Unit 10

In the beginning, I would have put myself at a 4 in the beginning of the semester.  Today I will say that I am at a 6 or 7, and still counting.  I am working hard to change from who I was and to become who I need to be.  I had decided to make meditation a huge part of my life, and I am learning to do it, and I love trying every day.  Also, I had decided to breath through difficult times.  I didn’t think I would do it, but I have been and it really does help me.  I needed to become much more active and this weekend was warm and I got my daughter and my bikes out and we went to the park.  This course has been wonderful and has given me the reason to make changes I always wanted to do.  I know want to look into Feng Shui, and what I can do to my bedroom.  Good Luck everyone

Final Project

It is very important for health care professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically.  The reason is very simple, and that is because you need to practice what you preach.  I think it is impossible for anyone to recommend, or endorse a practice, unless they have done the same themselves.  Since I want to be a nutritionist, I need to make sure that I have prepared and healed myself psychologically.  I am really enjoying this class, and what it has shown me how to handle this aspect.  I believe that my favorite part has been building my spirituality.  The meditating and “listening” to myself has been wonderful.  As for developing myself physically, that is something that I really have to pick up the pace with.  I cannot guide others if I am delinquent in guiding myself.  This is the one area I just lack the time and push to do. 

            I assess myself spiritually, physically, and psychologically every single day.  As for my spirituality, I look into myself, and I speak to god, and the elements around me.  I happen to love ladybugs and they have come to me at different stressful times in my life.  One had even crawled out from under my phone at work.  They are considered good luck, and have been called a representative of the Virgin Mary, and also a reminder to “Let Go and Let God”.  How awesome is that?  So of course I surround myself with lady bugs and they remind me to take a moment to reflect and pray.  It’s rewarding and calming. 

            As for my physical being…well I have neglected that in the past 1.5 yrs.  There is no excuse but, it has been a stressful time.  I have the tools and knowledge not to let myself become overweight again or neglect myself, but alas, it happened.  In my new job, I have

FINAL PROJECT                                                                                                                            3

been going up and down the train steps, and there are a lot of them, and it is getting my heart going.  I am happy about it, but I need to do more. 

            For the past few months, I have been working on myself psychologically.  I have been questioning many things that I was doing in the past, and realized that I wasted much energy instead of handling things differently.  Now, I stop and rethink the process I should take during different situations.  I collect myself and think about how I want to feel and I end up doing something totally different then what I would have done.

            My one physical goal is to get myself moving like I used to.  I used to love to put on my ipod and walk/jog in the house.  My daughter would get up and do it with me and we would giggle with each other.  Sometimes the walk/jog became a weird dancing.  Also, I look forward to bike riding with her this spring.  I want to keep tummy breathing meditating.  This has been so beneficial to me.  At night when I am listening to my meditation station on Pandora, I relax and tune everything else out.  I want to keep this going for my mental health..Let’s face it…I need it.  As for my spiritual self, I want to keep talking to God, and also, try to become one with the elements.  I am reading Eat Pray Love, and she is in India right now and it is very spiritual. 

            I will implement the walk/jog into my life by marking it into my calendar.  This way, I cannot forget for find an excuse.  Another exercise that I am going to implement is bike riding with my daughter.  I will make her a promise to do that, and I cannot go back on it, because she always says a Springer always keeps their promise.  Strategies for my

sychological growth, is to down load meditation CD’s to my iPod.  This way, I will always have it with me.  I also have a small water fountain that I am going to bring into my office at work.  This way when I am at lunch, I can distress.  I am thinking about acupuncture…but not sure yet.  I saw a woman on the train today who took out a small bible, crossed herself, and started reading.  I may not pray all the time, but I believe it is important for me to speak to God.  My other way to grow, spiritually, is to stop and sit outside a few times a week and just be quiet and listen to the elements.  As the weather warms, I plan to sit by the ocean and just try to be one with it.

            The way that I will assess my progress is by journaling.  I current journal when I am at work.  It has help me very much in the past three months.  As I write down my feelings, it helps to relieve the stress and I think more clearly.  At the end of each month, I will assess and see if I have met any of my goals or if I have fallen off the wagon.  If I have fallen, then I will get back up and do it again.

Unit 8 - Visualization & Meditation

For me,

the practice sessions for visualization and meditation were the best.  I have already implemented meditation and it has done wonders for me.  Because I have breathing deeply when I am meditating, I have found that when I am in a stressful situation, I have been stopping myself and mind and breathing to calm myself.  My second favorite is visualization.  I remember when I was a young girl, my mother had a phobia about leaving the house.  So, we contacted a doctor who came to the house to help her try to leave the house.  He used visualization and hypnosis.  I can remember him telling her to visualize her walking down a red carpeted staircase and walking towards an airplane.  The whole idea was to have her visualize herself going out and doing something she wanted to do.  She always wanted to go to Spain to see her sister, but unfortunately she didn’t.  Anyway, I have been using visualization to help me too.  I think about sitting at my favorite beach in Cape May, NJ, and listening to the ocean.  It calms me and it doesn’t cost me a thing. 

Unit 7 - Meditative

Hi All

My meditation for this week is so calming.  I had to envision someone whom I respect, and I picked my mother.  She has been gone for almost 19 years and when I did the exercise, it felt like she was sitting right infront of me.  I could see her smile and her eyes and hair moving in the breeze. It was a wonderful moment.  It calmed and centered me.  Many times I have called on her to support and help me, by doing it this way, it will help to calm my mind, body and spirit, instead of reaching for something and not knowing what to do with it.

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself", means that you cannot advise someone on anything unless you have done it yourself.  A health and wellness professional cannot help others unless they have followed their own advice.  A person needs to walk the road before they can send someone else upon the journey.  For me, I know I need to follow a healthy lifestyle along with a spiritual one.  I cannot help clients unless I have helped myself first.  I will continue to meditate to assist my psychological and spiritual growth. 

Subtle Mind

Hi All ~

So, I have to compare Subtle Mind with the Loving Kindness exercise.  I liked the way Subtle Mind started with focusing on breathing.  However, and maybe this is just me tonight, but I didn't like the talking tognight.  It felt like it was every 10 seconds or so.  So, when I would get in my zone, I was interrupted again.  The passed few nights, I have been using the Pandora app on my Nook, and I have found that listening to that has calmed me even more.  I focus on my breathing and let my thoughts come and go.

Spiritual, mental and physical all play in together.  When I exercise, the endorphins make me very happy, and the spiritual/mental aspect are helped along with that emotion.  I find my spirit is lifted since I have listing to the mp3's in this class and meditating on my own.

How do you all feel?

Loving-Kindness

This weeks exercise was so wonderful.  Not only did I look within myself, but obsorbing the negativity from family, friends and others in my life, then projecting love and kindness out to them was enlightening.  You really can have an affect on others.  Making the choice of letting go and bringing in goodness is rewarding.  I found myself smiling and chuckling when I would see certain people's faces.  It's amazing who your subconscience reaches out to.  When I first heard the instruction of taking in others negativity, I was hesitant, but I let go and did it.  It was NOT a negative action or reaction.  I found this exercise to be powerful, cleansing, and loving.  I would highly recommend it to others. 

Mental workout is a wonderful concept.  Purposely working my mind to do things it has never done is an awakening.  I am finding myself stopping in different situations and letting go by using my breathing and imagery.  For the past few days, this has helped me handle different issues.  I find that I am taking time for myself, and I am not letting certains things affect me negatively.  I have also walked away from different conflicts.  By handling this differently from the way I used to....is revolutionary for me.

Quotes

"Let food be thy medicine" ~ Hippocrates

Wellness....Physical, Spirtual & Psycological

So I am to rate my reflections this week on a scale from 1-10 (ten being optimal wellbeing).  My physical wellbeing is about a 7.  If you asked me a week ago I would have said a 5.  This is only because due to my new job, I am walking up and down train station steps.  So I am forcing my heart to pump away.  I was stuck in a rut before this and now I am feeling good about my physical being.  By Friday, I wasn’t huffing going up the stairs as much as the beginning of the week.  Also, for over a month now, I have cut out beef, chicken, pork and veal, and I am feeling so good.  I don’t drag like I was and have much more energy.  I am currently working on the spiritual well-being.  I am having meditation time at lunch in my office, and I have a small water fountain for my office.  My psychological well-being is a work in progress.  My new job is going to be a huge factor in this instance.  Fingers crossed, lol. 

Going forward, my goal is to be able to take the stairs without huffing and my knees not hurting. I am going to make it a promise to myself to meditate every day and get in touch with the me inside myself and make peace with my surroundings. 

My office is on the tenth floor, so my goal is to get off a floor or two before hand and walk up instead of taking the elevator.  Also, I need to notice my trigger points and know when to shut my office door and meditate so I can feel the energy around me.  This will help ground the frazzled times during the day.  I am a Gemini and our element is Air.  My goal is to try and have my office environment moving with a small fan, and aromatherapy.

I am really looking forward to all of this me….mind, body and soul.

Relaxation

Wow..I just listened to Journey On Relaxation for my Creating Wellness class.  As soon as it started, it felt like a switch was turned and my body immediately wanted to relax.  Listening to the narrator was so wonderful and going through the exercise I felt like my body was starving for this to happen.  Taking the time to sit quietly (which I never do), and breath (thank god I do that), was so nurturing.  I have always wanted to make a small place in my house a "meditation station".  But with my family I don't know if that is possible.  After this, I really need to find a way and place to make this happen.  I believe it is important to focus on the whole mind, body & soul as one unit.  However, when I was relaxing, I found that my mind would drift to things I need to do.  I would then force those thoughts out of my head.  I know there is plenty of time to focus on those needs. 

Hmmmm I think I will make this a mile stone I must reach.  There is a section on my side of the bedroom that I am going to dedicate to this.  Hmmmmm the wheels are turning....

Faith

“Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Weil

I am really starting to like Dr. Weil and what he has accomplished.  I am always on his website looking up such great information.  One thing I did not know about him was that he suffered from depression.  He has suffered a really long time.  I have purchased "Spontaneous Happiness" of his on my Nook.  Just havent had a chance to read it yet. 

Imagine a world in which medicine
was oriented towards healing rather than disease
where doctors believed
in the natural healing capacity of human beings
and emphasized prevention over treatment.

In such a world doctors and patients
would be partners
working towards the same end.

Andrew Weil, MD

Quotes

"I am no stranger to disaster, and most certainly no one would ever call me a coward". ~ Dorothea Benton Frank, Pawleys Island.

First Day

Well, I finally figured out what I am doing with this blog.  Atleast I think I do, LOL.  Let's just keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't cause me more stress than I need.