Unit 9

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?  It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically because typically you can only help a person develop as far as you, the health care provider, are willing to develop. Personally, I need to develop a good meditation routine.  Fortunately, I continue my development due to required CEUs for massage therapy and I enjoy classes that address the spiritual, physical and psychological aspects of somatics.  Personally, I also am in the process of re-developing my exercise routine to be consistent. (Dacher, 2006).

II.        Assessment: 
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically? One way I tested my health was through the journals and exercises in my other Kaplan class that I am taking at the same time as this, Stress, Critical Issues in Management and Prevention.  This class provided great self-assessment tools that helped depict personality traits that helped me to recognize some psychological and spiritual areas that need further development.  Physically, I am somewhat fit, but I test my physical health by my endurance on my elliptical as well as strength when I lift weights.  I also eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. 

III.           Goal development: 
List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.

a.     Physical: My goal is to be using my elliptical for 20 minutes per day 5 days a week as well as maintaining my weight program of arms 2 days a week and legs 2 days a week, and to have a consistent routine by the end of February 2012.

b.     Psychological: When I feel that I am getting stressed or anxious about a subject I will exercise a bit (if able) in order to get rid of the “flight or fight” chemical body response.  I will also remind myself to practice being in the present moment and not allow my brain to overload past what it is capable of doing in the present moment.

c.     Spiritual: I will deepen my relationship with God/Jesus by reading my Bible daily as well as reading The Children’s Bible to my children.

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.

a.     Physical: My strategy is that I do not allow myself to purchase larger clothing.

1.     I will exercise: I will meet my goal of working out 5 days a week on my elliptical and weights by February, 2012 and continue.

2.     I will continue a healthy, well-balanced diet.

b.     Psychological: My strategy is to practice being in the present moment.

1.     When I am working on clients, talking to people, etc. and my mind begins to wander then I will re-center and focus on that individual.

2.     I will practice meditation, beginning with mindfulness meditation and the Rainbow Meditation minimally twice per week and working up to five days per week by the end of February, 2012.

c.     Spiritually: I will develop my personal relationship with God/Jesus.

1.     I will read my Bible on a daily basis.

2.     I will read The Children’s Bible with my children so that they can develop their understanding of God/Jesus.

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? My goals in the areas of physical, spiritual will be fairly easy to assess on a continual basis because I am either performing the exercise, eating healthy as well as reading the Bible or I am not.  Psychologically, I will be able to assess whether I am meditating or not easily and as far as practicing how present I am when I am with others, for a while I will ask myself how present I was after each conversation or client until I am routinely present, and then I can assess in the same manner on a weekly then monthly basis.  However, as all three areas become more rounded with exercise, diet, meditation, and Bible study, then being present will be easier and easier.

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

Unit 8

Review the exercises and practice sessions you have completed in this course. (Loving Kindness, Subtle mind, Visualization, meditation etc.) Choose two practices that you have determined to be most beneficial. How can you implement these practices in your personal life to foster “mental fitness”? Provide specific examples.

It is hard for me to pick only two exercises because they were all so wonderful.  However, my favorites were the loving-kindness and the Rainbow Meditation.  I practice both on a regular basis, even when I am not in a quiet place.  I am a licensed massage therapist and provide specific myofascial bodywork and am in a quiet setting that fosters great energy, and therefore it is both easy and beneficial for myself and especially my clients for me to have a positive energy flow of loving-kindness and I often project the loving-kindness toward my clients as I work on them.  I also use the Rainbow Mountain meditation regularly, even if I don't go through all of the Chakras, I tone the ones that I feel drawn to toning at the time. I have also walked several of my clients through both meditations and they have enjoyed them also.

Unit 7

 I liked the "Meeting Aesclepius" exercise, but I found more personal response from the Rainbow Meditation exercise.  I was able to center more with the Rainbow Meditation.

I agree that "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” (P.477) because certain things need to be experienced and not just read about in order to be able to share and help others grow. For example, I do use this in my professional practice as a licensed massage therapist using the John Barnes approach to myofascial release.  I need to know what this therapy feels like not only when providing the therapy but also when receiving the therapy. I do feel like I have an obligation to my clients to continue my personal and professional growth and development because they rely on my skill, knowledge and touch to be able to lead them on their own journey. Notice, I said to lead them on THEIR OWN journey, not my journey, but I stand as a facilitator for them through my knowledge and practice and share with them so that they can then choose and learn and journey at their own pace knowing that my office is a sacred space, free of judgement. 

Unit 6

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?


There are several areas of growth and development that I need to focus on.  I am in no urgent or crisis mode in any area.  In the past 3 years I have been able to develop tremendous growth in all four quadrants mainly by learning to let go of my desire to control.  I have learned what it means to surrender and it feels great!  Not that I am able to do that all the time, but when I don't I find out quickly and then I usually back track, surrender and am able to move forward.  As I learn this and become centered then my intuition grows stronger and stronger.  It also feels good to learn to let go of depending on outward experiences and being co-dependent.  I work on that on a daily basis and feel better each day.  Of course, this sounds easy on paper, but all growth involves growing pains and I have learned to feel each of them, learn from them and move on.  My fitness and nutrition suffer a bit at the moment due to my circumstances of being a single mom, working full time and school.  However, I have made a few adjustments and decided to spend the few extra dollars to buy pre-cut fruit, veggies and even the Kashi frozen meals for lunch, knowing that I will get back to real home cooking when I am done with school, and I have accepted that.

Unit 5 Subtle Mind vs. Loving-Kindness

1. Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc. The main difference I noticed between the Loving-Kindness and Subtle Mind exercises is that with the Loving-Kindness you focus on people and love and expanding that love to all and with the Subtle Mind exercise the focus is voiding the mind of all thought and learning to be still and have an observant mind.  I like both exercises as they serve two puropses. However, as one grows in stillness of the mind and in all-encompassing loving-kindness they will support and encourage each other. 
2. Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life. When a person is spiritually well then they will experience calmness, love, peace, kindness, etc., and all of these feelings manifest as wellbeing in the body.  I practice these on a daily basis, yet am far from an expert. However, I can feel when my body is tense and needs to be still. 

Dacher Loving-kindness exercise

Describe your experience. (Did you find it beneficial? Difficult?) Why or Why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or Why not?


I found the exercise beneficial and I would recommend it to others.  However, I would let them know that often this type of exercise takes practice and should be done several times a week (which is mentioned on the recording) and not to get frustrated if some times it is difficult and other times it is easy. 


What is the concept of “Mental Workout? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a Mental Work Out? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?


A mental workout is when a person does certain exercises that help to train the brain, such as meditation or even the loving-kindness exercise by Dacher. When we take time to train the brain then it does help with psychological health and even biological health because when the brain can access a higher level of consciousness and calmness then the body typically has less anxiety which in turn means less disease. Typically the higher level of consciousness fosters emotions such as kindness, compassion, love, etc., which benefit not only the individual functioning at that level, but every person they come in contact with.

My level of wellness

1. Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal wellbeing), where do you rate your A-physical wellbeing, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?   My physical wellbeing would rate a 6, spiritual wellbeing would rate an 7, and my psychological wellbeing would rate an 8.  My physical wellbeing has suffered because of my busy lifestyle as I have not exercised enough or eaten as well as I could even though I am still an ideal weight. My spiritual wellbeing suffers some also from my busy schedule as I do not have as much time as I would like to socialize with others in the spiritual events I would like to. My psychological wellbeing is fed daily with positive reinforcement, however, I would like to have more time for affirmations. 
2. Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).  Physical: I will add and extra 10 minutes of exercise five days a week.  Spiritual: I will allow myself the time to listen to the short meditations for class at least two to three times per week. Psychological: I will say the affirmations I used to in front of the mirror when I put on my make-up, this way no extra time is needed and I can look myself in the eye while I say them. 
3. What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal?  For the physical goal, I will set my alarm 15 minutes earlier than I have been setting it in the morning so that I can add those 10 minutes and if I need to I will go to bed 15 or 20 minutes earlier. For the spiritual, now that my son's football practice is over I can use those days, Monday, Wednesday and Friday to listen to the meditation for class. For the psychological I will say my affirmation in the mirror each morning when I put my make-up on and also before bed when I wash my face. 
4. Complete the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century. To hear this exercise, click here. Describe your experience. (What it beneficial? Frustrating? etc.) I enjoyed this exercise very much, I liked it better than the previous one.  I like the color association as I felt like it was balancing the chakras. I will listen to this one several times, I really liked it. 

A little about me

I am looking forward to getting to know some of my classmates better through the blogs.  I have some information in my profile but I will add a bit more.  As a child I was a military brat (Air Force) and lived in many places.  I also moved a lot before I had children.  Places I have lived are: New Mexico, Holland, Germany, Texas, Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Tennessee.  I plan to stay put and make Tennessee my home.

I have three children: Dalton (boy) 10, Denalyn (girl) 8, Daytona (girl) 7.  I am a single mother and am glad football season is over :-).  Really I love watching my kids play sports it is just a lot to do with school.

I am getting my degree in health sciences and should be finished before November 2012.

If and when I ever have time I enjoy golf, boating, hiking, horses, reading, poetry and just a hot cup of coffee or tea on a crisp fall morning alone in the quiet (so obviously that never happens - ha ha!) Someday. I also love to garden and would really like to have a greenhouse someday.

Over and out for now.  Looking forward to meeting you all.

Relaxation

   While I enjoyed the relaxation exercise, I will try it again in a different setting.  I tried it in the early evening at home, but my kids were trying to do their homework and kept needing my help, so really I found myself getting more and more agitated because I wanted to relax and kept getting interrupted.  I may try it again at work.  I am a massage therapist, so I get a lot of quiet, breathing time and this exercise would help me to be centered and grounded before starting work.