Final Blog

In my unit 3 blog I rated my physical health at a 6, spiritually I rated myself at an 8 and psychologically I also rated myself at an 8. After reevaluating myself I think that my mental and spiritual rating has not changed but unfortunately my physical health has taken a hit from the surgery that I had to endure at the beginning of August. I would give my physical health a 5 now and that’s because I have been going to physical and occupational therapy and I am recovering well, I am not back running yet but I have been walking for over a month now.

Physically I am still dealing with the my overweight issue and it has become even harder to rectify that because I am not able exercise like I need to, my eating has been pretty good but it has not been enough to keep me from gaining extra weight. Spiritually I am working on giving my family more of me and together we are praying more together and as an effect of that we have become even closer. Mentally I have made more of a plan to ensure the safety and survival of family and how I will survive for them, this has given me more peace and a clear mind to stay focused.

I have implemented my physical health plan as much as I possibly can, I push myself every chance I get to recover faster and come back stronger then I was before my surgery. I and my family are getting ready to become stronger, closer, and finally complete because on the 30^th of this month I my new born baby girl will be here, a blessing from God and she will receive nothing but love from her two older brothers. Mentally I am becoming more and more in tuned with the goals I have set for myself, I will complete my degree for Health and Wellness in June and will be that much closer to having my education where I want it.

Unit 9 Final Blog

Unit 9 Final Project:

Personal Application of the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

By: Keith Wright

       I.            Introduction

Professionals in the health and wellness profession come in contact with individuals who are seeking guidance, teaching, knowledgeable people to help them reach their goal of balance in their mind and body overall health. It is important that people in the health and wellness practice have the physical endurance that they want their patients to have to give them a visual of how a good healthy body contributes to the goal of overall health. Also the professional would also benefit from being healthy physically deal with patient after patient and taking their life load that they are bringing and help mold it into the individuals ideal physical appearance. Spiritually, if a professional is in touch with their spirituality and find happiness in themselves and the people and things that they have around them then they can transfer that positive energy on to their patients. If negative and unhealthy thoughts are being experienced by the professional then they could transfer those feelings and emotions to their patients and cause a very big disruption in the healing practice. The mental state of someone who is teaching and treating patients is always an important aspect to make sure is clear and focused. Professionals who train their psychological endurance will benefit the patients with giving the right information, and make the right decisions when it comes to their patients needs. I believe out of these three aspects of a professional dealing with patients on a daily basis I would need to improve my physical endurance and my over-all health. I want my patients to look at me and see someone they can learn from, someone they can trust and someone that knows what he is talking about.

    II.            Assessment

Mentally I have grown a lot over the years; I have taken the things that have happen to me and around me and used them to make me mentally tuff. I was not as wise and mature as I am now even a t twenty-eight years old. Studying the health and wellness field and applying the different aspects of self healing to my lifestyle has brought peace and calmness to my mental state from the run and gun approach that I took at life. My spirit has always been my strongest attribute, my attitude and personality has always been one of a positive aspect on life and valuing everything around me and taking nothing and no one for granted. I keep my faith strong in God and my beliefs which is something that has been instilled in me from my childhood and I am thankful to my family for blessing me with those teachings. As I stated in my introduction my physical abilities have got to improve all the around, I am no longer the young heart, young body athlete I once was so I have to learn to make smarter decisions with my diet overall health in the future. This class along with others has given me great tools to empower me to increase my physical being and improve my endurance as a professional. Out of a one to ten rating I would score my psychological state at a 8, my spirit at a 9, and my physical state at a 6 for my standards.

 III.            Goal Development

Mentally my goal is to learn more about the healing from within abilities and apply it to my life so that I can teach it to others and help them become as mentally tuff as they possibly can. Spiritually I have set a goal not for myself but to my children and wife, to give them the benefits of the same teaching I got as a child about faith and doing the right thing in order to receive their blessings. Physically my goal is to recover from my surgery and not only run again but keep my body in good condition year round and stay healthy and hopefully inspire someone else to do the same.

 IV.            Practices for personal health

For my physical health I will improve my exercise routine, ever since my surgery I have been limited in the things that I can do physically so while eating better will help I will also gain back my strength and athletic ability. Second I will decrease my alcohol and smoking, while I do not drink or smoke to a dangerous level it is still unhealthy and not helping my physical health so I will begin to cut back on those activities. (Smith&Sehgal2013) Mentally the first thing I will do is get more sleep, this is hard as a soldier in the Army because our sleeping habits are always changing for duty and missions I will try to get more sleep and rest on my off days. Second I will practice stress management activities such as meditation, I come fond of the meditation results and plan on applying to my life more often. (Smith&Sehgal2013) Spiritually I will read my bible more with my family, this was done with me more times than I can remember during my childhood and has benefited me in years now as an adult. Secondly I will spend more time with my family, me and my family have been away from each other a lot ever since joining the military. While we have not grown apart I feel that we need to start giving more of ourselves to each other before we do.

   V.            Commitment

I will assess the goals that I have set in a couple of ways; first I will gather my family together and do somewhat of a survey from them on how they feel right at this moment. And then down the road after the six month mark I will poll them again to see if they feel any different about our relationships, their spirit and their faith. I will use “prizes” to help keep myself on track with my long term and short term goals in order to keep the intensity and passion high to get to the next goal.

References

(2013) Smith, Melinda M.A., Segal, Robert M.A., Segal, Jeanne Ph.D.; Improving Emotional Health: Strategies and Tips for Good Mental Health http://www.helpguide.org/mental/mental_emotional_health.htm

 

Loving Kindness & Subtle mind

The two practices that I see as the most beneficial for me out of the exercises that we were asked to complete was the Love and Kindness and the Subtle Mind. The Love and Kindness exercise teaches to use the compassion you have inside to not only show affection but as a tool to battle stress, forgive those who are closes to you, and learn how not to let things lie heavy on your heart. The Subtle Mind is all about the balancing of the physical body and the mental state and the belief that the spirit will guide you into a healthy lifestyle. Your overall well being should always be the focus when you are dealing with stress, illness and recovery from painful mental and physical situations. When you incorporate healing with the entire body as a whole you can help eliminate other disruptions in the body that you may not even know exist, also this a good way to use prevention to those mental and physical illnesses.

Meeting Aesclepius

The experience with this exercise was very interesting, as I was thinking about the person at the beginning of the meditation the only person I could really think of was my wife. At first when I was instructed to do so I thought it would be fitting to pick someone older but I knew the person for me would be a female. However my wife was the only person I could think of and I rolled with that and the thoughts that I was imagining during the exercise were very interesting in the events and the environments that I saw myself in and saw her in. Meditation has really opened up my mind and giving me peace at times but not in a relaxing way but as a way to take all of my busy thoughts and set them free in an healthy environment. Using meditation during times of stress for me will not be for relaxation but as a way to clear my mind and become more clear on my decision making.

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself," this is a very true quote not only in life but in the profession that I am in. It is hard for a person to really buy into the concept that you are presenting to them they need to know that you practice what you preach. If you are in the field of living a healthy life style and the decisions you make for you own life do not reflect that, you will have a hard time gaining the trust and attention of your patients. Also, yes you are obligated to your patients, improving in your psychologically, physically, and spiritually health will only further your professional help that you are providing to your patients.

The Subtle Mind

1. There was not much difference for me in the loving kindness and the subtle mind exercises, while the directions on how and what to focus on was different the patterns, music, voice, ocean sounds were pretty much the same. I think the only thing that the subtle mind exercise had a better focus on then the loving kindness is that there was a better flow, in the loving kindness exercise the voice, the sounds of the waves crashing in the background, the music coming in out of nowhere became a little bit of a distraction. In the subtle mind exercise I was able to listen in and focus more on the task of breathing and clearing my mind as the intent of the practice. 
2. The link between spiritual wellness and physical and mental wellness is the belief that balance is the key to a healthy well-being, when prayer is incorporated into your lifestyle whether it be for coming out of a stressful situation, healing from a health problem, or just being thankful for the life that you have and grateful for the family around you, you promote happiness and a positive mindset. So from a physical standpoint your body can focus on healing from within and not needing the assistant of medication and health machines. Mentally you become more aware, mature in your decisions in making the right choices for a healthy body. In my personal life I have always believed that pray and a strong spirtual belief in the power of God has given me a strong mental mindset with a positive outlook on life, and physically I am able to work, I am not plagued by  illness or the lost of body parts so I believe that my relationship with God has given me a body to do work.

Love and Kindness

1. What I got from the exercise this week was using love and kindness as more then just emotions and feelings but using them as tools to over come negativity and pain. This is very beneficial as a mediation exercise when dealing with controversy and difficulty in your life. Also I got to use love and kindness as a way to treat yourself, your friends and family, but also those who you do not get along with because something as positive as love will allow you to heal wounds with positive solutions. This is a great exercise for others and something I would recommend for someone to conduct three to four times a week as a relaxation and release.
2. Mental workout is a process driven by mindful meditation, being aware of where you are emotionally, physically, and spiritually and working toward a balance to a healthy lifestyle. One of the aspects of this concept is living in the moment and appreciating the now so that you can look forward to moving forward in a healthy way. Other benefits such reducing your stress level, improving you overall health, and generally just being happier with yourself and your situation. Meditation is already something I plan on implementing in my efforts to be more relaxed and reduce my stress level.

The Mind Body Connection

As far as my physical well-being I would have to give it a 6, for two reasons, one I have been dealing with being overweight for a couple of years now and I know that it has made things difficult for me and a burden to my body. Second I have been recovering from a surgery for about three months now and that is not aiding me in loosing weight as I can not do much during this time of recovering. Spiritually I am at a 8 because I have great faith in my religion and rely on it to get me through hard times and pray everyday for the strength to continue on. Psychologically I am at an 8 as well because I am very strong minded and that is due to my up bringing and staying mentally tough through the good and the bad, even in good times you must keep your head screwed on tight and be prepared for anything.

Physically I want to get to my idea weight, my idea health, and visually an idea look that I want my image to portray. Spiritually I would always like to be close to God but more as a family as we continue in our lives to stay blessed and make the right decision to live life in his light. Mentally I would just like to be at peace with my lifestyle and not having my family worry about food, education or how we will survive.

I believe extending my knowledge in my trade, in what health decisions i need to make, and follow to the T the word of god will get me to the results I want and that my family deserves.

Wow, I actually had to do this twice, no lie I was so relaxed the first time I fell asleep for like ten minutes I woke up to him speaking about the beam of light and was like wow either I was really sleepy or really needed this to relax and clear my mind. I was really in-tuned and focused on this exercise I believed after this term I will continue this and look for more ways to do mediation.