Unit 7

I sat and tried this meditation last week and I couldn’t focus properly. When asked to focus on someone wise who has passed my first thought was of Phyllis. Phyllis was a client of mine; I had been doing her manicures every two weeks for the past 13 years. She passed in July at the age of 85, I still cry when I think of her, she was a mentor to me, she was resilient, she was outrageously intelligent, she lived life to the fullest and didn’t take any BS from anyone, you never asked her opinion if you really didn’t want to hear the truth, but most of all she was full of love. I think of her almost every day and I miss her terribly. So, I try again knowing what emotions may come to surface. It wasn’t any easier on the second try but I knew what to expect as far as my emotions so I was able to control them a little bit more. It was nice to focus on Phyllis and to see her as if she was here with me and just know that through this meditation I could seek her out somehow, and yes I can realize now that all I strive to be more like her I am. "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" this is a great quote and I completely believe it to be true. How can one preach/ suggest/ teach something they themselves don’t practice or believe in? In becoming part of the nutrition field I need to be able to say to my clients this is how you should eat and also know that I can back up my suggestions because I also follow the same guidelines. I have been trying very hard recently to incorporate psychological and spiritual growth into my life. I feel more at peace with myself and definitely less reactive when something upsets me, of course we all have minor setbacks at times. This is when I realize I need to refocus my energy into what is positive for my own personal growth.

Unit 6

There’s a funny little thing that happens when I do the universal Loving Kindness exercise, I feel myself wanting to help more and I feel the energy. When I did the first loving kindness exercise a few weeks ago, I feel my happiness or love inside of me and as the exercise went on I could feel it radiating. Now with this exercise I do feel the energy radiating, and as we have learned that the power of prayer is real so is the Loving Kindness energy. I needed this exercise this week, my son lost a friend, and even though I have not seen him in quite some time his death affected me as a mother and also from knowing this boy since he was 4. His death also affected the whole community; the church today was standing room only. This exercise allowed me to envision my community and send energy out to everyone who is suffering in some way from his passing. So in a way it also helped me with the grief I feel for his mother and everyone affected. “Integral assessment helps us get from one level of development to another, progressively moving us toward our precious goal of human flourishing (Dacher, 2006, p116)”. This quote made the integral assessment all the more clearer to me and I realized that I have been doing some sort of integral assessing for some time now and not realizing it. I’d say for the past 9 months or so I have been taking inventory of my life looking back and looking forward, making decisions on how I want my life to go and where I need improvement physically and spiritually. When I look back I look back with happiness and sadness, I realize there are certain areas or actions of my life that I am not proud of, so I hold myself accountable for these and make decisions to make sure I don’t repeat actions I am not proud of. I look forward with grace and also realize that materialistic items that were so important years ago are no longer issues. I don’t need, I have enough and I am grateful for all that I have emotionally, spiritually, and physically. When I ask what aspect of my life now is a source of difficulty and suffering I have to think long and hard, and I come up with little issues that can be improved and focused on more. My health is good and much better than it was but it also needs a bit more focus and I think I am working to excel, I am more energetic, more aware of what foods I put into my body, and more active, but I need to continue my focus and not lose it. My interpersonal life with my family needs more time, I get caught up in school and sometimes work that I forget to take some time slow down and enjoy quality time with my family. I always work in tidbits here and there but I need to focus much more on family time and husband time and not think oh I should be studying or writing. I am going to continue to work out and go to my class as this gives me the stamina to get through the day and also helps me focus on improving my health, the subtle mind practice also helps me focus and gives me a recharge so that I am in a better frame of mind for my husband, myself, and my kids. Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health.

Unit 5

Wow! I really enjoyed this exercise much more than the loving kindness practice. Don’t get me wrong I am all for loving kindness but this subtle mind exercise really hit home and for once I can honestly say my mind was at peace. I have always said that it is hard for me to meditate because of the fact that my mind is too busy and constantly throwing thoughts at me, this time was so different. I don’t know if it was because I really needed some peace and quiet or that I am just learning tools to help my mind. At the beginning of the exercise I was very focused on the rising of my chest as I was told but throughout the exercise I realized that my breath was so low and I could barely hear or feel it. Because of the ocean waves I was visualizing myself on the beach , I know the voice tells you when a thought comes into play just focus on your breath again to bring your mind to silence, I did not do this but just seemed to bring my mind to the beach ( one of my favorite places). I am really excited for myself because this was really the first time I ever experienced true and utter mind silence!!!! I believe when we have wellness in all three aspects ( spiritual, mental, and physical) we can perform at our highest level in life. It is not an easy task to be ‘well’ in everything but with training we can succeed. I also believe that people are generally happier when they can have the mind- body connection complete.

Unit 4 Loving Kindeness

Two quotes from the exercise that I can relate with are “ the mind is calmer when we give back loving kindness” and “ loving yourself is essential before you love others”. I can relate and whole heartedly agree with these statements. This exercise as interesting to me, I could get calm and visualize most of what was asked, such as visualizing a loved one and their pan or suffering at the times, and I was even able to visualize a bit when asked to send loving kindness to a group of strangers. When asked to visualize all individuals this where it got difficult for me, maybe with more practice this will come easier, but I also felt that the time in between the visualization was a little long. I would visualize sending energies but after a while my mind would begin to wander off. When she (the voice) came back to suggest something new I was able to bring my wandering mind back also. This exercise is a great example of a mental workout as it makes you think of ways to train your mind to excel in loving kindness. It has been proven that you can train your mind to be more compassionate and also train your mind to handle stress better. I believe with mental workouts that you can be a happier, calmer, more giving person. After this exercise I am calmer and more focused, if this is something I am to do everyday I can see how this feeling of love, clam, and focus would stay with you all the time.

Unit 3

My physical well-being I will rate at a 5 for the moment, but I also feel it is on the way to getting higher, six months ago I would have put it at a 3, I am in the process of making every effort to bring it higher. I recently starting taking boot camp classes 2/3 times a week at a place called The Power Center in my town, they blend Eastern and Western aspects into their workouts and each work out ends with a great stretch and a semi meditation. I feel FABULOUS afterwards. Because of the recent turn of weather related events in my area I have been unable to go consistently 2/3 times a week for 10 days but am hoping come next Monday I will be in full swing ( as long as my sons school is finally fixed and ready for students). I will say it is addicting. Spiritually I feel I am at 6, I don’t practice any religion on a regular basis but I do thank the universe daily for what we have, I have a semi regular habit of writing down 3-5 things I am grateful for daily (if I don’t pass out in bed before thinking of doing it) and I do feel that I spend a little time each day just to be still in my favorite chair outside no matter how cold. I believe that I have a good sense of inner peace, I hold myself responsible and accountable for my actions and thoughts and I have a strong sense of spirituality. Someone said to me once, religion is for those who believe in hell, spirituality is for those who have been to hell or something along those lines ;). I will never say I have had a bad life but I will say there was a time in my life that was absolute and utter hell, and when I stopped holding myself responsible for other competent adults I came out of it a better person and more at peace because of it. And because of what I experienced I appreciate my life so much more now. Psychologically…. I am STRESSED!!! Ever since the storm ( and I thank the universe daily our home was unscathed) my life has been in upheaval, my mother was staying with us on the pull out in the TV room, my kids were home for 2 weeks, my husband has been working dawn to dusk since Oct 30, when my kids finally went back to school my 5 yo is on a split schedule with the middle school so he is only away from home for 4 hours, my work schedule has been a little nutty, my mom drops laundry off for me to do at her whim and expects us to drop our priorities to help her ( I can’t blame her she did lose her first floor of her home), my week with no power was the least of my concern. I need a week on a beach in the sun just to recoup. My brain is fried so for this moment I put myself at a 4 psychologically. My goal is to get to my Power center classes 3 times a week Spiritually I will make a better effort to add to my grateful; list every day, I will spend more time just being with nature and practice meditating more Psychologically I will go on that vacation!!! Seriously, I wish funding not available. Psychologically I will allow myself to say no, and try more to go with the flow I need to remember some of my favorite quotes in Dacher’s book. I think I will even post them in spots where I will see them every day and take more time for myself For this week's guided meditation I knew immediately as it began talking about rainbows it was going to go through the chakras. Again to have a guided meditation like this I do relax and really enjoy it, this time I felt it was a little too long but I was pressed for time so I wish I knew ahead of time how long the meditations were so that I can properly plan and not feel rushed. I would be relaxing and then think, oh what time is it?? And I would let the thought go and continue on. So I may later in the week do it again, as for me it is a great way to relax and get some well-deserved quiet time.

Unit 2 Relaxation

Unit 2 I just wanted to start this week off by saying hello to all and I hope everyone is having a great and easy beginning of term. I have had a love/ hate relationship with all the reading so far; some I find fascinating and some I have to re read a few times before I completely understand the concept. I will say that last night I was reading Integral Health/ section We can train the mindand I completely agree with the concept of mind training and that people who practice training their mind are happier people. I do not meditate although I would like to conquer this feat but I do start each day looking at the positive and trying to see the good in everything. My favorite quote from the reading I did last night was " We just need to train ourselves to surf the waves of outer adversity rather than to drown in them (Dacher, 2006, p22)". I love this and it really hit home, I think I try very hard in my life to go with the flow and when something negative happens I believe that it happens for a reason so I can learn from it, and if it just happens because then I try to roll with it. The relaxation technique for me was amazing! It’s been a long two weeks and an even longer day today. This technique was just what I needed to get through the rest of night. I am amazed on how this technique completely and totally relaxed me. The mind- body connection was definitely at work in this situation. My arms were not going to move anywhere at the time of full relaxation, the first place I felt the warmth that is spoken of was in my wrist. It wasn’t until the voice mentions about the palms radiating heat that I realized my hands were cupped and the warmth on my wrists I was feeling was coming from my palms because of their positioning. When told to bring the blood back to the core I felt a tingling sensation in my stomach after a few seconds of this thought. This is a technique I think I can use in the future, life gets so hectic with multiple jobs, crazy kid’s school schedules, my school, and just keeping the dishes out of the sink and the floor swept I can see myself practicing this when it all gets to be too much. I think I need a recorded voice all the time or I may fall asleep. ;) Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health.

Unit 1 HW 420

I had a small framed picture once given to me by a friend, it was a picture of a beautiful landscape, the quote on the picture was something along the lines of... there is a landscape larger than the one you see..... not sure if that was exactly it or not but it made me think and I still think of it. I remeber this daily in my life because there is always something bigger for me to consider in life. I become so focused in my day to day activities, school, kids, errands, work, work and more work I tend to get tunnel vision, this quote reminds me I need to broaden my focus away from my tunnel vision and see the bigger landscape of life. :) Unit 1 1. Describe Ken Wilbur’s theory of integral medicine. How integral theory is different than the theories traditionally applied in American (Western) Health professions? Ken Wilber’s theory of integral health can be divided into four quadrants subjectivity or the I, objectivity or the it, intersubjectivity or the we, and interobjectivity or the it’s. According to Wilber, modern health professionals face many dilemmas on a patient to patient basis; because of these dilemmas health care professionals limit themselves as to how much they can help a patient. Practicing integral medicine is designed to help with these dilemmas (Wilber, 2005, p xvi). Dilemma’s face by health care professionals are broken into four categories, the first dilemma being emotional involvement with patients, in the past it has been said that becoming emotionally involved with a patient can cloud the professionals judgment (Wilber, 2005, p xvi) but research has shown that incorporating emotional factors from the professionals part can have appositive effect on treatment. The second dilemma faced is also known as the “Cartesian dualism” (Wilber, 2005, pxvii), professionals are more likely to treat their patients as a machine with their physical symptoms and not consider the mind body connection. The third dilemma is compliance of the patient, many times patients will not follow through with proper intake of medications or follow a specialized diet to help themselves, with integral medicine the patient must take responsibility for him/ her and hold themselves accountable for their own health. The fourth dilemma is where do we locate the illness (Wilber, 2005, p xviii)? Illness is not usually just physical there is also usually an underlying issue also at hand, does a person get a sore throat because he or she is afraid to speak? The body is a well- oiled machine of nerves, muscles, neurons all working together when there is blip in the circuits it can lead to other issues. Everything in the body is connected so illness can also be “embedded in networks, systems, and chains of pathology within the patient (Wilber,2005, p xviii) “ 2. Conventional medicine focuses primarily on the physical body (biological). However, integral healing focuses on multiple dimensions of the human experience. Describe each of the four areas of focus within the integral healing model and discuss why each area is important to total wellness. Four areas of focus within integral medicine are also known as the dimensions, these dimensions include intentional, behavioral, social, and cultural aspects of our lives. Integral medicine makes room for effective treatments that cover all quadrants of health and illness (Wilber, 2005, p .xxx) Integral medicine includes using all within the body to heal itself, it includes transformation, growth, and restoring ones’ wholeness (Schlitz, 2005, p xl). 3. Provide an example of an exercise (or activity) an individual can implement in his/her life, to foster greater physical wellness, Achieving physical wellness includes such small items such as being aware of your weight, cholesterol and diet. Helping to achieve a better physical wellness includes exercising and taking responsibility for your physical form. Exercising is not only good for your body to maintain or lose weight but is also a great stress reliever. An example to foster greater psychological wellness, To help with psychological wellness I immediately think of support groups, when a person can share experiences within a similar group their mind and their bodies may recuperate better. It has been shown that women who join and participate in a breast cancer support group have a 30% longer survival rate than those who do not (Wilber, 2005, p xxvii ). For those who do not have the need of a support group, affirmations are a great way to empower your psychological wellness. Affirmations are positive statement repeated to yourself to achieve desires. Just like in the story The Little Engine that Could, he repeated to himself “I think I can (Piper, 1930) ” over and over in order to get up the hill, he believed in himself and saw himself doing the task and completed it. Affirmations can help the subconscious mind and trigger it into positive action (Sasson, 2012). “In order to ensure the effectiveness of the affirmations, they have to be repeated with attention, conviction, interest and desire. (Sasson, 2012)” And an example to foster greater spiritual wellness To foster spiritual wellness one must be willing to live each day to the fullest, meditation is a great way to help with spiritual wellness as it gives the person a time out and time to reflect on the type of person they are being or want to become. Studies have proven that when people meditate they are calmer, less stressed, and less anxious. During meditation it has been shown that mediators in the brain shift their activity from the stress-prone right frontal cortex and move to the calmer left frontal cortex (Allen, 2003). Describe why each exercise would be beneficial to holistic wellness. Everything we do as a person affects our bodies, mind, and spirit. To be holistically well we have to come to terms that all of us (body, mind, and spirit) must function together. Being physically, spiritually, and mentally active and practicing techniques to sustain wellness will help benefit the body completely and in turn provide holistic wellness. References Allen, C. (2003, April 1). The benefits of meditation. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200304/the-benefits-meditation Piper, W. (1930). The little engine that could. Platt & Munk. Sasson, R. (2012). The power of affirmations. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from http://www.successconsciousness.com/index_00000a.htm Schlitz, M. (2005). The integral impulse: An emerging model for health and healing [Preface]. In Consciousness & healing integral approaches to mind- body medicine (pp. xxxvii-xlv). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. Wilber, K. (2005). The integral vision of healing [Foreword]. In Consciousness & healing intergral approaches to mind-body medicine (pp. xv-xxxv). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Unit 1 HW- 420 Hi! My name is Jen Hussey and I am here to introduce myself again, I am reallylooking forward to this class and a little anxious about the work but I know with determination it will get done. I feel like I am in the home stretch of my degree including this semester I have 3 semesters left, so by June 25, 2013 I will be one happy lady!! My teenager and I will be finishing chool within a week of each other and I look forward to a semi relaxing summer because of it!