Unit 10

Hello there,

I did not score very well in all of the areas when I first started this class, however I am willing to change in every area and there are improvements to be made. The scores of each area 5-6  are not bad but progress is being made except for physical well-being which is a 4 because of stress, job, school, kids and relationships because eating was a source of comfort for me…..especially anything that was chocolate. I am making progress toward a goal of 8 in each area with the help of a social network of physicians and friends, at least the process has been started. The most difficult part of this course was having time to do all the activities but 5-10 minutes practicing each area does go a long way. I have started the practices by including my children to do the exercises with me and there have been ups and downs but I can see some benefits and progress for them as well.

Latonia

Unit 7

Okay, working backwards here. I really enjoyed the Meeting Aesclepius recording, it was so breath taking. My experience was like being taught by a very wise woman. My mother passed away over 20 years ago and I imagined her sitting there teaching me things that I had many questions about over the years. I didn't have a second thought of who I would pick but just having here image there in front of me gave me hope and  gratification that she was my mother and that she had taught me so many things before her passing that I have passed along to my sons, nieces and nephews. I really felt blessed to go on this experience.

Latonia Austin

Unit 8

The two exercises that I like the most are meditation: practicing silence and stillness and visualization. I use silence and stillness when I am unable to go to sleep at night. This practice helps me to gather all of my worries and  thoughts and put them in safe keeping. Visualization is almost like day dreaming where you can see and remember happy thought, places and people. I sometimes use this exercise for 2-3 minutes at work to give me a boost of self-confidence.
Latonia

Unit 9 Final Project

Introduction

     Health and wellness professionals need to develop in all aspects of wholeness that encompass psychology, spirituality and physical well-being of patients. All of these aspects of wholeness work together to create homeostasis in the human body and aid in the healing process. I need to work on all areas of wholeness because when I work on one aspect the others might be lost. The next endeavor for me in to work on the physical aspects of wholeness to aid in helping with stress.

Assessment

     The assessment of my sense of wholeness varies in each area of integral health. On a scale from 1 to 10, number 1 being the lowest where the greatest need of improvement is needed. Psychologically I have worked to improve my mental thinking and having a loving kindness towards everyone and everything. This is an ongoing process which will be a life time challenge that can be both enjoyable and hard to do at times. Score is a 6. Spirituality for me is mostly prayer but I am now learning to incorporate some meditation techniques also. Score is a 5. My physical areas of wholeness need some work to remove some bad eating habits, weight gain, heart palpitations, aches and pains, but nothing serious at this time. Score is 3.

Goals

     My goal for obtaining “wholeness” is something that is one step at a time.

1.      Psychological: Take every opportunity to practice loving kindness.

2.      Spirituality: Practice and learn meditation skills.

3.      Physical: Do more exercising like walking and stick to closely to the plan.

Practice for personal health

     I have learned to also have loving kindness for myself because the thought of having a schedule each day does not work will for me. The plan that works for me is to set aside a day(s) of the week to work on an aspect of integral health and then incorporate the activity every day. An example of this is that I have often skipped the vegetables in my daily meals but if Wednesday is a day that is designated for me to eat vegetables I am more likely to stick to the plan and have more vegetables throughout the week.

My plan is to practice each area on certain days (training wheels) until the exercise can be added each day without much thought or guilt that the goal was not completed.

Commitment

     My commitment to health and wellness will be a challenge but I am hoping to make it a fun adventure for me, my family and others who wish to learn meditation. It is more fun to share this experience with others than to just do this by myself.

 Latonia Austin

Unit 5

I have compared the Loving-kindness and the Subtle-mind exercises and there are differences regarding self and others. In the Loving-kindness exercise there is an embrace of love, kindness and healing for others versus the Subtle-mind exercise which control the thoughts, emotions and feelings of the meditator. Both of the exercises are valuable to flourishing the human mind and to eliminate those things that cause human suffering to the spirit.

Unit 4 Loving Kindness

I listened to the Loving Kindness exercise for the first time tonight and I thought it could be beneficial but  it was also very difficult to take in the pain and suffering of loved ones and still mentally know that the pain was still there. I did love the sound of the waves which made me think of washing away stress and emotional guilt.  The prompting of which things to do was a little annoying but hopefully the annoyance will go away after completely several sessions. I am not sure if I would recommend this to others the jury is still out on that subject.

A mental workout is being able to practice deep feelings and to grasp and understand the emotions behind the feelings. Mental workouts could help me to come to terms why I feel over whelmed sometimes and to deal with my hidden emotions.

My son practices for the high school band every night (percussion), so it is hard for me to have a moment of silence in the house until he goes to bed. I am going to implement times for a mental workouts in home by letting my son be apart of the process. The key to having these workouts is time and I hope to have more time to complete the exercise.

Latonia

Unit 3 blog

When I reflected on my physical being well-being I would give myself a 5, spiritual well-being; 6, psychological well-being; 6. I am still a work in progress. I would like to be an 8 or better in each category but I know that time is limited until all the classwork and tasks are completed. My goal is to get more exercise in and to use many of the techniques provided to us by the class. The Crime of the Century was a very good exercise by imagining the different colors coming form the body and what the colors represent. 

Latonia