Week 3 - Goals and another attempt at guided meditation

Rate my own health…I’ve always been terrible at assessing myself. My assessments seem to fluctuate so much. If you ask me to rate my health just after 45 minutes on the elliptical and a fruit-and-soy-milk smoothie, I probably smile, “an 8 or 9, I’m great!” But if you ask me on a day like today, where I’ve been sitting at the computer all day eating microwaved freezer meals, I wouldn’t give myself much higher than a 3. Upon careful reflection, taking all of my traits, habits and various health-related measurements into account, I’d say I’m probably a 6. I try to eat well, and I try to exercise, and I try to take good preventative measure like getting a flu shot and wearing a seat belt. My doctor says that my blood pressure, blood sugar and various electrolyte levels are all in very healthy ranges, and I know my immune system is functioning well because I bounce back from colds quickly. You’ll notice however, that I say try when it comes to healthy behaviors. I don’t always succeed. Therefore, I would say a 6. A goal I have for myself in this area is to add more vegetables and whole grains into my diet. I’ve been trying to incorporate more vegetables into smoothies, in the attempt to make them more palatable. My success has been limited.

I would say my psychological health is probably about a 5. I’m a worrier and a stressor. I like to say it’s my mother’s fault, because she’s the same way. But it really is just me, and it’s something that I need to work on. I’ve started meditating recently, to guided podcasts for about 10 minutes a day. I think it’s helped my stress level, and I would like to start meditating more and incorporating mindfulness breaks into my day, to see if I can further beat down my stress level and bring that number up a little.

My spiritual health is higher than the other two, I can say that for sure. I would say it’s probably about an 8. My life is full of people, things and activities I love and that bring me joy. When you are surrounded by joy all of the time (or at least, a good portion of the time), your spirit soaks it in and eventually becomes saturated in it. I can improve my spiritual health in very much the same way I can improve my psychological health – by practicing mindfulness. I say that I’m an 8 in this area, and not a 10, because it’s easy for me to become angry, upset, hurt or exceedingly disappointed when my plans are derailed. This does not add to my overall inner peace. By mindfully stopping negative thoughts when they begin, maybe I can learn to overcome derailed plans with a minimum of negative emotions.

This week's relaxation exercise was...quite strange for me. The idea of different colored lights springing from my body was just a little too abstract for me to swallow the first time around, and I spend a good portion of the 20 minutes thinking "this is really weird," which of course, didn't help me achieve the state of total relaxation that was the point of the whole thing.