This is a very apt saying for someone studying to become a health and wellness professional. I personally feel that you must practice what you preach in order to lead by example. I also feel that I have an obligation to my clients to work on developing my health psychologically, physically, and spiritually. This is because I need to be as wholesome as possible to guide others towards the gift of integral health. I am implementing psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life by eating well balanced meals, exercising consistently, meditating, praying and listening to spiritual readings. I am also learning how to choose my thoughts and make them positive. When you change your thoughts and attitudes you can change your feelings.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
“Meeting Asciepus” Exercise
During this exercise I used Jesus as my spiritual example on which to focus my attention. This was very strange for me as my vision of him has always been abstract, not a physical being. After I got past that obstacle I really enjoyed the exercise and could feel great strength emanating from him to me via the head, the neck and the heart. I have noticed an increase in my psychological and spiritual wellness during these past weeks. I have developed a vision of my spirit being a direct connection to God and my mind and body on the sidelines. As I meditate I am keeping the spiritual side strong by staying closely connected to that strength and afterwards I observe how long it takes me to get back into the flesh and listen to my stomach or my feelings. It has been an eye opening experience.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Unit 6 Blog Entry
The aspects of my life that are the most significant sources of distress are in the Psychospiritual development. The greatest possibility for growth and development are also in this area along with developing my potential to interact socially in the community and in social activism.
Psychospiritual Lines of Development
Conative – My source and character of motivation is often fear and I can be reactive so I score a 2.
Cognitive – I also need to work on my behavioral patterns and develop positive thought patterns instead of worry so I a score of 2.
Emotional – I am reactive by becoming defensive and fearful and I would love to be more grown up, ha! A score of 2.
Interpersonal Lines of Development
Personal – I work on personal development daily and I give myself an 8.
Family – I try to stay in close contact with my family at all times again an 8.
Community – I am very bad at socialization with my community as I isolate so I give myself a 2.
Biological Lines of Development
Fitness – I am not a guru but I am consistent and committed so I score an 8.
Nutrition – This is my major field of study and I am focused on this area so I score a 9.
Self-regulation – I am very disciplined so I give myself a score of 9.
Worldly Lines of Development
Work – I score a 9 as I am very committed to my job and my relationships there.
Social Activism – I score myself at a 2 in this area as it is not an interest for me.
Generativity – I scored myself as an 8 in this area as I love to teach people what I have learned and watch them get excited to learn.
In order to develop my cognitive skills I will study a book I have that focuses on practices to restate life events in a positive way and to relive them using this new insight and it is supposed to foster better self beliefs. My conative work will be spiritual in nature as I am meditating I am already finding a peace and a sense of security that comes from feeling assured that everything is as it should be at this time. As I continue to work on the loving kindness meditation I will also develop community skills by focusing on others.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Spiritual/Mental/Physical Fitness
The connection of spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness in my life has been an ongoing development. This connection has grown, developed and waned throughout my life depending on where my focus lies at that period of time. When I was young, Sunday school was very important to me and I placed a high priority on it. I wanted very much to be the little girl in the picture praying with her hat and gloves and pretty little dress. I would sing my little heart out during the song and worship time. The mental and physical wellness was also fine, as a child, because I was a healthy youngster and very active. During high school, I found some aspects of my life challenging and started having trouble coping with all that was going on around me. I sought God, I sought nature and I also ate a lot. These were my coping mechanisms. Physically, I was still healthy although I could go two or three days without sleep if I was bothered by something. My life has gone through times of physical wellness/illness, mental wellness/illness and spiritual wellness/illness in varying degrees. I believe what we are learning on earth is how to have a healthy balance in all these areas of our lives and to find the ability to enjoy the gift of life and to help others as much as possible.
Unit 5 Blog Entry
In Unit 5 we practiced the subtle mind exercise. The practice had us focus on our breath, whether breathing through our nose or on the rise and fall of our chest. I found this meditation very soothing and a few times I felt the concept of the witnessing mind where I was almost outside of myself observing what was going on. The times that I found my thoughts drifting it was very easy to refocus on the breath until my mind was calm and without thought. In comparison with the loving kindness practice I found this more relaxing and in a strange way more spiritual even though I was not thinking of or speaking to God. It was just a deep abiding inside of me. The loving kindness practice was fun at the front end thinking of my loved one and sad at the end thinking of all the suffering people. The loving kindness practice is practiced to reduce self-centeredness.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Unit Four Blog Entry - The Concept of the “Mental Workout”
The concept of the mental workout is the ability to practice a consistent, daily routine of mental exercises that develop the psychospiritual aspects of our health. This mental workout can be implemented by developing an expanded consciousness and its healing capacities. The two types of practices that expand consciousness that I am currently learning will be the loving kindness technique and the subtle mind technique. (The loving kindness technique is described in my post titled loving kindness.) The subtle mind technique is achieved first by calming our minds of the never ending chatter that goes through it and by slowly developing a still, calm mind. Research has proven that the benefits of a mental workout provide psychospiritual flourishing by developing an open heart, a calm mind and a peaceful spirit.
Loving Kindness Technique Practice
This week’s exercise was to listen to a loving kindness practice and to participate in the experience. At first we were instructed to mediate on a person that we felt strong loving feelings for and to concentrate on them and those feelings. I found that after a time my face was aching terribly and I realized I was smiling so much from these concentrated feelings of love that my face hurt! Next we were instructed to turn those same loving feelings inwards towards ourselves and I found this okay, but the experience was not comfortable. I do believe that taking time to do this on a daily basis would be constructive and that this practice would become more comfortable each day. Next, we were instructed to focus on a loved one that was suffering and to breathe in their suffering and breathe out loving kindness and healing toward that person. That was very comfortable for me to do as I am basically a people pleaser. The next step was to focus on a small group of people and then on a large group of people who are suffering and to breathe in their suffering and breathe out loving kindness towards them. I found this more difficult. The small group was comfortable and I could tolerate the ensuing feelings. The large group was uncomfortable for me as I pictured a cross section of Floridians who I see suffering, i.e., street people, poor people, neglected children, people using substances who are in despair, etc. all standing in a large group in front of the Washington Monument! (This is the visual that came to my mind!) I then tried to breathe in their suffering and did to a degree but I found it overwhelming and when I felt overwhelmed I found myself feeling thoughts that were negative and critical as to why they were there in the first place. I believe these critical thoughts were a form of self preservation to deflect the feelings of their suffering. I breathed out as much loving kindness as I could muster. This part of the exercise will take work and opened a window into my soul as to how I subconsciously judge people. I did not enjoy seeing this negative behavior in myself as I like to think of myself as a sweet person. I found this exercise to be beneficial as it has shown me a part of my character that I need to work on. I also would like to start the day meditating on loving kindness so that I will continue to treat others as I would want to be treated and to be patient with people who may be slower than I am. I would also desire to be more understanding of others actions and believe that their actions are the best that they can do at that moment in time. I would highly recommend this exercise to anyone who wants to expand their growth as a human being.
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