Then and now....

After looking back several weeks at my assessments, I can see some differences between then and now, although the differences are not that significant.  Six weeks ago when I did a self assessment, I assessed my physical well-being as a 7, and today I give myself an 8.  I think that I have paid more attention to my physical goals since I began this course, and am working harder to bring down my BMI and limit my "overindulgence" when I go out.  My spiritual rating was a 4 several weeks ago, and today I feel that I am at a 5.  This is not as big of a difference as I would like it to be, but it is a step in the right direction.  I am trying to spend a few minutes every day focusing on my spirituality, whether it be saying prayers, doing my readings, or just being aware.  This is more of an effort than I gave to my spirituality at the beginning of this term.  As I have said before, I have always been a spiritual person, however, I let life get the best of me sometimes, and let my active practice fall to the side.  Finally, at the beginning of this term I assessed my psychological health at a 7; today I rated it as an 8.  Again, this may not seem like a significant difference, but it is a step in the right direction.  I think that the meditation exercises and focus on mental health have really helped me.  As long as I am making progress, I am satisfied.  That is really all that I can hope for....progress.  It has taken me a long time to form the habits that I have, so the fact that I can move forward, even one point in each of these areas, is positive. 

I feel like I will be better able to assist others after taking this course because I understand better what integral health entails.  I also have a better understanding of the fact that in order to help others I need to lead by example.  This will not only help me to better serve others, but it will help guide me in my own health and wellness.  Thank you all for sharing this journey with me...I am a work in progress, and will continue to work to move forward in my life....

The journey's end...

 

            Health and wellness professionals have a big responsibility to their clients.  It is so important for the professional to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically.  This is so they can understand the client and set a good example.  Who would want a health and wellness coach that didn’t practice what they preached?  In order to have success with clients, and even have the respect of clients, the health and wellness professional needs to be sound, or at least working on, all of these areas.  This is integral health. 

            Personally, I feel like I need to develop more spiritually.  Currently, I will score myself a 5 on a scale of 1-10 in my spiritual practice.  I have always been a spiritual person, but have let my active practice fall to the side lately.  Psychologically, I will score myself an 8.  I really do not let myself get stressed out, and I try to resolve problems as they arise.  However, I am human, and I do occasionally let myself get worked up over something, and it really is a terrible feeling.  I get upset with myself for letting myself get upset.  Physically, I will also rate myself an 8.  I make a point to do the minimum requirements for physical activity.  I do at least 5 days/week of vigorous physical activity for 30 minutes.  I walk my dog a total of about an hour each day.  I walk to the store at least once every day, which is a total of about a mile.  I play golf about two times/week, and often walk with my clubs.  Where I lack, is that I still like to indulge.  My husband and I are very social because he is a business owner.  We attend many dinners and happy hours, and I probably eat and drink too much at times.

            It is important to develop goals to work towards in each of these areas.  Goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.  Spiritually, I will set a goal to take ten minutes in the morning, and ten minutes before bed to say my prayers, say “thank you” for my blessings and reflect on the day.  I think that this is a realistic goal for me to start my spiritual practice again.  I will also read my daily reflections every morning when I wake up.

  Psychologically, I am going to attend counseling again.  I had done this off and on for years, and have always found that it really helped me.  Of course, when I started to feel “better”, I would let my therapy go, and I would eventually revert back to bad behaviors.  I think that therapy can be beneficial to just about everybody.  It always helps to get a different perspective and to have a place to vent and not feel judged.  My goal is to resume therapy sessions twice a month.  I will also resume my readings.  I have several books that are very helpful for my mental health.  It’s just another one of those practices that I let slip away.  I will set another goal to read at least a paragraph or two every night before bed. 

            Physically, my goal is to lower my BMI (body mass index).  I am just over in the “overweight” range, and I am not happy with that.  I think that my level of physical activity is good, however, I do think that I overindulge when I go out each week, which has put me into this category.  My goal is to give myself some limits when I am out.  I will let my husband and friends know, so that I will be held accountable.  I will limit the number of drinks that I allow myself, and split meals or only order healthy options.

It is important to assess progress, or lack thereof, in order to maintain practices for health and wellness.  I believe that this course has helped to gain self-awareness, and realize the areas in my life that need work, and gave me the tools to implement them.  What works for me is keeping a journal.  I have always been big on writing and journaling, and have a closet full of them, dating back to when I was a teenager.  That being said, this is another practice that has fallen to the side for me lately.  I will put my journal by my bed, and make sure that I make at least one entry every day.  I will write down my goals, and track them to make sure that I am fulfilling and maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness. 

Beneficial Practices...

This week we were asked to decide which two practices that we have discussed over the weeks, that we think would be the most beneficial to us in our daily lives.  I have to say that Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind would probably work for me the most in my life.  The Subtle Mind involves the breath, with a direct connection between breath and mind.  The Loving Kindness practice expands the capacity for empathetic listening, seeing and caring for others.  This is supposed to expand the mind and heart and help to "cure anger and hatred".  I like these two practices because I believe that the breath is connected to relaxation, and ultimately the mind.  I also love the idea of seeing and caring for others, because I think that is just a great way to live life.  Throughout life we will all encounter people of many walks of life....the most important thing to remember is to love and respect each and every one of them. 

I think that there are many aspects to "Mental Fitness", that go beyond these practices, however, I do realize that these practices can be instrumental in helping to achieve mental fitness.  Personally, it will take some practice to achieve the benefits of these practices.  I think that finding a quiet, comfortable place where I can breathe and focus on positive feelings and emotions each day, will put me on the right track towards mental fitness.  If I am able to achieve this, I will better serve my clients, my family, my friends, and myself, because I will be in a much more positive place. 

Mindful Meditation...

This week our exercise was to listen to "Meeting Aesclepius", which is a guided meditation involving a Spirit Guide, so to speak.  We were to envision another person and focus our loving kindness on this person.  Eventually, we were asked to picture a white light radiating out of our forehead, into the forehead of this person, transferring and purifying our thoughts and feelings.  The beginning of the exercise likened our thoughts to a rushing stream, that would hopefully progress into a lazy river.  I really liked this analogy, and appreciated the sounds of waves and the relaxing music.  To me, this was more helpful than the image of the guide.  I found it distracting at first to try to visualize this person.  I was focusing too much on features and who this person might be to grasp the point of the visualization.  I can see how this would be helpful, but again this will take practice for me, and is probably something that I should do before bed, rather than right before I try to write a post. 

The saying, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" is to me a very wise, very true statement.  Basically it means that a person cannot guide another person in a direction or to a place that they have not been, because they would have no real experience or idea what they were guiding another towards.  It's pretty self-explanatory.  I also loved the saying that went along with it, "Having a map of Hawaii is not like actually being there."...It's so true.  If a person doesn't experience things first-hand, it would be very difficult to guide someone else there...whether that be physically, spiritually, emotionally, etc. 

This journey is teaching me that cherishing others, and treating them with loving kindness, will help in the healing process and also lead me towards my goal of integral health. 

Universal Loving Kindness....

So, this week we had to do another loving kindness exercise.  This time we were supposed expand our capacity for empathic listening seeing and caring for others, which will spread to all of our relationships.  This practice will supposedly expand the mind and the heart, and help cure anger and hatred.  In order to do this, we were supposed to repeat four different phrases for 10 minutes.  First of all, I couldn't remember the phrases, and I had trouble quieting my mind, trying to remember these phrases.  I was looking at the book with one eye open, and I realized that this defeated the purpose of the exercise.  Over the weeks I have become better at relaxing into myself and my breath, so that part was good.  I just felt pressure over remembering (or not) the phrases.  So finally just found myself saying general prayers for others to find health, happiness, wholeness, and peace...and this felt good. 

We were also asked to complete an integral assessment exercise.  I really did like that the exercise allowed for me to focus on the troubling areas in my life, because that is obviously what is usually ON my mind.  I have found that with other meditations, I feel like I am just supposed to be able to "breathe" and "imagine" my troubles away, and that is not realistic for me.  I was asked which area in my life is troubling....psycho spiritual, biological, interpersonal, or worldly?  and then what area in my life is ready for growth and development?  Is it the same area or a different one?  I thought that these were very good questions.  I learned to try to realize if I felt that I was taking on too much or too little, and to try to be mindful of how I handle situations.  Can I improve my attitude or my actions?  I need to do my best to be accurate and honest if I really want to progress toward integral healing. 

Subtle Mind...

The "Subtle Mind" is supposedly one of a timeless, silent space...to get to the place of the Subtle Mind, breath plays a key role.  For this week's exercise we were to take a journey to the "Subtle Mind".  We were supposed to compare this to last week's exercise of "Loving Kindness".  I really like the Subtle Mind exercise because it involves breath; there is a direct relationship between breath and mind with this practice.  Dacher claims that that "peaceful breathing patterns lead to a peaceful mind".  I often find myself holding my breath...that can't be good!  This exercise seemed like more of a mindful meditation to me.  I did appreciate that the "Loving Kindness" exercise had guiding help.  I have previously stated that I often have difficulty "shutting off" my mind; so to have guided imagery and meditation was helpful to me.  I feel like this is a natural progression from the "Loving Kindness" exercise, and I like that it's recommended to revisit the "Loving Kindness" exercise throughout the week, and it's not about substituting one for the other.  While I struggled with the "Loving Kindness" exercise at the time, I can definitely see the benefits of making it a regular life practice.  I also like how the "Subtle Mind" exercise is also a guided practice.  Ten deep breaths in, and ten deep breaths out...then settle into your body's natural rhythm....whatever comes to mind, focus on the breath.  "This is a highly intentional, mindful, and maybe even forceful practice", says Elliot Dacher.  I personally like that it is not made out to be "easy" to accomplish at first, because for most people I don't think that it would be.  I know that practice and patience are key, but it always comes back to the breath.  Eventually it should become less forceful and more natural, until hopefully I will be able to release my mind and "let it float free".  This is not something that I am able to do right now, but it is something that I need and will work on. 

Loving Kindness...

Loving Kindness opens our hearts to others.  It gradually diminishes self-centeredness, preparing our minds for further development.  It means that we will get back what we give (Dacher, 2006). 

This week our exercise was to practice Loving Kindness, through a guided practice.  As with most of these guided "meditations", I really feel like a person needs to be in the mood to receive.  I have to admit, that I found it difficult to concentrate and truly do what was asked of me.  I simply could not quiet my mind enough to really focus on the exercise and allow it to work within me.  This was the same with the last exercise that we were asked to do, so I have to admit, I realize that I actually need this more than I thought.  Logically, I can definitely appreciate and understand how beneficial practicing Loving Kindness can be.  I can see how this guided exercise could really help getting a person on the track to achieving this.  I liked the part where I was asked to turn all of the feelings towards myself, but this is also where I lost it.  I found it difficult to let go and be at peace with my sensations, feelings and thoughts. 

I guess this is where the concept of a "mental workout" comes into play.  According to Elliot Dacher, this is the belief that one can evolve or enhance his or her psycho spiritual life by simply practicing this type of exercise on a daily basis.  If we practice on a daily basis, we may experience human flourishing, which is what happens when one achieves a life of positive health, happiness, and wholeness (Dacher, 2006).  For those just starting out, like myself, an exercise like the one I just listened to is recommended at two times daily for the first week, and then at regular intervals in the future.  This will help "train" the mind, which is similar to a physical workout, or anything else you want to achieve.  It takes time and practice. 

Personally, I can't imagine doing this two times a day.  I understand the concept of Loving Kindness and really want to practice it in my life.  I think that I do.....the "you get back what you give" concept is one that I try to live by.  The "human flourishing" aspect is one that will probably take me awhile to achieve.  To live these principles, 100%, really would take practice for me.  To an extent, I do live a positive life with health and happiness...the wholeness is a different story, and I realize that the way I live is not TRULY healthy or happy (in the way that is meant for human flourishing).  All I can do is the best I can, and if I don't achieve "human flourishing" as it's defined, I will work to achieve it to the best of my understanding and ability. 


Dacher, E.S. (2006).  Integral Health: the Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA:
     Basic Health Publications, Inc.