The Road Goes Ever On and On...and Oh, What a Journey It Has Been.

Hello my little spider monkeys!! (Yes, I gave the flying monkeys a week’s vacation. They’ve earned a break with lots of coffee and Mountain Dew.) Welcome to the final week in the adventures of psychological and spiritual healing! It is hard to believe that it is week 10 and what a journey it has been. We’ve learned about ourselves and how the well-being of a person is connected to each aspect of health. It has at times been easy and other times it has been a challenge, but that’s what learning is all about, and we, my darlings, are never too old to learn.

This week, we were asked to answer a few questions about our experiences and what ratings we gave ourselves at the beginning of the course compared to now. So, my cats and kittens, let’s see what we’ve found out.

1. Review your unit 3 personal assessment of your psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reflect on these areas. How did you score yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 in unit 3? How do you score yourself now? Has the score changed? Why or why not?

I have looked over my scores for my well-being and compared them from Unit 3 and Unit 9. I’ve pretty much stayed the same on them. I know there are changes that I need to make and that some of these changes will take some time. There are areas that I need to advance on and ones that seem to be just fine for me. I’m sure that these scores will continue to change as I continue with these areas of my well-being.

2. Review the goals and activities you set for yourself in each area. Have you made progress toward the goals? Explain.

I’ve gone over the goals that I have set for myself and some I am already working on and others I have yet to start, but I know they will happen. I’m already working on being healthier by eating better and working out. I’m playing my brain games, doing crafts, working on puzzles, meditating and working on breathing techniques, and other activities that will keep my mind sharp. I also make sure to fund something funny to laugh at each day. My spiritual area will probably be the biggest challenge for me, especially when it comes to the loving-kindness area, but I think I’ll be able to accomplish the goals I have set up for myself.

3. Have you implemented the activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain.

I have implemented some of the activities I’ve chosen already. Some were easy to set as goals because I’m either already doing them or I had just started doing them before the class began. Like I said before, the spiritual area will be the hardest for me. I’ve never been a very spiritual person, but in the past few years I’ve found that some of my views have been changing. I still have a lot of the beliefs that I had growing up, but I’m finding new beliefs as well. I’m finding the religion that I want to follow and not one that someone says that I should follow (again, I won’t go into details on that because I don’t want anyone to be offended since my chosen religion – if you want to call it that – is one that many people don’t want to talk about). This will be my hardest area, but if I work hard at it and learn all I can about the spiritual aspect of well-being, then I should do just fine.

4. Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others?

This course has been very interesting to me. I’ve learned many things that I never knew and I’ve realized how important overall well-being is and how all aspects of our well-being are connected. Many people out there don’t believe that, but once you read about it and actually see the information right in front of you, it begins to make sense and you start to make the changes that you need to make. Knowing that I had already been doing some of the techniques to help with well-being was rewarding because it gave me a sense that I have a good understanding on what works for me. The most challenging part for me will be the loving-kindness. I know that we should treat others the way we want to be treated, but it is rough at times, so once I can get past that part, I should be okay. It’s just going to take some time and practice. I’m hoping that with what I have experienced in this class that I will be able to show others that these tips and techniques really do work and that there honestly is a connection when it comes to body, mind, and spirit. Sometimes hearing that from someone who has experienced gets through to a person better than no experience.

This has been quite an experience for me and I hope that all of you have enjoyed the ride as well. I would like to think that we have all grown together as we’ve taken this journey. We started out so new to everything, like a seedling just beginning to break through the ground, and now over the weeks, we have grown, like a strong tree, with knowledge that we can use to help not just ourselves, but others as well, and that is truly the best reward we could hope for. 

Will I continue this blog? It’s hard to say. Perhaps I will if I come across something new or an experience that I feel would be beneficial to share. I don’t believe that this is the true end of the journey. I feel that there is still much for all of us to learn. To truly understand something, we must learn all aspects, the good and the bad, and I think we will all get there in our own time.

Remember, don’t live in the past. This class has given us the steps to make our lives better and find the way to true human flourishing. And if you ever feel the past is holding you back, remember this line from a famous Disney movie: "Oh yes, the past can hurt. But, you can either run from it or, learn from it." - Rafiki, from The Lion King (Monkey!!!!) I know which one I will choose.

And so, my darling little spider monkeys, I will leave you with these words to reflect upon: Life isn't about all the happy times we have. It's about living through all the challenges life has given us, and all that we have ever been through. Life is a journey. We live and change, sometimes for the better and other times for the worse, but we learn as we go. We will take the knowledge we have learned in this class and make not only our lives but the lives of others better because of it. 

I wish each and every one of you much success in all of the goals you have set for yourselves and in everything you do each day.

Until we meet again!!!

Week9: The Final Stretch...

Hello my little minions!! Welcome to another week in the adventures of psychological and spiritual healing! It is hard to believe that we are about at an end for this class and it has been quite the journey, but we are not done just yet. We still have next week. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. This has been a stressful week, especially with two final projects due in one week and the one is going to take a LONG time. (gonna need the meditation and breathing exercises for that one for sure. That and the Mountain Dew and the flying monkeys to entertain me.)

This week, our exercise was for us to complete our final project and post it here for everyone in the class to read. We basically are reviewing what we learned, what changes we've seen in ourselves, and what steps we need to take to continue on our road to human flourishing. Below is my final project and I invite all of you to read it. (Don't be afraid, my little minions, it won't hurt, really it won't)

1. 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?

When people used to think of treatment for medical problems, they usually seemed to think of only treating the physical aspect. While this was fine for a long time, a physical diagnosis was not always the true problem. As medicine has developed over the years, we have discovered that true healing involves all aspects of the body (Schiltz, 2005). While physical treatment is important, we have found that psychological and spiritual well-being affects our physical well-being. We learn with integral health that healing is not a one-of-a-kind thing and that the way we treat an individual has to be tailored to their specific needs (Dacher, 2006). What works for one person will not always work for another. For a health and wellness professional to truly understand integral health, they must learn all aspects and treat each one as needed. 

For myself, I want to try and be as healthy as I can be in all aspects, physically, psychologically and spiritually. Out of all the areas, my psychological area is probably the best and I know I need to work on developing my physical and spiritual some more.

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

When it comes to my health, my physical aspect needs some work. For the most part, I’m pretty healthy in the sense that I’m hardly ever sick and I don’t have many health problems. However, I am overweight and I know that I need to lose some of this weight. Losing weight will help me feel better and will also be beneficial to my health since high blood pressure, diabetes, and some heart problems seem to run on both sides of my family. My mental health is pretty good. I’m nuts and I admit it, but so is everyone else that I know and it’s this humor we all have that helps keep me healthy mentally. I don’t usually get stressed out which I know is a big plus for me. I just don’t see what the point is about getting stressed over something that I have no control over. If I can control a situation, then I think of the possible outcomes before I act. For me, there is usually an answer to a problem. I just have to find it. My spiritual aspect is getting better. I know a lot of this area has to do with our own beliefs and I do have my own. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe in a higher power and all of that, but I also believe in other things as well (and I won’t go any further into that since I don’t want to offend anyone and I refuse to push a religion on anyone else, so we’ll leave it at that for now). I’m starting to understand how different beliefs affect others and to see if any of those ways can be of any help to me. The exercises we used in this class as well as meditation and visualization should help me a lot.

When this course first started, I would have rated myself on a scale of 1-10 at a 3 on physical wellness, an 8 on psychological wellness and a 3 on spiritual wellness. Now that the course if coming to an end, I would rate my physical wellness at a 5, my psychological wellness at a 9, and my spiritual wellness at a 6.

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

Physical Goal: My physical goal is to lose some of the extra weight I carry and to become healthier by eating right and exercising more.

Psychological Goal: My psychological goal is to stay as stress free as I can and to continue to challenge my mind each day, whether it’s learning a new craft or working my way through a puzzle online.

Spiritual Goal: My spiritual goal is to expand this area of wellness as much as I can by learning all that I can.

4. 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.

When it comes to my physical well-being, I’m currently looking into ways I can set meal plans and keep track of the foods I eat to ensure that I’m getting the nutrients that I need each day. I’ve also begun exercising more and I hope that I can increase this as I go along and maybe even incorporate some of my visualization, meditation and breathing techniques with it. I also know that I should see my doctor each year for a checkup. I’m hoping that I can start doing this so I can keep an eye on any family health problems and catch any before they really become a problem for me.

When it comes to my psychological well-being, my main thing is to keep my sense of humor. That’s some of the best medicine around. I’m going to stay stress free and do my best to keep my mind sharp. I have looked at the Lumosity website and it looks very interesting. I tried some of the exercises and was pleased at how well I did. I’m hoping to join the site for a year and try some of the other exercises and see how I do on those. I’m also always interested in learning new things. Believe it or not, two things that I hope to work on is re-learning my Spanish and to play the piano. These two exercises will challenge my mind and I will feel good mentally because I know I’m learning something new and that will give me a big boost in confidence.

When it comes to my spiritual well-being, I’m hoping to learn more about this area. I want to look deeper into the religion that I’ve chosen for myself and still hold my own beliefs and work to mix the two together. I want to continue with my meditation and work on creating new places to think of when I’m doing a visualization trip. I also want to keep working on my breathing techniques and learn more about the Chakra, since that seems to play a major part in our spiritual health. I know the one exercise in this class that was hard for me was the Loving-Kindness exercise. I am determined to find a way to make this work for me. Perhaps I can find a different exercise for it online and give it a try again. I’m sure that with time, I’ll be fine.

5. 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?

In the next six months, I intend to keep track of my progress by using a few websites I have found, but also to keep three different journals; one for each aspect of my well-being. I want to write out small goals for myself and work my way up to the main goal. I want to set up time management plans for each aspect, things like what I need to do each day and how much time I should spend on each one. As I keep track of my progress, I can look to see if there are any changes I need to make if I have an area that is a bit weak, or if I should keep going the way I am. Another thing I think I will continue to use is the blog we created for this class. It’s been fun and relaxing writing my experiences each week and being able to express myself. Sometimes writing down what you are thinking and feeling is one of the best ways to see how one’s well-being is doing. I know that if I should come across any other tips and techniques, I will pass them along and offer and advice and support to those that come to me and I hope that everyone in this class will do the same. Perhaps if we all stop being afraid and take this first steps, we’ll all fund our true path to human flourishing.

References:

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Schiltz, M. (2005). Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis: Elsevier.

Yes, it has been a journey for me and one that I know will continue. And so, as we come to the end of this week, I will leave you with these words: Don't worry about peoples expectations of you. Just follow the expectations you have of yourself.

Until next time!

Week 8: What Exercises Worked for Me?

Hello me mateys! (Yes, it's a pirate kind of day and no I didn't make anyone who ticked me off walk the plank...yet) Welcome to another adventure in the psychological and spiritual aspects of healing! We are on week 8 and we have two more weeks to go. It doesn't seem like we have been at this that long, but I do hope that all of you have enjoyed learning these new techniques each week just as I have.

I will be the first to admit that last week was not a good week for me at all. It was a very rough week and I had to use almost all of the techniques I've learned over these eight weeks to get past everything. I am doing better this week (still waiting for the Karma smackdown bus to hit, and it will eventually, believe me it will), so this blog should be a bit better.

So, come with me my little marshmallows (mmm...marshmallows) as we explore the exercise for this week.

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.

For me, the two best practices I have found to be the most beneficial for myself have been meditation and visualization. Meditation give me that time to quiet my mind and work on my breathing techniques. I can use those breathing exercises to imagine that I'm breathing in the good and positive energy and breathing out the bad and negative energy. So many people think that in order to do meditation that you have to do it for a long period of time each day. You don't have to do that. Meditation can be done in just five minutes a day if that's all the time you can spare. 

Visualization is my 'mini vacation' that I can escape to each day. I can sit back and think of a place I want to be, like on a beach at night or in a mountain cabin surrounded by falling snow. I can see the sights, hear the sounds, and even smell the different scents. After a visualization trip, I feel calm, relaxed, free of stress and energized to finish my day. 

I did not care of the Loving-Kindness exercise of the one from last week. I am not at a point where I can truly use the Loving-Kindness exercise. This exercise asks a lot of a person (to take on another person's problems and love them no matter what). I simply can't do that yet. I may get there in time, but right now, this exercise won't work for me. For the exercises I found not very helpful, I will continue to read about them and see if I can try my own way to achieve what these lessons were trying to teach us. I know I had problems with the voices of the instructors. Perhaps I will use just music and see if I can perform the exercise without any spoken help.

I hope that by practicing these two techniques that others will be more inclined to listen to my advice about the topics. I've noticed that many clients that notice that others understand their questions and needs are more likely to take that advice and believe that these exercises will work. They may not work for one person the way they did for another, but each of us is different and that is to be expected.

I am curious as to what methods the others in this class have found helpful and the ones they found not so helpful. Again, I'm sure it's different for everyone. And so, we have come to the end of yet another week. Keep up the good work and don't give up if something doesn't seem to be working for you. With a little time and patience, you'll get there.

And so, my fluffy little marshmallows (now I want S'mores or Rice Krispie Treats) I will leave you with these words: Success isn't measured by the position you reach in life; it's measured by the obstacles you overcome.

Meeting Asclepius - Greek Healer or Just a Pain? (yes, pun intended)

Good Morning (or evening) my star shines! The Earth says hello! (yes, it’s been a Johnny Depp night) Welcome again to another week in the adventures of psychological and spiritual healing! We have only a couple more weeks to go on this adventure and while it is not exactly impossible to achieve complete human flourishing in a ten week period, we should be well on our way to doing so.

And so my darling lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!), let’s see what this week’s exercise holds for us. This week we listen to the exercise called Meeting Asclepius.

1. Complete the Meeting Aesclepius mp3 (located in the Doc Sharing area). Describe your meditative practices 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?

First, I would like to say that the past couple of days have been very trying for me and I have had to rely greatly on meditation to get me through it. I found out at my place of employment that the people that are being hired in or that have not been there as long as I have are being paid more than I am for the same amount of work that I do. (If any of you heard an explosion the other day, that was temper blowing up. I admit it, I take the blame. What could I do? The voices in my head took a vote and I was outvoted on this one.) Needless to say, I am now looking for another job and can’t wait for the day that I can turn in my two week notice and tell this company where to go (and let me tell you, I was close to getting out the Voodoo dolls and the sharpest pins I could find and also sending the flying monkeys, cats, dogs, and squirrels out on this one, jacked on so much coffee and Mountain Dew. I took a lot to hold back on this one.). I have felt a lot of anger and betrayal, and I still do, but thanks to my meditation exercises, it’s helped me greatly.

The exercise from last week was easier to follow and not as distracting. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about this exercise. The instructor again talked way too much and it was hard to concentrate on what I was supposed to be visualizing. The background music was fine and pleasant, but the voice of this instructor is just annoying (nails on a chalkboard, seriously could anything be worse? Note to Dacher on these exercises: choose another instructor!!). Right away I had a problem visualizing someone older that I admire and respect. I had to resort to characters from movies and I finally ended up going with Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid (the original one). I simply did not get much from this exercise since it was way too hard to concentrate on. However, I won’t give up and will continue to work on meeting Aesclepius.

2. 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?

I think this saying speaks for itself. How can a client believe what I tell them that they should do if I don’t do it myself? Will a client believe the benefits of meditation if I don’t practice it myself? Will the client believe that I tell them about eating right and exercising if I don’t do that myself? Clients are more likely to believe us a health and wellness professionals if we have experienced a lot of what we want them to do. Many times a personal experience will engage the client more and make them feel that we truly understand their fears and concerns and make them feel that we do care about how they feel and what happens to them. It’s the same as when we go to the doctor. We want them to understand our concerns and listen to us and we are more likely to follow instructions and believe what they are saying if we know that they have gone through, or know someone who has gone through the same things. I think that if we can show our clients that these techniques work, and each one will be different for each client, and they head our own stories of success, then we will be able to help them achieve human flourishing as well.

Well, my little star shines, we have come to the end of another week. It’s hard to believe that we only have a couple of more weeks to go in this class. But, the journey is not over just yet.

And so, my dear children (I really gotta stop watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), I leave you with these words: Life may give you reasons to bring you down, but show life you have a thousand reasons to smile and stay strong.