Unit 3 Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Every time I go to the doctor they gage my physical health; ask about the foods I eat, the amount of exercise I complete during any given week, check my weight and blood pressure. I don’t believe that I’ve ever been asked to gage my physical, spiritual, and psychological well-being. In order to state all three on a scale from 1-10, I had to take a step back and really think about the spiritual and psychological aspects. At first glance it would seem to be straight forward and quite easy to answer, however this was not the case with me. Physically I would rate myself a 6; I say this because while I make sure I get the proper nutrition in a day, there is more I could do. My exercise consists of taking my dog for walks and doing all the running around I do in a day. I used to work out multiple times a week and while I always say that I need to get back into it, I never do. My goal is to walk/run on the treadmill a couple times a week. My fiancé works late 4 out of 5 times a week and I think taking the opportunity to use the treadmill when he’s working late would be a great way to stay on track.

Back to the psychological and spiritual aspects; looking at the psychological stand point, I would rate myself a 5. I rate myself a 5 for many reasons, one being I have lost touch with myself and being in tune with my emotional needs. I say this because I tend to put off all of my needs besides the obvious of eating. I put more emphasis on how others are feelings, rather than how things make me feel. I tend to let things build up over time and then voice my concerns all at once. One goal I have in the psychological stand point is to voice my concerns when I feel them or soon after, so they will not build up and come out all at once. I think making it a point to sit down and talk once a day or a couple times a week with my fiancé will really help in making sure that my concerns are addressed and done so in an environment that contains no distractions.

My spiritual well-being I would say has taken a backseat in my life; I would rate myself a 3. I tend to focus on the all the little things that happen throughout any given day. I don’t necessarily take the time and look at the bigger picture. My mind is constantly running and never really gets a break because I even fall asleep with a ton of things on my mind. This is the biggest area in which I need to work on and I think I need to work on it daily. My goal is to take 15-30minutes out of any given day and meditate or perform relaxation techniques. I will use this time to clear my mind of clutter and the worries that I carry with me each and every day. I think this will best be carried out if it is done right before I go to bed, because for me this is the time in the day when I can feel overwhelmed the most. It will make it sort of like a nightly ritual so there is no skipping it just becomes part of something I do. I think once I’ve done this and become accustomed to actually doing it, I will try and do it earlier in the day before things start to get hectic.

I found this relaxation exercise to be quite interesting. While I was completely relaxed and free of any distractions during part of it I couldn’t help but cry. I realized a lot about what things I lack and what I think strongly about. I found that I am grounded and fully believe that, but I also found that there is a difference in the love we give and the love we think we receive can be completely different. The parts that affected me most were being centered and feeling loved (tears started flowing). I also started crying when we were asked to feel connected, while it was easier than being centered and feeling loved it was still difficult and I got choked up. It was not what I had expected to get out of relaxation exercise, but it was definitely an eye opener. I feel as though my perception has changed regarding a lot of things and it also validates feelings that I have had.