Final Post Unit 10

1). I feel that in the physical well being in week three would have been scored as a 4. The psychological well being would have been around a 6-7 and the spiritual was a 4.  I believe that the physical was a 4 do to my back pain, exhaustion, and arthritis.  My psychological well being was 6-7 because at the time my perception of psychological well being was my ability to handle what life threw at me.  I was able keep myself on tract though all of the ups and down that my life went through with minimal distress. My spiritual well being was at 4 because honestly I really never paid attention to it.  I have always believed in a higher power. I knew there were times that amazing things happened that were influenced by a higher power but other than that I had really did not put much thought in it.

    I would now rate my physical well being as a 6.  During my time doing medication and starting up (slowly) with Tai Chi has lessened my back pain.  I have more energy and hope for further improvement.  My psychological well being is between 7-8 now.  I believe there is an increase because before I was not concentrating on happiness being part of psychological health.  I concentrated on just keeping from being weak.  I know now that I have to incorporate an effort to feel love and happiness and it really has made a difference.  My spiritual well being is a 7 now.  I have become more in touch not only with what I perceive to be as my higher power but also with myself. I have been learning that through taking care of my spirit and mind my body is getting better.  I also have learned that I am capable of bettering my life through making my mind calm and peaceful.  This will lead to my being able to receive and give more and more happiness and love into the world.

2). I know that at the time I really was just focused on my physical well being.  I have always had a bad habit of ignoring the others. I would say that I was curious about increasing my spirituality but didn’t really know what that meant for me. I have improved my physical well being as I mentioned earlier.  I really am happy about that, the Tai Chi and medication in combination help with the alignment of my back and also makes it easier to sleep at night.  My spiritual well being has of course increased as my understanding has increased. I am definitely more in touch with my spirituality.

3.)      As I heave mentioned a few times I really wanted to get back to meditation and Tai Chi.  These were going to work toward my physical and spiritual.  Also I have mentioned I really did not think that I needed any help in my psychological well being.

 

4.)      Through out this course I have learned that my definitions for many things were over simplified or just plain wrong.  I have always treated my patients with great respect and care I have always made sure that they felt like they were the most important person I treated and encouraged family and friend interaction; when their religious preferences were made aware I would always incorporate that as well, especially when they were on hospice.  I know there is far more to treating my patients.  I was treating them physically, psychologically and tried spiritually but was lacking there.   I am a much better practitioner now and can more of a benefit to my patients.  I also look forward to bettering myself and making some of my person life better through all that I have learned in this class.  Best wishes to everyone in your future endeavors.

Veronica Ratliff.     

Unit 9

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3QEw-hoF9OsQ2RtVWM0VEhQQ3M

Unit 9 project

Veronica Ratliff

Unit 8

I found that of all of the exercises we have tried over the course I really like meditation the best.  I know from previous posts it would seem as though this would be the least plausible for me bit I have learned to make my mind quite from having a focal point.  I also have been using vanilla oil when I meditate which I know most people use jasmine but I really can’t stand the smell, so it does not work to calm me.  The smell of the vanilla is pleasant to me and I believe because of positive association that I have it calms me.  I am now able to thoroughly relax my mind and body for much longer that before.  For lack of better words it feels as though I am going an o mini vacation when I am done I feel refreshed and ready to go again.  The second practice that I have found I like is the visualization.  At first I really struggled with this one.  Honestly I felt ridiculous doing it the fist time but I tried after I meditated and since my mind was already relaxed I found my self much more open to the experience.  I am hoping that I will continue to improve and take on more of the characteristics of my person. 

            I feel that I am already improving my mental health.  I find I am more willing to stand back and examine a situation rather than jumping in head first.  I also have found that when I am wronged or something goes wrong that it does not impact me as deeply as it would have before. I also found that meditating after a workout takes away that feeling a mental and physical fatigue.  This is very important to me because my body is not in the best shape and I used to really struggle after a workout.  I plan on using these methods after this class.  I have been doing one or the other and some times both a day.  I have found I enjoy it and look forward to the benefits for a lifetime.

Veronica Ratliff   

Unit 7

1). I had a little trouble with this exercise.  to be completely honest when the recording mentioned summoning up an image of a wise man or women the first image that popped into my head was a Native American women shrouded in clouds.  It is an image I have seen in art before but I am surprised that is the first thing that came to mind, but I stuck with it.  I tried to imagine the light transferring for her to my self and that is where I had the trouble. While I was unable to do that part I did notice that the visualization did help me to direct my thoughts and hasten the time it took for me to relax and focus on the traits I desired for the wise one.  I feel that the meditation is helping me to take more time in the things I do.  I notice happiness in others more because I am taking the time to take in my surroundings more.  I feel that am a little more relaxed and am pleased that I am looking to better myself. I will try to increase the amount of time I meditate so that I may get closer and closer to achieving a calm abiding mind.

2. I take the saying to mean that you can not live your live in  the "Do as I say not as I do" manner.  If you as a health care provider are not in possession of a calm abiding mind and believe in the bodies' ability to heal then your patients are going to pick up on that.  If a doctor is an overweight smoker and they prescribe weight loss and smoking cessation people roll their eyes and call them a hypocrite. The same here holds true.  IF you have not been down the path to a calm abiding mind with kindness and love then you can not direct someone else down that path.  If you feel your patient is in need of psychological and spiritual growth and you are not able to assist them you should at least have contact information for someone who can.  I do however, believe that health care providers should be able walk the walk and talk the talk.  We need to be at our best for those we serve and so a calm and abiding mind is really the best for our performance physically, mentally and spiritually.  I have been trying to make sure I take time to reflect each day since we started this class.  I have been trying to practice the loving kindness and calm abiding mind exercise but I still really have a busy, cluttered mind but it has gotten a little better.  I would like to do better to not only help myself but those around me.  The better I am the more I can help them. 

Veroinca Ratliff

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications

Amorok, T., Micozzi, M., Schlitz, M. (2005). Consciousness & Healing. St. Louis, MI: Elsevier Churchill Livingston, Inc

Unti 6

When I redid the loving kindness exercise I found that I appreciated the bringing the thoughts and meditation even further out from myself and my center of relationships.  Taking in the suffering from a wider scope and wishes health and wellness even further out can only further improve, mine and others spiritual health.  For the assessment I found that my biological aspect is one of my areas for suffering an difficulties.  My body is a wreck in a few ways.  I have epilepsy and sacrcoidosis plus more arthritis than someone in their 70's.  I always have some type of pain or discomfort and am always tired.  I keep my mouth shut and always push on becausee I know having people pity you does not good.  I also know that if I sleep too much it can turn into giving up.  So my brain still wants to fight.  When coming to the part where i have to choose what I want to work on developing and growing I have to pick interpersonal.  I know for a fact that the more upset or stressed out I am the worse my health is.  I literally pull my disks out of place when I am very stressed out. My doctor tells me calm down or you are going to kill yourself.  I have alot of turmoil and misunderstanding in my life with relationships of all kinds unfortunately.I have fought to keep some relationships that I know I should have let go along time ago, the bad relationships have effected all of the good ones I have.  Sometimes you just have to know when to move on and wish peace and good fortune to people that you can not help yourself.  In my work there is a ton of stress and I have learned how to deal with that but there are just one or two professional relationships that are more than they should be and I have been working on setting those right.  For the next step I will reevaluate some of my relationships with others. look into why I am so co-dependent and try to work on that and have a long needed conversation with a co-worker.  Hopefully this work will also go to further my biological well being.

Thanks everyone, Veronica

Unit 5 Project

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3QEw-hoF9OsLUZDNVpncEtxX1E

Unit 5

1). When I did the loving kindness exercise I had a hard time with the calming part.  I also had a bit a trouble actually feeling what the instructions were telling to me to do.  I could think of taking on the pain of a loved one or releasing anxiety etc. but i really could not feel it.  In the subtle mind exercise I found that my mind won't shut up.  It seemed the more I tried to keep from thinking and use my breath as an anchor the more and more thoughts came into my head.  Some of it was related to trying to focus.  However, some of it was so random if kinda made me laugh.  I was thinking of random music and funny things and my response to this question, then I would reign it in again until the thoughts crept back in.  The recording mentioned acknowledging the pulling of thoughts in the busy mind and I really get it.  I really didn't feel a difference between the pulling, grasping, clinging and witnessing.  I tried to get the feeling to change and let go and was able to get moments of silence but very short lived.  So i really don't understand how to make myself witness my mind, that sounds silly even to me.  As said in the exercise I definitely will have to practice this one in order to get a firm grasp in order to let go.

2). Spiritual, mental and physical wellness are all interconnected because human being are formed from all of these.  You can not have a human being that does not have a spiritual, mental or physical component.  The spirit is what gives strength of will to go on and live will.  The spirit determines how the mind will operate and react.  the mind determines the choices that are made in reference to what is done to and with the body.  For myself in my personal life, I have seen time and time again that spirituality can be the best "medicine" for people who are ill.  they let go of the tension, fear and anger they feel about being ill and embrace the love and kindness of those who surround them.  Spirituality also can help people prevent illness.  I have known people who are so well spirited and therefore make great life choices to care for their bodies, you can almost literally see the balance.  I myself try to keep my spirituality in the fore front of my life.  I sometimes fail thought when the trapping of life overwhelm me, I have to bring myself back to center. I have noticed that when I feeling mentally down that I am more likely to get ill, so I always try to keep my spirits up and my mind focused on the positive rather than the negative.


Veronica Ratliff