Unit 7: Meeting Aesclepius

In the meeting Aesclepius exercise, my meditative practice was very calming and very peaceful. I envisioned my grandfather, who has been deceased for the past five years. He was sitting at the dining room table in his home. There was an omnipresence of Jesus in my vision, like a shadow with light culminating over the entire experience. I felt an inner peace as I felt the wisdom, warmth and love materialize from my grandfather to me. The sounds of the ocean within the exercise seemed to disappear as I explored the depths of my vision. I was very calm during the whole exercise and I was surprised that I was able to sustain my focus the whole time. I remembered how peaceful my grandfather was when he lived, and how much admiration I had for him as a man of upstanding principles and stature. He taught me so much growing up and I felt his strength and love materialize into my mind, body, and spirit. In order to apply this practice into my life, I would need to continue to practice regularly and capture the feelings that I felt during the exercise into long term memory. If I can manage to retrieve the feelings at stressful times, then it would be beneficial in practicality for better health and wellness in the future.

The phrase "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” means that a person needs to be well seasoned in psychospiritual growth and development to be intuitive in guiding others towards their own growth. To apply this to health and wellness professionals, practitioners must be able to view all of their patients holistically with unique characteristics with the desire to help others minimize their pain and suffering. It is compassion and a complete selfless service that goes beyond just quality of care. It is the human experience of exercising altruistic abilities to help patients find the path of healing in all aspects (Schlitz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2005). As a health care professional, we must be role models for our patients and set a good example for them because it adds a genuine element of experience to evolve psychologically, physically, and spiritually in order to guide our patients along the path of integral health. Implementing psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life requires regular contemplative practice and integral practice in order for my own development to progress and eventually flourish.