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?
I didn’t find the exercise helpful
for my meditation exercises. When they say to focus on someone with wisdom,
etc, I focused on my late father. But the part that said “be him…” I couldn’t
get into being my father because even though I felt he was wise, it was only in
certain ways so it wasn’t possible for me to be him. My mind kept wandering,
feeling silly and I don’t really associate infinite wisdom with anyone I know. Mediation
has increased them by making me aware of others, causing me to think first
before speaking or before talking to others. It has helped me to be more
mindful of the feelings of others. It has taught me to be happy with what I
have versus those who have so much more and are unhappy. I practice yoga weekly
and will soon be taking martial arts to continue to grow in these areas.
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?
It means
that in order to lead by example, we must have journeyed down that path
ourselves first. It translates into the world of health and wellness as well.
We cannot teach people to be healthy or get healthy if we are unhealthy
ourselves. We do have an obligation to practice what we preach, otherwise, how
would we ever inspire someone to follow our lead or suggestions or methods. Meditation
is a great tool and continuing to practice and try new things and exercise
daily continues my growth in those areas.
