Week 10 Final Thoughts

Rating my Physical well being – Well, I’m not dead so I don’t think I’m a one but I admit that I’m relatively unhappy with my physical anything although I admit it could be a whole lot worse. I’d say I’m a strong 5.



Goal – Stop playing games with this diet thing and get up off my @*# and do it.



The tools: Go back to my meditation series on weight loss and get exercise motivation



Re-evaluation Week 10



Well, I must have been having a really good day that day because today, I don’t feel that I’ve even begun my journey to Physical Well Being.  I think that I am more of just existing.  So, rating myself today, I give myself a 3.  Now to anyone reading this I’m not being hypercritical of myself I’m 70lbs over weight, I can’t walk up and downstairs easily,  I have back problems and a myriad of self-inflicted chronic problems could easily be addressed by dietary changes and exercise.  I’m being realistic; it’s easy to candy coat things and fool yourself into thinking that things are better than they truly are.



My goal is still to stop playing games with it but also get to the psychological roots of why I’m struggling with this area of my life.    







Spiritual Well being– I’m working on. Since I’m a religious mutt it’s been difficult for me to discern fact from religious fiction because everyone has an opinion and everyone believes that they’re right. I’m starting to see the inter connection between all religion. So I’d give myself a 7 because my spiritual walk is a developing work in progress



Goal – Spend 2 days with God a week (and not just Sunday)



Tools: Read the Bible and other books





Re-Evaluation Week 10



Well in week 3 I was just beginning may walk and spiritual understanding and I now understand that I still have a lot of work.  Soooo, I’m going to take this down too because I recognize that I’m still in my infancy in my spiritual walk.  I’m like a baby standing for the first time, my legs are still a little wobbly but I’m pulling up on things and can make my way around the table if I hold on.  So, I give myself a 5.



Goal – My goal is still sort of on track, I’m spending more and more time reading my Bible and spend a lot of time in reflection.  At the beginning, it was easy because I was hyped about the external things of ministry but now, there is less excitement as the responsibilities of Ministry begin to show up.  When I say responsibilities I mean what is expected of me my God.  I’m learning how to unwrap myself from my own drama and look at the bigger picture and realize that it’s not about me.  



Psychological well being- Let’s just say working on it



Goal – keep doing what I’m doing – Work on Forgiveness, learn to use my fear as motivation and stop sabotaging myself.



Tools: Getting help from my friends JTherapist.







Re-Evaluation Week 10



Yup, uh, still working!  My Therapist is non-traditional so we talk about a great many things.  She helps me to look deeper within myself to find the answers that I’m looking for while teaching me skills that I will use in my Ministry counseling others and in my Medical Practice.   We share theories and modalities and since she is Christian we share a lot of spiritual as well.



Goal – My goal is to continue to grow- Continue to work on forgiveness and learn to God which will lead to trusting myself.





When I first began to think about going into the medical field, I truly struggled with my belief system.  I believed that I had to less emotional, give up my beliefs in God and believe in the science.  That troubled me greatly.  This class has shown me that while you can’t wear both hats at the same time, it is ok to be spiritual and believe in a higher power and to teach others. 



How I view things is different because of this class.  My well being has been disturbed but has improved because I had to give in to the process and let go of some ideas that I had previously.  I’ve meditated for relaxation for years, but never for world peace or for spiritual enlightenment; my favorite mediation is Meeting Asclepius because this meditation allows me to practice self healing I got to see and remove the pain within.



The lesson that gave me the most difficulty was “Learning from a Woodcarver and a Psychologist”.  This lesson really disturbed me.  In the passage where he talks about how the Woodcarver was not happy about being assigned the job and he wouldn’t approach the job until he was in the right frame of mind.  How he fasted and prayed to remove those things in him that was not like God before he even attempted to approach the project.

I know that I don’t think about doing that with any task weather it’s one I want to do or one that is assigned.



The other part of that lesson that really hit home was transforming my Relationship to Work.  I don’t know how many day’s I’ve left my house just mad because I had to get up and went to work and took my frustration for my career not being where I think it should be out on my co-workers and all of the people around me.  Reading the quote by Gibran



“And if you cannot work with love but with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy”



This quote gave me a lot of food for thought and helped me to let go of the anger and frustration that I felt towards my current job and has allowed me to work with joy. It is better to be grateful for where you are instead of bitter because you’re not where you think you should be.   That lesson helped me to stop picking and choosing what I’m going to be grateful for and just be grateful for it all.  I know that God has greater things in store for me and I need to exercise faith and patients and praise him for where I am now.



This experience has already helped me to assist others and I know that it will continue to help me grow spiritually and as a physician.

Week 9 Project

               I.               Introduction:
As Health and Wellness professionals, we experience a lot of great joys and sorrows and everything in between.  It is our duty to our patients to be prepared physically, mentally and spiritually to be able to deal with the demands of our jobs.  In most other service industries, workers see people at their best, not when they’re sick or even dying as we do as Health professionals. It is our job to be a smiling emphatic face that they can rely on.  If we are not prepared by addressing our own mental, physical and spiritual needs we can’t be prepared to meet theirs.

All of the areas of Integral health are important to develop and I would be remiss in saying that I don’t feel that I need any work in any area.  The truth is that I need to continue to work in all areas.  People often view the role of a Health Care professional as easy, weather in a hospital or private practice setting the job is physically demanding. Hours of walking bending over lifting or assisting can take a toll on your body; being physically fit should be a pre-requisite for any Health Care position.  My goal for this area of my life is to lose weight that I’ve gained sitting for 8 hrs a day for the past 20+ years and regain my good health. 

Health care requires that you remember large quantities of information because one poor calculation or misdirection can lead to serious and sometimes deadly consequences.  My goal for this area is to keep my brain sharp, study and read as much information regarding Health Care as possible.  Also to do mental exercises to help strengthen my ability to recall information, games like “Brain Age” and doing crossword puzzles help mental fortitude.

I believe that in Health care you must have a strong belief system or system of spirituality weather you be atheist or somewhere in between.  The reasons I believe this is because you can’t take in that much suffering and pain and have no way to release it.  My goal spiritually is to continue to grow and explore my spirituality through meditation/prayer and Biblical understanding.  

              II.               Assessment:
I wish that there were some written test you could take to say “nope” you’re not there yet or “yes” you are right on the mark.  The truth is that only you can judge yourself.

If I had to score myself on the area of Wellness on a scale of 1being poor and 10 being the best I would score myself a 4.  I have quite a few issues that I need to address in the area of Wellness, including some chronic issues such as Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, and Weight issues.  

In the Area of Spirituality, using the same scale, I would give myself a 4.  While I have some very strong beliefs I do believe my relationship with The Creator is still in its infancy and I have a lot to learn.

The Physical Domain has been my Achilles heel of sorts.  I have as a skeletal muscle problem with my legs since I was a child and because of that I was excluded from a lot of physical activity as I matured I began to use that problem as an excuse to keep from being more active, or physically fit.  I understand now that it my choice to continue to believe my programming or to transcend it.  Using the same scale as the previous questions, I would give myself a 3 as this is an area which still needs lots of work.

I think this class has done a lot to help me grow physiologically and has allowed me to explore avenues which I would have previously discounted or over looked.  It has helped me gain a greater understanding of myself.  On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest I think that I am a 6.  I believe that I still have a lot of work to do in this area but I am growing.

             III.               Goal development:

Physical Goal –

           Lose 20lbs by the January 31, 2012 (already have lost 9)

Spiritual –

           Meditate every morning

Mentally –

           Learn Spanish this year

            IV.               Practices for personal health:
What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains;

1. Physical -  

In the physical area I need to get an exercise routine and stick to it.  I recognize that because I have not exercised in some time that I can’t just jump into something and expect over night results.  It is important that my support group recognizes this as well and is not pushing me beyond my physical limitations.

I also need to commit to eating properly and refrain from over eating or making a habit of eating out because I feel pressed for time.

                    II.        Psychological

Growth psychologically and spiritually are interdependent on each other because I feel as I grow spiritually, I have a better understanding of what makes me tick psychologically. 

Learning the power of forgiveness is a great tool for psychological growth.   Allowing yourself to let go of the baggage and the pain that you’ve been carrying is liberating.

Learn to release psychological stress by eliminating patterns which cause me stress.

There are two great books I’ve discovered, “The Law of Forgiveness” and “Be Set Free Fast”.  Working though the exercises in these books will help to foster my psychological growth.

             V.               Commitment:

I’m finding in life you need a road map (GOALS) to help guide you to where you’re going by setting goals on paper you are able to see where you are headed and where you need to be this is how I will keep myself on track and focused on my commitment to become healthy.

I will also ask for support from friends and family to help me remain on track.

Maintaining  my long term practices for Health and Wellness include making sure that I get regular physical checkups, making sure that I feed my body only things that are good for it, exercise regularly, reduce the stress in my life, sleep, pray regularly, continue other meditative practices, develop a satisfying social network, and work on my self-esteem

Unit 8

Unit 8 Almost Home

Well folks, we're int he home stretch does your brain feel stronger?

I almost can't choose between which meditation I thought would be most helpful as I use all 3 usually at night 1 after another.   I although if I had to choose I think that the Loving Kindness Mediation has to be my favorite.  It reminds me that life isn't just about me and allows me to open my heart to people I don't know which isn't always an easy task.  I believe that, this meditation has given me the most growth.  However a strong second for me is the Meeting Aesclepius meditation, I was soo shocked and delighted that the pain I had in my back for days was gone after doing this meditation unfortunately I had another injury and couldn't think quick enough to work this meditation.  I really believe that if I continue to do this meditation I could be completely free of pain which is a huge thing for me (fybromyalgia). 
I like all of the medications we've done so far even the one in the book, I can't wait to get that on CD!   I think they're all pretty cool.

I think the biggest hindrance into incorporating the medications into my life it taking time to do them but with a measure of discipline, I believe that they all could be a great benefit to me.

Unit 7 Blog

1.          Complete the Meeting Aesclepius mp3 (located in the Doc Sharing area). Describe your meditative practices for the week and discuss the experience. Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?

I really enjoyed this practice.  I imagined my vision of Aesclepius healing my back which has really been bothering me and my knees. The first time I listened to it, I had a hard time staying in the moment but I did it again as was really pleased with the result.  My back is not hurting for the first time in days! This was truly a positive growth experience. Of course, I think having faith that these things were being healed had a lot to do with it.  I will be using this practice more frequently.   

2.          Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (p.477). How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?

A lot of people say those that can’t “teach” but I don’t think that that is the case.  I think you have to have the experience for yourself before you can help or tell someone else about it.   I had a doctor tell me that I needed to lose weight and I might have been a little more receptive to the idea if he himself wasn’t 300+ lbs.  If you’re in a position to lead then you must also set the example.