Final Project

Introduction

            It is very important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychological, spiritual, and physically. This has to be done so that we can have an understanding of what we are teaching to others. “By incorporating the integral process into our own lives, I am certain that we will each discover the profound possibilities of integral health and healing. What begins as professional training soon becomes far more personal. We begin to know firsthand what can actually happen as we evolve a more expansive life.” (Dacher, 2006) The importance of knowing your craft in this field is high, because we must be the leaders of integral health. I am personally still working on developing each of these aspects of my life. I feel that this is a journey that happens throughout your life, but also in steps when you are ready for them in order to reach wholeness.

Assessment

            I have done several assessments on my own personal health in each of these domains which are spirituality, physical, and psychological health. After going through and studying what each of these aspects actually means while studying health and wellness I decided to put them to the test. Starting with spirituality, I decided to test my faith. I realized that although my spirituality is very strong, I need to learn to realize that certain things in life I have to live by faith and not by sight. I have tendency to want to control everything, so learning to let things be is a difficult task. Physically I test myself daily, because I would say that I am a fairly active person. I am still learning what I enjoy doing so that I can continue to do this for myself but it definitely has gottan a lot better. I tested my strengths and what I need to work on to reach the goals I have set forth for myself. Psychologically I have a lot to work on as well. It is a little harder to assess your own psychological wellness, because you may think one thing but it could be a completely different story in reality. I took some time to actually reevaluate myself honestly, and came to the conclusion that I am sound for the most part but I do have areas such as anger and negativity that I need to work on.

Goal Development

            Setting goals is very important when it comes to reaching wholeness within yourself. I have a few goals, but I am going to shorten my list down to one per category just for the sake of space. Starting with the physical aspect, my main goal for myself is to lose 20 pounds within the next six months and gain strength in my exercise program. My main goal for my psychological health is to meditate daily so I can gain the ability to keep peace within myself. I want to be able to have some control on my stress levels so I think meditation will be a great asset. Lastly, my spiritual health goal is to research deeper into my faith, and find the answers I need to maintain what I believe in.

Practices for personal Health

            There are many strategies I want to implement into my life in order to strengthen my health. Physically I have begun to implement exercise routines such as yoga, pilates, and strength training to build the body that I want. I also want to learn to cook healthier foods and dinners in order to put the right nutrients into my body. Psychological strategies could include keeping a journal, meditation, exercise, and enjoying something like the outdoors as much as possible. (3FC, 2014) Next I will implement things like bible study, prayer, and attending church services to build my spiritual health. Also learning to believe in my practices such as yoga, and treat them like a part of my life and not just a hobby. I plan to implement all of these by holding myself accountable, and implementing these things daily into my life.

Commitment

            Setting a commitment to yourself is the most important thing you can do. I will start my journey, and then in the next six months reevaluate where I am compared to today. No matter what my results are there is going to be room to add things or take them away or adjust anything that I want. I have to always remember that this journey is mine, and I have to make it work for me in order to make a life change. 

Unit 7

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1. Complete the Meeting Aesclepius mp3 (located in the Doc Sharing area). Describe your meditative practices for the week and discuss the experience. Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?

-My meditative practices for the week have actually gone pretty well. I have been sticking to taking some time out of my day to meditate even if it is just for a short time. Needless to say this week has been going well so far. I think that meditation has increased my psychological and spiritual wellness over the course of this term by giving me the insight to really take the time to focus on things other than problems or chaos of my life. I want to continue to practice meditation even after this class, because I have already started to notice changes just in my ways of thinking. 

1. Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (p.477). How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?

-I think this saying means that one cannot teach someone else about working towards wellness if they have not already started or completed this journey themselves. No one is perfect, but if you have started your journey then others can follow your lead into making the change themselves. I think this applies to a health and wellness professional in every way, because no one is going to want to get help from someone who is basically a hypocrite. That's like someone going to someone who is telling you that you need to lose weight, but they are overweight themselves. I think that I have an obligation to my clients to be as healthy as I can be, so that they know they can do it too. Personally, I want to work with those who struggle with weight issues. I want to be able to show them that anything is possible, and be able to be an example of that. 

Unit Six!

After doing the Integral Assessment in chapter 11, I found that I definitely have some areas I want to focus on and change in the near future. 

The first question was what aspect of my life is the source of difficulty and suffering. I asked psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, AND worldly. I look a good look at myself, and I think that I need to focus on each of these aspects. If I had to pick one though, I would start with biological, because I think that it would sort of go hand and hand with psychospiritual. When I take the time to focus on my physical health I find that my emotions and stress levels are down. My current level of development is still in the beginning stages of all the aspects, I am still learning what it is that makes me happy and that I enjoy. 

Starting these developments in my life right now are the best time for me to start getting to my wholeness. I am at a place where I am completely open, and willing to make the necessary changes to find this. I hope to progress over time, and gain my wholeness!

I think that as far as exercises or activities to get this going would be to stay active, make time to meditate daily, and make it a priority to be positive in the work place as well as make an impact on my community even in a small way. 

Thanks for visiting!

After doing both the loving-kindness and the subtle mind practice, I found that I actually liked the loving-kindness a lot more. I found it a little difficult to keep my mind focused in the subtle mind practice, although I am still learning to calm the mind. I think with a little more practice, and work I could learn to like this practice more as well. In both though, I did find it extremely relaxing to hear the songs they were playing in the background like the ocean and soft music. It is almost like it instantly calms my mind, and helps me to breathe easier. I think the benefits of this practice is the fact that your whole point is to focus on one thing, if you mind wanders which is will, then just bring it back in. The main focus is to keep focused. Learning to focus your mind on one thing instead of the everyday hustle and bustle that you normally think about can be pushed aside for a moment. 

I think spiritual wellness is just as important as physical and mental, because it gives you the time to find something to focus on. Whether it be god, or anything else it gives you the opportunity escape your own issues that may be trapped in your mind. It helps to believe in something I personally think. I am still learning to focus the mind in my own personal life, so I look forward to learning more about myself during this process.

Unit 4

1. Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

-I think that the loving-kindness exercise was one of my favorites that we have done so far. I liked the fact that they instruct you to think of something you love, and focus on it. This automatically makes me think of my family, and those closest to me. It instantly relaxed me. I think it was beneficial, because it puts your mind into prospective to focus on the things that are most important to you. I would recommend this exercise to others without a doubt, because it gives you a moment to think about your loved ones, or things you love instead of just focusing on yourself. 

1. What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

-A mental workout is something that causes your mind to think, or "workout". A lot of us take the time to exercise our  bodies, but in order to gain wholeness and psychospiritual health we must exercise our brains. Stimulating our minds everyday is key. You can implement mental workouts to your daily routine, by simply including in your everyday routine. Taking the time to read a chapter from a book, or solving some math problems online, or even writing in your blog.

My personal level of wellness

Take a moment to reflect on your own level of wellness; physically, psychologically, and spiritually

Hello everyone! After taking a few minutes to reflect on my personal wellness, it definitely causes you to have to be real with yourself.

1. Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal wellbeing), where do you rate your A-physical wellbeing, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?

- I would rate my physical well-being as about a 5. I have started working on my physical appearance, but also learning how to balance my work, school, and making sure I actually get to do some sort of exercise each day. Although I do move a lot at work, I still want to reach goals of not only having the body that I know I can get but also feeling like I am comfortable in my own skin. 

-I would rate my spiritual well-being as about a 7. I have found myself being a lot more interested in meditation, and prayer lately. I find it comforting to be able to take a few minutes for myself to collect my thoughts, and just simply relax fully. I find it also helps me at work when I feel myself starting to get frustrated or going into work overload. 

-Then I would rate my psychological well-being as about a 7 or 8. I think I am pretty well balanced when it comes to my thoughts. I can easily think out a plan in my head and how to get it done to keep myself on track to things. It's just getting myself to follow through that I need to work on.

        2.Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

-Physical: I am going to do a weekly goal to start off small so that I do not make it hard for myself to not get to this goal. My goal for this week with my physical well-being is to do some form of physical activity each day for at least an hour. No matter what it is I need to be moving! 

-Spiritual: each day this week take at least 15 minutes in the mornings and evenings to meditate 

-Psychological: I think the spiritual goes with this as well, but also my goal is to find something that I can do that will keep my mind focused on making not only these goals but also over goals I have set for myself. 

        3.What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal?

- I seriously want to get back into running. I used to love to run long distances, it not only kept me in shape but it also helped me to clear my head. I am just struggling with getting the motivation back to start up. My goal for this week is to start slow, and job a mile each day this week. ( I will keep you posted on how that goes!) 

       4.Complete the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century. To hear this exercise, click here. Describe your experience. (What it beneficial? Frustrating? etc.)

-I actually enjoyed this experience with the exercise. I liked the fact that it is broken up into several different body regions, and describes each as separate parts working as a whole. I will definitely be using this one again! I am finding that the more I practice these exercises the more focused I become, and the easier I can relax.

Journey On relaxation exercise

After experiencing the journey on relaxation exercise, I felt so much more relaxed than I did before. The simple act of focusing your thought on your blood flow to a certain part of your body can really help to reduce muscle tension. For someone still somewhat new to meditation it does take me a few minutes to actually focus, but once your into it your mind totally surrenders to the words being sad. Before trying different meditation techniques, I assumed it would make you tired and sleepy. Now that I have a bit more practice I notice that it actually reenergizes me after it is done. This is definitely something you can do in the morning before preparing for your day!

http://www.kushs.net/kaplan/HW420/JourneyOn.mp3