Taking a DEEPER look in

Integral Assessment~ Here's the objective of this week...

Complete the Integral Assessment discussed in chapter 11 (p.115). Describe the exercise and assessment process. What did you discover about yourself? What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and development? Why? What are some specific exercises or activities that you can implement to foster greater wellness in this area?

Integral Assessment helps us to focus on ourselves as a whole. There are 6 Principles of Integral Assessment. They are as follows according to Dacher from Integral Health (2006):

1.              The goal of integral health is to alleviate needless suffering and promote human flourishing.

2.              Integral health recognizes the distinction between short-term relief of needless suffering and  permanent relief.

3.              Integral health recognizes the distinction between immediate pleasure and long-term flourishing.

4.              Psychospiritual development is an essential component of integral health.

5.              Integral assessment relies on deep listening and guidance.

6.              Integral assessment addresses the aspects, levels, and lines of development that are relevant to our current circumstance.

This exercise allows us to evaluate and assess ourselves on each level. Having an open and honest evaluation of these aspects of our lives gives us the freedom to discover what we can work on, where we are growing, and set goals for change with the ultimate goal of reaching human flourishing. The main take away I grabbed from Dacher is in regards to the importance of this process and the realization we can’t have it all together but making a start gets us one step closer to wholeness, health, and the life we hope to live. Dacher also shares the importance of an unbiased mentor or guide to walk us through this process and give their impression of our assessment as well. It is often those people we share our life with or allow into the deep places of our heart and mind that can see and point out aspects of our life that may be screaming for change.

I am a very self-reflective person by nature. But this list and text from Dacher was so broad and covered a lot. I was honestly a bit intimidated by the list and assessment. Of course the overwhelming theme that comes to mind is working on my Psychospiritual and Interpersonal areas of development. Since I am in the waiting process of my divorce I still have loads of pain and disappointment to work through. I am at a much better place with this than I was 6 months ago but the effects of the depression and hit to my confidence and ability to trust will not go away in a short period of time. For me activities to work on this include journaling, continuing therapy with my counselor, keeping a consistent prayer time sharing my heart and hurts with Jesus, and keeping myself surrounded by truthful and encouraging support systems in my life. Interpersonally I have the need to work on my communication skills and fear of conflict. This is as well a source of work with my counselor and by applying the witnessing mind I am able to recognize patterns and times I react instead of waiting and responding well when my feelings are not hurt and clouding my judgment.

I’m very thankful this is a process. It’s up to me to cut myself some slack realizing this but to remain faithful to the task at hand by continuing working on myself in efforts to being one step closer to Integral Health.

The Subtle Mind!

The Subtle Mind... learning how to be still and silence this girl's really FULL mind

This weeks MP3 exercise was much easier for me to participate and remain engaged in. I continued to have various times of necessary redirection with my thoughts but it really helped me to have the image of one thing to focus on while I concentrated on my breathing. I felt my muscles begin to relax. Probably the hardest thing for me was slowing down the mental TO DO list I have this evening regarding schoolwork running through my mind. With that said, I probably did not choose the best time to do this exercise and complete my blog. Next time... right?!?!

I felt I could complete this exercise with more enthusiasm compared to the Loving Kindness exercise. I appreciated the first exercise having the time to focus on others and extend prayers of hope and healing for them but this exercise centering my mind was great. I see the benefits of both but I feel like it is important to be at a place of peace and rest like The Subtle Mind exercise hopes to accomplish and then we are able to intercede and extend loving kindness in a more effective way. 

This is going to take dedication on my part. I need to put action to my words and actually implement this into my week, whether it is twice a week and then three times a week. My level of stress lately has been pretty high. I find myself tense 90% of the time. Accountability folks... I need it! :)

My spiritual wellness is probably more important to me than my physical and mental wellness. I know the importance of each and I'm sure this sounds strange to most. I see the value in taking care of each aspect of our life: physical, mental, and spiritual. I guess I just feel like if my spirit is off then my thoughts and mental process will be in a much more unhealthy state. When my mental health is off then this will then begin to have an effect on my physical wellness causing fatigue, muscle tension/pain, headaches, and depression, ect. 

Does this mean I keep my spiritual wellness in check always? No way! Do I watch my diet each day and exercise on a consistent basis? Nope. Do I respond rather than react to issues of my day that provoke anger, frustration, or emotional upset... unfortunately not always. But it is a process. Improvement is a step at a time and I can see myself taking these small steps in hopes of being healthier in each aspect I've shared about. 

exercising LOVING-KINDNESS (mp3-style)

Blog Unit 4

1. Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

2. What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

I’m still having a hard time focusing. The mental image that came to mind at the beginning of the MP3 exercise was the peace overwhelming the stress in my mind. It was like a jar full of red bouncing balls being the stress and the peace were blue balls. The blue balls overwhelm and take up all the space the red balls held in the jar and continue to bounce. If only this were true of my day and the stressors and peace that I have! :0) Obviously I still have a ways to go to implement this practice in my life. But I really liked the mental image since I am someone that if extremely visual.

I think the statement about being able to love ourselves before we can love others is crucial. If we hate or dislike ourselves then how can we extend love to others or even have open eyes or an open heart to the good in others. I feel like this basic to have genuine health and wellness.

Image from: seongyosa.wordpress.com

I participated with the MP3 until the portion of taking on the pain and suffering of others. I do not believe in this practice. I don’t think it’s healthy for our heart and spirit due to my spiritual beliefs and faith. I feel very strongly about empathizing with their suffering and offering yourself as a friend, listener, care giver, or intercessory prayer warrior on their behalf but NOT actually taking in or taking on their suffering. I believe as a follower of Jesus that this is to be given to Him. He is the only one that can carry that burden and take the sickness. We are not required to do that. It’s not healthy for our hearts, minds, body, or spirit.

I chose to skip that portion of the exercise and went on to additional parts of the music with the waves crashing. The music was WONDERFUL! I could listen to that for a long time. 

For me with this exercise I would be open to modifying it. I would be willing to take subjects of loved ones, my enemies, or myself and meditate on prayers, hopes, and asking for God’s peace for all 3 subjects. It may not be the exact exercise but due to my personal faith and beliefs I’m unable to complete exactly as directed.

Mental workouts are very beneficial to your mind, spirit, and body. Stats have proven this, which we have seen in both our texts for this Health and Wellness course. The mind-body connection is like an uncharted territory for us over in the West but I’m excited to see how improving our own mental capabilities and response to stress will improve our daily lives. I do see first hand with my students in the middle school changes in heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation levels when they calm down, use deep breathing exercises, and take a “time out” to rest and let a stressful event die down before returning to class. 

Personally I would love to track my cortisol levels through out the day and correlate that to my present health state. I’m so curious!! :0)

abc's and rainbow colors

This week my blog is focused on grading myself on my physical, spiritual, and psychological well being. 10 is optimal well being and 0 is just that, 0!

Here goes nothing....

Physical: (5) I am fairly healthy (or at least my latest blood work shows this) and try to eat right, take my vitamins, and get enough rest. But I do have 10 pounds to loose and it’s been a process trying to take that off. I struggle with fatigue at times and I think that relates to my lack of consistent exercise.

Goal: Lose those 10 pounds!

Exercise/Activity: Walk/run 3-4 times a week

Photo Credit: Pinterest

Spiritual: (7) This aspect of wellness it very important to me. I try to spend time reading the Bible, worship Jesus through music, pray about issues on my heart, and have to attend Church each week. Church is my way to continue being feed through community worship, hearing the Word of God taught, and attending weekly Bible study. There is always ways to improve my intimacy with God and there will always be more to learn.

Goal: Daily time reading the Bible to give me strength for my day and closeness with Jesus.

Activity: Set aside designated time in the evening to read. I am not a morning person and don’t see that changing. :)

Psychological: (6) I have been a journey of healing and discovery in a huge way this last year. With my husband choosing to initiate an extramarital affair and end our marriage I’ve had a lot to face in a short time. I’ve been diligent to go to counseling and get involved in a Divorce Care group at a local church. It’s been a hard road but I have learned so much about myself through this terrible experience. I’ve learned I have a huge fear of confrontation, I am co-dependent; have a hard time setting healthy boundaries in my life, and struggle with effective forms of communication in a relationship. I’ve been determined to take care of myself, go through counseling, heal, and work on positive changes for myself. This has required loads of self-reflection and leaning on those close to me in my life for support.

Photo Credit: Pinterest

Goal: Start a journal. I’ve been avoiding putting down all my negative experiences and feelings on paper. Need an outlet to get it out.

Activity: Confide in a friend to hold me accountable to journaling as a positive way to express my hurt, disappointment, and to see the good changes I’m trying to implement in my life.

Relaxation Exercise:

http://www.kushs.net/kaplan/HW420/TheCrimeOfTheCentury.mp3

I made it much further with this exercise in comparison with the first one. It was hard to concentrate but I did really well until we got to the portion about love. The statement “I choose to love” triggered thoughts of rejection from love that has been thrown back into my face. This distraction made it hard to re-center my thoughts and continue focusing on the man’s voice and commands. I definitely do not have this concept of guided imagery and relaxation down. It takes much more effort than I originally thought. But I do feel that practicing with these exercises is good for me since it helps me continue to learn how to relax. In the long run I think I will be very thankful for this portion of our class. I like that it is “hands on” learning and gives us tools to actively learn while completing our unit objectives each week.