The Final Blog

The last and final blog for this class is so bitter sweet!! I have advanced in every aspect of what we have discussed.

Spiritual health: I went from a 3/10 to a 6/10!! That’s so great I really have been working on my life I have been working on becoming more spiritual and more open minded and hearted! I know these practices have really benefitted my life.

Physical Health: I went from a 6/10 to an 8/10!! I started my circuit training a few weeks ago and it has made me feel so much better about my physical well-being. I must have been at a stale mate because I went Saturday and Sunday without a workout and I could not wait to get back in the gym! I just love it and I am so proud of myself!!

Psychological health: I went from a 4/10 to now an 8/10!!! Look at me go! No I really have improved my mental health and I have been so much better about quieting the chatter in my mind and I have utilized these exercises to be better! I can restfully sleep at night and I can clear my mind easier and stay alert better and I have been able to manage my stress better! I cannot even begin to describe how much I have benefitted from this class and the improvements I knew I needed to make and I did it! This trend will not stop!

I have made progress into each one of my goals and the progress will truly never end. I am to stubborn to let this be the best! I will strive harder for improvement.

I started my training a few weeks ago and I love it. I have maintained meditation and mind and heart opening exercises and I have also implemented so much in my life to give me a lot more satisfaction. There is nothing about this that has been difficult, this is easy, feeling better and wanting more for the one life I have is amazing. I will never ever consider this lifestyle hard work. Sure it can be trying but I am a much better person making these changes and I hope someday I can help others feel the way I do and progress the way I have. It is never easy to make change but gradual changes make life easier! Never be afraid to be better and to do what is in your heart. Always improve and never become a stalemate! Enjoy the fruits of life and always do what creates you the most happiness. I have and it can only get better from here. Good luck to everyone!

The Integral Map

Introduction:

I am A Nutrition science major and I aspire to be a clinical nutritionist and nutritional counselor and advisor. I think that in this particular field it is crucial to attain whatever knowledge of natural holistic healing as possible. Implementing proper nutrition can really help attain a better biological health and can make a person feel so much better. By adding mental and spiritual health to the matter can open the mind and free the soul of any disturbances that can come with inadequate health. So adding nutrition to these aspects can certainly advocate an amazing lifestyle with the utmost benefits of life. I am personally nutritionally and physically in a substantially good place, my husband and I do a circuit training workout 3 times a week and we go on walks as often as possible, plus I am a waitress at a very busy local water side seafood restaurant so I am constantly walking, lifting and on the go. I am a vegan and I cook every meal at home with lots of natural and nutritious components and I make sure we get all the nutrients we need. I am very particular about what we eat and we spend a lot of time in our kitchen, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The one area I can say I need help in is my spiritual health, but I can say, that I have gotten much better controlling my stress level and mental acuity. I have taken techniques from this class and I have been able to implement them and learn how to better manage stressors in my life. I am a firm believer in practicing what you preach so I feel that with my life style and my drive to have a better more spiritual foundation that I can really help people strive to have a better more healthful life.

Assessment:

Back a couple weeks ago we did an assessment of what we thought our physical, spiritual and psychological health. I must say since a few weeks ago I do see so much clearer and I can say all my ratings have improved. Physically I am an 8/10, there is no such thing as perfection and no one can say there is, so I feel I am an 8. I can always improve and be better, but I am in a very good place, I am a healthy weight and I am very active. The longest amount of time I sit is doing assignments. The circuit training I have been doing have relieved stress and have increase my energy and has helped me through the stressors of the day to day.

Spiritual health I am at a 6/10. I am still a work in progress on this, but I can say that I can close my eyes, and before it would be a blur of busyness but now I have the ability to watch it fade away and feel uplifted. I think that the exercises provided have been helpful in opening my mind to something more than just the day to day. I still want to get to higher levels and I am going to try my hardest to get there but I have truly come a long way

Psychological health I am at an 8/10. I have improved here as well. I have been able to pinpoint stressors and try to avoid them and I have been able to have more control of emotions before I let them control me. I think with the meditation practices I have been using at night, with ocean sounds gets me a calmer mind and a deeper sleep and any of the stressful events of the day or I may have to endure I am ready for and I can handle them better. I can say how incredible it feels to have a better state of mind. Life is too short to be a ball of stress and let your head become full of clutter, clatter, and chatter. I am not perfect but utilizing these practices has really made me feel better.

Goal Development:

Goal for physical health: I wish to get down to my pre- car accident weight, I have about 8 pounds to lose which isn’t necessary but I am turning 30 this year and I wish to turn heads as well. It is a completely vain goal to have but I also am passionate about health regardless. So by tightening up not only do I improve health but I improve my body as well. Live by the beach so this will help me feel more comfortable being around people in bathing suits.

Goal for mental health: Do not ever stop meditating and do not ever stop believing in my mental capacity to be better. I never want to lose sight of my mental acuity, so I will always work on these exercises, test myself and make sure that if things do get hectic, to step back, breathe and remember what is really important. This and exercise is really helpful in improving mental health. While I am doing my cardio with my music I actually sometimes come up with the best ideas or I can figure out a problem easier. Mental stability is important; I wish to never ever lose sight of that.

Goal for spiritual health: Keep meditating and improve my meditation practices. I know that utilizing this will expand my mind and I will be more spiritually sound and implement my loving kindness to other and hopefully others will embrace my spirit as well.

Practices for personal health:

Well for all of these domains of health there are so many tools and exercises that can be implemented.

Physical: Cardiovascular exercises, swimming, zumba, aerobics. I can name so many more activities that you can do to improve your physical well-being. By doing any of these activities at least 3 days a week you can improve your physical health immensely and be on the road to further healthy practices. Any of these exercises can also help your mental health too. I use a lot of cardio to clear my mind of I am stressed with school or my kids.

Spiritual: yoga, meditation, retreats, church. All of these things can help spiritual growth no matter what practices you involve yourself in. Yoga is also good for your physical and mental well-being as well.

Psychological: Cardio, yoga, school, learning, traveling, meditation. All of these things can keep a dulling mind sharp or frantic mind calm. Meditation can really harness the inner calm and keep peace in your mind. Expanding your mind and calming your mind and removing chatter can pose to be so beneficial in life.  I like how a lot of these activities you can do can harness all aspects of life and be beneficial in all aspect of health.

Commitment:

I am just stubborn enough of a person as to where failure or lack of progress isn’t an option. I will be involved in helping people better their lives in any way possible. Lacking progress just simply cannot happen. Sure, stalemates are always probable, but I wish to always strive to always be better, wholeness, happiness, and complete physical health. I am going to continue my circuit training because it has been so beneficial to me, and I am going to hold myself accountable just like I would if I was nutritionally counseling someone. I think meditation will also be huge in my life, I cannot describe the benefit is has given me. My sleep is more restful and my mind has been clearer, I cannot imagine going back to using old practices and letting the mental chatter ruin most of my nights of sleep. From this point forward I vow to myself and for the benefit of my family I will never lose sight of the importance of what this class has shown me about happiness, wholeness, and human flourishing.

 

Unit 8 Loving- Kindness and a Subtle mind

I had mentioned previously that I had really benefitted from the loving kindness exercise and the subtle mind exercises as well. The first time I tried to do both of them I fell asleep :) For me this is a huge thing! My busy brain takes hours to quiet and calm down after most of my days, but these literally calmed me right down and put me to sleep. So when I tried them again my focus started on not falling asleep, then they took me away! I utilized the loving kindness exercise at work, and one of my co workers who is a stressed out, tough person to be around, let her guard down and we are now actually becoming friends. I really have been more open to a loving kindess attitude and I have opened my heart to a lot of things after this class has started. I truly hope I can take these exercises with me. They are really helpful and I am truly greatful this has been introduced to my life.

Unit 7 "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself"

I do these exercises and I alsway get so relaxed. I always like many of you picture my grandmother. She was so important to me in my life and some of her last words to me was how she was so proud of me. I get so emotional picturing her, but it makes me smile, she was so selfless and so happy to be a part of me and my sisters lives, and in so much of it. My son even remembers her, and remembers her love. So as I sat back quietly in my chair I always feel waves of color and as my breathing sets a regular rythmic pattern, then next thing I know I feel this raw sense of happiness as the voice awakens me from my experience. I love implementing meditation in my life, life is busy and not calm with 2 little kids and work and school, the list of my responsabilities are endless, but with these calming exercises (especially before bed) I sleep sounder, my head is clearer and I do feel such a raw sense of happiness and joy. Life in the raw I like to call it. There is no other noise, no other disturbances, it is me, myself and I, and the beauty my mind can possess, despite the chaos.

 "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself"

I think the ultimate saying here is "Practicing What You Preach"!! There is no way I can go into a fitness facility or help nutritionally counsel people if I am not following nutritional standards and taking good care of myself. It reminds me of nurses and doctors who constantly need cigarrette breaks, it reminds me of a doctor my son had when he was sick in the hospital. This doctor gave my husband and I such an egotistical attitude, making us feel like it was our fault my sons gall bladder was failing, and this doctor had looked like he swallowed 2 watermelons. I bet this doctors skin was screaming at him so being so stretched! How can a doctor whho practices health and medicine let himself go. He knows better, just as I will. I will always maintain my fitness and nutritional mind frame to help others achive theirs. How can I possibly teach people nutrition if I don't study it and practice it in my everyday life as well. Always keeping your subconcsious open and spirituality in tact you can soar higher and maintain the utmost feeling of health.

Unit 6 Loving Kindness and Integral Assessment

The first exercise I did of course the loving kindness exercise. When the text says to envision someone you have a close connection with, or that important individual I always choose my grandmother. She passed away in July of 2010. I always even as a child admired her selflessness and her capacity to love no matter what the circumstance. Even when she was ill, it was made know her outstanding love for my sisters and I. When I close my eyes and drifted into this exercise I felt and overwhelming sense of joy and love flow all through my body. I even felt tears when I truly felt nothing else. It helped me get through my long and extremely hectic weekend of work with a continual smile on my face.  With opening my heart and mind to all things I really truly was successful and never felt the weight of the world on my shoulders which I do often.  The weekends are the hardest for me, long work hours, very little family time, and very limited time to get school work done, but after this exercise I really felt an overwhelming greatness and this weekend went off relatively unscathed.

Psycho spiritual and biological are the areas in which I think I need the most attention. I am in physically good shape and pretty healthy, but I know these aspects could flourish with harder work and dedication. My spiritual health needs work too; I need to clean out the noisy, chatter and the clutter of my mind.  Being a busy mom and full time student along with work and my kid’s sporting activities I am spread really thin. I need to work on my psycho spiritual well-being and learn how to take time for myself and meditate and get deeper into what needs to be done within myself to attain some wholesomeness. I even got my husband to do a meditation exercise with me and let me just say we both slept like babies and I also didn’t have any crazy or bad dreams that sometimes interrupt my sleep.

Unit 5 The Subtle mind

The subtle mind activity was I think equally frustrating as it was beneficial. I seriously fell asleep 3 times while trying to get to the cal-abiding aspect of this exercise. I truly love how relaxed these exercises are, but at the same time I feel incomplete while doing this. This last time however, I got through the whole exercise, but my daughter would not leave me alone (possibly the only reason I didn't fall asleep). I have a lot of clutter in my heart and I had a hard time releasing it. I feel like the Loving Kindness exercise was easy for me, I do practice those behaviors daily. But our subtle mind can get the best of us at times and I know that I really need to keep practicing this exercise so I too can calm my clutter and quiet my chatter. While I dislike calling this exercise frustrating, due to the fact it put me to sleep nicely, it is frustrating due to the fact I can't seem to finish it. I am goin gto listen to it again later to see if my results vary, stay tuned......

Spiritual, mental and physical wellness are all very important aspects of overall health and wellness. These are the core of our wellness and they should all go hand in hand. You have to mentally prepare yourself for a race, you have to calm the breath and take your time focusing on what it is you need to do. Physical wellness brings an enlightnement unlike any other. When you tie all of these aspect of humanity together you get purpose, you get meaning, and you understand the necessity and the exuberance life can bring. Ultimately all of these aspects of life collectively aim to the highest of conciousness and the highest of health and wellness.

Unit 4 Loving- Kindness

The Loving Kindness exercise is really a wonderful way to calm the mind and experience a new way of healing and mental clarity. I really found this beneficial; I want to do this exercise once a week I think. I tried to devote my Loving- Kindness to some of the people I work with, it seems that they may have been more receptive than I originally thought. For example: the one woman I work with is rather snarky, mouthy, and she has a very sarcastic and bad attitude. I walked in all open minded and ready to distribute my loving kindness especially upon her. I was shocked when she first saw me, she hesitated and smiled! Then we had a very pleasant and fun loving 8 hour shift together. At the end of the day I was in awe of what the vibes and mental clarity and satisfaction I had bestowed on us and throughout my shift. It was amazingly beneficial. I would completely recommend this to others, the sounds of the waves and the quiet and calm relaxing nature of the woman’s voice really melted me into relaxation and again, I had to fight sleep!

If you think of the concept of a mental workout is exactly what it sounds like. Exercising your mind to bring you clarity and strength within your inner being and having the capacity for health and wellness, and human flourishing. The readings suggest by practicing in mental workouts will lead you to a more positive and better insight into having a healthier mind, body, and spirit, your overall well-being will flourish. Taking care of your inner self is imperative before the outer, becoming fit in your mental health will lead you to many exceptional places in life. Anyone can implement these mental workouts. First step is wanting it, taking the time for you, going to a quiet place if only for a moment and expanding your mind and deep breathing. Second is clearing the clutter is what I call it, take in the negative thoughts and open your heart into turning them into a positive situation, then let them go and be free of them. It can make your psychological health strong, and a more meaningful aspect of your life. By strengthening your mind, you will begin to strengthen the rest of your life. Just remember like with any workout routine results may take time, just don’t give up on your capacity to be amazing