Final Assessment

When reviewing my self assessment from Unit 3 in how I rate my physical, psychological and spiritual well-being, I see that I have stayed about the same in the physical and spiritual aspects, and went down one point in the psychological category.  I'm not going to be too hard on myself about that--so much has changed in my life since Unit 3!  haha!  I would say that I am giving myself a score of one point lower in the psychological category because I am stressed, as much as I hate to admit it.  I feel pulled in so many directions.  But I am working through it one day at a time, and things will sort themselves out!  As for the physical aspect, I am so very glad and thankful that I was able to return to my pre-pregnancy weight relatively quickly.  I was somewhat worried about it because I have to meet the height and weight requirements set forth by the Army.  I still need to work on my strength and endurance that I seem to have lost during my pregnancy--but in due time!  And I am still in the same boat in the spirituality department.

As for the goals I had set for myself in Unit 3, I see that I wanted to be more "professionally empathetic."  Meaning, that I needed to work on not letting other people's problems become my problems, and listen, but keep a good distance.  I think that I, in a sense, did reach this goal.  Because at this point in my life, I have so many other things going on, that I do not have the time to ponder on others' issues.  I can listen and give some advice, and that is where I am able to draw the line.  I also mentioned wanting to go to church more and to also take my niece.  I really have not made too much progress in this area, unfortunately.  Don't get me wrong, I still pray everyday, but with all the other things that have been going on, I have not made the trip to go to church or take my niece.  I have been in touch with out pastor, and she understands, but I still want to make sure that I go!  And for physical goals, I wanted to be able to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes, which I have done!  Also I want to work toward attaining the same physical fitness level I had before pregnancy.  This goal still needs work--I also still need to finish healing since my surgery.

I think that I have an improved sense of wellbeing since taking this course.  I have also mentioned this in my Discussion Board.  I have been practicing much patience since my father-in-law moved in with my husband and I.  I have an improved relationship with my mother-in-law, which I have wanted for a long time.  I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!  There is so much in my life to be thankful for, I just don't know how I would ever be able to go a whole day without smiling!  I just love my life!  :)

Mariah

Spiritual, Physical, and Psychological Self Assessment

                Why is it so important for health and wellness professionals to develop an integral perspective of psychological, spiritual, and physical wellbeing?  To me, the answer to this question is quite simple.  Health and wellness professionals must continually work to develop their psychological, spiritual, and physical wellbeing for a number of reasons.  The first reason that comes to mind is that as a health and wellness professional, people look to me as some sort of example and/or mentor.  In other words, I must lead by example.  For instance, how can I give advice on physical fitness, if I don’t exercise?  Furthermore, how valuable can my advice be perceived if I obviously do not practice what I preach?  Additionally, before I can help anyone else help him or herself, I must first be able to help myself.  I must also travel the path to self healing and awareness, also known as “human flourishing (Dacher, 2006).”  As health and wellness professionals we must be able to honestly look within ourselves for the answers to health, happiness, and wholeness, and encourage others to do the same.  I feel that I should also mention the fact that integral healing is holistic, evolutionary, intentional, person-centered, and dynamic, as Dacher has outlined (2006).  Joshua Rosenthal is known for saying “health is not a destination; it is a journey (2011).”  I think that quote sums up the path to a higher level of wellness.  As our needs change, the care we require also changes.  And health professionals are not exempt from this concept.  For example, as things in my life have changed (I recently gave birth to our little girl, Melina), I have created goals for myself to get back into the same physical shape I was in prior to my pregnancy.  Therefore, I must make a plan, and take action on that plan to work toward the goal I have for myself:  to be able to run two miles in 15:30 or less. 

            The next question is, “how do I score my wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?  In answer to this question, I will use a scale of one to ten; ten being the highest level of satisfaction and one being the lowest.  Let’s start with the spiritual aspect of my wellbeing.  I would rate my spiritual wellbeing as a seven or eight.  I believe in God, and I see his presence in many things.  I have been blessed with a beautiful little girl and a husband who loves and supports me.  There is just so much to be thankful for in my life.  However, there is still room for growth.  I would like to learn more about Jesus and his teachings.  I would like to participate in a Bible study and learn more about the Old and New Testaments.  And I would like to take the time to teach what I learned to my baby girl.  These goals do not sound like a lot, but they require time and dedication to make them happen.  Therefore, I ask myself:  “how can I make this happen?”  Well, the first idea that comes to mind is going to church more regularly.  My church also offers a Bible study before church service on Sundays and also on Wednesday evenings that I can attend.  Also, there are so many books available and websites at my disposal that I can also use to learn more about the Old and New Testaments.  And I can read children’s Bible stories to my daughter as she grows.  After six months of implementing all or most of these strategies, I should be able to quote or reference the various books of the Bible, and be able to relate parables to everyday life.

From a physical aspect, I am also very blessed.  I would rate my physical wellness as a seven or eight as well.  As I mentioned, I recently gave birth to our daughter about three weeks ago.  In a very short amount of time, I was able to return to my pre-pregnancy weight.  (I am extremely happy about that!)  On the other hand, I have lost quite a bit of physical strength and endurance.  This will need improvement.  I know I will get there, but I need to take my time to finish healing, and slowly work my way back to my pre-pregnancy workout regimen.  Also, I want to be able to pass the Army’s Physical Training test (PT test) with a minimum score of ninety in each of the three events.  The three events are:  push-ups, sit-ups, and a two mile run.  Each of these events has a scoring system that is specific to my gender and age.  I will need to train myself on each of the three events.  I could start out training every other day for a couple weeks, and then increase my time to two consecutive days of training and then one day of rest and so on, until I reach my personal goal in each event.  Six months after giving birth, I will be required to take one of these tests.  My performance and the scoring of this PT test will assess my progress in this facet of my overall wellbeing.  Physical fitness is a must-have in the Army.  Therefore, after this PT test, I will be required to complete another one six months later.  This requirement will make long term physical fitness easier to maintain. 

And lastly, how do I rate my psychological wellbeing?  I would have to go with a seven or eight again for this aspect of health and wellbeing as well.  I think of myself as a mentally strong person.  I am able to multi-task, adapt to changes relatively quickly, and in many cases, I am able to think “on my feet.”  These skills are important, in my opinion.  However, I do not feel that I take enough time out of my day for myself.  I have flooded all of my free time with other tasks that I have placed more importance on than my own quiet time.  This is especially true in the past few weeks since my daughter’s birth.  She is obviously my number one priority.  Therefore, I take the time to drive to Pittsburgh everyday and visit her in the hospital.  After that, I am still working on my school studies, job searching, trying to keep the house in order, tending to the needs of my father-in-law who recently moved into our house, cook healthy meals, attend countless doctors’ appointments, and update relatives on the status of Melina’s progress.  As a result, there is not much, if any, time left for me to just enjoy “the quiet.”  I want to calm my mind down.  I feel so bombarded at times.  But talking to my husband does help me to calm my mind down—a lot.  I discussed this predicament with him last night.  Together, we decided that it would be a good idea to start going to bed an hour or so earlier than we have been.  We chose this course of action because we can have conversations, or “pillow talk” without his dad listening in and commenting.  This way, we can have some privacy without being rude to his dad, and we can “catch up” with each other and talk about the day’s events.  My husband is truly my best friend, and I love to talk and laugh with him.  Additionally, I have also decided that when my husband leaves for work in the morning, and before my father-in-law wakes up, I will take some time to do good things for myself.  For example, I can take a long shower or a bath, I can listen to Dacher’s meditative practices that I was introduced to recently, and I can take time to pray.  The best way to assess my progress in this respect is to do another self evaluation in six months and see if I still find myself at the same stress level.  (I never like to admit that I have stress in my life, so these self evaluations are a “wake up call” for me.)

Integral health and wellbeing addresses the mind, body, and spirit.  All three of these areas must be given the proper amount of attention in order to thrive and to continue to grow.  I have given myself a rating of one to ten in each subject.  Within this self assessment of my spiritual, physical, and psychological wellbeing, I have also devised a plan for improvement in each facet of wellbeing, as well as a method for assessing my progress six months later.  My intention is that by implementing my strategies for improvement, that my next self assessment will receive higher scores.

 

References

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health:  The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA:  Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Rosenthal, J. (2011). Integrative nutrition:  Feed your hunger for health and happiness. New York, NY:  Greenleaf Book Group.

Maintaining My Mental Fitness

Since the beginning of this class, we have experimented with several different meditative practices.  Some I liked, some I just couldn't get into, and some were just so so.  The two that I liked the most were Meeting Aesclepius and Subtle Mind.  I find these two to be the most beneficial because of the long pauses between instruction, and the fact that the concepts presented to the listener were presented in such a way that the listener could apply them to his or her own unique situation.  I can implement these practices in my personal life to foster "mental fitness" by saving these audio recordings on my computer and making an appointment with myself for self reflection and meditation.  I sincerely feel that this is something that I will absolutely need when we are able to bring our daughter home from the NICU.  (I imagine having a new baby in the house for the first time will not only require much time and attention, but also energy).  For example, I can make it a point on Monday mornings to complete the Subtle Mind exercise and then on Thursday mornings to complete the Meeting Aesclepius exercise.  I can make this work by writing it in my planner.  (I really like having a planner, it keeps me on track and organized).  I always suggest writing things down, because I feel that it is making a commitment to yourself, in a sense.

Ok, so an update on my beautiful baby:  Melina is doing so well!  The nurses are very pleased with her progress!  Within the next day or so, she should be getting moved out of the NICU and to Pediatrics!  This is certainly a step in the right direction!  I can't wait until I get to bring her home!  :)

Mariah

Meeting Aesclepius

So this is my second attempt at my initial post for this unit.  Last Saturday, the 21st, I was working on my school work, trying to complete as much as I could before Christmas.  Well, as I was working, I decided that it was time for a break.  During my break, I found it very hard to breathe, and I was extremely nauseous.  And the nausea increased and I had a very deep pain right under my sternum and above where I could feel my baby.  I even called the doctor and told him what I was feeling.  He said it sounded like heartburn.  (I have never had heartburn, so I don't know what it feels like.)  I wound up going to the hospital a few minutes after I hung up the phone anyway.  I just knew that something was wrong--and it wasn't heartburn.  My husband drove me to the hospital.  They took me right back.  The nurses took some blood and hooked up some monitors.  The doctor decided to perform an emergency C-section, and within a half hour of being in the hospital, our daughter was born!  From the time I started to feel sick, to the time she was born, it was less than three hours.  Talk about a crazy evening!  She wasn't due until February, so this was quite a surprise for us!  She is beautiful!  Her name is Melina.  Since she was born seven weeks premature, she is and will be in the NICU for several weeks.  Her improvement has been phenomenal!  Hopefully she will be able to come home sooner than they estimate.  :)  Ok, so that is my super exciting news for the week!  I just had to share with everyone!  :)  (I can't believe I am a mom!)

I chose to visualize my husband's Pap for this exercise.  He was a wonderful man, and the world needs more people like him.  Unfortunately, he passed away last August.  I liked that the "beam of light" that the author was referring to had special meaning for each placement of the light.  To purify my thoughts, speech, and heart to be more like this wise person I was visualizing.  And the author instructed me to "become this person," and take on the qualities of this person, which I found interesting, because I just said "the world needs more people like him."  When I tried to visualize what it felt like to "become" him, I was temporarily stumped.  What would it be like to be him?  What went on inside his head?  How did he get to be so kind and caring?  Was he like that by nature, or was he a product of his environment?  Are his parents and siblings the same way?  And then I found myself distracted trying to find the root of his kindness.  And then I started to look at myself, and thought, how could I be more like him, really?  And then the author said that his essence is now my inner essence.  And that made me think as well.  Hmm...

Since the start of this term, we have done several meditative practices.  And I have found that I actually look forward to each one in each unit.  It allows me to take some time for myself.  And in a sense, take care of myself.  These practices may only take a few minutes, but the effects and the thought processes that are stimulated lead to a sort of peace that lasts all day.  I could certainly make an effort to try to complete a meditative practice every couple days, or at least once a week to continue to feel that sort of peace that I was referring to.  I could look up meditative practices on YouTube or Google and listen to those.  Especially with the new baby coming home in a few weeks, I must take this time to heal physically, prepare myself mentally, and open myself spiritually for the journey ahead.  What better way to do that than to set aside some personal reflection time?

My interpretation of the saying "one cannot lead another where one has not gone himself," simply means that before you can help someone else, you must first be able to help yourself.  How can you offer advice to a situation if you have never been in a similar one?  And how can they trust you?  This concept is important for a health and wellness professional, because it allows me to show my clients that I am human, just like them.  That I too, am on the same journey through life that they are, and there are many avenues to be explored that can lead to greater health and wellness.  Why not try them all?  If I try different ways to develop my health (physical, mental, and spiritual), I can share  my thoughts and experiences with my clients and we can compare once the client tries a similar modality.  As a health and wellness professional, it is my obligation and personal responsibility to encourage my clients to take charge of their overall wellbeing and experience as many options as they are willing to achieve the goal of ultimate health. 

Mariah  :)

Universal Loving Kindness and Integral Assessment

Ok, so this week we were to do two exercises that were found in our text.  This was a change of pace, because instead of listening to a guided practice, this week we were in charge of conducting two exercises at our own pace. 

The first one was called Universal Loving Kindness.  Here, we were to repeat four different phrases over and over to ourselves for approximately ten minutes.  These phrases were:  "May all individuals gain freedom from suffering," "May all individuals find sustained health, happiness, and wholeness," "May I assist all individuals in gaining freedom from suffering," and "May I assist all individuals in finding health, happiness, and wholeness (Dacher, 2006)."  At first, I had to keep looking back in the book to remember what I was supposed to be focusing on.  But as I kept repeating the phrases, it did get easier.  I felt that the first part of this exercise was a little bit "heavy on my heart."  I mean, it's hard to look at the suffering of others to begin with, and then to look to myself and think about how I can help to alleviate that suffering.  It can be a little bit exhausting.  The other half was much easier, to hope for health, happiness, and wholeness in others, and look to myself and think about how I can assist in fostering those feelings in others.  To me, that just seems easier.  The Romans used to refer to the experience of all these feelings as the "purging of emotions," and they considered it to be very healthy and cleansing. 

The second exercise was the Integral Assessment of ourselves.  We were to look at our psycho-spiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly aspects of our lives.  I identified my "source of difficulty and suffering" as my relationship with my mother in law.  And I asked myself, "how can I make our relationship better; what can I do?"  "What type of relationship would I like to have with her?"  I have many great relationships with many people in my life, and I am very thankful for that.  I am so fortunate to know so many great people.  The most difficult and hard to understand relationship that I have is with my mother in law.  (So cliché, right?)  :)  But the tension is very real (and I also do not know why it is there).  I understand that we are very different people, but that's okay.  She had a conversation with my husband the other day that lasted about two hours.  She felt the need to bring up everything that I have ever done, in the past ten years, that she has found fault with.  This brought on quite a bit of stress for my husband, as well as myself.  It is very sad to see someone with so much hate and resentment in her heart.  (And it is not just toward me...there are others on her list, I just happened to be the focus of that particular conversation.)  And what I am about to say next is kind of funny, because it applies directly to our blog assignment this week.  I asked myself "what can I do to try to make this right?"  (I mean, we are having a baby in a few weeks...let's enjoy that experience together).  So I wrote her a letter (because she will not answer the phone if I call) encouraging her to recognize the many blessings she has in her life.  I also went on to remind her of all the things her son and I have been through together over the past ten years and how much I love him (high school, college, two overseas tours, marriage, a house, pregnancy, etc.).  I also told her that I thank God for her every day, because without her, there would be no Adam (my husband).  And I also asked her to be willing to put our differences aside and look at what is important:  our future and our growing family.   I put that letter in the mail on Tuesday, so she should have gotten it yesterday or today.  I felt really good writing that letter, because I felt that I was doing something good.  I also feel better, now that I wrote it.  I'm curious and anxious to see how she responds to it.  And I sincerely hope she sees the love and positivity I was trying to convey to her.  I do want a nice relationship with her.  So that was the first active step I took in "righting" this situation in my eyes.  I certainly hope it works.  For those of you who are interested, I will let you know how she responds, and if she responds at all.  Have a nice day!  :)

Mariah Joyce

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health:  The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA:  Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Subtle Mind Practice

When comparing the Subtle Mind Practice to the Loving Kindness Practice we did last week, I really must say that I liked the Subtle Mind Practice better, mainly because of the long pauses between instruction (Dacher, 2006).  I mentioned in my Loving Kindness post that I would recommend to other people to feel free to pause that exercise, simply because I felt that I did not have enough time to complete a thought or feeling before I was guided to another set of thoughts/feelings.  I certainly found the Subtle Mind Practice much easier to "get into."  Perhaps this had something to do with the time of day I chose to do this practice, but I think it had more to do with the fact that this is the same type of mental coaching I give myself when I am sad, frustrated, or angry, and I am trying to calm my mind and body so that I could get a good night's sleep.  I literally talk myself out of focusing on what is distracting me, and bring myself back to the importance of quality sleep and calmness.

There is a spiritual connection to mental and physical wellness.  An example of how this is evident in my personal life would be through the changes I have gone through during my pregnancy thus far.  Since I have been pregnant, I have gained a total of 23 pounds so far.  My doctor says that I am doing great with the weight gain--I am right where I am supposed to be.  However, as a woman brought up in American society, it is hard to watch the scale creep up at each doctor's visit.  This is where I have to remind myself that this is all healthy weight gain, and that I do need to gain a certain amount of weight to have a healthy pregnancy and deliver a healthy baby.  So that covers the physical and mental part of my current wellness status.  The spiritual part of my wellness status comes from knowing that once this little girl is born, I will embark on a journey that will last a lifetime as a mother.  Together we will grow as people.  And together we will grow in our relationships.  I know that having children will be a rewarding experience for myself and my husband.  We are both very excited and nervous at the same time.  I pray that I will make a good mother, and that I will successfully instill in our children values, work ethic, respect, and love.

Mariah

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health:  The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA:  Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Loving Kindness

The exercise "Loving Kindness," lead by Dacher, was certainly a different exercise than the ones that we have done for previous Units.  So how was my experience?  Certainly not bad...I didn't like the sound of the ocean in the background, but that is mainly because I am pregnant and have to use the bathroom often, and that sound just added to that all-too-familiar sensation.  :)  haha!  The woman's voice was easy to understand, and I liked that she spoke slowly.  I liked in the beginning how I was instructed to think about someone who was close to me and that I cared deeply for, the next step was to take those same emotions and apply them to myself--allowing me to apply those same feelings and emotions to myself.  This makes perfect sense to me, because I do not believe that we can fully and truly love somebody until we truly and fully love ourselves.  How can we accept others if we cannot accept ourselves?  Anyway, I liked that there were moments where the woman did not talk and allowed myself to think.  I would certainly recommend this exercise to others, however, I would also suggest that that person feel free to pause the exercise to allow themselves to complete his or her thoughts before being prompted to the next step of the exercise.

So what is the concept behind a "mental workout?"  According to Dacher, the purpose of a mental workout is to progress in our development of our (now and ever-) expanding consciousness and its healing benefits (Dacher, 2006).  And research shows that if this is not practiced regularly, we can lose some of thought elasticity (Dacher, 2006).  So how can I implement mental workouts to foster my psychological health?  The Loving Kindness practice suggests that we do things for others, with no selfish incentives (Dacher, 2006).  We can do this through charity and volunteer work.  And the Subtle Mind practice suggests that we train our minds to cease the madness...we can do this by writing down everything that is on our minds and then listing them by priority (Dacher, 2006).  This will help us to sort out what is important, less important, and not so important, and prioritize our attention accordingly, all while lessening our stress load.

Mariah Joyce

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health:  The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA:  Basic Health Publications, Inc.