Unit 10

Reflections

When looking back at Unit 3 it is hard not to look back at the last five years of my life. I feel I have made a dramatic turn around since the, especially in the last two years, since I have been a student and started challenging myself with things that can benefit my life rather than destroy it.

In the Unit 3 reflections I scored an 8 out of 10 in the three categories; physical, spiritual, and psychological well-being. I would still have to score myself the same after taking this course, however I am actively working towards reaching 9 and 10. Now, I do not like to make excuses but I have found it a challenge to achieve a score past 8 and the biggest challenge is time; working two jobs and trying to do my very best in school all while trying to maintain a life has been more difficult than I imagined but I am dedicated to finding ways to make it work.

One of the goals I set for myself was to practice compassion everyday, it has been a challenge, especially during the holidays when people seem extra cranky and mean. Which has always puzzled me; if the holidays are supposed to be the merriest time of year, why do so many people seem agitated by the whole process? I have taken the thought of practicing compassion and brought it on the road with me during traffic and also to the mall during Santa visits! It has helped me feel more positive and cheerful during this wonderful time of year. This helps both my spiritual and psychological well-being. As for my physical well-being, I have set goals to set a regular workout regime including yoga. I have recently started working with a trainer at my gym and I am learning a whole lot about how to get results (apparently I was doing things backwards on my own). The trainer will definitely help with my physical progress. As for implementing yoga into my schedule, it is probably the easiest for me to accomplish, it is the best part of the end of my day and something I absolutely love and look forward to.

I definitely believe that I have developed improved well-being throughout this course. It has helped me discover more about my mind, body, and spirit through the different meditations and readings. For me one of the most rewarding things I have taken from this class is the ability to stop and think before I react, for example, road rage, instead of allowing myself to get upset with the person who cut me off or the person driving way too slow, I have been able to step back and think to myself, 'is getting angry worth it?' and pretty much every time the answer is no. I then take a deep breath and continue on my way, sometimes turning the music up a little and doing a little singing to boost the mood.

The most difficult thing I have been working on improving is handling my daily stresses of work and school. I try and keep a steady head and try not allowing myself to succumb to the stress, this is my biggest challenge and I work on improving it everyday.

I feel that the things I have learned and the things I have started to practice can assist me in helping others because I can show that I practice what I preach and I get to reap the benefits, which people will be able to see themselves and hopefully I will be able to help them create ways to build their mind, body, and spirit in order to achieve the greatness that comes from optimal wellness.

Peace,

Nico

Unit Nine

Introduction

I think one of the most important reasons health and wellness professionals should develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically is to show that they practice what they preach. If patients/clients do not see any of the practices being utilized by the teacher they may not be open to the ideas and believe in the benefits. I am currently working on developing my psychological, spiritual, and physical being, enhancing practices involving mindfulness, meditation, and a steady exercise regime so I can create optimal wellness within myself in order to teach others how to develop these aspects within their lives.

Assessment

I would, as of recently, assess my health and wellness on a high rate in each domain, spiritually, psychologically, and physically. If I had to rate on a scale of one to ten, I would put myself at an eight in each category. I have dedicated my life to achieving optimal wellness and with the practices I incorporate into my life I believe I will be able to achieve a score of ten in the near future.

Goal Development

One goal I have to increase the physical aspect of my life is to follow the workout schedule and regime I, and my trainer, have created and also incorporating yoga as a core builder. A goal I set for the psychological aspect of my life is to practice mindfulness to remind myself everyday the importance of being in tune with the mind as much as the body. As for the spiritual aspect in my life I will set a goal to weekly utilize Elliot Dacher’s Loving Kindness meditation (2006) to help me practice compassion and love, as well as Dacher’s Subtle Mind meditation (2006) to help me rest my thoughts in order to perform my daily tasks with happiness and ease.

Practices for Personal Health

One strategy that helps me stay on track is a checklist; by creating a daily checklist I create time for all my things, work, school, exercise, yoga/meditation, family, friends, and hobbies (reading, knitting, baking, and just about anything outdoors). All of these aspects make me who I am and increasing my health through my physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects can benefit how I handle my checklist.

My physical health can benefit by sticking to my exercise regime three days a week and by incorporating yoga three to four times per week, alternating days in order to not strain the body but to benefit it.

My psychological health can improve and benefit by adding mindfulness practices into my daily schedule, now by implementing this practice everyday and all day I will be able to build it into my schedule, therefore not having to make time to practice, or put it on a checklist, it will be something I just do, like breathing. Another practice to benefit the psychological aspect in my life will be reading, by making time for recreational reading I keep my mind stimulated and it also allows me to stop what is going on around me and place my focus on a story, allowing my mind to rest and recharge so I can come back to reality and take on all the ‘things’ in my life.

My spiritual health can improve by adding meditation to my weekly schedule, for me it would be best to add it to the days I practice yoga and depending on what time of day I would either place it before or after my yoga practice. I think the effects of yoga and meditation complement each other and create mind, body, and spirit benefits. Another way to improve the spiritual aspect in my life would be to evolve my religious and spiritual education. I think by learning how people of the world view religion and spirituality I will be able to create an understanding that will allow me to build on my integral health and enable me to practice compassion for all human kind. To implement this I will create something like a word-a-day calendar with a new view towards religion and spirituality for each day, allowing me to be reminded of my spiritual goals.

Commitment

In order to view my progress in achieving optimal health and wellness by following the goals I have set for myself I will keep a journal for the next six months. I will be brutally honest with myself so I can have an honest assessment for myself at the end of the six months. Along with keeping track of my daily checklists I will also record how I feel before and after each day in order to allow myself to physically see the benefits or challenges I faced along the way. I feel that by seeing the many benefits that come with improving health in all aspects will help me to continue the practices for the rest of my life, if it makes me feel better everyday or at least most days, why wouldn’t I want to continue?

Reference

Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health

Publications: Laguna Beach, CA.

Unit Eight

Loving-Kindness Practice

The loving-kindness practice is one that I found very beneficial, it allows for positive thoughts towards others. It has helped me in many situations involving loved ones and strangers. For example, when I go to the grocery store; sometimes I get frustrated when I am in the parking lot and people do not seem to be paying attention to where they are going, especially during the holiday season, also once I am inside the store I tend to feel the same frustrations from time to time, wishing that people would just focus on the task at hand and pay attention to their surroundings so I can get in and out. Since practicing the loving-kindness exercise I have been able to alter my mindset when I am entering the grocery store lot, I remind myself to keep breathing and I think to myself that I do not know these other customers in the store, for all I know they could have lost their focus due to a tragedy and frankly, who am I to inflict anger on a perfect stranger, whether they are going through a rough time or not. This helps me always look for the good in someone and by making this exercise a part of my weekly regime will allow me to continue seeking out the good instead of the bad.

Subtle Mind Practice

I have found this practice to be most beneficial right before I do my yoga, it allows me to clear my thoughts in order for me to fully relax and recharge my system. I have already incorporated this practice into my weekly routine and plan to continue even after this course comes to an end.

The loving-kindness and subtle mind practices have been extremely beneficial to my overall wellness and have taught me the many benefits involved in mindfulness practices. I will be implementing both practices into my schedule and I hope to be able to share them with future patients/clients and also my family and friends, so they too can reap the benefits of mindfulness and meditation.

Peace,

Nico

Unit Seven

Meeting Asciepius

When asked to think of a person I see as wise and caring the first person to come to mind is my Uncle Brian. Here is a man whose passion for life is infectious, just being around him makes me feel alive. He is a man that I sincerely look up to and aspire to be like. He knows what he wants and makes it happen. He practices compassion and gratitude. He travels all around the world, giving him an open-mind to multiple cultures. He is a great man and I am honored to have in my life.

It was easy to think of a person who saw as wise and caring, however it was difficult for me to imagine the bright light beaming from him and into me, making this a difficult exercise to get through. I prefer to practice meditations that allow me to think without trying to visualize something specific, it throws me off and I loose focus.

Being able to practice meditation and mindfulness has allowed me to remember to always look at the bigger picture. The stressors in life can definitely hide the bigger picture sometimes but it is good for optimal wellness to find outlets that allow you to recharge your battery, clear your mind, and create space in order to solve problems and keep moving.

It will be beneficial to my health and wellness to continue to practice mindfulness and meditation, making time for my mind will allow me to decide what I want out of and in life and assist me in finding healthy ways to achieve my goals.

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

To me this saying is best described as practice what you preach and as far as the health and wellness professional goes, I think we absolutely have an obligation to our clients to develop our own health in all the same ways we try to help them develop their health. Why would we tell someone how important mindfulness is to overall health and wellness when we do not believe or practice it ourselves? It is just as important for the health and wellness professional to implement psychological and spiritual growth into their own lives as it is helping clients implement it into their lives as well. Teaching and/or learning how to practice mindfulness is the best and most beneficial way to implement growth, whether it be through specific meditations or just making 'self' time, both can allow the mind to recharge and create mindful wellness.

Peace,

Nico

Unit Six

Universal Loving Kindness Meditation

After practicing the loving kindness meditation I felt an overwhelming urge to want to help as many people as I can to find wholeness within themselves. Freedom from suffering and sustained health, happiness, and wholeness are amazing and powerful achievements.

I discovered that I need to obtain stronger development in my work, also that I have very strong feelings towards global suffering, which I am starting to think should be apart of my work in the future. With that I feel I could benefit from growth and development on the Worldly scale, I think it would help me find ways to be more confident in my work and also help me really find what it is that makes me alive so I can go and do it, as my favorite quote states, "don't ask what the world needs, ask what makes you alive and go do it ~ because what the world needs is people who have come alive!" ~ Howard Thurman.

I believe with reading, study, and meditation I can grow and develop within all four quadrants, psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly. Meditation is a great way to search and clear your mind, I believe it can help me find and understand what it is I want my purpose to be.

Peace,

Nico

Unit Five: Project

Here is my presentation on Mental Fitness, please excuse the flaws, some things shifted and varied in color from the original copy, not sure why but hopefully you can get the gist.

Peace,

Nico

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B_TPW0HaTPVzZGU2NWRlM2ItODYxYy00YWMxLTkxNjMtOTBmZmU2YmZlNzYz&hl=en

Unit Five

Subtle Mind

The subtle mind exercise was a little easier for me to get through, I was able to place myself in a comfortable position in the most peaceful place in my house; my yoga room. I was unable to do this with the last two exercises, I had to practice those exercises in a coffee shop in between jobs. This week, however, I was determined to try the exercise in complete relaxation. It was difficult for me to try and keep a position, I have developed pain in my back in the last week, so sitting or laying without pain is a difficult task. Overall I felt the experience to be nice and relaxing.

While I was laying on the ground, deeply breathing in and out I felt my thoughts move out with each breath, I could mentally visualize my thoughts slowly spinning in a circle above me and with each new thought that entered my mind I would not complete the thought I just simply let it leave my mind with my exhale. This allowed my mind to be clear and I was able to recharge and then let the thoughts back in.

After I was finished with the exercise I felt calm, relaxed and recharged. I was able to continue my evening and leave my stress behind. I felt it also gave me an opportunity to sort through some of my stressors, allowing me to figure out how to find solutions, kind of like finding some missing pieces to a puzzle.

Connection Between Spiritual, Mental, and Physical Wellness

Stress can be a major part of why we get some illnesses and/or diseases. When one has the ability to achieve overall wellness including spiritual, mental, and physical, it not only takes work but also an open mind. Knowing and understanding the conscience allows the control of the mind in order for the body to function with optimal wellness. It is important to know, understand, and practice utilizing mental fitness, training the mind in order to help the body. When training the mind it is important to remember to practice compassion.

For me personally, I can tell when I loose sight of my mind-body-spirit connection but when I am able to recharge with something like yoga or meditation, I am able to remember that it makes me centered, balanced, allowing me to live everyday, happy, healthy, and peaceful with compassion.

Peace,

Nico