Unit 10 Blog

Wow can't believe the semester is over already. I am looking forward to the semester off. Looking back to unit 3 on how I rated myself I gave my physical well-being a 10, spiritual a 7, and psychological a 4. Now I would rate my physical at about an 9, spiritual about the same, and psychological a 7. I think they physical went down because I have been a little lazy this summer. I haven't wanted to drag the kids to the gym everyday.

Spiritually I have implemented some practices, but not like I want to. Psychologically I had the greatest improvement. I went from a 4 to a 7. This has been due to subtle mind and a lot of yoga, along with positive self talk. I don't let things get me down the way they used to. I am able to replace the bad with the good.
I feel like I have accomplished in each area everything that I set out to do. In my final project I listed very specifically how to maintain each area. I just have to keep practicing. I really want to attend the meditation center located here in Dallas. Its free once a week too!

Physically I have lost about 3 pounds even though I cut down the working out some. I have shifted from doing so much traditional exercise to yoga and pilates. I guess really thinking about it I haven't dropped that much from a 10. I still like the way I look and I feel good. Spiritually I have to work on that loving-kindness. The more I have practiced I have been able to turn the love inward. I look at myself everyday and instead of tearing myself down I say something good that I like about myself. Psychologically I implement yoga and subtle mind as I listed before. I really connect with these practices.

When I first started to take the course it was overwhelming and I was lost at times. However, when the class began to evolve so did I. I feel better and I look at life and other people in a more positive light. The best thing I got out of the class was the subtle mind exercise. I was having a horrible time sleeping as some of you know. When I learned how to let me mind wind down and relax I began to be able to sleep. I notice that when I didn't do that, I would wake up in the middle of the night worrying about everything, sometimes what I thought to be random. I hope to take this knowledge and share it with others. I have already started with my own family and even my doctors. I have been surprised by the doctors positive reactions to the practices that I perform. They all seem to have read studies to support my claims. Very exciting!

It was nice to meet you all. I am sure I will see you in other classes. Good luck with your journeys!!!

“How Integral Health is Cultivated Spiritually, Psychologically, and Physically in my Life.”
Cynthia Sampson
Kaplan University
Creating Wellness-Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing
HW 420-03AU

It is important for health and wellness practitioners to be matured physically, spiritually, and biologically. Presented to us is the saying that “one cannot lead another where one has not gone him or herself.” (George, L., 2005, pg. 477) I think it is very impactful if we go to the doctor and he tells us we are out of shape and need to start working out. Yet, when we look at the doctor they may be overweight themselves. I always found this to be ironic. My physician is 45 and had open heart surgery about a year ago. He has started eating better and working out and now is healthier than ever. I think this opened him up spiritually and psychologically. He now can be empathetic to his patients that are overweight and are at a high risk for having a heart attack. I remember him telling me that sometimes doctors are sometimes the worst patients. His experience also forced the other doctors in the office to go get themselves checked out. I know for myself I still struggle spiritually and psychologically. I know in order to help my patients fully I need to develop this more. If I do not possess these qualities it will be hard for me to fully help them. I may have the knowledge of how to help them, but I don’t possess the wisdom. This is what will separate me from being a good PA and a great one.
I have looked within myself to determine how I am presently physically, psychologically, and spiritually. I made a chart that emulates one that Dr. Dacher suggested called the Biograph/Bar graph. Here “we can assess our current level of integral development, set goals for the future, or add further lines and levels in accord with our needs and goals.” (Dacher, 2006, pg. 112)

The graph that I provided shows the current spiritual, physiological, and psychological stage that I feel that I am in right now based on percentages. I compared each stage to that of my fitness level, nutrition level, and self-regulation. I found that my fitness and nutrition is pretty high and acceptable to me. Spiritually and psychologically on every aspect is lower than what I would like for it to be. These are the areas that I am going to improve upon to not only help myself but others as well. This will make me a better individual and also my patients as well.
There are several goals that I have for myself to improve physically, spiritually, and psychologically. The first goal is to improve physically. I find myself not wanting to go to the gym all the time recently. Working out is my passion, but I have found it difficult to get myself motivated spiritually and psychologically. I know that I always feel better when I work out. I can remind myself of that when I do not feel like exercising that day. I can also pray to God to give me the strength to go to the gym as well. I want to start up my own program to do for myself everyday that I follow religiously. I want to wake up, eat, do yoga to get my day started, throughout the day do meditation/deep breathing exercises, work out at the gym or walking, and pray or meditate at bedtime. I think this will cover all aspects of my life. Psychologically I have been working for a few weeks with cognitive behavior therapy. I replace any negative thoughts with positive ones. It is very similar to loving-kindness. I want to find the good in all things and people. Spiritually, I want to find the love that I have for others and turn it inward to myself. Growing up in a house where it is selfish to receive rather than give it is hard for me to accept love from others and myself. I have been giving my family more love and compliments and trying to do them for myself. Every day, instead of pointing out the negatives I see about myself, I say something that I like about myself. I have also incorporated the “Serenity Prayer” to really help me stay focused.

The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful worldas it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things rightif I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with HimForever in the next.Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr

I was even shocked when I did a search of how many people get this tattooed on their bodies to help them remember the struggles they have overcome. Here is one of the tattoos that I saw. That is a pretty big commitment to make and I hope it helps them. I know this prayer is used a lot in the 12 step programs. I was even shocked when I did a search of how many people get this tattooed on their bodies. There can only be benefits that can be gained from attaining integral health. There have been numerous studies done to support that reducing stress benefits people spiritually, psychologically, and physically. One of the studies was one done by Dr. Ornish where he was able to put people in a stress reduction program and reverse heart disease. He based his program on the beliefs and practices of yogis, priests, and nuns. What he found was, “their techniques are tools for transformation and transcendence that can help us quiet the mind and body, and experience the inner sense of joy and well-being.” (Ornish, D., 2005, pg. 308). Here is a picture I found of a guy that got the serenity prayer tattooed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lakelandlocal/3734907470/

I have already listed some of the tactics that I have to improve myself psychologically, spiritually, and physically. I would like to take this time to do a more formal list of them. Psychologically I am going to use positive self talk along with loving-kindness, and subtle mind practices. Physiologically I am going to continue to work out with weights, cardiovascular exercises, yoga (which combines mind, body, and spirit), and concentrate on me being healthy and not comparing myself to others. Spiritually, I would like to pray more which I will do with personal prayer and the “Serenity Prayer”. I will also look at the beauty in the things in the world. I believe in my blog, Erika pointed out to me that I can find spirituality in looking around at things in nature when I am going on a walk. I really appreciate the insight that she gave to me. I am sure there are other practices that I will find along the way in my journey. I will keep an open mind to try new things.

In conclusion, there are things that I will do to help me maintain the progress that I have made. It is just that, maintenance. I will assess myself with the Dacher method that I used before or I really liked the dynamic graph he used for overall integral development. I will be able to see changes that are occurring in my life this way and make changes accordingly. I will also be able to see the progress that I have made to keep me inspired. I also will use the people around me to evaluate me as well. I know my husband and kids have noticed a difference in my behavior and “mood”. I seem to get less irritated when I practice and therefore, everyone else is happy. They feed off of my emotions. On a personal note, I have really enjoyed the class. It has been hard at times, but overall very beneficial. Thank you for your guidance.


References
Dasher, E., (2008). Integral Health:The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach,Ca: Basic
Health Publications.
Ornish, D., George, L., Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., Micozzi, M., Dossey, L., (2005). Consciousness
and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Inc.

Final Project Blog

Hey guys!

Since I cant figure out how to post on here I put my final project in the Discussion Boards in unit 9.

Unit 8 Blog

Wow I can't believe we are almost done with the semester. It has gone by fast this time. My kids are almost about to go back to school. OK, so the two practices that I enjoyed the most was the subtle mind and yoga. The subtle mind has helped because since I started school I have felt so overwhelmed on what I had to accomplish. I didn't realize how much more work an online course is. I get so much senseless chatter in my head at night, I have a hard time shutting it off and falling asleep. The subtle mind has helped me with this a lot. I have been getting more quality and longer sleep. The other technique that has been helpful to me is Yoga. I always said I would try it and never did. Then one morning I went to my gym and took a class. It was intimidating at first, but I had a great instructor. I now can do my practice at home everyday and take her class on Friday's. It really rejuvenates me and relaxes me at the same time. If I am feeling over stressed, I just stop what I am doing at home and do some yoga. I am going to continue both these practices so I can improve in my physical, spiritual, and mental well-being. I can then share with others the impact it has made in my life. Hopefully, with them willing, I can help them on their life journey too.

Meeting Asciepius

This practice was a little easier than the loving kindness practice for me. I choose to use my dad as my focal point. My dad has always been a hero to me. He is the type of person that would do anything for anyone even if they didn't ask. He is very just and is a person that everyone trusts, admires, and respects. He was on the front of Newsweek once saluting the American Flag on the Anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombings. It was easy for me to picture him and allow his qualities to become part of me. I still like the subtle mind practice the best. It has allowed me the majority of the time to weed out the negative things in my life and let the positive ones in. I still feel I need a stronger connection with my spiritual self. I want to start going back to church to help me stregnthen my spirtuality.

I do feel as though it is important to follow what you wish your clients to have. I don't think you have to be at 100% in all aspects. I think this will come with time. I think I will learn more about myself the more I work with my clients/patients. I am going to continue to practice subtle mind alond with meditation and yoga to help my psychological growth. I also am going to become more spiritually connected by more prayer and going to church.

Personal Assesment

Hi guys!

I did both of the exercises, the universal Loving Kindness and the Integral Assessment. I found it easy to do the universal loving kindness. I think the majority of the people in the world are good. I think we all would like there to be no suffering for anyone. I choose to practice this in prayer. I also do it if I see someone suffering. I take a minute to stop what I am doing and think of them. I pray that they have relief and have happiness. The integral assessment helped me to realize that I need to not be so judgemental on people. I wrote in Erika's blog that I think women have a tendency to compare ourselves with others. We tend to tear down other people to make ourselves feel better. It is probably a self esteem issue. I am trying to find love in myself. I am trying to look at people and find the good rather than focusing on the negative so much.
I hope I can help my patients/clients when I am a professional realize that there is much more to whatever suffering that they are experiencing. I like it when the professor said in class, "everything that we could ever need is already inside of us."

My experiment/transformation

Hi there!

Today I was sitting at my computer desk thinking about how I don't want to work out today. Then I decided I am going to make a transformation with a new way of thinking. I am going to take the next 3 months to transform myself physically, mentally, and spiritually. I want to be in the best shape of my life. This is going to take a lot of discipline and hard work. I am going to cut out eating out (I always allow myself exceptions so I dont feel like I have failed). I am going to try a new method to physically transform myself. In the past I would work really hard to be in competition level and never be satisfied. This time I am going to visualize my muscles getting stronger and my body getting leaner as I am working out, instead of concentrating on the negative. I am going to incorporate prayer, meditation, yoga, subtle mind practice, loving-kindness,and positive self-talk as part of my transformation. I will be taking pictures and posting them from the start so people can see me change. I have always been a researcher at heart. I want to see how this mind/body/spirit connection works for me. Anyone is free to try this with me if they are interested. Expect a before photo of me soon. :) I need my husband to help me with that part.

Subtle mind practice

Ok!

So first off I think the guy's east coast accent is cute. Some of the words he says makes me giggle. lol Anyways, I liked this exercise more than I did the loving-kindness. They both required deep breathing and to calm the mind. I felt like the loving-kindness required me to do too much. I didn't really feel relaxed when I did it. Now, with the subtle mind I was able to relax completely. Whenever a random image or thought would pop in my mind I was able to immediately dismiss it. I wasn't able to do that with loving-kindness. I actually almost fell asleep during the subtle mind exercise. The one thing that I didn't like about subtle mind was when the woman would come on and talk. I would jump about five feet in the air because I wasn't expecting it. I was able to relax after I dismissed this as a real danger.

I know that when I pray I do feel very relaxed in the same way as I do when I did the subtle mind exercise. Spiritual wellness is my weakness area. I have not yet found a way for it to help me physically. I know mentally I have been so relaxed with prayer that I fall asleep. I used to feel guilty about this as a little girl. Then one of my teachers told me not to worry, that our guardian angels finish it for us. Such a sweet thing to say and I believed it. I am going to try and use prayer to help me more physically. I have a lot of friends that have been successful with their training through prayer. It's time for me to do this too!

Unit 4 Exercise

Hi there!

Ok, so I did the exercise and for some reason had a really hard time connecting with it. I got put on a blood pressure medicine to help me with my hyperness. Unfortunately, I already have low blood pressure and it lowered it too much today. I almost passed out earlier. I talked to my doctor and she assured me I would be ok. I just need to drink water and eat small meals today. It was really hard for me to concentrate, so I am going to try the exercise again later. I just could not shut off the negative feelings like I usually can.

The mental workout concept asks us to practice loving-kindness and subtle mind. Loving-kindness asks us to open our hearts to others and make a transition of being selfish to the needs of others. This will result in less suffering. This practice is also reciprocal. The more that we give, the more we will receive. The subtle mind asks us to explore our minds to a deeper level. It helps us to focus on the distracting thoughts that keep us from what our goal is. This allows us to achieve a higher level of peace. There have been several studies that indicate that, like physical body, if we do not maintain it, it becomes diminished. This is why it is suggested to be practiced daily. Start off slow and then increase the increments. The goal is one hour each day. The beginning phase is to do a couple sessions a day at smaller sessions. Then, increase it over time. I try and do this everyday. The best time for me to do this is prior to bedtime. I like to have a good routine starting about an hour prior to bedtime of just complete calmness and quietness, getting my body and mind ready for sleep. I usually take a warm shower to start with. I then lie in bed for a while and give myself positive self talk. I have been slacking on this lately and have noticed I am getting out of "mental" shape. I am going to start it back up again today.

Optimal well-being

I would rate my physical well-being at 10. I am happy at where I am currently. Since I am a former competitor it is hard to accept that I will not always be super lean. I have come to accept that being healthy and feeling good is the most important thing. I would rate my spirituality about a 7. I have been working on becoming more spiritual. I feel over the past year I have lost some of my spiritual side due to developing my anxiety disorder. I know that if I can connect with that side of me my anxiety will decrease. I would rate my psychological well being at about a 4 or 5. Dealing with anxiety everyday tends to bring me down. I have to learn to not let the negative feelings overtake the good ones. I think most people are pessimistic (including myself). I am working towards becoming more positive.

My goals for physical is to continue to do what I am currently doing: weight training, cardio, yoga, and proper nutrition. I am happy with my biological self . Spirtually I am going to reconnect withe myself through prayer and meditation. Psychologically I am going to meditate and give myself positive thinking and kick out the negative thoughts. I am going to give myself time to perfect all of these areas. I am a perfectionist who wants immediate results. I now realize that things don't happen over night. It takes practice and repetition just like working out does.

Ok so I just did the crime of the century relaxation and im still pretty relaxed. I enjoyed it more than I did my hypnosis Cd's. I want to share a little bit of my experience when I was soing the exercise. I found it amazing the kind of things I would picture in my mind when I would think of the colors. When he said to think of a bright yellow I pictured the sun shining down onto me. It was funny because I actually caught myself squinting because it was so bright. The other color that struck me was the aqua-blue. I was able to achieve seeing that color by thinking of the ocean in Cancun. I don't know if anyone else has been there, but if you get off the mainland it is a really beautiful blue. Violet was the other color that was very intriging for me. I pictured an orchid that was in full bloom. I could smell the flower the color was so vibrant to me. I hope everyone had as good of an experience as I did! Take care!

About me

I wanted to take some time to tell you all a little about me. I currently live in Texas where it is really hot even when you wake up in the morning. I have just recently started to get up early and go outside in the morning when it is about 80 degrees. This is a time that I am going to use for myself, not my kids or my husband. I am going to reconnect with myself and the world. I am going to leave all cares and worries behind me. I am going to clear my mind of all the tasks that I have to accomplish for the day. I have been losing hope for some time now. I am going to reward myself for positive thinking and attitudes (like I do with my kids). Somehow I feel this will help me grow as a better human being. I hope this helps me to reconnect with myself, my spirtuality, and all the beautiful things in nature.

Hi there!

Hi guys!

This is my first time using a blog so I am a little intimidated by it. I am open to any suggestions on how I can maybe make the most out of it. Thx :)

Ok so I did the relaxation technique. I currently do one everyday as it is. Mine is referred to as the safe place. I pick a place in my mind where I am in charge and everything around me is positive and relaxing. The technique in the audio that we listened to was a little bit different. I hadn't ever thought of making suggestions to my body with my mind to control blood flow. It was a very cool feeling when I did it and I got done. I felt very relaxed like I had just had a massage. My brain felt like mush lol. I liked it and I will try it some more when I get really stressed out.