Unit 7 Asclepius Healing

While listening to this track, I found the first part of the track to be annoying. The man’s voice was not appealing to me. When the woman began to speak, I was relieved that the exercise was going to be with her voice. The exercise was meant to develop our inner consciousness. We were asked to focus on a wise individual. I used my father for this individual. We have always had a close relationship, but this exercise left me with a deeper feeling for him. I have often admired him for his ability to control a situation with calmness and not explosiveness. I tend to be explosive in my reactions. This is an area that I am working on improving. By doing this exercise, I was able to start to develop a better think before I speak approach to situations. It reminded me to remember my father’s way of handling a situation. In the practice, we were told to let the wise person’s speech become our own and this is what I did. It made me realize how important our words and actions can be.

I liked how the waves in the background gave me a soothing sense of being. It was very relaxing and calming. I did this in the morning and it gave me a relaxed feeling for the rest of the day. During the exercise, I was actually able to visualize the waves and the white light. This is sometimes a problem for me because my mind tends to wander. I was able to focus on the exercise for the entire time.

When I started this course, I was under a ton of stress. I had just gotten through the death of my father-in-law and the Christmas holidays. The day after class began, I was leaving for work. This meant that I would be on the road, almost continuously, for six weeks. When I looked at the amount of work that there was to do for my courses this semester, stress started to build even more. I thought I was going to explode from all of the stress that I was encountering. I would wake up in the middle of the night with my heart racing. I felt like I couldn’t take the time to really enjoy something because I should be studying. Once I started getting in to my courses, I found the mindfulness practices and meditation to be quite helpful. I began to do them because of the requirements for class, but later I started to realize the benefits that I was receiving from them. Psychologically, my stress has been reduced and I feel more at ease. I am no longer preoccupied by my studies. I face them with the calmness that I should have had in the past. I now am finding more time to devote to myself. I have been doing meditation on a regular basis. Now, it is not a requirement for class, but a requirement for my self. I plan on continuing this on a regular basis from now on. I even downloaded some of the mp3s onto my Ipod so that I can listen to them whenever I need to de-stress. I also have noticed that I have become more connected in my prayers. Although I regularly pray, I think I was just going through the motions. I now feel the difference when I pray and I have noticed that they have become longer and more meaningful. Lastly, I have been able to develop time for exercise. This has been something that I have been missing in my life. Before college, I exercised on a regular basis. One could say that I needed my exercise fix every day. When I started college, I felt that I had to give this up because of my time constraints. Boy, was I wrong! This was one area that I needed to keep in my life, but I didn’t realize it. Through the use of these exercises, I have decreased my feelings of time urgency. I feel that I have become more productive with the time that I do have and therefore, I am able to concentrate more on myself.

The statement, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” refers to the fact that you must practice what you preach. If you do not believe and partake in these practices of integral health, you can not communicate the need for your clients to do so.  As a practitioner of integral health, you do have an obligation to your patients to develop your own areas of psychological, physical, and spiritual health. It sets an example for them and it also shows them how important they are to one’s life.

I plan on developing my psychological and spiritual aspects by implementing a variety of methods into my current lifestyle. The first method is to exercise on a regular basis no matter how hectic my life becomes. This allows me to clear my mind and body. I am starting to think of sweating as a way to cleanse my body of impurities. It also cleanses my mind. I will also incorporate meditation into my daily life. This will help to develop my spirituality. Although I have not started to do yoga, I plan to incorporate this into my life as a way of continuing the connection between my mind and body. These are only a few baby steps, but considering where I was at in the beginning of this course, it is a great accomplishment for me. I now do not think of it as being required, but rather a necessity in my life.

Take care,

Carol