Unit 9

  I have always been a fan of practice what you preach.  I think that for anyone in the health industry,  it is important for them to be actively on their own journey to health and wellness, to be able to be credible, understand where their clients are coming from, have empathy for what their clients may be facing on their journeys and to be a positive role model.   Every person’s journey is different, but we all face a lot of the same or similar  struggles in getting there. 

   As I have gotten older and hopefully more wiser, I have come to strongly believe that our lives are a constant journey, never ending until we die and until we reach that point, we should embrace the journey (both the ups and downs).  And we should never stop trying to learn,  better ourselves or grow in some way.  If we do that, we are really not living life to the fullest.  So I think that I still need to work on all of these as an ongoing project. 

   I really do not regularly do a formal assessment, although I probably should, but internally, I am always taking notes on my wellbeing and am pretty in tune with myself and am aware of when I am in distress or need, whether it be physically, spiritually of emotionally, the biggest problem is whether or not I listen to what my mind and body are telling me.  As the numbers are ever changing,  right now, I would give myself a 7-8 out of 10 in all categories.  Physically, I am working out at least 3-4 days a week, usually more as long as time permits.  I will say, that I miss my yoga as I am not doing it as much recently since I have switched to a more strength based workout in an effort to gain more muscle and increase my metabolism  to lose these 20 pounds that I am tired of carrying around.   But I will get back to it more regularly as I make progress in my weight loss.   As I am reflecting, maybe I should have rated myself a little higher on the emotional aspect.  That is not to say I do not have my moments, but there is a certain situation that has taken a huge emotional toll on me for the last 5 years, and even though I still offer encouragement and support, I have actually been able to take a major step away from the situation and while I am not happy with this persons choices,  I know that they are not my choices to make and have no reflection on me personally, so I think I have grown emotionally to be able to do that.   Spiritually,  I think that both the physical and emotional come together to allow me to have peace within myself .  I am not convinced that there is a “God” and believe that the spiritual is an essence inside all of us to discover, our own personal energy.  That is my “truth”, but I do not have a problem with others that need to have a higher power outside of themselves to believe in to help them achieve that ……I respect others beliefs ….it is all about what works for you. 

  My goals physically are to continue to work out regularly, at least 4-5 days a week minimum to reduce stress, build strength and lose these 20 pounds.  Emotionally/Psychologically, I want to work on reducing my inner chatter and increasing my inner calm.  I tend to have an over active mind, constantly thinking about and overanalyzing everything.  My goal is to be able to look at a situation, decide if there is anything about it that is actually in my control and if not, let it go.  Spiritually, my goal is to continue to build both peace and strength inside my self through mediation and to be the best person that I can by embracing loving kindness towards others.   By working on all of these goal, I am also  striving to be the best role model that I can be for my kids, giving them these tools at a young age, giving them a head start on total wellness.  Physically,  I will use yoga to build strength, flexibility and inner peace.  While I only do it every other week or so now, I will get back to this something I do 3 times a week very soon.  Also high intensity strength training to build lean muscle while also getting in a cardiovascular effect on three days each week, and also cardio(elliptical) once or twice a week, to change things up and also be able to not really have to think much, just burn off stress.  Emotionally , I will use meditation every night before bed to learn how to find my inner calm, happy place with no distractions.  The more I practice this, the easier it gets to go there when I need a break away from the chatter and stress around me.   I will also use Loving Kindness techniques daily, every chance  I get, not only towards myself, but others, because by enhancing others daily lives/interactions, I am helping those around me even if it is a very small part of their day.  Spiritually, I go back to the yoga(eventually 3 times a week) and meditation(daily), these practices both help me to get in touch with my inner strength, calm and peace.  They are both  practices that have multiple purposes and benefit me immensely.  With both, the breathing helps to center and calm yourself, allowing you to not focus on other distractions, just want is happening right here and now. 

   I will assess my progress probably monthly to see if there are any areas that need to be changed up and to make sure that I am meeting my needs.  As I have mentioned, I am doing more strength training now to build up muscle so that I can lose some weight.  Once I am at or close to my weight goal, I will not abandon the weight training, but will not make it my focus and will go back to doing more yoga as it is something that I enjoy more. I also think that by involving those around me in these practices as much as possible will help to keep them as a major interest and it is always a lot more fun to do things with the ones you love.   Having integral health is an ongoing practice that will always need to be revisited, to make sure the things you are doing are still the things that you need now as our needs are ever changing.   By making these practices a priority and scheduling them into my day instead of making them an option if I have time, it will make it harder to make excuses to not find time for them or saying that I am too busy.  Eventually , they will become second nature to my daily routine, just like brushing your teeth or showering.  

  

  

Unit 8

I would have to say that I think that visualization and meditation are the exercises that I enjoyed and benefit from the most.  I think that they both help to calm me down, both mentally and physically.  With school, work and having 4 kids that are always on the go and also very talkative, and having a very active mind, there is always "chatter" and these two exercises give me time to clear that chatter from my mind and reflect.  I really admire people who are more on the calm side and hope to be better able to emulate that as I continue practicing these exercises.

~J

unit 7

Most nights, I have meditated before going to bed....it is my relaxation time.  It helps me to clear my mind from the days events so that I can sleep better.  By doing it on a regular basis, I hope to eventually get to the point of "inner freedom" that was refereed to in the exercise.  As for the quote  of not being able to lead where you have not gone, I think that without some kind of knowledge/experience of a journey, it would be hard to lead someone on that same path.  You may be able to still lead someone, but you may not be able to truly empathize as to what they may be going though on their journey, and knowing what they are facing can help you to problem solve when issues arise.  And the same applies to being on a path of well-being, so I do think that anyone who is looking for a career in helping others is practicing what they preach, otherwise, I do not think they will be very successful.

~J

Unit 6

While trying to do these exercises, I kept hearing my kids outside, enjoying the beautiful weather, so I found it hard to concentrate.  But I do think they could be highly beneficial when done in a better environment, where I could focus on them more.  I really liked the intentions of the Loving Kindness exercise......sending good intentions to others and I plan to revisit this for sure.  As for the Integral Assessment, I feel that right now, I need to work on me biologically.  I see health problems in my family that I really feel the need to head off before they can take hold, which means eating better and substantially increasing my nutrient intake, which had prompted me to start juicing.  I am actually on day five of it and can really tell a big difference in how I feel.

Unit 5 blog

I enjoyed the massage and the techniques from this exercise,  but just do not think that her voice is very soothing.    The first time that I did the exercise, I includes my family, which was a little distracting.  I see the benefits of this and the loving kindness exercise,but I think that this was more about focusing on us, not what we can do for others.  They both have their place, it just depends on where we are in our journey and also our needs at that particular time. 

~Jackie

Unit 4 Loving Kindness

I have to say that this was not my favorite exercise.  The voice was not very soothing and the back ground waves should have been continuous....it just did not flow for me.   I did like that we were asked to try to take on a loved ones suffering and help them to release it....that was the best part of this exercise for me and something that I will continue to practice. 

unit 3

I am going to answer question 4 first.......and I have to say that I absolutely loved the relaxation exercise!  It was very calming and relaxing.    Made me aware of my need to fill my house with color, and the colors that I have been choosing are  light, bright, vibrant versions of  colors in the rainbow.  Especially orange and yellow.  I was even recently inspired to take on a painting project and have been working the details in my mind, but this exercise has helped me to fill in the details that were missing : ).  If I am able to complete the project before our class is over, I will post a pic of it~it actually fits very well with this whole concept! 

OK, so back to question 1~  6 months ago, I would have rated my well being in all three categories at a 8/9,   then for about 4 months, I would say it went down to a 2, but as of right now, it is back up and at a 6/7.  During the down time, I was experiencing a great deal of stress due to health problems of someone very close to me.  With all of the time I was spending at the hospital/rehabilitation facility, I was not taking care of my needs. The initial problem has not resolved itself completely, but is getting better and I am back into the mode of taking care of me.   The goals and activities to take it to a higher level again are to keep with my exercise plan, preferably getting in some form of exercise every day; cardio, bodyweight exercises, yoga and mediation....these will all help me to increase my physical, spiritual and psychological well being.