Goals Before and Now

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?

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

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

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 scored myself remarkably high in these areas, mainly because I didn’t really feel that I was in the bottom of these aspects but I didn’t know the possibility of what meditation gave me. Rating physical wellbeing as a 7/10 is about right, but this is because of my injury in my wrists, but now I have a higher score of about 8.5/10 because of new exercise techniques that concentrate on the same areas of concern has now activated that muscle and given back its strength. Spiritual well being is rated as a 9/10 but now that I look back at the development and improvement in my meditations, I am sure that it was a 7/10 and improved to a 9/10 today. Lastly is my psychological well being which was also overrated to a 9/10 but after reading the description it is really multidimensional perspective that has flourished with good decision making. The positive vision incorporated in my daily activities has brought me to a warm and trustful place. As you can s, my scores have changed but I overrated myself in the beginning of this 10 weeks only to find certain areas that were improved with the class.

Physically my goals were met; I achieved new ways of working my inactive muscles and learned how to keep my injury safe without giving up. Spiritually I flourished with relaxation techniques, and I am particularly anxious to fit one in this weekend in order to stay connected with my challenges of balance and loving kindness. I do feel the control of my emotions in check, and it is important to make sense of all the things I am going through. Psychologically I know it takes time and that my goal was to adapt and adjust to certain situation with ease and clarity as well as speed and efficiency. It is still improving, and it is only a matter of time, like I said before, when I will feel even more confident with all my aspects of life as I tackle one goal at a time.

The activities I implemented in my life to assist in each of these goals have been achieved. I have tried the exercise of cross over strings to work my chest without aggravating my wrist injuries. I have done the spiritual growth exercises of meditation as describes so well in Dacher’s book, Integral Health. Psychologically I have not tried yoga on a regular basis, but I have been building my positivity in my life and look forward to some sessions in yoga/stretching in the near future to help achieve that last goal.

As most of us know, this class has been a blessing and should be taught to everyone in college regardless of degree. These books teach a great degree of inner strength that can be practiced over time and bring a great deal of happiness to those who seek inner guidance. The positive perspectives I learned in this class have given me a path towards success. It has been rewarding and difficult but I have chosen to push through this difficulty and succeed. The commitment I have put in this class has given me a guideline to life and other classes. Development through meditation has been determined to strengthen myself but has been challenging to find that inner peace, that time to meditate and the commitment to avoid negativity. Through all of this, I have learned to give the inner strength of positivity to others, to show that it is important to love yourself in order to trust and relate to others. It is a common bond that connects all of us who help strengthen one another with different perspectives and relationships.

Personal Application of the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Introduction:

Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritual and physically? What areas do you need to develop to achieve the goals you have for yourself?

 

Part of the course we studied our health psychologically, spiritually and physically and we learned that our health is dependent on each of these aspects. Our physical health depends on our psychological and spiritual health and they work in conjunction with one another. I learned that with a healthy mind I can personally develop a better biological health and even reduce my chances of illness. The integrated approach is a new and forever evolving approach for the unique individuals who we are. The inner health is a comprehensive perspective of positive influences. As we learned in the class, practices of each of these aspects in our life are better integrated together. As a whole we have certain needs and goals to be met, and to reach these goals it takes an open mind that integrates all aspects of our life. One example of professionals to experience integral health and complementary medicine is to think of a professional who has suffered from a car accident and had lost full strength in his vision and his leg, handicapping his physical well being for a couple years and meditation bringing back that strength through the long years. For this experience to grow in the professional he also practiced to give to those who need integral health in their life. It doesn’t take an accident to make a professional to actually experience a personal inner development but as an example I can trust this person not only because he/she has the degree to prove it but because the integral health is already a part of his/her life.

As fragile our biological self is and how short our life span is we must choose the right path now and the right goals to help reach optimal health. It is a real pleasure to know that facing the facts and knowing the present to be a pure vision and perspective can bring someone to a right decision. I agree that all aspects of life have room for improvement being that we all are imperfect and humans have to make room for error if they are truly professional. Psychologically I have explored positive training and know that consistency and balance will help keep my psychological well being at its peak, knowing that all aspects are under control and aware of in order to advance to a higher consciousness. As meditation deepens and practice thickens the mind strengthens I find consistency is my only enemy that will allow me to weaken. The mind is fragile and in order for myself to be true to others I must be true to myself about where I am in life and where I want to be. Spiritually, I continue to find happiness and expand my giving attitude to strengthen myself in spirit. I enjoy loving-kindness and understanding my role in life as I can reflect and contribute to integral practices. Lastly, I know I must improve my physical well being, I have fell off the wagon so to say when it comes to my physical conditioning due to the fact of my injuries in my wrists and sitting the sidelines for the past year. I want to be back in the game with new exercise approaches, better strategies and positive influences that coach and understand that I am in control. I don’t like to guess whether or not my day is going to be a good day in the gym. Its awkward at times when my mind is not in the game or my body is strong but my mind is not, it’s that balance that I am looking for and that 100% awareness of how my day is going to be before I start and when I finish.

II Assessment

How have you assessed yourself in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?

My rating system is comprised of low as being an area of need in improvement and medium being an area of comfort but can still improve towards perfection and high as being an area that has been consistently rising and positive for some time. Reevaluation of my own health is of high importance due to the fact I am constantly pursuing perfection in mind, body and spirit to optimize my well-being. Health is a priority that should not be overlooked; it is your main source of strength and allows you to live your life without complication. My scoring system is based on self evaluation throughout this course and high being the best I could be at this time, medium being good and not a complication but not superb and lastly, low which is in need and complicating my life.  We have been participating in personal training and this is part of the command preparation for the physical testing we participate in for evaluation of our physical health. As we all know, our physical health depends on our psychological and spiritual well being and we must integrate one another in order to receive optimal health. Explaining my physical assessment is like a wave on a grid. Sometimes I am on fire, fast and focused with positive inner strength and good performance. This is the top of the wave but it dives at times and this is where I am in high gravity, I am heavy and fighting myself to reach normal goals and to keep up with coping techniques and positive decisions. This is the sticky situation I battle by the book in order to balance and reach optimal physical health. I rate my physical health low and my body evaluation low as well because of lack of strength training by myself and injury. I would like to be back in the gym and confident with knowing I am back where I started when I was fit and active. I have made alternative routes like exercising with my fists on the ground for pushups, being that I cannot extend my hands all the way back without causing further injury. I also can do butterfly curls and work out my chest that way, and that was the way I used to work out and it worked a lot of secondary muscles causing a positive result on my physique. When my mind is in the game, I get things done and I am motivated to make myself look and feel better, and when I can’t cope and focus and achieve it is a rippling effect. I admit this error and approach life with positivity. Spiritually I am doing well, I haven’t had felt this good spiritually in a while. I have learned so much to help correct my spiritual path and it was so easy, almost embarrassing I couldn’t have used this technique years earlier. I reached a pinnacle of spiritual health when I learned that meditation was really improving me. I changed my perspective and worked hard on finding a balance in my life. I score myself as high in spirit and acknowledge my belief and values as strong and straight forward. Lastly, psychologically I am on the way to a good place. I have been through deployments, marriage, stressful and life changing decisions that are a great toll on my psychological well being. I understand that I am full of anxiety from fear of the unknown and hesitant to approach anything because of traumatizing situations. The inner strength that I hold and the ability to withstand long and negative situations and to avoid negativity, overwhelming situations, unpleasant relationships and difficult times all with mental health complications has shown myself the balance I have learned in my psychological health. If I am working on one area more than another it is only because it is in need of more help. This is balance and in order to balance it takes help, time and positivity and at the end of the day life is good. Its like a dish on the food network, if you want to plate food in front of a top chef then there better be some balance on your plate or you cannot trust your technique and decisions. So I have been working on plating the best dish consistently. I rate my psychological well being at medium and rising to high.

 

III Goal Development

List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, physical, psychological (mental health) and spiritual.

Goal I Physical Health

I am eager to develop a strategy to avoid my injury in the gym with my wrists. I have cable crossover exercises that can focus chest exercises without further injury to my wrists. I also have seated fly and decline and incline seated fly, kind of like pulling up and pulling down but all a focused workout. The next important step is consistency and this will allow me to feel comfortable with myself. A plan to evaluate my workouts as they are finished in order to tweak and adjust for improvement and a tracking system to adjust reps and sets to advance strength. The ability to repeat this strategy is a warming feeling if it is similar and routine and allows me to just do it rather than be in fear of my injury and changing the plan. A stimulated mind with pre workout and post workout supplements will improve my attitude and stamina at the time of workout especially because I know the effort is always there and 110%. I will continue to keep a well balanced diet as my wife and I choose healthy ingredients for our foods. To set a specific amount, I would like to lose a centimeter around my waist at a gradual pace, possibly every week and to tone up and define those areas of improvement. So, continuing healthy sports and practice as well as personal cardio sessions and staying active will all contribute to this small goal that is attainable.

Goal II Psychological Health

A clear mind is good for the stability of your physical and spiritual health. My goal is to move my personal assessment of good to high for psychological health. I can do this with imagery and visualize myself achieving and believing to build confidence and achieve my goal. I am not negative in my perspective but I can improve when striving for excellence. With meditation I really feel rejuvenated and refreshed as well as clear which allows a healthy balance in my life and a better understanding of where I am at. My main goal is to be happy and to get there is time, effort and achievement. As I am accepted in society and I have a comfortable role, I then seek certain personal goals outside of possession and social status. My goal is to put even more effort into positive goals like financial stability and awareness of my errors and improving from my truth. After reviewing many articles on the internet I found a good definition of what needs to be improved and that is self reliance but not just be willing to take better care of myself but to then take responsibility of others as well. With this come confidence, positive attitude and team work to help with the main mission of success.

Goal III Spiritual Health

I learn through myself and the path of integrity and the strength through meditation practices, lifestyle choices and sharing this pattern of positivity to others. Holistic and integral health practices as well as being open minded are ingredients to my personal flourishing. I enjoy meditation, as it was first introduced to me in my journey with this class. I learned the loving kindness and learned really how to find all of the good in people and learned how to love and strengthen that love towards myself and others and be thankful for this. I used my time effectively with the sessions of the subtle mind, allowing my consciousness to find peace and to reach out and look at my thoughts with the witnessing mind. As I strengthened in practice and in spirit, I really learned to control my thoughts really by just organizing with what I would allow to be acknowledged and what I wanted to follow. Finally I learned to reach the higher consciousness and to explore the inner peace and strengthen that area as well. Belief is half the battle and it is a part of integral health which can improve with the support of a healing and consciousness approach.

IV Practices for Personal Health

What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; physical, psychological, and spiritual. Provide at least two examples of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.

Physical

Stretching exercises which are not necessarily yoga can help prepare my body for positive exercise to follow. I can learn different techniques to learn balance and proper stretching to become more flexible physically. This is sometimes a challenge for me but the first step towards developing and encouraging growth is beginning slowly. Let’s say I jump into the gym and just feel overwhelmed and discouraged from not reaching unattainable goals and just bringing myself down to actually keep myself from growth. I actually have been there, but to take an approach where I build up and I set attainable goals and I purchase fitness magazines and chose a role model to be like and find myself succeeding this is when I know I have chosen the right path. I can do this very simply, but it takes motivation to get there.

A tracking system is the right choice for this domain to grow. I can only know if I am improving if I decide that I will track my workout sessions. It is important to keep a list or a guide to where you are at and where you need to be. I also can use bodybuilding.com to help track my goals and actually have graphs but it isn’t 100% necessary but it does help foster growth in my physical training. I enjoy tracking different reps and sets that are level for awhile so I will raise the par and reach a higher level with the tracking system.

Psychological

This domain is easy to tackle with meditation techniques. Specifically I can maintain a steady routine that will help ease the troubled mind. One of the key components to a healthy mind is coping mechanisms. Now when you are in a psychological distress and you feel you have lost control with anxiety, depression and experience overwhelmed conditions you must avert and then strive for coping. This is not easy if you do not have any coping skills, but with time you can find yourself in control fairly soon. The idea is to be in balance and when you lose that balance you must want to go back. In order to do so you cannot be self destructive, you must not let emotions defeat you like shooting yourself in the foot and you must accept and move on from which you cannot change. The only way to overcome this type of situation may be a journal of internal thoughts that allow you to express and pour out those feelings on paper and to really get all your thoughts out leaving your mind cleansed of all that buildup and bring yourself that psychological healing. Throw away the paper in your journal when you’re done unless it is a positive journal, then go ahead and keep those papers in there but avoid looking back at the negativity because it is about psychological flourishing, not psychological failure.

Another strategy is being a part of a Health and Wellness program here at Kaplan. Actively seeking a Bachelors of Health and Wellness has allowed me to educate myself effectively on all aspects of health and our life. I am consistent with my studies with the discussion boards and the readings as well as the newly introduced part of HW420-01 the wonderful blog section. Involvement throughout the course and throughout my time here at Kaplan has really helped out my well being as a change in perspective towards a wonderful and healthy lifestyle. As it gets closer to achieving my Bachelors, I am more than anxious to achieve even higher levels of education with a Masters program in mind.

Spiritual

The idea of meditation comes to mind. What a wonderful tool for one’s life. It’s important that everyone gets the education of learning this tool effectively. The days go by and the stress builds but where can this stress leave? The subtle mind is a process that has three levels of consciousness including witnessing, calm abiding, and lastly is unity consciousness. I remember some of the exercises throughout the class and we really went deep into this topic finding our spiritual health and ways of tapping into natural ways to heal. The benefits are significant in physical conditioning because you are now thinking mind over matter and truly have built the inner energy and positivity to overcome obstacles you couldn’t achieve before.  

The idea of taking time to show more concern to others is another strategy that can help my spiritual health. Being in relationships can help ourselves grow, and to help us to be less self absorbed. It is most important to be less absorbed in our own life and all that we deal with on a daily basis. As we proceed through our life we develop a maturity and a focus on others and how we can help others become better. This in return allows us to live with this comfort and to move beyond the negativity towards a higher spiritual health.

 

V Commitment
How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months? What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices for health and wellness?

 

                The one thing I have done that is really time consuming but a wonderful reference for my past assignments is keep a folder dedicated for each week of work. Throughout this course we have learned new ways to meditate and new material that has now allowed us to comprehensively tie all things together and use it in an effective manner. I can’t just say that I enjoyed week 3 when I feel they all were equally beneficial but better as a whole. It takes time to master these skills, and to have a wonderful reference guide that is easily accessible and organized can be a huge benefit for me in the future. This is just the beginning of my tracking goal. I plan to really keep a journal of beneficial material, maybe even a “to do” list in detail that shows myself what I have accomplished and what I have planned to accomplish in the following months to come. So by using my iPad I am effectively b short term, and long term goals in my reminders list and checking off these goals when they are finished. I am pursuing a Bachelors degree here after this class and this will definitely take commitment of me for over six more months if I chose to continue at the rate I am going. This puts myself in a situation of dedication and opens doors for health and wellness in the future. To be more exact, I will also be pursuing a job in health in wellness with the help of the career development available at Kaplan University over the next year or so. I have plans to go for a Masters degree as well, and by setting the par high I have found myself putting in more time, effort and overall dedication in my work than ever before. Thank you for reading my final project of a personal application of the psychological and spiritual aspects of healing. This class has changed me in a way that I can help better myself as well as those around me by sharing the knowledge and gratitude of what I have.

The Benefits of Practice

 

 

 

Out of all the meditation practices introduced through this class and through the book by Elliot Dacher, I chose loving-kindness and follow that with calm abiding. I like to keep it simple and learn to understand with new material. Visualization is in my introductory stage and really cannot be judged as most beneficial.

Mental fitness is about directing your mind into a balanced and positive path. Earlier in the blog I wrote that repetition is a key point and makes my mind ready and available to help itself on a regular basis. I believe that the reason behind a mental workout is commitment. This is beneficial with loving kindness as I can practice healing others by accepting the negatives and allowing them to dissolve into nothingness. I enjoyed finding my inner self and finding that time in the loving kindness exercise where I felt powerless to more physically but I was so comfortable that I didn’t need to move and once I woke up I found the journey to be almost like a reset button allowing to restart with a balanced and alleviated mind. Reaching back to the science of Olympian mental fitness, Dacher explores the limitless development and how we train our minds. The conclusion is in the prefrontal cortex. “Olympians of mental fitness have levels of activation of the left prefrontal cortex, the site that correlates with positive emotions, which are way beyond those of the ordinary individual, (Elliot S. Dacher, 2006).” As you can see, this is beneficial and the idea is to practice and activate those levels to a positive mind as an olympian athlete would by using visualization techniques.

Loving kindness is a building block for calm abiding. We move from our heart and mind to witnessing our minds thinking patterns. This is a remarkable practice once achieved and allows me to redirect my mind towards a focal point. This is usually my breath and I am still mastering this technique in order to reach unity consciousness. I like the idea of allowing thoughts to exist but to really just acknowledge them and just let them dissolve away allowing a sense of strength over the mind. This strength can increase with practice and I can see a difference every time I practice. I notice there to be a fading effect as well as if I don’t practice I lose that strength. When frustration is high, I usually can overcome it with accomplishing something, so it may take a clear and rebooted mind in order to achieve this. I will practice redirecting my mind towards positivity and step foot in the right direction.

 

Reference

Elliot S. Dacher, M. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Meeting Aesclepius

Complete the Meeting Aesclepius mp3 (located in the Doc Sharing area). Describe your meditative practices for the week and discuss the experience. Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?

I prepare for the week and have a relaxing and reflecting period of the previous hours of chaos after the evening.  I find a balancing beam to walk with and look at things with a level head. Observation of my choices, my decisions, and my previous meditation practices allow me to grow upon faded sessions. The inner self is constantly changing whether I tap into it with these sessions or if I do not at all. My body is a vessel that carries perspectives, and all sorts of energy and is guided by the conscious mind in every choice that is made. It is up to me and me alone ultimately whether I chose a positive path or different.

Aesclepius is the god of medicine, a healer of Ancient Greek religion, and I believe was imaginable to have great healing power. When I let the person I chose (during the meditation) to enter my vessel I felt a tingle throughout my body and really accepted the positive energy. I visioned a well to be the entrance to my inner health and while I was calm I let all that positive energy poor into the well with a light at the end of the tunnel. It is up to each individual to find a unique plan towards integral health. I can say I am ready for this session, yet I still feel there is room for calm-abiding. I feel I understand these practices but I want them to grow.

As Schlitz explains we cannot confuse the map with the territory he means just because we have a map of Hawaii does not mean we know what it’s like to be there. Schlitz also describes that providers must work on their own spiritual evolution to actually experience what the model represents. To truly understand the integral approach you must be a firm believer and do practice yourself. I think a strong professional and successful one has been through the motion and has understood and felt the experiences necessary to know what the best is for their clients. It is a personal journey and unique for each and every one of us. So the idea is to want to be like your professional because they are full of positive energy and practice integral health successfully.

Unit 6 Universal Loving-Kindness

The exercise and assessment progress works. I find myself calm and understanding of hope towards other individuals as well as a part of me that can help. Without personal integrity and confidence, one cannot give to another what is necessary. So, the areas of development I chose today, here on my birthday, are confidence and personal trust. I must develop and grow in these areas and maintain the balance so I can give this balance to others. This is why I chose this area of development.

To bring forth a strategy I must understand my weaknesses. I am weak in balance and maintenance. I can do well for short episodes but when I meditate I can see a significant improvement in clarity and control. I can allow time for meditation and allow myself to grow. I must not be scared of my new approach or its delicate structure, but embrace its new ability and transform my current inner health to a stronger inner health.

While browsing I found quotes to build confidence:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/confidence.html

 

Unit 5 Calm Abiding Exercise

Subtle Mind Exercise

Loving kindness gives us a feeling of giving, and concentrates on giving and dissolving a loved one’s problems as well as the entire world as a whole. You reach a real comfortable place and cannot move any limb of your body. After loving-kindness you know how to relax the mind, and get to a consciousness where you have let go. After the session you feel rejuvenated and reset even as you progress through each new time. The subtle mind exercise has moments where you cannot move as well, you are actually in the same consciousness but the new directions allow you to focus on a different thing, a focal point such as your breathing. Incredibly your mind cannot just focus on the breathing it brings up random memories and ideas that you have to wield off. Letting go of each thought is difficult because some thoughts linger for more time. With that said, you have to reach back to your focal point of breathing. Balancing your breathing, your focus on letting your thoughts go is a matter of practice. I know that I was weak at this exercise because I was jumping all over the place, yet I was able to visualize my thoughts falling into nothingness and directing my focus towards my breathing time and time again. This was the witnessing of the mind, I found that this could be fun as well as relaxing. I didn’t get much analysis of my mind, I did get a first start and found it different and the same as the Loving-Kindness. Nothing frustrating at this time, and life is good!

 

 

Good resource: http://wellness.ucr.edu/spiritual_wellness.html

 

Spiritual wellness is a balance of our beliefs and values. With that in check, you are now free to use contemplative workouts. I am a strong believer that making right choices in our life brings us balance and happiness. The inner tools we use to develop positive strategies can bring us this wellness. It’s really a snowball effect, one leads to the other and it drives in that direction. I feel best when my behavior is at its best. I don’t just mean doing the right thing and going towards positivity. I mean accomplishing more, becoming more and living more. I take steps to reach these inner goals and this brings me a mental wellness that is a vibrant source to others. With a positive mind, body and spirit you can’t go wrong. I hit the courts and track to really bring a positive vibe and to get in a balanced to get those endorphins. This inner connectedness is something everyone should be aware of and should practice to help one another.  

 

Unit 4 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?

To find a peace within myself I learned this exercise can help and benefits daily. Taking the time to really just relax and take in the negative thoughts and dissolve them is a real confidence builder. I feel I have a power to help others by helping myself. I want to not only seek inner peace but to spread that help to loved ones and even those I just think of, this is where I feel confident I can spread happiness. It is like pressing reset and just rebooting every sensation and clarifying all negative setbacks.

I found this exercise beneficial to fit into my healthy lifestyle. It is part of an integral approach and helps me push away a lot of the negative perspectives and allows a great focus on myself. The main feeling I get is the ability to be open and get rid of the self-centeredness, growing my mind to an advancing development.

This is not difficult, it is of ease and it is a matter of taking the time each and every day to focus on certain things. Repetition is key and makes my mind ready and available to help itself on a regular basis. This is effective and it can be added into anyone’s healthy planning. Once you have the mind set, you really can build the confidence to do anything. I do want to recommend this to others, because it can help them find inner peace and opening up to spread their good vibes to others as well. Negativity is extremely easy to focus on, but its exercises like these that can help bring an inner health.

2.            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?

The reasoning behind a mental workout is commitment. As we all know it takes time and practice to be good at things, but it takes even more time and practice to be excellent at them. Our mental workout only takes a little effort and it is a fact that there is a positive growth in our inner development and flourishing through these practices. I can’t expect to pass an exam without the time and preparation and commitment to succeed, just as it is for a mental workout to succeed. Listening to simple directions and allowing inner thoughts to escape and be controlled are practices that need to be mastered. In these simple efforts, we can all learn a thing or two about each other and ourselves. As Dacher explains in his book, we know this from our own lives, from personal testimonials, and from research studies. There is also a negative aspect, if we stop practicing and deny out commitment, then there will be a drop off.

“What is Psychological health? Psychological health is about doing things that give you a sense of enjoyment and achievement, holding helpful and balanced attitudes toward life, and building satisfying relationships.”

http://www.kumarmahi.com/

I can easily see that it is important to take the time to help our psychological wellbeing. You can easily follow the practice of Loving-kindness, and also the subtle mind which are in the book written by Dacher, Integral Health. Life is good, and this simple exercise can help you not only love yourself but to help and love others.

Unit 3 blog post

1.           Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal wellbeing), where do you rate your

A-physical wellbeing: I am a 7/10 because of my injuries in my wrists. The doctor says I have stiffened carpals which cause extreme pain. This is a significant effect on my push-ups as I cannot do most chest exercises. I can use bands and this allows me to focus on stamina so I can still score a 7/10 on this category. I am also setting up an appointment with the chiropractor who also specializes in carpal tunnel patients.

B-spiritual well-being: 9/10 I do not want to rate this perfect as I always see there is room for improvement for what I do not know or human error. I find that my spiritual well-being is optimal as I am taking care as much as possible recently, and taking in positive vibes and blocking negative ones. I find that I can find a way to freedom and control outside the boundaries of stressors caused from my external environment.

C-psychological well-being: 9/10 relevantly, the idea is in personal autonomy. I can make my own decisions and I can make responsible ones that can help my well-being. Well-being is a multidimensional singular perspective. Comprehensively, the idea of well-being has many different aspects that lead to human flourishing as a whole.

2.           Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

Physically I have many goals. 1 goal that is more important is to develop ways to work-out without re-aggravating my injury but at the same time effectively improving my physical well being. This is completely relevant because of my physical training demands for an upcoming test in the US navy.

Spiritually I am achieving. I need to continue my awareness of spiritual well being and to find certain applications to grow upon. The relaxation techniques and alone time allows me to hear myself and where I am at. I can tweak and exercise my mind to the right direction and understanding that I am a higher being than just my physical outer boundaries. There is a safe zone that rises above the one dimensional perspective.

Psychologically I am adapting. The idea of modifying me to reach optimal personal development is a comprehensive movement and takes time. My goal is to be able to adjust and adapt myself faster and more efficiently without confusion.

3.           What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal?

Physically all I have to do is initiate/follow through. I have certain techniques to complete my exercises effectively until training day, so my wrists heal in time and I can get them looked at as soon as possible. Although they have been inspected, I have to follow up on my own due to the fact of reoccurring pain and inability to do physical activity.

Spiritually I have to go beyond the education and actually do a spiritual exercise. I would like to categorize the relaxation techniques as a spiritual exercise, as well as taking the time to allow myself to gather my thoughts and follow through.

Psychologically I have many resources to help configure a healthy exercise. As indicated in health and yoga.com, here is a simple exercise I can start with:

·        Lie flat upon the floor, arms extended above the head. Raise the arms and the head and the shoulders as far as possible from the floor contracting the muscles of the abdomen. Relax, and lie again on the floor. Raise the hollow of the back from the floor, drawing the hips up towards the shoulders contracting or tensing the muscles of the back.

o   http://www.healthandyoga.com/HTML/misc/psycho_exercise.html

4.           Complete the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century. To hear this exercise, click here.

Describe your experience. (What it beneficial? Frustrating? etc.)

This exercise is really relaxing and comforting once again. I definitely feel rejuvenated and energized after this exercise. Beneficial, and really felt different sources of energy from being centered, grounded and positive as well as sharing a positive thought to my wife, and give her a symbolic thought of happiness and encouragement. Sharing allows a sense of relief that as I share with other, I can expect others to be as caring and giving as myself. There isn’t any frustration; there is a lot of stable thoughts through each color and body region and a powerful and even accomplishing purpose in each awareness.

There is a sense of relaxation as soon as I allow myself to just listen and escape my external boundaries. I agree with this, because I know I need a relaxation time every now and then , as I feel everyone does, but are they willing to accept and educate themselves about these techniques? As I get older, I also have more appreciation for these techniques because life doesn’t get any easier, but more complex, continual learning and forever changing and adapting to our surroundings and relationships.

 Church is something I think of after one of these sessions, that I may have taken for granted for such a long time. I know that a connection with these thoughts are important and it is hard to realize this when it is so distant. I thank the class session for helping remind me of this.

The question I get is, am I just a form of existence or am I actually living life to its full potential. The day in and day out experiences can give someone a really redundant situation, where you think and feel and predict and know how the outcome may be. This is a bad thought, and to steer away from that, sometimes it takes a relaxation exercise or a guidance recording to help redirect a tired and troubled mind into a rejuvenated and healthy perspective.

Reflective Statement

As I was dosing off for bed the other night, I decided it would be a good idea to listen to the blog from my iphone. Well, not the blog itself, because it really doesnt make any noise, but the clip included in the blog tab in the course website, lol. So, I relaxed and relaxed some more and then after listening to the instructions I could not believe that this was actually working. As soon as I thought of my limbs and hands I felt the warmth, I felt the blood movement, and I felt it leaving myn core. It was amazing and all during the session I was more and more relaxed and felt as if I may have reached REM, but eventually I knew I could not even move my hands, my body told me to leave my arms there, because my muscles were content with the blood level. I have been relaxed like this before once when I woke up, and I was so content I felt as if I was paralized, but I was merely more comfortable laying there rather than moving. So, reflecting back from this exercise, I am eager to try some more, and possibly use this again and even share it with family. Did is work for anyone else?

Welcome

Welcome,

As you all might not know, I am currently active duty with the Navy and live in California. I have had a myspace, and currently love social networks like facebook, google+ and even twitter, but I have never owned a blog website. I plan on using this tool for fun and also possibly to network and channel new ideas with friends, families and even new people who can contribute to the posts. Well, thankyou for entering the informal realm of Life Is Good! I hope this is a neat experience for you and that you can share all of your wonderful ideas and perspectives as I know I will.

Thanks again, chow!