May

Week #1. Volunteer Personal Development Material and Tradition Elements for this Block.

Wholeness
Health

1 Corinthians 3:16-17: Dont you know that you are Gods temple and Gods Spirit lives in you? If someone destroys Gods temple, God will destroy that person, because Gods temple is holy, which is what you are. Ted Talk: Dean Ornish on Healing http://www.ted.com/talks/dean_ornish_on_healing.html The Wholeness Wheel, from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Board of Pensions: https://www.elcabop.org/LiveWell/~/media/documents/80_561_bw.ashx

This long struggle to be at home in the body, this difficult friendship. Jane Kenyon, Cages This life, therefore, is not godliness but the process of becoming godly, not health but getting well, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way. Martin Luther Objectives.
To invite participants to begin to inventory the health and wholeness of their own lives. To encourage participants to consider the ways the different dimensions of health impact one another.

Background for Facilitator.

Often, when we think about health we focus solely on our physical well-being. Throughout their year of service, participants have likely realized that many factors contribute to a sense of wholeness not just what we eat and how we exercise, but also how we carry stress, where we find connection, and how our lives are spent in work and purpose. This session is designed to get participants thinking about the interconnectedness of health, and to begin considering the ways that the different dimensions of their own lives influence their own wholeness and wellbeing.

For this session, please plan to spend 80-95 minutes together. Materials You Will Need.
Bibles Ted Talk video with Dean Ornish -

http://www.ted.com/talks/dean_ornish_on_healing.html Copies of The Wholeness Wheel handouts: See below and found here: https://www.elcabop.org/LiveWell/Wellness_logos.aspx

Presentation of The Material. 20 min.

Show the Ted Talk video, Dean Ornish on Healing.

Gut Response. 2-5 min.

Invite participants to spend just a couple of minutes journaling or thinking silently about the video. What struck them most?

Engagement of the Material: Group Activity. 30-45min.

Begin a group discussion about the video. Start with asking participants what struck them as they watched. As the discussion progresses, you might ask things like: Ornish says our nature is to be happyhappiness is not something that you get, health is not something that you get but ratherits something that you have already until you disturb it. Do you agree with this? Do you think that were naturally happy and healthy and the key to enjoying those things is to remove our bad habits? The real epidemic isnt just heart disease or obesity or smoking; its loneliness and depression. Have you seen this in your own experience? Have you noticed times in your life where loneliness and depression led to a decline in your own health? In others? People are not afraid to make big changes in lifestyle if theyre worth itnot to live longer, but to live better. What might it mean to live better? What makes for a good life? How does a balanced lifestyle contribute to a balanced life? Anything that promotes intimacy is healing. How is it that the different aspects of our lives affect one another? Do you think its strange that relational health can impact physical health? Ornish also mentions at the end of the video that the word healing comes from the word to make whole. What would it mean for you to be healed or whole?

The Tradition. 5-15 min.

Read together the passage from 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. If time allows, ask the group to participate in a lectio divina style reading of the text together.

Synthesis. 10-15 min.

Pass out handouts of The Wholeness Wheel (see below). Invite participants to read through the explanations of each dimension of wholeness and consider which dimensions are strongest and weakest in their own lives. Ask, which dimensions are already contributing to your own wholeness? Which dimensions need some attention?

Prayer. 5 min.
Invite one of the participants to offer a prayer, paying attention to the places where we are already whole and Gods promise to heal those places where we are broken.

** additional resource materials/web links** Stephanie Paulsell, Honoring the Body: Meditations on a Christian Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass (2002).

Emotional well-being

Being emotionally well means feeling the full range of human emotions and expressing them appropriately. Selfawareness is the first step. Recognizing and honoring your own feelings and those of others stress, contentment, anger, love, sadness, joy, resentment will help you live life abundantly.

Financial well-being

In all aspects of well-being we are called to be stewards. Good financial stewards make decisions based on their values, which is evident in the way they save, spend and share. This understanding of stewardship embraces resilience, sustainability and generosity. Intellectual well-being

A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Using our minds keeps them alert and active. Stay curious, ask questions, seek answers. Explore new responsibilities, experience new things and keep an open

mind. And remember, knowing when and how to let your mind rest is as important as keeping it active.

Physical well-being

While we are not all born perfectly healthy or able to live life without injury or illness, we can live well with tending and nurturing. Honor your body as a gift from God. Feed it healthy foods, keep it hydrated, build your physical endurance through regular exercise and respect your bodys need for rest.

Social well-being We were created by God to be social beings, living in community and instructed to help and love each other. Make time to build and maintain social well-being through interaction, play and forgiveness. Take time to nurture your relationships with family, friends, congregation and coworkers.

Spiritual well-being Living a centered life focused on God affects each aspect of our well-being. Turn to God for strength as you seek to live well in Christ. Nurture your relationship with God through prayer, devotions, worship, nature, art and music. Explore who you are and know whose you are.

Vocational well-being We all have a calling a vocation to follow Christs example, living a life of meaning, purpose and service to our neighbor. Our vocations are our lifes work and passions our everyday roles through which God calls us to help make this world a better place. Those who are well vocationally are faithful stewards of their talents and abilities, and find opportunities to build and use them.