Thursday, May 16, 2013

Unit 10




            After reviewing my unit 3 personal assessment I see that I still need to keep working on incorporating those goals and activities into my daily life. When I last did the assessment I rated myself an 8 in Physical, a 7 or 8 in Spiritual, and a 5 or 6 in psychological. Today I would say that my physical score has dropped to about a 6 because I have been sick and overwhelmed with homework and I have just gotten out of my routines (the exercises I had implemented in Unit 3). This will be an easy fix for me now though, because I graduate this week and I am close to being recovered from my illness. So, I will be back on track next week. In the other two areas I would rate myself about the same. My spiritual life is still strong and I am still sticking to the activities I set in Unit 3. My psychological well being has probably increased to about a 7 because of the tools we have learned in this class. I just need to be more consistent in doing the activities that I cam up with in Unit 3.  
This course has improved my personal health and wellness because I now have some tools that I can use to clear my mind and distress. Before this course I was not aware of my consciousness or the power I have within to deal with stress. I love the concept of relaxing and focusing on your breath and when random thoughts come into your mind you recognize them but do not grasp onto them. I think so much energy is lost and stress caused by us grabbing onto every thought that comes into our heads. I will continue to use this form of meditation to help me clear my mind so I can focus on that which is the most important. I will also be sharing some of these exercises with my friends, family, and clients.

Unit 9: Final



  1. Introduction:
It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically because we will not be able to help others until we have gone through the process ourselves. If we are psychologically, spiritually or physically fragile how could we possibly help others with their problems?
Personally, I will need to develop psychologically to achieve the goals I have set for myself. I have already worked very hard to become physically fit through exercise and nutrition. I also continue to grow spiritually each day through reading the Bible, praying, and meditating. The problem psychologically though is that I need to develop my confidence as a health and wellness professional. Because this field is new to me I have a tendency to second guess myself and sometimes I come across as uncertain in what I am saying.
 I want to be a successful and knowledgeable personal trainer that people can come to get the help they need. I want my client’s to know that I know what I am talking about and they can trust me that I can help them get the results that they want. To do this though, I must develop my confidence. I know this will come in time with continued training and opportunities to speak about what I have learned.
  1. Assessment: How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?
Throughout this course I have been able to asses the spiritual, physical, and psychological aspects of my life through prayer and guided meditative practices. The practice which has helped me the most was the Integral Assessment which revealed that I had some areas in my life where there was some unnecessary stress and suffering.
            On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate my physical well being around an 8. I am healthy because I exercise regularly and I eat healthy foods. I would also give myself a 7 or 8 for my spiritual well being. I maintain my spiritual health daily through prayer, meditation, reading the Bible, going to church (this one is bi-weekly not daily), and having spiritual conversations with others.  I would give myself a 5 or 6 for psychological well being because I do have some issues where I do not perceive myself as those around me do. I suffer from mild depression and self doubt.  For any of these categories I would never give myself a 10 because I feel that there will always be room to grow as priorities and goals will shift and change in life.
  1. Goal development: List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.
Physical: Increase my work outs (to 3 days strength training & 4 – 5 days cardio) to hit my weight loss goal of 10 pounds. This will be the grand finale in my weight loss journey (almost 65 lbs lost). It will also be a launching point in my career as a personal trainer because I will have my degree in health and wellness and I will be at my “ideal” weight.
Spiritual: Daily Quiet Time
Psychological: To feel more energy using the meditative practices I have learned this term.
  1. 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.
Physical
Goal: 3 days strength training & 4 – 5 days cardio:
 I will need to wake up each day at 4:30 so I can get my workout in before I meet with my clients, because I know that I will not get it in if I wait till later in the day.
Spiritual
Goal: Read my Bible and Pray Daily
I will set my Bible and devotional book on the table where I eat breakfast. This way I will not have to go look for it and I will be more likely to read my Bible first thing in the morning.
Psychological:
Goal: Exercise 5-6 days per week, take my vitamins, and pray and meditate.
In conjunction with the pre-described goals for physical and spiritual I will also incorporate a healthy diet and adequate supplementation of vitamin B, multivitamins, and vitamin D. All of this together will aid in my psychological progress.
  1. 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?
I will place a copy of these goals and activities in my journal so I can reevaluate them monthly to ensure that I am making progress. If something is no longer working I will replace it with a new goal or new activity to ensure that I keep moving forward. I will also seek out a mentor who has accomplished my goals to help me stay motivated and accountable.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Unit 8: Optimal Well-being: Psychological, Spiritual and Physical Keys to Health and Thriving

Unit 8


Hey Everyone!
I think I will continue to use some of the meditative practices that I learned from HW420. I liked the Journey on Relaxation exercise, the Crime of the Century exercise, and the Subtle Mind exercise. I will continue to use these exercises for self reflection and relaxation. The other mediation exercises were a little to far out there for me so I probably will not use them in the future. 
The Subtle mind practice was probably the most beneficial for me. It was very relaxing and I found it very enlightening to just witness my mental activity without grasping any one thought that came to me. This exercise helped me to feel relaxed and rejuvenated. I also felt I could think clearer.
The Crime of the Century was also beneficial because it was very relaxing. I love how it takes you to a place of almost sleep, but then by the time it is over you really feel more awake and clear headed.
 I will implement these two practices into my life by saving them on my computer so I can do them regularly. I have found doing them right before my kids get home from school is perfect because I am calmer with them and feel more focused; which is something that was definitely lacking before I learned these practices.


-Rachel

Saturday, May 4, 2013

UNIT 7 : Meeting Aesclepius




                                                                                UNIT 7
           
Part 1
This week’s meditative practice, “Meeting Aesclepius” using visual imagery to imagine and focus on a wise person was really hard for me. I have a hard time with holding pictures in my mind and I also have a hard time with all the visualizing of the beams of  light; it distracts me. This is going to sound totally weird, but I will throw it out there for conversation sake. This meditation kind of started to feel like I was worshiping that person in some way (way before they actually called it a god) so I stopped imaging a person I knew and tried to picture Jesus, but when all the beams of light came into play I just couldn’t do it. I will continue to use some of the practices we have done to help me relax and to help me reflect on my life, but I will not be doing this one again.

 Part 2
            To me the saying, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" means that you really can not help someone achieve something in there life if you have not already done so yourself.  So, for a Health and Wellness professional they must practice what they preach, so to say, and live out a healthy lifestyle. You will not be an effective coach or a mentor if you do not practice what you teach. As a result you more than likely will also not be successful as a Health and Wellness professional.  This is why many of my clients come to me I have been heavy and I have changed my life and that motivates and encourages them that they can do it themselves. 
            I have already started to implement psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life through my faith, reading the Bible, prayer, meditation, and now eliminating unnecessary suffering. I believe this is a life long process though, where I will continue to grow and develop.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Unit 6: Loving Kindness Exercise & Integral Assessment


Hey Everyone!



            The Loving Kindness Exercise was a little too weird for me. As a Christian I feel that praying for those around me is way more effective than me meditating and repeating phrases about everyone around me feeling healthy and happy and that I may assist them into those feelings. I can’t wait to hear what you all thought of it.

            As far as the Integral Assessment; that one was more interesting and enlightening.  I discovered that I was having difficulty interpersonally (and more specific within my family). I am very overwhelmed right now with homework and work and I am just feeling disconnected from my husband and my kids. I would say that it is also this area of my life that is ready for growth and development and I am going to make growing and developing these relationships a priority after I graduate next month. I can implement one on one time with each of my family to help grow these relationships. It is very important to get time with your children one on one so you can really get to know them individually. As far as building my relationship with my husband I will make a weekly date night a priority again. It is important for couples to go out and just have fun together on a regular basis; it really helps to build the relationship.

-Rachel Harris

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Unit 5 Subtle Mind Exercise




Unit 5

Subtle Mind Exercise

            Compared to the Loving Kindness exercise, I loved this one! It was very relaxing and I found it very enlightening to just witness my mental activity with out grasping any one thought that came to me. However, like the Loving Kindness exercise it was a little long and there seem to be too much time in-between instruction (to the point where I almost fell asleep). I will use this exercise in the future (probably without the narration) because it really helped me to feel relaxed and rejuvenated.

Spiritual Wellness/ Mental & Physical Wellness

            I believe that holistic wellness (Spiritual, Mental, & Physical) is the key to living a healthy and happy life. Each of these areas are all connected and when one is neglected the other areas will be negatively affected. Depression is the perfect example of how connected each of these elements actually is. Depression is primarily, mental meaning it is a chemical reaction that affects our mind, mood, and motivation. When a person is depressed (from my experience) they feel disconnected from God and not interested in taking care of themselves physically. If this goes on for a long period of time there will also be many biological (medical) issues. For me personally, I feel that as I mature spiritually my mental wellness is more positive and focused and my physical wellness is also healthier (I have a strong desire to eat healthy and exercise).  Would you all agree? I would love to hear your opinion!!


Have A Great Week!!

-Rachel Harris

Friday, April 12, 2013

Unit 4 Loving Kindness Exercise




Welcome to my Blog!

Loving Kindness Exercise
I did not like the Loving Kindness exercise. It was difficult because there was too much time in between each instruction which made it hard to stay focused and the terminology loving kindness was a little vague. Maybe you guys can help me out with this…How would you really send someone loving kindness???  I also really did not like the idea of “breathing in” other people’s suffering. That’s just a little too weird for me.  With that being said I would not recommend this exercise to others, unless I get a call from my husband telling me that he felt like I was sending him “loving kindness” telepathically while he was at work today J  That would  be amazing and then I would probably recommend that those around me should try the exercise.

Mental Work Out
The concept of “mental workout” is referring to intentionally accessing our psychospritual life by testing its capacities and resources. This is taking meditation a step further. It is not just deep breathing relaxation; it is intentionally exploring our inner self through guided practices such as “Loving Kindness.  It is called a mental workout because it is a workout for the mind, like exercise is a work out for the body. If we want to develop our minds we must regularly work on expanding them through guided practices until we can reach that place on our own. I can implement mental workouts to foster my psychological health through meditation and prayer.

I can’t wait to read what you guys thought of this exercise!!

Have a great week!!

-Rachel Harris

Friday, April 5, 2013



Hi Professor and Class!

Current Self Evaluation:

I would rate my physical well being around an 8. I am healthy because I exercise regularly and I eat healthy foods. I would also give myself a 7 or 8 for my spiritual well being. I maintain my spiritual health daily through prayer, meditation, reading the Bible, going to church (this one is bi-weekly not daily), and having spiritual conversations with others.  I would give myself a 5 or 6 for psychological well being because I do have some issues where I do not perceive myself as those around me do. I suffer from mild depression and self doubt.  For any of these categories I would never give myself a 10 because I feel that there will always be room to grow as priorities and goals will shift and change in life.

Goals:

Physical: Increase my work outs (to 3 days strength training & 4 – 5 days cardio) to hit my weight loss goal of 10 pounds this term. This will be the grand finale in my weight loss journey (almost 65 lbs lost). It will also be a launching point in my career as a personal trainer because I will have my degree in health and wellness and I will be at my “ideal” weight.
Spiritual: Daily Quiet Time
Psychological: To feel more energy

Specific activities or exercise to move me toward each goal:

Physical: 3 days strength training & 4 – 5 days cardio
Spiritual: Read my Bible and Pray Daily
Psychological: Exercise 5-6 days per week, take my vitamins, and meditate

The Crime of the Century relaxation exercise:
            Why in the heck was this relaxation exercise called the Crime of the Century? Because of this title I kept waiting for something bad to happen or to be startled out of my meditation. However, with that said I really did like the exercise, it was very relaxing. I love how it takes you to a place of almost sleep, but then by the time it is over you really feel more awake and clear headed. What did you guys think of the exercise?

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Unit 2: Welcome & Journey On Relaxation Exercise

Hi Everyone, Welcome to my blog!

           Like many of you this is my first blog and I am really excited to play with this form of communication.

            I completed the Journey On Relaxation Exercise after a long and crazy day. I found it to be very relaxing and I am going to save it so I can try it in the morning like the professor recommended in his blog. I have had a headache for several days now so I used this time to really relax the muscles in my neck and head. It amazes me that you can redistribute your blood flow by the power of mental imagery and suggestion. I don't know about you guys, but I was shocked when I went to lift up my hands and they really wouldn't go up. Did anyone else experience that?

-Rachel