Capstone website

For my capstone project I had to create a new website. It is located at: http://healthandnutritionawareness.wordpress.com/

HW 420 Final Blog

For this blog we were asked to compare our Unit 3 assessment to how we would rate ourselves now.  In Unit 3, I rated myself as a 7 for physical well-being but on further reflection, I changed this to a 5.  This change was mainly made because of the scores that I got on the assessment which was done for our insurance.  The fact that my triglycerides and cholesterol are high, are serious health risks that need to be addressed.  In Unit 3, I rated myself as a 7 for spiritual well-being, but when I did  the assessment for my final project, this changed to a 6 because this class brought a serious issue to my mind which is causing me distress. In Unit 3, I rated myself a 7, but when I did the assessment of my final, this also changed to a 6.  This was because of this same issue.

For Unit 3 the goals which I had set for myself were:

Physical - take the results of the health screening that will be done on January 31^st to my doctor and get the test that I have not had this year. In addition, I will walk at least a mile a day 5 or 6 days a week and eat more fruit.  I have not made an appointment with my doctor yet.  I have been walking at least 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes.  I have not improved in the amount of fruit that I eat.

Spiritual - to begin is to commit to pray at least once a day.  Up until today, I had not accomplished this goal yet.  Today, however, I prayed and make a promise to God that I would continue to do so at least once a day.

Psychological - to make sure that I get at least 15 minutes of sunshine a day, in order to alleviate any symptoms of SAD and to attend church activities more often, so that I don't feel as lonely. I have been walking most days, so I have made progress toward this goal.  I am attending more church activities and making the effort to go with other people when I do.

As can be seen from my final project these goals have been expanded and changed. For the most part, I have implemented the activities that I discussed in Unit 3 into my life.

This course has been a wonderful experience and opened my mind to the fact that our well-being is not only a matter of the physical but also the spiritual and psychological.  It has also given me tools to develop these areas.  I will continue to use them to further expand my mind and relieve stress. This class has been difficult because it has brought to mind a very disturbing area in my life which is now causing me much distress. This experience has improved my ability to help other by making me aware that wellness is not just a matter of the physical, but also the spiritual and psychological and it has made me aware that the mind can do a lot to control the body.  I will be a more effective health and wellness professional because I will be more aware sensitive to these areas when I deal with clients and because I have used the tools, I will be able to recommend them to them.

HW420 Integral Health Plan

INTRODUCTION

Our minds, bodies and spirits are a divine gift which I feel we have an obligation to develop to the fullest. I think that it is important for a Health and Wellness Professional to be an example of someone who lives a healthy lifestyle because clients are more likely to take what you say seriously if you do.  It is a matter of practicing what you preach. Practicing what you preach makes the health and wellness professional more credible because the client can see that you are an example of what you are telling them to do. What you are saying is not overshadowed by what you are doing. A client will also be more willing to follow your example if they know that you were once in the same place that they are and have used the tools that you are telling them about to become what you now are. You will also be a more effective health and wellness professional if your mind, body and spirit are at their best. I need to develop in all of these areas in order to achieve these goals for myself. I need to expand my mind, get in better shape and enhance my spiritual development in order to be the best I can be. I also feel that now that I have the tools that this class has given me, I have an obligation to use and share them.

ASSESSMENT

I have assessed my health in each domain by thinking mindfully about how I am doing in each area.  I used a scale of one to ten with ten being the best and scored myself accordingly. Physically, I scored myself as a 5 because even though I exercise regularly and try and eat well, I do not track myself in these areas. I also am not able to exercise at even a moderate pace because I am limited as to what I can do, because I have limited range of motion from a knee replacement. I also have not seen a doctor for a physical for 3 years. During my health screening which was done for our insurance at my husbands’ work, I found that I have high triglycerides and high blood glucose. To my credit these scores through high, have improved over last year. I have, however, started taking Krill Oil to lower my triglycerides and Chromium Picolinate to support health blood sugar levels.

I have scored myself as a 6 psychologically because I have something in my past which is causing me great pain and I cannot let go of it. Every time I think about it I get very depressed.  It has made it difficult for me to focus on doing some of the exercises in this class because they have made it come to mind more frequently. I also suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder which makes me depressed at times. Although, I pretty much have this under control by taking daily walks to get my dose of Vitamin D and by having full spectrum lights in my school room.

I scored myself 6 spiritually because I have been taught the thing that I mentioned in the psychological area is a sin and I feel unworthy therefore I am unable to develop the relationship with the divine that I would like to have.

GOAL DEVELOPMENT
The goals that I have set for myself are:

Physical - I will  get a minimum of 30 minutes a day of exercise at least 5 days a week and track my food intact using MyFitness Pal every day. I will make an appointment with my doctor to discuss the results of my health screening and follow his advice.  I will also get the tests done which I have not had in years i.e. mammogram, Pap smear and colonoscopy. 

Psychological – I would like to try and resolve the one area that I have that I feel is causing me great pain and holding me back spiritually and physically by asking for forgiveness from the ones involved and forgiving myself. If this does not work, I will look into finding a psychologist that I can talk to about it. I will continue to practice meditation and stress management techniques.

Spiritual – I will pray for forgiveness from God for the things that happened in my past which have been causing me to feel that I am not worthy in order to be able to develop a fuller relationship with my Savior. I will then begin to pray regularly at least once a day and study the scriptures or read or listen to something inspirational each day.

PRACTICES FOR PERSONAL HEALTH
The strategies I will implement to foster growth each area are:

Physical – I will write myself an exercise prescription and track my progress using MyFitness Pal and I will decide on calorie limit and track my food using MyFitness Pal. The exercise that I feel will be most effective for me is walking because I can do this outdoors or indoors on the treadmill or using Leslie Sansone’s Walk-at-home videos and walking is something that I can do with the limitations that I have from my knee surgery.  Exercise is important for my physical well-being because it will help me to lose weight which is a factor in high triglycerides and high blood glucose.  Having these indications also puts me at risk for heart disease, so lowering them lowers that risk. I have also found that tracking my food intact and keeping myself within a certain calorie limit helps me to lose weight. This is a strategy that has worked for me in the past. Good nutrition not only will help me to lose weight, but it will contribute greatly to my over-all physical well-being because getting the right nutrients makes your body stronger and less susceptible to disease.

Psychological - I will use meditation every night before I go to bed for at least 15 minutes in order to relax me and help me to sleep better. This will contribute to my psychological well-being by helping me calm my mind so that I can sleep better and be more alert the next day so that I can function at an optimal level. I will ask forgiveness from the people that I feel that are involved in the act previously mentioned in order to free myself from this burden and help me to feel happier.

Spiritual – I will use prayer to rid myself of this burden and then pray regularly in order to more fully develop my relationship with God.  I will use the scriptures and other inspirational readings in order to help me understand the atonement and how it works in my life. This will contribute to my spiritual well-being by helping be become more connected to the Divine and relieving myself of the things that I feel are causing me to not be able to fully develop in this area.

COMMITMENT
I will track my Nutrition and Exercise using MyFitness Pal daily and I will also use my Health and Wellness Blog to assess my progress in the next six months by looking back each week and writing a post about how I did.  I would like ask that the class members who have been following me on the blog for this class to go over to that blog and follow me or subscribe by email, so that they can hold me accountable.  The URL for the blog I will be using is: http://nutritionfitnesseducation.blogspot.com/  

HW420 Unit 8 Optimal Well-being

I like the Meeting Aescleplus and the Visualization exercises the best.  I think that the Meeting Aescleplus exercise is a great way for me to connect with Jesus as I would like him to become my inner healer. I really need to do this in order to enhance my spiritual development. I also like the visualization exercise as a way to remember the good times in my life.  This would help me to have a more positive attitude and not focus on the bad things that may happen to me.  I think that this would be a good thing to do especially when I am going through something. It is sort of like counting your blessings. I think that when you are doing that your mind is clearer and you can then try and grow from the experience.  If you cannot do it at the time, it would be a good thing to look at the experience and ask yourself “What did I learn from it?”  It would also be a good thing to share your experiences with your family, both the good and the bad times, so that they may also learn from them.  This way you are not only helping to foster your wholeness, but theirs also.

HW420 Unit 7 The Mind-Body Paradigm

Last time when we read about Aesclepius, I pictured my grandmother and later thought of Jesus. So this time I wanted to try and picture him.  At first I didn't have much luck, but on Sunday I heard a song that helped me to see him more personally and then I was able to complete the exercise with more success.  The song is by Michael McLean.  Here is a video of it from You Tube:

After that experience, I was able to picture him as my loving Savior who cares about me and doesn't think of me as just one of the crowd. My spiritual wellness was greatly increased by this experience. The practices that we have done are things that need to be continued in order to fully actualize them in our lives.

When I heard the saying "One can not lead where on has not gone himself", the first thing that came to my mind was "Practice what you preach".  I think that it is important for a Health and Wellness professional to be an example of someone who lives a healthy lifestyle.  Clients are not as likely to take what you say seriously if you don't. Also in order to be the best you can be, you must be developing yourself.  You will be more effective if your heart, mind and body are at their best. I think the best way to implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life is to use the principle discussed in the book and make your life the practice.  This means to use intention in all you do. Don't let things just happen to you.  Intentionally, direct your thoughts, actions and life toward things that will make you the best person you can be.

HW420 Unit 6 Exercises for Mind-Body-Spirit Wellness and Healing

This week for class we were asked to do a mini loving-kindness exercise. I thought would be more effective for me if I prayed it. To me the concept of just sending these affirmations out to the universe is just too nebulous and I think that saying them as a prayer to God is a perfect way to expand your heart and mind. So my prayer went something like this:

Dear Heavenly Father:
Please help everyone who is suffering. Please help everyone to find sustained health, happiness and wholeness. Please help everyone to gain freedom from suffering. Please help everyone to find health, happiness and wholeness.
In the name of thy son, Jesus Christ whose love we wish to emulate
Amen

When I was praying this prayer, I was thinking of all the people who are in the grip of the terrible storms in the East and this helped me because I could imagine some of the things that they were suffering.

We were also asked to complete an integral assessment this week to identify what areas that we need to work on. I have several areas that need attention.  The first and most obvious is my biological.  I need to lose weight and exercise.  This is an area that I identified early in the class and have been working on for the last six weeks with some success. I take a daily walk and eat healthy.  The next area that I also identified earlier in this class was psychospiritual. I need to strengthen my relationship with God and pray more and study his words.  This I have also been working on and that is one reason why I decided to turn the loving-kindness exercise into a prayer. Another area which is not in balance is my interpersonal sphere and it is also an area which was previously identified. My interpersonal sphere is small and is pretty much limited to my family and my church family.  My son takes walks with me and we have developed a stronger bond by doing this. Something I would like to try with my husband is the intimacy and spiritual union practice (Dacher, 2006). I think this would be a great thing to do on Valentine's Day!

Reference:

Daucher, Elliott, S., (2006), Integral Health, The Path to Human Flourishing,
Basic Health Publications, Inc., Laguna Beach: CA, Chapter 9, pg. 92.

HW420 Unit 5 Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

I think that the Loving Kindness exercise was much easier than the Subtle Mind exercise. For me, it comes down to a difference between accessing the mind vs. the heart. As stated, in the reading our minds are full of chatter and it is a challenge to calm the mind so that the chatter stops and we are able to reach the calm-abiding state. My mind just loves to chatter! I found that breathing does help to calm this, but I am not able to sustain it long enough to get into that state, either that or I fall asleep.  This has some advantages and disadvantages. I have used the breathing to help me fall asleep when I am having trouble doing so and it works wonders! But if I want to be able to progress from the Witnessing Mind into the Calm Abiding mind, I will have to calm my mind just enough to stop the chatter; but not so much that I fall asleep. This exercise is also a lot longer than the Loving Kindness exercise which makes it hard to stay focused.

In the article on biological flourishing, Dacher discusses that a progression from body to mind to spirit is necessary to reach our full potential. When we shift our mind set a corresponding shift in our bodies is possible. This is the mental part. Next, we need to recognize our body’s connection to the spirit. Maybe some of the things which we see as miracles and paranormal, are when a connection to the spirit takes place and we are able to tap into the deeper recesses of our mind and control our bodies (Dacher, 2006).

Reference:

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications Inc.

HW420-Unit 4 Loving-Kindness

The loving kindness practice has been hard for me so far. It is easy to visualize someone that I hold with great love and tenderness and expand on those feelings and I was able to turn them into myself and become at peace with myself and my body, but it was hard to treat some of my unpleasant experiences as friends therefore it was very difficult to get to a place of stillness, peace and gentleness. I tried to take in a loved one’s suffering and just found myself worrying about them, but still I tried to send out health and joy to them and contemplate how I might be of assistance to them. Because I was fully successful with the first two parts of the exercise, it was almost impossible to take on the suffering of strangers.  In spite of all this, I did feel my heart expanding with loving-kindness. This is a practice that will take some time to master and I can see why they recommend doing it daily. I would recommend to others as a practice to help someone expand their mind.

A mental workout is as necessary for psychological and psychospiritual health as physical exercise is for physical health. Research studies show that mental training can transform the mind by reducing anger, hatred, fear, worry, confusion and doubt and enhancing patience, loving-kindness, openness, acceptance and happiness  Daily mental training through meditation, prayer and visualization can open one’s mind and help to develop one’s mind-body connection and expand our healing capacity thus promoting physical, mental, psychological and spiritual well-being (Dacher, 2006).

Reference:

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc

HW420 Unit 3 - The Mind-Body Connection

Our assignment for this week’s blog post was the rate our Physical, Spiritual and Psychological well-being on a scale of 1 -10 (ten- being optimal well-being).

I rate my physical well-being as a 7 because I am in over-all good health other than being overweight. The reason that it is only a seven is because I have not had a complete physical in at least four years. Our insurance does do a health screening each year which includes blood tests and tells us what our risk factors are, but I have not followed up with our doctor on these results.  Also I have not had a Pap smear or mammogram for quite a few years and at 66, I have not yet had a colonoscopy.  I rarely get sick, so I rarely go to the doctor.

I rate my spiritual well-being at a 7 also because even though I go to church regularly, I do not feel connected to God or Jesus. I think that the problem there is that I do not pray regularly therefore it is hard to feel connected when I don’t communicate with them. 

I rate my psychological well-being as a 7 also because even though I feel that my mind is mostly clear and sharp, I do suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder and can become quite depressed and despondent when the weather is gloomy.  Also since I am retired and often alone, I often feel disconnected from the world. Although, this has gotten a bit better since my youngest son (28) came home to live for a while this December.

I set some goals for myself at the beginning of the month and have been meaning to write them down, but had not gotten around to doing it yet. So I was glad for the assignment to do so.

My main physical goal for this year is to take the results of the health screening that will be done on January 31^st to my doctor and get the test that I have not had this year. In addition, I will walk at least a mile a day 5 or 6 days a week and eat more fruit.

My spiritual goal is going to be the hardest for me, but I think that the way to begin is to commit to pray at least once a day.

My psychological goal is to make sure that I get at least 15 minutes of sunshine a day, in order to alleviate any symptoms of SAD and to attend church activities more often, so that I don't feel as lonely.

Before I go on to the relaxation exercise, I would like to discuss something that really touched me in our reading this week.  When I was reading the Meeting Asclepius visualization, I was really touched.  The personal that I visualized was my maternal Grandmother as I feel that for me she embodied the characteristics of peace, wisdom, compassion, love and joy that were mentioned. I was so touched when reading this visualization and imagining her that I was brought to tears. After I finished, I thought well Jesus also embodies these characteristics and wouldn’t it be nice if I could visualize him with the same clarity as I did my Grandmother and let him by my Asclepius. This is a goal I would like to achieve. 

The “Crime of the Century” relaxation technique was a little more successful for me than the one from last week.  Even though I was able to imagine the colors, I was not able to imagine the beams of light, but I liked the affirmations that accompanied the colors and can see the benefit of repeating them on a regular basis. The breathing also was very relaxing and so was the speaker’s voice. 

HW420 Journey On Activity

I have tried relaxation techniques in the past and I have to say that it is not something that I am good at. That said, I did have some success this time.  It was nice just to take the time to relax and become more mindful of my body.  Focusing on my breathing did help me. In fact, I found that when I have trouble falling asleep that just focusing on paying attention to breathing in and out relaxes me so much that before I know it I am asleep. This is something that I know I will have to try several more times in order to master it.

HW420 Unit 2 Introduction

One thing that I didn't specifically mention in the about me section of the blog is that I love to write, but you may have figured that by the fact that I have several blogs listed. I have a total of five blogs and each one reflects a different aspect of my personality. I created this blog for my intellectual writing, so rather than create another blog for my HW420 class, I asked the professor for permission to use this one. I have a blog which I use to review movies that I like and talk about places that I have been: http://agalavantinggrandma.blogspot.com/

I like to cook and experiment with recipes and the blog that I created for that is: http://cookingfasteasy.blogspot.com/

Another one of my interests is crafting especially knitting, crocheting and jewelry making and the blog that I created for that is: http://craftygrandmajune.blogspot.com/

I also have a blog that reflects my interest in Health and Wellness at: http://nutritionfitnesseducation.blogspot.com/ 

As you can imagine, it is hard keeping up with all these blogs, so if you check them out you will see that postings have been kind of sporadic.  I have a lot of writing to do for school, so that makes it hard too. 

The assignment also asked us to write a reflective statement and one that is the motto for my life is: "Life is a journey to discovery".  My blogs reflect this because as I stated before each one reflects a different aspect of my personality.  If I had to sum up my personality, I would say that all in all, I am very creative and I like to think outside the box.

The next 9 weeks

For the next nine weeks this blog will be dedicated to my journey toward integral health and will be used for my Creating Wellness class (HW420) at Kaplan University on-line.  Please follow my journey and feel free to subscribe.