The Class Ends But The Journey Continues

1. Review your unit 3 personal assessment of your psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reflect on these areas . How did you score yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 in unit 3? How do you score yourself now? Has the score changed? Why or why not?

At the beginning of the semester I scored my physical wellbeing a 5, my spiritual well-being a 6 and my psychological wellbeing a 7. I am still working on getting my routine back in order, but I have improved since the beginning of the semester. I would change my physical wellbeing to a 6 because I've started swimming again and am stronger for it. But I still need to workout more often and still have plenty of weight to lose. The weight really holds me back. When I get closer to my goal weight a lot of my physical complaints will be gone. For my spiritual wellbeing I would raise that to an 8. I still have to work on being consistent with my prayer life and Bible study, but this class has helped give me the kick in the pants I needed to do so. And lastly for my psychological wellbeing I would rate myself at an 8. I feel like I've been a lot more conscious since the start of class with how I respond to my husband when something bothers me. I try and keep stress minimized and use prayer to help me deal with the things I can't change.

     2. Review the goals and activities you set for yourself in each area. Have you made progress          toward the goals? Explain.

As far as my goals are concerned I have made progress because I am praying and doing my Bible studies more often, I have started working out, and I have improved on how I react to anger. I have implemented certain things in each area and there are still things I plan on adding and am working on.

     3. Have you implemented the activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain.

As I previously mentioned I have improved on the frequency of which I pray and do my Bible studies. You can never do either of those things too often! I am working on compiling specific Bible verses on 3x5 cards so that I can pick one every week to memorize and meditate on. And also as I mentioned before I have started swimming again which is great. My strength, speed and endurance is improving every day. But I still want to add a more workouts into my week. At least two more. I just purchased a workout called Pound that looks really fun and I am looking forward to trying it out. I also have other workout videos and a recumbent bike (for my bad knees) that I can incorporate into my routine.

     4. Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others?

I can say that my well being has improved throughout this course. It's given me ideas that I can use in my own life and recommendations that I can use as a health and wellness coach. What has been difficult for me is getting past some material that I considered to be questionable. But as another classmate said you have to chew the meat and spit out the bones. (Did I get that right? LOL). If I didn't before I definitely believe now that true health involves all aspects of the persons life. You shouldn't treat one aspect without addressing them all. That realization would improve anyone's ability to assist others! As a wellness coach I now know to address all aspects rather than focusing on one or two. For instance as important as nutrition and exercise are it will also be important for me to address their spiritual and psychological health as well. Then I can help them improve those aspects as well so that they can achieve integral health.

Turning Try Into Do

     Well this certainly has been an interesting journey for me. The hardest part for me has been getting past the new age style material. As a Christian I have to have my guard up with this topic so that I don’t cross the line into areas that go against my beliefs. This is not to say that I’m being closed minded. But the Bible does warn us to guard ourselves and so I do. That being said there are still many things I can take away from this class.
     It is clear that there is a connection between a person’s psychological, spiritual and physical wellness. Finding a balance between all three of these aspects will lead to integral health. Of all people health and wellness professionals should understand this concept. They also need to develop these aspects in their own lives so that they can be a testament to their knowledge. This doesn’t mean that H&W professionals are expected to be perfect, but as a child learns from their parents’ lifestyle so will your clients learn from yours. Or at the very least they will see whether or not you practice what you preach. Should a pastor preach about tithing if he does not tithe himself? Should a police officer give a ticket to someone for disobeying the law if they do not obey it their self (not referring to instances where breaking the law in the performance of their duties is legal, i.e. speeding to respond to an emergency, etc.) Should a personal trainer talk about having a regular exercise routine if they do not have one their self? Should a nutrition expert give nutrition advice that they do not follow their self (this does depend on the individual, but humor me, you get the idea). Have you noticed a bit of an ethical dilemma? This health and wellness field is not about getting a pay check, although that is an essential part of any job (unless you’re a millionaire). It’s about helping people. To truly help others we need to be seeking integral health in our own lives. It’s one thing to have knowledge and another to have personal experience. It’s one thing to say, this is what I read in a textbook, and another to say, this is what works for me.
     For me personally, I still need to work on all aspects of my health. Specifically as I have mentioned before I need to work on consistency. I want to study my Bible every day, but can I honestly say that I do it? I want to work out on a regular basis, but as of this moment I’m still working on that too. I want to eat a clean diet, but I still allow unhealthy foods when I’m in a pinch (which has been far too often this semester!). It’s time to put excuses aside and practice what I preach. Only then will I be able to help others as a health and wellness professional. Yoda said it best: Do or do not. There is no try.
    Using a 1-10 scale I would rate my spiritual wellness at a 6, my physical wellness at a 4, and my psychological wellness at a 7 or 8. My spiritual health would be much higher if I would spend more time reading God’s word and praying. I, like so many others, am easily distracted by literally every other thing. I really need to focus on making it a priority above all else as it should be. My physical wellness I rated low because my weight and bad knees are holding me down. Internally I am apparently in very good health, but I don’t often feel like it because I am weighed down...literally! When I finally succeed in reaching a more appropriate weight for my body I will feel so much better and so will my knees, though eventually I will need knee surgery. Psychologically I’m actually doing quite well. I try and keep my stress as low as possible and have been really working on my anger management skills. But some things such as the finances of student life are beyond my control. Right now I am faced with the dilemma of summer in which my husband’s GI Bill benefits will temporarily stop coming in. We’ve been depending on the housing/cost of living stipend that he gets as our main source of income. We’ve both recently started working but its only low paying part time jobs that aren’t going to cover our expenses. I’ll be lucky if both jobs cover our rent alone at this point. We still have to sit down and try and estimate what we will both be making since he’ll be working more hours though. This situation could easily overwhelm me if I let it. But I choose to put my trust in God! Here’s one of my favorite verses to read when I am stressed (I even have a tapestry of a portion of it hanging on my bathroom wall).

Matthew 6:26-34

New King James Version (NKJV)

²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A26-34&version=NKJV

     One goal that I have for my spiritual wellness is to consistently study the Bible and pray every single day. One of my goals for my physical wellness is to exercise for no less than a half an hour (preferably an hour) at least 5 days a week. And lastly one of my goals for my psychological wellness is to meditate on a scripture verse every day. I know this might sound like it should be in the spiritual wellness category but for me it’s not. Meditating on a specific scripture reduces my stress and puts me in the right state of mind leaving me more patient, kind, loving, etc.
      It can be helpful to implement strategies to assist us in meeting our wellness goals. For my spiritual health one strategy I can use is to deny myself access to the TV or such distractions until I have spent time studying God’s word and praying. Another strategy is not to study randomly, but to go into it with a plan. Purchasing Bible study materials can be helpful and I’ve done this many times in the past. They help keep me motivated and interested and I always do very well when I have them. I have several lined up already to use and am currently doing a study on Daniel.
      For my physical wellness a strategy that I have used in the past and plan on implementing again is to get a dry erase board and write on it a weekly or monthly workout schedule with my goals, stats, and a motivational quote. Every time I work out I cross that day out on the calendar. Another strategy I have used and been successful with in the past is to prepare healthy meals on the weekend (Sunday) for the upcoming week. That way I don’t have any excuses to not eat healthfully.
      For my psychological wellness category as I previously mentioned one exercise I would like to start doing is meditation. It’s different than Bible study and prayer time. I would use it similarly to the relaxation exercises that we have been using in class. I actually want to implement two strategies to help with this. The first is to put specific verses on 3x5 cards and each week I will pick out one of the verses and carry it with me everywhere looking at it as often as I can. The second strategy is that I’m actually thinking about making up my own relaxation/visualization exercises that go along with my beliefs, because I haven’t found one yet that I like. Who knows maybe I’ll end up putting some up on YouTube. You never know! There is a lot of calming music/sound effects that I like. I think it would be pretty easy to come up with a script for a Biblical based visualization exercise and then record it with some calming background music. Sounds like a plan to me!
     I definitely want to fully commit to these plans. As far as the spiritual and psychological progress is concerned if I truly implement my plan I will see drastic improvement without question. I will need to remain consistent and continue to challenge myself so that I will continue to grow. These are never areas that you can perfect as we are imperfect beings. But we can become stronger and more stable. We can become leaders instead of followers. We can run instead of crawl...you get the idea. The same is true for the physical aspect with the addition of assessment tools. I have a hand held device that tells me what my BMI and body fat percentages are. I use it monthly to check my progress along with a scale. It’s not about the scale though; it’s about how I feel and honestly what size of close I can fit into. LOL. A size 6-9 (depending on the brand) is my goal. As far as strategies to maintain these practices, as I mentioned earlier we need to always be challenging ourselves that way we don’t hit a plateau or get board and let it fall by the wayside. You may think you’re healthy but you can always be healthier in all aspects of your life! I wish each and every one of you success in all of your goals whether they are educational, spiritual, physical or psychological. God Bless!  

 

 

 

 

 

Meditation and Visualization Preferences

      As we come to the conclusion of this semester I contemplate what I've learned. I can't say that I enjoyed the specific exercises that we have done over the course of the past 8 weeks. But one thing I can say is that this class has helped me nail down what I do like and what does work for me. I do like meditation in many respects. I just have to change it up a bit so that it goes along with my beliefs as well. The Bible talks a lot about meditating on God's word. I can never say that I do that enough! I also like visualization exercises and think that they are useful on so many different levels for so many different scenarios. I have some things in my life that I want to work on in which visualization exercises would be really helpful. One is staying away from sugar. It sounds silly, but sugar can be very addicting and I am having a hard time with it right now. But if I take time to visualize myself saying no to sweets and saying yes to healthier choices (like fruit) then I will be more likely to succeed. The same goes for starting up a workout routine again. I was doing so good with that last year but I was thrown off of my routine when I moved and haven't been able to pick it up again in the same way. Visualization exercises can help me to get back on track with this as well. I was actually looking up visualization exercises for a sports nutrition class and found a really good article that I would like to share an excerpt from:

     "Research has shown that visualizing process is much more effective than visualizing end goals. You need to actually see yourself going step-by-step in achieving your habit. For example, if you want to go to the gym every morning, start your visualization from the moment you wake up. Imagine yourself going through your morning routine, driving to the gym, walking inside, lifting weights, and then eventually leaving. The more thoroughly you go through each step of the habit, the less likely you are to hit a snag along the way. Some people imagine themselves fit and healthy but they never actually see themselves doing the habits that it takes to actually becoming fit and healthy (Handel, 2011)."

     So visualization exercises in this sense are more focused on the action than on the end result. The only thing I will add is that I also think it is beneficial to imagine or visualize yourself reaching your end goal. For me that would be reaching my goal wait...finally! It's a wonderful vision to me and is very motivating. So I think the process and the goal are good visualizations. I think if I combine daily meditation with these visualization exercises I will be much better off.


Reference:

   Handel, S. (Nov, 2011). How to change habits with 20 minutes of visualization. Retrieved from http://www.theemotionmachine.com/how-to-change-habits-with-20-minutes-of-visualization

Preparedness Equals Success

I intended to spend quite a bit of time this week meditating on God and his word. I did do my Bible study (I'm studying Daniel), but nothing outside of that as I had intended. Between work, a new puppy, school, a project, female issues, and coming down with a really bad throat infection (not strep but similar and felt the same) I was quite overwhelmed! In listening to the Aesclepius mp3 today and of course was bothered by it. For those of you who have followed any of my posts you will know that though I like the idea and goals of these practices the new age material bothers me. This one in particular. So instead I tried to focus on envisioning spending time with God, but the voice (though it was a calming voice) kept telling me to do things that bothered me (Like the healing God Aesclepius is really me or within me...) and I just had to let it go. Does anyone know if there are exercises like this that are from a Christian perspective?  This rubs me so hard the wrong way, but I could see how Christian/Biblical based versions could be helpful to me. I hope I'm not the only one who feels this way, but if I am so be it. I don't mean to be negative. I really want to like these exercises. But I do have to follow my convictions and beliefs. Anyway, I have found myself repeated Bible verses to myself throughout the week at random times. I would still like to pick out a weekly verse and use it as a "Mantra" of sorts throughout the week. The more time I spend in prayer, Bible study, and in Biblically based meditation the better I feel spiritually and as we all know that carries over into our overall health.

We are asked what the following quote means: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself". I kind of think this means not to be a hypocrite. That a severe word, but it's true if you think about it. How can you tell someone to do something you won't do or haven't done yourself? That's kind of why I am torn right now because my health and weight is far from where I want it to be and yet I want to help people to achieve better health themselves. You have to practice what you preach. This doesn't mean that I have to have a perfect body or anything, but I do need to take everything I've learned both on my own and at Kaplan and truly apply it (all of it) to my life once and for all. Then I will be at a better place to help others. I do think that once I have graduated it will be easier to do because I'm honestly worn out from school at this point. It will be great to have the time to focus on those things rather than on getting assignments done on time. I'm sure you all know what I mean! The main things that I want to implement are daily devotionals and prayer time (every single day not just when I remember to do it), picking out a Bible verse every week and using it as a Mantra for that week, a more regular exercise routine, and I need to do better at being consistent with my nutrition. This may require prep work on Sundays to be prepared for the week. I used to do that and it guaranteed that I wouldn't fail that week. I haven't been doing that since moving to Tennessee and I have definitely noticed a difference. Like for instance I used to prepare several meals or at least prep the meals on Sunday and that way I had no excuses like being too tired to cook. Whereas lately I haven't wanted to cook and my husband ends up picking up food from somewhere (because he sure isn't going to cook). It takes some work on Sunday, but boy does it make the rest of the week flow better!

Prayer and Meditation

As a Christian I am honestly not sure how I feel about mantras. The problem I do see from them is that they rely fully on self and not on God. But then again they don't have to. I don't see anything wrong with repeating and reflecting on a specific Bible verse or series of Bible verses. Instead of completing the exercise as a mantra as is I changed it to a prayer. I can pray for all individuals to gain freedom from suffering and that they find sustained health, happiness, and wholeness. I can pray for God to help me assist others in gaining freedom from suffering and in finding health, happiness, and wholeness. I'm not sure that repeating the same prayer for ten minutes is necessarily helpful as that is direct communication with God. He heard me the first time! But I love the idea of repeating Bible verses and contemplating on them.

 

I found the assessment process interesting. It does a good job at having you self-reflect for sure. The things that came to mind for me I have already been thinking about off and on for awhile now. Like for instance I spend far too much time watching TV. Between that, work, and school work it is easy to forget to study the bible, pray, and exercise. I need to learn to do better at limiting my time on the tv so that I can spend more time on my physical and spiritual growth/health. I love the idea of meditating on a Bible verse so I think I will implement that into my day. I'll either choose a new verse every week or use my all time favorite verse which is Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."

True and Total Health

     I made sure to do this weeks exercise early in the week so that I was less stressed during it. I'm not saying I'm a super stressed out person. But at the end of the school week all I want to think about is getting everything turned in on time and the last thing I want to do is sit quietly and do an exercise like this. I liked the subtle mind exercise much better than the loving kindness one. As I mentioned last week I didn't like the idea of "breathing in" someone's pain or what have you and "breathing out" anything to them. That's a bit to new age-ish for me. There were positives and negatives to the subtle mind exercise. I liked how it started out having me focus on my breathing by paying attention to either the rise and fall of my chest or the air coming in and out of my nose. I chose to focus on the rise and fall of my chest. I also enjoyed the sound of the ocean as well as the addition of subtle music. Although the music could have been  a smidgeon louder. The breaks in between the instruction got ridiculously long for me. When I was told I could stop focusing on my chest rising and falling and wait for further instruction I got really fidgety and bored. I think this was for two reasons. One was the length of the pause (forever!) and another was the lack of thought direction. I didn't know what to focus on or think about or even if I was supposed to be. Because of the general lack of direction this exercise didn't work for me overall. I would have had a better experience by just putting on some calming music/background noise (water, birds, etc.) and sitting in a quiet place with my eyes closed in quiet contemplation. Just breathing, thinking and praying.

     We humans are far more complex than mere machines. All aspects of the human body work together as one glorious synchronized system. Unfortunately in the world we live in it is easy to throw this system out of whack. This could be from bad nutrition, a lack of exercise, a stressful environment, etc. Any one of those things is going to affect the entire system. Stress, for example, is proven to negatively affect the immune system and can leave a person at a higher risk for sickness and disease. This is also why the spiritual aspect of a person is important. It is all interconnected. If the spirit is in bad health it can cause the body to be in bad health as well and vice versa. For me when I am stressed or angry I can easily develop a headache and my irritable bowel syndrome can act up. I also notice that when I spend more time in prayer and Bible study I gain much more patience, peace, and calmness. However the opposite is also true. If I don't spend any time in prayer or in the Word I am much more impatient and quick to anger. So doing those things really helps me deal with life's stresses, both big and small.  So just as our bodies are complex total health is also. It is not isolated to only exercise, only nutrition, only mental health, etc. True and total health is finding a healthy balance in all areas of your life.

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

 

 

Loving Kindness

1. Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

I really wanted to like this exercise. I like how it started out having you focus on someone you love and then later on has you focus on others again. But in general I had trouble with this exercise. One reason was because I thought the directions were rather vague and sometimes unrealistic. For instance it is one thing to contemplate someone's suffering and another to "breath it in". We are also told many times to "breath out" for example peace and wholeness. I'm just not comfortable with this. It seems rather new age-ish to me.  Also the gaps between the voice guidance was sometimes too long which led my mind to wander. I do like the idea of the loving kindness exercise because that's a great thing to focus on and remind yourself about. I wouldn't recommend this specific exercise to people because of the lack of specific direction, long pauses, and the new age feel that it has. but I would recommend an exercise like this if I found one I did like and thought would be appropriate for the person.

1. What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

Mental Workout also known as Contemplative Practice is a way to expand the mind and better yourself. Much like a physical work out mental workouts need to be done on a regular basis to achieve lasting benefits. "Research studies and personal reports have also demonstrated that mental training can transform the mind by reducing disturbing emotions that cause anger, hatred, fear, worry, confusion, and doubt while enhancing positive emotions such as patience, loving-kindness, openness, acceptance, and happiness. This mental transformation, acting through the mind/body connection, provides enhanced resistance to mental distress and physical disease, expands our healing capacities, and promotes well-being" (Dacher, 2006).

 

Reference:

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