The final Unit: 10

Final Unit

This is no doubt my final blog…..although it has been interesting, blogging just isn’t in my field of interest.   So to recap my assessment will be pretty easy.  In unit 3, spirituality was rated as 7/10, psychologically was rated 8/10, and physically I rated myself with 6/10.   My assessment is still firm from unit 9’s rating, Spirituality is  9/10,  I am staying focused on my numerous daily prayers with God for guidance and thankfulness.  Psychologically I’m at 7/10, still somewhat stressed with our upcoming changes, regarding jobs, getting house ready for sale, and then finding a new place in a new town. I’m having a bit harder time clearing the clutter and finding quiet solstice time in my own mind.   Physical assessment also has stayed the same with 6/10,  I’m choosing to make time to meditate in the evening instead of participating with a fitness workout at this time.  We are working overtime and on our feet walking all day, so I feel with all the stress and clutter occupying my mind, the meditation seems the smarter healthier decision.  When work slows down a bit and we get back to working 8 hrs, I’ll incorporate the physical fitness program. 

I am enjoying loving kindness at work with not just my patients, but also with the workers in the skilled nursing home I come in contact with.   I have increased my faith with Christ as I need to have peace in my heart and mind about our upcoming move and stressors that seem to go along with all of that.  My goals with physical fitness have not panned out and this is because of many circumstances, mainly the lack of daytime hours due to working 12 hr days and being on my  feet the whole day.  My main goal at this time is to weigh my goals and prioritize them.  I have chosen to focus on meditation and finding calm abiding within myself and rid the clutter and chaos in my non-stop thinking.  I have purchased a cd to begin a collection to relax to and hope this keeps me motivated to continue my journey toward health, happiness, and wholeness. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and the Dacher reading.  It has given me steps and guidance on how to reach the ultimate goal of human flourishing.  Probably one of the bigger aspects of this term was the true meaning of forgiveness and moving forward, even if that means without the person who has inflicted the pain and hurtful remarks.  This class has directed me into a new way to evaluate those around me and their intentions and better yet, to know that everything I do and say is all about intentions and how I can positively affect others around me including strangers. 

I wish everyone the best of luck and great success accomplishing your goals and degrees!

Unit 9, Achieving Integral Health

I:          It is very important for the professional of health and wellness to be actively practicing or seasoned in regards to achieving Integral Health.  I truly believe, if I, the professional person is weak psychologically, spiritually, or physically and not working on each weak area to strengthen each aspect, then I would not be a successful leader in bringing others on the journey for integral health and human flourishing.  As we have learned this term our lives are very dynamic and every changing in each area, if we are practicing what we preach, then educating our clients will be easier and far more believable.  The areas I need to work on are of course all three.  Because life is ever changing I know I will always need to work on these areas in one respect or another.

II:         Assessing the areas of spiritually, physically, and psychologically has changed somewhat compared to my earlier assessment at the beginning of this term.  It makes sense to me that it has altered because of the mere fact my life is going through changes and decisions that will even cause more of a disruption in the next 6 months.  I have given my physical assessment the score of 6/10, I scored myself low because my goal was to exercise 5x’s each week and I’m still at 3x’s each week.  Working too many hours has been this conflict.  I scored spiritually 9/10 scoring higher because I’m relying on my faith and prayer every day to guide me regarding our upcoming move.  I have also increased my meditation practice to promote peace and inner calmness.  I scored psychologically 7/10 because of the worries and stress that busy my mind regarding moving and changing jobs in the next 6 months.

III:   I am choosing goals for these three areas and making them simple and easy to achieve.

Physically:   3-5xs each week, participating with strengthening and aerobic exercise.  Utilizing the weekend days, and eliminating two week days should promote less stress during the busy work week.

Psychological:   Stay focused on loving kindness and my intentions with every person I come in contact with will promote a positive mind set with positive results.  Present 5 intentional remarks each day that makes a positive impact or reaction from 5 different individuals I come in contact with. 

Spiritual:  My goal is to meditate every day, whether 15 minutes or 30 minutes.  I will purchase a couple cd’s to have a variety of meditations to choose from. 

IV:  My strategy for fitness and spirituality is to stay focused and keep track on my daily calendar.  Being accountable to my husband is another good strategy.  My biggest strategy regarding physical fitness with my long days is to stay positive whether I fit it 3 days or 5 days each week.  I’ve chosen Kenpo and Centergenics  for aerobics and strengthening with arms/back and legs/abs using dumbbells.  Spiritually staying focused with determination at the end of my days 5 to 7x’s each week whether it is 15 minutes to 30 minutes with the goal being 30 minutes.  Meditation with loving kindness and visualization style exercises, alternating between the two.  Psychologically my strategy is to continue with increased intention to focus on more than 5 people each day randomly and practice my loving –kindness through positive words or actions.  I have practiced loving – kindness most of my adult life, this will allow me to increase my intention until it no longer requires a thought. 

V:  Assessing my progress over the next 6 months should be quite obvious to myself on whether I am succeeding with my goals.  I have strategically created simple and easy goals to follow with immediate results, especially since I will be using the calendar to keep track.  Having my husband involved with my goals will be beneficial keeping me on track and accountable.  I already know what the end feel of each category is like and this calm abiding peace will be the  ultimate measurement of  my success. 

Unit 8: visualization and loving kindness

My two favorite meditation times was the visualization practice,  also called a taste of human flourishing, and the loving kindess meditation.  After all the cd's that we had been doing this term, it was interesting to participate with the visualization without the music or ocean waves.  I had to focus a bit more, but once I could visualize my time of great happiness, which was was being my dad's little nurse when I was a kid, he was a veterinarian,  truly happy moments throughout my life.  The second part of wholeness and connectedness was raising my babies and watching them grow up, and the third section was the radiant health and exuberant vitality, was when we won the Division championship and we only had seven girls on the basketball team,  I really enjoyed this practice as it is focused on positive times and good feelings.  The loving kindness meditation was one of the first ones we participated with this term and I enjoyed it, thinking about anything that keeps my mind heading toward positive and loving results is relaxing and very motivating for me. It keeps me focused on why I'm here on earth and keeps me grounded and sound.

Aesclepius

Meeting Aesclepius wasn't much different than the other meditation exercises.  The difference being Aesclepius represents inner peace and inner wisdom.  I cuddled into my favorite chair and began to relax to what I love, the sound of the soothing ocean along with the tinkling of music in the background,  I can take the tinkling of the music or leave it.  While listening to voice describing Aesclepius and our ability to reach inner peace and wisdom of which is deep with in us gave me a positive and calming feeling that if I continue to utilize this form of relaxation and clearing my mind I too can be successful.  I enjoyed thinking of someone I find inspiring to myself who may possess wisdom, love, compassion and imagining the white beam.  I actually could feel a heaviness at the crown of my head.  I tried to focus on the beam of light going into my throat, that seemed odd and I lost my concentration, I refocused and visualized the red beam of light to go from my wise person's heart and into my heart, this feeling did feel good and gave me a sense of energy and peace.   Overall,  I came away from this exercise with positive thinking, motivating me to embrace with more gusto my own inner positive qualities and inner peace. 

unit 6 loving kindness

I am so interested in the loving kindness theory.  I have been focused on this practice for many years and because of this class now know it has a name and really is part of a much larger life aspect.  I followed the instructions for the exercise and found it to be quite powerful by giving me the mind and spirit of transferring positive energy to the world.  After this focus sending inner feelings of goodness and kindness how can one continue to harbor negative and angry feelings.  It was a nice way to relax this evening and find my calm peaceful self after having such a long and very busy week at work.   The assessment tool was also interesting and is a good way to check oneself looking inside and working on honest areas that are weak.  I need to work diligently on listening not just with in myself but to others to clearly hear what may be underlying.  I need to organize a workable meditation daily to continue striving for a clear and calm abiding mind and spirit.  To listen to my spirit regarding stressors that are short term and others that are awaiting me in the next 7 months.  Thus far it has all been a great learning experience and spiritual growth for me. 

The Subtle mind

So unit 5 is about the subtle mind and witnessing mind, calm abiding with the ultimate goal of experiencing unity consciousness.  So I found myself back in my favorite recliner, ready to focus myself into quiet calm, planning on practicing my witnessing mind and control my thinking and clear my mind.  I enjoyed the focus on breathing, it once again helped me to stay focused and keep my mind on only one thought, breathing at a relaxed level and bringing my heart rate and respirations down to slow mo.  Unfortunately, I really don't enjoy the woman's voice, she startled me again when she broke the ocean calmness.  I am finding a man's mono-tone lower voice more calming than the womans, not sure why,  must be a childhood issue...haha  Anyway, overall,  I enjoyed the focus on breathing with the ocean sound.   It is getting easier and the benefits are amazing after a long day at work:) 

Loving Kindness

I snuggled into our double recliner with a warm blanket to experience the loving kindness cd.  Dacher prepared me for what was to come, as I listened to him I was actually hoping he wasn't going to be the soft soothing voice taking me on my next journey of meditation.  A womens voice then began with her directions of relaxing and thinking of others with loving kindness.  I like the idea that loving kindness breeds loving kindness, which is what I try to live by with my belief that positive breeds positive, I also believe that positive is stronger than negative, it may not happen the first time but eventually if you are spirtitually and psychologically strong, a positive attitude can make changes for the better.  I just veered off the original path of loving kindness......I am finding the amazing quality of emptying my mind through these exercises, and soon I found myself drifting into relaxation and clearing my mind to follow her instructions.  She would tell you what to focus on and then the sound of the ocean would take over, the first time she came back on to give the next direction, I nearly jumped out of my chair....haha  her voice startled me, once I knew this routine and prepared my subconscious for her voice to jolt me to the next step I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the cd.  Over all, I am feeling the benefits of opening my mind and taking my husband on this journey with me.  He is loving these meditation exercises and total relaxation that goes along with them.   so far so good for me!!