Unit 10 blog

In unit 3 I rated myself an 8 in the physical aspect and my goal was to incorporate different exercises. Today I would keep it at an 8. I have only added one new exercise so I suppose that would count as achieving my goal, but I feel that I can do better.

In the spiritual aspect I rated myself a 6 and my goal was to buy a relaxation CD and listen to it. Today I would bump it up to an 8. I have achieved my goal of buying a CD but I don't listen to it as much as I should. I do feel better about my spiritual self and I need to start recognizing when I should stop and take some time to listen to that CD when I'm getting overwhelmed.

I rated myself the lowest in the psychological area at a 5 and I made a goal to continue school and not quit until I have my degree. I have made it through this term so I feel that I am well on my way to achieving what I started out to do a little over 2 years ago. I will be done in February and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I feel that I have grown the most in this area and I'm proud of myself. I hope that everyone else has grown in the areas they wanted to grow in and I hope that everyone continues to grow as we keep on keeping on. Take care everyone!!

Final Project

Melissa Mueller

Unit 9 Final Project

HW 420 – 02

Mark Maule

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 they are the healers. They are the key to other people’s success and if they aren’t successful in their own ways, their confidence to help others won’t be as high. They have to be the ones to experience it first hand and feel the benefits of what can come of being in touch with themselves psychologically, spiritually and physically.

The areas that I need to develop to achieve my goals that I have for myself is psychologically and spiritually. I feel that physically I am at a comfortable level and I am happy with that. Most of the time when I get stressed I tend to let it affect everything else in my life. I need to work on psychospiritual development so that I can deal with the stress better so it doesn’t affect any other part of my life. I do feel that I have made progress in this class with the subtle mind but I feel that there is more work to be done. I need to continue working on my spiritually so that I can feel more comfortable in this area.

II.            Assessment:

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

I have assessed my health in each domain be comparing where I am now to where I was before this class. Psychologically I feel that with completing the exercises throughout this course, I have opened myself to have more of a witnessing mind where I can let thoughts enter, observe they are there, and just dissolve away. I have even reached a calm-abiding mind where I am so still and strong that those random thoughts don’t even matter. They just appear and disappear. I haven’t reached unity consciousness yet but I feel good enough about myself that if I keep practicing I will reach that level. Overall I would score myself psychologically from 1 to 10 at a 7. I know I still have work to do but I feel good about where I am now.

Spiritually I feel that I have advanced in this area the most. I think by using the exercises as a starting point, I have really grasped the difference of how I feel when I get done doing certain activities. By feeling more alert but grounded at the same time I can go on with my day with a smile on my face. I feel that I have gained the most from this domain because I never knew how much better I could feel just by changing a few things in my day. Overall I would score myself spiritually from 1 to 10 at an 8. I know there is room for me to improve.

Physically I feel that I have improved just a little compared to where I was before taking this course. I was already running and exercising but I have included yoga a few times a week. The difference is amazing. I feel so refreshed and alive after I get done with yoga. It is almost as if I can feel the oxygen and blood running all the way through my whole body. I feel more alert and alive after yoga. I am really glad that I have included it a few days a week into my routine. Overall I would score myself physically from 1 to 10 at an 8. I feel that I can always continue to exercise and it won’t ever hurt me to keep exercising.

III.           Goal development:

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

A goal that I have for myself physically would be to start incorporating different exercises into my routine.  I feel that I am a creature of habit and I do the same exercises over and over. If I do something different, I can not only feel the difference but I will see it too.

A goal that I have spiritually would be to continue to listening to my relaxation CD more than just once in a while. I need to take time out of my day or even listen to it at night so I can fall asleep. I think that by doing that I can reduce my stress level and feel better about the things in my life. I feel that it helps me feel good about what I am doing and the person I am.

A goal that I have psychologically would be to continue to the end of my time at Kaplan and get my degree. I feel that I have worked so hard the past 2 years that it pay off in the end. I have to stick with it and I will be so proud of myself when I finally complete my degree. I think when February comes then I will take just a little break and rest my mind and then I can set a new goal for my psychologically health such as buying our first home.

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. 

There are strategies that I implement to grow in each area. Physically I can include more resistance band exercises. It will work different muscles and it will work them in a different way compared to free weights. I can also start taking more walks outside. Breathing the fresh air can help clear my head and make me feel better

Psychologically I can take more time for myself. I can take a bubble bath or an Epson salt bath, get a manicure and pedicure, and simple enjoy the outdoors more. I do spend quite a bit of my day inside while at work and at home cooking, cleaning or doing homework for school. If I take the time to spend on myself then I can reduce my stress level. When my stress level is lower then I feel better in every other way.

Spiritually I can help in my community more often. Helping others gives me a sense of accomplishment and reward even if no one tells me I did a good thing. I can also continue to take some time each day to play with my dogs and the cats outside. I think that animals make people feel better and that can continue to help my spiritual health.

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 can assess my progress or lack of progress in the next six months by either continuing my blog or starting a journal and making entries every day or every other day. I can look back in six months to be able to tell where I started at and compare it to where I will be and where I want to be. I think that I can buy a planner just for this purpose. I can keep track of the different events and activities that I have done so that I can see where I am at in each of the three domains in my integral health.

Unit 8 blog

The two practices that I had the most success with were the rainbow meditation with the colors in the different areas of the body. I was really relaxed the first time I did it and I had just as much success the second time around too. I could really visualize the colors coming from the areas of my body. That exercise was super relaxing and I learned about the colors at the same time.

The second practice I had the most success was the Subtle mind exercise. With that exercise I was really able to concentrate on the rise and fall of my chest. I think the deep breathing makes me feel more alive and whole. When I do deep breathing, I visualize all the bad and negative thoughts and feelings going out of my body while the positive and good things come back into my body.

It's simply amazing how much better you can feel if you just take a little time for yourself every now and then. I should include these couple of exercises a few times a week so that I can release the bad and take in the good. I can also get rid of some stress at the same time.

Meeting Asciepius

I thought this week's exercise wasn't too bad. I had a little bit of trouble with wander thoughts but I was always able to let them go and get back to focusing on what I needed to. I pictured my grandpa before he got sick when I was a little girl. I started to go down memory lane for a little bit before the voice snapped me out of it. It was nice to think about him again. I saw him sitting in his chair and then he was gone and it was just the chair. It was really weird like he just vanished.

When I hear the saying "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” I think more of being a hypocrite because if you are going to tell me to do something but yet not do it yourself. I can't have a lot of respect and take that person seriously if they couldn't do what they are asking me to do. A lot of that happened when I was in the military and unfortunately it still happens. I guess that is one of those things that will continue to happen.

Loving Kindness Exercise & the Integral Assessment

I have to say that I couldn't remember every single line word for word but I feel better as I person for taking the time to think about helping someone else besides myself. That's a good feeling. The personal reward that you get from helping someone in need of something is awesome. Thinking about helping people is something that I think I need to work on more. Then actually helping people is the next step.

I found out that the area that I think I need to work on more is worldly flourishing. I don't think that I volunteer or help out with community activities or fundraisers much at all. So I think I'm going to talk to our fundraising committee at work and volunteer my time for the next fundraiser we have. I hate to admit it but sometimes I go out of my way to not volunteer to help with something. Everyone needs help at some point or another so why not just help out once in a while?

Subtle mind exercise

This exercise was way easier to me than the loving kindness exercise. I didn't feel that I had near as many distractions this time, especially since last time all I could think about was my brother. This time I was able to concentrate on what the lady was saying for me to do and I actually did it. I was able to concentrate on the rise and fall of my chest and when a thought would appear, I was able to overcome and not start thinking about that thought. I think this exercise shows just how influential our minds can be. It doesn't take much for me to be distracted but this time I was able to let it go and get back to focusing on the rise and fall of my chest.

I think the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness is just as vital as any other connection. Without having a meaningful spiritual wellness and doing things that make your mind, body, and spirit feel connected, then you can really feel like a mindless blob just occupying space. Think about how good you feel when your done something that was a challenge to you and the relief and happiness that you get when you accomplish it. It's an amazing feeling. Compare that to just lying around and not being productive at all. You kind of feel like crap. Being able to accomplish and overcome challenges makes me feel like I'm alive. Those are the times where I can really feel that my mind, body and spirit are all working together.  

Loving Kindness Exercise

I really did try and I even listened to it again after the first time, but I just couldn't get it today. I had a pretty bad argument with my brother a few days ago and I think that is dragging me down. I tried to breathe in the bad from him and breath out the happiness and health to him but I just didn't feel it. It bothers me that I didn't get it because I really have felt a difference from the exercises in the units prior but not this one.

I think I would recommend this to anyone that works with people on a daily basis. We all have our bad days and we all have our times where we don't feel well. I think that maybe the nursing profession may benefit from listening to this. They could relax and learn to love everyone at the same time. It could help their bedside manner with their patients.

I think the concept of a mental workout is practicing and challenging your mind to go to places it hasn't been before. Research can show that a mental workout can help someone achieve things they never thought they could like reversing heart disease or any other illness. If you practice your mind to think healthy and happy, then I would think your body would react to your mind in that way. I think that I need to try to listen to this exercise on another day to see if I can get it again.