Meeting Aesclepius

This week's exercise had me thinking about my amazing Chinese grandfather, "Gung Gung," who passed away 5 years ago, and suffered from Alzheimer's for the last 10 years of his life.  I didn't see him often during that time (he moved from Michigan to Texas when I was in elementary school), so the changes in his health were dramatic and heartbreaking from one visit to the next.  The meditation was an opportunity to reconnect with him, as he was before his illness.  I felt warm and full, peaceful and open, but at the same time a little sad.

I can't say that the meditation we have done for this class has exactly overhauled my psychological and spiritual wellness, because I don't think I was out-of-joint to begin with, but I am glad of the "opportunity" (thanks, woodcarver, lol!) to commit to practicing mindfulness regularly.  I have been trying to ease into each day rather than jumping out of bed and taking off running then never slowing down until my head hits the pillow at the end of the night, and meditating each morning is something that has helped me do that, which I believe I will continue once this course is over.  This is definitely better for my health than zipping through the day in permanent sympathetic mode.

To me, the saying, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself," means you can't rightfully give advice about something you've never tried.  For an integral wellness professional, this translates to exploring all facets of your own health, from the physical, to the mental, to the spiritual.  I suppose that if, for example, you're a personal trainer in a setting where your clients are only interested in working out, you aren't ethically obligated to have psychological and spiritual expertise, but at the same time, doesn't improving yourself in these areas enable you to better understand and relate to others?  And any time you are on the professional end of a client/practitioner relationship, I believe that half the battle is establishing a connection with your client, if only so they trust you to give them your best.

I also think it's important to be OK with not being perfect in all these respects, and to be honest about your imperfections, preferably in the context of putting forth effort to change and grow.  If you pretend like you're infallible, your clients might falsely believe that you expect the same from them, and that could be counterproductive.  One way to encourage my own personal evolution is to periodically use Dacher's self-assessment method, so I can make sure my practice is in line with the areas that need work, and appropriate for the logistics of my life at the time.