Personal Application of the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Personal Application of the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Introduction

Perhaps the most important thing to say about the need for lifelong personal development – meaning the active pursuit and maintenance of emotional and mental stability, a comforting spiritual presence and biological health to include physical fitness and good nutrition – is of key importance to success as a wellness professional is that as established, “one cannot bring others to a place one has not been.” (Dacher, 2006).

Dacher explains that the most important reason for deciding upon the arduous path to psychospiritual affluence is that “it is the most underdeveloped aspect of our lives” and to that end, “is a main source of present day mental suffering and premature disease” (p. 59).  Also, it is this development of one’s inner world that must be in place in order to improve a life overall. Finally, a satisfying and spiritual relationship with the self will often mirror our relationships with others.  In order to become a calm and comforting presence for others, we must have become that for ourselves.  Without having made progress in these areas, we would be without needed reference points making our ability to guide someone else limited.

I wish to become fully aligned with The Preparations which must be done with intention, commitment and immediacy.  Practicing loving-kindness through my thoughts, prayers and meditation will open my heart to others and help me to be less resistant to extending myself; skillful action, or learning to refrain from unskillful (amateurish) behavior and replace this with skillful (competent) behavior and action- this has to do with removing obstacles to inner development; silence and stillness are invaluable to my finding the knowing that is in me and this silence and stillness is to be found on three levels, the outer (the calm of our environment) the inner (a calming of the mind) and finally the innermost (a steady state of peace and ease unperturbed by life’s difficulties) (pp. 51-54).

Assessment

One of my favorite definitions of wellness is, “first and foremost a choice to assume responsibility for the quality of your life, beginning with a conscious decision to shape a healthy lifestyle. Wellness is a mind set, a decision to adopt a series of principles in the varied life areas that lead to high levels of well-being and life satisfaction.  A consequence of this focus is that a wellness mind set will protect you against temptations to blame someone else, make excuses, shirk accountability, whine or wet your pants in the face of adversity. This last one, says the author, is provided as a means to help the reader remember the explanation (2011).

Spiritual Wellness.  I have been exposed to a several significant live changes in the last few years, almost simultaneous with returning to school to finish my degree. Having been raised Catholic and having an allegiance to God, I had something to return to over my adult years, even if it was an adolescent method of prayer.  Yoga introduced me to Buddhism.  This is a lifestyle and philosophy I feel most aligned with as an adult.  My spiritual health would be regarded as good with room for improvement.  I forget to check in with God throughout my day.  If there was one thing I’d like to focus on it would be to meet with God daily and this could be done as a precursor to a meditation sitting.  I have been attempting to sit each morning even if for a few minutes but am often distracted either by my thoughts or my dog Mary.  She thinks I am on the floor to play no matter how I try to ignore her.  The apartment is very small and I will probably begin to put her in the bathroom for my time.  My sitting has been short but I am not judging myself.

Physical Wellness.  An assessment in the area of physical well being would be good with room for improvement.  I am having a difficult time with staying motivated to get out for my power walks or use one of my fitness tapes.  While a full-time job and full-time classes does take up a great deal of time and energy, I am sure I could improve my energy level if I were able to get over the hump once again and make my exercise occur very regularly as I once did. 

Emotional/Mental Wellness.  Given the challenges of the past few years, I would assess this area of life as good.  I have made prayer and an attitude of gratitude very much a ritual in the evenings before bed.  Reminding oneself that others are experiencing true devastation and loss somewhere nearby works well when one needs to get rid of a fearful and angry mindset. 

Goal Development

Psychological Goal.  I would need to discuss this in terms of my goal for improving my relationship with the outer world, specifically my relationship with work.  As I move closer to making connections that will likely result in a transition from job to self employment such as counselor-client relationships and group counseling, it will be necessary for me to shift from an employee-oriented outlook to an independent professional mindset.  As we know from Dacher, an elevated awareness level and matured relationships contribute to a meaningful inner life. These same things greatly influence our outer world and the manner in which we operate in our day to day contact with colleagues, clients, vendors etc.  Dacher hopes for us to learn to “transform the work by bringing a new integrity, consciousness and compassion to it… then, what was viewed as imposed now becomes chosen”(P.96, 102).

Physical Goal.  We have been introduced to lines of development as they relate to areas of human health.  With regard to biological health, these will address fitness, nutrition and self-regulation.  With regard to nutrition, here we move away from unhealthy or emotional eating to an intentional choice to feed ourselves well while at the same time being mindful that those food choices have as little impact on the environment and animals as is possible.  The fitness lines of development now become a deliberate program of fitness training that is balance and inclusive.  Self regulation progresses from a neutral state to subtle mind and body practice to gracious spiritual/mind/body abilities (p. 108).

Mental/Emotional Health Goal.  Subtle Mind practice.  I am in need of a continued effort to tame and train my mind, minimizing useless mental activity.  I have been somewhat successful in remembering to sit each morning in silence without holding myself to any length of time for now. Just making certain that the sitting occurs and being with my overly active mind for while each day has been the goal at this time.

Practices for Personal Health

Physical.  To implement a necessary improvement and maintenance in myself physically, I believe the best choice for me at the age of 50 would be to return to a regular yoga practice.  My early relationship with a yoga practice was very gratifying.  This type of physical work is beneficial in so many ways and my experienced was better sleep, overall improved energy and mood, as well as weight loss as needed and maintenance of same. I have to find a way to afford yoga class cards and begin my practice again faithfully.

Psychological.  This course has made is clear for me that mental and emotional stability will come from lifelong contemplative practice.  For me, the combined exercises of the Subtle Mind and Loving-Kindness are most powerful and medicinal.  Dacher tells us “we are reminded that enduring well being requires the cultivation of wisdom and we do that by taming and training our mind, learning how to access its deep levels and exploring our real selves”. Similarly, “our well being requires less focus on ourselves and an increased concern for others.” (p. 65) 

Spiritual.  Strengthening in this area may be achieved through use of Subtle Mind/Loving Kindness exercises.  We know that a still and clear mind is crucial to taking a new direction towards holistic health and a personal integral practice.  The Subtle Mind exercise is used as a daily practice using the breath and geared towards training the mind through intention to pay attention for a period of time wherein the practitioner learns to witness only the continuous flow of random thoughts as opposed to reacting to them.  Loving-Kindness is used as a method of steering ourselves away from self- centeredness and destructive emotions like anger, intolerance and jealousy by embracing other people and making them a priority.  We then turn this loving-kindness inward which bolsters our ability to give it back again (p. 51).

Commitment

As Dacher explained early on in Preparations, the need to continually find our faith and the motivation to direct our energy towards the goal of achieving holistic health will always be there.  It is easy to fall back into old habits during the early stages where one is trying on new things and it requires effort to ensure practices that quiet the mind and allow for silence and stillness happen each day because it is here we will find the rest.  We are encouraged however, knowing that over time and with dedication what was once an obligation becomes standard and we begin to feel the change and benefit from a quieter mind and more easily maintained relaxed state.  It is probably helpful to focus on a single contemplative practice until such time that it is no longer new and confusing but natural and open to interpretation (p. 50).

A regular assessment of the areas of life that the integral practice addresses is also necessary as our needs change.  This too, will be a component of working with clients.  It will be important to be able to intuit when someone we are working with needs to redirect their energies to an area that is taking away from overall progress.  Again, we begin with ourselves personally in order to train ourselves professionally

References

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi. M. (2005). Consciousness and healing: Integral approaches to mind body medicine.St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.

(2011).  Wellness defined.  Retrieved July 19, 2011 from http://www.health-womens-healthy-living-goals.com/definition-of-wellness.html

Unit 8: Best Practices and Teaching as A Wellness Professional

Practice One.

The reason that The Subtle Mind practice is used firstly for the purpose of taming and quieting the very human reactive and grasping mental energy is why I find it to be most constructive.  Dacher explains that quieting an unruly mind is the first step in the direction of integral health and healing.  Training the mind to be more of a witness to our thoughts rather than needing to do something about every thought that comes through cannot be any more necessary to all the rest of our efforts.  Secondly, the Subtle Mind exercise is for fine tuning mental activity so as to be capable of keeping one’s attention in a single place for a specific period of time.  The result of practice over time is the ability to tap into the mind’s resources and all of its attributes.  The ability to have intention requires attention and the Subtle Mind practice addresses this important issue.

Practice Two.

Visualization: Meeting Asclepius/The Healer.  This I find to be a very engaging, personal exercise.  It is powerful like the Loving-Kindness meditation but used to bring confidence, comfort and assurance to yourself during a sitting.  The idea of visualizing a very wise, compassionate person whose presence can be felt is ideal for bringing oneself to a confident yet peaceful state.  To be asked to take freely of their informed thoughts, loving heart and right speech is a beautiful and bolstering experience.  I find this is the exercise I have committed to memory quickly and use it in whole or in part often. 

Achieving Mental Fitness.

Through contemplative (reflective) practices such as the Subtle Mind meditation and visualization exercises such as Meeting Asclepius/The Healer, one makes the decision to develop themselves from the inside so as to improve and reach their full potential externally – in their personal and professional lives.  Dacher’s definition of mental fitness includes clearly understanding what you are undertaking, what you are actually ‘doing’ when doing it and what you ought not be doing.  Similarly, he adds that it will do no good to be unable to go beyond closing one’s eyes and relaxing – this will bring only temporary comfort. 

The aim of contemplative practice, of achieving mental stability or fitness, is to cultivate a gradually improved expansion of consciousness (awareness) as well as the healing it can provide. 

Placing these activities into my personal life takes a commitment of time which most people will admit, is very difficult to do.  Overcoming the pitfalls of running out of time requires a commitment to time management – and I’ve been giving time management a great deal of thought.  I have considered how I can make very poor use of time as compared to the instances I am aware of using my time well, being very productive.  This goes along way with me – being productive – and often results in my becoming even more productive the following day.  It, unfortunately works that way with wasting time – the more time I waste, the more time I waste.  It can be as habit forming as productivity. 

Working with clients professionally, I thought that a decision to include an introduction to contemplative practice to my clients would boost my own personal intention to remain a student.  By teaching a certain exercise to a client based on what I perceive as that they’d be most receptive too, I work with improving my intuition as well.   For example, some women would be very responsive to the Loving-Kindness exercise drawn as they may be to the protective and prayerful nature of that exercise.  Another client may be more inclined towards the Meeting Asclepius/The Healer, perhaps someone who is going through a difficult time of loss or illness.   Using contemplative practice in my “practice” is a good way of strengthening my commitment to furthering my own personal journey and areas of study. 

Wishing everyone great progress as you need it. Kathleen

One Cannot Lead Another Where One Has Not Gone Himself

This phrase stated in Lawrence George’s article “Transformation of the Healer: The Application of Ken Wilber’s Integral Model to Family Practice Medicine” (Schlitz, 2005) is most applicable to any health and wellness professional who might work with others in the capacity of guide to integral health.  How can you possibly spend time mentoring someone if you’ve not experienced an internship of some kind? 

This phrase references the inability of an individual to fully understand a set of circumstances or empathize with a situation if there is no reference point, meaning if they have had no prior exposure to such circumstance or situation.  In the area of American medicine, specifically the method of medical care and the challenges both the system and those who practice within it face, the words are relevant to each person who has a hand in the care and healing of others.

As a person who intends to counsel others from a holistic perspective, I am professionally obligated to clients to have spent considerable time examining myself for strengths, weaknesses, bias, areas where I have a natural ability and interest (wherein I would have more to offer certain individuals) and things of this nature.   Personally, I owe it to myself to be as prepared and well-rounded as is possible so as to enjoy my work.  If I have provided myself the gift of an evolved emotional, spiritual and psychological perspective, I would certainly be in all the better place to help others sort out their difficulties and work on the areas of wellness that are keeping them from experiencing an improved day to day.

Unit 7 Meeting Asclepius

The Dacher CD’s Meeting Asclepius contemplative practice was perhaps the most instructive and moving of all those we’ve been assigned.

I did have trouble when asked to envision a particular person of wisdom as my thoughts ran around looking for someone.  Then I began to feel guilty not being able to name someone like that – as I continued to let my mind wander around I missed enough of the narrative to start over again. 

The preface provides two terrific analogies one with regard to our having at our disposal our own inner healer, very capable and caring and the other to do with having a very new practice and the mind being much like a rushing loud waterfall, then becoming a less competitive stream to a lazy river and finally a quiet river united with the deep and stable ocean.  This lays a foundation for understanding that at the beginning we might be surprised to find out loud the noise really is in our resistant mind, and even with time it may feel like there is no change, but this is because we’ve only begun to listen.  Early on, we may only find the untamed mind and as we practice longer eventually a bit of the witnessing mind.  Later on possibly calm-abiding and over a long time a glimpse of unity consciousness. 

In addition a very important consideration is asked of the listener with regard to finding an experienced teacher which is a great idea.  It will be important to locate a good teacher however.   With or without a guide, we are reminded that the goal is inner freedom versus simply relaxation.

The contemplative practice involving access to our inner healer, or our Subtle Mind, asks us to envision a wise and loving man or woman, someone we respect, honor and feel a connection with.  For the 1^st round I choose the Dali Lama as my point of focus – I am a great fan. 

The listener is invited first to observe the chosen individual keeping them in front of you in your mind.   Next the listener is invited to sit in their presence, reflecting on their qualities, characteristics,  inner peace, compassion, love and happiness.. Several minutes are spent “staying” with your mentor allowing the connection to deepen.

Finally, the listener is directed to visualize white and cleansing light emanating from the person of focus to listener as they sit, purifying their thoughts, speech and heart.  This is very powerful and has a beautiful influence on the listener’s sense of their capacity for goodness. 

My experience of envisioning the chosen person moving around in his space, that I would use his peace, his calm-abiding perhaps as an example for myself was really charming. I especially like having to use the visualization of white light from the Dali Lama’s throat for the purpose of his manner of speech becoming my own.