Cultivating Psychological and Spiritual Wellness

I didn't too much care for the Meeting Aesclepius exercise.  Being Christian, I don’t feel comfortable putting emphasis on other gods.  I used this time to reflect on the wisdom, speech, and heart of Jesus, or Yeshua, if you prefer.  When asked to allow this person to dissolve and enter my body, I did feel a sense of wisdom and clarity for a moment. I still enjoy practicing the universal loving-kindness exercise and just simply listening to relaxing music while focusing on my breathing and clearing my mind.  I do plan on continuing meditation.  It has helped my psychological wellness.  I am calmer and better able to handle stress.  As a result, I don’t turn to food for comfort and I am finally losing weight again. It is difficult to find time to meditate. I’ve got three kids running around screaming.  My two year old is a major distraction.  I found out that if I sit there with the calm music on and close my eyes and ignore him, he will either leave the room or climb up in my lap to see what I’m doing.  Then he gets a small dose of sitting calmly just for a minute or two J

“One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself”. I completely agree with this.  It is our responsibility to practice what we preach, so to speak.  If we don’t experience it ourselves, how will we be able to honestly describe it to our clients? We should be developing our health in every aspect so that we can show others how to achieve wellness.  I honestly think that those that have struggled and overcome make the best mentors because they have a better understanding of what the client is going through.  To implement psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life I plan on continuing with meditation, positive thinking, yoga, regular exercise, studying scripture, prayer….whatever it takes and whatever I feel is the correct path for me at the time.

Universal Loving Kindness and Psychospiritual Development

I enjoyed the universal loving kindness exercise found on page 93.  I turned on some zen music to help drown out my kids but overall, I was able to keep my focus on repeating the phrases.  Repeating these 4 sentences helped me keep all other thoughts out for the entire 10 minutes.  It helped me to open my heart and feel more compassion.  I think this would be a great exercise for all health professionals to start their day out with.

On page 115 was the Integral Assessment.  We were to clear our minds and then ask ourselves what area is the source of our difficulty and suffering - psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, or worldly. I'm sure that every area needs work, but I think overall I need to work on the psychospiritual.  This seems to lead to the others.  My life is led (or halted) by fears. I do not get involved in the world because I'm afraid I'll get hurt or embarrass myself.  I don't go to the gym for fear of the unknown. The list could go on but I'm sure ya'll get the idea. I let fear control my life and so this is the area that I need to develop.

To improve in this area, I plan to meditate regularly while repeating positive affirmations such as "Fear has no hold over me".I will remind myself of all the things I have accomplished when I thought I couldn't.  Also, my religious side has been known to help me with this.  There is a certain bible verse I repeat to myself over and over when I get overwhelmed with fear or anxiety. I just replace (us) with( me) to make it more personal. It is 2 Timothy 1:7 - 

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Subtle Mind

The subtle mind exercise was similar to the loving-kindness exercise because both required a quiet spot, free of distractions. The loving-kindness exercise focused on thinking of others whereas the subtle mind exercise didn't want to bog down the mind with thoughts.  We were asked to focus on our breathing and keep our mind from wandering.  The mind wants to think, so when thoughts did pop into our heads, we were supposed to gently acknowledge them then return our attention back to our breathing. Although this exercise was difficult for me to do, I enjoyed it and do plan on practicing it more.  The breathing really helped create a calmness, but I had a really difficult time keeping my mind from wandering.  Once I thought I had a control on my mind, my head felt clearer but I couldn't stop fidgeting.

This class is all about how the mind, body, and spirit are connected. Physical and mental wellness are important because together, we can reshape our biology- Rewrite our health. But spiritual wellness is necessary if we want to fully develop. We cannot fully develop our mind/body without psychospiritual development.  As a christian, I believe in helping others in need or in times of trial (as I'm sure most religions believe).  However, if I'm not willing to take the time to focus on the needs of others (like how the loving-kindness exercise leads us to do) my mind and body are not going to be willing to do so. Spiritual development helps us reach higher levels of the mind and body.

Loving-Kindness

The loving-kindness exercise was interesting.  It started out asking me to focus my attention on a loved one.  I particularly appreciated the chance to focus on a loved one that was suffering.  I think it is important to have empathy for others.  It is not always easy for me to express love and empathy in person, so having a time set aside to relax and focus on others in comfort and privacy was an amazing opportunity.  I'll admit, I did struggle some trying to choose a circle of strangers to focus on.  The last one was by far the toughest. We were suppose to focus on all individuals, even ones we considered enemies.  For me, there was only one image here....my mother-in-law.  Because of the stress she has caused me in the past, she's one of those people I have had to let go. I did not want to expose myself or my children to the drama, lies, and negative habits that she is so well known for.  Being able to express loving-kindness to people I consider enemies is going to take time and practice. I would recommend this exercise to others because loving kindness is a necessary step towards human flourishing and its a great opportunity to reflect on areas or people you may need to put more effort into.

The concept of "mental workout" is that our minds need exercise too.  Just like when we want to increase our physical health, we have to exercise.  And its not enough to just exercise once or twice.  Its a daily commitment.  It takes time to see change; to see the progress we've made.  It is best to start off slowly, when implementing mental workouts so that you don't get stressed or discouraged.  Start with 10 minutes a day, at a time that is convenient, comfortable, and quiet.  If it helps, schedule it, like you would a hair appointment or lunch date. Commit to it.

Person-centered reflections

For our unit 3 blog assignment, we were asked to reflect on our personal strengths and weaknesses.

 On a scale of 1-10 ( 10 being optimal wellbeing) I would rate my physical wellbeing a 7.  I'm not fit by any means, but I'm working on it.  I make progress every day, and its something I will have to work at for the rest of my life.  I rarely get sick, I don't have any serious illnesses, and I don't take any prescribed medications.  The only reason I rate myself a seven is because I am overweight and I haven't had a wellness check-up in a while.  I would rate my spiritual well-being a 6.  I'm not where I want to be.  I don't take enough time out each day to spend growing as a Christian or practicing my beliefs.  I would rate my psychological wellbeing a 7.  I do get stressed out a lot (which is understandable given my current circumstances) and I would like to better handle stress.  However, I have done an excellent job at picking up the extra responsibility while my husband is away.  It is hard on so many levels when your significant other is so far away but I've been pleased with my progress and endurance so far.

Develop a goal for yourself in each area.

• Physical - My goal here is lose weight.  Losing weight will increase my health both physically and mentally.
• Spiritual - My goal here is to spend at least 5 minutes every morning in prayer, praying for the needs of others.
• Psychological - My goal here is to schedule at least 10 minutes every day to sit quietly in meditation and deep breathing.  Also, I would like to find a way to take a "time out" so to speak whenever things get overly stressful.  This time will be used to gather my thoughts so that I can restart on a more positive note.

What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving towards each goal?

• Physical - I plan on doing aerobic exercises 5-6 days at my target heart rate.
• Spiritual - In order to accomplish this goal, I'll need to wake up a few minutes earlier so I can spend time in prayer before my day gets busy.
• Psychological - I need to reassess my priorities. I could easily get in this quiet time each day during my son's nap time.  I normally use this time to clean or spend time on the internet, but 10 minutes meditating will be more beneficial to my wellbeing.

Relaxation exercise - Honestly, I didn't find the exercise beneficial other than just getting time to close my eyes and breath and be still for a few minutes.  The guided exercise wasn't that great.  I've done it before in another class.  What I found frustrating is why the title is "Crime of the Century" and why love was the color emerald green.  To me, love is red.

Just for fun

A Journey of Relaxation

During this first exercise, I listened to a 15 minute relaxation segment.  The main idea was that we could relax simply by suggesting to ourselves that we were relaxed.  By using the power of suggestion to create relaxation, we can help relieve stress, nervousness, or frustration.  The voice guided me through the steps. It was relaxing and I did feel warm although I never felt the heaviness described - just relaxed. Afterwards, I felt calm and refreshed.  Although this type of relaxation exercise may take some practice at first, it can be very beneficial to our well-being.  If we can practice quieting our minds and controlling our thoughts for just 15 minutes a day, we will start to feel more in control of other aspects of our lives.

http://www.kushs.net/kaplan/HW420/JourneyOn.mp3


"The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind". ~ Caroline Myss