Unit 10

Greetings All,

My scores for the unit 3 assessment are as follows: (a) physical 6 out of 10 (b) psychological 7-10 (c) spiritual 8 out of 10

For my current assessment my scores are as follows: (a) 6 out of 10 (b) psychological 8 out of ten (c) spiritual 8.5 out of ten

My scores for psychological wellness and spiritual wellness changed, while my physical wellness stayed the same.

Physically, I have not improved very much due to an ongoing battle with pneumonia the last few months. However, the good news is, that I feel I was able to maintain where I was at the beginning of the course. I feel this is due to my psychological and spiritual wellness.

My psychological wellness has improved, despite all the added stress and illness. I attribute this to my journal writing and the insight I have gained from this course. I feel that the loving-kindness exercise and the subtle mind exercise have also played a key a role in my psychological wellness.

My spiritual wellness continues to be strong and has improved even a little more. I attribute this to meditation and spending more time in prayer.

Goals and Implementation

The goals I set for my physical well-being were to continue with physical therapy and incorporate more stretching and exercises at home. Due to the pneumonia, I was not able to attend PT as often as I would have liked. However, I did do stretching and some of the exercises at home. In addition, my sister and I are meeting three times a week for yoga.

The goals I set for my psychological well-being were to continue training my mind and start a journal. I have made progress in my journaling; I write something each day, sometimes more than once. I have also been practicing the subtle mind exercise a few times a week and the loving-kindness exercise about once a week.

The goals I set for my spiritual well-being was to spend more quiet time/reflection time, by practicing meditation. I also set a goal to add an additional ten minutes of prayer time a day. I have been able to meet my goal for prayer time and I am slowly getting better at meditation.

My personal experience

This course has been a wonderful journey of self-assessment, reflection, and personal growth. My overall well-being has definitely improved. The subtle mind exercise has been very beneficial for me, when I began this course, my mind was always in “overdrive”, now I am able to better calm my mind. I am also getting better at acknowledging issues, doing my best to resolve them, and then letting them go. I used to dwell on everything, even things or circumstances I could not change. What has been difficult is keeping up with everything while being ill and not having the opportunity to fully, engage in certain areas. What has been most rewarding is how much I have learned about achieving integral health and human flourishing. It is wonderful to have the tools and knowledge to continue with my commitment to achieving integral health. I have already experienced an improvement to assisting others, my friends, family, and coworkers have commented on the positive changes they have witnessed and I have been able to share what I have learned to make a positive impact on their lives.

I really enjoyed getting to know and learn from all of you. Dr. D. you are truly an inspiration and I know we all appreciate your kindness and the wealth of knowledge you have shared with us.

I wish everyone all the best for today and the future.

God Bless!

~Bridgett

Unit 9 Final Project

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?

As we have learned throughout this course, our physical health is only one component of integral health. In addition to our physical being, we are comprised of our emotional/psychological being, and as a spiritual being. When one or more of these areas are lacking, it will affect our overall health and well-being. As health and wellness professionals, if we have not taken the integral journey and developed psychologically, spiritually, and physically, we will be lacking in our full potential to show our clients/patients the full benefits of health of wellness. By taking the integral journey and developing ourselves in all aspects of our being, our clients/patients will witness first hand human flourishing. I am firm believer that actions speak louder than word.

The area that I feel I most need to develop to achieve my goals is in the physical aspect. As I have mentioned previously, I used to be an avid runner and participated in power lifting, but all that changed due to an accident that I had. The physical limitations took a toll on me; exercise was a huge part of not only my physical wellness but also my emotional wellness. At this point, I have improved greatly in my emotional wellness, I am much more excepting of my limitations, and I am ready to put a new exercise plan in place and get back to eating a more healthy diet.

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 by reflecting on where I was in each area in the beginning of the course to where I am now. I would give my physical wellness a score of six. I have battled pneumonia twice over the last several months so it cut down my time in physical therapy and slowed down my progress with my new workout plan. However, I am starting to feel better and am looking forward to getting busy with my new plan.

I would rate my psychological well-being as an eight, despite all the added stress over the past few months; I feel my psychological well-being has improved.  I think my journal writing has been very beneficial (one of the goals I set early in the term). In addition, I feel the insight I have gained in this course has shown me that with time commitment and practice, I am quite capable of reaching integral health. This has helped me look at and except things in a more positive light.

I would rate my spiritual well-being as an eight and half. I continue to be strong in my spiritual beliefs and have benefited from spending more time in prayer and am slowly getting better at mediation practice.

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

My goals for physical health are to incorporate yoga into my workout routine and to work on eating a more healthy diet. My goals for psychological health are to master the subtle mind practice and continue with my journaling. Lastly, my goal for spiritual health is to continue my meditation practice and to spend more time involved in church activities.

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.

In terms of physical health, I plan to implement yoga into my exercise regimen and to improve on my diet. My strategy is to use to visualization exercises, seeing myself be successful in the practice of yoga and in preparing and eating a more healthy diet. I also have enlisted the help of my sister; we are going to meet up three times a week to practice yoga. I also have begun preparing a weekly menu on Sunday’s as well as a list for grocery shopping to ensure I have all the needed items for the week.

In terms of my psychological health, I plan to continue the subtle practice and have included it into my schedule four evenings a week. I also will continue fostering my growth by continuing my daily journal writings.

In terms of my spiritual health, I will continue working on my meditation practice and have added this to my morning schedule three times a week (eventually, I would like to add additional meditation time). I also plan to spend more time involved with church activities; I will begin my new Sunday school class next week and am volunteering twice a month for children’s church.

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?

To assess my progress over the next six months, I will write a short, daily progress report in each wellness area. Writing a daily progress report will not only help me short-term, but long-term as well. I am better able assess information when it is written out and I am more apt to follow the goals I set when they are written in front of me. My other strategy will be my strong commitment to integral health; I believe if I follow through with the practices it will become a lifestyle change and an everyday part of my life. I have already begun to see positive changes in myself since the beginning of this course by having a much better understanding of the concept of integral health as well as the small changes I have already made.

 

Unit 8

Greetings all,

The two practices that have I have found most beneficial are meditation and the subtle mind practice. Meditation has proved thus far to be a beneficial tool for me. I have found this to be a very effective practice spiritually. I can implement this practice (and have already begun to do so) by making this a part of my daily schedule. I have been able to incorporate this into my evening routine as well as time for prayer. The subtle mind practice is an awesome tool I can use to calm and clear my mind. I plan to incorporate this practice into my schedule three to four times a week and look forward to reaching the calm-abiding mind and with time, unity consciousness.

Thank You,

~Bridgett

Unit 7- Meeting Aesclepius

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. I apologize for the lateness of my blog posting. I have unfortunately encountered another battle with pneumonia. I am now back at home (released yesterday), which is wonderful, but still feeling ill and weak.

I just finished my first attempt with the meeting Aesclepius practice. I choose my dear friend(as well as my son’s Godmother) Karen, who passed away almost four years ago. It was a little hard to focus at first because I was flooded with so many memories. Therefore, I took a few minutes then tried again. This time I was able to focus a little a better. I think this meditation exercise can be very beneficial, however, for me, I know it will take much more practice.

For the second part of our blog we are to describe the following saying as well as, how it applies to the health and wellness professional. “One cannot lead another where on has not gone himself” (Schlitz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2005, P. 477). To me, this saying means one cannot mentor others on an integral journey that they have not yet taken themselves. I do feel that it will be very important for me to continue to develop my health psychologically, physically, and spiritually in order to best help my clients. I plan to incorporate meditative practices, practice Pilates, continue reading my bible, and spending time with my God.

All the best,

~Bridgett

Reference

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. (2005). Consciousness and healing: Integral

            approaches to mind body medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill

            Livingstone.

Unit 6: Universal loving-kindness exercise and Integral assessment

For this week’s blog exercise, we were instructed to practice the universal loving-kindness exercise and complete the integral assessment, and then answer the following questions: Describe the exercise and assessment process. What did you discover about yourself? What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and development? Why? What are some specific exercises or activities that you can implement to foster greater wellness in this area?

The Universal loving-kindness exercise can be a powerful tool in expanding one’s mind and heart. It is a step in integral health where we can learn to really hear, see, acknowledge, be present with, and feel another by offering our open heartedness, sensitivity, generosity and emotional intimacy and extending these capacities beyond just our close group of loved ones, to that of all human kind (Dacher, 2006, p.92).

The Integral assessment involves taking a careful look at our current circumstances, identifying the aspects of our life that require attention, determine specific changes we would like to address, and establishing a program of integral practice that will promote the changes (Dacher, 2006, 105).

Yesterday and today, I practiced the universal loving-kindness exercise. I started out ok, but after a minute or so, my thoughts moved to the Sandy Hook tragedy, when I tried to redirect myself it was very difficult. Instead of fighting the thoughts, I gave in to them and spent the time in prayer for the victims of this tragedy as well as our nation as whole, as most everyone has felt the deep sorrow of this loss.

I discovered that I open, loving, and excepting of others, however, I often do show myself the same type of kindness. The area of focus that I chose to develop growth in is biological flourishing. I chose this area of focus because of the chronic pain I experience. At one point, it almost took over my life; it not only affected me physically, but emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. Some of the activities I plan to implement to foster greater wellness in this area are: Continue developing the practice of meditation, using relaxation techniques (such as guided imagery), practice showing myself loving-kindness, continue stretching and incorporate some Pilates (which I used to really enjoy before my accident), and spending more time in prayer.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

All the best,

~Bridgett

Reference

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing.

          Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

 

Unit 5: The subtle mind

Greetings all,

This week, I will begin by comparing and contrasting the loving kindness exercise to the subtle mind exercise. The loving kindness exercise was difficult for me at first, however, the more I practice the easier it is getting. The loving kindness exercise opens the mind to consciously give and receive love. The subtle mind exercise involves a focal point of breathing to calm, tame, and witness the moving mind rather than grasp and attach to it (Dacher, 2006, p. 72). This has been my favorite and most beneficial exercise so far. It helped calm my mind and when my mind wandered, I was able to acknowledge the thoughts and come back to my focal point. I am really looking forward to doing this exercise again.

Next, I will discuss the connection of spiritual wellness to that of mental and physical wellness. Spiritual wellness involves one’s deepest innermost self. When one is strong spiritually, it has positive effects on the interconnectedness of one’s mental and physical wellness. This connection has manifested in my personal life by giving me strength to overcome some very difficult obstacles and to face the obstacles that are in front of me at this time and still be open to receiving and sharing loving kindness to my family and others. If I did not have a strong spiritual connection, I really do not know where I would be.

Thank you for reading my blog!

All the best,

~Bridgett

Unit 4 Exercise: Loving-kindness

Hello all,

Well it is 3 a.m. and I just finished my first practice with the loving-kindness exercise. At the beginning of the exercise, I was able focus and follow along. I loved hearing the sounds of the ocean, it made feel at peace and at home. However, moving forward during the reflective time, I found my mind wandering to beach, and how much my son and I both miss it. Then, I would try to rein myself back in and focus and visualize what was being suggested. Overall, I did find this exercise a little difficult, but as Dacher (2006) mentions; this is to be expected in the beginning. I am going to try to do this exercise each day for the next five days and see if I can improve my inner focus.

The concept of a mental workout is akin to that of physically working out the body. You have to begin slowly and commit to a lifestyle change whether you are working out the body or the mind. Like a physical workout, overtime your body will get stronger, and you can increase the duration and/or the intensity of workout routine. The same goes for the mind, we have to commit to a training our minds and focusing on our inner selves, in order to achieve integral health.

Proven benefits of a mental workout is ability to transform the mind by reducing disturbing emotions that cause anger, hatred, fear, worry, confusion, and doubt, while enhancing positive emotions, such as happiness, openness, acceptance, loving-kindness, and patience (Dacher, 2006, p.63). This mental mind/body connection transformation provides enhanced resistance to mental distress and physical disease, expands healing capacity, and promotes well-being (Dacher 2006, p. 63).

We can implement mental workouts to foster our psychological health by setting aside time each day work on our inner selves, just as we do for our physical selves.

Thank you,

~Bridgett

Reference

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing.  Laguna Beach,

            CA: Basic Health Publishers, Inc.