When was the last time you took a bath or a shower without feeling pressured to get your day started?

Learning Goal: I’m working on a psychology multi-part question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.

I put 6 days in timeframe but the 1 page disscussion is due in 3 days

Week 8: Mindfulness and Hope

What makes people think they can achieve that which is seemingly impossible or overcome the most challenging of obstacles? Is it faith? Is it self-esteem? Often the willingness to take on a challenge or pursue a goal rests with the ability to visualize a successful outcome. Hope rests in the sense that you can achieve your goals and resolve any obstacles that arise along that path. Without hope it is hard to imagine a future where you enjoy the benefits of achieving your goals. Part of maintaining hope and achieving your goals exists in your ability to focus on present activities that will lead you to your desired result. Being mindful of where you are in the process now will help guide you to where you want to be in the future. How might being more mindful and maintaining a sense of hope contribute to managing stress?

This week you examine hope and mindfulness to better understand how to measure and research the effects they have on the health of the mind and body.

OBJECTIVES

• Analyze influences of mindfulness on stress response
• Analyze strategies to overcome barriers to the use of mindfulness
• Analyze influences of hope on health issues
• Analyze abilities to generate or sustain hope in dealing with health issues
• Analyze the relationships between hope and the stress response and immune response systems

Learning Resources

REQUIRED READINGS

Berg, C. J., Ritschel, L. A., Swan, D. W., An, L. C., & Ahluwalia, J. S. (2011). The role of hope in engaging in healthy behaviors among college students. American Journal of Health Behavior, 35(4), 402–415.

Bluvol, A., & Ford-Gilboe, M. (2004). Hope, health work and quality of life in families of stroke survivors. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 48(4), 322-332.

Boyce, B. (n.d.). The secret of success for MBSR. Retrieved from http://mindful.org/in-body-and-mind/mindfulness-ba…

Folkman, S. (2010). Stress, coping, and hope. Psycho-Oncology, 19(9), 901–908.

Gallagher, M. W., & Lopez, S. J. (2009). Positive expectancies and mental health: Identifying the unique contributions of hope and optimism. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(6), 548–556.

Lengacher, C. A., Johnson-Mallard, V., Barta, M., Fitzgerald, S., Moscoso, M. S., Post-White, J., …Kip, K. E. (2011). Feasibility of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program for early-state breast cancer survivors. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 29(2), 107-117.

Obayuwana, A. O., Collins, J. L., Carter, A. L., Rao, M. S., Mathura, C. C., & Wilson, S. B. (1982). Hope index scale: An instrument for the objective assessment of hope. Journal of the National Medical Association, 74(8), 761–765.

Walden University, LLC. (2012). Hope: The history, its application, and how to regain it. Unpublished document.

Herth, K. (1999). Herth Hope Index.

Herth, K. (1999). Herth Hope Index. Retrieved from http://www.promotingexcellence.org/downloads/measu…
Copyright Kaye A. Herth. No portion of the Herth Hope Index may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

OPTIONAL RESOURCES

Benson, H., & Klipper, M. Z. (1976). The relaxation response. New York, NY: HarperTorch.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York, NY: Hyperion.

Seligman, M. E. P. (1998). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. New York, NY: Pocket Books.

Thich Nhat Hanh. (1975). The miracle of mindfulness: An introduction to the practice of meditation. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

org/harvard/mindfulness.htm” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Helpguide.org. (n.d.). Cultivating mindfulness to reduce stress and anxiety. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/harvard/mindfulness.htm

Siegel, D. J. (n.d.). The science of mindfulness. Retrieved from http://mindful.org/the-science/medicine/the-scienc…

Discussion: Hope

How would you define hope? What does hope look like? Hope is difficult to describe and it is even harder to measure. Yet it is the foundation of your goals and in action it is exhibited in your desires. Hope has emotional elements in its sense of positive expectation even when the situation is uncertain, perhaps even dire. What gives those diagnosed with a terminal illness the strength to endure debilitating treatments such as chemotherapy or kidney dialysis? Maybe you know individuals who cope with diseases that have a grave impact on their quality of life. Yet they continue to pursue life to the fullest, often pushing the boundaries of their illness. Hope for an improved outcome offers to many the strength to face the most challenging of health crises. From the moment you wake up, the desire for a positive outcome exists in every action you take. That desire for a positive outcome and the belief in the possibility that a positive result will happen are characteristics of hope. Hope is why you might take on challenges and hope is why you might look forward to a better future. However, hope is often taken for granted until it is lost. How do you regain hope, and what is its impact on your health?

For this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources, including the handout titled “Hope: The History, Its Application, and How to Regain It.” Complete the Herth Hope Index. As you complete the index, reflect on what the potential answers to the assessment items might reveal about an individual’s ability to hope when experiencing challenging situations. Then research two articles on the effects of hope on a specific health issue of your choice. Also consider how a patient suffering from the health issue you chose might be able to generate or sustain hope in coping with the health issue. Finally, reflect on the impact hope might have on stress response and the immune response system.

With these thoughts in mind:

BY DAY 4

Post by Day 4 a brief explanation of the effect hope might have on a health issue of your choice. Then explain how you might help a patient generate or sustain hope in dealing with the health issue. Finally, explain how hope might relate to the stress response and the immune response system. Be specific.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.

BY DAY 6

Respond by Day 6 to at least one of your colleagues’ postings in one or more of the following ways:

• Ask a probing question.
• Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
• Offer and support an opinion.
• Validate an idea with your own experience.
• Make a suggestion.
• Expand on your colleague’s posting.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

SUBMISSION AND GRADING INFORMATION

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:
Week 8 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 4 and Respond by Day 6

To participate in this Discussion:
Week 8 Discussion

Assignment: Being in the Moment With Mindfulness

When was the last time you took a bath or a shower without feeling pressured to get your day started? The next time you take a shower (or bath) practice being mindful. Stop for a moment and smell the shampoo. Feel the water on your skin and the changes in temperature. Taste the humidity rising from the water. Listen to the sound of the water. When thoughts about the day wander into your mind, gently set them aside and go back to focusing on each of the senses. With practice you can experience the mundane in more vivid and exciting ways.

Unfortunately, as people get busy living, the mundane passes away without acknowledgement and they fail to remember each day in its entirety. Instead, they remember moments of a day. Memories are built from moments when you were paying attention to what your senses were bringing into consciousness. To tune in and be mindful, stop and pay attention to what the five senses are bringing in and processing. What do you hear at this moment? The hum of your monitor, perhaps some soft music creating a peaceful environment? What do you see, smell, taste, and feel?

Maybe you know people who are aware of every aspect in their environment. They notice the broken pattern in an improperly installed tile floor. Maybe they notice every crack in the sidewalk or pick up on the melody that birds sing. While this tendency toward mindfulness may seem like a characteristic of their personality, mindfulness is not a personality trait. It is, rather, a set of skills and processes individuals may use to enhance coping. Mindfulness begins as daily meditation, but the practice is intended to become a way of life with awareness encouraged in every moment. Mindfulness allows moments of self-awareness and personal growth. Herbert Benson (1976) described mindfulness meditation as mental control to induce the relaxation response and reduce cognitive vulnerability to stress and emotional distress. Stress management techniques frequently employ mindfulness approaches.

For this Application Assignment, review this week’s Learning Resources. Then select a daily activity and apply the concept of mindfulness to the performance of the activity. Note any differences in stress level while performing the activity with mindfulness and how you felt while performing it in comparison to past instances of completing the activity.

The Assignment (3–5 page APA-formatted essay)

• Describe the daily activity you selected and explain your experience with applying the concept of mindfulness to the performance of this activity
• Explain whether applying mindfulness to your daily activity did or did not have an effect on your response to stress.
• Explain how you felt in terms of stress response while performing this activity with mindfulness compared to past instances of completing the activity without the influence of mindfulness.
• Describe any barriers to mindfulness you may have experienced and explain one way you might overcome one of the barriers.
• Explain how performing the activity with mindfulness might influence how you will perform the activity in the future.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.

BY DAY 7

Submit your assignment by Day 7.

Also, you should begin planning and research the content for your workshop evaluation assignment due in Week 9.

SUBMISSION AND GRADING INFORMATION

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK8Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 8 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 8 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK8Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.