Reassessment of my Mind-Body-Soul

1. Hi everyone!                                                                                                                                           I believe that I may have improved a little bit in the spiritual and mental aspects of my life after completing this course. I would say that I now score an 8.75 in physical, 9.9 in mental and 9.5 in spiritual. I feel this way because of the peacefulness in my life. I cannot find anything wrong with my circumstances that I am in and feel extremely blessed and grateful to be where I am at. It has improved some because this course has expanded my horizons and the way I see things. I have made progress towards my goals because my daughters are both going to school and therefore I have about three hours in the morning to implement these much needed techniques to ground myself. I can actually make a schedule for my day and stick with it. My days tend to be more productive and everyone seems to be happier and things run smoother. My personal experience throughout this course has been eye-opening and just amazing. It has made me feel like my perspectives on the mind, body and soul were confirmed and then the course gave me the tools to incorporate them in my life. This has been so rewarding because now I can help my clients beyond the physical aspect of their health. The most difficult thing of this process has been the guided meditations. I prefer to sit in peace and meditate on my own needs along with forgiveness. This experience will improve my ability to help others because I will be able to show them how it has worked for me and be the example. I have incorporated these techniques into my life and the benefits of this will show. It will give me more credibility to my clients because I will be practicing what I am preaching.                                                    I have enjoyed getting to know all of you and best wishes for all your future endeavors! ~Julia

Health Assessment and Strategies

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?

    It is critical for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically so that we can lead the way for our clients. We cannot tell someone to do something that we are not doing ourselves or we will lose credibility. When we can tell our client that we did something and then they can see the result of it and see us flourishing, then they are likely to try the same road as we did. A health and wellness professional should pave the way and help expand the knowledge of the people that they influence. My personal goals are to become more aware of my mind and control it. I want to improve my stability of my emotions. I should be able to be confident and move forward with choices that are healthy despite what the day’s circumstances may bring. I need to remember all my blessings rather than the small amount of negative things in my life. I have begun incorporating meditation every morning for a ½ an hour to 45 minutes and have noticed how my whole day is changed. When I take that time I find that it feels like I have gained time. The spiritual aspect of my life feels healthy. I go to church every Sunday and during my meditation time in the morning I enjoy worship music. It is so relaxing and peaceful. Physically, I could always do more exercise but I always walk or bike my daughters to and from school so I tend to get a lot of exercise in.

Assessment:

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

     I have assessed the physical as aspect by how I am feeling physically when I do a lot of exercising and by how often that I get sick. I cannot remember the last time I got sick. My BMI is at 21 and I feel comfortable with that. I am not looking to appear skinny but rather, toned. Assessing the psychological aspect was done by checking my stress level. I do not have any stress except some minor things that are day to day and are eliminated by how I choose to respond to them. My marriage is great, my two beautiful daughters are happy and healthy, we live within our means financially and we have a sweet little puppy. I assessed my spirituality by how close my walk is with God. I enjoy reading my Bible and believe that I am stabilizing myself. I would rate me physically at an 8 and feel great about it. There is always room for improvement. When one aspect is out of balance it throws the mental and spiritual aspect off as well. Spiritually I would rate myself at a 9. Psychologically I rate myself at a 9.9 because I believe that when I faced with a situation I can respond in a positive manner. I did not rate myself a ten because I realize that there is always room for improvement.

Goal development:

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

     My physical goal is become more toned and increase muscle mass. I also want to increase my endurance so that I can run further before becoming fatigued. Psychologically, I can always to have a better response than what my reactions tell me. Spiritually, I want to be more aware of where God is directing me. This is clearer to me when I am continuously in prayer.

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.

     My main strategy for implementing a program that will help me achieve growth in all areas is to create a schedule that promotes consistency so that I can make it my lifestyle rather than being on a roller coaster ride of flourishing and sometimes being more off balance. The physical routine will consist of walking/running the girls to school with the puppy. Having a dog ensures that you get more exercise in every day. When I get home from taking them to school I am going to get in the pool and swim laps for about 10 minutes. After that I am going to stretch and do yoga while I am still in the pool. Stretching in the pool helps me stretch further than I can when out of the pool. The sound of the water, birds chirping and my worship music playing helps me find my inner peace. It improves my mental state of mind because I can stop and really focus on the important things in my life and count my blessings. My spirituality is also improved with the worship music. Music talks to everyone’s soul. It does not matter what kind of music it is. After I am done in the pool I like to sit down and read my Bible. This is the last step to quieting my mind and helping me refocus on loving others and how I can help other people. I have also read somewhere that most people that are listening to someone talk are actually listening only to figure out how they are going to reply rather than truly listening with their heart. My goal is to become a true listener with my heart. I do care about other people and since I want to fix things and situations for other people I do tend to listen to give a response. However, most times the person wants a true listener and someone to understand how they feel.

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 6 months I will assess my physical progress by recording a food journal and exercise log on fitday.com. My psychological progress can be tracked by asking my husband how I am doing. Since evaluating myself during this process I have the tools to do this again and again. I will evaluate myself once a month and if I am not progressing within six months I will figure out a new plan. My spiritual progress can be evaluated by my friends from church. We are on the same page and help each other follow God’s plan. Keeping all of these aspects in my mind will help me flourish above and beyond what I thought was possible. My long-term plan is to keep repeating this process and if a certain part of my routine changes then re-evaluate my schedule and fit each aspect into a different time slot. These aspects are imperative to finding true peace, love and happiness.

    

Exercise and Practice Sessions Evaluation

Hi to all my fellow classmates and Professor!
 
     I would have to say that the two practices that were most beneficial for me was the visualization and the meditation exercises. I believe these two were best for me because I could guide my mind where it wanted to go without distractions rather than someone talking to me and telling my mind where to go. I can use the visualization by making a point of thinking positive things while I am in the midst of a difficult situation. I cannot dwell on negative thoughts that will just snowball and bad will go to worse.Meditation is great too because it is about clearing my mind. This releases a lot of stress for me and allows me to find my center. I think that visualization is for me throughout the day as things are thrown at me. At the time, I just start thinking of all the good in my life and it always outweighs all the bad. I prefer to do meditation in the morning before I start my day so that I can stay focused and stress free the whole day.
    Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! ~Julia

Mind-Body-Spirit Paradigm

          Hi everyone!
     This meditative practice took too long for me because it was not the right setting. I think that if I had been out on the beach and just meditating and thinking about loving-kindness the outcome could have been different. Meditation does help me find my "calm space" as my 4 year old daughter calls it. It allows me to make decisions with clarity and wisdom. I have intentions of incorporating a routine that includes swimming, listening to worship music then reading my Bible after school starts on Monday. I know from previous experiences that this starts my day off on the right foot and it seems like I gain time.                  
     The saying "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" means that you have to walk the talk or do what you are telling other people to do. It helps when we are working with clients because we can get on their level and understand the obstacles and difficulties they will face along the way. I do have an obligation to keep developing all aspects of my life so that I can continue with wisdom. When I see a person that is overweight, for instance, I do not think they are as credible to give someone nutrition advice. Although, I have also had to think that they may have been much heavier and now they are down to a healthier weight. I don't like to judge a person upon sight. I am currently maintaining my relationship with the Lord and continually renewing my mind and replacing all negativity and and mental disturbances with loving-kindness.         
Hoping everyone has a fabulous weekend! ~Julia:)

Integral Assessment

Hi everyone!
    The loving-kindness exercise was not effective for me once again. However, it made me think that the thoughts that we dwell upon are the people that we become. I like to think about these things at all times and be in prayer so I guess it would be similar to what the exercise had us do.
     I really enjoyed doing the integral assessment because it made me consciously think about all aspects of my life and how I am responding to them. This helps me make positive decisions and carry them out effectively. I find that completing this assessment is helping me progress to the next level. It creates an open mind that can absorb many perspectives and sort out the truth quickly and carry on.
    I have discovered that I need to spend more time in the spiritual realm. This is where I find my peace and stay grounded in who I am. I need to manage my time wisely and schedule in my time to reflect and pray. When I pray it is a lot like the loving-kindness exercise and since I am already doing it, I don't think it is as effective for me. I don't like to pray just when things go wrong but be in prayer at all times. God is not a drive-thru. :) Looking forward to hearing from all of you! ~Julia

The Key Role of Thought in Wellness and Healing

Hello to all of you!
     I enjoyed doing the subtle mind exercise over the loving-kindness exercise. The loving-kindness exercise seemed like I was dwelling on other peoples problems and it loaded me down with burdens. I choose to extend loving-kindness to people by praying for them not meditating on their circumstances that I cannot change anyhow. I enjoyed doing the subtle mind exercise because it was about your breathing technique. It just cleared your mind and created a new slate to start fresh on. The slower and more rhythymic you breathe the less your mind wanders and the more relaxed I became.
     The spiritual wellness is connected to the mental and physical wellness because you can talk yourself into feeling sick. I find it interesting that in the other course that I am currently taking we are discussing what happens when our body goes into starvation mode. The most important part of our body that our body takes care of is our brain. All the essential nutrients are first taken to the brain. It seems to me that this would indicate the strength of our mind regarding our health as a whole. I know that spiritual wellness directly impacts the other two because I rely on the the fact of who I am in Christ and then this outlook correlates with my health. I cannot remember the last time that I was sick and feeling down or depressed. I am grateful for everything that I have and realize that the most important of all is friends and family.

See you next time! ~Julia:)

Loving-Kindness

Greetings to you all!
   Loving-kindness benefits both parties. The giver and the receiver. Many times I think the giver is even more blessed than the one receiving the love. My mom is a diabetic that recently had to have her toe taken off and she has had issues with depression. As soon as she was able to get back on her feet the dr. suggested volunteering at the hospital. This made me think of the loving-kindness. It feels good to help someone out.
     My experience with the loving-kindness mp3 was not for me. I got tired of it really fast. Whenever I think of my loved ones that are having difficulties, I pray for them. God is still in the miracle-working business and it has nothing to do with me. All of our actions and words should be based on love. Our heart should respond to all situations with loving-kindness. I don't think that I would recommend it to anyone because I think they would get bored really fast and I don't believe that this method is beneficial.
     A mental workout entails making a conscious effort to turn our minds towards human flourishing. Everyday we have a choice regarding thinking positive or negative. Things that we dwell on such as loving-kindness become second nature. This is true in so many ways. The thoughts that a person has will eventually come out unless we focus our minds and retrain them. Mental workouts are great for relaxation and for us to become aware of and practice the mind's capabilities. My personal experience that works for me is to pray. This does involve loving-kindness because that is what God entails and therefore all my choices should have the basis of love.
    Sincerely,
       ~Julia