It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop in all aspects including psychologically, spiritually and physically because they serve as the example for us to follow.  For example, if a health and wellness professional prescribes meditation, or a fitness regiment to help us achieve our goals; what would be the impact on the individual seek help from the professional if they were out of shape and did not subscribe to meditation in their own life?  It is important for those administering the advice and recommendations to practice and believe in what they preach.  I personally have several goals I am striving for; one is to incorporate loving kindness (Dacher, 2006) into my life.  As I have previously posted, I somehow have a disconnect within myself where I have terrible difficulty in expressing compassion and empathy.  Also, due to multiple injuries, I have suffered both recently and in the past, I am not physically the person I once was or want to be.  Finally, I very much desire strengthening my spiritual tier as I once was.

            Throughout this course I have assessed my health in all domains and I seem to come up short in all respects.  As I have stated previously, the last nine weeks have taken a toll on all aspects of my life due to illness, injury, work issues resulting in family issues.  However, because these have been identified, I now have a road map to recovery and holistic wellness.  I set a goal for my physical tier to further recovery from injury and illness though both western physical therapy and through eastern methods such as acupuncture and aura therapy.  Spiritually, I lost perspective, and am seeking counseling through several methods from religion to my eastern medicine physician who promises a wonderful outcome.  Finally, mentally, though meditation, prayer and social groups, I have been able to begin to pull myself out of hole I proverbially fell into.

            The number one strategy is to stick with what I have learned over the last two months with this course.  Meditation I have learned has helped me significantly in all three tiers.  Utilizing breathing visualization techniques have helped me to look beyond the fog of physical pain and depression, and have opened my spirit to hope once again.  I now find time to get away from the crowded areas demanding my attention and for at least an hour a day practice diaphragmatic breathing while performing visualization meditation (Seaward, 2009).  Additionally, prior to going to sleep, I have begun to perform progressive muscle relaxation techniques prescribed by my physical therapist.  During this exercise I focus on slightly tensing and then relaxing particular muscle groups starting from my toes up to head.  This technique has performed wonders for both stress relief as well as muscle tension due to stress.  Spiritual prayer I employ throughout the day, when I first wake up, then while I am at work, and before I go to bed.  I have seen a dramatic increase in my mood and a decrease in my stress levels.   Also I have learned the value of social support (Sapolski, 2004).  For years, I felt I had to be that tough ole’ sarge who didn’t complain or seek help in venting frustration and pain and just went on with my life.  However, as I was going though this course, blast doors from within began to crack open and shine light on things I have been hiding from for years.  Through a trusted support network, I have been able to slowly vent off some of this pain and horrible memories.

            Luckily now I have help and I am aware of my condition.  With that being said, I can honestly say I am not sure how I will assess my progress in the next six months as my life situation will be completely different from what it is now.  I do know that throughout the next six months my growth will be a continual process with the integral health infrastructure we have built ranging from the health and wellness counselor, medical practitioners, spiritual counselors and social support groups.  What I can say is, I will keep what I have learned from this course as I strongly believe it has truly saved me.  As for long term, keeping with and moving forward in a holistic approach is my goal. 

A Higher Level of Conciousness

Several years back, my mother suffered from several three simultaneously.  When she finally came out of coma after several months, she was never the same.  At some times she had the personality of a eight year old, while others she had slipped back into coma.  Unfortunately, living hundreds of miles away and with extremely demanding and not so hefty resources I was unable to spend nearly as much time with her as I desired.  After four years of suffering through the “miracle of medicine”, she finally passed.  After several attempts at the assigned meditation, I could no longer continue the MP3 as the only images which would surface were of her where I practiced the imagery as the MP3 directed.  Needless to say, the experience was far too emotional to describe as she was my guiding light and confidant.  So, I can’t say with any accuracy how I could continue these practices to gain greater health and wellness until I come to terms and forgive myself for not being there for her as she had been for me.

            Throughout my career as a supervisor and a leader, I have always had the philosophy of not assigning a detail or duty on someone if I had never performed myself.  To me, this is the same, how can a health and wellness professional prescribe a particular treatment or practice, if they do not subscribe to the same disciplines.  As I am not a health and wellness professional and chances are, will not be, I can only apply this to being a teacher or a civilian military technical instructor which in many cases can probably help with the issues young troops develop when they are out on their own living a life they have probably never have imagined.  On a side not, you would be surprised on the interesting issues young troops suffer from.  How can I apply this to my personal life?  I would say, think higher.  Instead of living the two dimensional life I have been living for years, raise my consciousness and really see and experience the world around me and live it instead of  it living me.  Thank you for reading/

Aaron

 

Unit 6 Meditation and Self Assessment

Hello everyone,

In the loving kindness exercise I noted the meditation focused on an external view.  Similar to envisioning the current state we are in as well as the current state others are in and focusing your energy to help those around you as well as yourself.  The integral assessment focused on an internal evaluation of oneself finding the aspect of one’s life which requires immediate attention, then, maintenance of that area then finding the next which requires additional attention.  I learned in both exercises that I do not focus enough attention spiritually on those around me and within myself.  Only recently have I focused spiritual attention on those around me and myself.  However, since doing so, I have noticed a positive difference in both others and my condition.  I have decided to focus more on loving kindness meditation utilizing psychospiritual energy to reinforce other aspects of my life.  I honestly can’t say why I chose this other than the fact that it makes sense to me as this area of my life feels out of sync with the rest of me.  Thank you for reading and I look forward to your posts.  Cheers!

 

Aaron

Unit 5

This week I listened to both audios (Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind) several times.  The Subtle Mind audio seemingly put me in a trance to where I was aware of everything around me, but in a dream state which was wonderful every time until it ended and it seemed like I was being ripped out of a dream.  However, the Loving Kindness audio continues to perplex me.  I relax and let the audio be my guide, but I feel as though my emotions are behind a blast door which simply will not open.  Though I do have people in my life I love dearly, I simply cant seem to connect with what the audio is directing.  In the past couple of weeks I have suffered from massive physical ailments.  To tell the truth, just the ideas this course was proposing caused me to regress into a proverbial cave, afraid to what doors may open if I implemented the ideas proposed.  However, I have come to terms with my fears and my physical ailments are subsiding as tread closer and closer to fully acclimating myself to concepts of spiritual, mental and physical wellness.

                Truthfully, I am not sure if I am doing this blog right because everytime I post on other blogs, it does not seem to show up.  So, if I blog on your page, please let me know to be sure I am not screwing anything up.  Thank you for reading.  Cheers!

Aaron

Unit 4 Blog/Journal Psychospiritual Flourishing

One of the most difficult issues with this exercise was finding a place where I would not be disturbed and could be at peace for 15 minutes.  After reading and listening to the recordings I attempted to implement what I learned.  I found this very difficult.  I have a difficult time trying to grasp what it is that I feel.  Additionally, I found it very difficult to understand what others feel.  When I attempted to grasp how I feel or felt, I didn’t know, I felt as though my mind kept asking me why I wanted to know and that I could not figure it out until I was able to answer the “whys.”  Unfortunately, even those questions eluded me.  However, when I attempted to feel what others, I fell short.  I could understand or comprehend what others feel or felt.  I became irritated, and I could not differentiate of what was irritating to me.  Then I discovered what it was, negative energy, I am surrounded by those who a transmitting huge volumes of negative energy. A mental workout is similar to a physical workout, but one is working out the mind in the sense of expanding consciousness.  Research indicates that we can “evolve our psychospiritual life and access its capacities and resources” with daily practice (Dacher. 2006).  One should practice daily for atleast 5 minutes but optimately 15 minutes to achieve progression.  Thank you for reading; I look forward to reading your replies.

Aaron

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

Hello Everyone

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my blog.  To be completely honest, this whole blog thing has been one of the most intimidating things I have done in years.  Though in only took me a couple of minutes to develop it per the instructions and only a minute to figure out what the professor meant in her email regarding adding folks to this.  Its funny, I am taking two wellness courses simultaneously, and this is the most stressed out I have been in quite some time.  It could also be simply bad timing, recently we gained a new commander who (mildly put) is quite challenging.  Plus, with my recent decision to retire, my future is far less certain than the previous two decades.  All this in addition to the damage my body has incurred during my service has finally caught up to me.  So, if I seem distant or unfocused, please, bear with me.  Thank you for reading.

Aaron