Unit 10

I initially gave myself a 3 for physical, 2 for spiritual, and 2 for psychological wellness. Currently as I have learned about the level of development for these areas and working towards not being so hard on myself, I believe that my wellness is slightly better and improving. Today, I would give myself a 4 for physical, 5-6 for spiritual and 4-5 for psychological wellness. However, this is not where I want to be, and desire to continue to grow and develop each aspect of my life. The goals that I set for each area have had improvement. For example, I have been meditating due to the assignments, but find myself using exercises to reflect on a tough day with greater frequency and focus. I have also stopped to examine the negative issues that have come up and believe that by acknowledging these, in turn I have dealt better with them. My final goal was to try to focus more during exercise to get the most out of the activity instead of just going through the motions and I have started to do this, I just have to let everything go from the day and be in the moment taking full advantage of what is occurring.

As far as this class, I think this is the best class I could have taken for personal and professional growth. I have grown with the knowledge presented and continually look for opportunities to use these aspects in my life. This is the rewarding aspect because as a nurse, I need to walk the walk and talk the talk for myself and my patients. I know this can be difficult for non-believers, which can be disheartening, but as integral health practices become more common in our environment, I hope that more people will become believers.

Unit 9 Project

For me, the subtle mind and visualization exercises have been the most beneficial during this early journey to wellness. I have frequently returned to these two exercises as I am learning and practicing because they are relatively easy which makes me comfortable so that I may then try other exercises or have a safe place to return to if I am having difficulty with new exercises. These exercises remind me of basic building blocks of meditation and I am a firm believer in developing good basics to build upon and to accomplish this, I have practiced both of these 1-2 times per week with increased time and stamina being the outcome. I would like to get to a point where I am doing one of these daily in addition to utilizing during a physical activity like Qi Gong which is offered once a week at the hospital that I work at.

Meeting Asclepius Exercise

For some reason, the meeting Asclepius exercise made me feel at ease like I had just cleaned the clutter from my mind, voice and heart while identifying with someone who is wise and has purities in these areas.

These meditative practices have really allowed me to calm my stressed, over-active, cluttered mind and even if it is for a short period, I find myself desiring to stretch this activity and its resulting state for longer periods, which is psychologically rewarding.

I have started to load these practices on my i-phone and computer so that I have easy access to resort to when I need them the most.

The saying "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" to me reflects that people who lead are like a map and if that person who is leading does not have a good, clear or completed map then how can they possibly get themselves or those they are leading to the place they need to go.

After completing the loving-kindness exercise, I felt relaxed and at ease. Initially I had a hard time remembering the phrases, so I recorded them on my cell phone and used that during my exercise. I also felt that this exercise can help me focus on those individuals who are harder to deal with, which can hopefully impact interactions in a positive way.

At present, the area of my life that is causing great difficulty that I would like to focus on is worldly flourishing specifically work. I have not had a great deal of work-life balance and because of my frustrations, have not made work as positive as I could. I would like to foster development in this area by calming my mind and trying to influence my actions instead of allowing automatic actions to occur. This can be a difficult task, however I feel that I have to make an effort to improve my situation.

Subtle Mind Exercise

The subtle mind exercise allows the individual to focus on breathing to allow the mind to settle from all random activities that clutter and prevent experiencing a calm mind that is required for psychospiritual flourishing.

Compared to the loving kindness exercise, this exercise was very beneficial to me. I had to consider the information in the loving kindness exercise where this exercise allowed me to clear my mind and settle. Surprisingly, I find that I do not have to pull back and focus because I am able to tune out the distractions, which I found difficult to accomplish with the loving kindness exercise.

The mind-spirit-body connection has been proven in various medical settings that can be validated. The benefits in using this connection are numerous for the mind, spirit and body and can decrease mortality and morbidity. With this introduction to Integrated Health I am committing to utilize the information and exercises in my personal life so that I can optimally help all that I come in contact with.

I would rate the following on the 1-10 scale for my physical (3), spiritual (2) and psychological (2) well being. Recently, I have not been very good to myself because I have focused on the wrong things in my life, which has impacted all aspects of my well being. I am currently trying to correct this situation.
Goals to improve my well being include: getting the most our of exercise by focusing on activities instead of just going through the motion, learning and practicing meditation and identifying the negative influences on my psychological state and finding a way to remove those influences from my life.
The relaxation exercise I thought was beneficial, it was very relaxing and made me feel a little more centered. One odd thing happened to me during this exercise, the left side of my body tingled like it was asleep, anyone have any ideas why this occurred?