1.
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 would have to say that again having my
focal point as a person is really hard for me to stay focused. I cannot let
myself keep my mind just on that person. I do like using meditation but when I
need a focal point I say the word love or begin to focus on my breathing once
again to get my mind free of chatter and endless thinking. I also enjoy using
physical exercise (running) and mental exercise at the same time. I enjoy
running outside and listening to my feet hit the pavement. This is more meditating
to me than any other method that I have used so far.
I think that meditation has fostered an
increase in my psychological and spiritual wellness just in that past few
weeks. I feel calmer and focused within my life then I have ever before. I believe
that my mind is truly in training and I am gaining from this training each day
and gaining more wisdom not just about myself but more important about how to
reflect and react to others. I do not think that at this point it is a question
of how I can apply these practices but a point of not letting me stop. I have
been running for 16 years now and working out just as long (since I was in
middle school); I have also been passionate and driven to continue my physical
routines and I know that now that I have added mental routines and feel the difference
I will not stop practicing (I am driven to continue).
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?
I think that it is so important to
understand and practice what you preach. One cannot lead another down a road
that is unknown with the success of finding his or her destination on that road
first. I think that health and wellness professionals need to practice what they
preach (and in some cases learn more or become more open). Being in the health
care field before I had children I always found it odd that at least 70% of the
people that I worked with were in worse shape mentally and physically then the
patients that came into the ER. How can you tell a patient that they are having
troubles breathing because of all those years that they smoke and ate terrible
and make them few less of a person and then go outside for break for a cigarette
or into the break room for a piece of cake (not just on birthdays either…every
shift)? How is any patient supposed to trust ones word if they look at the
health care provider and see the same reflection in the mirror. Patients do not
need someone to tell them what they are doing wrong (they tell themselves that
every day) , they need someone to help guide they and be a positive role model
that knows and acts like he or she knows where they are leading the patient. I
think that we all as health care professionals need to show how well we take
care of our self’s, explain our path and help others find theirs. I also think
that we all have an obligation to our clients to be developing our health
psychologically, physically, and spiritually to help the patient understand and
believe in us. Trust and encouragement can be a powerful thing and practicing
integral health and teaching from our experiences (which is from the heart and
soul) will only gain more trust for that person towards the health care
professional and help them succeed in their own path. I want to keep practicing
mental training through meditation to help me become stronger mentally,
physically and spiritually. I do believe that all aspects are connected and the
more I practice to keep these aspects connected I believe the better health
care provider I will become.
I agree with you that trying to focus on a person was difficult. I could not think of a person that I wanted to focus on. The tape said to make up a person, and this was even more difficult. I tried to visualize a Buddha, but this just did not work for me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that physical exercise such as running and for me, yoga, are a great way to meditate my mind. I find that running outside allows for you to enjoy nature while running and it makes the ‘task’ less tedious. Running on a treadmill is good but after looking at the same four walls for 15 minutes I get too bored. The change of scenery keeps me focused while I am outside.
That is awesome that your mediation has fostered an increase in your psychological and spiritual wellness in the last several weeks! I too feel an improvement. I was not expecting this course to have such an impact on my life.
I would definitely recommend running to a client. I think that running is both a great outlet for a person mentally and then the physical benefits on top of it, is truly a win win. Even if a person can’t run, the benefits of walking especially in nature will also have the same positive effects on a person.
I hope you are able to continue your spiritual wellness journey. Maybe you can learn another meditative technique that you can practice while you are not running in order to keep the experience fun and new. Good luck to you.
It was hard to focus on a person.. especially since they are not there with you ( in my case, anyway) instead of the face, I concentrated more on their actions or things they had taught me.. that made it a bit easier.. I admit to getting distracted when they tell you to imagine a bright white light.. at any location.. on their body or my own.. kinda creeps me out I guess.. I find a softer light is more effective than the bright white one they describe..
ReplyDeleteI do think that this class had made a huge impact on me personally and it seems like for many of our classmates as well.. I also feel calmer and more in control than 8 weeks ago..
Thanks for sharing and your honesty Melissa,,as always, your posts are enlightening and thoughtful.
Andi
Melissa
ReplyDeleteNormally I am not one for focusing on a person like that other exercise we had but this one was easy for me because it was someone I love and respect even though they are gone and she meant so much to me. The only thing I didn't like was visualizing the light coming out of the 3 body parts. That part was weird but for the most part I could see my grandmom clearly in front of me and I pretty much started crying because I miss her tons but I know she is happy. I am going to continue to do other meditations that work for me because ones with people are not my favorite.
I think also that health care professionals in the health and wellness field should definitely be in shape and practice what they preach. I mean honestly if I was trying to lose weight and be more connected with myself spiritually I do not think I could believe someone that was overweight, smoking and really didn't know what they were talking about. I think you can tell if someone really does what they say and what they say just to sell something.
Hello Melissa
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem lot of times when I try to meditate. I have hard time stopping my mind because it's everywhere. What really helped me was going somewhere there is no noise and I can only hear nature and that is at the beach. The beach is a place I can really meditate and feel so relaxed and calm it really helps me to relieve stress and reconnect with myself. I think when it comes to meditation, emptying your mind is the hardest thing to do.
I also agree with health professionals doing what they say. I do not like health professional who talks good game but has no action to prove it. People look up to health professionals so it's very important to set the right example for others to follow.
Hi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI found it hard to concentrate on one person also and my mind just kept running and going to a zillion different things. No matter how I tried. For me emptying my mind is the hardest thing to do. I finally turned off everything by going into somewhat of a sleepy type of phase.
I am going to try something else down the road and see what helps me to become calm and relaxed.
Kristi
This meditation was unique in that we had to somewhat become one with them or at least the character traits of that person. I thought of my father and how calm and laid back he is. He rarely ever raises his voice and he always seems to have his emotions in control. It really gave me a chance to literally see him in a different light. This exercise made me smile.
ReplyDelete