Unit 10

After looking back at unit 3 and seeing my scores for Psychological, Physical and spiritual me, it was amazing.

In unit 3 I scored my Physical self as a 5 out of 10 because of being 15 lbs over wt. Well I would have to say that score is pretty much the same. I have not been able to attacke that portion of my health. I pretty much just made up an excuse every time I was going to walk or use the stairs at work. That part of my self needs to change and realize that if I don't do more to improve my health I could be setting my body up for disease. Unfortunately this mental fight is part of my Psychological score.



In unit 3 my psychological score was not very high either. I scored myself at 6 out of 10 and I would have to say it is even lower know. I would score myself at 5 out of 10 know, only because I always want to make an excuse not to do something. I am working on this and hope to change for the better. I have even started making myself park farther away from the store so I have to walk..lol..Me fighting myelf and trying to win.



The spiritual aspect was scored 7 out of 10, this score is going to stay the same. I am getting better at going to church. My husband has even decided we should attend every sunday. I also remember the one thing my grandmother taught me. She said, "you don't have to be in church to talk to God." Well I am talking to him more and more, especially when I feel overwhelmed and angry. This really helps and I feel relief after talking.



After looking at all my goals and attempts to integral health I can say I still have a long way to go. I planned on meditation to help with my psychological health and so far that goal is still working. I still take time out for myself and work hard at making time for meditation. As for the physical goals, I am still working on the weight loss. I don't think that one is going to be so easy since my hours at work are so crazy. I am looking at the choices in food I make and trying to eat more healthy. Instead of fries I pick salad, instead of soda I pick tea, so I am trying. The spiritual goal is right on track and I am looking forward to staying the course.



With all that said, I have learned alot about my over all health habits and mental habits in this class. I tend to procrastenate when it comes to my own health habits but I am quick to suggest healthy habits to other people. I learned alot about myself from this class and hope to take another course similar to this one in the future.

Unit 9

I currently work as a nurse and I can honestly say it is important for us to develope ourselves. When you are taking care of sick people all day it can be very stressful. The patients do not mean to be angry or unthankful so you take all that negative feeling inside yourself. If you are not able to relax and gain your inner stability you can not help the patients relax.

If you are not in touch with your integral health you can not expect a patient to look to you for comfort or proper information. You can not instruct a patient on integral health if you don't practice this yourself. It would be like smoking and smelling of old cigarettes while telling your patient to stop smoking. They would loss trust in what you say and any rapport you had with that patient is broken.

In the beginning of this class we each scored our self on different integral health aspects. When I look back on those scores it is with much saddness that I have not met those goals I set.

My score for psychological or mental health was is less, but not by much, previously I scored myself as 7/10. My current score I would have to say 5/10, that is a huge step for me and I plan on lowering that score much more.

The next previous score was on my spirituality, that was 7/10. I can honestly say that score has not improved. I will continue to try and work my way spiritually but right know I am just not feeling the move.

The physical score I gave myself in the beginng was 5, I am still at a 5 and have not lost any weight at this point. I refuse to feel down about this and will work on the weight loss even after this class.

My goals are before me and my past behind me, lets hope I quit looking behind me and focus forward. I will live a healthier life, I will practice my meditation times to lower my stress and connect with myself again. I will attend church at least once this month and hope to work my way up to every sunday. As you can see I gave myself no options by saying I will.

As I am doing these positive things I will keep track right here for all to see and commnet on, even give me a swift kick when I try to make excuses.

Unit 8

In the last several weeks we have learned different ways to become healthy. In integral health we learned that meditation can been done in many different ways. When we learned about loving kindness I wondered how this concept would help me as a person and nurse. When I practiced this it had amazing results. I can be a hard person sometimes and tend to keep a pretty big wall up around me. The reason is so I don't get hurt by becoming to attached to patients. The problem was I was acting like this all the time, even with family and friend. When practicing the loving kindness people around me noticed a change. I was even asked if I was on medication. I was shocked, I could not believe how people seen me. I continued to practice and incorporated the meditation in with this. I actually felt better, less stressed and I can tell you I even felt good about breaking my shell. I discovered that the wall I built around myself was also affecting how my patients reacted to me. With the meditation exercise and visualization practices I was able to connect with myself and focus my mind.

The subtle mind practice was alittle harder to understand. I was actually better with loving kindness and visualization. I also came to realize that I used to practice my own meditation when I was younger by falling asleep to soft music. We don't realize what stress does to us until it happens. I actually had to see doctor because I was having heart palpitation's, they told me it was related to stress. I couldn't believe it, I was actually allowing stress to affect my physical self.

Since I am using the meditation practices I have felt less stressed and able to sleep better. I feel like I am working towards a new me. I am excited about continuing this progress towards a healthier me. I became a believer with this meditation 2 weeks back and since than I have been using meditation to relax after work everyday. I can say it has improved my performance and attitude at work and at home. I am less likely to come home in a bad mood or start yelling at the kids because I feel strung to tight. I find myself laughing more and enjoying just sitting outside more.

Unit 7

In the past few weeks we have learned how to meditate and practiced loving kindness. In this weeks assignment we are instructed to continue with meditation. Well I have been practicing and in the last several weeks I believe I have improved somewhat. I am not able to visualize beams of light but I can slow down my heart rate and focus on my breathing. I have been feeling great and sleeping better in the last few weeks. That must mean something is working its way into my brain and starting to help.

The last several weeks has been an upheavel of emotions, yet with meditation as an escape I felt less stress and more focused. I was able to focus on my family and there needs with a clear head and help a dear friend. I am not saying I was perfect at the meditation part, but the concept and practice helped me. I am hoping I will continue to take the time for myself each day just to refocus and bring my mind back together. That is the only way I can describe how I felt, scattered, and the meditation put me back together.

As for the saying about not being able to lead where I haven't gone. This simply means it would not be helpful if I instructed patients on how to meditate or how to practice loving kindness if I had not used it myself. It would be like teaching a patient how to draw the letter A if I didn't know how to draw it myself. If you want a patient to respect you and follow your recommendations that means you must lead by example. Don't be the doctor who smells like cigerettes and tell me not to smoke. Be the person who smells sweet with white teeth and is able to walk to your car without getting out of breath.

I am not sure how long I will remember to meditate or if I will be strong enough to keep my goals. So far I have spent the time needed to relax and focus my mind, practiced loving kindness and I have been paying closer attention to what I am eating. That I will say is the hardest since during work I am usually eating on the go so it must be fast. I have been good though and skipped the donuts, even though I am sure it is killing my loving kindness. lol.. But I am not so tired by the end of the day either.