Review Unit 3

1. My personal assessment of my psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being in unit 3 was lower I scored myself spiritual wellness as a 8, it is now up to a 9 because of the things I have learned in this course. My score in my physical wellness was a 5, it is now a 8 because I am going to a chiropractor and exercise three time a week for ten minutes, I am working my way up to thirty minutes, which is what is required according to the American College of Sports Medicine, (ACSM, 2006) guidelines. I have set a realistic goal for myself and I am taking baby steps. My score for psychological was a 7, and now it is a 9 because of the work I have done and all the things I have learned in the last few weeks of this class.

2. After reviewing the goals and activities I set for myself in each domain, I have made progress toward those goals. I now have the spiritual tools to help me build a new life, before everything in life looked like a nail, and the only tool I knew how to use was a hammer; therefore, I banged my way through life. Today, I feel as though I have a spiritual tool kit in front of me stoked with what every tool I need, be it physical or mental and I am grateful for that.

3. I have implemented these activities for my well-being in each area through looking inward with meditation and prayer, choosing healthy eating patterns and diet and exercise programs, I hired a personal trainer. I will be conscious of areas of myself that need adjusting and be accepting of new challenges that can expand me physically, psychologically and spiritually.

4. My personal experience throughout this course has been tried and proven; I did not think I would make it through this course, but what an accomplishment for me. What has been rewarding for me is the wisdom that leads me to integral health and human flourishing. What was difficult was the accelerated pace of everything, posting on the DB, exercises, projects, and managing my time, OMG……This experience has improved my ability to help others by means of meditation, showing loving-kindness, a witnessed mind and taking skillful actions to help them grow and flourish physically, psychologically, and spiritually.

Unit 9 Project

Running head: CREATING WELLNESS: PHYCHOLOGICAL AND SPIRITUAL








Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing - HW420-03
Linda D. Terry
Kaplan University




Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing
I. Introduction
Personal development physically, spiritually and psychologically is important for the health and wellness professional because one must be able to experience before one can teach. A person cannot give what they themselves do not have to another person. Not only is the study of health and wellness important but a continued self-practice is essential. I need to foster personal wellness growth during my lifetime not just for me but also for everyone who is a part of my life, a solid background in the study of health and wellness and daily practice of loving-kindness and presence will enable a health and wellness professional to help a client achieve their own health and wellness.
I could use development in each area.
My spirituality involves spending more time with my higher power through mediation and prayer.
My psychological involves allowing myself time to heal from past lifelong slavery to my mental depression.
My physical involves development in sticking to a well balanced diet and exercise program to the best of my ability.
II. Assessment
Assessing my health in each domain starts with looking subconscious inside. I began by looking deep and finding things that cause distress. I then look at those areas and determine whether the distress is caused by my expectations of people, places or things. When I accept people, places, and things as being exactly the way they are suppose to be in God’s world I can stay in serenity, this takes place when I pray and meditate daily praying for others to have what I would want to have. Any distress takes me from the sunlight of the spirit. Distress also makes me choose unhealthy emotional eating patterns and no exercise at all. To continue with the integral assessment and flourishing I will add some mind-body approaches like tai chi, qiqong or yoga to my workouts to build on myself worth. In my personal assessment of my health, I understand there needs to be a continued focus on my psycho spiritual. My personal integral assessment involves listening to myself and knowing which is self and which a higher power is. Finally, in my personal assessment, I will be aware of my shortcomings and ask my higher power to remove them, I cannot change me and be accepting of new changes that can improve me physically, psychologically, and spiritually.
I would score my spiritual wellness as a 9 now, due to things learned in this course and my fantastic instructor. I would give my physical wellness a 5 now, I need to become more active daily, at least three times a week for about 20 minutes. I would give myself an eight now, on psychological because of the work I have done in the last eight weeks on my psycho spiritual health.
III. Goal development
Psychologically, I persistently work to stop negative mental chatter, and remain in the present all the time not looking back at the past, nor ahead into the yet to come missing out on the moment.
Physically, my goal will be to focus develop and maintain a well-balanced diet and do some form of physical activity every day.
Spiritually, my goal will be to grow along spiritual lines.
IV. Practices for personal health
For my physical models, I will apply new, fun, and uplifting activities three times a week or many be more.
For my psychological growth, I plan to set aside more time to meditate, training my mind to go where I would like it to go instead of just wondering once a week.
For my spiritual growth, I will intentionally practice loving-kindness to improve my relationships around me, at home, at work, and at my church.
V. Commitment
To assess my progress, I plan to assess my overall well-being again using what I have learned in this course. I plan to continue practicing the things that lead to integral health, like loving-kindness, a witnessed mind, and visualization. I will intentionally watch myself evolve (Dacher, 2006); I will love myself and become my own best friend. I will continue to meditate on a regular basic instead of occasionally; I know it takes practice repeatedly to obtain wellness. I will continue to study and learn about the different contemplative practices. I actually feel empowered to flourish today and always.
References
Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications, Inc.
Linda D. Terry (2010, August 9). Unit 9 Discussion Board; Kaplan University Creating Wellness HW420. Kaplan University Coursework.

Most Beneficial

The lotus flower is the symbol of human flourishing in the East. These exercises and practices sessions that we have completed in this course has been apart of my human flourishing. Loving-Kindness, Subtle mind, Visualization, meditation have all been beneficial to me, the two practices that I think were the most beneficial were Love-Kindness and Subtle mind.

I can implement these practices in my personal life to foster mental fitness when I effectively stabilize my mind and lessen the grip of self-centeredness (which is the root of all my problems) than I can embrace others. I can accept people just for who they are instead of attaching expectations on them and when they fail me I will not have those destructive emotions like anger, intolerance, jealousy, pride, and greed that agitates my mind. I am powerless over people, places, and things-when I don't accept this my life becomes unmanageable. I think I can accomplish this today and everyday for the rest of my life with a little practice through prayers, advice and basic generosity to others and their differences. I can be patient and understanding to the cashier at walmart when the lines are long, and she is very slow doing her job.

The second practice that I determined was beneficial to me was Subtle mind.

Wow! Taking these steps helped to tame my overflowing mind and cultivate a witnessing consciousness. I was able to clear & still my mind, and stop the mental chatter gaining a valuable freedom. I felt as though I have been liberated from lifelong old crazy thoughts that use to own me;finally I gained the capacity to choose where my thoughts goes creating a foundation for calm-abiding and integral health.

As a result of folling these step I now have a" teflon" mind, thoughts that use to upset me simply come and they go I do not hang on to them for a day, week, or month anymore I might have a bad moment but not a bad day. I have become closer to my God of my understanding.

Meeting Asciepius

This has been the best exercise in the past six weeks for me because it used visualization and transpersonal imagery that is used from one person to another. These mindfulness, meditations and practices over the the last few weeks for me has been definity forstered and increased in my psychological and spiritual wellness. Once becoming aware has put more meaning, enlightenment, creativity, happiness and confidence in my life. To continue to apply these practices in my life I can use several different exercises and practice for example visualizing the scene with detailed imagery, imagining the effects on all five of my senses when possible. Meditation and training my mind to personally experience what I have read helps me with my health and life at its optimal performance levels.
"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" means experience is the best teacher no one can judge another unless they have walked in that persons shoes. Yes, as a professional health care person I have an obligation to my clients to develop my healthy psychologically, physically, and spiritually because I want to make a difference in the sociocultural problems that I see in medicine today. I want to change the disease in my patients life to grace which can guide them and myself to healthy living. Implementing psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life involves' seeing the godly in everyone and treating them as if she or he was the child of God.

Practice the universal Loving Kindness (meditation) exercise

Phenomenon Woman
As our awareness expands, so does our reach. Our empathic listening, seeing and caring for the other open heartedness can spread to all our relationships, to see, acknowledge, hear another and be present with them even an enemy. The development of universal loving-kindness is the final leap in our interpersonal development.
My personal reflection and daily practice has given rise to a profound and enduring health, happiness, and wholeness. Each day I can ask myself have I hurt anyone today and if I so did I promptly ask for forgiveness? In this way, integral assessment helps me get from one level of development to another, progressively moving toward my precious goal of human flourishing.
This exercise and assessment process was easy for me showing kindness to my fellow man-this begins the final process of integral assessment this begins the process of human loving kindness to everyone, this idea is simple but profound. What I discovered about myself is I always have to peak experience in any one line of development, that could be a moment of unity consciousness attained through nature, but these are temporary states. I am not in control of this glimpse, the circumstance is. The area I have chosen to focus of growth and development is fitness because staying health and fit can be very challenging when we live in a "fast food" and fast-paced society. There are times when eating right tends to go to the back burner due to lack of time, stress, overworked, or even boredom. Some specific exercises I can implement to foster greater wellness in this area would be to be wise choices in eating, find time to exercise, awareness, and meditate.

Subtle Mind

Phenomenon Woman
Subtle Mind
Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.This was an excellent subtle mind exercise because it focused so much on the breathing. There is so much of a direct relationship between the breath and the mind; still the breath and you still the breath. Breathing is a part of us so we can breathe anywhere at any time, during this exercise I was able to tame and stabilize my mind and develop a clear witnessing consciousness, I have been able to eliminated my anxiety symptoms simply by changing the way I breathe. By watching the fall of my chest on inhalation, I know my lungs are being pulled down to bring in air and on exhalation the air goes out, with deep breathing it is extremely relaxing to the autonomic nervous system and is essential preparation for deep meditation. I begin by bring my breath as a focal point starting with ten deeps breaths slow in and out breaths this exercise was easier. It is my experience that in my life-long history of panic and anxiety attacks, if I do not make a conscious effort to do deep cleansing breaths, the anxiety and stress builds up and then it is too late to use breathing exercises to calm myself.

The Loving-Kindess CD

As I listened to the relaxation technique Loving-kindness by Dacher, I could relate because I was at the beach in Destin, Florida on vacation, and just like listening to the CD I could hear the waves crashing on the beach shore and how soothing that sound. I went out to the balcony, sat down in a comfortable chair, closed my eyes, and started breathing deep and slow, I immediately started to feel a sense of ease. This experience was an excellent way to quiet my mind and I would recommend this to others because it works.
Mental Workouts take practice just like physical workouts however, training our thoughts can take us to a deeper level of consciousness which will help create a healthier life, happiness and wholeness. I have decided to practice mental work outs everyday as part of my daily routine instead of a onetime thing. I can think of no better way of inner healing,and self empowerment.