Hello Everyone,
I did the meeting Aesclepius track at a time when I really needed to. I was dealing with an in-law that wanted to keep up an argument that was repeated from years ago. Listening to the track averted my feelings to something loving and positive for my soul. During this exercise, I met someone whom this body never knew, but my soul was so happy to see. It was a truly wonderful experience. This helped me to let go of my hearts angst and relieved my soul for the evening. I slept soundly, and woke up energized. To me this is worth doing when I can recognize the need.
In our book, Lawrence E. George (2005) wrote about Ken Wilbur's work reflecting on the statement "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" I believe this means to teach concepts of health and wellness it is important to know what you are talking about. To be educated in the field by means of experience, not just personal but observed is equally important. As an Occupational therapy assistant, I teach a pre- procedural spine class. I have not had spine surgery, but I am confident in my teachings because I have studied at length the best ways to move the body without exacerbating issues of the spine, either from watching and learning from my patients, discovering how to move myself when in pain relating to the procedure and learning from the surgeons and staff as well as education I completed on the subject. I do not believe you have to endure a certain health issue to be good at educating, but to have good strong knowledge of the subject and openness to differences in patients. Empathy is also a helping factor in educating patients about health and wellness. I do believe as a practitioner of health and wellness it is important to be obligated to know most if not all aspects of your specialty. As I go through this class, I am learning the benefits of meditation and personal mindfulness. I feel I am growing up and getting what life has to offer, as well as learning the special gifts that I have to offer for someone else's life.
Schlitz et al, (2005)Consciousness & Healing, Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine. Elsivier Inc.
Jennifer, I agree with you that you don't have to have personal experience in an area to be good at teaching it. No one person can have every experience. It just isn't possible. To help someone in the health and wellness field, you need to have knowledge of health and wellness issues, been through some of them yourself, and have observed others in situations. That gives you a well-rounded perspective. Of course, if you are teaching health and wellness, you should be practicing the concepts yourself.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenifer,
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy reading your posts and also how you share personal and professional stories and experiences.
I also found the "Meeting Asciepius" exercise to be beneficial and help me with some personal issues right now. Meditation has also been a fantastic way for me to become more in tune with my inner self. This peace has permeated into other areas of my life as well. I am going through some personal struggles right now and meditation and other related exercises have been instrumental in helping me cope with them.
I also agree mostly with your assesment about being educated on a particular skill in order to lead others to do the same. I can only leverage my experinece in corporate america and some of the negative experiences with people that have been put in positions of leadership that never should have been. The most effective examples of leaders I believe need to be educated but also have hands on experience in their particular field. It sounds like you have a perfect balance of both.
Thanks again for your thoughts! Take care!
- Randy
I also agree with your comments about leading. I have worked in corporate america for many years and have found the most effective leaders are the ones who have "walked the walk". A couple of times people have been put in positions of leadership without specific experience and have failed miserably.
Jenifer,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, let me congratulate you for pointing our the need for empathy in the Healing Arts. As you said, I don't have to have had a surgery to know/understand what a person is going through when they are having an operation.
Secondly, I am both happy and sad for you with the timing of this exercise. Happy that it was well timed for you, sad that you have to deal with a recurring problem with family members. I, too have similar issues, and have had to make some hard choices regarding with whom I talk and what I tell them. It would be really wonderful if these family members that we have issues with, could learn about the things we are covering in this class; as they say, "Love makes the world go 'round." All we can do is just keep on our path to growth, and smile a lot.