Unit 8

The two exercises that I find most helpful for me are visualization and meditation. These two exercises help me start my day on a positive note. As I focus on my breathing, I visualize my little corner of paradise or me walking along a beautiful beach having my daily conversation with God. After an intense workout each morning, it helps for me to take a few minutes to just breathe and relax before getting my busy day started. Mental fitness is a very important part of my life. Working in hospice care, I deal with a lot of sadness, pain, suffering, and stress. I need my own time each day to recharge and clear my mind and soul in order to keep myself balanced throughout each day.

Unit 7

During this exercise, I thought of a patient that I took care of a few years ago. He and I grew very close during the time we had together. I thought of all the chats that we had and all the love that poured through while he spoke of helping to raise his neices. It was obvious that he loved them as his own and they loved him just as much. When I was first assigned to him, I was told that he was very difficult and cantankerous toward all of his caregivers. To this day I only remember him calling me "baby" and kissing my hand after each visit. He loved Dr. Pepper and honeybuns so I made sure that he had one of each during each visit and he would give me the biggest toothless smile that would light up his whole face. These special visits came back to me and filled me with love and peace because I had the privledge of giving him special care at the end of his time here on earth. I also received something special when he trusted me to care for him and showed me so much affection all the way to the end.

The saying "one can not lead where one has not gone", holds true for me. If someone has not experienced something for themselves, then how can they truly lead by example? As an example, I chose to change my eating lifestyle to a plant base diet. As my health, attitude, and physical self changed, it was noticeable to the rest of my family. My husband, daughter, and one son followed my lead because of the improvements that they saw in me. I now have other family members asking me how they can make the same changes. It's about leading by example.

Unit 6

In this exercise Dacher asked us to close our eyes for a minute and rest into the natural ease of our mind and body then repeat a certain phrase. Loving kindness is something that I can open myself up to. It is easy to feel good towards and wish the best for those that you love and are close to. Can we do the same for those that have hurt you or that you're angry with? At one time I would have said, "no" to that question. I have been gradually learning to also open my mind and heart to those that I used to have hard feelings towards. Forgiveness is becoming a healing process that I'm truly benefitting from.
The assessment just reinforced the fact that for me, my eating lifestyle, my physical fitness, and my relationship with God are the areas that are very important in keeping me on the right path to taking care of myself so that I may also help others learn to care for themselves. I will lead by example and not by empty words.

Unit 5 Blog

These two exercises were very different for me. I was able to relax and focus on each aspect of it even though there were hard parts to it, such as the forgiveness part of it. It did help me though. I found the subtle mind exercise very difficult to get through. It's probably due to this being a very challenging week for me so I have a lot of things going through my mind. I was not able to focus on the exercise so I was never able to clear everything and stop all the other thoughts from interfering. I do plan on trying this exercise again later as things settle down again around here.
Our mind, body, and spirit are all connected one to the other. If one area is not well, it affects the other areas of our life. A few years ago I was in a position that was very high stressed. The stress affected my physical and spiritual well-being. Once I was able to balance and relieve the stress, I was able to focus on my body and spirit.