Week 10

I'm sad to see this class coming to an end!  I've learned so much and I've had a great time doing it.  I wish Kaplan offered more classes like this one.
So, after reviewing what I wrote in unit 3 I'm happy to say that I've improved a bit in two areas.  Although I think I'd still give myself a 7 for physical health, I've definitely picked up my physical activity.  As I said, I let the cold months slow me down.  However, I've been forcing myself to get outdoors more and I'm feeling better.  My daughter bought me snowshoes for my birthday and I'm going out snowshoeing with a friend later today. 
My psychological health is the area I've improved most.  I said I was a 3 earlier.  Now I'm a 4 (approaching 5).  The biggest lesson...I'm a separate human being from those that I love.  I can make myself happy even if they do things to make me unhappy.  Actually, I've always know that but I just couldn't do it.  Meditation is helping immensely.  Spiritually, I don't think I've changed much but I think that will come as my psychological health improves.
This course has helped me to see that there is more to my patients than their physical problems.  I know that "one size fits all" treatment is not optimal.  Although there is little time to get to know people in a busy hospital setting I can still be sensitive to that fact.  Finding time to meditate was the most difficult part of this class but it has become so important to me that I plan to continue fitting it into my schedule!

Week 9 - Summing it all up...

When health and wellness professionals develop themselves psychologically, spiritually, and physically, not only do they improve their own lives, but they are also better equipped to help their patients achieve optimal health.  We cannot teach what we don’t know.  Although there may be some health related topics that we can learn from a book, psychospiritual development is not one of them.  Additionally, “walking the walk” makes us more credible.  Most of us would be unable to take an obese nutritionist seriously.  Likewise, patients are unlikely to take the advice of a nurse or doctor who does not appear to be interested in their own physical, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing.

            I must improve all three areas of my own life to achieve my goals.  The area where I need the least amount of improvement would be in my physical self.  I need a considerable amount of work on the psychosocial aspect of my life, and a great deal of improvement in the spiritual realm.

Self-Assessment

            According to Dacher (2006), we do a self- assessment by looking at our current circumstances, identifying aspects of our life that require attention, and determining what changes we want to make. Then, using this information, we create a program to make these changes.  Through contemplative practice, I’ve been looking at my life and current situation.  I’ve made a few decisions on what I should improve.

            In the physical aspect of my life, I score well.  I’m free from any chronic illnesses.  I don’t smoke or have any other bad habits.  I eat decently and I am not overweight.  Still, there is always room for improvement.  I am aware that I really let winter slow me down.  I don’t get a fraction of the exercise during the cold months that I do in the spring, summer, and fall.  I am also somewhat negligent when it comes to going for  annual physicals, having blood work done, etc. “I don’t have time!” is my usual excuse. 

            I’ve made many psychosocial improvements since starting this class, but I have a ways to go.  I continue to allow other peoples’ moods to affect my own and I spend a great deal of time worrying about things that I truly have no control over.  I also continue to be plagued by pain, from what I consider to be wrongs committed against me.

            The spiritual aspect of my life is in total disarray.  Although I feel a strong connection to nature and being outdoors, I’m completely unsure of what I believe in as far as God and religion.  This leaves me feeling a bit of emptiness, but I cannot force myself to believe in a religion just because that’s the way I was raised, or because it is one of the predominant religions where I live.  

My Goals

            My physical fitness goal is to schedule the appointments I need.  This includes preventative health measures and a dental visit. I’ve committed to exercising at least 40 minutes per day, 3 days/week.  This still falls below the amount of physical activity I do during the other seasons but it is a start.  I will continue with the meditation practice I’ve recently started to improve myself psychologically and I will try Tai Chi.  To develop spiritually, my goal is to spend more time contemplating and spend more time with nature.  I also plan to be open to answers that come from unexpected places.

 

 

Practices for Personal Health

            I plan to get moving for the rest of the winter.  I just purchased a pair of snowshoes that I’m looking forward to using. I’m determined to make the best of our weather in the North East.  I will also increase my strength training.  I have gained a few pounds since November and plan to be rid of them by spring.

            To improve myself psychosocially, I will continue to meditate daily.  This is something I’ve only started doing since the beginning of this class.  Not only do I enjoy it immensely, but it is starting to bring me some inner peace.  As time goes by, I will increase my meditation time.  Ideally, I’d like to meditate one hour per day.  I also intend try out a Tai Chi class.  I found one in my area but have not gone yet.

            Spiritually, I need to be open minded.  I feel that through self-contemplation an answer will come to me.  I will find what I am comfortable with.  My belief in a higher power is the strongest when I am hiking, gardening, or kayaking.  Therefore, I plan to experience as many outdoor activities as possible, as this is my passion. A quote from the book, 50 Things that Really Matter (2002):  “Passion satisfies a vital spiritual need: the need for connection.  It’s the feeling we get when we are in tune with something larger than ourselves.  Passion makes us feel alive, makes us feel that we walk this planet for some purpose”

Commitment

            I do the best with a written plan that I can look at regularly.  I am going to summarize this paper and print it out for myself so that it can be my guide over the next six months.  This will enable me to review it periodically to see if I’m sticking to it…especially if I hang the paper somewhere that I will see it every day.  When six months have gone by, I can see how far I’ve come and make a new written plan.  I’m aware that sometimes our needs change, so I’m open to the idea of having to change a goal or alter a strategy.

References:

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

Hallmark, (2002).  50 things that really matter.  Rosedale, Inc.

Week 8 Various Exercises

If I had to choose the two exercised that I found to be the most beneficial this semester, I'd go with subtle mind and loving kindness.  I believe that these two are the foundation for all the other meditations.  "Subtle mind" teaches us how to use our breath as a focal point so that we can observe our brain's activity instead of getting caught up in it.  From there (hopefully), we can progress through the stages of calm abiding and unity consciousness.  I'm not quite sure why we were introduced to the loving-kindness exercise before subtle mind...that seems somewhat backward to me.  Still, I find that particular exercise beneficial because it can lead to so many other things, including compassion, forgiveness, empathy, etc.
I'm making a serious attempt to incorporate these practices in my life.  I've been trying to utilize subtle mind daily...I'm sort of doing my own version because I don't utilize the audio every time.  I try to incorporate loving-kindness once or twice a week...or when someone really makes me angry!  I've found that it's difficult for me to get started with meditation, but once I finally sit down and start, I don't want to stop.

Week 7 - Meeting Aesclepius

As I've said several times, I do not find visualizing on command easy, particularly images of people.  Therefore, I do not get much out of meditations where I am instructed to visualize a person...especially one that I have to conjure up with my imagination.  I understand what we are supposed to experience, this just isn't the right way for me to do it.  I've been looking through some meditations on Youtube and found some to be more "my thing". 

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" means that you can not preach what you do not practice.  You can't teach your patients about the effects of a quiet mind if you have never experienced it.  If we have proof (and I think we do) that there are positive health effects of self-reflection then the medical community does have an obligation to at least make patients aware.  Do I personally have an obligation to my patients to develop myself in this way?  I'm not sure about that...I guess if you feel that I have an obligation to be thin, not smoke, etc. then yes....but while I may have an obligation to myself, I think that what I do with my personal life is personal.  My obligation to my patients is to make sure that they are aware of practices that can bring them good health.  I can direct them toward information if they are interested. 

Week 6...Taking Inventory

First, the loving-kindness exercise...I understand the premise of this activity but I still find that these exercises are forced.  I think that if I were to practice it daily, it may actually begin to affect the way that I think for the better.  Like most people, in lots of ways I'm self-absorbed and don't necessarily see the suffering of others.  I may be annoyed with the rude cashier at Walmart without knowing that she just had a horrible experience and that is why she didn't say "Thank you". (Or maybe she's just rude, I'll never know...but that's the point, I don't know).  I'd like to find an exercise that feels a bit more natural to cultivate kindness in myself.

As for my self assessment, I feel that without much meditation I know what I need to work on.  As I mentioned in previous posts, I had an issue that started in the "interpersonal" area which caused glaring problems in the biological, worldly, and psychospiritual areas of my life.   What I really need is a good forgiveness meditation!  Through this class, our reading, and the meditation class I'm taking, I'm trying to figure out how to get myself to the next level of development.

The Subtle Mind

Yes! This was my type of mind exercise. I loved it. I didn't have to visualize anything, just focus on breathing. A few weeks ago I would have had an extremely difficult time quieting my mind. Actually, it's still not easy, but I feel like I'm making progress. I have moments that I'm successful in just witnessing thoughts without attaching myself to them. This exercise was much more enjoyable (and less frustrating) than Loving-Kindness. I have difficulty conjuring up images on demand, and have started to find it anxiety-producing as I keep thinking, "I'm never going to get this"! Since this class began, I've discovered that I live only a few miles from the main Kadampa Meditation Center in Glen Spey, NY. They offer local classes in the community, so I decided, "What the heck!" and tried one out. I was a bit intimidated as I thought I'd find a bunch of weirdly-happy people with shaved heads chanting... not at all. It was regular people who gather together to do some self-reflection through meditation. I enjoyed it so much that I signed up for next weeks class. We have to remember that the mind and body are one in order to reach our potential in life. We can't have ultimate health unless we care for our physical, mental and spiritual components of who we are. For some people, this means practicing yoga, others meditation...for me it generally means being out in nature. Adding meditation has been a great experience.

Mental workout

A mental workout is exercise for the mind, in the same way that a physical workout is exercise for the body. We improve the health of our mind step by step, always expanding on what we've previously accomplished. This is similar to physical exercise. We gradually build our muscles or improve the condition of our heart; No one starts off as an Olympic body builder. I find it very interesting that, according to our reading, there is a limit to biological fitness, but the mind appears capable of unlimited development. Recent studies show that exercises, such as meditation and relaxation, can actually cause new cellular pathways to form in the brain. At first this seems astonishing, but why would the brain be different than any other organ of the body? For example, when we push ourselves physically, (such as training for a marathon), we develop collateral circulation to handle our blood volume. Likely, the brain is developing new pathways to handle the new information, feeling, emotions, etc. I am very new to meditation...a few weeks at most. Still, I'm starting to notice a bit of progress. (If there were 1000 levels to meditation, I'd have to say I'm at level 2, at most), but I can definitely feel something different... and better. I enjoyed the loving-kindness exercise very much. I still have trouble maintaining focus and frequently have to bring myself back to my breathing. When the recording said, "choose a person you feel love and tenderness for" my brain was jumping all over the place, from person to person. I finally settled for my youngest daughter who was the easiest to concentrate on (probably because she's too young to have really gotten me angry yet). I hope to eventually be able to extend loving-kindness to everyone.