Unit 7: Meeting Aesclepius

Unit 7 Blog Assignment:

1. Complete the Meeting Aesclepius mp3 (located in the Doc Sharing area). Describe your meditative practices for the week and discuss the experience. Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?

Each morning I meditate to allow myself an opportunity to feel an inner peace and calmness throughout my day.   In addition, meditation encourages better coping strategies to stressors in my life and the many jumbled thoughts that consume my mind throughout the day, especially being the OCD person I am! I enjoyed this practice and felt very relaxed and peaceful. When asked to visualize a loving man/woman that I respect, love, who taught me wise things and to become one with this person I instantly thought of Jesus Christ.  I felt His spirit in me, as the sound of the waves crashed in the background.  I pictured us sitting on the beach together as He held my hands.  The beam of white light shined down all around us and transformed my inner peace and tranquility.  At that very moment I felt comfort and security knowing I would never be alone.  He is always with me, guiding me, and shining His white light on me as I walk my journey on earth.  Mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in my psychological or spiritual wellness since I find I am overall less angry in stressful situations and handle myself differently towards my personal and social interactions.  I find through daily meditation, even the few minutes practiced, I am a MUCH calmer and all-around better person.  In addition, meditation has made it so the little things that used to bother me don't seem like such a big deal anymore.  Trivial things I once thought were catastrophic now seem rather insignificant. Furthermore, maintaining meditation in my life personally adds peace, happiness, and serenity to my life developing greater health and wellness.

 

2.      Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (p.477). How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?

The saying “One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" simply means in my opinion to “practice what you preach.”  If you are going to show someone how to get somewhere or do something, you need to have done it and experienced it yourself.  This most certainly applies to the health and wellness professional.  In order to teach and instruct health and wellness to clients, we need to achieve it ourselves.  On a personal note, I can recall my first day of personal training school our instructor saying if anyone in the room smoked.  One person raised his hand and our instructor told him to either quit or leave the room because he was in the wrong profession.  How can you smoke when you are teaching people how to better improve their health and wellness?  It would certainly be hypocritical.  As a trainer and future health and wellness professional I most certainly have an obligation to my clients to develop my health physically, psychologically, and spiritually.  These three concepts make me a complete and well-rounded person.  It is critical I look and feel the job I am about to embark into.  Currently, I implement prayer and meditation into my life each morning.  Additionally, I am physically active on a regular basis and incorporate many hobbies into my life to foster creativity, stress release, and happiness.  All of these contributions benefit my mental and spiritual growth. 

Angela