An Overall Review of Creating Wellness in my Life

This semester I took a course at Kaplan working on obtaining my Health Science degree.  The course was titled Creating Wellness:  Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing.  I feel that this was right on time to being brought into my life.  Over the past year I have had little joyous moments, many hardships and traumatic events occurred.  So I am now reflecting and looking back at these moments of my life and the Unit 3 Personal Assessment we were asked to complete.

Back when this assessment was first taken to look at different areas of the mind, body and spirit I rated my growth at around 4-5 on a scale of 1 to 10.  Now I would say I am about a number 7 so obviously I have grown mentally in someway.  Yes I have because this course has taught me different skills that I can apply and call necessary life skills that I now deem necessary for survival in our world.

I previously set a goal to rid negative emotions, thoughts, etc. that are disturbing to my mind.  I feel that by using visualization and focusing on breathing has opened my mind up to dealing with these types of thoughts.  This in return opened a doorway for me to start looking inward and listening to what I need to move forward letting go of unhealthy habits, thoughts, etc. that hinder me in growing mentally.  This is definitely a point of being to be holistic in healing methods.  My mind is now clearer and with some stillness I can look for wisdom inside for healing techniques.  

So I move forward working on the second goal/principle currently to achieve inner happiness.  An overall happiness so I can walk forward with my head high feeling more confident knowing that I am taking responsibility for my own health here on out.  Knowing this and feeling it helps me improve my self esteem.  I have a more positive outlook because I can already see that I am heading into a healthier way of living and that is integral health which will lead to human flourishing.

In the future I have faith that I will achieve the lasting effect of loving all things good and bad.  I will be able to appreciate the bad because I will truly know that in order to really experience the good in my life I had to have the bad so that I could grow in mind, body and spirit.  This is a necessity for all living things so we will thrive individually.  I am a unique individual and truly loving myself will be the challenge.  I feel that sometimes I am my own worst critic.  When I begin to flourish and evolve others then will be able to naturally see that on the outside.  When this is seen I then can be of use to all others and all experiences that I encounter will have personal meaning.  I can share this part of me with others and when I have this new found confidence in myself I will definitely shine.  This natural lightness will be a contagious effect and who wouldn't want to feel truly happy and at peace!

Namast'e

Aesclepius Healing

Aescleipus is the Greek God of healing who is portrayed in fashion of peace, happiness and love.  We can learn much from the Greeks due their method of healing was in a sense of balancing different units of the human life.  Much like in our current culture when we use methods of contemporary and alternative practices of medicine.  Dacher explains this in more detail in Chapter 3 of his book Integral Health:  The Path to Human Flourishing.  When I look at my life and the current health regimen that I follow I feel that I could definitely use this as a tool to further grow in mind, body and spirit.  There are five principles that they follow in their practices of integral health 1)  It is holistic, 2) Evolutionary meaning that progression of healing is over time throughout our entire lives, 3)  We must have intent and be a part of our healing process, 4)  It is person centered where there is a specific regimen that is tailored to individuals needs and finally the fifth principle 5)  it is diverse to be changed as the person changes throughout their life.  I currently am working with a mixed amount of holistic and modern medicine to deal with my health needs.  I hope that in the future I may further eliminate modern medicine and only turn there if there is a life threat occurring.  By being involved and looking at different parts of my health that need changing by taking an integral assessment I can tailor my health practices to what works for me.  I feel that if we all work towards the goal of prevention then overall we can be a part of minimizing serious diseases that occur over time from diet, stress and other factors from the fast paced lifestyles that Americans live.  Let us be a part of the changes in the world!

Exercises for Obtaining Your Goal of Integral Health

An exercise that I found beneficial is the one associated with practicing working with the subtle mind.  I can use this exercise a way to practice mental fitness.  The more I work with focusing on my breath, the body, the thoughts that I encounter I am choosing to multi-task inside the mind working towards a goal of a calmer sense of being.  By doing this I am working with intent and a purpose.  I can utilize this activity when I encounter something that I am afraid of and fear overwhelms me from reacting.  I can work with my mind to calm myself so then my body does not access fight or flight response.  I can think calmly about how to react or move forward from accessing the higher mental capacity to find wisdom.  From this wisdom I can then have guidance to achieve what I need to release this fear.  Fear is something negative that hinders our growth.  If we hold onto this then we cannot find other things that is necessary for replacement for ultimate happiness.
Another exercise I find beneficial is the integral assessment.  If we tend to look at each area of who we are in the whole sense then we can find the imbalance with the inner and outer beings of our individuality. Mental fitness is important so I feel this is the utmost way that I can practice working the mind to access deeper levels for my own healing.  For instance at this current time I find that due to fear of the unknown or quiet being who is inside telling me of something I do not want to hear or something that I already know to be true by the natural instinct that we all carry within.  I then replace the quietness with movement on purpose because of this fear, in return I am needlessly causing my own suffering.  So if I re-assess where I am at once this fear is overcame and mindfulness is practice to replace it with a positive outlook of some sort I can then uncover what else needs to be worked on for integral healing.

Looking for New Innovative Ways to Expand Healing Practices in the Workplace

Ken Wilbur gives us this thought “One cannot lead another where one has not gone him or herself.”  In a professional world clients cannot see what is going on in the inside of the workplace. We have firsthand experience so we can see more that is going on and if we have complaints then we have the responsibility to our clients to ensure their complaint is heard and some type of action may be administered.  We should have the courage to make change in our workplace and speak up if we see something unfair going on or some type of downfall that is occurring that is affecting the business in itself.  For instance I worked at a 24 hour mental health facility that worked with clients who were addicted to something, suicidal, slower in mental capacity.  In this center I saw that the clients who came back more than one time or more who had issues associated with addiction the Director were treating these patients differently as well as the Nurses. The director also played favoritism towards the people that she was able to relate to easier or who did as she said whether it was wrong or right.  She used her power to make the facility run as she demanded to tailor what she needed but her actions was still immoral to me. It was as if the frustrations of these people not seeing things as they did poured this on out in their actions and was taken out on the clients. Rude comments were spoken to people who I saw needed us to guide them in a healthier direction and need to stabilize the mind.  Clients noticed this and complained, many of the people who I with did not want to speak up and say something due to she was the highest superior for them in the facility.  They would talk with coworkers that they trusted and found that they too felt the same way but they still would not speak up against the Director.  The day I had to work for the third day in a row because a co-workers cat was sick and she was the daughter of one of the nurses so she received no reprimand for her behavior at all.  Really a sick cat, C’mon I said this is way too much and is not right when other coworkers of mine would get reprimanded if they were a minute or two late and so dedicated.  It was just wrong so I went to Human Resources, in the end I lost my job because the Office Manager looked for reasons to let me go because I spoke up and let me tell you it is quite impossible for someone in a busy facility to shop on the internet and hit 457 sales sites in one day.  Really! I remained friends and were acquaintances to other people who worked there and a day or so after I was let go the Director was asked if she wanted to be fired or resign from there.  Also others started speaking out due to my courage to speak up when I finally thought for many months, weeks of how can someone do something so unfair and let’s say I had a father who had issues with drinking and other family members who had addiction problems to overcome.  I was able to see things from both sides the healthcare worker and the client.  So it is our responsibility because people choose to come to you because they trust you with something private about them and each person’s health is their privacy about a part of their being.  Trust is earned, it is a gift and when broken they may not be so open the next time around.  It could take years before they will look for guidance again or may never take the opportunity at all again in their lives.  So we must practice mindfulness in our professions when working with sensitive subjects for the human mind.

Mindfulness

More and more people are noticing that there is hardships in our world.  During these times we tend to look inwards for answers.  Also in current times we have much diversity in the United States where we live and many Americans also relocate overseas.  In this sense we have to be mindful in our reactions so we then train our minds to think before reacting around someone who is from a different culture.  So healthcare professionals have to be mindful in their thoughts and actions when it comes to caring for different people.  By doing this we are expanding our minds to see other dimensions of things around us so therefore we grow spiritually and foster this growth when we exercise our mind to think differently.  If we do this we are open to learn so we can continue to apply by learning different languages, practicing some of their ideas in healthcare, read to understand different cultures, take an energy healing course and much more so that we can continue to grow and expand.  When we do this we then have access to deeper levels of our own inner being and can care for that inner person to foster greater wellness in all areas of our lives.

Integral Assessment to Healing the Self:

The Integral Assessment looks at several areas of our lives such as conative, cognitive, emotional, personal, family, community, work, social activism, generativity, self-regulation, nutrition and fitness aspects of the mind, body and spirit.  It is guided by six principles to assess these areas:
 Alleviate needless suffering and promote human flourishing as a goal. Which aspects of our life are the most significant sources of distress?  In my own life I see that feeling as if I am a failure and this is so deep rooted that I am having trouble assessing where it is actually coming from.  I obviously have had great accomplishments that I can see, others compliment on or have rewarded me for.  I still cannot shake the feeling, maybe it is because I am afraid and fear that something will be taken from me.  I don’t want to feel the pain associated with that aspect which is losing something deserving of or loved.  So this brings me to the next question of “where is our greatest possibility for growth and development?”  I can see that I have an issue with fear as I read back on my answer above.  I need to learn to release working on fears of loss in my life and being judged by others.
Integral health is being able to recognize what needs to be worked on in short term and long term to relieve us of needless suffering or permanent relief.  We must know the difference between the two types of goals in one relationship.  For instance in a short term sense I need to increase my self-esteem to feel confident, learn to think positively about myself.  Then in the long term I can be relieved permanently by not feeling like I am being judged for being who I am meant to be.  The practice of self-love needs to be applied to my ego.
Integral health recognizes the difference of application for immediate pleasure and long term flourishing to be recognized.  Immediate pleasures we acquire from outer experiences and can become attached to that pleasure.  The long term flourishing is by looking at the inner and peeling off the layers so we can release these attachments of immediate pleasure.  In my life I see this appear in the pleasure of food but need to look at what emotion causes my need for eating for comfort.  When I can uncover this in the inner I then can work with adding exercise to become more balanced in my body.
A comprehensive assessment needs to be done in the psychospiritual development of the being.
The assessment relies on listening calmly, clearly on a deeper level so that we can have guidance.
The assessment addresses different areas, lines and levels so it must be looked at and re-assessed during different periods or circumstances in our lives.
Overall on a deeper level and asking questions in each of the quadrants  focusing more on each individual aspect I learned that in the conative area I am driven by emotions, fears in a psychological sense.  The second is due to my values and what I consider moral and finally I think that my survival is based on both of these areas and I can work on this area to be motivated to react in a sense of intent with wisdom for healing and flourishing.  In a cognitive aspect I react from what is natural, sometimes with logic and reason and with conditioned learning.  I find that I lean more towards and instinctive nature and less conditioned due to working already on this area of my thinking. In the emotional area of this quadrant I find that I move between emotions and pleasures working towards a more stable mind.  I can use some work with the drives of my reaction.
In the second quadrant I need some major help to work on releasing conditions I have place upon myself and restricted my growth when it comes to exercise, nutrition.  The only thing I see some advancement is on self-regulation.  I need to look for motivators to move me forward to balance.
In the third quadrant I work for survival and am now working on schooling so I can cultivate meaning in my careers.  In the social activism I am almost at my peak and find much balance for what I need.  My generosity is at its peak I find meaning in all interaction and teach when necessary, love when needed, heal when I can.
I think the overall area of relationships are balance but need to work on emotional issues the most.  So therefore I plan on focusing on this area for working on growth and development of my inner core and mind.  I must focus more on self-assessing for points where I am at in development. I can work more on quieting the chatter of my mind and the need to feel busy or constantly going.  I need to learn not to fear the silence that has answers and guidance for me.  If I can achieve these things I can achieve greater wellness in myself.

Universal Loving Kindness

 I find expression of this kind of care something I am already too familiar with and have practiced this for the past ten years.  I was brought up in a Catholic religious decent and due to becoming pregnant at 17 being unmarried I was not allowed to marry in the church I was brought up in.  I was shamed and due to that I sought out a connection in a spiritual way looking for the Divine in existence and ended up where I am now; a practicing Pagan which started from doing prayer work and ritual finding the inner connection of who I am by the religion of Wicca.  This is something I do daily is use affirmations of that as in this exercise.  By doing this I am creating by my act an intent to manifest change into my life or others that I encounter and in the whole Universe.  By sending healing thoughts we bring about healing in our own inner being so that we can see what we need to end in our own needless suffering.  If I see something suffering on the earth, whether it is a plant, animal, person or object to give the loving care that it needs at that time.