Unit 9: Personal Application of the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing.

Personal Application of the Psychological and Spiritual Aspect of Healing

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Applications of the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Monica Benway

Kaplan University

 

 

 

HW 420 – 30

Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Susan Johnson Stewart, Ph. D.

September 28, 2010.

 

 

I. Introduction:

Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically? What areas do you need to develop to achieve the goals you have for yourself?

    I think the main idea for a health and wellness professional to be developed physically, psychological and spiritually is so he/she can have a high level of knowledge to be a true guide to his clients. A true guide must be prepared to face all the questions and/or situations that could be present when treating the clients: "As the saying goes, one cannot lead another where one has not gone him or herself" (Amorok, et all., 2005, p. 477).

    I order to achieve all the goals I have been putting off for a long time; I need to work in all areas: physical, psychological and spiritual. I have learnt that every area is directly connected with each other.

 

 

II. Assessment:

How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?

    I have never assessed my health in each domain, until this class, I never even thought about assessing each area of my life before. My first assessment for my spirituality is 6, for my psychological score is 7 and physical is the lowest score of 4.

 

 

III Goal Development:

List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.

    My most important physical goal is to lose weight and keep a healthy body shape. Psychologically, I long for less stress and a more relaxed life. And spiritually, I want to be able to practice meditation more often and get to know myself in a deeper level.

 

 

IV Practices for personal health:

What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual. Provide at least two examples of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.

    On the physical domain, I definitely have to exercise more often and since I am recuperating from surgery; for now, I can only do my physical therapy and walk
as much as time allows me. I usually eat healthy, but I think I can do better than that by being a little
stricter
on my daily diet. I will have to cut down on food containing flour and the sweets, these two little steps can help me to at least keep a healthy weight besides improving my level of energy.

    Psychologically and spiritually, I want to increase my level of positivism, it has been helping me to keep stress from escalating. So, mental visualization will be a great exercise to achieve it. Self-improvement books can also be an important tool to improve myself; I will have to find books for stress management. By the way, that will be one of my future classes at Kaplan; it will remain me of my personal goals now, hopefully I will have reached them by then.

The few meditation exercises that I have done during class (even though they have been sometimes a little difficult to follow), definitely taught me how in a few minutes I can enjoy a stress free time to myself. I felt internal peace and harmony that goes beyond my mental domain. So, I have to make the time for meditation, I will be practicing the Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind exercises have been very productive to deal with my daily routine. I will try to find other exercises but I will keep those two meditations as my pillars.

Praying also has been some kind of special refuge for me. In the most difficult moments: a prayer has guided me to find the best solutions for my troubles, also has helped me feel some peace during stressful times. To improve my praying power, I am going to learn and practice more prayers and apply them to my daily life.

My intentions are great and the little steps to reach them are achievable, I am not aiming for out of reach goals. I just have to manage my time the best possible way; by delegating chores at home, multitasking more effectively and keeping a stricter schedule, where I can leave a few free minutes here and there for me only to use studying, reading and/or meditating.

Once I can take more time to dedicate it to myself, only then I am going to be able to enjoy integral health.

 

 

V Commitment:

How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months? What strategies can you use to maintain your long-term practices for health and wellness?

    Hopefully, my future assessment in the next six months will be about progress; trying to achieve the highest point in the scale of 1 to 10. Most likely, I will assess the three domains once a month: losing weight, maintaining a relaxed daily routine and enriching my spiritual life. One strategy for my physical domain that will be very helpful is to check my weight often to keep track of my progress, besides that my clothes will allow me to notice if they are getting lose.

    Psychologically, my family will also keep me in track, because whenever stress is "getting in my last nerve", my children and/or my husband immediately ask me what is going on, or why I am mad. That is my wake-up call for me to realize I am letting stress reign my day; and I take a little time-out and that helps me get back in track emotionally.

    Spiritually, meditation will turn into an often exercise whenever I can. I will continue to be consistent on praying; and if is time possible to attend Church activities to maintain me closer to spiritual harmony in order to achieve integral wellness.

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Amorok, T., Micozzi, M. & Schlitz, M. (2005). Consciousness and Healing. St. Louis, MO; Elsevier Churchill Livingston.

 

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health. The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA; Basic Health Publications, Inc.

 

 

 

Unit 8: Optimal Well-Being: Psychological, Spiritual and Physical Keys to Health and Thriving.

Looking back at the previous exercises, I think that Loving-Kindness and Visualization have been the most beneficial to me. Today was a very example of the benefits of Loving-Kindness for my daily routine: I encountered two people (in separate occasions) who gave me a hard time without a reason. The first one was a coworker, this person's actions were quite annoying, I was about to exploit but I started to breath deeply and my mind just focused on the Loving Kindness meditation and I was able to 'ignore' his actions and feel relaxed. Then the second was a patient (on the phone) who did not think twice on taking off on me what other coworker had done to her. She was very offensive, and once again I was about to go off, when I decided instead to breath deeply and I was able to realize the lady was right in a way even though she was treating me quite unfairly. So, I visualized her in a compassionate way and I offered her a solution to her problem and at the end of the conversation, she was even nice to me.
I think I save myself a lot of energy that way; had I fallen into the "explosion" game, I bet I would had wasted my energy and would had felt exhausted at the end of the day at work.
By changing my negative feelings for positive ones, as the Buddhist teachings say; I was able to turn a negative day into a more positive and productive one.

Unit # 7 Current Trends and Research Supporting the Mind-Body-Spirit Paradigm

At first it was somewhat difficult to follw the visualization in the "Meeting Asciepius" exercise. Probably because the person I have chosen was my Greatgrandmother (for whom I feel a lot of love, respect and admiration), has passed away and whenever the instructor spoke, I got startled, feeling like the it was my Greatgrandmother the one who was talking to me.
Just before starting the exercise, my mind had been busy with situations that have already passed and still annoy me. After this meditation I felt in control to let go those situations and my mind experienced a nice state of relaxation.
To continue the application of these practices in my life; I must take the time or make the time to continue these exercises, to improve and achieve health and wellness. After this experience, I realized how much I need to work on my psychological and spiritual wellness.

The phrase "One cannot lead another where one has not one himself" tells me that no one can truly guide anyone else into a new path without being there and have done it himself first.
In order for a wellness professional to be fully capable to guide and give the necessary support to his clients he oughts to prepare himself accordingly. A great guide must be educated and trained psychologically, physically, and spiritually because he is going to be responsible to help other achieve a better or improved level of wellness. So, if he is not well aware and prepared, how can he help others?
I think that the best way to implement psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life will be by implementing meditation as much as possible in my life.

Unit # 6 Universal Loving Kindness - Meditation

I thin this is the exercise that I have enjoyed the most. The first time I read the phrases they got my attention, by the third time I had a feeling that what I was saying was actually possible for me to do, like not so far away from my reach.
At the end of the exercise, I realized that I felt very calm, I felt in peace within myself, my loved ones and people around me; even with a couple of individuals I had been upset with. Personally, I had a sense of accomplishment that allow me to forgive and be alert to help.
The Integral Assessment practice allowed me to realize that more than anything else I need to focus more is mental relaxation through meditation; to take a break from my daily routine and enjoy a peaceful moment for my mind only. I think that will allow me to recharge my "batteries" and be able to function better in other areas of my life. Another aspect of my life that needs more attention is my physical body; since I have been unable to exercise, I need to learn about exercises that I can do in order to loose those extra pounds that I have. As soon as I notice a slight weight loss, I know my mind will also feel rewarded and will gain a deeper sense of happiness.

Unit # 5 The Key Role of Thought in Wellness and Healing.

I found the Subtle Mind exercise easier to follow than the Loving-Kindness practice. I had to listen to the Loving-Kindness exercise a couple times to complete it. I remember feeling uncomfortable when the instructor asked to think about a love one in pain and 'absorb' her pain, transform it and breath it out in the shape of love and kindness. I think I felt uncomfortable and somewhat frustrated because the love one I thought about is in emotional pain. I felt like her pain could have affected me while I was breathing it in, but at the same time I wanted to continue with the exercise to give her a little help. It was like crossed feelings.
During the Subtle Mind exercise, I was able to quickly stayed focused. The instructions were so much easier to follow and I felt more relaxed when it ended.

At the end of the Subtle Mind exercise, I was able to feel the connection between my body and my mind. I was physically, mentally and spiritually relaxed. My day had been hectic, just like my usual routine but I was able to calmly complete it. Even in the most stressful moment I was still able to be calmed, stress free!
This was just a little prove of the wonders that meditation can do for my wellness. There is still a long way to go and grow.

Unit # 4 The Mind-Body-Spirit Paradigm

The Loving Kindness was a relaxing experience; even thought I was interrupted a couple times by my kids. But it reminded me that the deepest love I have ever felt has been for them; followed by other family members. I realized that since I feel more happiness and satisfaction when I give love, kindness and attention to my love ones and others; I have easily put myself aside. This exercise also reminded of my mother always telling us to be nice to others and to treat them as we wanted them to treat us. She also said whatever you do will come back to you. I am glad I did, now I just have to work on leaving some love for myself.

I think the best way to explain the mental workout is to think of it as a workout where our mind stretches and tones and as a result it is relaxed and ready to focus and work to its highest potential. Mental workout should be practiced as part of a daily routine; I know I ought to do this kind of exercises to help my psychological and spiritual health; it can really help me to beat the mental stress of my daily routine. In addition, to be a stress relief, it will also reflect in my environment at home and work making them more pleasant.