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Week 9 Assignment

Karen “Zak” Zakrzewicz

Purdue University Global

HW420: Creating Wellness – Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Dr. D.

May 3, 2022
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Week 9 Assignment

Every person is different when it comes to their spirituality. One thing that many

people don't know is that our spiritual wellness can affect our physical health. Below,

you will find ten questions that will help us better understand your spiritual and

psychological well-being.

1. Do you believe that your life has a purpose?

It used to. I don’t know if I believe the same things that I believed growing up.

The things have changed. A lot of the things have been a great disappointment. There

was a time when someone said to me “You know you are the last knight.” Because I

believed in honor, chivalry, and being our higher self. Our best self. That those things

would conquer the evils of the world and good would win out. At this point in my life, I

see the futility in that, and I sometimes wonder if it was worth it.

My soulless and disillusionment in this is that the children I have raised, that they

are honest, patriotic, god-fearing, hardworking people. They are my hope for the future.

If I am nothing more than just a steppingstone to get to that higher perfection of life as

we know it, I can be satisfied with that knowing my children will carry on.

Having purpose outside of oneself is often based on what we believe in. This

could be a religious based belief of life’s meaning or something that is individually

discovered. To understand why we do thing and why we act the way we do, we must

first understand our drives.

2. What motivates you to get out of bed when you wake up in the morning?
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I don’t get out of bed in the morning. I am struggling with that. I have animals to

take care of, sheep and cats. I have chores on the farm, my everyday obligations along

with the things that need to get done with the weather. I still have goals. I don’t like to

call it a bucket list, but I still have things that I want to do and that I have interest in.

In the materialistic world we live in, we need to have things to motivate us.

Whether this is the thought of a job well done, the love and joy we have in our family, or

other values that we hold dear. Having a purpose in our lives gives us value.

3. When something terrible happens to you, what kind of thoughts do you

have about why it happened?

Just because shit happens. I wondered why I would hear of other people’s

families would struggle and suffer with family members would die, have cancer, and

such things. None of us are immune to these things. Eventually, they started to

happen to us. My mom died in a car crash, I was lit on fire in the oil field, Kenny died,

my divorce happened. It happens. It happens to everybody. It is life and its death, its

luck and its bad luck. I realize that any day that I can die. It is… just is what it is. I am

very content with that, and I am at a point where I am just accepting of these things. I

don’t have drama, but I am content with my life. I am accepting of the fact that I can die

tomorrow.

Positive thinking sounds silly to some. However, our thoughts affect our

emotions which then lead to our actions. By changing how we think and react to

instances throughout our day, we can change how "bad days" affect us. We can go

from being a glass-half-empty to a glass-half-full person.

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4. How often do you fall into thinking traps and replay past conversations or

situations in your head? What kind of thoughts and feelings do you have

about the replay?

I don’t find myself doing that anymore. I USED to! And I think back on things,

but I don’t think that anything that I would have said or would have done, would have

affected the outcome.

Rumination is "a thought processing disorder meaning that worrisome thoughts

or even neutral thoughts are given excess analysis by the person who ruminates" (The

Recovery Village, 2021). Most of the time, this leads to a negative thought spiral where

a person obsesses over one instance and cannot find a way to break the cycle.

However, by becoming aware of our tendency to do this, we can catch ourselves in the

moment and step back from the negative spiral. Ending our ruminating behavior can

help reduce anxiety and depression.

5. Have you ever had something happen to you that couldn’t be explained

(ex: déjà vu, dreams that come true, a gut feeling about somebody)? What

did you think about it?

Yes. I have had these happen to me. I was just speaking with the daughter-in-

law of a guy that I knew very well. But we had a conversation one night, about what I

call “spirit walking” where your consciousness leaves your body and goes and sees

something. And later on you will go on in your life, you will go to this place and you

have been there and you know it because you have already been there in your sleep.
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Clairvoyant dreams run in our family. My mom had them, and I have had them. Yes I

am really accepting of them.

Instances of a spiritual phenomenon or unexplained instances of detailed insight

happen to many people. The feeling in your gut is to go one way and not the other,

perhaps a dream that you have or a strange sense of déjà vu; each is a mystical

moment.

6. When somebody does something to upset you, how do you react?

I keep my mouth shut. Because I have never been sorry for keeping my mouth

shut. When we are offended, our first reaction is emotional, it isn’t rational. I like to take

time to think about where the other person is coming from. To understand their

emotional state, if they are trying to wound me, to get a rise out of me, or if they are just

misinformed. I let it roll off my back.

Anger is a very dangerous emotion. Many people who hold on to their anger or

express it poorly struggle to maintain relationships and even have significant health

problems. Did you know that a person's likelihood of having a heart attack doubles after

having an angry outburst (D. Strong, 2015)? Holding onto anger or holding a grudge

can be detrimental to your physical and emotional health.

7. Do you ask forgiveness from people in your life?

… I don’t. I am trying to think of anybody that I offended enough in my life that I

would have asked for forgiveness. The only people that I could say that I would have

asked forgiveness from, I have lost track of them or they are no longer with us. There
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are people that I would ask, if I could see them again. We all make mistakes and some

of them you don’t realize until later.

It is hard to admit our faults, especially when we acknowledge that we are the

one who was in the wrong. Asking for forgiveness is a huge step in healing past wrongs

and trauma. Not only asking for forgiveness but also granting it to those that wronged

us. If we hold onto that hate and resentment, we will not be able to move past it.

8. Do you ask forgiveness of yourself? Do you forgive yourself?

Yeah. I think so. I admit that there are things that I did when I was young and

stupid. When I was egotistical, and I thought I was right about everything. It goes hand

in hand with forgiving other people.

We all make mistakes. That is part of being human. But it does us no good to

constantly beat ourselves up over something that happened years ago. We learn, we

live, and we move on. Anger and rumination are one thing, but have you taken the time

to forgive yourself for your own mistakes? Self-forgiveness is crucial for us to heal and

move on from past traumas. Just like forgiving others, there are a lot of health benefits

that come from forgiveness. According to Mayoclinic.org, these health benefits include

healthier relationships, improved mental health, less anxiety, lower blood pressure,

lessened depressive symptoms, a stronger immune system, better heart health, and

stronger self-esteem (2017).

9. Have you ever sought care from a CAM professional (chiropractor,

allopathic doctor, etc.)?

Chiropractor.
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Alternative medicine practitioners have become increasingly popular in the last

few decades. Looking at your health from a whole-body perspective is essential for

body, mind, and spirit medicine. Rather than treating the symptoms that a patient

presents with, CAM/CIM practitioners work to fully understand every aspect of a

person’s life to help them heal fully from the struggles that they are having. If you are

struggling with your health, it might be time to try more than just a once-a-year check-

up.

10. What is your understanding of meditation and yoga?

I do some meditation. It doesn’t include the circle finger thing and the

OOHMMMM. I take the time to sit and let my mind clear. It helps with your blood

pressure, it keeps you calm. I think there is enough evidence out there that you can say

it goes beyond the “woo woo” stuff.

I think that I would benefit from yoga. I listen to a podcast where a guy talks

about the benefit of yoga. I know that the western version of yoga is more of a physical

practice. Unlike the Eastern Medicine, it is more spiritual. I think that it would benefit

me greatly. I would rather explore my options and incorporate it with spinal and knee

mobility. It would be a good route rather than must go to surgery.

Meditation and yoga are just a tiny section of many different types of health and

wellness practices. Medication is the conscious focus on our breathing while clearing

our minds. This practice is used by various medical practices and has been proven to

help relieve stress and anxiety. Mantras or audiotapes can guide meditation and last

several minutes or as quick as 60 seconds of focused breathing.

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Yoga is the practice of slow breathing while holding different body positions.

Yoga is used to promote blood circulation throughout the body. In some spiritual

beliefs, it also helps to align a person's chakras and the flow of energy throughout their

body.

Afterthought

I chose to interview my dad for this interview. Based on the questions that I

asked and the responses that I received, I would say that he struggles with finding

purpose. Knowing what I do about his situation, he recently retired and doesn’t really

have the drive to do much of anything. The reason behind all his previous efforts was to

pay off the remainder of the mortgage. Now that he has accomplished that and he

doesn’t have to wake up to go to work, he has lost his purpose and his drive.

Ultimately, he is emotionally mature and has a good grasp on who he is.

I think that if I were to use this again, I would focus more on one specific topic.

This questionnaire covered several different topics from anger, forgiveness, to mystical

moments and that is a lot to cover for such a short questionnaire.

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Resources

Edwards, C., Ruby, P., Malinowski, J., Bennett, P., and Blagrove, M.

(2013). Dreaming and insight. Frontiers in Psychology.(4).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3872037/

Smith, E. (2016). Spiritual wellness: What is your meaning and

purpose?https://www.lhsfna.org/index.cfm/lifelines/september-2016/spiritual-

wellness-what-is-your-meaning-and-purpose/

Strong, D. (2015). 7 Ways anger is ruining your health.

https://www.everydayhealth.com/news/ways-anger-ruining-your-health/

The Recovery Village. (2021). Rumination.

https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/rumination/.