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