Unit 10- The End =(

CREATING WELLNESS:

WHAT THIS CLASS HAS DONE FOR ME --->



1. My scored definitely changed from my personal assessment of my three well-beings. I have increased my score with my spiritual health, but my physical and mental health has unfortunately remained the same. I have learned where I need to be in terms of coming closer with my spiritual life in order to seek a higher level of happiness. Yet, I now believe it is time to put my goals into action for my physical and mental health to increase because I will have more time to focus on these areas while only taking one class instead of four next semester to finish off my degree. My mental health has slightly increased by providing meditation and visualization in my life.


2. So far I have made progress in my spiritual goals by becoming closer to God by attending mass more often, praying more often, and being thankful for my food. I have changed and enhanced my mental health through the practice of meditation to relieve my day to day stress. My physical health goals are coming close to being put under way as soon as I finish my class work and have more time to focus on myself.

3. I have implemented activities for my mental health through utilizing mental imagery and meditation in my day to day life. I have implemented praying, thankfulness of meals, and attendance to mass as activities to increase my spiritual well being. As I have mentioned earlier, I have not been able to implement my exercise goals in increase my physical health. I am eating right, and I do take part in doing crunches and sit-ups every few days.

4. First off, I would like to mention how thoroughly I enjoyed taking this class. I have learned so much from Creating Wellness that I feel like I have permanently changed my personal outlook on life. This has came about by me realizing how important it is to have equilibrium and balance throughout my physical, spiritual, and mental well being. Now I believe that my ability to assist others in finding the right way to lead a life of integral health has dramatically been enhanced. It has been difficult to achieve every goal that I have set for myself. Yet, I still think of this class as personal enhancement to all of overall well being because the first step in achieving a goal is to realize what your goals are. Now that I know what my goals are, I will have better success in soon achieving them. This will increase my ability to assist others because I have personal experience to work off of. With this experience I will be able to teach others what type of activities and changes they should make in their lives in order to reach integral health, and make the best of their lives. After all, we only live once, so why not make it the best?

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE IN ALL OF YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS

Unit 9 Final Project

I Introduction:

There are countless reasons why it is important for health and wellness professionals to develop their own psychological, spiritual, and physical well being before beginning to interact with clients. First off, I believe it is vital that health and wellness professionals must be prepared for the various situations they are about to encounter with their many patients. In addition, I strongly believe in the theory, “Practice what you preach”. You can’t practice these three well beings unless you develop them first.

If we as professionals are going to offer alternatives for our patients to heal their bodies psychologically, spiritually, and physically, then we must already know exactly what to concentrate on. Having development in all three of these categories prepares you to be ready to answer many questions from those who are you teaching the practices and healing approaches to. If we discover the profound possibilities of integral health, then we know firsthand the exact prospects that can come from these practices. Lastly, your clients will look up to you more and trust you because they will be able to see how advanced your well being is while building a rapport among them.

In order to achieve the goals I have for myself, I need to focus more on my spiritual well being. I have always kept up really good with my psychological and physical well being. Yet, even though I never lost my spirituality, I feel as though it could be stronger than what it is today. My parents baptized and raised me as Roman Catholic, and I grew up being an alter server who attended church and Sunday school every single week. Since I have moved away from my home state of Pennsylvania, all the way to Florida, I now don’t find myself going to church as much as I would like to. Even though I believe that you don’t have to go to church to believe in practice in God, I do feel closer to him if I do attend. One reason I have hesitated to go lately is because I don’t like to go by myself. A few of my friends keep saying that they will come with me, but they bail out at the last minute. Since that, I have attended church by myself a few times. I have learned that I don’t need someone by my side in order to go, and I still gain an increase in my spirituality. As long as I keep working hard on this, I will be well on my way to achieving a higher spirituality.

II Assessment:

I have worked hard in order to assess my health in each domain. In order to keep up with spiritual health, I pray a few times a day and attend church on occasions. For my physical domain, I keep track of my weight and try to eat right in order to not go above the Body Mass Index (BMI) range of “normal”, which is where I am now. In addition to eating right, I also work out, and have to lift heavy things while I am at work. For my psychological well being, I have assessed my health by seeing how easy it is for me to reach deep meditation and visualization practices. I have always been a strong person mentally, and like to look on the bright side of things no matter how bad a situation could truly be.

On a scale of one to ten, I score my spiritual well-being as a six. I have chosen this number because lately I have been lazy about getting to church every Sunday as I intend on. Even though I haven’t made it to mass each and every Sunday, I have however been there quite a few times, and this is why I think I deserve this rating. As well, I also take part in prayer at least once a day, which enhances my spiritual connection with God.

As for my physical wellness, I rate myself as a six also because lately I have not been visiting the gym as much as I used to. I believe that this has occurred because I lost my “motivator”, or should I say boyfriend? When my boyfriend used to be home with me every day, we have a regular routine of going to gym to work out at least three times a week. Since he is gone traveling for his job now, I don’t make it there as much as I would like to. However, I still do crunches, sit-ups, and six inches in my bedroom quite frequently. In addition to these things, my job is a catering driver and I have to lift bags and boxes that weigh up to fifty pounds everyday that I go to work. I also do a lot of walking in my life, and this is why I believe I deserve a six out of ten for my physical wellbeing status.

Last but not least, I rate my psychological well being as an eight. I say this because ever since I have learned more about meditation and visualization practices within this class, I have became more active in them than ever before in my life. Like I said previously though, I have always been a strong person mentally, and I wake up every morning as happy as could be. Another reason why I rate myself this high for my spiritual well being is because I often practice yoga, which opens and clears my mind at the same time in order for me to feel balanced in my mental state.

III Goal development:

While coming to the closure of this course, Creating Wellness, I have personally developed a lot. In addition to this, I have also come to a realization of many new goals for my own self so that I can reach the fulfillment of integral health one day soon. Realizing these goals is just the start to achieving them, and I know that I must make my goals SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) in order for them to be accomplished!

I have two new goals in order to increase my spiritual well being. My first goal is to try and make it to weekly mass more often than I am now, even if I have to go by myself. My second goal for my spiritual health is to not only pray more than I do now, but also try to start saying grace more before I eat all of my meals. In addition, I also have three goals for my physical well-being. My first goal is to go to the gym for cardiovascular fitness at least three days out of the week for at least thirty minutes at a time. My next goal is for my physical wellness is to go swimming (since it is nice out again) at least two days out of the week for thirty minutes at a time. Lastly, I would like to maintain my current weight of one hundred and twenty-five pounds for my final goal. As for my psychological well-being, I have one goal set for myself to achieve in the near future. This goal is to keep up with my meditation, visualization, and yoga practices by completing at least one of them each day.

IV Practices for personal health:

I have learned many motivational strategies for personal growth throughout the numerous classes that I have taken at Kaplan University. Exercises and practices that we have learned in this class have laid the foundation for my innovation, motivational strategies to use. Here is an explanation of which strategies I will use for each domain.

For my spiritual domain, I will use prayer as a motivational strategy to keep my feeling in check. I will make a certain schedule for me to implement this into my life. I will make sure to pray at least once when I wake up every morning and once before I lay my head down to sleep every night. Another strategy I will use for motivation to foster my spiritual growth is to keep a note on my fridge, which says “Be thankful for the food you eat”. I will implement this into my life by simply writing the note and putting it on my fridge. This will serve as a way for me to remember to give thanks for the food I eat, and bless it before I eat it.

Within my physical domain, I have different motivational strategies. The first motivational strategy I will use is to make a checklist on my calendar of which days I go to the gym. I will implement this strategy by putting the calendar out on my bedroom wall so that I see it each day, and I am reminded to go to the gym at least three days out of the week. The second motivational strategy I will use to foster my physical growth is to leave my bathing suit apparent in my closet. Implementing this into my life by putting in front of my eyes will bring it to my attention every morning that I go to get dressed. Seeing the bathing suit will not only motivate me to put it on and go swimming if it is nice outside, but it will also encourage me to work out so that I can look my best while I am wearing my swimming suit.

As I have already mentioned, two of my most favorite practices that I learned out of this class have been meditation and mental imagery exercises. I will use each of these more often in my life in order to foster my mental health. I will implement mediation in my life by reviewing over the Dacher exercises from the top of my head. I don’t want to go back and listen to the CD’s again because I feel more relaxed when I go through the steps on my own. I will implement mental imagery exercises in my life by trying to “take a different vacation” each night before I go to sleep. Sometimes I have a hard time falling asleep at night, and I have found that it relaxes me into falling asleep when I take a mental journey to a far away land. Since I love to travel, and have been fortunate enough to visit a few places throughout the world, it is easy for me to imagine what other places are like.

V Commitment:

I will make a plan in order to assess my progress or lack of progress with the next six months. What I will do is remember that every day I have to go pay my rent, which is on the first of every month, I will take time for self reflection before I go to do it. During this self reflection, I will find a quiet place either inside or outside, depending on the weather, and actually go through this paper to see how far along I am coming on reaching my goals and maintain progress in my spiritual, physical, and psychological health.

There are many strategies for me to use in order to maintain long-term practices for health and wellness. First off, one of the easier strategies I will use is a mental reflection of how I have felt before, during, and after the closure of this class. It has been evident to me that this class has truly helped me to find various alternatives in my life to relieve me stress, and therefore help me lead a healthier life. Thinking of this transition in my life will allow me to strive in order to feel healthier in all levels of my well-being so that I can reach the happiest state possible. Another strategy I will use is to use my job as a reminder how important it is to use these practices and exercises that I have learned about in my life. During my profession, I will be helping my clients work out their problems. I will use my clients as re-enforcement for myself to continue doing what I have been doing. If they come to me with a physical problem for example, I will quickly think about whether or not I am maintaining my own optimal wellness for my physical well-being before I move onto teaching them the tricks of the trade.

Unit 8 Post

-_..-*TWO, MOST BENEFICIAL PRACTICES*-.._-

Out of the various exercises that we have completed throughout the span of this course, I believe that meditation and visualization have become the most beneficial to my life. I say this for many reasons. First off, this class has showed me what integral health is, and exactly how to reach it. I now feel like I am well on my way to living a more wholesome life that I can enjoy day to day.

Meditation is something that I now like to participate in during the mornings after I wake up and evenings before I go to sleep. Even if I don't complete the same exact meditiation the book taught me, I can still get into the same zone, which makes me feel in close contact with my inner self. Visualization has helped me to calm down in times of distress. Whenever I feel like my world is crumbling apart into a million peices, I take a few minutes out of my day to find a quiet place. In this quiet place I use visualization to escape from reality.

-_..-*FOSTERING MENTAL FITNESS*-.._-

Implementing meditation and visualization has already began to foster mental fitness within my life. I know this because I now catch myself doing things that I have never done in the past. Instead of letting something small take control of me, I use mental fitness to take control of the situation and look at it with a positive attitude. Instead of letting the endless problems of our day to day activities make a mark in my health, I now use meditation and visualization as a balance to keep my mind, body, and spirit in check!!!

Unit 7 Post

~*Meeting Aesclepius*~

Through this practice I encountered the emotions of the subtle mind, loving-kindness, calm abiding and eventually unity consciousness. However, I did not encounter the untamed mind.

Visualization helped me find my inner healer (Aesclepius or subtle mind), which was at the source of my being. It helped guide me to the integral process.

It was so easy for me to think of a wise man who is very close to me, and whom I feel passion between. I say this because I have had a boyfriend now for 7 months, and we are very close. We know everything about eachother, and do almost everything we can together. I actually felt his presence because he was in the other room (lol). I really imagined the light and beams at my focal point, and felt it as it entered my mind. This made me feel still and pure. I have felt inspired by my boyfriend because he is much older than me, and has been able to experience a lot more in his life than I have. Therefore, he is constantly teaching me things about life. I have felt like I am becoming one with him because of the knowledge he shares with me. I had a past boyfriend who I dated for almost 6 years, and I already feel closer to my present boyfriend within only 7 months of time.

It is amazing how our mind can take control and make our body feel so calm and loving. I really enjoyed this practice the most because it has combined all of the practices into one. I felt especially relaxed because I took my laptop out to my porch, and all I could hear was the wind blowing the trees around, with birds chirping in and out. This is how meditation has fostered an increase in my psychological and spiritual wellness. I will continue to apply these practices through out my life by taking time out of my day every once in a while to sit in a relaxing environment like my porch for example and reply the thoughts, feelings, and words I heard through this CD from my memory. These practices and meditations will help me foster a greater health and wellness for my body, mind, and spirit.

~*PAGE 477 of Consciousness & Healing*~

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

This quote directly applies to health and wellness professionals. I mean this because in order for us to practice as professionals in the health and wellness field, we must be able to relate to what our patient is trying to overcome. If we know where they want to go in their life spiritually and psychologically, then we are therefore powerful enough to lead them down the right, enchanted path to a greater sense of being. I feel that we as health and wellness professional do have an obligation to our patients for all aspects of our health. I say this because me must practice what we preach. If someone comes to us for help, we must set a great example for them so that they are inspired by our ways of life. Consequently, our patients will want to be like their teachers. I can implement spiritual and psychological growth in my life by continuing these practices that I have learned through out the extent of this class. As well, I will continue to be one with my church and attend mass because this makes me feel closer to God.

Unit 6 Post

<---UNIVERSAL LOVING-KINDNESS--->

Description: This exercise made me feel exceptionally happy, and equal among everyone else out their in this huge world. I enjoyed the fact that I am not able to open my mind and my heart in oder to alter my focus from personal love to a now more universal standard. Within this univeral loving-kindness, I will wish freedome from suffering to everyone that I encounter in my life (friends, family, people I don't really know, and even enemies). Along with this, I will also hope that everyone may find stustained health, happiness, and wholeness while I can try my best to assist all people in gaining freedom from suffering and finding this unity within their lives.

What I discovered about myself: I have now came to the realization that forgiveness in one of the most important things in life that can make you feel at peace with yourself. Whenever I overcome a personal issue of my own within another human being, it makes me feel overly glad to accept that these things will happen and I will get over them to move on to reach overall happiness with everyone around me!

My area of focus of growth and development: I now know how important it is to forgive someone as soon as possible for whatever they have done to offend me. In order to do this, I can remind myself to engage in a universal loving-kindness practice every other day or at least once a week.

<---INTEGRAL ASSESSMENT--->

Description: I began by focusing in on the four quadrants of development; psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly flourishing. Within psychospiritual flourishing, I thought of my emotional state because my boyfriend and I have been going back and forth a little bit lately, even though I know we both love eachother dearly. As for my biological flourishing, I concentrated on my fitness because I have been slacking as for exercise lately. Within my interpersonal flourishing, I thought of my family because it has been since Christmas since I have visited home (Pennsylvania) now that I live in Florida. This brings on intense emoitions because I am not used to being away from my family for such along time and I miss them greatly! Lastly, for my wordly flourishing, I experienced thoughts from my work because I know that I must try my hardest to get along with everyone and be nice to all customers no matter how nice they are treating me. I believe that the line of developement that is most pertinent in my mind right now would have to be my interpersonal flourishing.

What I discovered about myelf: Through this experience, I found new ways to improve my attitude and actions. One thing that I realized was how I am going to encounter people differently at my work. Sometimes customers get fussy because you are taking longer than expected to get their food due to being busy, and I have decided not to let their attitudes affect mine. Instead, I will continue serving them with the best attitude possible so that they can hopefully enjoy their meal at Boston Market to the fullest.

My area of focus of growth and development: My area of growth needs to be thinking about my actions before I make my moves. At times, I am eager to let another person's actions upset me, but I have realized now that this is not getting me anywhere. Consequently, I am going to try to stay positive no matter what the situation is.

<---EXERCISES I CAN IMPLEMENT INTO MY LIFE FOR GREATER WELLNESS--->

I can implement both of these exercises into my life atleast once weekly if not more in order to achieve greater wellness. I can already feel how different of an outlook on life they have given me thus far. As well, I am also going to integrate meditation into my daily routine for at least 10 minutes in the morning as soon as I get out the shower.

Unit 5 Post

....REFLECTION....

ThE sUbTlE mInD eXpErIeNcE:
Personally, I enjoyed the loving-kindness exercise more than that of the subtle mind. I have had lot of unexpected financial burdens that I am dealing with lately. Therefore, during this exercise of the subtle mind, I kept found myself worrying about my money situation whenever we were given a chance to let our mind find random mental movements. Consquently, the subtle mind exercise was a bit disturbing for me.

However, I did not hate the subtle mind exercise all together. I enjoyed the part where we tried to focus our mind on nothing or "stillness". I also practice this whenever I do yoga. I like trying to clear my mind completely of all stress and focusing in on simple things like my chest moving or my breathing. My feelings seemed real once I released my mind and allowed it to float freely. I am quite the realistic person. In fact, I even hate watching movies that you have to use your imagination for because I constantly find myself saying, "that wouldn't really happen". I think this may have something to do with the fact that I am the youngest of three kids and I quit watching cartoons and doing little kids things before most of my friends, due to my strong influence of activities from my two older brothers.

tHe CoNnEcTiOn Of SpIrItUaL tO mEnTaL tO pHySiCaL wElLnEsS:
Physical Wellness is easily defined as the facts of our biology within the human body. This wellness connects with mental wellness through a more subtle level. Mental training allows us to shape our biology (physically). Spiritual wellness then connects to mental wellness through finding the deepest layers that lay within our souls and mind, not just our body. The interconnectedness makes us feel wholesome and one with ourselves.

Unit 4 Post

1. Describe your experience. Why or Why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or Why not?

I definitely found my experience of the loving-kindness exercise very beneficial. I believe it was beneficial because it opened my heart to others—not just ones who I do share love with, but also people who I do not know and people who I may consider my enemies. The only thing that I did not like about the CD was the author’s tone of voice during the introduction (Track 1). His voice made me feel annoyed. It was not a very calming voice. Yet, I was glad to see that he chose to have a female with a much more peaceful tone of voice read the exercise of loving-kindness.
I would most certainly recommend this exercise to others for their own experience. My recommendation would be given because of how different my body felt overall after I completed the exercise. Before I began I was extremely frustrated because I haven’t seen my boyfriend in over a week, and he was supposed to come see me tonight. Yet, something came up and now I cannot see him again. After I was done with the experience, I felt much stronger emotionally like everything is going to be okay. It made me think of the situation in a positive manner. For example, I just try to keep it in my head that distance makes the heart grow fonder.

2. What is the concept of “Mental Workout? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a Mental Work Out? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

The concept of mental workout is very similar to physical effort an Olympian gold medalist exerts, except in a psychological manner. During a mental workout, you engage in a contemplative practice that deals with loving-kindness and the subtle mind. Proven benefits of a mental workout can be a feeling of decreased self-centeredness and openness to others. As well, you will feel calm, open-minded, and intelligent. I can implement mental workouts to foster my psychological health through scheduling a 15 minute time slot in order to practice my exercises of integral health. During this time I will listen to the CD, and feel stronger mentally, physically, and emotionally.