Final Thoughts

                  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?

While many may agree, leading by example is a highly effective strategy for success, there are other reasons for health and wellness professionals to develop each area of integral health. Spiritual, physical, and psychological growth are very personal experiences, full of trial and error. There are no instruction manuals with clear step by step directions leading to the end result of wholeness, rather the path is full of obstacles and invaluable opportunities for learning experiences. The journey to developing these areas of wellness is infinite. Life is ever changing, and the need to adapt to these changes and continually seek inner peace and well-being remains. The experience of following a plan and consistently seeking new levels of development and growth exceeds the possibilities of textbook learning and provides the necessary preparation for health and wellness professionals to offer guidance to their clients. Current research proves health and wellness practices, such as yoga, meditation, regular physical exercise routines, and proper diet and nutrition programs, contribute to the prevention of stress-related disease. Additionally, finding balance in one’s own life reflects in interpersonal relationships. When the health and wellness professional is at peace and balanced, clients can get a sense of the effectiveness of wellness practices. We become our own greatest healers. According to Dacher (2006), “To become agents of a more expansive health, we must begin with our own life” (p. 167).

Considering the aforementioned reasoning for personal growth and development, each of these areas require constant attention, in my opinion. Spiritually, I believe I am on the right path and plan to continue to grow in the future with an open and understanding mind. Physically, due to pre-existing health issues, I take life one day at a time. I participate in regular physical activity when I am feeling well. I would likely engage in more intense physical activities, if my body would allow. However, the key to reaching my physical fitness goals is consistency. While I do not aspire to achieve the physique of a bodybuilder, I enjoy overcoming small challenges and reaching personal goals. I have learned to accept my chronic health issues, and I strive to do as much as I can handle. Psychologically, I believe I require the most personal development. This is the area in which I feel as if I am taking tiny baby steps. At this point, I am simply committing to daily meditations, calming my mental chatter, focusing on positive self-talk, and attempting to approach the world with feelings of loving-kindness. When these attitudes and behaviors begin to feel more natural and less forced, I will adapt my goals to reflect these changes.  

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

Prior to taking this course, I would score my wellness as ordinary or average. While I was extremely interested in finding alternative methods to treat my physical symptoms associated with chronic pain and illness, I viewed these alternative treatments in a very ordinary way, finding a way to treat symptoms and eliminate suffering. Even though my physical health is not ideal, I take comfort in knowing I have been able to stop taking traditional prescription medicines and avoid the horrible side effects by finding other ways to cope with my illness. As far as physical conditioning, I am probably fairly average for someone of my culture. I am aware I need to improve my physical health. I am slowly working to reach small goals. I am active, not sedentary, yet far from a professional athlete. I monitor my nutrition, yet still enjoy occasional empty calories. I know the changes I need to make in order to see better results. For example, I have set a goal to completely eliminate pizza from a local shop, which happens to be my favorite treat, and replace it with a healthy homemade alternative. Spiritually, I was already passing beyond just living an ordinary life to what is known as a uniquely human experience. By chance, I stumbled upon the idea that there is much more to our existence than living comfortably, while researching health-based nutrition, and this became my motivation to commit to furthering my education in this area. Spirituality is very unique to the individual and deeply personal. The details can be exceptionally complicated, while simultaneously being described in very simple terms, such as: All life on earth is connected, or we are all one. I feel the most mature and healthy in this area simply because I understand that not all ideas are written in stone and proven as fact. My mind is always open to new ideas, although I will often seek logical explanations before agreeing to change my perspective. Psychologically, I would rate my health somewhere between poor and fair. However, this can fluctuate and is heavily influenced by my environment, current circumstances, and stress load. Hopefully, through my new commitment to contemplative practices, I can continue to improve this area of my life.

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

Physical Goals: I want to achieve a level of fitness where I can run or jog for one consecutive hour without stopping to rest or walk. When I achieve this goal, I want to remain consistent and hold onto these results without reverting back to struggling through a jogging session. Additionally, I plan to continue making diet modifications until I identify foods that cause issues with my digestive system and eliminate them while maintaining balanced nutrition.

Psychological Goals: My main goal in this area is to overcome anxiety and panic attacks. Ideally, I would like to replace the negative emotions and reactions to certain environments with positive relaxing thoughts.

Spiritual Goals: I plan to continue working toward finding inner peace and maintaining balance within my life. My main goal is to be so content and calm within that external stressors do not affect my physical well-being.

              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.

Physical: For the nutritional aspect of my physical health, I plan to continue studying and learning the latest information and discoveries in nutritional science, while avoiding any fads. I will accomplish this through my own research and continuing my education. I plan to continue learning and practicing yoga, and my immediate future goal is to participate in a training program that combines plyometrics and yoga. I am also strongly considering taking a yoga class at a nearby location.

Psychological: The two most beneficial techniques that have made a difference in my psychological state are breathing/relaxation techniques combined with guided meditation and exercising positive self-talk during stressful situations. I plan to continue these practices by engaging in daily guided meditation and using positive self-talk and relaxation techniques throughout the day as needed.

Spiritual: I have two main goals in order to continue to grow spiritually. The first goal is to continue to de-clutter my life. This is a rather vague statement, but to me it means letting go of the things that are preventing me from finding peace. I plan to address past issues or relationships that are weighing me down, resolve these issues, then move on without the emotional baggage. I will use a variety of techniques to reach this goal, to include journaling and meditation. My second spiritual goal is to find like-minded individuals and mentors. I am already in the process of working on this goal, as I have found company in a spiritual healing center in my area.

               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?

For the purpose of tracking commitment, I plan to use journaling as my tracking tool. I also plan to include photos, along with times and personal progress logs, for the purpose of tracking physical fitness levels. Currently, I use a heart rate monitor that can help me track my fitness levels, and I plan to start a food journal starting in May. Physical health is fairly simple to track and assess. Tracking psychological and spiritual growth will be slightly challenging. I plan to journal my moods and behaviors, the times I accomplished my planned daily contemplative practices, and any new insights or ideas as they pertain to spiritual growth. Because I plan to keep this journal private, I will make an attempt to create a very honest and detailed assessment each week. I will include triggers for anxiety, the best methods to overcome stressful situations, things that bother me and situations that bring me joy and peace. I also plan to identify specific personal goals and track any progress I have made that align with these goals. Hopefully, I will be able to review older entries and witness growth over the next six months. I plan to evaluate my circumstances in six months, then decide the best way to maintain a long-term commitment to growth and development. If journaling and recording results is not an effective approach to tracking my progress, I will explore new ways to achieve improvements in the following months.

References

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. (S. Davis, Ed.) Laguna Beach, California, United States of America: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

 

 

                                                                                   

Two Practices for Mental Fitness

1.        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 that were the most beneficial for me are Meeting Asclepius and Loving Kindness. As stated in previous posts, I need to work break through some mental and emotional barriers and focus on extending the feelings of loving kindness to others. This is becoming easier and more automatic with practice. In fact, the Loving Kindness practice is my meditation of choice. It is my continual reminder to give love to others. Previously, I was wondering how I could give loving kindness to others, given my own emotional barriers resulting from past experiences. However, I am beginning to realize by giving loving kindness to others, I am slowly healing myself. I will continue to practice the Loving Kindness meditation. Also, I plan to journal my daily goals of acts of loving kindness. For instance, I may start with a goal of five encounters per day where I feel as if I gave loving kindness to others. I would like to continue and grow this goal over time.

                                                         

 

 

 

My second favorite practice session was last week’s Meeting Asclepius. This practice was very effective for me because I was able to identify with someone I hold close to my heart. Perhaps because he passed so long ago, I have only held onto the best memories of my grandfather, which makes it so easy to aspire to be like him. For me, this exercise goes hand in hand with the Loving Kindness meditation. I doubt I will visit this practice as often as the Loving Kindness practice, yet I still feel it had a powerful effect on mental state.

 

In order to foster a state of mental fitness in my own life, I can implement these meditations as part of my daily quiet time, which align with my three major personal goals.

1.    Relax my body and quiet my mental chatter

2.    Overcome my negative emotions. Replace these thoughts with positive self-talk and affirmations.

3.    Visualize myself achieving goals.

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself"

This meditation was a very personal experience. I used my grandfather, who passed away when I was 14 years old. My grandfather was extremely intelligent, forgiving, and loving. He was a very honest person with so much integrity. At one point in his life, a doctor took advantage of him. My grandfather built houses for a living, and he trusted a man’s word. The doctor allowed him to build him an extravagant house, using his own money to front materials, then never paid him a dime.  A few years down the road, my grandfather began suffering with emphysema from working in construction for so many years. He did not smoke. My grandfather suffered physically for many years before he passed. He never expressed anger or hatred concerning his financial situation or his illness. He remained an extremely loving and peaceful man until his last breath, and I believe he may just have been the best man I have ever known. Everything we have learned in this course so far, he seemed to effortlessly carry out in his everyday life, as if it was naturally a part of his personality. His demeanor was always pleasant, and he was the type of man you wanted to be around all the time. Given the positive experiences I associate with my grandfather, I welcomed this week’s guided meditation practice. It has been over 20 years since he passed, and I do not think of him as often as I used to, so this experience was pleasant. I am reminded of the good in the world, and he represents everything I would like to become someday.

Daily mindfulness and meditation practices have calmed me down considerably and relieved some of my anxiety. I notice I am no longer quick to snap at an irritation, no longer so reactive when things bother me. I feel more peaceful, and I believe some tension within my home is dissipating, as well. One of my teenagers loves to push my buttons, a somewhat common teenage behavior, and I usually get upset rather quickly at the interruption when I am rushed or in a hurry to take care of daily responsibilities. Maintaining a state of mindfulness helps me pay attention to exactly what she is saying or doing, and allows me the opportunity to decide that I will no longer react to her attention seeking behaviors or misguided attempts at independence. Instead, I calmly offer solutions and alternatives, and she rarely continues to argue. This has been extremely helpful in changing the atmosphere in our household, and it is proof that one family member can influence the mood of everyone, whether positive or negative. We are choosing positive because it’s much more pleasant.

 

I fully agree that health and wellness professionals should experience integral health on a personal level. We could benefit from seasoned mentors, as well as continually practicing psychological, physical, and spiritual growth. Unlike a medical doctor treating cancer, the answers to integral health are not written in black and white in a medical textbook or journal. The medical doctor does not need to experience chemotherapy and radiation treatments first hand to understand the disease and plan of action for treatment because science can explain the physiological changes in the body. The journey to health and wellness is a very personal, all-encompassing experience. For lack of a better analogy, the experience can be comparable to losing a loved one. The feelings associated with this type of loss are best understood by others who have experienced it. Similarly, combat veterans typically have an unbreakable bond after the emotional trauma they experience during times of war. Seeking integral health is one of these life experiences that is better understood first hand, rather than reading it in a book or listening to a story. Besides, with this knowledge, who would not want to seek a sense of inner peace and rid the mind and body of toxic emotions? By healing the professional, the professional is in a much better position to help others. Psychological and spiritual growth happens as a result of daily dedication to wellness practices. Everything matters, from the nutrient dense diet we should be consuming, to our daily exercise routines, to our contemplative practices and spiritual experiences. Living a mindful life helps makes these daily decisions a reality.

My personal goals involve:

Physical exercise 5-6 times per week

Quiet time or contemplative time 20-30 minutes per day

Yoga 3 times per week

Continuing education, keeping abreast of current wellness trends, and reading new credible material

Associating with like-minded individuals

Finding a mentor

 

                                                                        

 

Loving Kindness and Growth

I would love to take a few minutes each day and practice the Loving Kindness meditation. I think in time, this exercise could become a habit and serve as a constant reminder to give love. However, I still have reservations about the effectiveness of these types of exercises. In the end, I am sure I am changing myself on the inside, but does it do any good to become a kind and loving person while everyone else stays the same? I have trust issues, and I fear letting my guard down. I am still pretty stuck in the “fear so we cannot be vulnerable” state. I think it will take me a while to break free from this mindset. I am not ready to let people in to wreak havoc in my life again at this time. I believe I started out my life with an attitude of loving kindness, but I have put up walls and changed as a result of the not so loving kindness I received from others. This is not an overnight transformation for me.

During the assessment, my mind teetered between two different areas. In the biological quadrant, I need to refocus my energy and efforts on a consistent health, fitness, and nutrition routine. I have relaxed a little too much over the winter, and it is time to put forth the effort my body requires and deserves. I work best in this area by having a written schedule, meal plan, and goals. It takes the guess work out of everyday life and eliminates stress associated with health and fitness. Meal planning is a recipe for success and definitely helps to keep me on track. I am also going to enlist the support of a few friends to keep me accountable.

Also, I need to put some emphasis on my interpersonal relationships. I live in a transient area, and one by one, my friends move. My closest family is five to six hours away. I think I need to spend more time volunteering at my children’s schools to get to know some of the other parents a little better. It is important for me to form bonds outside my home because my husband travels often. I have long distance support, but it is never the same as having coffee or a bbq with a local friend.