Relaxation Practice and Reflection- Formal Writing

For this LA, you will be practicing some relaxation exercises from your workbook. Then you will be reflecting on your experiences, and thinking of how to use these experiences and exercises for others.

So why are we doing this work? As a health educator or a person in the healing arts, it is important to understand a concept I refer to as “Honor what belongs to you and what belongs to other people – and know the difference!” It is often easy to get excited about skill, technique, or theory that really, really works for you. You may want to share your good news with everyone you work with because – deep down – you want to help! However, your experience belongs to you – it may or may not belong to someone else. Being able to practice good discernment about the boundaries between your own and others’ experiences and perceptions is an important skill for those in the healing arts.

Part of how we determine where boundaries between us and others are is to practice deep listening. Listen to yourself and listen to others. Some ways to begin to do this include: When you are working with people, it is very important to first figure out who they are; meet them where they are at. One step in this direction is to learn who they are by listening as they describe their experiences, and what their resources/challenges are. You will need to be sure to not assume you understand, and you will need to ask questions and use reflections to confirm understanding.

Why do you think listening and asking questions might be hard for a new practitioner? Part of that answer is that in order to help, rather than fix, you must first listen. Then you ask questions and then listen some more. Listening and asking questions requires both skill and art. Part of the way to build your skillset and develop this art is to practice listening to yourself, and asking questions of yourself. If you do not know how to listen and care for yourself, then how can you assume to be able to listen and care for others?

Instructions:

On one level, this Learning Activity is designed to raise your awareness about what relaxation techniques may/may not work for you. On another level, this activity is here to raise your awareness about what you believe is good for other people and why. A small step to deepening your knowledge of what belongs to you. For this second Learning Activity, you will need your textbook, your workbook. Make sure to refer to the syllabus or LA2 assignment for the requirements Learning Activities since this is a formal written assignment. It is also posted at the bottom of this assignment for ease as well. You do have a choice on either a formal written assignment format OR a video. The video must follow the requirements outlined in the Discussion Board Protocol in length, etc.

Your Learning Activity paper will have two parts.

PART 1) The focus of the first part of your paper is for you to reflect on how relevant and effective each of the three exercises you choose to do is for you.

PART 2) For the second part of the paper you will shift your focus away from yourself and towards other people. In the second part of the paper, you will discuss what population or group of people you believe would benefit from each exercise of the three exercises you completed and why.

REMINDERS:

• Don’t forget to cite all your sources — even if that source is a workbook or textbook. This is also a formal writing assignment.
• APA formatting and formal grammar are required.
• Remember to refer to “how to do well on assignments” for clarification.
• Submit on canvas in word (doc) or pdf. or jpeg. format, please.

Part 1: For Learning Activity you will again be using The Art of Peace and Relaxation Workbook.

Choose & Complete each of the 3 exercises.

• IV.A – The Art of Calm: Relaxation Through the Five Senses
• 19.1 – Too Much Information
• 18.1 – Dolphin Breath Meditation
• 23.2 – Self-Massage
• 25.1 – Progressive Muscular Relaxation
• 28.5 – My Body’s Rhythms

After you complete the three exercises, analyze the effectiveness of each one of the three exercises as they relate to you by addressing the following prompts within your formal written paper:

1. What motivated you to choose these three over the other choices offered?
2. Describe your experiences with the three exercises (feelings, what was it like to do the exercise, what did you learn, how will you use it, etc)?
3. Now — make connections back to the stressors you have been working on this semester: Looking back at Learning Activity 1 and your PSMJ entries, which personal stressor(s) would each of these exercises be most effective in reducing? Why?
4. Finally, describe how the exercises are/are not useful for you?

Be sure to include all the information about the workbook exercises in your paper when citing and on the reference page: the title, page number, purpose, and the (abbreviated) results for each exercise. *Remember — the workbook is a source and so is your textbook! You will need to cite and reference in APA these appropriately.

Part 2:

For the second part of the Learning Activity assignment, consider what specific groups of people might benefit from each of the three exercises you chose. Although these exercises might benefit most people in general, you need to think more deeply about exactly who might really benefit, how they would benefit, and why.

• Use the same three exercises as you did in the first part.
  • Except, now you will be analyzing each exercise in terms of effectiveness for a specific group of people. (For example, a specific group/population would be: First-generation college students attending TWU) .

• Discuss what ¨specific population(s)/group(s) of people you believe would particularly benefit from each exercise.
  • Why would this group benefit and How would they benefit?
  • What is it about each exercise makes it a good choice for the population/group?
  • How do you know this?
  • What more do you need to know about this in order to be sure about your beliefs? Support your beliefs with a well reasoned and detailed rationale.

Part 3 (Optional Extra Credit):

You have the option of completing a peer review for 10 points of extra credit. Everyone will receive a peer review after the due date. It is your choice to complete the review for extra credit and must be done by APRIL 22ND THURSDAY and no late reviews will be allowed. Your peer review must include valuable feedback just like replies in the discussion boards. Try to write at least 200 words and point out any errors you see as you follow through with the grading points outlined below. You can not complete the peer review extra credit if your assignment is late. You also can not receive extra credit for a peer review if it is past the due date of the peer reviews. For the peer reviews, you can also record your voice or even do a video for your comments/feedback. it does not have to be all writing.

Grading some main points to double-check

• Do you have a minimum word count of 500 words of your written content? Does not include a cover page, reference page, etc.
• Paper format APA correctly? Did you use the right spacing, font, size, etc.?
• 3 worksheets used & results reflected = You can reference these worksheets or you can include them.
• Cited correctly within the paper = remember that citing is within the paper after you use any content from other sources.
• reference page = formatted correctly? did you reference all your sources including the textbook and workbook?
• All Q’s answered that was assigned in the assignment? = this should be within your body paragraphs where you discuss your worksheets as well as what was asked of you.

(From Syllabus) = Requirements for Submission of Assignments that require formal written work:

… You are required to use APA style for your formal writing assignments. Omitting or incorrectly formatting APA elements will result in significant point deductions. For each formal writing assignment you will need to include:

In addition to using APA style for formal writing assignments, you are also to compose your formal writing assignments in a professional writing style and tone. Formal, correct grammar, syntax, spelling, and style are required. Points will be awarded for the correct use of all of these elements and deducted if omitted. American Psychological Association (APA) style is what is used in the Department of Health Studies. All assignments and activities completed for your course should use APA style and format. Please refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed., for examples.

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