Unit 10 Post

Hi class,

It's funny how once you really dive into something, you learn so much more about it. For example, you might feel like you are really in shape until you witness someone run a marathon, or you might feel as though you are in touch with god, until you start attending church on a full time basis and realize that you have barely began to have a relationship with him. Well, with that said, in the beginning of this class I thought I was clearly on my way, if not there already, to have integral health. It wasn't until I learned much more about it, that I realized that I had a ways to go.

I gave myself a score of 6 for physical, 8 for spiritual, and 8 for psychological in week 3. I actually score lower than that now. Even though, I feel like I have grown leaps and bounds, I just didn't realize the deep that my innerself was really capable of.

My goals consists of; getting my Lupus under control, which I have already made great improvements in just one week, practicing my meditations on a daily basis, and continuing to have a subtle mind. The last couple of days I have followed through with my promise to write down my affirmations daily on what I expect from myself spiritually. WOW, it really has helped. There is something about an old fashion paper and pencil, as opposed to a computer. I even go upstairs and find the paper I wrote them down on in order to remind myself. I feel good about myself in that I am already implementing these changes.

I have made profound discoveries during this course. Many times, after certain classes, a light bulb goes off and I think to myself, "this information is so valuable to the quality of my life" This class is most certainly the grand champion of them all. :)

Unit 9 Project

I INTRODUCTION

In order for health and wellness professionals to teach integral health it is crucial for them to develop their psychological, spiritual, and physical selves. Having optimum health in these three areas will allow one to become whole. The only way to relay this message to others is to have experienced this journey themselves. Passionate teachers are the best teachers. I cannot imagine that if one were to truly develop integral health, they would not also develop passion over this new lease on life.

I also believe that it is almost impossible to have one but not the others. First of all, if we are not physically in balance, it will be hard to have the energy and dedication to follow through with the commitments necessary to live a holistic lifestyle. If we are not psychologically balanced than we do not have spirituality and if we do not have spirituality we are not psychologically in a calm state nor do we have control of our mind. The bottom line is; our mind is in control of our body, so this step is extremely necessary.

In order to be a professional in this area, it is crucial to have mastered this. Obtaining integral health will allow one to have loving-kindness, patience and understanding towards their clients. They will also have the ability to be fully conscious when interacting with them. Listening carefully to every need and complaint will allow a health and wellness instructor to take on a very person-centered approach to their client’s healthcare.

I’m very proud of myself, in that I have fully grasped this class. Integral health is something that I truly want for myself and everyone that I care about. I can not wait to be in a position that I can truly help others. I do realize though, that I have a long ways to go. I have changed certain aspects of my lifestyle, but I look forward to the many changes that lie ahead for me. Due to the fact that I have Lupus, I suffer from lots of fatigue.

I also am a very busy mom, and I spend lots of time on the road during commutes to school. The type of lifestyle that I am currently living is one that fills my days with stress and frustration. Frustration that I do not have the time, and most importantly the energy to accomplish what is necessary for me to have a holistic lifestyle.

The first area that I need to work on is the physical part; I need to slowly begin an exercise program that will help give me much needed strength. Starting today, I have gone back on my medication that I have been reluctant to do, but now realize that it will improve my health in order to one day, be medicine free. Spiritually, I am really making progress. Psychologically, I am struggling because I have not accomplished all my goals, although, I am confident I am on the journey to make them happen. Finally, I am staying positive and grateful; even though I do have an illness, it could be so much worse. Ultimately, I have the locus of control to achieve all my goals.

II ASSESSMENT

With each chapter in the class, I have acquired more profound awareness into integral health. With every word I have read, I have reflected on myself. It is for this reason, that I have assessed my integral health. Physically, on a scale from 1-10, I would rate myself a 5. God has allowed me to be healthy enough to make changed in my health, for this I am fortunate. Even though I am not attempting to run marathons, I am still no where near what I want to be.

Psychologically, I am fighting the fact that I have not reached my goals, for this reason I will rate myself a 6. Spiritually, I am making progress, but do feel like this one is so hugely necessary that I am still at a 4. Prior to this class, I would not feel that I was very spiritually connected to myself other that just my daily prayers, but now, I feel like I am on the right track.

III GOAL DEVELOPMENT

In order to achieve integral health, I have set goals for myself. Physically, I want to get back to Yoga. This will require more time management, energy and commitment. Psychologically, I plan to continue meditating. Obviously, my mind is not affected by my fatigue, because it is as busy as a bee! The reality is that my busy mind is aggravating my fatigue. Learning to quiet my mind will have the same quieting affect on the inflammation in my body that is raising so much havoc on me physically.

Spiritually, I will continue to be conscious of the benefits of a calming mind. I will continue to witness my mind, whether is it racing or in a peaceful state. I will acknowledge the racing thoughts and allow them to dissipate and return to a calm abiding mind. I will intentionally work through each layer in order to achieve unity consciousness. This state of unity consciousness will deepen my spirituality.

IV PRACTICES FOR PERSONAL HEALTH

The strategies that I will put in place will need to be concrete. I will not only have proclaimed these mentally, I will also have them in writing. I plan to go over this and read them each day as a reminder to myself as to why I am living and breathing. Not to just get through another day, but to make it a day towards human flourishing.

Physically, I am back on my medication, which is giving me a wonderful outlook today in order to return to physical health. I look forward to practicing yoga at least twice a week and also using exercise bands to help regain strength and tone in my body at home, when I cannot get to the gym. Having physical health will give me the energy to practice the other areas of improvement.

Psychologically, I will continue the practice of meditation. I will integrate this into my days in either the mornings upon awakening, or the evenings when the kids are in bed and I can quietly focus on my breath. Spiritually, I will intentionally practice my calm-abiding mind. I look forward to acquiring a deeper level of consciousness that will allow my spirituality to continue to grow.

V COMMITMENT

Once class is over, it will be extremely easy to lose focus of necessary actions in order to stay committed. I believe that it will take an enormous amount of self discipline to achieve psychospiritual flourishing. This type of practice of slowing life down is not the norm in our society. Particularly with the lifestyle that I am in the midst of now; with raising three children, school, and just the incredibly fast paced schedule that is in place, stilling one’s body and mind in not an easy feat.

I have come to the decision, that this is necessary, if I am to educate others in health and wellness. Even if I do not go on to acquire my masters, I will be getting my own masters in integral health. This will be a bigger gift to my clients than a certificate hanging on my wall.

I will be able to assess my progress by simply having a witnessing mind. The ability to see myself “slipping” so to speak will keep me in check. In the next six months, I hope to be meditating for longer periods of time. I want to be more aware of my unity conscious mind as opposed to my witnessing mind. I want to have loving-kindness in every aspect of my life, even unpleasant ones.

Setting time aside to meditate, and practice yoga will be strategies used to continue making progress. Committing myself to doing this everyday as a routine, just as I make meals for my family, or kiss my children good night, will help make my vision of integral health a reality. I can then become like the wise man Asciepius, and live a more meaningful life and help other at the same time.

Unit 8 Post

Hello everyone,

This is the easiest blog so far. Hands down, the two best exercises that we have done, in my opinion would be the subtle mind and "Meeting Asciepius". As I have said before, having a subtle mind, would be the ultimate achievement. This is my quest. I am going to assertively practice this until I perfect it. I also hope that I can teach my children to do the same. I also really enjoyed the "Meeting Asciepius" exercise. Maybe this was so substantial to me, because I have had practice with these exercises, and this one really sunk in. I have even listened to it again. It might sound silly, but I will even play it while I'm doing other things, this is probably a cardinal sin, but even though I am not meditating, it is still being ingrained in my head. This is a way that I can try to implement it in my life even when I do not have time to sit completely still. :)

Unit 7 Blog Exercise Cont

In addition to my first post, I do not think any type of healer can really heal unless they have been healed in the same fashion. There is merit to the saying "talk the talk and walk the walk". One has to truly be familiar with the process of integral health, so that they can direct their clients through each stage.

Unit 7 Blog Exercise

Wow,

That was the best so far. I first had trouble picking a wise man for my image, then I pictured an older navajo healer. This was an amazing exercise. Since I have had trouble in the past with the environment and atmosphere, I decided to wait till I was completely alone. I even sat with an empty chair facing me, so that I could really visualize this man with me. I love the use of the bright light it really helps me to be in the moment and keeps my concentration. My mind did wonder from time to time thinking.....what am I making for dinner tonight, and who is this new boy that asked my daughter out saturday night... But my witnessing mind quickly brought myself back into the moment. I have to say, it was almost emotional for me, like I really felt this man next to me and that I was consumed with his kindness and knowledge. I can't wait to do it again, and the healer in me wanted to share it with my family. Could this just be a really good exercise, or was it the best because I am learning to train my mind and practice makes perfect? I am going to tell myself that it is the latter, so I have incentives to consciously and intentionally continue this type of relaxation exercise!!

Unit 6

Hi class, after practicing the loving-kindness exercise, I am again reminded how important it is to take time in life to slow down our bodies and our mind in order to feel such positive feelings. This type of meditation that focuses on a specific feelings of kindness and the act of selflessness is a healthy reminder of humanity. When you stop and think, there is really nothing positive out of anger. It really is a wonderful reminder. After completing the integral assessment exercise, sitting and reflecting on an area or areas that need to be developed and focused on came very easily to me. I feel that I need improvement on psycho spiritual and biological health. Because I struggle with Lupus, I am always very fatigued, this is why I feel that I need to improve on my biological health. I sometimes feel very scattered through out the day, my mind is racing and I am trying to accomplish many things at one time. I know that developing a subtle mind would help me immensely. I also know that taking time our to train my mind through meditation would also benefit me. My biggest obstacle would be time. Upon awakening every day, I think of the things that need to be done, what everyone needs that day, what time everyone needs to be picked up, what laundry needs to be done, and what am I going to put in lunch boxes and what I will make for dinner, fitting time in to quiet my mind, always barely gets squeezed in at night. But I tell myself 10 minutes is better than nothing. I also sit and think how healthy I will be when I'm retired!!!

Unit 5 Blog Assignment

Unfortunately, my entire track 3 was scratched, other than taking 10 deep breaths, I heard nothing but static after that. I can only talk about the subtle mind reading that I read in the book. Not that I do not agree that showing and practicing Loving-Kindness is important to mental health, but I enjoyed reading about the subtle mind so much more. It is very interesting to me how a witnessing mind can lead to a calm-abiding mind which then gives you unity consciousness. I am pretty sure that I have the witnessing mind down pat, but the calm abiding part is what I have to work on. I can clearly tell when my mind is extremely busy, but being able to acknowledge it and allow it to pass is the hard part. I can do this from time to time, but for the most part, it just is incredibly frustrating, this especially happens to me when I am trying to sleep.

Spiritual wellness is directly related to our mental state and our physical well being. Many people feel very spiritual based on their religion some feel very spiritually inspired by their own beliefs that they have required just by getting to know themselves better. Personally, I do believe in god, very much so, as I also pray to him daily, but most of my spirituality is based on my experiences and what I have learned about myself.