progression just as I have been BUT at a higher standard. As we practice we should continue to gain knowledge and move forward to a more fully developed integral health. I know that at all times we are able to slide backwards on our development in any of the domains, so when noticing this fall back I will work on improving that domain that is needing help. I can also assess my progress by measuring it compared to my set goals that I have made over the 6 month period. Strategies that I can use to maintain my long term health and wellness practices are the following: Continue to study and learn about different health and wellness methods (this will keep me excited and wanting to continue to practice), surround myself with people that feel the same way as I feel about health and wellness, and keep updating goals to improve in my health and wellness. I am sure there are many strategies that would work, but these 3 strategies fit me well as an individual:)

Sit....Good boy!

The two most beneficial practices that I have taken away from the course thus far are subtle mind (focusing on my breath) and visualization (picturing the situation in my mind before the event takes place). Visualization is something that I have been doing ever since high school that my cross country coach would have us do before our races. From that learning experience and understanding how well it works I have continued to visualize my races before hand. But I have learned from this course that I can use visualization in other areas of my life as well. I can think ahead of time of what my reaction to certain situations may result in. For example if I plan on taking my dog for his daily walk - I already know that he is going to be pulling very strongly on the leash (he's a siberian husky)- so I can visualize in my head on how my reaction should take place...If I get mad and yank the leash back every time he pulls- then what was the use of going on the walk (not fun for either one of us) BUT if I plan to stop and wait till he gives leave in his leash everytime he pulls hard and except that he's going too- then I we both will enjoy the walk. The subtle mind practice has been the biggest benefit to me. My mind use to drive me INSANE. Like I couldn't shut it off. Even if I was just sitting quietly somewhere vacant my mind would be going a million miles a minute. Now I take time daily to just sit. At first I have to still focus on my breathing, picturing the breath in my mind. Then after awhile my mind settles into complete "smoothness". I might start to get thoughts to go into my head, but I just return to by breath and I will soon be at a subtle mind. No cares, no worries, no expectations...It's great! This activity tends to give me a little more energy and a lot more smiles:)

Reaching that point!

I very much enjoyed this week practice. Probably because of the water in the background on the CD. I mentally pictured everything happening outside near water, Secluded, and beautiful. I felt the most out of the exercise when we were asked in the beginning to visualize the person and look at them in detail. With that I already noticed a peaceful loving feeling inside me wanting to BURST forth!
The meditative practices have helped me in both areas of psychological and spiritual wellness. First by making it easier to quiet my mind, then by looking for answers beyond myself for area’s that I may need help in. I can continue to apply these practices by learning and remembering the experience that I have already received from them. I will be more open minded, worry less about my own perception, and think more along the lines of “How can I be of help?”.
“One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” is simply (and truthfully) stating that if a person has never experienced a certain situation then they cannot know the answer to that situation. A personal trainer cannot lead a client in meditation if they themselves have never experienced the practice nor if they do not believe that the practice works. The professional can try, but the outcome would not be of benefit to either person.
We as health professionals absolutely have obligations in developing the full spectrum of health. People look up to us- people that feel that they need to be in better health look to us for the answers…the cures. The more fully developed in integral health that we are the better and easier it will be for us to help others.

Focus, Focus,….don’t forget to breathe

The loving kindness exercise was to repeat a paragraph stating how “I” want to help others and to focus on this paragraph visualizing it in your mind. For the first few minutes I was just “saying” the words, then I started thinking about the words as I said them. The only profound effect that it had on me was that for a moment I didn’t feel the “ugly” parts of the world. Like watching the news- it’s all ugly and makes you dislike the way we live, this exercise erased that ugliness and I focused on the good.
The Integral assessment had us to meditated and ask ourselves about the aspects of our lives and how they are working or not working for us. What do we need to focus on more? Etc…
I had to sit and think quite awhile taking in the questions. I really believe that I missed a step in the Interpersonal quadrant of my life. I went straight to the “you” and skipped the “I” And probably have only reached the “all of us” only a few times in my life. I really enjoy and often do help others. I like to make people happy. But I am also very confused on what else I like… there has to be more than I like to make others happy and I like to workout,….right?! Maybe , perhaps I need to sit down for a couple hours and discover myself. I plan to go to the national park today, run with the running stroller, have my lil girl run some too (hopefully making her tired) run some more with her in the stroller until she falls asleep then I will find a nice quiet spot close my eyes and just …meditate…figure out the “I” .
I’ll let you know how it goes!

connected

http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2GHzya0u7cdNjVjYjhlMDYtYWJiZC00MGRhLThjYTUtZWY5NmEyMTJmMzY1&hl=en

krrkeekkkrrrrrrkrrrr

So whom ever decided that these CD's were ready to send out Surely didn't listen to them. After the first 5min, which is quite enjoyable, there is static....not subtle static BUT crazy static.
I've done this type of exercise before. Long ago when I was a Sophmore in College our psychology professor would give us extra credit if we would stay after class and participate in quieting our mind. I loved it! Then of course I would end up falling asleep.
This exercise I could more easily do then the last unit. I have an existing biological thing to grasp onto- the breath. Where as last unit it was a lot to do with the imagination....and when my imagination gets going BOY does it go. So being able to follow my breath wasn't too hard. Of course my mind does wander now and then, but it is simple to bring it back to the breath.
Spiritual wellness is connected to mental and physical wellness. If all have been reading the text we see that studies have proven this. The use of prayer to help heal someone is a good example. Or how thoughs people that believe in a higher being (or a more connectedness of life) are less likely to be depressed and find joy in simple activities.
I am currently working on my mental and spritual wellness'. I know that in times of loss that I do turn toward trying to see the "bigger picture" and I think to myself- there must be a reason, there's always a reason. This seems to help me and take that sadness away for a time.
P.S. It is very easy to quiet my mind if I take a moment out of the day just to watch my daughter, not think about what she is doing, but just watch....my mind goes still.