The End of This Journey

This journey has gone by quickly with many things to contemplate and consider. I think from the time I started to walk this path I have become more aware of the need for a deeper walk in the spirit. Also, that the quality of my walk could be better if I would take time to "look at the scenery." In being to focused on the destination, I often forget to enjoy the experience of the walk. As I assessed my progress I think I have certainly grown to a 7/8 in my awareness of my all my experiences as a whole. I am more determined in all the areas of my life and now have new goals and new tools to use to reach those goals. The process of this journey was not hard but being consistent by "putting one foot in front of the other" constantly instead of quitting was the challenge...doing things every day. While there is always so much more ahead of us to explore and challenge us, I think that I have come along very well. I have always had very high expectations for myself and had to realize that being satisfied with where we are is part of being whole. So while I don't want to think I have attained all there is, I do want to be grateful and realize how God is blessing me today. I hope that all my classmates will experience the satisfaction of having God's blessing in their lives. There is nothing that brings more happiness than the sunshine of His love.

Reflections

As I come to the end of this course I would like to pause and reflect upon the journey. While what I learned was not completely new to me the tools that were given to use were very helpful. One discovery that the class did reveal was very unexpected. And that was my life as a Christian has given, me a very flourishing life that I didn't really appreciate before this class. As we always are striving for something better and often don't really know what that "something" is until our quality of life is disrupted or taken away, I thought that perhaps the path I was on may be a lesser one. That perhaps I may be missing some essential element that would make my life better. Only when I compared it to Dacher's ideas did I realize how well a foundation I had been given by the life of Jesus and that I was indeed living and experiencing what Dachher calls a life of "human flourishing." While I know many of my classmates are not "religious" per se, one must have a map or guideline of what one's life must follow or ultimately become. Religions, faulty as the organizations may be,can offer a framework by which our spirituality can begin, tenets of truth we may build our lives on.Our spirituality is not about religious organizations, but how we choose to live our lives and how we live the truth we learn to know. The religion we choose should express those truths. By following Jesus example, as best as this faulty person can, I have truly enjoyed much of what Dacher was teaching about for most of my life. This was very reassuring to me. Yes, there is much to learn and incorporate into what I now have and I look forward to using what we have learned to enhance my experiences. Yet, it was this revelation that has led me into a greater appreciation for the life I have been blessed with and the peace I can have for what lies ahead. This life is one where what ever comes my way, good and bad I know I can have the strength and peace of mind to come through it resting in the power of the Divine. I hope that all of my classmates have entered into a greater life experience from this class as I have and I want to thank you for the thoughts and interactions we have had on the blogs and discussions. God bless you in your lives and may they flourish!

Unit 9 Project Posted

I Introduction:

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

My biggest goal is to develop myself spiritually as this is the weakest, yet most important part of my life. My success in the development in the other areas of my life depends on the strength and focus I gain from my spiritual life. I would like to prioritize one hour a day towards this goal.

II Assessment:
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?

I assess my health overall as a 6/7 on a scale of 1-10. This is based on knowing there is much improvement that can be made as it is a never ending journey. I assess my quality of life by how content I am and how I deal with my relationships with people around me, but mostly I use the standard set by Jesus as I am a Christian and His character is what I want reflected in my life.

III Goal development:
List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.

1. Physical: Improve my diet as nutrition is the heart of good mental fitness and physical ability.
2. Psychological: practice mental fitness exercise as part of my daily regiment of health
3. Spend an hour in thoughtful meditation incorporating the mental fitness as part of my quiet time and time spent with God.

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.

1. Physical- cut obvious unhealthy food out, concentrate on more fresh fruits and vegetables.
2. Psychological-use Subtle Mind exercise and running meditations, read contemplative material to strengthen mental wellness.
3. Spiritual- read material that will uplift the spiritual health and commit to spend time in specific communication with God for spiritual renewal.


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?

My health will be assessed by quality of body, BMI, weight and energy. My psychological will be assessed by my stress level and how I am managing the affairs of my life. My spiritual life will be assessed by how well I prioritize spending my time each day in worship and meditation. Also in my dedication of Sabbath which shows my devotion by spending and entire day dedicated to my spiritual life.

My strategy would be to organize my time so each day I can always include these areas of priority. It will include assessing how I spend my time and cutting out things that don’t develop my overall health. As I already run and exercise and eat fairly well these areas won’t include more time, only refining what I already do. Prioritizing my mental fitness and spiritual exercises will be the biggest challenge as I tend to procrastinate and put it off until the end of the day. So putting it first in the day would probably be my best strategy and a way of showing my commitment to the goal.

My Two Favorite Exercises

I think the two exercises I really related to and will continue to use will be the Subtle Mind and Meeting Aesclepius. While the others were good, I found trying to remember the phrases to be said a little distracting. The Subtle mind focuses on the breath which is something I can do moving or being still. It can be used to enhance my massages because if my mind is quiet then my massage is more relaxing and communicates quietness of soul to my client. Most of my clients would relate to this exercise because I have them focus on breath during trigger point and acupressure therapy. So for me to share how to use this for other purposes would be easy and they would be open to the exercise.

Meeting Aesclepius really helped me in my worship time I spend with God. Rather than just talking to Him in prayer, to contemplate who He is and what He represents and have that instilled into me is a really great experience. Also, to take time to specifically remember people I loved and respected is a great way to have them with me all the time and to reflect on what they contributed to my life.

Meeting Aesclepius

I really enjoyed this meditation. It is very similar to the prayer meditation I use and posted on my power point. I love how you assimilate the light of "the healer" into our life to transform us. I know some of my classmates are not "religious" so I hope I don't offend you but I am a Christian and therefore my mindset comes from my beliefs. My experience with the Aesclepius meditation was with Jesus. But not like you normally picture Him. I saw Him running in front of me strong, ruddy and tanned. His hair is flying behind Him. I am running behind Him admiring His strong body and His ability to run swiftly and smoothly. He then looks behind and motions me to join Him. When I reach Him our gaits begin to synchronize and I am running fast but effortlessly. I have a sense of peace and freedom. Running beside Him I feel his strength and power, but there is kindness and gentleness in His eyes and smile. When the light comes down on His and my head this verse comes to me, " let this mind be in you that is also in Christ Jesus" and when the light comes from His throat to mine the verse "let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight"... then when the light from His heart goes to mine, the words "create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me." We run silently, in step in heart and mind, free from cares and worry. I then watch Him disappear in to the distance and the light of the Sun envelopes Him and shines on me and warms me and fills me with His Spirit. When I finished the meditation I felt renewed and energized yet relaxed and content.

This exercise came at a good time, I was struggling with some restlessness in my heart the last few days and my efforts to rid my mind of it was not working. I spent time yesterday on our patio swing in silent meditation trying to do this exercise on my own. While I did feel more peaceful after, it worked much better with the guidance of the disk. I think the ocean ambiance sounds really helped to quiet my mind.

It is very important to me to have had experience doing these exercises so I can help my clients learn to use them in their lives. As Dacher said, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself?" (pg.477) If we don't have personal experience we can't communicate the importance or the effectiveness of this type of healing to them and speak with authority. This is true with our exercise, nutrition and other healthy lifestyle practices. If we don't have it in our lives our clients will know and won't take what we have to share with them to heart.

My Spiritual Journey

This presentation I did for class here at Kaplan, it is my spiritual journey. I thought since we were studying about spirituality it may be of some interest to you. My walk with the Divine has enriched my life and helped me through many adversities. I hope you like it!

Transforming Your Life Through Mental Fitness

I hope you enjoy my presentation. The Walking Meditation was taken from on line. It is cited at the end and you can visit the site for more meditations. I liked the way this was explained and I didn't feel I could do it any clearer or shorter. Walking meditations, or in my case running meditation is something I do regularly. The prayer meditation is one I use when I am going through particularly hard times and feel overwhelmed and helpless. I hope you will try both and find some value in them. Thanks for taking the time to share with me!

The Subtle MInd

I did this exercise twice and both times it was a really great experience for me. The first time I did it first thing in the morning in a very quiet room that is special to me. This room is very peaceful and my whole family enjoys the energy in this room the best in the whole house. I think this made the exercise more successful for me. I was able to easily regulate my breathing and experience the quietness of my mind. My whole body was totally quiet and very heavy in fact I found myself not wanting to leave this state of being. The loving kindness was a familiar exercise since praying for others empties one's self-centeredness, but the subtle mind seems to me something I would want to do before the loving kindness since it quiets the mind and opens it up to the Divine mind or higher consciousness and cultivates wisdom, which in turn would allow us to pray for others in a deeper way. But that is just my personal observations from my experiences with these exercises.

The second time I did this exercise was out on the reservoir in my kayak just after sunrise. It was foggy and still out on the water and the silence was emphasized by the fog. Being out in nature brought a whole different dimension to the exercise and experience. The resulting calm-abiding was amazing.

I believe the health of your spiritual mind is the most important. Our physical and intellectual aspects of our life are deepened and enhanced by a healthy spiritual mind. But, likewise our physical and mental health is poor, it is also difficult to have a healthy spiritual life. Certain foods, drinks and stimulants to the physical body impair our judgement and can lower morals. This in turns affects our spiritual life.