Health & Wellness

Health and wellness professionals are the go to people in the healthcare field in order for someone to better themselves psychologically, spiritually, and physically. Because of this reason they must be sound in all three areas. Without the experience or knowledge of the three disciplines that have no room to give advice out to the public. Why would the public listen to them if they had no expertise anyway? They wouldn’t, therefore health and wellness professionals must develop each area in order to help others. The area that I personally need to develop more is my spirituality. This discipline has always suffered a bit for me because I have never found the time to delve into my inner self or the world around me. I need to work on this because it is important to develop a sound spirit in order to create balance in all other areas of health and wellness.

As far as my health in physical and psychological I think I am doing fairly well. I exercise daily in the form of walking my dogs which also helps me psychologically. Walking helps me to clear my head and de-stress while also helping my overall physical appearance and internal wellbeing. My spirituality suffers a bit as I mentioned above. Spirituality is the concept of an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the "deepest values and meanings by which people live.", including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop an individual's inner life. Spiritual experiences can include being connected to a larger reality, yielding a more comprehensive self; joining with other individuals or the human community; with nature or the cosmos; or with the divine realm. Spirituality is often experienced as a source of inspiration or orientation in life. It can encompass belief in immaterial realities or experiences of the immanent or transcendent nature of the world (Eck, 2001). I need to learn how to connect with this other side of life and become more open minded.

Each area of discipline requires goals in order to be successful and continue to grow. One goal that I have set for my physical development is to work on my internal physiology. Although I walk my dogs every night I need to set aside time for learning about nutrition. I enjoy food and need to learn how to nourish my body in a better way. This will not only help my exterior views but will also make me feel better overall creating more complete health and wellness. Another goal that I have in the psychological arena is to practice yoga. This not only helps the physical side of things but also helps with the mental portion of wellbeing. It is also a mind exercise that forces you to free your spirit and concentrate on breathing. The potential health benefits of yoga are numerous and may include: stress reduction, increased fitness, management of chronic health conditions, weight loss. Yoga is the perfect way to escape from the stress of the day and regain balance with one’s self (Stress management, 2012). One goal that I have for myself in the spiritual arena is to try meditation. Meditation is considered a type of mind-body complementary medicine. Meditation produces a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind. During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. This process results in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.

In order to assess my progress in each area of development over the next six months I must begin to keep a journal. Having a journal is not only a way to relieve stress but it also keeps track of how you are doing in a certain area or activity. It shows progress and how committed you really are to a particular thing. This is a healthy long term activity that can health in all areas of develop in health and wellness.

References

Eck, D. L. (2001). A New Religious America. San Francisco, CA: Harper.
Stress management. (2012). Mayo Clinic. Retrieved September 19, 2012 from
            http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/yoga/CM00004.

Favorite Practices

My two favorite topics throughout this course have been loving kindness and meditation. I really enjoyed both because they opened up a new way of thinking and have really helped me calm down and not take the small things for granted. My favorite exercise for the loving kindness is as follows.

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.
May I assist all individuals in finding health, happiness, and wholeness.

I really enjoyed this exercise because the thought of first helping me gain freedom from all of my suffering and then finding health, happiness, and wholeness I think is incredibly important. You can only help others if you first help yourself. After you have gained peace within yourself you can begin helping others. I love the idea of helping others find health and happiness. I try and do this with my family now and it is very rewarding.

One of my favorite meditative practices is yoga. Yoga is considered a mind-body type of complementary and alternative medicine practice. Yoga brings together physical and mental disciplines to achieve peacefulness of body and mind, helping you relax and manage stress and anxiety.

The potential health benefits of yoga are numerous and may include:

• Stress reduction. With its quiet, precise movements, yoga draws your focus away from your busy, chaotic day and toward calm as you move your body through poses that require balance and concentration.


• Increased fitness. As you learn and refine new poses, you may enjoy improved balance, flexibility, range of motion and strength. And this means you're less likely to injure yourself in other physical endeavors or in your daily activities.


• Management of chronic health conditions. Yoga might help with a variety of health conditions, such as cancer, depression, pain, anxiety and insomnia, by helping with sleep problems, fatigue and mood. Yoga also can help reduce heart rate and blood pressure.


• Weight loss. If you're overweight or have binge-eating disorder, yoga may help you make the healthy lifestyle changes necessary to gain control of your eating and drop those extra pounds (Stress management, 2012).
• Yoga is the perfect way to escape from the stress of the day and regain balance with one’s self.

Reference

Stress management. (2012). Mayo Clinic. Retrieved September 19, 2012 from
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/yoga/CM00004.

Hello Aesclepius

I really enjoyed the exercise this week because it of how it related the mind to things in nature. The narrator first explains how when we first begin our journey into spiritual health and wellness our mind is like a waterfall, loud and overwhelming. This is similar to how our minds act when there are constant thoughts running in and out it is difficult to sort through all the noise. As we learn to relax and meditate we can begin to lessen the noise and focus and certain thoughts and process them appropriately. Our mind slowly turns into a peaceful flowing river instead of a constant thundering waterfall. This process may take a while and needs consistent practice it is important for our overall health and wellness. I hope to learn how to do this in my own life. I constantly have thoughts and stresses running through my mind which cause me a lot of tension. I need to learn how to sit down relax and try to silence the noise. I hope to try and begin doing something like yoga in order to relieve some stress (when I finally find some spare time).

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself". This saying simply means that if you have not experienced a particular event than you have no way of explaining its affects for another person. This is an important concept in the health and wellness profession. For me I see this in my cardiology practice. Like I explained in a previous post we have a well-known (good at what he does) cardiologist who is extremely overweight. He is constantly preaching to patients that they need to lose weight by diet and exercise. He tells them that they are at risk for high cholesterol and possibly clogged arteries and eventually a heart attack. Can you really listen to someone who is probably twice the size that you are? How do you take them serious when they are obviously not serious about their own health and wellness? As someone in the health care field you must be able to lead by example.

Loving Kindness & Integral Assessment

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.
May I assist all individuals in finding health, happiness, and wholeness.

I really enjoyed this week’s Loving Kindness exercise. At first I was like “wow really how is this going to help me” but after reading through it a couple of times I actually felt pretty good. The thought of first helping myself gain freedom from all of my suffering and then finding health, happiness, and wholeness I think is incredibly important. You can only help others if you first help yourself. After you have gained peace within yourself you can begin helping others. I love the idea of helping others find health and happiness. I try and do this with my family now and it is very rewarding. Now I need to think outside the box and get out of my comfort zone and begin to help people that I don’t know as well.

While reading over the integral health assessment I could help thinking that I was lacking in several areas. My biological being is ok I guess. I eat fairly healthy, exercise from time to time, but I never take the time to really focus on my body as a whole. The interpersonal aspect has always been an issue for me. I tend to shy away from human interaction on a personal level because I am shy and pretty introverted. I may seem friendly and outgoing on the outside (after all I do work in customer service) but on the inside I am still a scared little girl afraid of rejection. I love my close family which makes up my husband, father, aunt, and cousin but other than that I have no close relationships. I don’t take the time to develop relationships into something more meaningful. This is something I really need to work on. I love people but they seem to make me a little uncomfortable unless in a work related setting. My worldly aspect is definitely not a top priority for me right now because I have so much on my plate within the here and now. This is something that will develop when I begin my career as an epidemiologist because I will need to concern myself with what is happening in the realm of diseases around the world. Psychospiritual is another area that I do not take enough time on. I never seem to find the spare time to take a minute and concentrate on what is going on internally. I would love to practice yoga but unfortunately I rarely have the time to squeeze it in. I am trying to find a way to rearrange my schedule a bit so I can take a little “me time”. This is something that will take some getting used to because nurturing my spirit had never seemed like a priority until I began learning how important it is for overall health and wellbeing.

Loving Kindness or Subtle Mind...

The Loving Kindness exercise that we participated in last week was very beneficial in finally opening up my mind to these relaxation activities. I was so close minded about the whole idea of sitting and breathing and trying to let my mind go and think happy thoughts. The Loving Kindness audio however was very relaxing with the crashing ocean waves in the background and the intermittent non-irritating voice helping you to drift off. I also liked the fact that it helped you to open up to other people and love those around you. I think many people have lost sight of the importance of positive human interaction. The Subtle Mind on the other hand was an exercise meant to release the mind completely. It was a way to focus on breathing and nothing else. I appreciated that because my mind is constantly racing during the day thinking about all of the things that I have to accomplish. Full time job, full time school, plus trying to find time for my family is a large task and can be overwhelming. It's nice to take a time out and just let all the stress and thoughts of the day float away and be at peace, if only for a few minutes.

The connection between the physical and spiritual wellness is a vital one. In order to be a well rounded happy person you must be physically and spiritually fit. One of the best ways to do this is to practice some form of mind-body exercise such as yoga or tai chi. These activities teach you how to breathe and refocus your mind on something other than your everyday life and stressors. They also stretch your muscles and keep you in shape.

Loving Kindness

          This week’s relaxation assignment was much better than the last two that we have done. I actually felt relaxed during this exercise because the voice didn’t just go on and on, there were moments to pause and reflect on the meaning of the words. I also enjoyed the sound of the ocean in the background. I was born and raised near the ocean so it always has a calming effect on me. It brought me back to my childhood and how people down at the beach bond together and enjoy each other’s company. I also liked the message behind this week’s assignment. It is about loving one’s self and then opening up to love others. This is an important concept that I think many people are missing out on today. We need to learn that we are amazing and sensitive beings and that we all need to come together in order to work as one well-oiled unit. There is nothing more vital to living a full and healthy life than having a family to love and support.

          Another portion of this assignment was to think about what a mental workout is. The mental workout is a workout for the mind. The effort consists of one hour a day to condition the mind and like physical training when the training stops we see a drop off in ability. So perseverance is necessary. Contemplative practice is the progressive development of an expanded consciousness and its healing capacities. Research studies and personal reports have demonstrated that mental training can transform the mind by reducing disturbing emotions that cause anger, hatred, fear, worry, confusion, and doubt while enhancing positive emotions such as patience, loving-kindness, openness, acceptance, and happiness. This mental transformation provides resistance to mental distress and physical disease, expands our healing capacity, and promotes well-being (Dacher, 2006). There is nothing better than training the mind to dispatch stress and release anything that may hinder overall health. This is what mental workouts can accomplish for someone.

Reference

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

Wellness and some Crime of the Century

Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal wellbeing), where do you rate your A-physical wellbeing, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?

1. Physical Wellbeing- I would rate my physical wellbeing a 5/10. I enjoy working out and being active but I rarely have the time or the energy. I work full time and go to school full time so finding a spare moment to run down to the gym or take the dogs on a nice leisurely stroll is difficult.

2. Spiritual Wellbeing- My spiritual wellbeing is probably a 5/10 as well. I don’t take much time to stop and smell the roses per say because once again I am short on time and energy. I have always wanted to try my hand at yoga but sadly have never had the chance.
3. Psychological Wellbeing- As for my psychological wellbeing that is actually in fairly good shape. I would give myself an 8/10 because I am overall happy with the way that my life is going. I am a hard worker and excelling in school. My close relationships are sound and I love the people in my life.

Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

1. Physical- The only goal that I have for myself in this area would be to focus more on it. I would love to be able to have time to spend at the gym and work on my physical attributes. It would be nice to feel better about myself and the way I look and one way to do this is to concentrate on my physical being.

2. Spiritual- My goals for my spiritual being are to give myself time to stop and appreciate life and to also set aside time for activities like yoga which nurture my inner self.
3. Psychological- I don’t really have any goals for myself in the psychological arena. I am pretty satisfied with the way things in my life are going and I love the people that I chose to have in my life.

Complete the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century. To hear this exercise, click here. Describe your experience. (What it beneficial? Frustrating? etc.)

I really do not enjoy these relaxation exercises. When he starts talking about rainbows and 7 color prisms I am lost. Beams of light shooting through your spine and past your feet as the color red… what?! Then he talks about trees and roots and red light again. This to me is just not relaxing because he is kind of all over the place. I don’t get it, I would much rather just listen to some soothing music and let myself relax that way. I don’t want to hear someone talking to me and making me think about things that make no sense. This simply causes frustration and irritation. No thanks.

Journey On Relaxation

I just finished listening to the Journey On relaxation exercise and all I can say is wow...

Although the audio made me want to fall asleep I didn't feel the least bit relaxed. I had a hard time getting past the annoying male voice that was talking about muscles, blood, and carpet. It was a little creepy at times and I just wasn't into it. I have listened to various other relaxation activities, most of them having some type of instrumental music which I find to be very soothing. I don't enjoy listening to someone instruct me for 15 minutes on things I should do to release stress. I would much rather listen to elevator music and let myself drift off into my comfort zone. I also like breathing exercises which I learned through a previous class. This can be very relaxing and give your mind a break from the everyday stressors. I have always wanted to try yoga but have never been able to find the time. This Journey On listening however, will remain at the bottom of my list for things to do when I am feeling anxious. Hopefully there is someone out there that can benefit from it but unfortunately by the end of it all I wanted to do was strangle the gentleman on the other end.

Welcome to my first attempt at blogging...

I have never felt the need to have my own blog because my life really isn't that interesting. I lead a normal everyday life filled with work, school, and intermittent free time. I currently work in the cardiology unit at our local hospital and actually despise it. I am a receptionist and the work isn't that rewarding or thrilling. This is the reason I am going to school, that and to ultimately better myself and my family. I am enrolled in the Public Health degree program and my dream is to become a District Epidemiologist after I receive my Master's. In my spare time I enjoy watching Florida Gator football (Go Gators!), riding on my husband's motorcycle, and spending time with my furry children: Gizmo, Piper, and Nova. I hope you all enjoy reading my posts for our Creating Wellness class and I look forward to getting to know the rest of you. Welcome to my blog!