Unit 4 -Loving Kindness

Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

I found the "Loving Kindness" experience very beneficial. It not only helped me to feel a sense of control over my emotions for my loved ones; it also gave me a sense of hope and peace about uncontrolled factors such as the struggles faced by my loved ones. The only difficult part of the exercise was having to face my own suffering and my loved one's suffering head on. I usually try to avoid dwelling on and thinking about situations that are out of my control or that make me sad. This exercise kind of forces you to take on things that you normally try not to think about. The beneficial part of it was that it allowed me to realize that I can still feel happy and hopeful after addressing these issues and that small gestures and contributions can help. I would recommend the exercise to others but not to everyone. I think that people who are faced with the grief of uncertainty or a lost loved one could find this exercise rather difficult. Personally, I think I might find it more difficult depending on the circumstances. Over all, it was a useful and helpful exercise though.

 

What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

 

Mental workout can range from testing memory and recollection to meditation, focusing, and comprehension. The benefits of a mental workout are better memory, increased ability to notice detail, and a better understanding of stress managment and problem solving. With my workload and responsibilites, I can certainly use the benefits of a mental workout. For example, at a group meeting for my job, we were told that our jobs are actually the worse on mental health. It is very fast paced, noisy, requires a lot of multitasking, meticulous detail, and quick thinking. Sometimes my job is so overwhelming, I can forget what I had for breakfast that morning. I can use mental workouts to counteract the detrimental effects of such a highly demanding job.

 

Unit 3 Blog :)

 

 

My physical well-being at the current time is not very good. I would rate it at about a 5 because although I exercise and try to eat healthy, I still have some health problems. I have some joint and spine pain that my health care providers are still figuring out. Other than that, I think that my physical well-being would be pretty good. My spiritual well-being is a 10. I do not feel that I have any issues at the current time in that area. My psychological well-being is a tricky one. Although I am able to say that I have a healthy mind, circumstances and stressors can affect my psychological well-being. Over all I would say it is at about an 8; I cannot say that it is perfect because I currently work at a very highly stressful job. This wipes me out so much at times, I have a lack of emotion toward other things that I should for a short period of time. I do worry about the long-term effects of stress on psychological and physical well-being; however, I do not plan on working at the job I have forever. It is a step toward doing what I know I would really enjoy.

Below are a list of my goals in each area of health and some ways to achieve those goals:

 

Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

 Physical Goal- resolve issue with joint pain through physical therapy and maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle.

Spiritual-Keep sight of beliefs and values

Psychological-reduce over all stress through relaxation techniques such as meditation and physical exercise.

 

I found the relaxation exercise beneficial, I did it right before working on my blog and it actually helped me to clear my mind of everything else to focus on my blog. I would not say that there was anything frustrating about the exercise itself. I get frustrated with myself sometimes because I lose focus during these exercises and have to remind myself to stay focused. When you actually follow through with the exercises, they do help to achieve relaxation!

Hello Everyone

My name is Tiffany Miller,
I am a 26 year old resident of Pennsylvania. I enrolled in the health care field because not only does it offer a broad range of careers and experiences but it opens doors to many fulfilling relationships. I am also a cosmetologist, I model, and am very much into fashion and design. I have been married for almost 2 years. Some of my favorite things to do are: read, see new movies, sing, dance, and just laugh or try to make others laugh. I am excited about beginning a class which promotes over all wellness (a very important factor in a very stressful economy).  I cannot wait to share experiences with others via blogger! This is exciting!

A time to reflect

The past experience that I have had with relaxation exercise was a stress management class that I had last term. We learned how to identify stressors and triggers of said stressor; we then learned techniques to help reduce and prevent stress. Personally, my goal is to find an outlet for frustration that promotes maximum relaxation (such as yoga or meditation). For now, I have my own little hobbies to help me relax such as reading and shopping! I am really looking forward to beginning this class and am also very excited to have blogging as a relaxation exercise!