HW420-01 Unit 10 Blog

Aloha everyone,

At this time, progression towards my goals is slow. Change is still needed at my work place, which I have started implementing, but it is reliant on multiple factors (work, Living situation, school, life). I have some big decisions coming my way.

In the area of Physical wellness- my evaluation is hovering around 4.  The most exercise at work is the many repetitions of flights stairs throughout the day, and I started working out when I get home at night. I squeeze reps into my 2-minute breaks while I’m doing home work. One of the reason this level is still low, is due to the lack of time to put into to what would be my normal workout/ exercise schedule, but as things become more manageable (or at least they same like it) I will pay more attention to getting out, and back into hiking and more riding, and yes climbing. Physical activity plays a strong role in my holistic balance by facilitating a spiritual and psychological synergy.

            Psychological wellbeing (6): psychologically I feel confident, I learned how to conduct myself, so I can put things into perspective and limit the harsh affect of stress. The physical aspect gives me an outlet to discharge the stress and lighten my load. It also clears my mind so I am able to see things for what they are and not play the part of judge, but as a witness. Once again, as adjustments settle, the exercises that I learned along with the reasons associated with them, will help me to progress further, to free my mind even more, and to open my mind to more possibilities.

            Spiritual wellbeing (3): my spiritual awareness or recognition was nested in with the physical portion of my life I was able to spend more time with and around animals and nature which was very helpful. The component of exercise allowed me to step inside of my mind and explore different areas, but this decreased with the lost opportunities to workout.  My mind is clouded at times, the spiritual connection I had is fogged out, and the links to access that world/level are not active right now. I have been boxed in for the last year and I can see and have witnessed how important being out of the box is. This class, the exercises opened the lid. Now its about knocking down the other portions or just climbing out.  

Have you implemented the activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain.

My exercise portion is in process, along with my nutritional goals (yes, making time, and cooking again). Psychological, I have started taking time to unwind, breathing, doing massage again (helps both spiritually and psychologically), and spending more time with my teacher (my horse Ghambit, and the other horses) out in the fields, it’s a good time to open up the mind and just experience what’s around you.

This course, these classes have been helpful, and the blogs were helpful in growth. It great to interact with others in the same mind set (well after a little while, it takes time to warm up to people), which I found to be beneficial.  One of my ongoing themes is; thing have stabilized and now I can move out, and move out I shall.  Through this course, I have been given instruction, direction and resources to facilitate wholeness with and in my life. Even with the stress of trying to meat multiple deadlines for work, school and life; I found help and that is what will aid in my growth. The loving –kindness is something that I will share with my co-workers and students and people around me. Learn with those that seek help, make it a symbiotic relationship, which nourishes and learn from one-another.

Thank you for sharing this class with me.

Kevin W.

HW420-01 Unit 9 Blog

There is a need for health and wellness professionals to practice and develop holistically. When the practitioner has undergone the different aspect of integral health, they will have a better understanding of the processes and the lifestyle. The client will fill more confident in their choice of teacher, because it will show that the facilitator/ instructor has experienced the changes and progressions it takes to live an integral health lifestyle.  Another important thing to realize … it’s good to have you life in order before dawning the aspirations of another.

As for myself the areas for development are balanced they are at a low level at this time in my life. I have experienced the result of a deficiency in one will cause the others to follow, but by knowing where I need to develop I can make a change for the better. The first area of attention will be the physical and then the psychological aspect.

II Assessment:

My spiritual health is low mainly due to my current lifestyle work, work and little time to let this area flourish, and this is the same for the other areas. My day is challenged with the problems of everyone and everything else. Once I’m able, no once I make the changes to allow myself back into my life these areas will improve.

My spiritual health is about a 5/10, Physical health is about 5/10 (this is based on where I think I should be), and Psychological health is around 7/10.

III Goal development:

Psychological goal: remove the self-sabotaging thinking and behavior. I have to constantly tell myself its ok to win, or go ahead and excel.  Practice the subtle mind exercise on a daily basis.

Physical goal: optimal health. This course has given a means to different ways on improving the different aspects of health; an approach to balance in integral health.

Set a bench mark for: resting heart rate, resting blood pressure, body fat percentage, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, dental health and eye health.

Spiritual goal: attend a shamanic counseling session or a soul retrieval workshop within the next two months.

IV Practices for personal health:

Psychological- I found the subtle mind to be very helpful. I will continue to use the exercise to improve on quieting mind and improving upon my focus. I will use the Neurobics to keep my mind sharp. This type of exercise is something that I’ve been doing for a long period of time, because I have always become bored with things once I had learned them, so I would put a spin on them and approach things from a different prospective: example reading- I would turn the book upside down and read. It was cumbersome at first, but my comprehension improved, but the mind will acclimate and I will need to try something different like reading from the bottom of the page to the top (right to left and bottom to top).

Spiritual- I also like the loving kindness exercise that we did for class. I have been invited to a sweat lodge and I think that will be a journey for me to experience. I will return to nature on a more frequent basis and return to the community of the earth and the universe. The practice of meditation will become increased in my life, and taking part in a soul retrieval workshop to help make myself whole again and then embark on this journey of integral health lifestyle.

Physical- before I was immersed in my job I believe I had a good balance of the mind, body and spirit. I believe it was mostly due to my physical self and me pursuit to improve. I learned to use my mind and spirit to achieve many goals. Exercise will be helpful to return to balance. This will be in the gym, out on the trails, riding (Hippotheapy- for exercising the three domains) and climbing. Another way to create balance is through nutrition and the practice of eating right and eating smart. 

V Commitment:

Six months from now I will look back and review, what I have accomplished, and take an assessment to see where I am; the successes of the assessment based on goals and achievements over the period. With the information gathered from the assessment I will make adjustments to rectify my underachievement or set additional goals to reach the next level.

For the long run, I can search for a mentor or groups with like mined goals. Aligning with those that have walked the path is beneficial to the goals set. Another way would be to keep in touch with new ideas and methods that pertain to the journey. I will continue to educate myself in the areas of physical, psychological, and spiritual health.

Unit 8 Blog

Hello everyone,

The two practices are: the subtle mind and meeting Aseclepius

My choices for the most beneficial exercises would be subtle mind and Meeting Aseclepius. I found the Subtle is a good exercise because of its calming effect. The use of your breath as a tether makes the transition from a physical reality to a mental, and then a spiritual experience. I used the word tether because it helps to keep me along a path, and bring me back if a start to drift away, which brings my attention away from my focal point. Example: when I get over inundated at work I’ll sit back and start breathing for focus. At first I’ll start with the breath and then start focusing on a purple light, I’ll continue to breath and my mind will start to wander, losing sight of the purple light. I can focus on my breathing to bring me back online. Using what was learned in meeting Aseclepius, is used when I’m in need of guidance. When I’m out on trail I will climb out on a rock and just breath and seek out my guide. I ask for help in making me whole, I ask for assistance in my life, and how to assist other in their life. These are strong coping mechanism to get me through a 12-16 hour workday with a constant flow of immediate attention based issues. They give me a chance to check in, regroup, center, ground and revitalize.   Kevin W. 

HW420 Unit 7 Blog Meet Asciepius

Hello Professor and class,
Unit 7 assignment  Meeting Asiepius was a welcomed exercise to re-synchronize my Heart, Mind and Spirit with my spirit guide, of the ancestors. and along with the time spent the knowledge of what I had learned too returned. I have been walking alone; not paying attention to the affect the world is having on me. The gradual changes sneak on you and when you finally take step back and look at yourself, you are a different person. Opening the mind and connecting the heart and speech has allowed me not to take things on a personal level; yet, be personable in my approach to others. I am able to approach occurrences from a bystander’s point of view, which helps me to better understand the emotion that I had experienced, and return with loving -kindness. With the stress that is on many of us why be the straw that breaks the camels back..Instead of contributing to the stress... help to lighten the load.

 " O n e   c a n n o t   l e a d   a n o t h e r   w h e r e   o n e   h a s   n o t   g o n e   h i m s e l fˇ˝ 
This saying falls into the category of “you talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?”. A person that has taken the journey is better equipped to lead another through the same journey or a journey along the same path.  I believe if one is going to put himself or herself in a position to help guide a patient or client they should be well acquainted with the process and paths to teach. Working out in a gym I see personal trainers that you not believe would know anything about health, granted they my be on a life change and this is their way of getting in shape, but the consciences is ...What can they do for me if they are unable to take care of themselves? I believe this would fall under the same category.
Having a healthy balance psychologically, physically and spiritually would be of the best benefit for both. The best way I can see is by taking the practices that we have be doing to start to live the transformation and take further by seeking out a mentor or guide to fully understand integral health.
Kevin W.

Unit 6 Blog

Kevin Whitfield HW420-Unit 6 Blog

Greetings, 

The practice put in to perspective my involvement in a holistic scheme. The words are words of unity with the people around us, a pray to help facilitate self-help and the power to assist.  As the number of times of repeating the mantra increased so did the energy within, things became clearer, how to work with clients knowing what my intentions are and not take over what the client needs from the process (aside from the intention to assist).

I discovered that I am out of control in the sense that I am caught up in situations that are, in my mind, taking from other aspects in my life.  I am in need of focus in the Biological aspect. This has always been the key to my spiritual and mental balance.  Exercise helps me open the mental gateway, and being around animals and nature helps to open the gateway for spiritual awareness. These things have been missing in my life; I have allowed work to take the place of many things. Some of my clients have benefited to from the experiences with nature, and see a difference when I have witness the changing of a heart when a person spends time with the horses.  I have a lot to go to improve or make changes, and hopefully things will slow down so I can take a breath, or better yet I’ll see that they are not moving as fast as I think, and just make the necessary adjustments.

Kevin Whitfield

Unit 2 Blog

Greetings
This is my reflection for Unit2,
I actually took the time to experience the Journey On Relaxation recording. The way things were going I wanted to see how I would benefit (I’m always welcoming ways to diminish stress). The autogenic technique that we were using was helpful. My days are so full and my mind is pulled in so many directions, that I find it hard to quite it down, or make it still when its time to relax or idle down. This method was helpful because it gave my mind something to do. It only had one task to perform. My mind was still, not in the sense of no movement or function, but it was a nice steady stream that was pointed in one direction or purpose at a time.  My mind my have started to wander off once or twice, but it was good that the exercise was guided. It was able to leave it in a direction, or task, for a long enough duration to notice a response (or change). The time spent was welcomed, and it did ease my night and helped me to sleep better. Now I need to continue working out with this mental exercise, so I’m able to focus the stream throughout the day.
Thanks for your time
Kevin