Unit 9 Project

Unit 9 Project Personal Application of the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing
Melody Carroll
HW420-03AU
Introduction to Creating Wellness:
Psychological & Spiritual Aspects of Healing
Kaplan University
August 10, 2009




Introduction
Through life’s journey I was made aware that there comes a time when being psychologically, spiritually and physically sound plays an integral part in a person’s quality of life. I found this to be even truer when I chose to follow on a path to becoming a health and wellness professional. I have come to realize that having a sound foundation in each of these aspects will only lend to the care that I will be able to give my future patients. By developing psychologically, spiritually and physically I will be able to open my heart, mind and spirit to those I will be helping. If as a professional I am not able or willing to open myself up to the client and listen to them with an open heart, mind or spirit I will not truly understand what may be creating an illness or causing them stress or be able to guide them on a path to healing.

By a professional developing spiritually, psychologically and physically allows them to keep from becoming stagnant in their thought processes, feelings and in body. As Elliot Dacher said “If one’s beliefs are so fixed that they are not open to alternative views, then one is similarly not ready to evolve to a higher level of knowledge or capacity”, (Dacher, 2006), in essence we as professionals become stagnant. For me, seeking knowledge through continuing my education, practicing different techniques for enlightenment and relieving stress , eating correctly and exercising regularly, will help keep me from becoming stagnant in my spirit, mind and in body. We, as professionals should strive to continually seek to increase our knowledge and understanding not only of the body’s health but also how the environment, our beliefs and our clients’ beliefs have a direct impact on integral health.

Assessment
Before beginning my journey in health and wellness I believed that health was only related to feeling well in my body and free of any suffering only in my body. I never really thought about the health or wellness of my mind or spirit. Now I have learned and come to realize that health encompasses all of these areas, the spirit, mind, and body. When one area is under continual stress than each area can and will be affected.

I have always had a strong spiritual faith in a higher power watching over me and knew that I cannot control everything or that life did not always go the way I wanted. I learned to accept early on that many things happen for a reason. I know that people are brought into your life for a reason also and that they can teach something that can be both positive and negative. I have come to realize that even the most difficult situation can be turned into a positive thought if the time is taken to really review the events. Right now in my life I am at an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 in seeking a higher spiritual plain. I know that I have many years left to live and a higher spiritual plain is waiting. There will be many people come into my life who will have a lot to teach.

I view my mind as a sponge continually soaking up my environment and on a constant search for knowledge, learning always how to deal with daily life and the events that make up living. On a scale from 1 low to 10 high my mind is an 8. I know that there are times that I am overwhelmed and want to run and hide. At these times my mind does not process well and I know that I need to stop doing things or thinking and give my mind a rest. Just as the body needs to sleep so does my mind.

Having several health issues, on a scale of 1 low to 10 high, my body is at a 6. Over the last several months I have gone from being hospitalized with breathing problems and gastric problems to walking two hours a day with an increase in my lung capacity and success in finding foods that I can eat without becoming sick. I know that I will have to be on a constant vigilance on eating healthier and staying active especially in the years ahead as I am getting older. Also keeping my physical body in good shape will help in my endeavors of starting my own health and wellness consulting firm.

Goal Development
With the choice of starting my own business in health and wellness it is extremely important that I continually develop my mind, spirit and body in order to not only take care of myself but to be able to attend to my future clients as well. I seek to learn new techniques like Tai Chi or other meditative practices in order to help keep my mind focused and free of turmoil. Spiritually, I need to continue to pray and seek guidance on enlightenment and wisdom. Physically, I walk but I also know that I need to add strength training as well as flexibility exercises to my daily routine. For these will help me as I get older and battle the many different health issues related to growing older.

Personal Health Practices
To meet my goals and grow older with a good quality of life I will have to continue on my path of enlightenment by continually developing myself spiritually, physically, and psychologically. Spiritually, I like to commune with nature. The feel of the wind blowing across the body and through the hair allows one to feel that there is a sweet breath blowing away the days stresses. Feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin allows my aches to be eased and my body to become warm. By sitting outside I can close my eyes and use mental imagery to take myself to another place and time. When I am outside in the wind and sun my spirit can soar. I can feel a higher power at work cleansing me and opening my inner senses to the world around me. Some clients are afraid to go outside due to all of the negativity of getting skin diseases and possibly an interaction with the medications they are on. Helping to alleviate some of these fears by using the right skin products and taking the necessary precautions for outdoors an individual
can enjoy the wind blowing and the warmth of the sun. By using mental imagery in my profession can help teach my clients that they can travel anywhere in their mind that they would like to go. That mental imagery can also be used to improve their health when focusing on themselves and picturing a path to healing.

Being physically sound will be imperative to maintain as I get older to help with balance and being able to perform my daily chores dealing with home and work. Two ways to do this is eating healthier and incorporating different physical activities, like cardiovascular and strength training. By eating the right foods I will be providing my body with the right nutrients and vitamins it needs to function and help build my immune system. Adding physical activities will help strengthen my muscles and bones which in turn will help my maintain balance and help keep from losing anymore bone density. I can incorporate each of these into my consulting practice by working with my clients on eating healthier, showing them that they have choices in the foods that they eat and purchase can be healthier while still living on a budget. I can also show them that there are low impact exercises that can be performed and practices such as, Tai Chi, which can be used to strengthen their muscles and bones.

The last strategy that I can implement is psychological. By striving to increase my knowledge through education and meditation practices I will be able to help educate my clients and help them to focus their energies on healing. By learning the subtle mind and breathing techniques will help not only myself but my clients as well deal with life’s daily stressors. Teaching them how to stop the flow of random thoughts and stresses that usually fly through someone’s mind will allow for a time of peace and enable the ability focus on the aspects of most importance in theirs and my life.


Commitment
With life having a way of interfering with the processes that we want to do to better ourselves and our life we have to make a personal commitment to ourselves and to our clients to continue developing our spiritual selves, our psychological aspects and our physical being. To do this spiritually I can keep communing with nature, listen and learn about the many different cultures so I can communicate with my clients that may be of many cultures, I can also join a church and become one of many that seek knowledge of life. Psychologically I will have to continue learning and practicing the different meditation techniques that I have learned and continually look for ways to alleviate the stress that I go through each day. I will be able to measure this in the form of the different illnesses that I have that are aggravated by too much stress. Physically I can measure my progress through maintaining a healthy weight, through keeping a journal and by the way I feel. I know when I feel overweight and am physically run down; this is part of the motivation to keep me active.

Conclusion
As a health and wellness professional the continual growth in spirituality, psychology and physical aspects will only help me to interact with my clients on a more personal level and help them. Elliot Dacher points out in is book, Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing that the Eastern philosophy believes that the healer has one thousand hands which “signifies the need for every integral healer to have many different ways in which to reach out to meet the unique needs of an individual” (Dacher, 2006). If as a healer I close off my heart, mind and body to all of the ways to heal than I will close myself off to helping others.


References
Dacher, E.S. (2006) Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing, Basic Health Publications, Inc., Laguana Beach, CA

Two Exercises

The two exercises that I found to be most beneficial are the subtle mind practice and the breathing exercises. Both of these practices have helped me to remain calm when I was having to be at the hospital with my cousin last weekend and while I was at work dealing with angry customers. Both of these can be practiced anytime and anywhere. They both help to focus on stopping the continual flow of thoughts and shallow breathing that comes from an agitated state. I know when I use these two techniques I can feel the anger or agitation slipping away and my body seems to return to being in balance. When I complete the exercise I am able to return to work or handle a situation with better clarity.

Meeting Aesclepius

Hello All,
Once again I am late in getting my postings in. I do apologize for this. It is not that the practices are not important it is my life at the moment working against time. I have changed shifts from 8:00 a.m. thru 4:30 p.m. to working from midnight to 8:30 a.m., unfortunately this has thrown not only my body ryhthms off but my daily schedule as well. I have also taken on the role of caregiver to my cousin who suffers from many different mental illnesses. I do not mind as I care and love her very deeply, I just can't seem to work everything in daily and always seem to be playing "catch up".

Doing the meditative practice on "Meeting Aesclepius" I was able to visualize and see my friend Jacqueline, who passed away 5 years ago from lung cancer. She was my mentor and started me on the path I am now. I was able to hear her in my thoughts and see her beautiful smile. Seeing her helped me to realize that even in the most adverse of times there are blessings and life brings many joys to your life. During this I was able to open my mind and heart to the need of support and love that my cousin needs, just as Jacque supported me.

By using the meditative practices I am able to make peace with issues that may be bothering me, such as agreeing to be the caregiver to my cousin. I fought with myself on this for several weeks now and through meditation I know that I will become a better person for opening my heart in loving-kindness by being there for her.

I can use the different meditations in my life to bring peace and increase my faith. I can also share these practices with others, and hope that they find their inner consciousness and open their mind to this and open their hearts as well.

The saying "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself", (George, 2005), means to me that as a practitioner I can not fully understand or help someone if I do not practice the techniques that I may suggest. As a health and wellness consultant if I do not believe and lead by example than I should not be practicing. I have used different techniques from exercise to prayer to help with the conditions that I have. I have also personally seen how the power of spirituality can help someone get better even if for a short time.

Loving Kindness and Integral Assessment

I do practice the Loving Kindness exercises everyday through prayer by giving thanks for the many blessings that I have, not only in my life but in the lives of friends, family and those individuals I work with. I have found that a person cannot be helped from being touched by even a stranger. When you go out you see many different situations like a mother struggling with her children, or a car accident and you may send up a silent prayer to give the mother patience and hope for the person or family that the individual in the accident will be okay. This is sending out good feelings through Loving Kindness.

As health and wellness professionals we try to practice and pass on the knowledge we gain to not only to ourselves but to those our life touches. By doing this we are able to open our mind and heart to the endless possibilities of healing. When I open my mind and heart to helping and sharing with others and myself my life becomes brighter the days are no longer there to dread but to look forward to and enjoy.

Subtle Mind Exercise

The subtle mind exercise would be excellent for me when I am trying to go to sleep after getting off at 8:30 in the morning and driving an hour from work. I would be afraid to do this any other time as just breathing in and out caused me to relax enough to start yawning and the muscles in my body started to relax with each breath I took. I really enjoyed this exercise.

Compared to the Loving kindness exercise I found this one more relaxing. I tried the loving kindness again and aimed it toward myself and was still frustrated as I began feeling guilty and selfish for I live with two other loved ones that really need the benefits of the loving kindness more than I do. Yet, even knowing this I still had a hard time concentrating on one person.

For me spiritual wellness is having faith in the unknown, turning over my frustrations, heartaches and trails along with my thanks to a higher power. Being able to walk outside and pray or just give thanks allows me to become focused on the things in my life taking away the sense of being overwhelmed. I have found that on the days I do not do this mentally and physically I feel drained. By taking a few minutes out of my day to turn my face toward the warmth of the sun or to gaze at the stars overhead in wonder allows me to feel regenerated and renewed. If I am mentally and physically drained I cannot focus on what needs to be taken care of or what needs to be accomplished daily.

Without a sense of spiritual wellness I believe that the mental and physical aspects of a person are thrown out of balance. In order to reap the benefits of mind, body and soul all the aspects of spirituality, mental and physical need to be in harmony with one another. A person can be mentally fit and physically fit but if they are lacking in spirituality they will feel that there is something missing in their life.

Mental Workout

The concept of "Mental Workout" is to train the mind to think differently, change the perception of situations to help benefit the body and spirit. By practicing different forms of mediatition and relaxation or other centering techniques on a regular basis we can effect our state of health and wellness. Much like an athlete has to focus their whole being and train regularly, we as individuals need to learn to focus and practice these techniques daily to help relieve the harm that we experience through daily stressors.

Studies as to the benefits of a mental workout have shown that by performing a mental workout allows for changes to the physiology of the inner workings of the body, better control of emotions, offers more mental clarity, helps to allow the mind/body to cope better with daily distress, helps the body to become more resistant to illness, aids in resisitng illness, and also helps to acheive higher states of well-being.

With the many benefits that a mental workout offers, I need to start practicing the exercises that we have done on a daily basis and learn more. As I get older, my body and mind are going through chemical and hormonal changes. These mental techniques will help me psychologically deal with my daily stressors and possibly keep me from going done the route of so many other individuals that have to depend on medications to help them make it through the day.

Loving Kindness

Hi All,
I tried the relaxation practice this morning and was a little frustrated with myself and the exercise. The frustration at myself came from selecting one person that I wanted to "take their pain in", as the reading material suggested, yet as I proceeded on with the exercise when asked to think about that person, other people came to mind and I had a hard time isolating that one individual. The frustration with the exercise came from feeling like I had to jump directly into the exercise without any preparation. The other exercises that we have done the first part seems to help with centering prior to actually beginning the exercise. I will definetly have to try this again.
One thing I have learned about myself over the last several years is I have the ability to pick-up on the vibrations from individuals who are in turmoil and can sometimes calm them with direct contact. This is to some a type of healing by laying on of hands. Yet to me it is more of absorbing some of their pain and trying to give them loving-kindness back. Maybe for this exercise I need direct contact with the individual, what do you think?