My Plan for Fostering Integral Health

It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically so that they can be the picture of human flourishing that they want their patients/clients to be. It is very difficult to teach what you have not experienced. It is important for a health and wellness professional to be able to focus on their patients so that they can pick up on important clues that the patient will provide in talking about their conditions and what they want for themselves so that they can develop a holistic, integral program that addresses the patient’s concerns and addresses some of the underlying issues that are contributory to the patient’s condition. Of these three areas of development, I need to work on the physical the most to achieve the goal that I have for my integral health. My psychological and spiritual areas are feed most often and the physical is the area that is screaming for attention. 

I have assessed my health in each of these areas by looking at how I feel at this point in my life about each of them. As I stated earlier, my spirit and psyche are feed all the time but my physical has been left starved and wanting. I have made some small nutritional changes that will be beneficial in the long term but I need to address exercise as a short term goal and I need to establish a way to track my progress so that I know that I am intentionally choosing to develop this area. I would score my spiritual and my psychological areas an 8 or 9 and my physical a 5. Having assessed each area, it is time to develop some goals to drastically develop my physical and to keep my spiritual and psychological on a steady pace. 

One goal that I have for my physical is to find fifteen minutes a day to exercise. I find time to do all of the other things that I want to do so there is no excuse. I am looking for some 15 minute workouts that will work my entire body and I shooting to do the 15 minutes at night as I am not a morning person. Any help you all can provide will be greatly appreciated. I need to get started like yesterday. One goal that I have for my spiritual area is to attend Sunday school on a regular basis like I used to do. I find that when I am spiritually strong, I tend to be stronger in other areas as well. I will use my spiritual to help me with my physical goal. One goal that I have for the psychological area is to take more time each day to let it all go for a few minutes and just enjoy being in the moment to allow the stress of the day to melt away and empty my mind of all of the distractions. I find a few minutes a day to do this but I would love to find more time. Maybe I can incorporate this into my exercise routine. 

Practices for personal health will include using strategies like visualization and meditation. To obtain my physical goals I will use visualization to get me started and to keep me going. I need to see myself exercising for those 15 minutes and enjoying the experience, rather than focusing on the negative aspects like the soreness that I know will come until my body has gotten used to exercising again. I will also try to incorporate yoga classes to aid in my physical health. I have taken yoga classes before and I was much more centered and focused when I attended on a regular basis. For my psychological health, I am looking to use yoga and meditation. This is an area of strength of me so I just need to maintain course. Using one of my physical goals for psychological development also will ensure that I don’t neglect this area as I focus on the physical. Meditation will allow me to focus on the psychological and spiritual both at the same time. I have found that when I meditate I am closer to God because my mind is open to hear from Him when it is not distracted and is calmness will help to reduce the stress as well as keep my blood pressure under control or lower it, enhancing my physical health, the area that currently requires the most attention. The two practices that I will focus on for my spiritual health are the contemplative practices of Meeting Asclepius and the loving kindness practice. The Meeting Asclepius visualization practice was the practice that truly meets me where I am. I was engrossed in this practice that I lost myself for a few minutes before I was able to return to the room. Spending time in the space where I found myself will surely keep me on track spiritually. The loving kindness practice will benefit my spiritual and psychological health as well. When we are focused on others and not self, we can give from a place of love and sincerity. Remaining in this frame of mind will further develop not only my spiritual health but my physical and psychological health as well. 

To assess my commit, progress, or lack thereof, I will set both short and long term goals for the next six months. I will set goals for two months, four months, and six months for each area. I will develop one or two specific goal for each area and interval. I will assess my progress at each interval and make the necessary adjustments to do better or improve on what I have been able to accomplish in each area. For my life long goals, I will try to keep this practice of assessment and adjustment going, as well as learning new contemplative practices that cater to who I am and who I desire to be. I will be sure to keep the text books from this class as reference materials and expand my knowledge and practices along the way. To ensue I stay the course, will remember to continue to prepare the ground as Dacher instructed; faith for motivation; cultivating an attitude of loving-kindness, using speech and actions to minimize disturbing outer experiences that cause distress for others and similarly agitate our own mind; and creating an oasis of silence and solitude that will allow for contemplative practice.

Meeting Aesclepius

Meeting Aesclepius has by far been the most fulfilling, beneficial mindfulness exercise thus far. This exercise met me where my heart dwells; wanting to be more like CHRIST every day and developing an AGAPE love for all, no matter the situation or circumstance. Meditation comes easily for me as I have been practicing it for quite some time. As I battled the flu and found it hard to sleep, meditation helped to change my focus from the pain to the easy sleep that I so desired. I was soon able to easily drift into the deep, restful sleep I needed. It took some work but I now know that calm abiding and unity consciousness are attainable if only for a few moments at a time. I am more developed than I was at the beginning of the course and with frequent practice I will be able to reside in these states of consciousness  for longer periods of time.

Meditation has helped me improve my physical fitness as well. It has been easier to do another set of weight lifting reps, do more crunches, walk another lap around the track, making better food choices, etc. When I visualize the choices and then intentionally follow through on those choices in reality, I am utilizing the witnessing mind. I can continue to use meditation and visualization to help my body regulate my blood pressure while I continue to lose weight. I can further enhance my body’s homeostasis using meditation to help me deal with and ward of stress.

The saying “one cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” means that it is impossible to teach someone anything that you don’t know or haven’t experienced. Sincerity speaks for itself and knowledge affirms it. The first example that came to mind when I read this saying was the common practice and mistake many of us make when trying to comfort someone or deescalate a situation by saying ‘I know how you feel or I understand’. This came to me because my best friend’s mother died in January and for the first time in 15 years of friendship I had no words to comfort my friend because I had no frame of reference from which to draw. I felt so helpless but I was not. I did have sources to draw from; my parents, who love her dearly. My father attended the service with me and he was able to comfort us both.

As a health & wellness professional I must be able to relate to my patients/clients on an intimate, transparent level so they are able to trust what I am teaching them is real and that it works. As a health educator my patients/clients need to see a healthy, well adapted individual who can practice what she preaches. Continuing to develop my psychological, physical, and spiritual health will be invaluable to my patients/clients. The ability to block out everything and focus all of my undivided attention on what they need and want is key but to do so from a calm abiding mindset is essential to uncovering sources of distress that need to be addresses and developing an individualized plan for each patient/client. Integral psychological and spiritual growth will continue in my life as I create and alter my integral plan based on what area needs the most attention throughout the remainder of my life. Being attentive to one’s own needs is critical to staying on the road to integral health and experiencing human flourishing on all levels and helping others attain the same.

The Subtle Mind... The Expanse and Loving Kindness in Review

Although I did not post a blog for the loving kindness exercise, I did complete it. I found it very easy to relax as I do these exercises just before I go to bed. This exercise was very easy for me to follow. I have a friend who is in the hospital; she fell on wet tile in the bathroom and tore her ACL, meniscus, broke her tibia and fibula both in two place and was told that her injury was worse than what athletes suffer and that she would lose her leg just below the or above the knee. I sent her as much loving kindness as I could muster during the exercise. I know that I am not the only one praying for her recovery but when I was done with the exercise my phone said “you’ve got mail”. She had just posted on Facebook that she would not lose her leg and that she was scheduled to have the 2^nd of about 5 surgeries on March 1^st. This exercise couldn’t have come a better time in my life. All of the worry that I had instantly dissipated and I went right to sleep after reading that post and sleep more soundly than I have in quite some time. Her surgery went well and she is on the road to a long recovery but I will continue to practice this loving kindness exercise throughout her recovery. She can never have too much.   

Out of character for me, I completed the subtle mind exercise around 6:00 pm today, after a day of treating the flu, housework that took forever because I’m weak and reading and assignments for this class and another. It almost felt like I had been work all day. It took me longer to get to a witnessing mind because the mental chatter was so loud and I developed a headache and a pain in my neck during the exercise. I found that I was able to ease the pain by really concentrating on my breathing while incorporating some neck rolls. As the pain subsided so did the mental chatter and the sound of the waves became really loud. When this occurred, the first mental image that popped into my head was a scene from the movie The Life of Pi. I saw the expanse and crisp blue of the water and I became one with it. When thoughts, feelings and images came to my mind, I was able to observe them rather than grasp at them because I was so focused on the expanse of the water. I felt like I was Pi sitting in that boat in what appeared to be the middle of the ocean/sea with nothing else in sight and I enjoyed the peace and stillness as those thought, images, and feels came and then dissipated into the peaceful stillness.

I realized at one point that I was holding something because I dropped it but I heard no sound when it fell. I went in and out of the peaceful stillness as the world around me tried to invade my thoughts. Turning my attention back to my breathing was extremely ease to do because I wanted to go back to that peaceful still and dwell there. It seemed as though I were there for a very long time when it was only for a few minutes. It was surreal and definitely an exercise I will incorporate into my daily activities and one I will share with my children as well. I’m hoping it’s an exercise that we can do together and on our own but one that we can talk about and share as a family. I love to hear the things that my children experience because it gives us an open line of communication and it keeps us connected as a family unit. I know that a family that prays together stays together. May a family that meditates together and explore the mind together. I’m anxious to find out.

I would say that the loving kindness exercise was easier to do because I wasn’t focused on myself and I had properly set the atmosphere before attempting the exercise. The subtle mind exercise was more challenging because the focus was me and I had not taken the time to set the atmosphere or relax before I attempted the exercise. Each exercise was beneficial and brought the aspects of the lessons “to life”. The exercises made the concepts make sense and gave me a clearer understanding of how the mind actually works and how it can be trained to do what we want and need for it to do; help us flourish and embrace all that we are or care to be. As I type this I am hearing the introduction t star track in my head….where in the world did that come from….The mind is truly a terrible thing to waste when it has the potential to change the world as we know it……

Crime of the Century???

Where am I on the road to well being? Mentally and spiritually I am 8 out of 10. Physically? 5 out of 10. I am setting the following goals: Physically I will continue to make small changes to my eating habits and I will strive to start walking 2-3 days a week; one mile each day. Mentally I will carve out at least 15 minutes a day to escape my suddenly extremely busy life; meditation and stretching. Spiritually I will continue to commune with my God, attend Sunday school on a more consistent basis, and give to others as often as I can.

As for the crime of the century...I found this relaxation exercise to be very beneficial and reflective of who I am as a person. I tend to do these exercises after I have been 'menatally exercising' and the clock says it is now a new day.  I was able to relax very easily as I was tired but I found that I was able to concentrate on the instructions. The use of colors made it easy to imagine. The very first thing that entered my mind when the rainbow was mentioned was the word covenant. When the moderator mentioned glass, light, and then prism, I thought mirror; reflection of self and areas of opportunity.

The colors related well to the concepts and what stood out most for me were the colors aqua-blue, purple and white. The throat made me think communication;singing; speech;message. Purple instantly brought royalty to mind; inheritance ;my favorite color; CONNECTION. When I heard white and light I thought; THE THRONE OF GRACE. It was effortless for me to imagine being encompassed in white light and taking on the characteristics of my Lord and Savior. I am so excited to see where future relation exercises will take my mind and spirit. This one certainly resonated with me on so many levels. I wish I had the time and space to expound but alas.....

Journey on Relaxation

The journey on relaxation exercise was something that I have done many times. However, the circumstance under which I completed this exercise was very different. Prior to completing the exercise, I had worked a full eight hour day (11:30 am - 8:30 pm), I had slept only five hours the previous night, and I had been up since 6:00 because each of my children had to be at school early for extra curricular activities. I was extremely tired, sleepy, and agitated. I found the music to be very soothing in addition to the man's voice on the tape. As I took the first initial deep breath, I was sitting on the edge of my bed with my right left bent and my left leg just dangling off the bed. Needless to say, I was not able to relax. I stopped the tape, re-positioned myself into sitting with my legs folded in front of me with my hands resting on my knees and took a deep breath to prepare myself to relax. I started the tape again and I found that I was able to relax as I followed the instructions.

I had no idea that 80% of the blood reside in the body's core. I was excited about the prospect of willing my body to move blood from my core into my extremities by just thinking it. I could feel the blood moving from my core into my extremities and I felt the heaviness and heat in my arms and hands. When the male voice on the tape instructed me to try to lift my arms, I was not able to, though I could wiggle my fingers a little. Simply amazing what the mind can do when it is focused on the task at hand. I was able to feel the blood returning to my core and the warmth dissipating from my hands and heaviness lifting from my arms as well. This was a very short exercise but a very effective one for me. I am looking forward to what this course will present in the next few weeks and becoming a better, more enlightened ME. 

Welcome To Wisdom and Wellness

As you enter this page, do so with the intention to be a willing to think outside of the box as you learn ways to reach deep with yourself to live your best life; mentally, physically, and spiritually. These three aspects of life are inextricably interconnected and living a life that does not nourish each of them leaves each of us less than we can be and should strive to be.
PURPLE IS MY PASSION!!!!
I am Andrea and i live in the here and now as I prepare for what it is that I want tomorrow. I, like many of us, have a very full life and time management is essential to address everything and everyone. I have learned to see the positive in the negative and to find the silver lining in all situations, no matter how dark they may seem. There is always a lesson to be learned if we are willing to learn it. The task is often painstaking but the rewards are far greater. My hope is that everyone will grow exponentially in mind, body, and spirit as we learn to create wellness from the inside out.