Last Unit Blog (the rest is up to me!)

Although I feel like I’ve grown in many areas throughout these past 10 weeks, my self assessment doesn’t really show it.  My spirituality scores have stayed the same, but my physical assessment has decreased.  I think it was mainly due to the cold weather, that makes it more difficult for me to incorporate exercise in my daily activities and the construction nearly diminished because we ran out of money for me to continue our bathroom project.  My psychological assessment has stayed basically the same, although with new stressors to tackle.  But then again with me, assessment almost needs to be done on a daily basis because I have good days too!  Especially when I do incorporate contemplative practice into my busy schedule.
I think I’ve done well in progressing towards my goals from a unit 3.  My wrist isn’t sore anymore, so only time will tell if it’s healed; or I can just keep telling myself that it is healed and not worry about it anymore.  I haven’t had any major impulsive outbursts lately, since I have been spending more time reading the bible and praying for God’s guidance.  Lastly, I think I’ve been doing a good job getting rid of the stressors I have control over.  My one roommate is gone, and my husband is finally getting strong enough to realize his baby bro is taking us for granted.  I’ve also made one of the most difficult decisions in my life to accept a new job offer, ridding myself from work stress even though I had stability.
From this course, I’ve learned how to control my conscious mind and allow wisdom to lead my actions.   I am that fun loving, adventurously curious kid I’ve always been.   I’ve gained a higher confidence in myself that I’m doing the right things for the right reasons, still keeping a sense of self-discipline.  I think the most difficult part in continuing my journey is to keep my mind still.  But now I’ll know what I need to do if I see or feel myself falling back.  This experience has helped me to move forward in my life with confidence and has allowed me to have an open ear, a kind humble heart, and words of wisdom to pass on to those in need of wanting help.
Come on guys!  Let’s make this world a better place!

Final Project: 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 our vow to “Enter a personal process of self-development” (Dacher, 2006).  To promote true and full health and healing into the lives of others, we must heal ourselves first.  The only way to heal is through holistic means of embracing all 4 aspects of our human experience: psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly.  Only after we have experienced this euphoria of an everlasting and obtainable, fully extendable health, happiness, and wholeness, can we motivate and promote the true meaning of integral health to others.

Personally, I believe, on a surface level, I’ve touched base in all psychological, spiritual, and physical means for self improvement.  Although, I know there is much more to be learned and I yearn for that knowledge; therefore, I move forward and take the necessary steps my heart logically, yet with much faith, leads me to, to follow my dream of an enduring happiness for myself and to share this with others.

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

Everything I do, every move I make, I ask for God’s guidance; I live for Him.  Not only do I do this with conscious thought, but I’ve noticed that I sometimes act, without intention (automatically), for that same cause.  I respect all concepts of the living and the dead, the spiritual world, and even the unseen, taken for granted energy forces that dwell directly among us here on earth. With that being said, spiritually, I’m at a pretty high place; giving myself an 8 or 9. 

Physically I’m probably at about a 4.  This winter season has put somewhat of a halt on my exercise through normal daily routines.  So I’m a bit disappointed in myself that I couldn’t reserve a small amount of time on a daily basis to just be able to care for my body’s needs.  This also includes my diet as well.  I think with all my current stress bundled in a small time frame, I just ate whatever was convenient at the time.  I did notice my immune system wasn’t very high, and my energy levels have been shot; I think I even went into somewhat of a winter depression mode as well because I felt as though I didn’t have control over the matter.

Which brings me to: psychologically.  Lately, I confess I’ve been a mess.  I’ve had high stress trying to win over my marriage again yet this time at a higher, more true, relational level and in addition I guess I never realized how hard it was going to be for me to leave my co-workers, in which I’ve been working side by side with for 5 years, as I transition jobs.  I think the work issue has hit me harder because there was a time limit, and I wanted to leave making sure everyone knew how much I appreciated them in my journey through life.  My marriage, I still have time to work on, as long as I have hope.  Through this experience it seems that with my stress levels being so high, it was much harder for me to dedicate my time out for meditation, so psychologically currently I’m at about a 5.

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

My physical goal is obvious: I need to get off my bed and exercise.  I’ve been having a strong urge to want to hit things, so I’m currently in search for a cheap, decent punching bag.  My first session of yoga, was a neat experience.  I didn’t really feel like I was working out though so I wouldn’t consider that really physical exercise, more-so mental exercise.  I’ve been thinking about joining a kickboxing class or even getting my family back into martial arts.  Time is the determining factor in where this decision lays.  I also have to get back into a regular routine of grocery shopping weekly and thinking about my meals ahead of time.  I think with my new job, I work one less day, so I’m hoping this really helps with a lot of my time issues.

Psychologically, I really need to also dedicate time for complete silence.  My mind needs rest!  I need to stop acting upon worried thoughts and emotions and start acting with faith and wisdom.

My spiritual goal is to have more faith in God and to come to accept the fact that my daughter has a special connection with the spiritual world, just as my husband does.  Because I personally can not see, I fear for her because I don’t know what they want.  I just need to keep praying that God will guide her in the right path and give her the strength to stand up for herself.

  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.

To promote my physical growth, I just need to stay engaged in the activities I enjoy doing: martial arts, which promotes the mind/body/spirit connection, and since springtime is coming up I need to get a new bike, since mine got stolen, and start pedaling down to work, meditating on my music and the environment. 

For my psychological development, I need to start continuing practicing and mastering the art of simply clearing my mind through contemplative practice.  I can alternate between meditation and visualization techniques to refresh my innate senses of loving-kindness and acting with wisdom.

Spiritually, I can stay connected and communicate with people of similar faith and helping my local community; in addition to keeping in regular communication and connection directly to God through prayer and reading the bible.

   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?

I think I need to stop and reflect on my progress on a weekly basis until everything becomes routine.  If I’ve reached my goals, I’ll continue until my heart tells me otherwise.  Then I’ll re-assess and make appropriate changes to reach my new goal.

I need to keep practicing contemplative practices on a daily regular basis.  I also need to keep moving forward, doing more research and maybe even engage myself and my husband in a retreat of some sort.  Then we can help and encourage each other as we live and grow together, serving the world with the gifts God gave us.

Life's lesson: A life of Hope (unit 8)

First off I want to apologize to all those who have been keeping up with my blogs and possibly silently seeking my guidance and I was no where to be found. I guess I've just recently been caught up in my recent life's adversities of switching jobs, and trying to foster that with my co-workers/(second family) in the nicest possible way so as to not have any hard feelings or even feelings of jealousy. Secondly, as I've said in previous blogs, I feel I owe it to my family first and foremost to help them even acknowledge this possible concept of integral health. With that being said, my significant other is quite indirectly very demanding of my presence and attention; so, I've read many of your posts, although haven't been able to fully respond in the best ways possible. I'm making a heartfelt honest effort in these last two weeks to make up for my somewhat subjective absence over the course of this term. Just thought you all should know, that I honestly, really do care.

Back to school work...

I think the two practices that have been most beneficial for me are the Subtle Mind Practice and this last visualization practice we did on pages 144-146 in our Integral Health book. I feel as though I really already have this massive loving-kindness for humanity itself and my main issue is really my anger and acting on impulse, therefore I feel the Subtle Mind Practice really keeps me focused on intention and helps remind me of who and what I really am inside that I need to exert on the outside as well.

This last visualization exercise reminds me of my final aim and motivates me to show the world that true happiness does exist even in what seems to be an endless hope of life in a cruel world of dishonestly, hate and despair. I just want to help...