Saturday, May 29, 2010

Unit 10 Blog

I believe that my personal assessment on my psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being from unit 3 had improved. The numbers might not have changed ( I feel that I just improved a little so, I don't think I have to change the numbers), but I know that I have improved because with the help of this class, I became more aware of psychological, physical, and spiritual aspect of my life and it's importance to attain my goals in life and my general well-being.
Spiritually and psychologically, I still rate myself as 8. In the beginning of this class, I am more focus into myself, but then I realized than in order to grow more, I have to focus on what I can do to the other person.
Physically, I rated myself as 7 and still feel that I am still 7 because I still need to continue and improved my daily exercises. I am happy to say that I have started to move up to 3miles combination of running and brisk walking this morning and hopefully by October will reach my goal to 5 miles continuous running:)and a toned body :). I have been maintaining my healthy dietary regimen, until yesterday (Friday) when my co-workers decided to gang up on me and "forced" :) me to have dinner with them at this restaurant where the food is "really good". That's the reason why I was able to increase my walk/run this morning:).
I have been working so hard to implement what I learned, however, I get frustrated at times because of some unavoidable circumstances and unfortunately goes back down to initial practicing the subtle mind but surprisingly, I was able to calm myself and uses meditation which works well with me.
All in all, I am very satisfied of the outcome of this class. I am very fortunate to have a beautiful professor that was able to inspire his class and such magnificent classmates who have given me so much knowledge and wonderful experiences. I will continue to reach my goal of inner peace. I have started this and I know what I want and I am going for it. Thank you again my fellow classmates and Prof Maule.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Unit 9 Blog: Project

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?
It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically. If they are to promote or encourage Integral Health, they must themselves develop in mind, body, and spirit so they cannot only be a role model but do their job with passion. To do a better job as a Health and Wellness professional, you must be able to transmit your knowledge and experience to your patients and fellow practitioners. This can only be done with developing in these areas. A patient or client can be more willing to heel advice if you exhibit development psychologically, spiritually, and physically. Development in these areas will certainly show, even if not developed to the fullest. Helping yourself help you to help others better and therefore do the best job possible.
Personally, I need to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically. The readings, discussions, and awareness from taking this course have helped me in my development in these areas. I have realized the importance in developing my mind, body, and spirit to achieve short term and long term goals especially to attain a general feeling of well-being. Practice of loving-kindness, subtle-mind, visualization, meditation, yoga, Pilates, and exercise, all are helping me develop in these areas.


II Assessment:
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?
Spiritually and Psychologically, I can assess my health in these areas by feeling a sense of happiness, contentment, and a good feeling inside. Through love and kindness, I realized how important it is to give to others and not to focus on myself. When I exhibit feelings of selfishness, defensiveness, being angry or judge-mental, I know I am loosing focus and must get back to loving kindness and he importance of giving. My religion also tells us to give ourselves to others and I must continue to practice my religion in my actions as well as attending mass.
Mentally through meditation, I am able to experience a sense of calmness. When things get too hectic or stressful at work, I take deep breaths, clear my mind and eliminate all the negative things that causing the stress and then I can get back to doing my job and helping my patients. I can assess how I am doing in these areas by my ability to focus and feeling of well-being.
Physically, I can assess based on my stamina and strength. When I walk up and down the stairs all day at work, I know if I feel tired and it is a struggle taking the stairs, then that is the time to exercise more and develop in this area. When I feel energetic and I have the stamina to make it through the long day, I know that I am keeping up physically. As long as I stick to my regular routine and not live out from my 2 mile walk, I know I am doing well. When I can do more exercises and more repetitions in Pilates, I know I am doing well in this area. When I make sure I eat healthy foods and I can see in the mirror that I look thinner and better, I can see the results of physical development.
In the area of spirituality, I rate myself an 8. I have a strong belief in the Lord and practice my religion. I practice loving-kindness and feel good about making others feel good and feel good about helping others. Spiritually, I have the ability to calm myself and not let outside distractions stress me out. I have a general feeling of wellness, enjoyment of nature and its beauty and inner peace.
Psychologically, I also rate myself an 8, and as I stated above, I have a general feeling of happiness, calmness, the ability to focus and a general feeling of contentment and wellness.
Physically, I rate myself a 7. Although I am in good shape for my age, I know I can be in better shape. I need to exercise more or harder to get to a higher level of development. I need to make sure I eat properly and not give in to unhealthy eating of sweets, such as ice cream which I really enjoy and some other unhealthy food choices, even though they taste good. I must realize and focus more on healthy, nutritious and balanced diet to go along with my exercise.
III Goal development:
List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.
Some physical goals of mine will be to lose about 10 pounds, increase my walk from 2 miles to 5miles, to lower my cholesterol level by about 20 points, gain strength and stamina in Pilates, and increase to 3 repetitions and 15 exercises and eat healthier, all by October 2010.
My goals in psycho-spiritual development are to practice meditation exercises everyday for 30 minutes instead of 15minutes sporadically. By October I have it as a natural everyday exercise. This plus practicing loving-kindness ability will hopefully bring me to a higher level in my development psychologically and spiritually. Doing my daily Pilates, although it helps me develop psychologically and spiritually, my goal is to increase the exercise and continue on a daily basis. I will also attend mass on a weekly basis to help me spiritually.
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.
The practices toward Integral Health which includes psychological, spiritual and physical will include loving-kindness, subtle mind, visualization, meditation, Pilates, yoga exercises, and nutritional improvement. My strategy toward implementing these practices will be getting up earlier each day so that I can a lot my practices that I do before work each day. If I get up earlier, I can do an extra 15 minutes of meditation and an extra 15 minutes of Pilates making it 30 minutes each morning. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I will do my walking after work. Monday and Friday are too busy and longer working days so there’s no time to do the walking. However, an addition strategy will be to give an extra 15 minutes during every work day to do some focus- meditative breathing to clear my mind and maintaining calmness.
My strategy for practice of loving-kindness will be to make sure I say and do something consciously several times a day to make others feel good whether it is a patient or a fellow staff member or a loved one.
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?
Firstly, I will make a commitment to develop on the areas of Integral Health. In order to assess my progress over the next six months, I will maintain a chart showing how often, how long, and any further development. If I see any regression in any area, I will concentrate on that until I am back on the track. I will have a section for comments to describe how I feel spiritually and psychologically. I will also monitor any weight loss in my physical practices. Another strategy will be to continue to team up with a friend to do my walking. This will ensure daily walking exercise including weekends, and monitor and record increased distances.
I will stick to a regimen in all the practices, continue my learning and knowledge in Health and Wellness by reading and perhaps take on new practices. All with the general goal of wellness and well being.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Unit 8 Blog

Unit 8 Blog
The first practice session that I had determined to be beneficial to me is meditation. I had been practicing meditation prior to this class but not as often and not as effective as now probably because I was not really into it. I admit that ever since I attended this course, I realize the real meaning of meditation and the importance of it and the benefits that I am gaining from it. The sense of peace and feeling of calmness even for few minutes especially at work when at times I feel that every cases that I have is going the wrong way. I go back to the office, tune myself out from the other staffs that I share the office with and just close my eyes, concentrate on my breathing and before I know it, I am just floating away in the mid air, touching the clouds, they feel so soft in my hands. I continue to float over the flowered garden, and smell the sweet fragrance of the different flowers. This few minutes of meditation refreshes my mind and body and I feel re-juvinated. I feel like a new person again and ready to face whatever problem that the day has entailed for me. I work as a Case Manager and the stay of a patient in the hospital has to be justified or the hospital will not be reimbursed from the services that was provided. The constant pressure from the administration,the patient and the family, the physicians and my director is an everyday headache. Practicing meditation helps me re-group and face these everyday challenges.

The second practice that is beneficial to me is the loving-kindness. It helps me understand the other person. It helped me realize that in order for me to achieve peace for myself, I have to project my love to the other person. The feeling of genuine happiness for another person's success. Showing appreciation to another person, respect and feeling happy for them and not jealous or any other negative feeling. Using visualization helps me understand the other person better. Practicing loving-kindness to my patients and family helps me understand why they act the way they do. And through this practice, I will have an open mind and will be able to support and assistance that they need.

In total, practicing meditation and loving-kindness helps me grow inside and out. Having that feeling of contentment and joy and peace is a wonderful feeling. It is a healthy feeling and I will continue to practice these exercises because all I can see are benefits and will not trade them for anything.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Unit 7 Blog

The Track # 4 on the Dacher CD was far more better than the previous tracks. I was able to listen and feel the relaxation of my whole body and not interrupted by a static. I cannot begin to tell you how exhausted I am today, possibly from the previous busy weekend and unfortunately did not had a chance to enjoy a time for my daily meditation and exercise. My body was aching for a really good meditation. I turned on the CD of Dr Dacher. Everything was so peaceful and the last thing that I heard from the CD was, "a beam of light shining over your love one". My mind raced to the most beautiful spot that I love, a bench on top of a little hill by Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine. I felt the heat of the sun in my face, I can smell the cool ocean breeze embracing me. All I can hear was the the sound of the waves thrashing on the rocks. It was a beautiful peaceful moment. The untamed mind, went straight from calm abiding to the subtle mind.
I would like to listen to the CD again one of this good days because it has a certain effect of calmness and I want to feel that same quite, peaceful, feeling again.

The saying, "one cannot lead another where one has not gone himself", to me means that, I would not be able to teach health and wellness effectively, without even have the slightest idea what it meant or did not even had an experience about it. I cannot be telling false information and experience to my patients. First is, it is not right and unhealthy. Second,there is more emotion and sincerity involved when you had experienced it yourself. The honesty and truth will be felt by the other individual. Besides, the truth is easier. You will also be able to feel whatever your are preaching which will lead to your own physical, spiritual and psychological growth.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Unit 6 Blog

Practicing the exercises on loving kindness made me feel warm and light inside. I had imagined a peaceful world and every body looks contented with their life. It was a nice feeling and I think I would copy and post it on my board in my office. I want to share this to my other staff as well because I think this exercise is simple but powerful.
Looking at the integral assessment, I think the source of difficulty and suffering for me at this time is the worldly flourishing. I think that I am not contributing enough to my community. I have to be more active and involve in community activities so I can share whatever skills and knowledge that I have. Since I have experience in home care, and I know that there are several elderly people who lives alone and needs assistance or just somebody to talk to. I think I would start inquiring about volunteer work in senior centers, maybe just go there and check the elderly's blood pressure, compliance with their medications and diet and teach them the simplest way of meditation. I have to speak to their PMD's and hopefully, they will allow me to provide this little service to our elderly.
I would continue on practicing on meditation, proper nutrition and dietary regimen.I believe that healthy body brings healthy mind.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Unit 5Blog

Unit 5 Blog
I was unfortunately frustrated with exercise #3 CD. The static started early, about 2 minutes after Dr Dacher started talking but lasted for only and second. Then another static came on again 5 minutes after listening to the exercises and it just kept on going that I had to turned it off. So basically, that was frustrating.
I went back to listen to the previous exercises, and surprisingly, I felt a little relaxation, and improvement from last week when i listened to it. All I heard last week was the sound of the waves that the effect was not pleasant, but this time, it had a better effect. I did not just heard the sound of the waves but was able to relax for a minute because the static came on, so, I had to turn off the CD again.

Spiritual wellness focuses on a person's spiritual beliefs, values and whatever purpose she had set in her life. Physical wellness on the other hand focuses on a person's physical health and fitness. There is a big connection between them because without the other, I believe that a person will not achieve the fullness of health and wellness.

I have to believe in something to go on and I chose to believe in the Almighty Father. I believe that without him, I am nothing. That no matter what I do, or what I have, I owe it to HIM. HE protects,love, and provides for me and my family and friends. I can do all my physical activities because I am motivated and inspired to live a healthy life. In order for me to reach physical wellness, I have to have mental wellness. And to achieve these, I have to clean my thoughts, be positive in my outlook. Just like what Dr Dacher says, "still the breath, still the mind".I see to it that I meditate as soon as I wake up in the morning, clear my thoughts, pray, and do at least 10-20 minutes of stretching and Pilates. This daily exercise helps me to face whatever challenge that I will have on that day.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Unit 4 Blog

Unit 4 Blog The mind-body-spirit paradigm
I listened to Dacher's CD and tried as I may, I had a hard time getting the relaxation that I want to achieved. I tried it twice on different days but still did not get the result that I wanted. I am not sure if I was trying so hard or it just did not affect me that time. I find that the woman's voice was not soothing enough for me. There was too much "waves sounds" and it was distracting me. However, reading the chapter had a different effect on me. My mind was more relax like I was reading a very interesting book that I can't put down. I think that different situations and moods affect how we respond to the same topic. How it is being delivered to us influence our response as well. I will still recommend this to another person because, this exercise might have more positive result to them than I had.

Mental workout constitutes loving-kindness and the subtle mind, which includes witnessing, calm-abiding, and unity consciousness.The benefits of mental work out results to inner peace, wisdom, compassion, happiness, and wholeness. Achieving all of these needs whole heart dedication on the individual. Mental workout needs to be practiced regularly everyday to be able to get a positive result.
I would love to reached the feeling of whole happiness and inner peace but I think it will take a little while longer for me to achieve it. There are unavoidable stressors in my job today that and trying to turn the negative aura around takes a lot of toll on me. Although I am surrounded with love from my family and best friends and my love one, it is not enough. I believe in loving-kindness,love begets love. I know that I have to practice my mind and emotion every day to reach the inner peace and happiness that I so desire. I have to discipline myself and focus on my goal.
I had an experience of an inner most peace one time, just once, and I have been searching on how I am going to experience that feeling again. I was in a religious event then and for one moment, I had the most wonderful feeling of warmth and love and peace. I want to feel that again. Hopefully, by training and practicing my mind and body, I would be able to reach my inner heaven.