Final Blog II

My initial scores for my physical, spirituality, and psychologically were a 7, 8, and 3. How would I rate myself now? Well lets see, my physical I would have to downplay to a 5-6 range. I am not doing as much as I should for my physical health. I know that its the holidays and I have been eating excessively, so afterwards I plan on changing my habits. My spirituality I would rank at a high 6- lower end 7. I say this because I feel that I fluctuate because of different ideas and discoveries I come across. Its an uphill battle, and I am gunning for the top when it comes to my spirituality. My psychological state of mind I would say is at an 6-7 range. I have finding that I am having more good days than bad. This is a great thing for me. I will have days that will knock me down, but I can only go up from there.

  My goal for physical was to have one day where I can eat whatever I want. I have not yet made it to this goal. I feel that I can accomplish this, and it will be coming soon. My spirituality? Absolutely, I have done lots of reading and opened myself up to learning about new religions and spirituality. Psychologically, I still give into the darkness sometimes. I think there will always be days like this, but in the future hopefully not as many.

My physical was to try new exercising routines, I have not gone yet, but I am signed up for belly dancing classes at the start of the year. I am super excited and nervous at the same time. But I think that this will give me a confidence boost for sure. My spirituality was to be increased by more meditation. I now meditate twice a day, and I can really see the difference in my overall feelings. Psychologically, I have started a journal. I do not write in it everyday, but when I do have thoughts I try my best to jot them down.

I have learned a lot from my professor and my classmates. I know that there are going to be dark days, and I know that there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel. I am controlling my PTSD and not letting it control me. I feel that this is a big step in the right direction. I am improving my well-being everyday, and this is by implementing the new exercises and therapies I have read about. The most rewarding thing from this class was getting through it, and though it challenged me and my thoughts. I am happy that I am gaining and taking it with me from this class. The most difficult thing was facing my feelings, it brought up feelings that I did not want to think about. But I think that it will help me get to where I need to be. I think that this entire experience will help me relate to my clients more. I feel it is easier if you possess knowledge that can help you get on the same level as your client helps in the long run.

I hope that you have enjoyed my blogs and I am not just spitting out mindless chatter. I hope that my classmates have gained the same knowledge I have from this class.

--Sophie Crabbe (Creel)

Final Blog

Part I Introduction:

                It is very important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically. We need psychological because we need to have clear and open minds. This will help aid the clients we are trying to help. We need to be able to deal with our own issues and problems that may arise from work or from home. Clearing our minds offers us a way to be open to anyone’s situation. Spiritually, I find this important because it fosters a certain sense of openness when it comes to dealing with others. Physically, well that is a no brainer. We need our physical health to be up to par because we need our bodies as well as our minds to be healthy.

                I would say I need to develop myself in all three areas. No one is perfect, and I agree with the Navajos on their view of integral health is something to always strive for, and is not achieved by a certain point in time. I know where I need to be, and what I need to do. I want to incorporate more mind calming exercises to help my psychological development. I want to try and find my way in spirituality, I want to find a reason to be spiritual. Physically, I want to eat better and exercise more.

Part II Assessment:

                I have assessed myself in each of the domains by looking at what my daily life entails. I know that I incorporate some meditation. I know that my spirituality is coming into its own, and I am still trying to figure out what it is I want to do with it or where I want to go. My physical assessment, I know that I NEED to do, but the hard part is actually getting the strength and energy to do it.

                My score on psychological would be a high 6 maybe a 7. I find this very good for me because of where I used to be vs where I want myself to be. It’s an everyday struggle, but I know that I can do it. My spirituality would be on the lower end 2-3 range. It’s not necessarily that I do not believe, I am just trying to find my way and where I fit in. My physical would be a definitely low, 1-2 range. I know that I do not take care of my physical body as much as I should. I want to change that, I need to change it.

Part III Goal Development:

                Psychological goal- I know that I want to foster more mind/body practices. I want to be able to incorporate more meditation. What is good for the mind, in turn is good for the body.

                Spirituality goal- I want to experience more, and I want to do a lot more reading on certain religions and the whole spiritual concept. I want to be able to find out where I fit in best.

                Physical Goal- I want to start off slow, something that I know I can keep up with every week. I want to start walking again. I want to walk 2 miles about three times a week. Then as I progress, I want to be able to lessen the amount of certain foods in my diet.

Part IV Practices for personal health:

                Physical- As I previously stated, I want to start walking 2 miles three times a week again. I also want to incorporate something fun like Belly dancing into my regiment. I think doing something different will help motivate me to keep going on the path I need to follow.

                Psychological- I want to add the subtle mind and the loving kindness exercises into my personal regiment. The subtle mind relaxes me completely and I think will help on my “bad days”. I want to incorporate the loving kindness exercise only because it takes me to places where I do not want to be. It allows me to face certain fears that I never wanted to face before.

                Spirituality- I have a friend who is a Reiki master, and I would love to incorporate that into my life. I feel that negative energies can have an impact on all aspects of your life. I feel that the cleansing may help me find my way. I have made arrangements to visit the local coven here where I live. I am interested in learning about the Wiccan culture.

Part V Commitment:

                My husband has made comments about how different I seem lately, and not in the bad way. He suggested that maybe the blog was helping me express myself without having to say anything. I want to try and keep up my blog and also keep a personal journal about my progress. I want it to be very positive to help me on the days where I am struggling to keep up the fight.

                I know that I cannot do this alone, but I have a wonderful husband and a great best friend who will help me on my journey. They have always been there to support me and push me to achieve my goals. My son is great at pushing me to where I need to be as well, even though he is only 6. He knows when mommy is sad and knows what to do to push me to get right back up and get what I need done. 

Over the course of this class, I have had the privilege to learn and participate in different relaxation techniques. If I needed to choose two of these I would meditation and Visualization, these are the most beneficial for myself.

Meditation has been a part of my life for a while now. I had an incident in college, that has forever changed the person that I am or the person that I was. After that I was diagnosed with PTSD. Its an everyday struggle, and I have come a long way from where I used to be. I try and implement it as much as possible, and the other exercises I have learned from this course has helped me open myself to incorporating more into my life.

Visualization is not a new concept to me, but it is new in a sense that I am starting to use it now. I know what my goals are and I know where I want and need to be. It helps to have a picture of where I want my life and how I need to get myself there. I compare this to walking up a hill. Its hard and I may struggle, but the end result will be pushing myself to get to the top. 

I know I have come a long way from the person I used to be, compared to who I am now. I have learned a lot from this class about different aspects of healing, along with new things about myself. I hope to learn more along the way, and be able to keep incorporating new ideas and new concepts. This in the long run, will help me get to where I want to be.

--Sophie

I try to incorporate as much meditation in my weekly routine possible. I think that I could always do more than what I am doing now. As of right now, I do some meditation, but mostly if I know I am going to have a stressful day or I am already at the point of being stressed.

At the beginning of the exercise, I was a little thrown off. The man's new york accent was throwing me off a bit. Then the same lady we have been hearing came on. I immediately started to think about my husband. Besides my son, I have never loved any man as much as I love him. He is my world, and I would do anything for him. I can truly say, he is the love of my life. Our relationship, the emotions have always been intense. I have felt this intensity since the first day we met. Thinking about him calms me, and I think this is why this exercise worked for me. The exercises with the crashing waves really help me to calm my mind and clear my thoughts. I really liked this exercise, and I want to try and foster it into my daily routine.

Meditation for me has always been a way for me to calm myself and clear my mind. This practice can foster psychological and spiritual wellness because you allow yourself to clear your mind. The mind can be plagued with thoughts that are poisonous. By allowing our minds to clear, we are also opening it. We allow ourselves to be able to reach certain spiritual aspects. We can allow ourselves to explore certain parts of our minds that we were unable to before.

I can continue this process by using meditative practices such as this one to help foster a greater sense of psychological and spiritual awareness. I know that this exercise made me feel a lot better than when I had first felt. I would like to be able to practice meditation daily regardless or feeling stressed or not. Maybe if I become accustomed to it, I will have days where I will not be stressed at all.

The saying, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" means that how can we expect someone to do something if we do not practice it ourselves. Yes, we are professionals and know what we are talking about, but its that age old saying practice what you preach. To some clients, this may seem hypocritical. Though in our defense, our personal lives are none of their business and they are coming to us for help. It may be easier for us as professionals to practice these types of therapies so that we can use ourselves as an example to our clients. We can show them that we do this, and it could work for them as well.

I feel as professionals we do owe our clients a certain amount of obligation. We must keep ourselves healthy in order to be able to do our jobs. If we are upset or agitated while at work, how will this help our clients? It will start a domino effect, we are upset so in turn they are going to be as well. So yes, in a sense we have a certain amount of obligation to the clients about keeping ourselves healthy.

I can incorporate psychological growth by trying to always keep my mind clear, I know that I have a lot going on sometimes. I want to try and take some time out of the day to remember that I must keep myself healthy, and this will help tremendously in the long run. Spirituality, I am not quite sure yet where I want to be at when it comes to spirituality. I know I am some what spiritual, but I am not sure HOW spiritual I want to be yet. This has been an on going struggle, and I know that one day I will get there when I am ready to be.

--Sophie Crabbe

The exercise surprisingly helped a little. I was having a terrible week at work, I even had to go home from work early one day. Its been a very hard week with many manic episodes. It really has taken a toll on my "new" marriage, but hes a trooper and he stands by me. The exercise helped because I feel like that a lot of the time. I worry about others, and I have always put others needs before my own. I want others to be happy and flourish, and sometimes I need to put myself into that category as well. 

The assessment process was interesting. Some of the ideas and questions were things that I had never thought about. I know that my main points of distress is the fact that I am an Empath and I absorb others negativity and emotions. I know that I must put up my shield to be able to deal with others. My greatest possibility for growth would be to help those with negative feelings so that in turn I am helping them, and then it helps me as well. I realize that this is not an instant gratification, I know that this will take time.

So, I discovered that everyone has things that they need to work on. I have to know and believe in myself that I am not "crazy" and I have to find different ways with dealing with emotions and my stress. I find comfort in knowing that others experience this as well, and I am not alone in this fight. My area of focus and development will always be on my stress management. I must and I mean MUST find a way to not let stress and anxiety control my life. It will ruin my life and the lives of others around me. I know that Meditation will be a great factor in all of this. Another will be just to breathe, I think that taking time and with a breathing exercise will help in the long run. There is a certain level of relaxation you obtain just from breathing and concentrating on it. I want to implement Reiki into my life as well. I think that the energy pulling will help, and I can get an outsider's prospective on what it is they see when they look at me.

Its an ongoing struggle, but I am more than ready to do anything to help alleviate the stress and the pain I feel on a daily basis. 

--Sophie

                I think that I felt better doing the subtle mind exercise over the loving kindness exercise. I have incorporated listening to the subtle mind exercise when I have had a really hard time at work or with school, and even dealing with my personal life. I remember feeling stressed about my wedding, and the exercise helped with the stress. My eye started twitching again, and I listening to the exercise again and it helped a lot. My frustrations with the Loving Kindness exercise was first Dacher voice. It still bugs me to this day. I do not think it is a bad exercise, but I feel the subtle mind helped me more. The loving kindness exercise brings out thoughts in me that I would rather not share. Though, I know that is the point. So maybe in the future, I can try to work the loving kindness exercise into my regiment as well.

                There is a major connection to spiritual wellness to mental to physical. If you feel great physically then that helps your mind feel great and in turn you can reach that level of spirituality. I have different struggles when it comes to the three of these things. I know that I have low self-esteem because of the way I look. This then affects my mental state, and then in turn I cannot reach any level of spirituality. I am in a nutrition class now, and I am taking what I am learning to eat better and choose my foods wisely. I am starting to feel better about myself, and with that I can now clear my mind to help with my meditation. I have yet to reach the level of spirituality I want to accomplish, but I have done a lot of reading on crystals and different types of rock that can help with different ailments I am facing. I feel drawn to learning more about crystal healing and carrying these rocks with me. I hope to find out a lot more and be able to share the results with my classmates. I am a newly diagnosed empath. I say newly, because I never knew there was a word for it. The rocks have helped me deal with my own feelings as well as other negative feelings.

--Sophie 

First and foremost, I was very annoyed when I was listening to the Introduction and the beginning of the Loving Kindness exercise. I felt like I would not be able to participate because of Dacher's voice. I felt uncomfortable, and almost just stopped listening until the next voice came on. Her voice was very soothing, and I felt comfortable while listening to this exercise. I thought of my son, when she instructed to think of someone you hold close to your heart. I almost broke down in tears, because I have raised this little boy on my own for quite some time. I have sacrificed many things in my life to be able to make sure he had food, clothes, and a roof over his head. It also makes me sad because he feels I am mean to him because I cannot give him everything that he wants. His father is able to do those things, and I cannot. Its a constant struggle I have with him. This exercise helped me to relax and concentrate my focus on myself for a moment. The roaring waves in the background helped tremendously. I have a hard time concentrating my thoughts, and being able to hear those crashing waves. I concentrated on the facts that I am a good mother, and I give him much more than materialistic things. He is only 6, and at the end of this I hope that one day he will realize how much his mother went through to be able to take care of him. It was difficult for me because I had to concentrate on myself, and I am not used to that. I would most definitely recommend this exercise to someone. It helps you concentrate on yourself while still thinking of others as well.

A mental workout involves the same principles as a physical workout. You conduct exercises like the one above to help strengthen your mind. The mind and the body work hand in hand, and a strong body with a strong mind can be anything. When one is weak, the other can suffer as well. Research indicates that a mental workout can increase brain function, concentration, memory, and how the brain processes information.

I have always loved to read. I have become very busy with work, my child, my new marriage, and numerous of other things. I want to try and read at least one book a month. I know that reading can help strengthen the mind. It will also help me to escape reality and my life, even for just a moment in time. I also want to play more magic the gathering. This is a trading card game that was created by a math teacher to help his students understand the concept of math. Ill post a link at the bottom in case those reading are unfamiliar with this game. I want to research and implement more of these daily exercises, if I can find them and download them onto my phone so its mobile. I think all of these things implemented into my life will help me with a mental workout.

--Sophie


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The_Gathering