Based on your reflections and the assessments completed in this course: On a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal well being) where do you rate your A-physical well being, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?

A-physical well being- Then 6, Now 71/2, the positive change has occurred because I improved my health through some weight loss due to diet and exercise and have increased my strength and flexibility.

B-spiritual well being- Then 7, Now 7, the none change because I have failed to more fully explore my beliefs and my religious practicing options.

C-psychological well being- Then 6, Now 8, the positive change is because I have learned to better deal with and cope with stress and emotions, and I have dealt with the root cause of my emotions more so than before. Also I have developed an inner life that I relish in and I continue to learn more and more about myself.

When I first started this class I considered my spiritual and mental well-beings to be key to my happiness. However, I did not consider my happiness a key to my health. Now I realize that my spiritual, emotional, and mental health all play a big role in my overall health. I used to think that health was all biological, that was before I started this program, I quickly learned that wasn't the case. Now, because of this realization, I have become more self-aware, have developed an inner life that I cherish, have learn to better cope with stress and other emotions, and have shared these experiences with a great group of people. You all have been wonderful, supporting, insightful, and generally good classmates. For that, I thank you. And a special thanks to our instructor, Mark Maule, for helping us on our own individual path to human flourishing.

Unit 9 Project

Unit 9 Project

I Introduction:

Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically? What areas do you need to develop to achieve the goals you have for yourself?

It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically because in order to help others one most first help themselves. That may sound selfish, but in order to affect change in others it is necessary to make those same changes in your own person, once that is done the client will be more apt to listen and follow instructions and the health and wellness professional will have the experience needed to give sound advice and help the client on their way to developing themselves psychologically, spiritually, and physically. I need to develop myself in the spiritual and physical areas mainly. Spiritually, I have nothing to help me carry out my beliefs and I am still searching for a good fit religion wise. Physically, I need to decrease my body fat, increase muscle mass, and work to achieve a more balanced lifestyle through physical activity and nutritional changes. There is always room to improve psychologically, in that arena I need to get better at recognizing and following my own desires, rather than those of my loved ones.

II Assessment:

How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?

I have assess my health in each domain by using a self-grading method on a scale from one to ten, one being the worst and ten being the best. For my physical well being I score myself as a 6, this is because I am healthy but have lots of room for improvement. For my spiritual well being I score myself as a 7, this is because I know what I believe but I am unsure of how to improve my spiritual well being. For my psychological well being I score myself as a 6, this is because I recognize my emotions and deal with most of them but still need to address some.

III Goal development:

List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.

For my physical well being my main goal is to increase my cardiovascular exercise regime to help shed pounds, then once down in weight begin strength training to increase endurance and confidence. Also, I plan to change my nutritional habits to aid in the process of permanent weight loss. For my spiritual well being my main goals are to reaffirm my beliefs and search for ways to improve my spiritual well being, whether through practices, prayer, or organized services. For my psychological well being my main goal is to change the fact that the emotions that I do deal with are dealt with through release of anger in exercise and cleaning, which is somewhat healthy. I need to start addressing the source of the emotions more so that I can prevent that overwhelmed feeling.

IV Practices for personal health:

What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual. Provide at least two examples of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.

For my physical well being the strategies I will be implementing include increased physical activity and better nutrition. To accomplish this I will do the following exercises: walking, swimming, the use of light free weights, eating a more varied diet of low fat foods, and keeping a food journal. I will implement these exercises by creating a schedule that includes all of these items throughout each day, if, at the end of the day, I have kept to the schedule and to my diet I will reward myself with a low calorie chocolate snack and an hour of television before bed. If not them I will read from my school books for an hour before going to bed without a late night chocolate fix.

For my spiritual well being the strategies I will be implementing are the exploration of personal beliefs and various religions and practices. To accomplish this I will do the following exercises: writing down my beliefs, keeping a beliefs journal to keep track of questions and thoughts on religion and spirituality, and explore religions so that I can find a good fit while continuing my search for ways to improve my spiritual well being. I will implement these exercises by making the exercises part of my schedule, they will be included throughout the week and I will bend my schedule around times when I need to journal, pray, or do other spiritually related activities.

For my psychological well being the strategies I will be implementing are looking inside my mind and more adequate coping of stress and like emotions. To accomplish this I will do the following exercises: the subtle mind exercise to confront my emotions, additional subtle mind exercise to find the causes of my emotions, and different coping mechanisms to confront my emotions head on in a healthy manner, and if my emotions cannot be confronted in this way then I will release my emotions through other means such as exercising or cleaning (non-destructive ways). I will implement these exercises by including the subtle mind exercise in my schedule and allowing myself to go off schedule to better deal with stress and cope with emotions in healthy ways. I will also keep a stress journal so that I can track my stress and stress emotions and find which ways work best for coping with and/or dealing with those emotions.

V Commitment:

How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months? What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices for health and wellness?

I will assess my progress or my lack of progress in the next six months by undergoing additional self grading every two week. I have always been a fair self grader and I don’t anticipate any problems in that area. To assist myself in self grading and to help me to maintain this practices in the long term strife for health and wellness I will continue to keep journals on my physical, spiritual, and psychological well being until such a time that I feel it is no longer necessary to write everything down, due to better self recognition in my inner life.

Unit 8 Blog Post

Review the exercises and practice sessions you have completed in this course. (Loving Kindness, Subtle mind, Visualization, meditation etc.) Choose two practices that you have determined to be most beneficial. How can you implement these practices in your personal life to foster “mental fitness”? Provide specific examples.

The loving-kindness exercise is when you think of a person you love and you let yourself fill up with those feelings of love. Then you send those feeling to that person. Also you think of a person in pain and you breath their pain in for them and then breath it out, eliminating it. The subtle mind exercise is when you look inside your mind to view your own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and processes. By doing this you can affect the way you think, feel, and make decisions. The visualization exercise is just that visualization, this is great especially before bed, you can visualize what you want, how to get, something or someone that makes you happy; it is very calming. Meditation is a calming, mind-focusing, breathing exercise that can be done anywhere, anytime. It slows your breathing and heart rate and allows the mind to become more alert and attentive.

The two practices that I find most beneficial are the subtle mind and the meditation. I find the subtle mind practice beneficial because I allows me to get to know myself better and to help we look at how I make decisions so that I can affect my mind to make better decisions, consistently. I find meditation beneficial because it allows me time away from the world to focus my mind and to relax my body. I can implement the practice of the subtle mind into my life by setting aside time to explore myself, I find the morning, directly after I wake but before I get up, to be a good time, to do the subtle mind practice. I can implement meditation into my life also be setting aside a time to devote myself to it, I find that directly before bed is a great time because it allows me to relax and let go of some of the stresses of the day. Also when I am stressed during the day I find that just meditating for a few minutes is extremely helpful in coping and managing stress.