* "It is always the simple things that change our lives.  And these things never happen when you are looking for them to happen.  Life will reveal answers at the pace that life wishes to do so.  You feel like running but life is on a stroll.  This is how God does things."  - Donald Miller

* "What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality." -Plutarch


This has class has helped me to understand the importance of integrating  psychospiritual practices into a nutrition program.  True health and wellness comes from integrating the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of a person.  When we start to focus on just one area of our being we become unbalanced in our lives and stifles our growth causing unhappiness and disharmony in our life.

Looking back over the past ten weeks I have seen a progression in my understanding of integrated health and how to achieve it.  In week three we were asked to do an initial assessment of our physical, psychological, and spiritual life.  In week three I rated my physical well-being as an 8 and I would say that it is still currently an 8.  I am continually trying to improve my physical condition with diet and exercise, but the reality is that I am getting close to 60 and things slowly start to wear out.  My goal is to stay as fit and trim as I can throughout the rest of my life so that I can have the energy to serve others.  In week three I rated my psychological well-being as an 8, due to menopause and I would now say that it is a 9.  Through prayer and meditation I have found ways of dealing with the hormone fluctuations that come with menopause.  Finally, back in week three I rated my spiritual well-being as a 9 and last week I rated it as a 9 3/4.  As I Christian I know that my sufficiency is in God.  I am still a work in progress, but do try to read my bible and pray every day to learn, grow, and keep an open communication with Him.  I also continually try to do those things that honor the Lord with my life which includes ministering to and serving others whenever I can.  Philippians 4:7 says, "Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."  This has definitely been true in my own life. 

As for making progress towards my goals I would say that I am slowly making changes.  I am still juicing and exercising every day but haven't yet added time onto my exercise regime.  Praying is still a part of my daily routine and I have added a bit more time for meditation.   I have gotten better about sending notes of encouragement or making phone calls to people who are in need as soon as I hear about it and not waiting till I have forgotten and/or the time has passed.  My goal is to keep working on these areas and to make new goals as the need arises. Doing daily practices such as prayer, meditation, and possibly Tai Chi will help me continue to develop and grow in the direction of integral health and wellness.

This class has helped me to better understand the importance of integral health and has given me some tools for implementing it in my life as well as sharing it with others.  As I pray and meditate my well-being grows a little each day.  The most challenging aspect for me was figuring out how to take the guided meditations we were given and utilizing them in a way that fit my beliefs.  This was good, though, because the majority of the people I am working with right now are Christians, many of whom have been raised to steer clear of meditation and its "New Age" ideas.  I found several good Christian meditations that can be used and developed some techniques that can incorporate meditation into a daily prayer routine.  This class has also helped me see the need for implementing an integral approach to my nutrition counseling.  Life is a journey, and what a blessing it is each and every day.

* "Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content." -Helen Keller

*"Happiness doesn't depend on external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude."  - Dale Carnegie

* "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart." -Helen Keller

Being Purposeful With My Life

Introduction

            As a health and wellness professional it is important for me to be constantly developing psychologically, spiritually, and physically which will keep me on the path to integral health in my life.  By developing these areas of my own life I have more to give to others.  When I know peace I can share peace, when I have loving kindness I can show loving kindness, when I know the benefits of meditation I can share that knowledge with others etc.  I cannot adequately share with others what I do not all ready have within myself.  According to Dacher (2006), “We want to live with purpose, passion, intimacy, and joy (p.1).”  And when we have those things within ourselves we naturally want to share them with everyone around us.
            In order to achieve my goals I need to continue working on my time management skills.  This will help me throughout the next year as I work at finishing up my classes and getting my degree.  It is also an essential skill for every area of my life. Taking my natural tendency for flexibility and being loosely structured and incorporating a bit more structure and time management will help to bring a balance in that area of my life.   The goal is not to lose who I already am, just to become a better, stronger, healthier version of myself.

Assessment

            To assess myself psychologically, spiritually, and physically I sat quietly praying and meditating and used that time to make a personal assessment of my life.  I looked at how far I have come in the past ten years and tried to take a realistic snapshot of where I am now in order to help me set goals for the future. 
            My physical score would be about an 8.  Since that number was only about a 2 ten years ago I am thankful for that number.  Last year I had a bone scan and was told that I had severe osteoporosis.  Having researched the data on bisphosphonates I told the doctor no thank you and that I would focus on reversing the osteoporosis with diet.  He laughed and said there was no way that would happen.  Last week I had another bone scan and I no longer have osteoporosis, or that doctor.  Diet and lifestyle changes as well as my daily prayer and meditation have worked together to bring back my health in many ways. 
            My mental score is a 9.  I try to stay positive and focused on the wonderful blessings that God has given me in this life.  Sure, unpleasant things happen and life is not always easy or kind, but even in the midst of those tough times there are always little blessings every day to brighten the way, it’s just a matter of looking for them.  I like to think of them as kisses from God.  Life is a marvelous journey and well worth it.
            My spiritual score is about 9 ¾ because I know that I am not perfect nor will I be this side of heaven.  As an evangelical Christian, my score isn’t based on the fact that I am actively involved in my church and its ministries, but rather on my deep abiding love for, and relationship with Jesus.  My daily walk with Him helps me to grow and develop spiritually which in turn helps give me the tools to share with and minister to others.  It also gives me that calm assurance that I do not travel through this life alone, God is with me 24/7.

Goal Development

            Dacher says “To become the agents of a more expansive health, we must begin with our own life (Dacher, 2006).”  To do this I need to continually assess where I am physically, psychologically, and spiritually.   Therefore, to help me grow, I need to look at old goals to see if I have met them and to determine if I need to set new goals.  Goals help me focus on changes that need to be made, give me direction as to where I need to go, and act as an encouragement when they are met.
            My physical goals are to continue juicing and exercising every day, slowly increasing the exercising as I get stronger and have more endurance.  The other physical goal I have is to get to bed by 9:00 every night instead of 10 or 11.  Getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night is important to my physical well being.
            My psychological goal is to add a few more minutes every day meditating.  This will help me develop strategies for reaching all of my goals, help me focus on the things that are truly important, and help me continue to find peace in a very chaotic, busy world.  I also need to be better about sending weekly notes to my mother as well as notes of encouragement when I know of someone who is sick or simply going through a rough time.
            My spiritual goals are to pray daily for God’s guidance in my life, and to find ways of ministering to, and serving others.  Last week I signed up at the local senior center with the “Meals on Wheels” program to deliver meals to the elderly.  Next week I will start delivering meals which will give me an opportunity to deliver not only food, but also love and encouragement to seniors who are homebound.  In developing my own spiritual life through prayer I have the capacity to share loving kindness to others, which allows my spirit to minister to theirs.  This is important for connecting to the world around me in a positive way.

Practices for Personal Health

            In order to reach my goals I need to incorporate practices in each area of my life.  As Dacher (2006) puts it, “An Integral Practice Program is a fully integrated and coordinated series of practices.  We create an integral program by combining a series of practices that broaden the reach of any one practice and then anchor and fuel them with contemplative practice (p.122).” 
            For my physical practices I want to add a mile onto my walk aerobics routine and incorporate light weights into it at least three times a week for resistance.  I will start setting my cell phone alarm in the evenings to help me get to bed between 9 and 9:30.  Also, I will be mindful to get at least 3 fresh vegetable juices a day. 
            For my psychological practices I plan to incorporate at least two of the meditation practices we have learned this quarter into my current meditation time.  Another practice that I will do is to put a weekly reminder in my day planner to send my mother a note.  She doesn’t have a computer and loves getting letters.  Along with this I will make it a point to call or write a note of encouragement as soon as I hear of someone who is need of it.  We all need a ray of sunshine from time to time.
            For my spiritual practices I will keep a prayer list of people that I want to pray for every day, rather than relying on my memory.  This list will include family, friends, immediate concerns, and world situations.  Another practice will be to continue to go to church regularly and to serve in ministries as needed.  Most of all I will daily give thanks to God for the many blessings He has given me.  I am so grateful to have such a faithful friend helping me through life.

Commitment

            To assess my progress in the next six months I will continue to do a weekly self assessment.  This will help me to see where I am having success as well as the areas that still need work.  It will help me to see the areas that I need to focus on the most.  To help me maintain my long-term practices for health and wellness I will continue to pray and meditate daily.  This is where I get my strength, my focus, and my purpose to get through every day.  We all have the essence of human flourishing within us; it’s merely hidden from view.  We just need to tap into it (Dacher, 2006).

Conclusion

            As humans, we are made up of our physical body, our mind, and the spiritual body.  These three aspects of our being are not separate entities working independently of each other; rather they are meshed together and need to be nurtured as a whole.  “All of us want a life of authentic health, happiness, and wholeness.  We want to go beyond our usual sense of health and life.  We want to live with purpose, passion, intimacy, and joy (Dacher, 2006, p.1).”  In order to achieve integral health and get to a place where we are truly flourishing we need to incorporate practices into our life that help to develop our physical, mental, and spiritual body.  Practices such as meditation, prayer, exercise, healthy diet, yoga, Tai Chi etc. help to bring balance to our life and put us on the path to true health, wellness, and wholeness. 

 

Reference

Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral health the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA.: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

 

 

 

My Personal Growth

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."   -Nelson Mandela


This class has helped me to better understand why meditation is so important to my physical, mental, and spiritual health.  It has helped me to fine tune my own prayer and meditation practices and given me ways to use this knowledge to help others.  The two practices that were the most beneficial to me were the visualization exercise and the integral assessment exercise. 

The personal assessment exercise helped me to look closely at the areas in my life that needed to be worked on, to form a plan to rectify the issues, and then implement the changes into my life.  This is important to mental fitness because if I do not take the time to look at and identify areas where improvement is needed then I won't experience  growth towards integral health in those areas.  I plan to use this meditation and assessment practice about once a month to look at any progress that has been made and to see if there are new areas that need to be worked on. 

Doing the visualization practice always gives me a wonderful sense of peace and helps me to feel centered and balanced.  For me it kind of ties in some of the other meditation practices we have done.  As I sit quietly with my eyes closed and visualize times of great happiness, people in my life (living or dead) that have loved and guided me, times when I have experienced a sense of wholeness, radiant health, and well being, I feel a great sense of peace, thankfulness, and gratitude to God and his grace towards me.  This exercise is important for me all the time as it helps me to foster loving-kindness towards others and focuses my mind on what is really important in life and the God who blesses me beyond all measure.  For me visualization practices like this are especially important during times of stress, times of tragedy,  and times when things just seem very overwhelming.  In difficult times, sitting quietly and using visualization is especially important to help me refocus my mind and calm my spirit.  In doing this I am helping my physical body as well by not allowing sadness, anxiety, or any other negative emotion to set me up for disease.

Life is a bit like a roller coaster with its ups and downs.  Being able to take mental snapshots of the joy during the ups as well as look at how we have made it through past downs, helps us to get through what lies ahead of us in the future.  It also helps us to see how much we have grown psychospiritually which is an encouragement to continue on.

Finding Joy in Those I Love

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
                                        -Robert Frost-

These lines from the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost epitomize my life.  Deciding to accept Jesus at an early age, remaining a virgin till I got married, choosing to be a stay at home mom when the kids were little, adopting a raw food diet and healthy lifestyle, and turning my back on traditional medicine (except for emergencies) to cure me and instead using diet and lifestyle to heal from within.  I wouldn't be alive now if I had continued to follow the path of traditional medicine. Being willing to look within ourselves and follow our own path in life is so important and truly does make all the difference. 
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This week I started listening to the guided meditation, but soon after the woman started talking I realized that some of what she was saying went against my beliefs.  For me as a Christian the Holy Spirit is my inner essence who guides me, is my gift giver, heals me, and helps me along my path in life.  That role doesn't belong to a person either living or dead, except for Christ himself.  So instead, as I listened to the ocean waves, I thought lovingly of people that have been inspirational and guiding influences in my life but are now deceased.  I took time to remember and thank each of my grandparents, my infant son, and my best friend of thirty years who just died last year on her birthday.  I saved my best friend Jennifer for last because there isn't a day that goes by that I don't look at her picture and smile.  I can still hear her say over the phone "What's up Al".  She had battled breast cancer on and off for 10 years progressively getting worse as "treatments" intensified.  She had not decided to take the road less traveled when it can to her disease, and though I knew the treatments were killing her, I was there to support her in her decision.  So, even though I modified the meditation exercise a bit, it was such a blessing to sit and reflect on loved ones who are gone from this world but never gone in spirit, and embrace the thankfulness I feel for each one of them.
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Praying has been a part of my life since I was a child and has helped me to walk on the more narrow path in life.  But, learning how to  incorporate meditation with the prayer has made a big difference.  Prayer is more talking to God with just a little listening, while meditation is actually being still and looking deep within allowing me to really listen.  Combining the prayer and meditation has helped me to have a deeper walk with the Lord and has shown me that in the stillness is where I truly grow.
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To me the phrase "One cannot lead where one has not gone himself" means that as a health and wellness professional I cannot affectively counsel people on changing their diet and lifestyle unless I have been willing to do it myself.  I need to be living my life daily in a way that reflects the message I am giving out.  This means eating healthy, exercising, and meditating to keep me on the path to integral health.  As my mother always told me "It's walking the walk, not just talking the talk". 

"Thank you Lord for the path you have put me on in this life.  Thank you for each person that you have allowed to touch my life. Help me to touch lives and make a difference in this world." 

Assessing My Personal Growth

"We don't realize that, somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme self who is  eternally at peace."   -Elizabeth Gilbert-


This weeks exercise and assessment process was interesting as it is something that I have been working on the past few years, but never knew there was actual theory behind it till now.  It started about ten years ago when I realized there were a couple areas of my life where I was allowing fear to control my life and some of the decisions that I made.  I determined then that I would pray for strength and then look within myself and find ways of overcoming the fear rather than letting the fear overcome me.  The biggest fear I had was of flying.  Early in our marriage I had witnessed two small planes crash and had a piece of bloody cushion fall at my feet.  Though it wasn't something that I ever thought of much, deep down my subconscious had not let it go.  So I developed a plan.  I started by flying down to see my parents in Florida.  When I entered the plane I sent up a prayer asking God to bless the flight and the pilot, then left it in God's hands.  After I sat down I pictured angels underneath the wings of the plane holding it up and protecting me.  During the flight I meditated and gave thanks, read a book, and thought lovingly of the visit I would have with my parents.  By the end of the journey I realized that rather than feeling distressed I was at peace.  This practice is something I do now every time that I fly.  I can honestly say that flying is still not my favorite thing to do, but it no longer has a hold over me.
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For this weeks exercise I sat in my favorite chair, crossed my legs, then prayed and meditated on and assessed what areas I need to focus on improving in my life.  It came to me that my nutrition, interpersonal relationships, spiritual life, and worldly focus are flourishing but the areas that needed to be improved are regular and consistent exercise as well as finding ways to stay focused and follow through on tasks and not let myself get distracted by other things.   When I was done meditating I sat down and made a plan as to how to accomplish those two goals. 

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As for exercising I realized that I am not consistent because I hate to take the hour away from my schoolwork.  Meditating let me see that I will do better with my schoolwork if I honor my health by working out everyday.  My plan is to read my bible and pray when my husband leaves for work at 6:30 and then take an hour to either do a 3-4 mile walk aerobics video with Leslie Sansone, or take my dogs for a 4-5 mile walk.  This will give me plenty of time for schoolwork and anything else scheduled for that day. 
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Following through with projects and not getting distracted with other things is a bit more tricky.  As this relates to house cleaning I decided to have a basket in the room I am cleaning to put items that go into other rooms.  This way I don't go to put something away in another room and find things that need doing in there.  This way when the room that is being cleaned is done I can just take the basket around the house and put any items in it away at that time.  Finding a way not to get distracted in regards to craft projects took some thought.  I have 5 or 6 projects for myself that got put on the shelf when presents for people needed to be made.  My plan is to finish at least two of the projects before I take on any new ones.  After that, for every new project that comes up I will finish an old one.  In the future nothing new will be started till the current project is done.  This will definitely bring me a sense of peace.
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  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."   Philippians 4:13

Quiteing the Mind

                         Quieting the Mind in a Noisy World

 "You have to be still for a moment to even notice that there is silence outside."  -Eckert Tolle-
                                                                                                                        
"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a spring day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." -John Lubbock-
                                                                                                               
 This weeks meditation exercise on the subtle mind was completely different for me than last weeks meditation on loving-kindness.  Last week the lady walking us through the meditation talked most of the time and guided us in thoughts of developing loving-kindness.  While I enjoyed it and felt peaceful, my mind was continually working and thinking of the people I love. This week the meditation had very little talking and had us concentrating on our breathing while listening to the sound of waves.  It was much more conducive to relaxing and clearing my mind.  The waves took me back to my childhood in Southern California and walks along the beach.  I could almost smell the ocean and taste the salt air on my tongue.  It was very relaxing and I didn't find my mind wandering much at all.  Both exercises serve a different purpose and this is the one I would use to quiet my mind if I started to feel stressed. 

After the exercise not only was my mind more settled but my spirit was rejuvenated too as I had been communing with God. When I was done with the exercise I listened to this Christian meditation that speaks to being still and my spirit was lifted once again.  In case you are interested here is a link to it on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_mlMWctF74   

For me spiritual wellness centers around God and how He works in my life.  When I spend time reading the bible and praying it focuses my mind and allows me to think about and dwell on those things that are really important.  It also allows me to show loving-kindness to myself and others and puts me on the right path for the day.  Also, I've noticed that as I have become healthier and stronger physically I have become much more in tune with my spirituality.  At the same time as I become more in tune with my spirituality my physical wellness improves as well.  The mind, body, spirit connection is truly amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loving-Kindness

                                                       
                Cultivating Loving-Kindness
  Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
                                                                                           -Mark Twain-                

This weeks meditation was better for me than the last two weeks.  I think that part of that has to do with the fact that I found the ladies voice easier to listen to.  It wasn't difficult as the topic of loving-kindness is something that I focus on everyday in my prayer time as I think about and pray for family and friends.  In fact, on the desk top of my computer there is an accessory called media player that plays music from my iTunes and rotates pictures from my photo albums.  Every day I sit for 15 or 20 minutes meditating as I listen to the music, watch the pictures, and focus on the love I have for my family and friends. 
       I have found that loving-kindness is something that people you come in contact with can feel even when no words are spoken.  It comes from within and just flows out.  My husband asked me one day, after a trip to the market, why it was that random strangers seem to come up to me and just start talking and many times telling me personal problems that are bothering them.  The only answer I had at the time was that perhaps somehow they know that I honestly care enough to listen.  After our reading the last couple of weeks I definitely think that's true.  As to whether or not I would recommend this meditation to others, there are a few very nasty, difficult people I may suggest it too.  Just kidding, yes I would recommend it.

I think what Dacher means by mental-workout is simply exercising the brain.  Being willing to take time each day for contemplative practice as Dacher puts it.  He says to take an hour a day, which is optimal, but if someone only has 15 minutes or so I would encourage them to do what they can.  Something is better than nothing.  We learn from the time we are young the importance of getting adequate physical exercise but not much emphasis is put on exercising the brain.  As Dacher (2006) puts it "it is a way of  cross-training our body, mind, and spirit all at the same time".