Unit 9 Final Project

Unit 9 Final Project

Creating Wellness

Kaplan University

Loretta Shipp

HW-420-01

Professor John Aguilar, Ph.D.

March 31, 2012

 

I.  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?  All three of the items are important so that we can share the profits of developing a higher quality of life for humankind.

            It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically so that you can flourish your mind.  By that I mean in today’s world we are all rushing to get this done and rushing to get that done and do not take the time to slow and flourish our mind.  We can flourish our mind by practicing a few mindfulness techniques such as Subtle Mind, loving-kindness and visualization practices.  As professionals we can not help others if we do not practice what we preach.  By doing so we are more able to help others flourish psychologically.  This also helps each client reach human flourishing of happiness, health and wholeness.  (Dacher, 2006)  Our ultimate goal is to reach integral health with the mind, body and spirit. 

            Health and Wellness professionals also need to know how to develop spiritually.  If you develop spiritually it will give you inner peace and feelings of anger, selfishness, hatred and covetous will not be able to posses your mind.  You will be able to assist someone to transform the mind from disturbing emotions that causes anger, hatred, fear, and worry, and replace it with patience, loving-kindness, acceptance and happiness.  (Dacher, 2006)

            Physical fitness is as important to the mind as it is to the body.  The mind and the body move together as one, even though we might think they operate separately.  If the body is active physically it can help to reduce hypertension, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease.  By performing exercising like walking 3-5 times a week and getting the heart rate up can benefit your heart, reduce weight; provide better circulation, which in turn reduces blood pressure. 

(Dacher, 2006)

            The area I need to develop psychologically is my mind.  I did not know why my mind was always moving and not able to stay focused.  When I started to learn and practice the loving-kindness, Subtle Mind and visualization practices, I found out why I was having trouble sleeping, concentrating and having sharing times with others outside my family.  If I develop psychologically then the spiritual and physical will follow. 

II. ASSESSMENT

On a scale of 1-10 and 10 being excellent I assess my psychological wellness as being a number 5 now because I have learned to quite my mind tremendously.  I practice the Subtle Mind practice frequently.  I now recognize that I need to witness all my thoughts, but do not dwell on them, then I will reach a calm-abiding mode which will lead me to unity consciousness with my mind body and spirit.  I also practice meditation through breath and visualization.  Visualization has helped me through projects and tests.

My physical wellness and gone down the tube compared to what it used to be because of working at a desk for 5 hours a day and then sitting at a desk to complete homework assignments.  I will have to rate it as a 4 and upcoming.  I plan to exercise by joining a $10 dollar a month gym club and then walking in the park, and working in my garden.  When the weather does not permit I will use my Nintendo WII and Leslie Sansone’s Walk Away the Pounds DVD.   

I score my spiritually as a number 8 because I do pray, but have not been able to read my Bible like I did previously.  Not being able to do that has caused a small amount of stress.  I am getting up earlier to accomplish my reading and if I get to work early I read before start time.  Spiritually gives you inner peace and contentment which is important for psychospiritual flourishing and integral health of happiness, wholeness and health.  I associate love with spirituality.  Prayer along with love can help one to heal and reach inner peace.  Love received from your spouse is associated with a lower risk of morbidity and lower rates of cancer morality.  When there is no love one does not know who they are, or if they are worthy to be loved.  Having that question in mind, no love is the most reason for attempted suicide or suicidal behavior.  (Schlitz, Amorork, & Micozzi, 2005)

III. GOAL DEVELOPMENT

            My goal in the physical area of practice is to manage my time better to get up early in the mornings to do my physical exercise.  I can walk at the school, or do my Nintendo WII or my Walk Away the Pounds DVD for 30-45 minuets each day for at least 6 weeks to get my body back in shape.  It only takes two weeks to get out of shape and 6-8 to get back in shape. I can also practice yoga and tai chi on my WII.  Our nervous system and our messenger molecules manage the information that flows from mind to body and back again.  Theses messages keep the mind and body interconnected as a whole.  We can shape our body through mental training, so let’s not ignore our body and it’s physical fitness needs.  (Dacher, 2006)

            Psychological goal as I mentioned above is to grow more in controlling my mind.  I will perform the Subtle Mind practice along with visualization to control the mental chatter.  Mental chatter cause stress and stress causes headaches, gastrointestinal disease, high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems.   I will perform these practices every day so that I will be in control and not be worried by the past and stay in the present.   Working the body and the mind together will help me to continue to work toward psychospiritual and biological flourishing, which are part of integral health of happiness, health and wholeness.  (Dacher, 2005)

            My goal in spiritual development is to pray and meditate more.  I have learned that meditation can lower blood pressure, reduce muscle fatigue, less irritability, better mental focus, being more connected, greater self awareness, and helping you to solve past issues that you could not resolve before.  (Benefits of Meditation, 2009) 

 Being connected can help you to be connected with your physical body.  If you are connected with your physical body then you can help your body stay well and heal itself. 

IV. 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.

The strategies I can use to foster physical growth is to make a plan of when, where and what type of exercises I will perform.  One example of physical domains is changing our mindset.  We do that by in-breath and out-breath.  We can breathe the body into the mind with the in-breath and feel it penetrating fully into your cell, tissues, and organs.  On the out-breath, breathe the body into the mind by allowing the body to fully penetrate your mind.  Perform these breathing exercises five times and imagine the information going through your whole body.

Another example of fostering physical growth is to practice yoga, tai chi, or martial arts.  These min/body energy practices works with a fusion of physical movement and contemplative practice that puts us in tune with mind/body interaction.   (Dacher, 2005)

            I will implement the breathing exercises by breathing through my nostrils in-breaths and out-breaths and imagine air coming in my head and out of my feet every day at home, at work, and even wile driving to prevent road rage.  The yoga and tai chi will be practiced intermitted 2-3 times a week in the evening before bed to become relaxed and prevent insomnia. 

            The next is psychological growth implementation.  I will implement the Subtle Mind practice as a strategy to foster growth in this area.  I will do this by replacing bad thoughts with healthy attitudes and behaviors. By performing witnessing consciousness and calm-abiding it will lead me to an awareness of unity consciousness for inner flourishing.   (Dacher, 2005)

            Spiritual growth implementation I will set aside time for relaxation of my mind.  Once my mind is relaxed I can become more aware of my thoughts and why I am having these thoughts.  I will implement this by using the meditation and prayer frequently during the day.

V. COMMITMENT

            How will you assess your progress of 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?

            I will use the below tool to track my progress or lack of progress in the next six months.  I could not copy the Authenic Happiness tool to my blog.  I have reference to the website.  You might want to check it out.  It is rather nice, and one is 240 questions to get your character strenghts. 

            This was a free survey you can take you must register to use it.  I think they use the data to compile information for measurement.  I plan to use this testing method along with practice, and more practice to continue my journey toward integral health of happiness, health and wholeness.

            In conclusion I know this is a process and being a type A personality I will be impatient, but I know how to use my breath to calm and slow me down.  Everything is a process some things work faster than others.  It also depends on where you are in this journey on how much and how far you need to practice.  If you are all ready at peace happiness, then you may need to only work on loving-kindness or prayer and faith to catapult you to the next level.  The one thing I know is that I have a desire to reach psychospiritual, physical and spiritual flourishing to get to the ultimate goal of integral health.  While on the integral health journey I plan to pass along the methods I have learned to help others reach their integral health of happiness, wholeness and health.  If as a health and wellness professional I pass these practices on to my clients’ one at a time the world will be better by one person each time. 

Reference:

Authentic happiness. (2006). Questionnaires.  Retrieved from http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/questionnaires.aspx

Dacher, E. S. (2005). Integral health: the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M.S. (2005). Consciousness and healing: integral approaches to mind-body medicine. St. Louis, MO: Churchill Livingstone

Have a good time at Kaplan!
~Retta

Unit 8

The first practice I found to be beneficial is the Subtle Mind.  As I read Dacher and he talks about the vastness of the mind and I think about all the things that go through my mind I find this to be the most beneficial for me.  I found my mind was so busy with thoughts about everything.  I could not calm it down or stay focused on one thing too long.  The thoughts began to invade my sleep and I developed insomia.  So, I found my mind to be uncontrollable, I thought.  If I practice the witnessing mind, acknowledge and let go, and choose where our attention and thoughts go, it can lead to calm abiding.  Calm abiding the mind is tame, and intention replaces reacting, and wisdom replaces confusion, which then leads to unity consciousness, the final step toward psychospiritual flourishing.  This can This can help with lovingkindness.  If you are continousnessly confused and reacting instead of deacting you will not know youself or able to practice loving-kindness.  I am a compassionate person, but because of stress it has been all about me, and that stressed me more.  Being able to calm down I am able to be myself and be see myself again and practice the love and passion I have for people.  Integral practice leads to unity consciousness, and unity consciousness leads to subtle mind, which brings out our loving-kindness and wisdom.  (Dacher, 2006)

The second one is Visualization.  I find that visualization helps me through a lot of things.  I first realized this in my first class at Kaplan, called Academic Strategies.  The class helped me to recall how visualizing can calm me down.  Specifically during test taking.  I can know the answers and freeze when it come to taking the test.  When I started to visualize I was on a tropical island, (creative visualization) with beautiful blue green waters and a water fall with white sand, and all colors of foliage, tamed animals, as I was layiing in a hammock watching the cloudless blue sky and fish of all colors swimming in the waters, I began to do better on my tests.  I have all ready implemented both of these practices in my life because of the stress of sick family members, school, vandalizism, and trying to keep my house.  I know that these items have helped me tremendously, but prayer has kept me.  I am so grateful to have taken this class.  I had no idea what it was about and that I would need it now!  I visualize being grateful for the people in my life and I am able to assist. Being grateful to see them prosper mentally and physically in life, after all that is what I believe we are here for to help others and in the process, and don't forget to help yourself.  Visualization can help human flourishing, which is health, happiness, and wholeness.  (Dacher, 2006)

~Retta

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Interal health: the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc. 

Unit 7- Meeting Aesclepius

1. Describe your meditative practices for the week and discuss the experience. Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?
2. Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (p.477). How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?

1. This time around Aesclepius meeting was a little bit easier.  It was long, and I did no like the man's voice, and the woman's voice startled me as I was in a deep meditative state of relaxation.  The phone kept ringing and dog began to bark, that being said I was able to finally see my husband as the person in my visulation.  I did not see a white light, but I felt the tranformation from throat to throat, then I felt the blood flow all over my body and a since of peace come across me.  I removed the untamed mind of the phone ringing and the dog barking to finally reach calm-abiding.  My allergies are acting up and when I began to relax, they seem to subside and I was able to stop sneezing and rubbing my eyes. The meditation helped my biological well-being. 

The experience this time has helped me psychologically by reducing the mental chatter, the untamed mind, leading me to witnessing my mind by being in the present moment constantly, thereby giving me calmness.  (Dacher, 2006, p. 73) Calmness has kept me from being as stressed with unfolding situations in my life, and that is something I will continue to practice the Sublte mind so stress will not cause any more illness in my body.  With less stress I have more time to read my scriptures and get closer to God.  

2.  You can not take some where where you have not gone in integral practice. There must be a transformation of the healer before there can be transformation of the patient.  "If you have not walked the walk you can not talk the talk."  Integral medicine puts the love and concern back into medicine and the physicans will not get burned out with billing, hospital rules and procedures, and the dreaded insurance limitations.  (Dacher, 2006, p. 477)
If you develope your life spiritualy, psylogocially and physically you patient can see it in you,therefore, you can reinforce it much better.  You will feel better about applying it to your patients, and you know what will and will not work.  Of course, there is no one size fits all, but having been down that road you know there is an answer. 
Incorporation of psylogological and spiritual growth in my life by applying more prayer, meditation, yoga, sublte mind practices( I love the mind thing), and most of all by sharing with others.  The first person I would like to share with is my grandson concerning his anger issues.  Trying to get to the real reason he gets angry and will not talk about it. I will nurture him more so that he will be comfortable and let him talk about it to me and not share with anyone else, then let him be himself and not what his parents wants him to be. 
~Retta

Unit 6

With the Loving Kindness meditation exercise I discovered I was separated from others by the problems I was having on my job, with our mortgage, with our business, with our bills and with our grandson.  Reciting those four sentences helped me to remember I was not alone.  I had to move from the center of my experiences to a sense of oneness so I would not be up and down with pleasures and sufferings.  Everyone is having a problem in one area or another.   Reciting the words made me realize I was being selfish in my own world not paying attention to others as I should.  I do feel guilty, but there seems to be no time.  By the time I put out one fire two or three are burning hot.  I thought about my sisters and where they are located in a nursing home and one in a group home. I feel much better as to think and pray for others at this time and not have to pray for me and my family problems. 

The area I choose to focus on is the sense of oneness with others.  I once was there and I let my problems take me away.  If I get back to that I can be oneness with myself and heal myself, rid myself of emotional stress and diseases.

I can use a witness mind when I am dealing with the problems to reduce the mental chatter, and that will lead to calm abiding mind, which will be a segway to Unity consciousness.   I think the real problem is the subtle mind.  I have so much mental chatter until I cannot concentrate on anything as I should.  I forget things, I get flustered, and then I want to give up, but I really cannot, so I am in a constant circle of stress and illness.  So in order to get to health and wellness I will need to practice mind/body practices to get to biological flourishing.  With that I need to spend more time with my spiritual self.  These are areas I have found to be helpful and rewarding when practiced.  I will continue them, especially during the school year. (Dacher, 2006)

I did not finish my posting for my blog, I missed question 3.

What is my most stress? Right now it is to finish school, and not being able to do some things with my family.  My focus is Kaplan right now it is my growth for my profession.  Reading the assessment has made me more aware that this can cause some conflict in my family life.  This is a short term source of conflict right now it will pass.  I have learned to flourish my life in turn my health through balance.  Therefore, I can not give all my time to work and school and family suffers.  When I focus on school or my problems it closes my heart to otheres because I am so crowded with my own problems. 
Those situations are not my intentions, it just seemed to fall that way because I have not learned to balance my situation. I could not listen or hear because I was so stressed. Modification is something I am doing as I type because of this class I have learned to reduce mental chatter, meditate more and get back to my exercises.  I do visit nursing homes twice a month unless I have a project, that is my way of giving back. 
Practicing the universal loing-kindness mantra has helped me be more patient with my spouse, because I am a Type A personality I get frustrated because he does not get it sometimes.  But this has helped me be more patient and not get frustrated.  I think about how God shows so much loving-kindness to me I am ashamed to not show it to others.  I feel much better now to admit it and to be working on changing it.  I am meditating and paying attention
to all the mental chatter (witnessing) to lead up to a calm-abiding which in turn will lead me to unity and integral health.  (Dacher, 2006)

Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral health: the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.  

Retta

The loving-kindness exercise was a little relaxing but difficult with the suffering of the loved ones.  It made tears come to my eyes taking in their pain.  The subtle mind exercise was so relaxing I fell asleep and the voice of the woman startled me when she returned. 
In the subtle mind practice I focused on breath coming through my nostrils and into my lungs and out of my nostrils and lungs.  Sometimes I became distracted with wandering thoughts and movements of my outer mind, like pain and noises.  I began to focus on the pain in my side. Listening to instructions returned my focus to my breathing through my nostrils.  As I focused on my breathing I felt the pain subside and I became calm, and finally I did not notice the pain anymore.  I became one with my mental and physical wellness releasing the pain in my breathing.  (Dacher, 2006, p. 71)  When I returned to the space in my room I felt refreshed and relaxed enough to do more schoolwork.  I typed all my information on my blog and could not find it. lol Had to do it again.   

The important thing I learned is to use the witnessing to see the random thoughts and movements, then refocus myself on my breath to bring calm-abiding, and with both together I gained unity consciousness, the loving-kindness of an open heart and wisdom of an open mind.
(Dacher, 2006, p. 74)

I hope you find continued relaxation and inner peace of your subtle mind in witnessing, calm-abiding and unity consciousness
~Retta

Dacher, E. S. MD (2006). Integral health: the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publishing Inc.