Unit 10 A final look at human flourishing

When doing week three’s blog I rated my physical health at a 9.  It is still the same. There is always room for improvement, but actually feel stronger in the past few weeks as I have increased my activity and taken steps to become physically stronger.  Such as adding a spin class to my schedule and doing at least 50 pushups every other day.

My spiritual wellness was at a 5-6 at the time of week three and now I think I am more at a 7. I have a long way to go, but awareness, thinking about it and considering what steps to take. Before this class I really had not been giving it too much thought. I think about it more. In the recent week a good friend passed away. He had been battling leukemia since last March. In November he had a bone marrow transplant and it had looked like he was going to beat this. Then quite suddenly he slipped away from us. He was my head coach for the Half Marathon training group I run. Yesterday was his funeral. It was at a Catholic church and though I do not go for the “Stand-sit-kneel-pray” ceremony of organized religion, I thought a lot about God and how I hoped there was a heaven. I’d like to think I get to see all the people who have gone that I miss so much. This class has really opened my mind to a different mind set.

My psychological well-being was and still is around a 7. I have a lot of work to do. My awareness is more, but I have work to do. I need to change the way I think about thing. I cannot at this time change my life’s circumstances, but I can change the way I think about them. Right now I live in Fremont, which is an hour at the least from work, not to mention, from where my friends live, all the things I like to do are, well you get my drift. I moved to Fremont to live with my boyfriend, as his kids were still young. However they are now in college. I would like to move back to San Jose but it has become too expensive to live there especially with college tuition to pay for. So here I am. I have found some good fitness classes to take that are on my way home from work and I now listen to books on my iPhone during my commute.

My goals that I set physically, emotionally and spiritually are on track. I am slowly increasing my physical strength, I have been stepping away from my work area and taking a walking meditation. We have a labyrinth out near our parking lot and some days I will walk it and just breathe slowly. I’ll try to clear my mind or just observe my thoughts, but not try to work things out. My stress driving to work is greatly decreased due to listening to Audiobooks.

This class has been a great experience. It has opened my mind up and I am so much more aware of my state of mind, state of emotion, and the state of my physical health. I think the best thing is that I have started a yoga practice and paying more attention to my emotional state. The worst thing is that I am paying more attention to my emotional state. Seriously, I’ve realized that I need to make some changes in my life and that will take some work. But I am glad of it.

Between last term (HW410) and this term I have become more mindful and my awareness has greatly expanded. In some ways, it has made me more sensitive, mostly to myself, but that is a good thing. If you are not aware of your state of physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, you won’t be much good to others, not to mention crappy company. This class has already helped me to help others. I’ve used mindfulness in some of my newsletters and my approach to coaching. I plan to move forward towards the goals I have set. My goal this year is to be someone’s inspiration. I wish the best to all of you. S.

Unit 9: Final Project

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An Assessment of Integral Health

It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically not only for themselves but also for the people they serve, clients or patients. As we have learned through this course, to have true integral health there needs to be a balance of physical, mental, and spiritual development. Leading by example is important. You cannot ask someone quit smoking when you, yourself smoke. On the other hand, I haven’t really been a smoker. I tried it in high school and in college but it never stuck. Would this mean that I could not have empathy for someone trying to quit? It is hard to lead someone to where you have not traveled. Over the past several months, in this class and the prior class, I have been put to the task of evaluating my physical, emotional, and spiritual health. What I have found is that while my physical health is really quite good, I am a little lacking in both psychological and spiritual aspect. Through last term, I realized that I was depressed and began to take steps to deal with the way I was feeling. I have some stress in my life but it mostly deals with my commute to work and the stupid drivers I encounter, trying to balance work and school, and finally finding time to have a relationship with my boyfriend, who feels he is last in line for my attention these days.  I started to revisit the spiritual aspect of my life. It is a work in progress but at least I am aware and taking step to improve upon this.

Awareness is a good place to start. I believe if I had not been taking these courses, I would be just stumbling through life thinking things would be fine and really just getting through life. An assessment is the best place to start when taking on change. Taking into account the past few months this is what I have come up with for my assessment. As I have previously mentioned I am doing fairly well in physical health. I give myself a 9. Besides having cold and stomach flu in the past month, I am very healthy. My blood levels are the highest they have been in since the first time I was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia in 2000. I am training for a half marathon, dancing, yoga and now taking a spin class. The only physical aspect I would like to improve is to increase my physical strength and muscle mass.  My psychological health is at about a 6. In the past year I have been depressed. During the previous school term I was able to identify this. There has been a great deal of sadness in my life over the past four years, as well as many joys. I have recognized there are many things I should be joyful about in my life that I am not. I need to understand why and how I can fix this.  My spiritual health is at a 7. I have been practicing yoga and mediation more frequently and my spiritual awareness has increased. However, I feel it could use some further exploration.

The best way to move forward in these three aspects is to set goals. After giving it a great deal of thought I have set these first three goals. My physical goal is to increase my physical strength and muscle mass. My psychological goal is to work on my depression. My spiritual goal is increase my practice of yoga not just in the physical sense, but exploring the eight limbs of yoga.  I will also develop my mediation practice.

In order for me to increase my physical strength and muscle mass, I will need to incorporate strength training into my already full schedule. One strategy is to get back on the 100 Pushups plan. I have done this before so I know this is a reachable goal. I can do pushups every other day and gradually build up to 100 pushups. The other strategy is to do 20-30 minutes of strength training each time I go to the gym or use fitness bands at homes 2-3 times a week. In order for me to find ways to decrease my depression, I will learn more about treating depression and journaling my feelings daily. If necessary, I will seek professional help.  To expand on my yoga practice, I plan to find a good yoga studio and teacher who embraces the full essence of yoga and meditation. I will set aside twenty minutes in the evening as reflection and meditation. This may just consist sitting quietly and thinking of 5 things I am grateful for or it could be guided imagery. Whatever it is, that time is just for being still and quiet. Also, I plan to go to a weekend retreat this year at either Land of Buddha Medicine or Mount Madonna. Both are local, so I am confident that I could arrange this either between terms or after I finish school in September. 

The best way for me to track my progress is to keep a log. I plan to do this by daily journal. I will do a brief log of all three aspects. This will help me see how I am doing and hold me accountable to do the work. A strategy for my fitness goal is to pack my weekly workout clothes in a bag that I will keep in the car. Always have an extra pair of walking shoes in the car and in my office. By practicing yoga regularly, my stress should decrease while my spiritual aspect should deepen. Starting with these short-term goals will make them more achievable and I can build upon this foundation. I find that having an event planned such as a 10K run or a 51 mile bike motivates me to stick with the program so that will be part of my strategy. I have a half marathon in February, the Zoo-de-Mac 51 mile bike ride in May and the Wharf-to-Wharf 10k event in July. These are the events that will help keep me on track physically. It is the Meditation that may be the tricky part.  Even if I take only ten minutes to meditate and slowly increase the time I meditate, I’m sure I will succeed. Dacher tells us “with faith, we can open our mind and heart and take the courageous first steps on the path to integral health” (Dacher, 2006).

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Reference:

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

Unit 8: Most Beneficial Meditation

To choose from the meditation exercises we did, I would say the most beneficial exercise was Subtle Mind, followed by Loving-kindness. I think the subtle mind exercise is great for clearing the mind of all the mental chatter. I like focusing on my breathing. I find this helps many thoughts fall away. I think this is a good practice to do before I go to bed, especially when my mind is restless. By observing my thoughts without judgment, I can let my mind settle which, in turn, will lead to better sleep.

I find myself using loving-kindness as I am training for my half marathon. As move down the trail I smile to the people I pass and as I exhale I think, “send them loving kindness”. I have no expectations of them to return it, but I feel better as I move along. I think that this can be useful in my life as I find myself frustrated with self centered, rude people I encounter daily. Instead of feeling frustrations and anger with them that only causes me stress, I can simply wish them well.