Hello All,
Here is an update on my progress with my improve my well being.
I have looked at my scores in the three areas (physical, psychological, spiritual) and I still grade myself the same in the physical and spiritual areas that stays a "B" because there is always room for improvement. But, with my psychological I have upgraded myself to a "C" from a "D". The reason for this is because after reading Dacher's book and doing the Loving Kindness exercises and thinking of ways to calm the mind it as helped me look deep into that area of well being. I now have been able to find my own ways of taking the mental stress away without taking away from my time with others.
As for my goals in the three areas I have been making some progress in some of the areas. For the physical I wanted to gain ten pounds by summer, I still have time but I feel as though I am on my way to my goal of that. For the Spiritual, I have always had my mind open to other religions and spiritual ways and I am sticking to that. Last but not least, the psychological. I have been finding more time to relax and step out of my busy life but I have also found a way to relax with friends so I do not isolate myself too much. In all, my goals are all going in the right direction and I feel great about all of them. I just need to keep doing what I am doing and keep thinking for the positive and all will be well.
It has been a long but interesting term and I learned a lot about myself and other around me that I did not know before. The blogs that I have written before this one just shows you some of the things we have been doing and talking about. The most interesting thing to me this course was the book by Dacher. Dacher is a very interesting person and is very thorough when it comes to helping you understand the meaning of integral health and how to incorporate it into your life (personal and professional). I am definitely a new person after taking this course because it so fit m thinking style and what I am about, integral (holistic) health. I love it and I loved this course, it will always be in my mind and I will definitely be recommending Dacher's book to everyone I know.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
My Holistic Plan
I. Introduction
It is extremely important for wellness professionals to develop themselves psychologically, spiritually, and physically because they are teaching other people how to take care of themselves in a holistic manner so the teacher should definitely practice what they preach. If they do not practice how to balance themselves in all zones then there is no way you can truly teach someone how to balance their body. The area that I need to work on the most is the psychological aspect. I feel as though my spiritual and physical are at a point where I feel balanced but my psychological is still a little out of balance and I need to focus of that part of my well being.
II. Assessment
I have not really assessed myself in each specific area but I have taken a close look at everything over all. I would grade myself in this manner:
Spiritual – B
Physical – B
Psychological – D
The reason I picked those grades is because nothing is perfect and there is always room for improvement. I will never be an A because I want to keep working on improving myself and see the changes as I grow in all areas.
III. Goal Development
Physical:
Gain at least 10 pounds by summer (the healthy way)
Spiritual:
Open self to new ways of thinking religiously
Psychological:
Find time for self to relax and relieve stress
IV. Practices for Personal Health
Some of the strategies I could use to help me out in each domain is (1) be open to others and their feeling (2) Try to think positive as much as possible (3) Figure out what stresses me out and try to avoid it a best as possible.
Some examples of exercises for each domain are:
Physical:
Dance
Aerobic Training
Spiritual:
Prayer
Meditation
Psychological:
Be with friends and family
Travel
Yoga/Pilates
I will try my best to implement each one of these examples in my life by first taking it step by step and day by day. I have already been doing the dancing and aerobic training. I do not prayer very much except when it is necessary. I do not like to meditate because it is just not for me but I like mixing yoga with Pilates, which is very soothing for me, and it helps me release a lot of tension.
V. Commitment
I can honestly say I will probable forget to assess myself at some point but I will try my best to remember daily that I have goals to achieve and I need to do the right things to accomplish them. I will try my best to actively check in with myself to see how things are going and how thing are not going and from there hopefully I will be able to assess myself and where I am at. I one big strategy I can do to help me maintain my health and wellness is keep close friends that will do anything with you. If you have someone that will go out and do things with you, you are more likely to do the things you need to do to keep balanced. One other strategy that is very help is keeping a calendar or things do to. I notice that if I have it written down I have to do it (majority of the time at least).
Thursday, February 24, 2011
My Two Choices
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.
The two practices/exercises I feel where the most beneficial for me and that I also really enjoyed doing are the Loving Kindness and Universal Loving Kindness Exercises. I really feel as though they helped me open myself so I can find empathy for other people and understand how they are feeling and what they are going through. They also helped me realize the hurt and pain that I have gone through and how to grow from that instead of letting it weigh me down.
The way I can implement these exercises in my life is to just be aware of what I am going through and be able to put that aside from time to time and really get to understand what the people in my life are going through. I can only keep practicing these ways by doing it out right. There is no contemplating about it or meditating on it, all I can do is do it. Be that caring, open, loving person that is aware of everything and everyone. I feel I have been that way for a while now but the exercise helped me go deeper in to what I was feeling already. If you have a hard time opening yourself up in general to feeling yourself and others these exercises help.
The two practices/exercises I feel where the most beneficial for me and that I also really enjoyed doing are the Loving Kindness and Universal Loving Kindness Exercises. I really feel as though they helped me open myself so I can find empathy for other people and understand how they are feeling and what they are going through. They also helped me realize the hurt and pain that I have gone through and how to grow from that instead of letting it weigh me down.
The way I can implement these exercises in my life is to just be aware of what I am going through and be able to put that aside from time to time and really get to understand what the people in my life are going through. I can only keep practicing these ways by doing it out right. There is no contemplating about it or meditating on it, all I can do is do it. Be that caring, open, loving person that is aware of everything and everyone. I feel I have been that way for a while now but the exercise helped me go deeper in to what I was feeling already. If you have a hard time opening yourself up in general to feeling yourself and others these exercises help.
Monday, February 21, 2011
My Meditation Practice
Complete the "Meeting Asciepius" exercise on track #4 of the Dacher CD. Describe your meditative practice(s) for the week and discuss the experience. Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?
My experience of the meditation practice this week was boring to me. I am not a person who meditates I like my mind being busy and ongoing, not to say I do not stop and try to be in the moment but I do it unconsciously, it is not something I think about all the time. I like be busy and at the end of my day I use that time before bed to relax and just zone out for a little while. Meditation is not really for me. I do not need to meditate to find myself or my spirituality because it makes me anxious and I do not like to feel that way. So I find other ways that help me become more mindful but i my own way. This practice has really helped me see that it is not for me and I like my busy, mixed up life and when I have time for it I relax when my body tells me its time to.
Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” (P.477) How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?
This saying basically means that if you have not been through it or have done something yourself then you have no real right to tell someone else about an experience or tell someone else to do it if you have not. You must have traveled that road to tell someone else to travel down it to so you can tell them what to be aware of and what to take into consideration. As a health and wellness professional you must be able to tell your client the good and bad of the practice in which you are telling them to do. For instance, as a fitness professional I am not going to tell someone to do an exercise that I have not tried myself or know nothing about. And, about having obligation, I feel we do have an obligation to our clients to keeping developing ourselves psychologically, physically, and spiritually. We must find ways to better ourselves in all aspects of health so we can therefore be able to not just tell our clients what to do but to be able to share some personal experience. I can implement psychological and spiritual growth in my life by finding things that make me happy, and keep my mind going in a positive direction. I have to find what will help me stay balanced no matter what it is as long it does not put my life at risk or take me down a negative road. With a positive mind I will always try to make myself better than it was the year, month, week and even day before.
My experience of the meditation practice this week was boring to me. I am not a person who meditates I like my mind being busy and ongoing, not to say I do not stop and try to be in the moment but I do it unconsciously, it is not something I think about all the time. I like be busy and at the end of my day I use that time before bed to relax and just zone out for a little while. Meditation is not really for me. I do not need to meditate to find myself or my spirituality because it makes me anxious and I do not like to feel that way. So I find other ways that help me become more mindful but i my own way. This practice has really helped me see that it is not for me and I like my busy, mixed up life and when I have time for it I relax when my body tells me its time to.
Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” (P.477) How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?
This saying basically means that if you have not been through it or have done something yourself then you have no real right to tell someone else about an experience or tell someone else to do it if you have not. You must have traveled that road to tell someone else to travel down it to so you can tell them what to be aware of and what to take into consideration. As a health and wellness professional you must be able to tell your client the good and bad of the practice in which you are telling them to do. For instance, as a fitness professional I am not going to tell someone to do an exercise that I have not tried myself or know nothing about. And, about having obligation, I feel we do have an obligation to our clients to keeping developing ourselves psychologically, physically, and spiritually. We must find ways to better ourselves in all aspects of health so we can therefore be able to not just tell our clients what to do but to be able to share some personal experience. I can implement psychological and spiritual growth in my life by finding things that make me happy, and keep my mind going in a positive direction. I have to find what will help me stay balanced no matter what it is as long it does not put my life at risk or take me down a negative road. With a positive mind I will always try to make myself better than it was the year, month, week and even day before.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Universal Loving Kindness Exercise
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?
The exercise was a meditation exercise in which you sit for a few minutes and relax into self and then you have repeat four lines. The lines that you repeat are for people out in the world, people you do not know. You are suppose to open yourself to others that you do not know and learn how to have universal loving kindness and personal love combined. I tried the exercise and it seems as though I am really not someone who likes to meditate. But, this exercise did help me see that we must look past our circle of close friends and family and look at those that we do not know and feel compassion for a person you do know personally. I like the exercise because I feel it will help people open up not just their minds but their hearts to others around the world.
The area that I have chosen to focus on is my psychological well-being because I feel as though there is a lot more I can learn to help me become more balanced in that area. That does not mean I am going to loose focus in the other areas of my life, I will still continue to work on my physical and spiritual well-being, but the many focus will be on the psychological. Some exercises I could possible do to help me strengthen this area and balance it out would be things like: Brain games to test my memory and other skills, do trivia to keep up with current events and history, do yoga or Pilates, dance, be with friends and family, there are so many things I can do to strengthen this area of well-being it all depends on how I am feeling that day and what I feel like doing.
The exercise was a meditation exercise in which you sit for a few minutes and relax into self and then you have repeat four lines. The lines that you repeat are for people out in the world, people you do not know. You are suppose to open yourself to others that you do not know and learn how to have universal loving kindness and personal love combined. I tried the exercise and it seems as though I am really not someone who likes to meditate. But, this exercise did help me see that we must look past our circle of close friends and family and look at those that we do not know and feel compassion for a person you do know personally. I like the exercise because I feel it will help people open up not just their minds but their hearts to others around the world.
The area that I have chosen to focus on is my psychological well-being because I feel as though there is a lot more I can learn to help me become more balanced in that area. That does not mean I am going to loose focus in the other areas of my life, I will still continue to work on my physical and spiritual well-being, but the many focus will be on the psychological. Some exercises I could possible do to help me strengthen this area and balance it out would be things like: Brain games to test my memory and other skills, do trivia to keep up with current events and history, do yoga or Pilates, dance, be with friends and family, there are so many things I can do to strengthen this area of well-being it all depends on how I am feeling that day and what I feel like doing.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Compare and Contrast
Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.
The Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind exercises where in a way different to me in the way they are done. With the Subtle Mind exercise you are basically trying to stop all interruption within the mind and just focus on the breath. With the Loving Kindness exercise focused on the thoughts and memories that usually can be a distraction or a problem. I like the Loving Kindness exercise better than the Subtle Mind exercise because the Subtle Mind exercise seemed a lot like meditation and I do not do well with meditation. I rather sort through my thoughts and find thing that need to be addressed or brought back up to be resolved.
Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.
There is a major connection between the mind, body and spirit, no question there. How they are connected is very complicated and can take a really smart person to explain it out right, but we all can say are own interpretation of what we thing the connection between them are. How our body and mind are connected to our soul is that what every we are going through mentally or physically our spiritual life is very much affected. Many people cannot find a spiritual connect when the rest of them is out of balance. I do notice that people pray more when it comes to mental instability because in many cultures being mental unstable does not exist so they turn to there cultures beliefs to heal what every it is they are going through mentally. Others need to be there spiritually before they can get right mentally or physically because they feel that is the best way to heal. I personally use spiritually to keep me positive about everything in life from the mental to the physical because I feel as long as I have a positive attitude that positive energy will flow around me and keep me healthy. To me it has worked so far, I do not get sick very often, I have no physical problems that stop me from doing daily tasks, and I have a positive string of people in my life that keep me going. In all, without my spiritual side I feel I would be doing worse off because to me negative brings sickness and I do not need that in my life.
The Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind exercises where in a way different to me in the way they are done. With the Subtle Mind exercise you are basically trying to stop all interruption within the mind and just focus on the breath. With the Loving Kindness exercise focused on the thoughts and memories that usually can be a distraction or a problem. I like the Loving Kindness exercise better than the Subtle Mind exercise because the Subtle Mind exercise seemed a lot like meditation and I do not do well with meditation. I rather sort through my thoughts and find thing that need to be addressed or brought back up to be resolved.
Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.
There is a major connection between the mind, body and spirit, no question there. How they are connected is very complicated and can take a really smart person to explain it out right, but we all can say are own interpretation of what we thing the connection between them are. How our body and mind are connected to our soul is that what every we are going through mentally or physically our spiritual life is very much affected. Many people cannot find a spiritual connect when the rest of them is out of balance. I do notice that people pray more when it comes to mental instability because in many cultures being mental unstable does not exist so they turn to there cultures beliefs to heal what every it is they are going through mentally. Others need to be there spiritually before they can get right mentally or physically because they feel that is the best way to heal. I personally use spiritually to keep me positive about everything in life from the mental to the physical because I feel as long as I have a positive attitude that positive energy will flow around me and keep me healthy. To me it has worked so far, I do not get sick very often, I have no physical problems that stop me from doing daily tasks, and I have a positive string of people in my life that keep me going. In all, without my spiritual side I feel I would be doing worse off because to me negative brings sickness and I do not need that in my life.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
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?
My experience was very beneficial because it helped me see and feel things that I often take for granted. I felt things that I have not felt before because I thought things that I have been suppressing. It was not difficult at all to the exercise, it was just hard to think of a loved one's suffering because you do not want to think of anyone suffering. You want to think happy thoughts as much as possible but with this exercise you realize that it is reality and you need to learn how to incorporate those feeling in your life and learn how to deal with them. I would recommend this exercise to a friend or family member especially if I feel they need to release to emotions. It is a great way to release things that you often suppress unknowingly.
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?
The concept of "Mental Workout" is that you need to continue to keep practicing whatever it is you do. You have to do daily exercises to keep the mind mentally aware and focused. I do not know what the research says about "Mental Workout", but I would think that it would definitely help with being able to better control your emotions, deal with extreme stressors in live, help with being able to remember things (ex. list, names). There is a lot "Mental Workouts" can do for not just the brain, but for the whole body.
I would implement mental workouts in my daily routine by maybe sitting before bed and doing some homework or reading a book. I can also implement it in my work my using some time at the end of class to have a quit time where people just sit and meditate. Mental workouts are very beneficial and useful for helping clear the mind and body.
My experience was very beneficial because it helped me see and feel things that I often take for granted. I felt things that I have not felt before because I thought things that I have been suppressing. It was not difficult at all to the exercise, it was just hard to think of a loved one's suffering because you do not want to think of anyone suffering. You want to think happy thoughts as much as possible but with this exercise you realize that it is reality and you need to learn how to incorporate those feeling in your life and learn how to deal with them. I would recommend this exercise to a friend or family member especially if I feel they need to release to emotions. It is a great way to release things that you often suppress unknowingly.
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?
The concept of "Mental Workout" is that you need to continue to keep practicing whatever it is you do. You have to do daily exercises to keep the mind mentally aware and focused. I do not know what the research says about "Mental Workout", but I would think that it would definitely help with being able to better control your emotions, deal with extreme stressors in live, help with being able to remember things (ex. list, names). There is a lot "Mental Workouts" can do for not just the brain, but for the whole body.
I would implement mental workouts in my daily routine by maybe sitting before bed and doing some homework or reading a book. I can also implement it in my work my using some time at the end of class to have a quit time where people just sit and meditate. Mental workouts are very beneficial and useful for helping clear the mind and body.
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