Program Design

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Program Design Paper

Spiritual Inner Strength Through Self Awareness Retreat

Jaymel Gilmore, Shimera Thomas, and Sarah Reynolds

Ball State University

EDAC 634

Group Members	Roles	Commented On
Jaymel Gilmore	Group Leader. Wrote introduction sentences for each section. Wrote, edited and APA formatted the introduction, rationale, and program design, as it pertains to yoga and meditation as well as the introduction. Contributed to the program design table as it pertains to yoga and meditation. Wrote personal reflection.	Group 2
Shimera Thomas	Wrote, edited and APA formatted rationale and program design as it pertains to holistic learning. Contributed to the program design table as it pertains to holistic learning. Wrote personal reflection.	Group 4
Sarah Reynolds	Wrote the introduction on Spiritual Learning. Wrote the program design, as it pertains to spiritual learning. Wrote personal reflection. Contributed to the program design table as it pertains to spiritual learning.	Group 2

  

Introduction

            Spirituality is not necessarily a religious concept. It is the idea that a learner accepts messages and knowledge from sources that expand beyond the traditional means of acquisition to include but not limited to the environment, inner thought, and exceeding the conscious limits of awareness. (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007) We are going to design a Spiritual Inner Strength Through Self Awareness Retreat. The purpose of this retreat is to bring together adult learners to explore spiritual learning with a day of yoga, meditation, and holistic living workshops. Our audience is focusing on adult learners who are anywhere on their spiritual journey, whether they are just beginning, wanting to learn more, or want to meet others to connect with. The objectives of the retreat are to provide a sense of connectedness, a search for meaning, and an awareness of a transcendent force or energy beyond the self. All of which are common aspects of what spirituality is for most who consider it an important meaning-making aspect of their lives.

Tisdell states (as cited in Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007), “Religion is an organized community of faith that has written doctrine and codes of regulatory behavior. Spirituality, however, is more personal belief and experience of a divine spirit or higher purpose, about how we construct meaning, and what we individually and communally experience and attend to and honor as the sacred in our lives.”

Rationale

         This program seeks to provide workshops to help the adult learner find spiritual inner strength through self-awareness. First by defining spiritual learning as process. Then offering an awareness of mind, body, and spirit through the practices of yoga and meditation. Within these practices, the adult learner will attain enhanced attention; emotional regulation and self-awareness; and mental and physical revitalization. (Brahm, 2006).

The step towards one’s journey to a higher level of consciousness involves holistic spiritual living. Through the foundation of cognitive and somatic learning, holistic spiritual living begins with the perception to honor all creatures both living and non-living. Holistic spiritual living starts with the learner’s knowledge, guidance and direction, and cannot be passed on by the learner without comprehending what holistic entails.  Holistic spiritual living encircles environment friendly, peacefulness, a connection to nature, and a natural organic lifestyle (Reagan 2011). The practice of being holistic involves the relationship between one’s mind, body, soul, and spirit. Furthermore, in holistic practices the individual will be able to identify and decipher the interconnections of emotional, physical, and social aspects of a person’s being to keep a balance. In addition to proper nourishment, using alternative, engaging and restorative healing methods as well as, the use of herbs, holistic medical practices, and mediation will allow the learner to embrace nature’s offerings. This consists of clean living and physical exercise which will promote therapeutic healing. (H. Verner, III, personal interview, October 11, 2017)

One way to achieve spirituality is through yoga and meditation, the literature previously reviewed had a focus on the students of the adult learner. The beauty of yoga and meditation is that the practices are universal and can be adapted to adults and children of all ages. When referencing the literature review table for yoga, there were two ideas that surfaced that could be applied to this program design: 1. the use of yoga to calm the mind, and 2. the use of wellness through yoga to reduce anxiety and stress. Additional ideas to determine the rationale behind including yoga and meditation in this program design was acquired through additional research of the effects of yoga and meditation with adults. One particular program researched was a class presented through Yoga by EBP. The owner/instructor, E.B. Perkins, is a yogini who has been practicing yoga for more than 17 years. Instructor Perkins has a small studio in which she provides private instruction to one to two students at a time. Her studio is located in Indianapolis, IN. She opened this studio to meet her desires of sharing her knowledge with others. As a self-directed learner, when asked what was her motivation in deciding to take up the practice of yoga and meditation she responded, “basically physical health. At age 50, I was grossly overweight and suffering from joint and muscular ailments, and dealing with an extremely stressful career. After no relief from medical tests (including medicines and chiropractic care), I embarked upon my own research. I found a chart of illness and conditions. Yoga was listed as remedy for each of the conditions. I began under a guru in Chicago. A year later my weight, pain, and mental stress were all under control.”

Our program motto is based on personal growth and achievement to sustain individual needs.  We support our clients by keeping their best interest at heart by simply providing updated resource information, supporting their goals, monitoring their progress, implementing theme related workshops, and meetings. Holistic spiritual living describes the instruction processing in a couple of ways. Like an onion, the way one processes thoughts are layered. The process of the inner layer and multiple learning styles is a continuous way to approach development and expound on the function.  The Cognitive Information Processing (CIP) theory also known as the instruction process is based on the ideology that indicates how we center our attention, view our surroundings, cipher and identify ourselves, and focus on the recollection of contemporary information (Mackeracher 2004). Holistic spiritual living also provides lifelong learning and a foundation that adapts to a healthier life. A holistic lifestyle will preserve the earth, promote better eating habits, introduce prevention from chronic illnesses, and balance one’s social/emotional state. The features that will be will be included into our program would be built on self-direction and self-awareness based on an individual’s blueprint in a non-traditional environment setting.

Program

            The Spiritual Inner Strength Through Self Awareness Retreat is a spiritual experience for the adult learner to achieve personal growth and higher consciousness. The individual is provided with practical exercises and guides that can be used to increase their awareness of self. Through the awareness of self, this program will help the individual become more in tune with their inner thoughts and feelings which will in turn promote consciousness and spirituality.

            In the first workshop, the learner is introduced to spiritual learning through examining the seven assumptions about the nature of spirituality as presented by Tisdell (as cited by Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007). They are:

• “Spirituality and religion are not the same….
• Spirituality is about an awareness and honoring of wholeness and the interconnectedness of all things….
• Spirituality is fundamentally about meaning-making.
• Spirituality is always present (though often unacknowledged) in the learning environment.
• Spirituality development constitutes moving toward greater authenticity or to a more authentic self.
• Spirituality is about how people construct knowledge through largely unconscious and symbolic processes, often made more concrete in art forms such as music, art, image, symbol, and ritual which are manifested culturally.
• Spiritual experiences most often happen by surprise.”

In the next workshop, yoga and meditation is introduced. In yoga, the asanas (or postures) are designed to get one to focus (mindfulness) and provide a means for the individual to reach a higher consciousness. It is important to note that the essential anchor to yoga is breathing. Yoga breathing is different than the way an individual breathes normally. There are several levels of breathing, some of which takes years to perfect. Breathing slowly and deeply relaxes the mind and body while massaging the internal organs. (E.B. Perkins, personal interview, October 8, 2017) Once the asanas are completed concluding with a cool down, from this stage the process of mediation can begin. The cool down is coming into a meditative posture like an easy pose, half lotus or corpse pose. The process of meditation prepares the mind to engage mindfulness. Mindfulness is closing the mind to surrounding stimuli. The focus then becomes your inner being. It is from this being that meditation is done. Meditation can be achieved in several ways: chanting, counting, or focusing on a single thought in conjunctive with breathing. (Brahm, 2006) The following are recommended practices to help the beginner on their spiritual awareness journey.

Breathing

• Inhale slowly and deeply through the nose, feeling your abdomen expand and rise while keeping the chest still. As you exhale, feel the abdomen sink down.
• Expand the abdomen on the inhale and contract the abdomen on the exhale. The individual should practice abdominal breathing when doing the asanas.

Yoga Asanas

• There are 11 Yoga asanas for the beginner. It is recommended that the individual uses a yoga mat or soft pad when performing the asanas. (http://www.instructables.com/id/Relieving-Stress-with-Yoga/)
• Starting the routine
• The half moon
• The tree
• The warrior
• The triangle
• The downward facing dog
• The cat
• The upwards facing dog
• Stretching the core
• The full body stretch
• Full body relaxation

Meditation Techniques

• Mindfulness is something that can be practiced all the time. It is focusing on the moment, more precisely something in the moment i.e. a flower, the food you’re eating, the bite you are taking all of which helps the individual to focus.
• Utilizing the four focuses of mindfulness, the individual will reflect on the five hindrances, thought, will, & emotions. (Brahm, 2006)
• contemplating the five hindrances
• contemplating thought
• contemplating will
• contemplating emotions
• Dim the lights in the room so that it’s not bright, but not dark. Close your eyes and sit quietly on the floor beginning with 10 minutes until calm. During meditation, in a group situation, one should breathe in and out and think of a mantra. A mantra is a word or phrase that each individual think to themselves (or says aloud if alone) over and over. (Brahm, 2006)

In the final workshop, the learner is introduced to the concepts of Holistic Spiritual Living. Holistic spiritual learners can utilize the concept of self-directed learning based on the foundation of teaching critical thinking skills to adult learners through spiritual interpersonal activities (Wagner, K.D. 2017). Activities include the following:

• Problem solving skills
• Nature walks
• Massage therapy
• Breathing exercise
• The introduction of self-awareness and our actions towards nature can be enhanced by going green and recycling creating a safe environment for the earth. (McCord, G.R.2012).
• Introducing wellness and the practice of clean eating using fruits, vegetables, herbs, and vitamins as the main supplements and nutrition for the body
• Respecting living creatures as well non-living
• Embracing personal growth through love and connection

Reflections

J. Gilmore’s reflection

            I believe the most significant part of the assignment is creating the program design. It was rewarding to conduct an interview and gain information from a live source outside of literature readings. I was leader of this section of the group project. I completed this assignment through finding additional literature resources and meeting with my group members via weekly videoconferences that I set up. At the end of each meeting, I typed up the minutes which also included tasks due before the next meeting and emailed them to my fellow group members. This assisted in keeping the group focused and allowed for us to make good use of our meeting time.  As the administrator of the group blog, I uploaded all of our assignments and created a link to include an APA formatted document to view in the event the blog didn’t translate the APA formatting.

S. Thomas’s reflection

The highlight of this project is being able to research vital information and being able to share information with colleagues and adult learners. As well as, being able to interview a holistic spiritual learner and getting that individual's point of view without being a in traditional setting. I think holistic practice is great alternative lifestyle and can be incorporated in all aspects of learning and educational intuitions. I completed this assignment with the support of my group members, cited sources, and research information. I learned the lesson of being flexible, open-minded, and an overview of spiritual holistic practices. I would say utilizing time wisely, choose topics that are interesting to and avoid procrastination.

S. Reynolds’s reflection

My reflection of this program design has been very frustrating. It has nothing to do with my group, who has been wonderful, honest, and patient, but with the process. I had to make changes to my literature review paper, after our program design had been determined and started. I felt like a failure not only as a student but to my teammates as well. After a long group discussion with Dr. Chang on what she wanted from the program design it ended up working out but there were a lot of emotions and stress around how the communication and expectations of this group work. I am lucky that we have already set up weekly meetings so we stayed on track for completion and great group members.

Tables

Table 2: Summaries of Literature Reviews

Idea	Main themes/ideas in the literature	Application of the main ideas in practice (Implications)
1. Spirituality between typically developing children vs. children with special needs	Children with special needs have heightened sensory sensitivity that should be contemplated when considering the inclusion of those children. Studying the spiritual domain can apply to all children, whether typically developing or special needs.	The meditative and introspective nature of yoga provides the medium through which educators can use to include the typically developing child as well as those with special needs.
2. Use of yoga to enhance classroom management techniques	A look into a couple of educators’ journeys to incorporate a yoga program into public schools to address behavior issues among students.	Educators can utilize the practice of yoga to teach children self-regulation techniques when upset or distressed. This will in turn have a positive effect on children’s behavior to put them in the mindset to learn.
3. Use of yoga to calm the mind	The use of yoga techniques in schools can assist children with relieving stress, interact better with peers, and focus on classwork.	Educators can utilize stretches and poses that have been designed for children and incorporate breathing techniques to ease tense situations.
4. Use of wellness through yoga to educate the whole child	The use of wellness promotes academic achievement, improves behavior patterns, and reduces anxiety and stress.	Often children struggle in learning to understand their emotions, allowing short intervals of meditation techniques can be applied as part of an effective classroom management plan.

Theme	Main Idea/Literature	Implications
Holistic Living	Holistic practice creates a consistent living that constitutes the mind, body, soul, and spirit. Becoming one with one’s self and nature. Embracing nature and the earth’s offerings using alternative methods. Holistic living seems to describe the instruction processing. The process of inner layer and multiple learning styles a continuous way to approach development and expound on the function (Mackeracher 2004). Cognitive information processing (CIP) theory also known as the instruction process. The ideology is based on how we center our attention on how we view our surroundings, Cipher and identify ourselves, and the recollection of contemporary information.	Schools and companies could use holistic living in help saving the universe. Recycling and going green is helps preserve the environment.
Holistic and Spiritual	Creates interconnections to the emotional, physical, social aspect of a person’s being to keep a balance and social interactions with others and our inner selves. Holistic and spirituality describes balance of our emotions and transformation to our healing and inner being. Holistic and Spiritual has similarities to somatic learning. Somatic learning is an individual transformation in a holistic approach which involves the mind, body, and spirit. Somatic learning emotional, physical and social aspect that modes and form the individual collectively. (Merriam Caffarella and Baumgartner) indicates how we learn through dimensional aspects of our senses.	Instructors /Social Service workers can provide critical support for families with children in general education as well as diverse learning by exhibiting positive connections with oneself and others.
Holistic Parenting	The unique style of holistic parenting keeping the respect for all living and nonliving things at the forefront of the holistic practice. The unique style of holistic parenting includes the following choices made by the family and or parent (Holistic Parenting 2013). As a parent, we assist in laying the foundation in our children’s lives, their environment, the way their raised, outside influences on their learning styles. Learning styles develops who we are parents are the child’s first teacher. Whether its divergent, assimilative, accommodative and or convergent. Parents are their children first teachers and support. Each learning style builds the blueprint on each child becoming an individual.	Alternative way of parenting of raising children in a healthy lifestyle manner with respect being a top priority while building nurturing relationships.

Main Themes	Implications/Application
Meaning	Educator helps facilitate Tisdell’s assumption that spirituality is not religion then discusses what spirituality is, the many definitions and what it means to the learner.
Purpose	Educator helps facilitate Tisdell’s assumption that spirituality is fundamentally about meaning-making and development moving toward greater authenticity or to a more authentic self.
Connection	Educator helps facilitate Tisdell’s assumption that spirituality is about an awareness and honoring of the wholeness and the interconnectedness of all things.
Spiritual Tools	Educator helps facilitate Tisdell’s assumption that spirituality is about how people construct knowledge through largely unconscious and symbolic process, often made more concrete in art forms such as music, art, image, symbol, and ritual which are manifested culturally.

Table 3: Summary of Program Design

	Rationales	Purpose/Objective of the Design	Learning Environment	Activities	Methods/Tools/ Strategies
1	Using yoga and meditation to calm the mind and promote wellness in reducing anxiety and stress.	Provide participants with practical exercises and guides that can be used to increase their awareness of self	It’s flexible; can occur anywhere home, work, outside, inside; there are no environmental limitations	Yoga and meditation	Breathing, Asanas, & Mindfulness exercises
2	Holistic living constitutes the mind, body, soul, and spirit. Becoming one with one’s self and embracing nature using alternative methods that supports and respects living and non-living.	Implements an alternative lifestyle that supports and benefits adult learners, society, living things, and the environment.	Holistic living can be utilized in all aspects of one’s life whether it be at home, work place, retreats, and or events etc.	Preparing clean meals in group settings, meditation, massage therapy, and nature walks.	Group activities, scenarios, and role playing
3	Discussing the assumptions of spiritual learning	To increase the knowledge of spiritual learning	A comfortable room designed to sit together and interact	Arrange area so adults are seated in clusters for interaction	Yoga mats or cushions will be on the floor for comfortable seating set up as clusters

 References

Perkins, E. (2017, October 8). Personal interview.

Merriam, S., Caffarella, R., & Baumgartner, L. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive

guide. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Brahm, A. (2006). Mindfulness, bliss and beyond: A meditator’s handbook [EPUB version].

            Available from http://www.wisdompubs.org

the Alt007. (2014, April 14) Relieving stress with yoga [Blog post]. Retrieved from

 http://www.instructables.com/id/Relieving-Stress-with-Yoga/

Basso, J.C. (2017). The surprising benefits of meditation [Blog post]. Retrieved from

https://fasttwitchgrandma.com/surprising-benefits-meditation/

Verner, III, H. (2017, October 11). Personal interview.

Mackeracher, D. (2004). Making sense of adult learning (2nd ed.). National library of Canada.

Reagan, L. (2011). Creating conscious living communities: the alliance for holistic family 

wellness. Creating conscious living communities: the alliance for holistic family

wellness, 46-46. doi: 10.1107/s0108768104030617/bs50123fpsup3.hkl

Wagner, K. D. (2017, April 4). Can a spiritual retreat change your brain chemistry? Retrieved    

from https://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/2017/04/04/can-spiritual-retreat-change-your-brain-chemistry

McCord, G. R. (2012, November 11). Recharge your spiritual batteries: How to take a

personal retreat. Retrieved from https://www.ananda.org/meditation/meditation-support/articles/recharge-your-spiritual-batteries-how-to-take-a-personal-retreat/