This
chapter came at the perfect time for me. I have recently been reevaluating my
lifestyle choices and am now aiming to lead a healthier life. Over the summer and last fall I was probably
in some of the best shape of my life. My
fiancé and I were working out almost every day and trying to eat healthy
meals. After our wedding in October we
both relaxed on the health kick and have now resorted back to not exercising
and eating non-nutritional meals. Last
week, he and I had a discussion about how we both need to get our lives on
track. We do not want to be that
unhealthy, fat, married couple! Since
that discussion, my husband has joined both a dodge ball and a basketball team
and I have begun to go back to the gym.
After reading this chapter, I realized that a healthy diet is something
else that we need to get back into.
For me,
I think the issue is not remembering to eat healthy, but rather convincing
myself that I need to healthy. As quoted
in Corey & Corey, “Diet is a relationship between yourself and the food you
choose to eat. And perhaps most
importantly, it’s what you think and feel about the food you eat” (Brenner,
2002, p. 113 as quoted by Corey & Corey, 2008, p. 117). I enjoy food and I have convinced myself that
healthy food does not taste as good and the unhealthy food that I’d rather eat. I need to recondition my brain to see healthy
food items the same way that I see unhealthy things.
Another
section of this chapter that I find myself struggling with is
spirituality. For a long time I assumed
that spirituality was the same thing as religion. Over time I have learned there is a
difference however I never truly understood it.
The chapter defined spirituality as, “our relationship to the universe
and is an avenue for finding meaning and purpose in living” (Corey & Corey,
2008, p. 119). Although this makes complete
sense to me, I am not sure that I have yet discovered my purpose for
living. Similarly, meditation is
something that has always intrigued me, but I have not been able to fully
understand. I find it extremely hard to “turn
off my brain”. My mind is always
going. The closest thing to meditation for me is yoga. I enjoy the calming
sensation I get from performing it.
I can appreciate how this calming
of the body through meditation can be healthy; however I have a difficult time
understanding its relation to counseling.
It would truly take a lot of practice on my part to be able to free my
mind of thoughts while listening to a client.
Perhaps it is because I am new to it, but I am constantly thinking about
them and their situation whenever they are talking to me. It would be completely unnerving for me to go
in to a session with absolutely no plan and no mindset. “Mindfulness makes it possible for therapists
to listen not only to the client, but also to their own state of mine-that is
to be constantly aware of the murmurings in their minds and not allow this
internal dialogue to impede their openness” (Luan Khong, 2007, p. 13).
This way of counseling is so hard for me to even understand. I believe this mindset has to be a lifestyle
before you would be able to incorporate this “mindfulness” into a counseling
session.
Corey, G. & Corey, M. S. (2008). Your Body and
Wellness. In Brooks/Cole (9th edition), I Never Knew I Had a Choice (106-131). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
Luan Khong, B.S. (2007). The
Buddha's influence in the therapy room. Hakomi Forum, 18, 11-18.
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