Unit 9 Final Project.

Unit 9 Blog:

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 Unit 9 Final Project

The importance for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically is because the patients depend on these individuals to show them the correct way to adhere these practices into their lives and need to set an example for them to be able to do just that.  We cannot simply teach people how to incorporate an overall wellbeing and integral approach to their health if we are not willing to exhibit the same type of behavior ourselves.  In addition, we need to be able to show these patients that we can walk the walk, as well as we can talk the talk.  There are far too many people telling people how to live their lives but still participating in the behavior that they are telling their patients not to be a part of.  If a patient is to see just one of these physicians out in the street smoking a cigarette after being told by the same physician to stop smoking, that patient is honestly not going to see the importance of ceasing smoking and the benefits that it will have for their health.

            In order to achieve my goals that I have set forth for myself, I truly need to find a holistic physician for myself.  I believe that my overall health would benefit better if I was seeing a physician who is able to be on the same page as me, is willing to spend more than 5 minutes talking to me, and one that will understand my need of being able to treat my body as a whole, instead of piece by piece.  Also, I need to continue to incorporate the meditations, visualizations, and other exercises into my daily life because without them, I feel as if I lose myself into the negative thoughts and images that have always plagued my mind.  I want to have that freedom that being calm and happy gives to me and allow me to experience life from a new set of eyes so to speak.

            On a scale from 1 to 10, I would have to base my overall physical wellbeing as a 7.  I am still struggling in this area because some days are better than others and because of my constant back pain that I find it hard to have a perfect score for this.  I am getting spinal epidurals and recently got a medial branch block on both the left and right side of my spine in order to help relieve some of the pain.  I am hoping to one day be pain free in this area of my life and I feel that my meditation can help me achieve feeling as if I have some control over that.

            On a spiritual level, I would have to say that I feel like I have a score of 10.  I feel like I have achieved this because I tend to pray and use my meditation for this purpose as well.  As we learned by using the universal loving-kindness, we can not only wish good health for those we love and care about, as well as ourselves, but also for complete strangers who may have a need in their life as well.

Psychologically, I would say I am teetering between a 7 and an 8.  The reason for this is because I still tend to have negative thoughts at times and allow them to affect me negatively.  I believe that if I can keep working on becoming a more positive person and having a positive outlook, that I will relearn how to not think so negatively and allow it affect my overall wellbeing, such as mood and how I physically feel.  However, I do have some positive improvement into this area and am proud that I have achieved that.  I have learned how to let go of things that were bothering me and am learning how to approach things in a calmer state, rather than being hot-headed.

GOALS:

1.)    Physical: My physical goal is to continue to do what I can to relieve my back pain through the going to my doctor and also to incorporate some low-impact exercising into my daily regimen as my body allows it.  I have been using a “gazelle” and want to continue to upgrade the amount of time I use it on a daily basis.

2.)    Spiritual: Continue on my path of seeing the good in everything that I do and am involved in.  Encourage those around me to practice the meditations with me and enjoy finding that wellbeing that makes me feel alright with myself and with the world around me.  Also, continue incorporating my meditation and visualization exercises into my daily life because these help me stay in touch with my goals and what I want to accomplish.

3.)    Psychological: I would say that this kind of ties in with my spiritual goals because I want to be able to have less mental chatter and feel the positive effects of the meditation and enjoying a bigger peace of mind than I have ever known before.  Being able to cut the mental chatter helps me to be confident in my choices and with what I am doing in my life as far as changing and looking forward to the future.

Strategies for accomplishing my physical goal are to not only continue with my therapy through the doctor but also inquire about learning yoga.  I believe this would allow my body to strengthen and will allow me to incorporate something new and exciting into my life that can be beneficial in numerous ways, such as strengthening my body, releasing stress, and allowing my body to learn some flexibility.  I have always been interested in yoga and I am sure there would be a teacher out there that would be willing to work with me on my inhibitions and the rigidity of my back with exercises that would help me to achieve what I want to achieve.

Psychologically, I will continue to implement the visualization exercise shown to us by Dacher on pages 145 and 146 of his book.  This visualization exercise allows me to find a very positive and uplifting place in which to be and to remember some memories without incorporating all of the less happy ones at the same time.  Sometimes, when we are remembering, it is hard to keep the less happier memories at bay as well, but with this exercise and the degree of focus in which you need to give it, you would not have the time nor want to waste the energy on bringing up other memories that do not need to be rehashed.  Also, I can encourage my growth in this area by continuing to use the Loving-Kindness exercise.  Whether it is the regular one or the universal one, this meditation exercise allows you to love yourself before you give to others and allows you to find the way to be kind to everyone you meet, not just people that you are already acquainted with.

            In order for me to continue to foster my growth in spirituality, I can continue to use prayer as one of my exercises.  You honestly do not need to know “how to pray” in order to utilize this within your life.  You just bow your head, give thanks, ask for forgiveness, and then bless those around you in whatever way you feel that you should, whether it is asking for healing an ailment to helping them in their marriage to helping them learn how to be a better person.  They will be heard and if given the right amount of faith and cultivation, will most likely come true.  My other exercise would be the Loving-kindness exercise because it can ultimately be used for both spiritual and psychological growth.  You are implementing a factor into your life that is allowing you to learn to love and continue to love yourself but also willing it to be passed on to others as well.  It is a great tool for growth and for learning how to love yourself first so that you can allow others to enter in.

            In order to assess myself in 6 months, I will begin keeping a journal of when I accomplished my exercises that I plan to utilize on a daily basis.  Also, I will put in notes in regards to things that I wanted to check on, such as the yoga classes.  I believe another way to help myself stay on this track is to see if I can incorporate a friend or loved one in my life to join me in this journey so that they can experience it as well and we can use each other to stay on track.  However, I cannot solely depend upon this person to keep me motivated so therefore I plan to hang inspirational mottos around the house in order to inspire me in those off moments that I may have.  As long as I keep my encouragement going, I know that I can achieve my goals and more!

            Belief is the big key in this process because without it, no matter what kind of practices or exercises that we are learning about will matter.  We have to know within ourselves that this is a journey worth stepping out into and are willing to take the plunge, even with the good and the bad.  It is not going to be easy because this is a journey and there are going to be bumps in the our road, but as long as we know that we have the tools to handle those bumps will we be able to continue to keep going along our paths, no matter where they may lead, just as long as they are positive!

References:

Dacher, E. M.D. (2006) Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA.

Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Schlitz, M. Amorok, T. Micozzi, M. (2005) Consciousness & healing: Integral Approaches to

 Mind-Body Medicine. St. Louis, MO. Elsevier Inc.