Unit 10-Review

Seven weeks ago, I have evaluated myself in a personal assessment using a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest score. My physical assessment was a 7 and it is still a 7 because as I evolve in my goal, I also set the standard higher, which I shouldn’t do just yet. I am regularly exercising now which I didn’t do 7 weeks ago and this is a  step forward towards my goal. I also fast twice a week, which helps me both with clarity of mind and weight loss.

In my psychological assessment, I am on a 7 scale as I was 7 weeks ago. As I have mentioned all along, I have been through a difficult personal situation and as things are clearing up, I still have some struggles.

In my spiritual assessment, I was and still am at a 9 scale, as I always tend to strive for better. My fasting practice and my intentional prayer helps me get closer to God and practice more loving-kindness as well as clarity of mind where I am able to disconnect from the mundane and elevate my soul to a higher level.

All the practices that I have intended to do are in place and done on a daily basis, from intentional prayer to meditation to relaxation exercises, to physical exercise to fasting.

During this course, I felt it came at the right time. Through my struggle, I gave up on this class and as I was already registered, I decided to take it. It couldn’t have come at a better time. I felt that I have grown in most aspects of my life but mostly; I’ve got my confidence back. It has been a very rewarding experience and I can easily say it was the best one in all 4 years of my studies at Kaplan.

 Some of the exercises were difficult in the beginning and I am sure because I had a hard time disconnecting from my thoughts . Overall, it was an amazing experience.

Thank you, all!

Unit 9 -My Integral Health Plan

1. Introduction:

As I have stated before, this class has been beneficial to me at so many levels that it blows my mind. I have never thought that personally I would gain so much from a school course.

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?

Health and wellness professionals are in charge of taking care of patients leading them to healing. During the process, they need to be focused with a clear mind, emotionally and psychologically detached and yet able to connect with the patient at a level of building trust and confidence. As an individual and a professional, I understand that I have to be strong and knowledgeable to be able to address the client’s issues. I practice many of my nutrition skills as a Personal Chef and my clients provide me with feedback. One of the strongest suits that I appear to have is my level of energy, positivity and willingness to address the client’s issues. Using my knowledge, I serve them to the best of my ability but what they applaud me for is my jovial attitude (how not, when I do what I love and get paid for?) and my positivity towards any challenge that might come. I know that there are things that I hide pretty well (after all, they sign my check) and I know that I need to work on my patience and my stress management. My job is pretty high-stress and demanding as I work with many special needs clients and sometimes, their needs bring me to the point where it is almost impossible to put together a menu. I have times where I feel like breaking a plate (not in front of the client, lol) or punch a punching bag to release my stress. Deep breaths, a brisk walk or few moments of mind de-cluttering will help.

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

My physical wellness is at a 7 on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the best. I say it is at a 7 because I have certain issues I need to work on and it has been 2 months since I am seriously getting “back in the wagon” of loosing weight, exercising more, detoxing and fasting. My eating habits has been healthy (plant based diet) for a long time yet combined with stress and other factors, I can say that my physical wellness has been affected.

My spiritual wellness is at a 9, on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the best. I only say it is a 9 because I always want to strive for the better. I conduct a spiritual life following my Jewish tradition and my relationship with God is a healthy one.

My psychological wellness is a 7, on a scale form 1 to 10, 10 being the best. Personally,  have been through some trials and tribulations which affected me professionally as well. I have recently moved from one state to another and starting a new business can get very tricky. This, combined with other personal issues took a serious toll on my emotional and psychological wellbeing. I am getting better as I consider myself a warrior that never gives up.

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

Setting goals, for me, is a very serious business. For my physical goal, I aim to loose 40 lbs in the next 6 months. I aim to exercise at least 4 times a week (which would be better than almost 0 now). For my spiritual goal, I aim to finish a study on prophecy that I started a month ago and it takes 6 months to complete it. I also, aim to focus on prayer and fasting more. I pray daily, three times a day and fast once a week. I will not increase the amount of prayer but the quality of it. My goal is to pray with intention and increase fasting to 2 days per week. Fasting helps me see with clarity and it will also impact my physical goal.  For my psychological goal, I intend to work on my stress management issues and improve my relaxation techniques in combination with clear minded meditation.

4. 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.

For my physical growth, I will implement my already “proven to work” strategy of fasting and hiking. By fasting 2 times per week, I seek clarity of mind and focus my body energy for the spiritual and psychological issues rather than digesting food. I have done it before and it works like magic. Hiking is an activity that I enjoy very much and being out in nature, will help me combines physical, spiritual and mental wellness during one activity. During hiking, I can pray with intention, meditate and reflect on a certain thought and burn some calories. It took me a while to learn how to ask for help, but now, I am getting better and I will not hesitate to ask a friend or even a professional to ask me with my struggle, whatever that may be. For now, I work by myself and have one friend who is helping me work out my emotional issues. I also work with my rabbi for spiritual and emotional issues and I will not hesitate to ask for professional help, if needed.

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

To stay focused on my goals, I have already created a chart on my corkboard, which will help me keep track of my progress and make notes each day. The corkboard is placed in a very visible space and it will be in my eyesight all the time.  In combination with visual aid, I also have a couple of iPhone apps that will help keep track of my progress of lack of it. I also keep a journal where I normally, “pour out my soul”, so to speak. Writing helps me put things in perspective and also ability to go back revisit my past feelings and compare with present ones. This way, I can plan for future. I am a very committed person in anything I set my mind to do and though I flounder sometimes, I never stray away too far from the path. I am normally able to get back on track on my own but I have learned to ask for help, which once was very hard for me to do.

Unit 8-Mental fitness, Practices review

I know I am repeating myself but I have to say it again. This class has contributed a bunch to my well-being and my mental health. Over the 8 weeks, I have practiced several exercises and I kept repeating them often. I actually adopted as a daily routine the Loving Kindness exercise and the calm abiding practice.

The calm abiding practice brings relaxation and disconnects me from the daily troubles and stress. It allows me to clear my mind and think about what really matters, on thing at the time.

The Loving Kindness exercise is easy for the first part where all the loved ones are being reviewed and invited to the “party”. It gets hard when I have to invite my enemies and forgive them, wish them well and bless them. I have been able to implement these exercises into my life as a clear mind can make the right decisions and a soul who is at peace and has no grudges, hard feelings resides in a healthy body. It might sound selfish but forgiveness makes me feel good. Kindness opens my heart and though vulnerable, I know that I am doing the right thing and I am at peace.

Implementing these two practices in my personal life is easy and I enjoy it very much. Applying it to my professional life, it is also easy. As a Personal chef, I deal with people in their most vulnerable state, hungry people. I enter their kitchen and sort of enter their most private domain. To be able to put them at ease, I need to show calmness, trust, love and kindness. If I can reflect these through my actions and words, they will embrace me and accept me. It will also make my cooking session easier as I think with a clear mind. I often took a few minutes before entering work to meditate, take deep breaths and relax.

Love and kindness sharpens the feelings and the senses. When at peace with myself, I can sense everything better, think better, make better decisions and love better. Mental fitness comes with practice and doing it every day, it will sharpen the senses, clear the mind and bring focus not only to mind but to life.

Meeting Asclepius

This week’s exercise was a tad difficult for me, in the beginning. I chose the wrong person to join it and me didn’t work. I was very distracted and couldn’t focus at all. I almost got irritated and turn off the recording. The 2^nd time, I tried I chose my grandmother to join me. She passed away when I was 4 and I hardly remember her. I have a special connection with her, if I can call it that. I was told we looked a lot alike and she loved me very much. Once in a while, I dream of her and we actually get to talk in the dream. This time, it worked like magic. I have experienced the waterfall and the rushing mountain stream until I reached the river flowing into the ocean. The freedom experienced was breathtaking and was able to fully emerge into the exercise.

“One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself”.  I have lived by these words for a long time and I truly believe that walking the walk is the way to go. Talking is easy but doing it is the hard part. In my personal life, I try to think of the other and walk in their shoes, hypothetically, in my professional life, it is also important to show compassion and understanding and even though I might have not experienced what my client does, I can embrace it with compassion, care and love.

Loving-Kindness

The exercise “Love Kindness” is very powerful. To me, is like a prayer for end of suffering, for love and compassion, for freedom, health, happiness and wholeness. As this prayer I am pretty sure everyone wishes for themselves and their loved ones, I expand it to people that I don’t necessarily like or know. This is experiencing Loving-Kindness. For me, it helps to relieve anger and hard feelings, find resolution and release myself from a circle of pain.

The self-assessment was intense and enlightening. As I walked myself through my life and its problems, I reflected on all aspects and pinpointed the ones that bring me much pain, anxiety, difficulty or dilemma. At this point, I know that I am doing well physically and I take care of my body though there is always room for improvement. Spiritually, I am in a good place of growth. My approach to identify my areas that need work was to identify what brings me most distress and concern. I need to work on my interpersonal aspect of my life and this is all I can say at this point.

Through meditation and prayer, I am able to bring body, mind and spirit together to harmony. Reflection and  focus help me clear my mind and think of what matters, what needs my attention at that particular time. Relaxation exercises are being done at least once a day, mandatory at night, before bedtime.

The subtle mind

The “loving kindness” exercise was challenging and it needs repeating daily to learn the practice of being kind and loving unconditionally. As it is easy to love a person you already love, it is much harder to love “your enemy”. This is the culmination of loving kindness.

The “subtle mind” is a very pleasurable exercise. Learning breathing techniques to ease the mind is very pleasurable and I have been doing it for many years now. I have found this exercise very familiar and easy to follow. I usually feel refreshed after this exercise or any exercise that involves clearing the mind and doing breathing exercises.

Practicing these exercises for this week was very beneficial to me and I was able to face the very troubled times I am going through. With these exercises in combination with meditation and prayer, I am able to keep my head held high and my mind clear and focused. As I have mentioned, I am traversing a personal difficult time and I have noticed that physical changes started to happen, such a more frequent headache, feeling sluggish and maybe coming down with a cold, sometimes feverish, etc. With these techniques, I am able to keep my mind focused and my physical health in check as well. It is all in the power of the mind and spirit. I have also going through a water fast that will last 7 days. The water fast helps me detox my body but it also gives me tremendous mind clarity.

                       

Loving Kindness

       This week’s exercise was not very appealing to me as Mr. Dacher has a considerably irritating voice. The woman in the “Love-kindness” audio does not have a voice that lacks any passion nor it soothing. I felt it was just blank. However, I enjoyed the sounds of the waves, as I love the sea. I was almost able to feel the smell of seaweed and salty water.

       My little kitten, Mitzu, was also part of the experiment. As I listened to the audio file several times in the evening, he always curled up next to me and purred to his heart’s content. He was calm at the sound of the waves but jump each time, the woman would start talking. I jumped too. I found it hard to focus on relaxation as she startled me each time. However, after the audio was over, I used a recording of waves and seagulls and I relaxed while thinking of what she said to do. It worked like magic. 

       Mental workout is important to be done daily to improve our mental strength. Just like an athlete, training every day, we must develop consciousness and expand healing abilities. As this contemplative practice does not aim to relax, I found this exercise somewhat compelling me to think of people and myself with love and compassion.