KelleyJacob_HW420-01_Final_U9

               I.               Introduction:
It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically because this continues our growth internally and strengthens our practice externally. If a professional does not continue to fulfill each aspect they cannot lead a balanced life productively. Professionals are only as capable as they are strong, and by not strengthening your growth you have opted to hinder your ability and over all experience. You are only hurting your patience’s and their treatments with this choice. In order to achieve balance and the goals I have set for myself I will need to re-evaluate my spiritual development and start incorporating techniques into my daily routine to better myself and my practice for my patience’s.  
 

              II.               Assessment:
I have greatly assessed my health in each domain and feel that over all I am well balanced and healthy, but of course there is always room for improvement. On a scale of 1 (bad) – 5 (great) I score my wellness spiritually at a 2 because I do tend to follow others when it comes to ideas and concerns, physically as a 4 because I am in excellent shape for my age. I maintain my weight with a daily exercise routine along with consuming a healthy, earthy diet; and psychologically at a 4 because I do handle my stress, emotions and mentality with extended vigor. I am a constant source for advice and know that my opinions, counsel and ideas are sought after with respect for my abilities.

             III.               Goal development:
One goal I have for myself in each area is physically to tone my muscles for endurance and become more flexible. I am almost thirty and plan to start training for a marathon shortly after my birthday. This is a great goal for me because it enables me to set multiple goals to achieve one great goal. Running my first marathon when I am thirty proves to me that I am healthier then I have ever been. Psychologically, I feel like this is a great area for me to reduce my stress and tackle my anxiety to make it more manageable from day to day. Spiritually, I need to find myself and my place in this world. I have a great respect for nature and all living things but feel the need to concrete my morals, values and beliefs on a higher level for my daughters and my own sake. Mainly, I do not want her to be impressionable and want her to be a grounded but unique individual. I truly believe that “If you do not stand for something you will fall for anything” Alexander Hamilton.

            IV.               Practices for personal health:
The strategies I can implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual are to include mental fitness, meditation, and tai chi into my daily routine. I believe these 3 core techniques will balance my daily personal and business life. At the crack of dawn with my morning yoga I will implement “Meeting Asciepus” to energize myself and start my day on a positive note. This will lead to a more optimistic outlook throughout the day, ease stress, and keep me energized through my work. In the late afternoon with my 3-5 mile run, I plan on using the Subtle Mind exercise to melt my troubles away and relax me for my evening with my family. These exercises will also enhance my mental fitness through focus and push my current workout routine to its maximum capacity. The Tia Chi and Qigong will help me spiritually align my breath, awareness and human potential. Both of these routines are based off traditional Chinese medicine, martial arts, Daoism and Buddhism to support the spiritual awakening and bring my goals full circle.

             V.               Commitment:
I will assess my progress or lack of progress in the next six months by setting small goals to work my way up the physical, psychological, and spiritual ladder. By turning these steps into daily habits I ensure that I will not only complete my goals one at a time but continue to utilize these practices even after 6 months has passed. The most imperative goal is to make all these concepts apart of my families and my own everyday life and routine. By involving everyone in the family we create a supportive and comfortable environment for all to explore in and thus turning concepts into long term practices for health and wellness.

A Bloggers Delight...

I found "Meeting Asciepus" and the subtle mind exercises to be the most beneficial. Both require focus but in the end have completely different outcomes for me. With "Meeting Asciepus" I felt happy, energized and even strong. This is perfect for me to use every morning with my yoga before I start my busy day. It really amps me up and gets me excited to take over the world. I found the subtle mind exercise to clear my mind by quieting my thoughts. I felt extremely relaxed and I slept soundly that night. I was not as strung out or as grumpy as I usually am in the evenings because of my long tiring day. I see myself using this exercise at the end of my day to ease me out of my hectic life and help me thoroughly enjoy my down time with my family. 

Meeting the Healing...

Id like to say that "Meeting Asciepius" was effective but I found it silly. I can appreciate the healing process and the respect that comes with obtaining anothers attributes, but I found my focus off. I focused on the light beaming from within and then slowly found myself thinking I was a Greek god in a silly get up making out with Sam Worthington (Clash of the Titans, 2010) and being chased by a Kracken. From their it was all giggles and day dreaming (me and my over active imagination, I swear!) 

However, more than meditation, mindfulness has fostered a healthier bond with my spiritual wellness. As I use art for my outlet, I've noticed that my paintings and photography are starting to lean more towards nature and depicting a needed balance between her and society. I will continue to try meditation but I think it will be more effective for me to add these techniques to how I apply my art. Then I can gain peace from both aspects that functionally works for me.

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” makes me think of the blind leading the blind, as that is exactly how it would be if an inexperienced  healthcare professional stressed the importance of a healthy lifestyle, but in fact did not practice it. There is an obligation to yourself and those you care for to develop all aspects of health and wellness. This obligation builds trust, security, allows the professional to ease fears or concerns, allows an open mind, helps the professional stay current on modern methods or techniques, and understand side effects or outcomes. In my mind there is no reason for a professional to hesitate going down the path of Integral Health. 

Assess This...

Universal Loving Kindness just sounds like a far stretch and I still cant find my groove in this exercise. However, I do notice that during the day I am more open to others and their feelings. I've started being more conscience of others, listening more intently and processing their situation understand it better. Not a fan, but it is an effort.


During the assessment I came to the realization that I hold others to a high standard. That is why I have a hard time feeling sorry for someone when they complain. Even if it is serious! This isn't because I am cold (even though it reflects as so) but it is because I believe you are capable of anything you set your mind too and I hate to see you wasting your energy crying about it. For growth I may need to be more soft spoken and as much as I struggle with the Loving Kindness exercises I believe they are helping me open my heart to others feelings and situations. I am used to being the rock and adviser in my group of friends, I think it might be useful for me to make myself more vulnerable to them and learn how to be more accommodating and sympathetic.

Subtly Out of My Mind

These 2 exercises were like day and night to me. Both have the goal of bringing your conscientiousness to a higher level, but the loving kindness seemed to make you more aware of your emotions while the subtle mind practiced breathing techniques. I found the Subtle Mind exercise much more to my liking. Its drive was to let go and release any and all unwanted energy, an emotional freedom if you will. This exercise was very good at clearing the mind from emotional distractions and mental chatter. I found it to be very relaxing. The Loving Kindness exercise was very awkward for me. I felt it was forced and I found my emotions tend to get lost or fall out of place. I was easily distracted and didn't feel good by the end of it. Honestly, I felt guilty and a lot like I was a bad person. I know that was not the intent of the exercise, but unfortunately the outcome was very disappointing.
The connection between spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness is important, and you can not function as a balanced individual without it. I believe that mental wellness strengthens your physical wellness with motivation, optimism, and drive. Spiritual wellness is the direction and the focus. Only within the 3 will you find balance and an escape from toxic and negative environments.

Unit 2 Blog Post, Better Late Then Never?!

Welcome to I Hate Peas! You may wonder but yes, it is true. I hate peas. The look, the taste,  the smell, the color and everything else. When I was young I had no fear (actually I am still the same way today) every time I ate it off a horse, roller blades, skate board, jungle gym (you name it I fell off of it) she would put a bag of frozen lumpy peas on it. Now all I can do is associate peas with pain and sadness. This is important because it reveals, in a round about way, how powerful our minds are and how links are formed within ourselves.
On that note, I really enjoyed the breathing exercise. It was calming and I found the days stress's greatly reduced. I was more focused after and noticed that I even slept better that night. I am now teaching my daughter to use these breathing exercises to deal with pain and overwhelming feelings.

That is a nice mind :) Have you been working out?!

The Loving Kindness exercise officially kicked my butt. This was not easy for me, I lost focus and found myself frustrated then uncomfortable with the whole thing. I find it really hard to be sympathetic or empathetic of others. I tend to feel desensitize myself to the suffering of strangers because I feel like they are just feeling sorry for themselves. To me that is a waste of valuable energy you could be using to "save" or "better" yourself. The list goes on. If this exercise is right, I think I owe some people an apology for my insensitive thinking and feelings. I would not recommend this exercise to others as I struggled with it, and wouldn't want to see others suffer that way either.
The idea of Mental Work-Outs is like conditioning for the mind. Research shows that condition your mind improves outlook, eases stress, and prepares you for life's different challenges. I find that the Nintendo DS games specific for mental challenges is a good place to start (fun too) or you can also use Yoga or Pilates to strengthen your body, mind and soul. These help me focus better then breathing or meditation exercises as they keep my hands busy.