Unit 9 Final. Chea.

Health and wellness, and the professionals who dedicate themselves to helping people achieve it should embody, practice and teach the primary components that constitute actual health and wellness. In order to do this, professionals must understand much more than just the body; they must understand the mind and the spirit. In the age of never ending technological entertainment, unhealthy foods and unethical behavior, the health of the average person is declining. Many mainstream media sources claim that Atheism, or the non-belief of any higher power is the fastest growing “religion” in world. Combine this idea with the sentence before it, and it appears as if the entire world is suffering from a serious lack of the mind-body-spirit connection. It is important for the professionals to health care to understand these aspects because of not for these healers, who else would be able to bring integral health to the world?

Assessment

In assessing my own health through the three levels of integral health, the mind, body and spirit, I believe that I am doing quite well in all areas. I will be the first to admit that I need work in all of them; but I believe that I am on the right path. In the mind domain, on a scale of 1-10, I would give myself a solid 7. I make it a daily practice to expand my mind and learn new things. I do not watch TV, so I use books to flew my mental muscles, and create pictures and movies in my mind’s eye. Through mindfulness based practices, I have been able to understand my own mind even further, and be an active participant in my life instead of a casual viewer.

            In the body area, I would rate myself at a solid 8. After having completed a personal training certification course, I have added a much needed deeper understanding of the body to my life, and can now work through my own pains and continue to seek physical improvement through daily exercise. I have been working out for the past 10 years on a daily basis, and will be the first to admit that workouts had begun to get a little old and stale. With their being so much information online to sift through, I felt lost in a never ending maze of trends. This course gave me exactly what I needed to light my way towards the end of this maze.

            When it comes to the spirit, I would give myself an 8. I am a highly spiritual person, but follow no organized religion. I have decided to let life be my teacher of religions, instead of following the words of others like me who have interpreted books, visions or otherwise to be the end all be all of religions. A solid belief in a higher, infinitely wiser power has humbled me and destroyed much of the ego that I formerly possessed.

Goal Development

            I do have three goals as a matter of fact. For my physical goal, it is to understand my body much more than I do now, and take the steps to make sure that everything I do for myself keeps those facts in mind. I want my physical body to radiate health, and I understand that it isn’t just mental aspects that influence, but diet and exercise. I am in great shape, but I have pains. I want these pains gone and my muscles strong and lean. My psychological goal is to be a warmer individual to all people, strangers included. No one smiles at one another anymore. No one greets one another randomly on the street. No one holds doors for others, offers their seats to people who need it and give up their spot in line to an individual with less items to buy. I want to be the person who can do all that for a complete stranger, and not do it to make myself feel better, but because I want to do it for them.

My spiritual goal is to connect on a deeper level with my higher self. On clear nights, I like to go outside in the backyard with my dog, put a chair in the middle of my yard and sit back, looking at the stars while drinking a hot drink. I had the most incredible thought and feeling come to me the other night, when out of the blue, I thought “My higher self it out there somewhere watching me”. I don’t know why I thought that, but I felt completely at ease and totally loved, secure that everything was going to be alright. I want to make sure that I am fine tuning my spiritual body so that it can affect everything else in my life and provide me with a greater connection to all things.

Practices for Personal Health

Physical: (1) Daily stretching (yoga) and (2) light workouts. I have found that stretching feels incredible, especially after a good workout. I believe that most of the pains and problems I have today are a result of my refusal to properly stretch during the last 10 years of my heavy workouts. I’ve injured my body, and as a result I have to almost start over again. I don’t look at it as a bad thing, but as a rebirth of sorts, allowing me to do it right this time around.

Mental: (1) Daily studying of the human anatomy and (2) continuing to read each night before bed. After having just completed my personal training certification course, I’ve come to realize that the body is truly a large, biological machine with an integrated super computer as a “head”. If you really study the body, it’s energy systems, the muscles and all, you will be shocked at home it all runs. I believe the key to understanding the Universe it to understand my own physical vessel. I will also continue to read before bed because fostering a good imagination is the key to all of these integral health practices. It all takes imagination, one thing that TV and computers are killing.

Spiritual: (1) Daily meditation and (2) more time in nature. Meditation is my break from the outside and time to focus on Me. I find that taking every opportunity to focus on my breath and become centered has become a way of life for me. It has enabled me to concentrate longer, without getting distracted and it eliminates all sources of stress. I also feel that spending more time in nature will help me to really understand how life should be lived. We are so unnatural in our lives; it’s sad really. The more I get outside, the more I realize that life is so continuous, and that life exist in all places, under all conditions, even in the darkest and scariest depths that you can imagine. The laws that we believe bind us to life are completely ignored by some creatures such as the ones that live on the bottom of the ocean, miles under water, being pressed by thousands of pounds of pressure, without sunlight and warmth. How is this possible?

Commitment

I will assess my progress or lack thereof by constantly being aware of how I feel. That is the only way. You must be conscious of all the things in your body; the sublte energies buzzing in and around you, the way your heart beats, the small aches and pains, the feelings of hunger or thirst, the sleepy feelings in the middle of the day or after a long rest, your posture while you are sitting typing a long paper…everything. I will also gauge my progress by consulting with my twin flame, my sister. My sister and I live on two opposite sides of the continent, but our lives mimic each other’s in every way. When I have a bad day, she has a bad day. If I get sick, she doesn’t feel well. When I have a spontaneous moment of happiness, it’s because she had a great moment. She will let me know how she feels, and I will always feel the same. That is another way I will know how I am doing.