The journey comes to written end but continues

This is the final post for this term and it has been an interesting experience to share all of these thoughts with my fellow classmates and my professor. This has been a good metaphorical journey one that I will continue just maybe not in the form of a blog.

Introduction:  As a health and wellness practitioner it is important to develop in all three major aspects of integral healing. Those aspects are physical, spiritual and psychological. It is important to develop these aspects because all three pieces are connected to the entire puzzle that is our life and our healing process. If one piece is not being developed or attuned the rest of the puzzle continues to shift around that piece knocking everything else lose and out of sync. the mind, body, spirit connection is where it all starts and to know that those pieces are all connected allows us a deeper insight to not only ourselves but to those we plan to help along this integral health path. As practitioners we must know how our own mind, body, and spirit are connected before we can help others find their path. Right now in my own personal life I am having to work on the physical aspects of healing. I have had skin spots since December and I have no idea what is causing them. I have been to a regular doctor and a naturopath, the naturopath said it was from food allergies and has put me on a very strict very rigid diet. Well because of this diet I have started to lose a lot of weight very quickly, which is not healthy especially when I am not very big to begin with. So now I need to figure out how to get rid of these spots but, now I also have to work on building up my muscle mass to balance out the loss of the weight. I am going to go see an acupuncturist to see if herbs and TCM can help me with the food allergies and the skin condition. This morning I started a new fitness program that centers on strength training and cardio so that I can build myself back up in a safe way. This is a process and I can already feel this affecting my psychological wellbeing. I am working really hard to eliminate any extra or unneeded stress so that my mind doesn't suffer. I am keeping my faith high and remembering to pray and offer my gratitude for I really am blessed.

Assessment: It is important that I constantly assess my overall health in mind, body, and spirit. If I am not assessing these pieces frequently how will I know what needs to be worked on or adjusted. Currently my assessment range is probably a 7 for all three pieces. There have been a lot of life altering changes to occur in my life since the beginning of April. if I being totally honest my life has been kind of in disarray for the last year and it has really been since March that I have been more attentive to this disarray and making changes and adjustments in order to really begin to heal. I need to work on all three aspects this means finding the right foods and exercises to fit my physical needs, I need to spend more time in meditation and relaxing exercises such as the loving kindness exercise or the focused mind exercise to build up my mental health, and I need to spend more time connecting to likeminded people, praying, and allowing more time to help with my spiritual needs. I had always considered myself pretty grounded and balanced in all of these areas and going through this class has really helped me discover how out of sync I really have been and how I have been hiding behind my fears and stresses and it has finally caught up with me and now I have to make changes before I wind up really sick with something far worse than itchy skin spots. The changes that have occurred in my life since the beginning of April is the universes way of telling me things need to change and change drastically or the outcome won't be pleasant. I have really been able to take the time to assess my health and wellbeing over the last two weeks, and I was not in a good place. Things are getting better and each day has offered a new and unexpected sort of surprise. I am happy that I have been given the tools through this class to recognize that things were not right and that it’s all part of the overall integral healing path.

Goal: The goals that I have right now are to eliminate as much of my stress as I can, I know that there will always be stress in my life as stress is a driving force in all of our lives, it's what allows us to get jobs done, and move through the day to day routine. I don't need extra stress and so I am working on keeping my stress level down. Another goal I have to begin to truly heal. As I mentioned the last year of my life has been pretty hard for me and I know I need to recover from all of that. I need to become the healthiest person I can for myself and for my little boys. I have been given a gift of a month long sabbatical and other than  making sure my boys are where they need to be and the normal tasks of being a mom I have nothing else that actually has to be done. I have decided to take a term off at Kaplan to regroup and so I am going to focus on getting my skin cleared up, putting muscle weight back on my body, and allowing time for myself to bring all three aspects of my life back into some semblance order. I plan on reading the game of thrones book series as it is something I have wanted to do for some time and I plan on lounging by the pool and relaxing, I plan on starting a daily meditation practice and just finding a little room to breathe. Life is too short to be overwhelmed and have constant chaos surrounding you. I am grateful for this time and am looking forward to healing this particular chapter of my life.

 Practices: There are many practices I can do to achieve my goals, I have mentioned several of them throughout this paper but, a few more examples would be yoga to strengthen all three aspects of mind, body and spirit, I love yoga and now that I am not teaching I plan to actually take a couple classes so that I can actually reap the benefits of yoga, I can also do a dance class or two as that truly is my ultimate stress reliever and one of my favorite forms of meditation and a great form of physical activity. I can do things like visualization for all aspects as well, visualizing being healthy will allow me to see myself healing. My mantra for this time is " I am happy, healthy, and healed." I started repeating this silently before bed last night and it will get repeated throughout my day, week, and life. I am going to continue my evening bubble bath to relax for my mental wellbeing. The nice thing about this journey is it too is a practice. Every day is something new and the practices shift and adjust as needed from moment to moment. I am excited to have time for these practices and to add them more frequently into my life. I just to need to make sure that when my month is up and I get back into a new routine that these all stay with me and part of a regular practice.

Commitment: Making the decision to change your life is never easy, and as I said I have had a months’ worth of life altering changes but, I am ready for the change and I am ready for something new, with that I know I need to be held accountable for my own healing journey and path. I need to stay on top of the mind, body, spirit connection and make sure that each piece is continuing to heal and grow. In order to do this I must assess my wellbeing frequently and make sure everything is still working properly. I need to watch the movie that is mind, body, spirit and see where things need to be changed and where there is growth and make notes of these things. I need to maintain a sense of healing at all times so that I don't wait until the imbalance appears in my skin to fix it. I need to be aware of how I am feeling physically, mentally and spiritually at all times and if something is off I need to increase my practices in that area so that I don't unravel at the seams as I have done for the last year or more of my life. I need to keep those seams together. Now that I am more attune to the integral healing process I vow to to myself and to my loved ones to be the driver of my own course and path, I want and need to heal now and always. This has been a journey for me to realize that I am in need of a new path and a new way to achieve that path on a more complete and total level.  I need to make these changes now so that I can be more prepared for whatever lies ahead and make the best out of my life ahead. I am 32 years old and really starting my healing journey here and now.

I close by saying- The journey comes to a written end but, continues.

A blended pair

This week we were asked to pick our two favorite mental fitness exercises. Looking back over all of the exercises that we have done over the last few weeks, I would have to say that my favorite exercises are meditation and the subtle mind exercises. I find these to be the most beneficial to me and my mental fitness. I feel like meditation really gives me a clear answer when I need it, it allows me to find a connection between myself and the spirit, it is also the first practice I really learned and it is something that feels like a connected part of me and the subtle mind exercise really allows me to clear my mind and gives me a chance to turn down the volume in my head. It allows me a few minutes of silence. I can add these to my practice because they are already part of my current practice. I think it is important to have a consistent practice, you can't teach a practice if you don't actually practice what you are trying to teach. These practices are a part of my own search for integral health. They do need to become a daily part of my search for integral health and I know that but, at least I know what I need to do to with these practices.
These practices are beneficial and I may add some of them into my own spiritual path but for now I am happy with my choices.

I hope the week is going well for everyone.
Ramsie

a week of regrouping and processing

This has been a week that has really tested me on a physiological and spiritual level. I decided to resign from my job that I had thought I loved. It turns out I had loved this job at one point but, I had gotten to the point where I had convinced my self that this was still the case. When I left this job I was devastated and I didn't know what I was going to do. I have two boys that rely on me and rent and everything else that goes along with being an adult. As the evening went on I became more and more calm and realized I was actually okay with this transition. The next day after dropping my boys off at school I felt lighter somehow and it was because I wasn't at my job. I then made the decision that there was something bigger and better out there for me. I have not spent much time meditating this week but, I have been spending a lot of my meditation time in prayer looking for answers that I need to find. I have always been very blessed and the right opportunity has always found me when I need it I am hoping this to still be the case, I have faith it will be.

As for exercise this week, I have always found that meditations where I have to visualize the image of a person especially a wiser person very challenging for me, as there are so many people who's wisdom is great and their teaching that I admire and respect so these usually tend to be a person of no particular face or identity. This was a nice time for reflecting, the light images were very nice but, for me there image of the white light was already present. I felt at ease and peaceful while practicing the exercise.

 The last part of my blog this week was to answer the question: "one cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" This means that you can't give someone directions on how to change if you haven't under gone the same change or something very similar. You can't know what a person would go through unless you under go it as well. This is beneficial for being in the health and wellness business because we can't help transform a clients health and well being if we haven't undergone our own personal transformation. If we have not tapped into all of our own levels of healing we won't be able to tap into anyone else's levels. It is the seeing is believing concept that can help drive us as professionals, our own personal testimonies can be used to help show our clients that there is truth in what we say.

I hope everyone has a great and blessed week!
Namaste
Ramsie

human kindness personal intimacy

Today is day like most Saturday's. I sit on my couch and work on homework and watch chick flicks. There are many things in which are going on in my life and all seem to balance a top the very small beam as to which I have put them. None of them to be of bother to me or to be causing me a great deal of stress but, I am very aware that they are there. With that being said it was a nice change to sit and practice the exercises for this week. The first was practicing the universal loving kindness exercise. To start repeating the mantras came easily and flowed as if a soft breeze whispering in my ear. After a spell though the mantras faded away but, the feelings of being up lifted and at ease remained. It was a pleasant task to sit there and wish well to others.
The next exercise too was  a nice change though an interesting outcome occurred. As I sat in stillness and reflected upon my integral assessment I came to discover that my Interpersonal aspect was the one that needed some work. I was not expecting this as I try very hard to keep my relationships with self, family, friends and community in tact. I do think that my intimate relationships are truly on the mend, I have had a series of unhealthy relationships and have been hurt in the process but, I have since worked through those issues and have become more aware of self and appreciation for myself and for the people in my life. I have had to learn what it is I truly need in a romantic partner and it has nothing to do with them but, what they bring to the entire table of my existence. I no longer need the embrace of another person to be content or happy. I do plan to try the intimacy and spiritual union exercise in our book. Along with that I plan to try and work on allowing my heart and mind to be more open to myself and those around me and paying attention to where my relationships are and how I can help shift them.

In light of the day
Ramsie