Unit 7 Blog Post

1. Complete the "Meeting Asclepius" exercise on track #4 on the Dacher CD. Describe your meditative practice(s) for the week and discuss the experience.

This week I focused on my inner being in my meditation, I am conflicted between my love of my family and my desire to do something meaningful that makes me happy. I want so badly to join the Navy, but you can’t be in the Navy and live in land-locked Iowa. My meditation has consisted of me working to find what my heart truly desires, like the woodcarver.

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?

Meditation and mindfulness has helped to foster my spiritual and psychological well being and growth by allowing me to become more in touch with my thoughts, processes, judgments, and desires. I can continue to garner greater health in all aspects of my life by continuing these meditative and mindful practices, particularly the subtle mind practice, which was very difficult at the beginning for me, but has helped me greatly.

2. Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself”

This saying, to me, means that I cannot get help to become a more balanced person spiritually, physically, and psychologically, from a person who has not gone through the journey before me. Just as: I can’t get directions through the mountains from someone who has never traveled the mountains themselves.

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?
This applies to me as a health and wellness professional by showing me that, even if I have great training and knowledge is this sort of change and transformation, I cannot truly guide a client on this path without first completing it myself. We do have a responsibility, in these aspects, to our clients, making positive changes in the spiritual, psychological, and physical well being is the way to bring a greater sense of peace, happiness, and wholeness.

How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?

You can implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life through practices such as the subtle mind, loving-kindness, and Meeting Asclepius practices. Also, you can do so through personal exploration and generalized meditation.