Unit 10.. My Brain Hurts:)

My scores from unit 3 to now are the same in the psychological and physical, but my score improved in the spiritual arena by a point.  I have been focusing mostly on the spiritual aspect because physically and psychologically I feel like I am solid and it is pretty routine practice for me.  I am going to use the meditative practices, yoga, and deep breathing to  try and get to a better place spiritually.

Physically I continue to reach my goals my using my GPS to track my progress running.  I have also started using strength training twice a week. I want to get to three times per week.
Psychologically, I have been using my journal to track my feelings and also keeping in touch with my friends to help me stay grounded and when I feel I need help to ask for it.  That is a hard thing for me to do.  But I am getting better at it and it is becoming easier.  Spiritually, I am using the meditative practices with MP3's sometimes when I do yoga.  My goal is to keep up this practice and so far so good.  This will probably be the hardest part for me to continue.  I will use a journal with this also to keep track of my meditative practices.

My personal experience throughout this class has been amazing.  I have realized that it is important not to think I have to do it all and do it perfectly.  I can say no and I can and will make mistakes.  It's my choice in my reactions to situations.  Letting go of the negative thoughts and only letting positive ones in in my path to human flourishing.  The most difficult part for me has been letting myself of the hook for mistakes I have made.  I hope this experience will help me in assisting others without judgement.  To help guide them to a place that is right for them personally.  Showing them it's in their power to change and become the person they want to be.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Unit 9 Final Project:)

Introduction

     Lead by example or practice what you preach, we have all heard these sayings before.   I believe that it is very important for health and wellness professionals to practice all the areas that they teach and maybe even more.  If you don’t really understand what you are teaching the client will be able to tell and there won’t be a good connection and there may even be a lack of trust. 

            Developing psychologically is necessary because we need to be able to have compassion, understanding, and be able to control our negative feelings in our own lives.  I believe that being honest with the client but not judging them for their choices and being able to guide them to find what works for them shows them that you are there for them no matter what is going on in their personal lives. 

            Developing spiritually is a very personal choice. I think that you don’t necessarily have to be religious to be very spiritual.  I also believe that you need to be very comfortable in your beliefs and be able to have an open mind.  Clients will come from all walks of life and have very different beliefs and religions.  Understanding is the key weather it’s your belief or not. 

            Developing physically is an integral part of being happy.  Our bodies thrive on activity.  It gives us clarity in our thinking, it releases the good hormones and it decreases stress.  I think that if a client sees that the health professional is taking care of themselves, it may make it easier because they won’t think, “why should I do physical activity or even try because my mentor doesn’t and they are doing okay”.  It may be hypocritical but in all honesty I’m sure that is what clients think. 

            The area that I really have been focusing on is spirituality.  It doesn’t come naturally to me.  I have learned that I am more spiritual than I ever imagined I was.  I didn’t realize that yoga and the love of being outside in nature to calm myself was spiritual but now I have learned that it really is.  Meditation and visualization have been my focus during the last 8 weeks and I feel like I have come a very long way but still have a very long way to go. 

Self -Assessment

            Scoring myself physically on a 1 to 10 scale, 1 being the lowest and 10 the highest.  I am a solid 9, I think my cardiovascular fitness is really good, my strength is pretty good but my arms need a little work.  My flexibility could be better, especially my hamstrings.  They get really tight because of  the running I do. 

            Psychologically I think I am an 8.  I am fairly well rounded with a pretty even temper.  I can usually think before I speak when I am mad.  I also have a pretty decent outlook on life and feel that I am very happy with my life as it is right now.  There is room for improvement and I have found tools to help me when I am down on myself. Some of the tools I have found to be effective are journaling, listening to the MP3’s from this class and some I have found on you tube.   I also have a very strong support system so when I fall I have good people in my life that pick me up.  In the past I never wanted to accept help from others because I thought it made me weak.  Now I realize I was very wrong in my thinking.  Everyone needs support sometimes and it takes a very strong person to ask and or accept the support that is there.  Knowing this, lets me be less afraid of living life and having failures.  

            Spiritually I rate myself a 7, before this class I think a 5 would’ve been the score I gave myself.  I feel relief that I am becoming more connected with my spiritual side.  Gaining faith has allowed me to know that everything will work out in the end because that is the way it is supposed to be.   I have been using meditation and I guess you could say prayer and I am quite frankly surprised how much it has helped me with not only self -acceptance but also accepting the differences of others.

Goal Development

            My goals physically are to complete the half marathon (HM) in April in 2 hours or less.  That would be taking 6 minutes off my last HM.  I have been doing some interval training to help with my speed.  I would also like to implement a better strength program but I’m not sure I have the motivation for this.  I have to figure a way to fit it in my schedule around my running and yoga days.  I have been using 3 to 5 pound weights twice a week when I walk on the treadmill to give my arms a work out. 

            Psychologically I think that an important goal I have is to keep any negative thoughts from popping into my head.  I am pretty good at forgiving others I just need to learn to forgive myself for my past mistakes.  I am working really hard on trying not to be such a perfectionist in certain areas.  I also do not like procrastination and trying to be accepting that others like to wait for the last minute to do things.  That does drive me a little bit crazy (deep breathing right now just thinking about it) but I am learning breath by breath to be more understanding. 

            Spiritually, my goal is to become more connected to myself.  I feel that I need to stop and smell the roses sometimes.  Take a deep breath and enjoy the here and now.  I want to be able to build my faith so it is unwavering.  I still have moments of doubt and that concerns me so I want to work on gaining a faith that is solid and true.  I feel that practicing meditation has had a huge impact for me personally. 

Practices for Personal Health

            The practices that I want to continue doing in the physical arena are running.  I will continue to use the half marathon -training schedule which, is pretty intense, but it has kept me focused and I haven’t deviated from the schedule in over 8 months.  My plan that I would like to focus on is strength training.  I found a journal type exercise tablet and get shape magazine that has some really good strength exercises that don’t require having equipment.  I am going to save the pages and put them into the tablet and hold myself accountable to doing one of half hour strength workouts 3 days per week.  In the end I believe that my running times will improve with the strength training.

            Practices for my psychological personal health are pretty much in place also.  I want to continue journaling my feelings daily.  I actually do this on my computer and save it in a file.  I find really nice to write and it relaxes me.   For some reason to write my feelings makes me feel better and knowing that nobody will read them makes me feel safe.  Not that I really put anything bad, it’s mostly just emotional stuff but it gets it off my chest without hurting anyone’s feelings.  The next thing I like to do for myself is have some friend time.  I love spending time with my family, don’t get me wrong but I really need girl time.  It’s almost therapeutic for all of us.  It makes me feel like I’m not alone.  I want to try and make time for this, it seems like friend time is always the time that gets cancelled. I would like to make it more of a priority, the only problem with that is the girls may have something else come up. 

            In the spiritual area I will continue to meditate every morning, I would like to increase my time from 10 minutes to 15.  I can do this by setting my alarm just a little bit earlier.  The next exercise is listing to calming music like with the MP3’s that I put on my I tunes while I stretch and do yoga.  It actually becomes a fairly long workout.  Lastly the deep tissue massages with chiropractic lets me relax and feel so connected with my whole being.

Commitment

            I am a very committed person my nature.  I guess it’s in my wiring so to speak.  I will access my progress for the next 6 months physically by using map my run.  It is a GPS tracking that is downloaded onto my phone.  It keeps my time and distance and keeps me on track with running.  Keeping track of my strength is also through journaling.  I think I will use a reward system until it becomes habit.  My reward system would be if I complete three days of strength training I will buy myself a treat like a milkshake.  Great thinking right?!  I like that plan. 

            My commitment for psychological well- being is to journal daily, and have me time and also I forgot sleep.  I am so much happier and feel so much better with sleep.  I actually feel better just writing this paper it is making me do some planning and I like to have a plan.  I also want to at least get to talk to my girlfriends on the phone.  Not texting actual talking if we can’t see each other then I will definitely make it important to talk at least a few times per week.  My husband would tell you I don’t have a problem with that. 

            My commitment for improving spiritually is meditation, deep breathing and yoga.  I also like to just sit outside and watch my dogs run around like crazy.  My plan is to set my alarm 15 minutes earlier, this will probably be the most difficult because I love my sleep, but I am willing to try it at least a few days a week.  I will set my phone alarm with some very calming meditative music.  Wow I’m getting excited to start my new plan.  I think journaling really is the best and easiest to way to track my progress or lack of progress.

Thanks for the great learning experience this quarter Mark and all my classmates,  it has been wonderful to say the least.  I hope that we cross paths again in the future.  YAY for no references!!!

   

Unit 8

Welcome to my Unit 8 blog everyone, 

     I believe that I have learned so much in a short time in this class  (thank you Mark) it has been an amazing journey.  I have enjoyed sharing my blogs and learning so much from everyone in this class so thank you everyone:)

     So to pick to exercises that we have done is kind of hard because I am really enjoying all of them now.  I listen to them when I do my yoga (up to 3x/week now) and the time just flies by now.  If I had to pick the subtle mind mp3 would be my favorite because it focuses on breathing and some visualization and let go of the mental movements.   I find that so incredibly relaxing from my head to my toes.  The second pick would be from our last discussion board question number 2 I loved the visualization exercise in Dacher.  It was really enjoyable to remember how good I felt with memories and reminded me how fortunate and blessed my life has been.  I did have my oldest daughter read it to me, but I think I am going to make an audio of it so I can add it to my meditation mp3's. 

    I plan on implementing these practices with meditation in the morning and with yoga.  I might even try and listen to some of the mp3's when I run.  I'm no so sure that it's energetic enough to keep me running, but maybe it will be so relaxing that I will forget how long I have been going.. I will have to try it out. 

Happy blogging
Rachel

unit 7

Here we are at unit 7 wow has it flown by.  My meditative practices for this week have been pretty amazing.  I really am beginning to almost crave my time to listen to the MP3's.  I always go into my room and relax with the fake fireplace roaring.  The only thing on my mind is to get to that place of complete relaxation.  Meeting Aesculapius or mindfulness meditation is very calming and relaxing to me.  I am not really fond of the mans voice in the beginning but I find the woman's voice calming.  I also enjoy hearing the waves and letting her guide me in all my thoughts.  I think that is easier for me than trying to concentrate on my own.  Being mindful of others along with myself in my actions, and words has let me take a step back and realize that we all have our own battles and no one persons issues are more important that the others.  I feel that I am becoming a little more spiritual everyday and I am very proud of this.  My attitude towards life is in general better (it was never horrible) or at least improved.  I find myself thinking "is this really important" and pretty much let it go.  I plan on keeping these mp3's in my itunes library and using them frequently.  When I get better at these I will find some more mp3's and try them out also.  It is also really nice to listen to all of these in order as I do my exercise ball and some yoga.  It's a nice long workout actually.

I believe the phrase "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (p.477) means practice what you preach really.  If you are trying to help someone and don't practice the things you are teaching then I think there would be a lack of connection with the client.  I believe you wouldn't understand and couldn't guide the client if you didn't practice some form . I also think when the client asked questions you wouldn't be able to answer them honestly and there might be a lack of trust between client and   practitioner.

I plan on continuing my current practice and not give up due to the "no time"  I know this is my biggest battle, but I am determined to improve my life as a whole.  Mind-Body-Soul.

Looking forward to this weeks comments.

Rachel

Unit 6

Hi everyone, This weeks exercises were two that were at first hard for me to do, but I have done then everyday for 4 days straight and found that I really am finding a sense of inner peace when I do them both.  I prefer the second exercise I'm not really sure why but maybe because it goes a little deeper.  I start with the mini practice and repeat it in my head over and over.  I was able to get to around 5 minutes and I did feel more at peace after I did the exercise.  Then I did the integral assessment which at first was definitely more difficult (I love a good challenge) .  I asked myself which part of my life is causing me the most stress and when I answered I then was able to let it go and feel so much more at ease.  I still have moments of worry but I feel much better and not so upset with the situation.  I know which area I need to grow in but I am still trying to focus of my area of concern.  I have started a journal and have been seeking guidance from a very trusted person in my life.  I decided to focus on the first approach for a couple of weeks because I have a specific area of concern that is deeply personal so I choose not to talk about it on the blog.(I'm fine and so is my family and we have no illness) and hopefully I will transition into the second exercise with ease.

For exercises, physically I will continue to run outside hopefully weather permitting, and use my big rubber ball for stretching and yoga.  I want to continue doing all the exercises that we have learned thus far because I find them very beneficial for my well-being.  I have increased my time to meditate in the morning and added it at night also.  Lastly I started a journal last week and that has been a very big help along with the guidance of a close friend. 

Hope to hear from everyone soon, Happy blogging:)

Rachel

unit 5

Hi Everyone,  This weeks exercise asks us to compare and contrast the loving kindness mp3 and the subtle mind.  I found that listening to the loving kindness for the second time I liked it much better. It still was a little more difficult than the subtle mind mp3 and I'm not so sure why.   I personally enjoyed listening to the subtle mind more because it focused on breath.  I also enjoyed the fine music heard over the waves in the subtle mind mp3 and I liked that it explained that it was okay if my mind wandered, but when it did to refocus on breath.  I started to think of a string pulling my belly up as I inhaled and slowing releasing it as I exhaled.  I used diaphragmatic breathing which is one of my favorite ways to relax and still my mind. 

I now have these mp3 saved in my I tunes account and know that if I listen to them more and more I will learn to use them in meditation.  Allowing my mind to get away and not to focus on anything at all.. to complete mind silence...

The body responds differently to different emotions.  The chemicals in our bodies change with the emotions we feel.  When we feel happy and hopeful and less stress the body is in a relaxed state the chemistry of our bodies change and allow healing to occur and it will also prevent chronic problems to start.  If our bodies are out of balance and feel stressed or out of control different chemical reactions occur in our body that cause stress on our vital organs which wears the body down making it less resistant to getting sick and developing chronic health problems. 

Spirituality is integrity, hope, love, faith.  It is the daily practice of love based attitudes that are used in a person's everyday life.  It needs to lived actively, it is generosity, caring, sharing for those in need.  Without spirituality we become empty inside and the need for more and more material things will continue to be the way to keep the emptiness we feel inside at bay.  A temporary fix to say the least. 

I didn't realize how spiritual I was until I started learning about what it really meant.  I guess I always thought it was religion based.  I know now that it is having love based attitudes.  I think that it is a vital part of living a full and complete life.

I really enjoyed the website that I used for this blog.  I would recommend anyone who reads my blog to read the article written  By Mary Kurus

Thanks everyone,
Rachel

http://www.mkprojects.com/fa_PEMHealth.htm

Unit 4

Hi everyone, welcome to my unit 4 blog.  My thoughts on listening to the MP3's this week are I think that the man explaining the importance of integral health is good and made me want to learn a more on the benefits.  I really enjoy the science of how are mind, soul and bodies are connected.  All the chemicals and hormones being released and what they do to us.  So cool to me:).  The second MP3 was just a little challenging for me. I really liked the relaxation part and it was soothing, but when it was just the music and waves I found myself thinking about other things.  I must need someone to guide me:) 

I believe that the concept of a mental workout is that it keeps us grounded and on a positive path to feel a sense of inner peace, calmness, and will help us take that leap into a state of well being we never thought was possible.  Dacher (2006).  The benefits of mental fitness are limitless it is understood now that good or bad our mental state determines the physiology of our body.  The power of the mind is limitless so we have to continue to train our minds to be able to get to that next level of human flourishing.  Lastly, our consciousness not only shapes our personal experiences, it also impacts the people around us.  Dacher (2006)

I think that this class has reaffirmed what I have believed all along.  I sometimes would not take time out for myself in the past and I did not have or feel a state of homeostasis.  Since I have started taking some classes here at Kaplan, it just proved to me that what I was doing wasn't out of the ordinary it was what worked for me.  I feel so much more at peace with my life just letting go of the little stresses that come with everyday.  I think my mental workouts are essential for my health and well being.  I have just recently started doing some meditation at night right before I go to sleep and boy do I fall asleep fast and sleep like a rock.  Sometimes I don't even get to finish my relaxation:)  Not to worry I have done some meditation in the morning before I wake up for a long time now:)

I look forward to having some good blogging with you my fellow classmates:)

Reference;

Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Retrieved from Eisevier Churchill Livingston Publications

Unit 3

Hi everyone,  Can you believe it, it's time for unit 3 already.. wow how time flies.  Rating myself for optimal well-being overall I would say I am a solid 8.5:)  Physically, I think I am a little better than that, like a 9 to 9.5.  I exercise almost everyday and am a pretty fit person.  Physiologically,  I would say for the most part I rate myself  around a 9.0 I usually can handle stress very well and feel mostly good about myself, now spiritually is where I probably rate myself the lowest I'm not sure why but I think that I would rate myself around a 7.5 at best.  I don't really consider myself a spiritual person although at times I guess I might be. 
My goal to improve myself physically would be to add some more strength training into my workout plan.  I think it's a really good idea so my bones stay strong.  Physiologically, I would want to become more patient with my kids using positive outlets.
Spiritually, I'm not sure I can really improve on this, because it's not really a concern for me.  I do enjoy doing yoga and doing progressive relaxation and that keeps me really centered and to some degree it feels like a spiritual experience.
I would like to start using our weights downstairs in my basement  more often, I also like using the medicine ball to stretch and relax with breath.  Sometimes I listen to music  but not all the time.  I think using the music from this class is a great way to start with meditation, and it makes it nice to de- stress.
I like the music that was played and the fact that he was really focusing on the diaphragmatic breathing.  The rainbow meditation was interesting I like how the different colors were specific to areas of the body.  I also liked that it focused on  being grounded.  I guess the part that was a little annoying is that he wanted me to repeat some of the sayings... Like "I feel Grounded", or "I feel Centered." once I got used to it though it was not annoying anymore:)  Sometimes you just have to let things go and give them a chance you might just find out that you really like it.

unit 2 blog

Hi everyone, This is my first time really blogging so hope it works out. I found this quote on Facebook by Positive Inspirational Quotes (PIQ) "Remember to move forward and stop looking back, otherwise the good things will pass you by!" Our exercise was to listen to the relaxation link and I did. It was so relaxing that I actually had to listen to it 3 times because I fell asleep twice. I was so relaxed it really felt almost out of body. I am finding I really like to listen to these meditation MP3's. I also like the quote by Audry Hepburn that said "for beautiful eyes look for the good in others, for beautiful lips speak only words of kindness, for poise walk with the knowledge you are never alone." With that I leave you all and look forward to blogging with you.
 Thanks, Rachel

Hi everyone,  I was just seeing if anyone could get to my blog.  I'm in HW420 if you are to give me a quick holla:)

holistic and happy

Starting a blog to talk about holistic alternatives in conjunction with traditional western medicine:)