After completed my creating wellness class and reflecting on my first scores of myself I feel that at that time I rated myself well. I also believe that even after the advancements I have made in this class I would remain with my first scores and rate myself the same. I have learned new skills and ways in which to distress and have practiced many of them, but I fell that I cannot improve my scores that well in that short of a time period. I also don’t like scoring myself as I feel it is so subjective and as a perfectionist I very rarely rate myself perfect in very many areas.

                Even though I would continue on with the same scores I do feel that I am progressing within the goals that I have set for myself. I am now making valid efforts in these areas and I am making the time and taking the time even when I may not necessarily have it for myself. I am making a conscious effort to focus on a holistic health for myself.

                I have begun on my path of interventions to better myself. I participate in meditation to assist in my mental health, focus on my spirituality and grasping on my religion. I attend fitness class and while I am there I make a conscious effort to clear negativity from my body. There are so many little things I have picked up along the way. I think before becoming angry and focus on positive thoughts.

                I have enjoyed this class as well as this experience. I feel that classes such as these bring us closer to ourselves and our inner being. I find that these classes refocus our thinking and encourage us if we have fallen off course to get back on and I feel that is exactly what I have personally done. 

Introduction

                As a health and wellness professional it is important to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically in order to maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle. When we focus all of our attention to healing one area of our lives, the other areas begin to suffer and when any one area of our lives suffers it in turn affects the areas that we once thought were healthy. We must focus on maintaining a healthy balance in our lives. We must give our minds the time and attention they need in order to destress and clear from the busy lives we sometimes live. We must make time for ourselves even when for some of us our lives revolve around caring for others. We can cause permanent damage to our minds and bodies if we do not properly care for them.

                In my personal life all along I have felt that it was my spiritual side that needed the most work, but as time passes I am finding that it is not my spiritual side that is lacking as much as it is mental health in general. I don’t exercise my mind like I should or do mental workouts. I don’t distress or de-clutter my mind properly. I have been interested in meditation for a long time, but have never practices regularly. I find it much more rewarding as well as easier for me to help heal others regularly rather than to deal with my own life stressors and care for myself. Some may think this is a negative quality, others a positive quality for a nurse to have and for me I simply just think of it as part of myself and who I have become and something I will continue to work on.

Assessment

                Personally I assess my health and wellness in each domain with how secure I feel in that area. Am I strong in that area? Do I feel as solid as a stone or are there still cracks in my stone that are coming together? Is this an area that I feel I have mastered? Personally I don’t feel that until I have every domain of my life in check and my mind, body and spirit are running as a well-oiled machine that I have anything mastered. I believe there is always room to be made for personal growth and development. Currently I feel secure with all areas of my life, but not solid spiritually or in some emotional aspects.

                I don’t place a “score” on my wellness spiritually, physically or psychologically. A score is what I look for in a game, but nut a number I wear on my mind or on my back. I have filled out questionnaires that have asked me to rate my health on a zero to ten scale, and these are such subjective questions. Can we define what perfect health is and what having a middle of the line type of body and mind is? If that was the question with a definition I might fail, but I don’t “score” myself as failing. I am satisfied with simply saying I am content with my life, my life is not perfect but nor is it miserable my mind is not unstable, but on the road of mend on a daily bases after the repairs have begun from what I have subjected it to each and every day.

Goal development

                Physically my goal is to participate in physical activity for 60 minutes 3-5 times weekly. This is my goal for strength and toning as well as for my Psychological health which also benefits from the satisfaction of working out. Psychologically I plan on not only focusing on working out physically, but also to become comfortable with meditation. My ultimate goal would be meditating for at least 15-20 minutes daily, but for more realistic goal at this time I focus on trying to meditate 2-3 times weekly for 15 minutes each. Spiritually I plan on finding a new church where I feel comfortable. Focusing on my spirit and finding what feels right for me and my religion, and connecting myself with God and living a life driven more by religion then by myself.

Practices for personal health

                I joined a fitness center where I really enjoy working out and enjoy the people that I am in class with. The people you go to class with may not seem like it should be a big deal, but if they make you uncomfortable or they cause your mind more stress and your body more tension then for me it is greatly taking away from your experience. I also chose two different workouts that I enjoy one being very structured while the other is more fun and energetic. Psychologically I can participate in free sessions and join local meditation groups with people that can give advice and words of recommendation. There are also always books available as well as CD’s. Spiritually a currently feel incomplete as I don’t belong to a church or organization and I haven’t found one that I am comfortable with yet. Finding a place to call “home” would help as well as reading and prayer for spiritual healing.

Commitment

                Assessments can be made by looking at how often I am missing fitness class or how many times  am putting off meditation. Tracking my progress in a planner to maintain my commitment and to help with holding myself accountable would be a good tool of success for me personally. Spiritually, making a list of churches to visit and sticking with the commitment to try them would assist in the hunt. There are many ways to hold ourselves accountable and tracking to see if we continue to be successful.

                A good way to make sure we make sure we continue on our path to a holistic and healthy life might be to set away one day a year in order to put ourselves back in check and make sure we maintain a healthy focus. One day to evaluate where we are in our status, view our goals, reset goals if needed and to get started. 

What works for me...

Aesclepius meditation has proven to be my most effective method of exercise for relaxing my busy mind. I have tried many different forms of mental workout as well as relaxation presented from my class as well as from doing general research and finding what works best for me and when it comes down to it I seem to be a simple meditation type of mind. I love to be able to focus on my inner breathing and to clear my thoughts and feelings and even though some issues are still left to be dealt with after I have finished meditating I still bring a clear mind to the table with a clear focus and have a better attitude as well as general mental state to take on whatever it may be at that time including what sometimes feels like the world!

Mental health is such a crucial area to focus on and we must all find what works best for us in our own lives. Suggestions and tips from others are always welcome with open arms and a warm heart, and I am willing to try almost anything, but at the end of the day it is important to do what works best for our inner minds which for me is simple meditation.  

A Touching Experience...

This week I completed the meeting Aesclepius meditation experience. I chose a person who is very close to my heart and someone I have been morning the loss of. I found this experience touching and meaningful in a very warming way. I found myself smile at times and when I was done I was in tears, but not in a bad way, but in the way that Ryan and I have been brought so close so many times lately. Last night I gathered with a group of family and friends in order to celebrate Ryan’s 28^th birthday and let him know that all of us here on earth are still missing him, loving him and thinking of him. We lit 28 fire lanterns and sent them off to the heavens as our message of love and thoughts, it was truly touching in every since. Today doing this meditation experience he was the first person that came into my vision and I felt that this experience was just one more step of closeness between us.

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (p.477), in life there are so many experiences and as a nurse there are situations that I am going to enter into with my patients that I have not personal gone myself before. This does not mean that I will not have an understanding or that I cannot help that person through these times. I thank the Lord have not had brain cancer or liver cancer or many other diseases or conditions, but that does not mean I cannot give strength to those who I am caring for with the illness it just simply means that my personal experience of the situation will be different. I will never tell someone that I understand when it is a situation I have never experienced myself and most times I won’t even if it is an experience I have experienced myself as each experience is unique to that individual. My obligation to my patients is to care for them the best I possibly can and to push them to achieve their optimal health, and through them I also grow. Many times no matter how much I feel I have given to a patient I feel I have grown even more from meeting them and the strength and wisdom that they obtain. I can assist them with spiritual growth by encouraging them to discuss their thoughts and feelings and to use their personal religious beliefs as strength; there are so many ways as a nurse that we can help others as well as ourselves. 

Trying to slow a busy mind...

Describe the exercise and assessment process. What did you discover about yourself?

                I personally discovered that my mind is very busy currently and I have a hard time pausing to try to think of what all is in my mind when I am busy thinking about all of the things that I have on my list to do. Unless I am in the state of relaxation and pulling myself out from my busy day and homework I struggle to really focus on what exactly needs to be “fixed” or improved.

What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and development? Why?

Psychospiritual is the area that I chose to focus on. This is an area that I feel comfortable with, but also feel has not been as well kept up as others in my life and could use the most work.

What are some specific exercises or activities that you can implement to foster greater wellness in this area?

                I do a lot of clearing my mind and refocusing on my morals and beliefs, and focusing on doing what is morally and ethically correct. I also attempt to focus on stress management and not letting negative occurrences affect my mood and how I react and correspond with others around me. Talking to others around me with the same or similar beliefs also encourages a positive psychospiritual state. 

Loving Kindness Vs. Subtle Mind exercise...

Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.

                The difference between the two exercises is that in the loving-kindness exercise you are shifting your thoughts and refocusing your mind and in the subtle mind exercise you are doing a whole body relaxation with focus on your breathing. With the subtle mind exercise you are supposed to be “taming a busy mind” but I found after doing it all of the things I had been thinking about previously were all still there. I didn’t feel like it was as mindfully relaxing as the loving-kindness, but that it was just simply a nice time to relax.

                In order for this experience to achieve what I feel it is meant to do I would have to do both exercises doing the loving-kindness exercise first. I also felt that just simply focusing on my breathing was not the best method and I would rather do a full body meditation. I found myself getting bored and losing focus in the subtle mind exercise.

Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

                As we all know our spiritual wellness is one aspect of our mental and physical wellness that must be addressed in order to have optimal health. Personally I am addressing this aspect of my life and I understand the importance of this aspect of life, but feel that there remains room for growth and development which I intend on pursuing. 

Mental Workout

Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

                I found this experience relaxing, but much like meditation. Personally I found this experience to be beneficial and I found it to be actually very simple and not difficult at all. It gives a since of calmness and refocuses your mind to a happier and healthier place rather than the chaos of the day. It brings your focus back to ground and encourages you to let go of the negative to focus on the healthy and happiness, to release the tension of negativity. When I did this experience I chose a calm environment and used headphones and really put myself into a place where I felt this could be most beneficial and I feel that worked best. You are able to walk away from this experience with a since of calmness and with your mind at piece. I also enjoyed the calm music of the ocean in the back.

What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

                The concept of “mental workout” is the idea of not just clearing our mind, but training our minds to release tension and anxiety and focus on positive and encouraging thoughts. There are proven benefits of mental workout. Mental training has proven to increase clarity and has shown long term as well as short term benefits. In order to implement mental workout in our own lives for out psychological health we must make time daily in order to refocus our minds and to focus on our mental workout, time to heal our minds. 

How I Rate My Health...

                This week my blog is going to focus on my questions from my Health and Wellness class.

Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal wellbeing), where do you rate your A-physical wellbeing, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?

                I believe that your physical wellbeing as well as your spiritual and psychological well-being can change from week to week and maybe even day to day depending on what is occurring in your life at that time. Currently I am sick and for the last week I have missed my fitness class so this week I would say that my physical well-being is struggling and I would rate it at a 6. I went from going to 5 workout classes a week and feeling overall very well to none and that is a really big decline in my life. This affects how I feel, and even how I start my days off.

 Spiritually I feel that I am at a 7. Psychologically I currently feel like I am at an 8. With being sick there is a decrease in concentration as well as a need for extra sleep that is not always possible with a busy life that doesn’t have time for illness to happen. This not only puts a strain on my body physically, but also emotionally and psychologically. I am a person that truly enjoys my profession and what I do, and I take pride in my career so when I become ill and I am not feeling 100% it really affects all aspect of my life.

Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

                Currently my physical goal is to become healthy. When I am healthy I focus on weight loss as well as becoming physically fit. In order to become healthy I am trying to go to bed earlier in order to get adequate rest, I am drinking lots of water as well as washing my hands frequently and disinfecting surfaces that I come into contact with. When I am healthy and focused on weight loss and becoming physically fit I attend fitness class 5 times weekly as well as monitoring caloric consumption.

                Spiritually I keep myself healthy by embracing my religion as well as beliefs and by living by those beliefs. My current goal for my spirituality is to find a church to attend. My daughter  and I had been going to a church that we really enjoyed and then ended up in a place where we need to find a new church. It is really hard to find a new church to attend when you were happy at the church that you had just been going to.

 Psychologically I really feel like I am at a good place when I am able to keep myself free from physical illness. My goal psychologically is to work towards a better focus while I am ill. I have a very good network of friends and family who love me tremendously and give me love and support. I am able to express myself freely and seek encouragement from them. I have a career that I thoroughly enjoy and work for a clinic I truly enjoy. The doctor I work for is phenomenal and I learn so much from him I truly feel that I am in a great place and am thankful for that feeling every day.

What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal?

                In order to reach the goals I have developed in my life I plan on continuing on the path of growth and development that I am on. I plan on approaching my life in a holistic manor and to learn to truly take care of myself in all areas of my life. 

A fresh start

     My name is Audra and I live in the center of Iowa. I am 28-years-old and I work as a full-time Endocrinology nurse and a part-time medical/surgical nurse. My most important job however is being the mother of a very beautiful 8-year-old daughter. My life is currently filled with work, school, third grade basketball games and school events as well as as much of a social life as I am able to make happen with whatever time left I have at the end of the day, which isn't usually very much.

     This week my life has taken a twist as I have lost a friend of mine. I have never truly understood the act of suicide, but in the end no matter how he died he's gone. I seem to be able to better justify a loss of life when a person passes away in their 80's or even 90's with the simple sentence of, "oh, they lived a good life", but when they pass away at the age of 27 I can't even begin to try to find reasoning of why they had to go or if there was something just anything that could have changed the outcome. My friend, his name is Ryan, is gone now, and his pain that he must have been suffering has passed now, but now his friends and family are left with unsettled questions and a void in our hearts that will never be filled. I wonder how I am going to teach my niece and nephews about the uncle they never got to know. The pictures, the stories, the passing of the memories on will never be enough. I go to sleep at night with tears in my eyes and the prayer that tomorrow I will wake up and it will all have been a horrible dream, but then the new day begins and a fresh start. Each day we are given on this earth is a gift for us to live to the best of our abilities, to treat one another kindly, to bring joy to our own lives as well as our own lives. After I woke up this morning I hugged my daughter a little tighter and held her a little longer.

  As we enter each day it's sometimes important to focus on the fact that each day we wake up we have a fresh start to what the day may bring. As we push forward we should try to remain encouraging and uplifting to the ones around us. Today I am celebrating the life of a lost one and even though he no longer lives on earth with us he lives in our hearts.