Unit 7- Meeting Aesclepius Reflection

1.      Complete the Meeting Aesclepius mp3 (located in the Doc Sharing area). 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 have to say, this meditative practice was very different for me than all of the other ones.  I only did it one time because it was all that I could handle.  This was the first time I have ever felt emotional during any of these practices.  When it asked us to think of a person who was wise, it made me think of my deceased step-father.  He was a man that was very smart, loving, kind and funny.  I could go to him for advice for anything.  He was the type of person who would listen and cared and would give you the shirt off of his back.  He has been gone for 12 years but when I think of him his image is still very fresh in my mind.  I got emotional when the practice asked us to take in the love and kindness of our person.  For some reason, I started bawling.  I felt so overwhelmed with emotion, love and relief.  I have never felt like this before and don’t know if it is normal.  It was very hard for me to understand yet exhilarating all at once, if that makes sense.  It scared me.  Because of this, I don’t know if I want to allow meditative practices to make me feel like this again.  I don’t know if this is normal or if this is good for me.  When it was finished, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole thing and I didn’t like feeling unsure.  Other than this one time, none of these meditative practices have done anything for me and I can’t really say that they have done anything for me to increase my psychological or spiritual health right now.  I would really have to focus more on them and practice them more to see a change I think.  I could really use the Subtle Mind practice more in my life though, just to ease my ever racing mind on a daily basis.  I really do think that practice, if I stick with it, would actually slow my racing thoughts down and allow me to think and concentrate a little more.  I just may try that one more often.

2.      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?

Well, let’s look at it this way, how can you train someone in mixed martial arts if you have never learned it or trained in it yourself?  You can’t because you would not have any experience in the subject nor would you have any knowledge about it.  That is ridiculous.  I wouldn’t want to have an instructor in school that hasn’t been through school himself/herself.  As a health and wellness professional, it is your obligation and duty to be educated and experienced in whatever subject/field you are promoting or teaching.  At the very least, you need to be working on the same things that you are trying to teach to your clients so that you can share your experiences with them and also share understanding and compassion.  You will not be a good teacher if you cannot listen and understand or be able to offer advice because you do not have the knowledge or experience in the field.  Plus, it leaves the clients feeling like they have nobody to turn to for advice or help.  That is not good.  I am not looking for spiritual growth in my life as of right now.  As far as psychological growth, I think I could find a lot of ways to reduce stress so that my mind could slow down, reduce emotions and my body could relax.  Working with the Subtle Mind practice would probably be a good start for me.