Unit 7

1. Complete the "Meeting Asciepius" exercise on track #4 of the Dacher CD. Describe your meditative practice(s) for the week and discuss the experience. Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?

I reallly enjoyed this exercise, more so than some of the others.  The first time I did have some problems staying awake but then found that I really enjoyed it. I have not been one for meditation in the past and even though we have to do these exercises and I am enjoying them I feel like there is still a roadblock up at the moment. I know that simply doing the exercises each week has opened me to a better understanding of myself, what drives me and how I can improve and I will need to continue to try different things until I find the one or two that really make a difference.

1. Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” (P.477) How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?

"In order to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk" is a phrase that I like and it means basically the same thing as the one here.  Basically this means that before you can tell someone what to do you should have experienced it yourself.  As a health care professional it will be extremely important and obiligatory to my clients that I be actively developing myself. I have not yet figured out the best way to implement these practices in my own life but thats part of what I am trying to learn.

My presentation

I hope this works. I sent my presentation to google documents and published.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0BykfFLaIc4itMzY4MDJhNWEtOTA4Ni00YTZjLTlhOTMtN2EzZDMwOWI5MjIw&hl=en_US

Unit 5

Okay so I am late again with this thing but this week its not completely my fault. My department, usually 3 people but currently 2, was given a project that had to be completed. I have worked everyday since last Tuesday with 3 days being 12 hours each, not including tonight. UGG! Things should calm down this week and I have a random day off which will help. All that being said here are my thoughts on the questions for this week.
Last week I really enjoyed the exercise and would do it again. It was a little unconventional for me but I enjoyed it over. This week I was so mentally distracted that I don't know that I was able to reap the benefits of the exercise, try as I might. Most days when I attempted it I fell asleep and didn't finish. In some ways that was probably good because I was exhausted this week. I wish I had more to share on it because overall this seems to be a little more up my alley and I really need to learn how to declutter my mind. I am hoping to use it this coming week so I can try to post a little more on it next week as an add on.

I am a walking example of the mind/body connection this week. I have been so torn in so many directions for the past 7 days and everything about me is suffering as a result.  My mind won't shut off so I am not sleeping well even though I am having a hard getting up. I am cranky and short with people and I physically ache. Having learned more and more about the connection between the mind and body you would think that I would make time to balance things out. Knowing something and doing it are not always the same thing. From my past experiences I know that when I take time for me, whether its to exercise, ride a bike, read a book or just spend some time alone to process I am a much better person both in personality, appearance and mental alertness. Now I just need to force myself to make the time.

Unit 4 Reflection

Overall I found the Loving Kindness practice beneficial and fairly easy.  The taking in of others suffering was unusual but I was not really opposed to this concept as I think we do this in many ways without defining it.  I found that the background noise was soothing and appreciated how each section of the exercise was broken down.  I would not immediately recommend it for another person but would make it available for them to give it a try. I have enjoyed doing this for the week and will likely continue it for a few more to see what I can glean from it.

Mental workouts are just what it says it working out the mind.  Just like with the body the more we put into our mind the more we get out of it. I work hard to keep a positive mental attitude, take people for what they are and not sweat the small stuff. When I was thinking about this I think of it in reverse in thinking about my grandmother.  She was a sweet woman but negative constantly. This made it hard for her to even enjoy small things and it often rubbed off on those around her. She exercised her mind with negativity and it showed. I try to not to do that even though it seems to be in my family nature.