Unit 7 Blog....Meeting Aesclepius

Hello Class & Professor,

Question 1:

Another great exercise we all completed this week!  I found the Meeting Aesclepius to be another relaxing meditation experience.  Of course the man’s voice in the beginning was annoying! Haha   However, I always find the female’s voice soothing and the sounds of the flute and ocean in the background always seem to calm my mind.  

For me, it was not problem to visualize a male individual in my life that practices loving-kindness and truly loves everyone around him.  This individual is my wonderful boyfriend, Scott. I noticed during the meditation they were referring to a few different chakras, which I am a firm believer in and can always tell when my own energies are not flowing in balance.

Mindfulness and meditation has allowed me to tap into my spiritual wellness on a much deeper level.  I believe this deeper level was buried deep down due to some emotional hurt I had experienced in the past.  As a result of working on my psychological and spiritual wellness, my relationships with others has grown on a deeper level and things that use to cause me emotional suffering no longer has its strong hold.  Though unnecessary emotional suffering has not completely left my life, I believe that by practicing all the meditation exercises we have done thus far in class will help continue to grow my psychological and spiritual wellness!

Question 2:

“One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” (Schlitz, Amorok, and Micozzi, 2005), is a very powerful and true statement!  My future career goal is to become a health and wellness professional and to be a good one at it as well.  How in the world will my clients take my advice on health and wellness serious if I am not in the best physical, psychological, and spiritual health myself?  It’s like going to see a doctor to lose weight and the doctor is 50 lbs. overweight themselves.  Why would I listen to them?  It is my responsibility to talk the talk and walk the walk.   

Since I have struggled with my weight through my teen and early adult life I know the struggles my clients are going through.  I know it’s not easy to get regular physical exercise, eat a balanced diet, and take care of your spiritual wellness when you have so much responsibility in your life.  However, I have been down that road and I hope through sharing my experiences it will motivate my clients to want to start living a healthier life. 

Furthermore, my psychological, physical, and spiritual wellness will always be an ongoing process.  For instance, I have lost weight in the past for the wrong reasons and thought once I reached my goal I was done with exercising and paying such close attention to my eating habits.  WRONG!!!  The weight only found its way back on and I had to start the process all over again.  This actually happened to me a few times up until six years ago.  This time I lost the weight for myself and wanting to work on my mind, body, and spirit.   As a result I was able to lose and keep off 75 pounds!    Through my past experiences I know my overall well-being is an ongoing process that will enhance my own human flourishing. 

Teri :)

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., and Micozzi, M.S. (2006). Consciousness & healing: Integral approaches to mind-body medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingston Publications.