Final Post

Review your unit 3 personal assessment of your psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reflect on these areas. How did you score yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 in unit 3? How do you score yourself now? Has the score changed? Why or why not? I would have to say that I would only have gone up about a point in each. I am still working on a lot of things in my life and I have come a long ways but far from where I would like to see myself. But to me even moving up one point is a big deal.

Review the goals and activities you set for yourself in each area. Have you made progress toward the goals? Explain. I think that I have made progress in each goal because I have grown in the past weeks. I gained so much knowledge and strength to do things that I have never thought that I could do. I still am a work in progress but I have made great strides. I have learned to control my temper a little better which is a big step for me. I also like that I can take my mind to a state of calmness and reduce some of the stress in my life.

Have you implemented the activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain.

Yes I think that I have. I have become more humble. I have learned to take my mind to a different state of calmness and meditation and I am trying to become healthier by eating right and exercising. I have realized through this class that I must treat my body as a whole. Everything affects me as one.

Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others? This class has been so rewarding to me and will be beneficial to my career and learning experience. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with everyone. I think the most difficult for me will be the healthy living part. Exercise is hard for me, but I am willing to put forth the effort because in the long run it will pay off. I think it is all rewarding to me. I believe anything that you can learn is beneficial and rewarding. I want to wish everyone good luck and say thank you for such a wonderful experience.

Unit 9 Final Project

Introduction:

It is important in the field of Health and Wellness to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically because we are taking care of our clients in these realms. In order to be able to talk the talk we must be able to walk the walk. To develop psychologically we must be able to open our mind and be able to assess things differently. On a spiritual level for health and wellness developing means that you have to be able to free your mind, body and spirit into a of a more spiritual state of thinking. You have to be able to let all of the negative energies leave your body. By doing this you are able to pass this training onto your clients and be able to show them the best techniques in doing so. For the physical part of health and wellness part you have to be healthy to teach your clients to be healthy. You can’t be unhealthy and preach to them and expect them to take what you say seriously. All three concepts tie into one another in Health and Wellness because your body has to be free of impurities first and then you can pass it on to teaches others how to do the same.

            I need to work on the physical aspect part of it. As much as I want to do it and I visualize myself doing it, my fibromyalgia holds me back. There are days some better than others and I try and then something minor like the weather sets me back and I get discouraged. But with the visualization technique I think embedded in my head I am going to try and push forward. I know baby steps are what I have to do, but I get so discouraged at times I just feel like throwing my hands up. But I always say I refuse to let it defeat me and I won’t.

    Assessment:

            Assessing spirituality you need to take a step back and ask yourself some question, Do you feel a sense of hope? Do you feel a sense of peace? Do you have a positive outlook on life? Do you have any anxiety? Do have any sense of unhappiness? Assessing physically you need to ask question like, Do I get enough exercise during the week? Do I like physical activity? What activities can I incorporate with my family or friends? How much physical activity do I need for my age? And assessing psychologically in health and wellness you need to ask some questions like, how do you cope with stress? Do you use any meditation techniques? What makes you happy? What makes you sad? How do you deal with aggression or anger?

            My personal scoring for spiritual I would have to say would probably be about 6. My husband just had his 8^th back surgery, my daughter is going through some things, I am dealing with some issues at work but yet I am grateful every morning that I am able to see another day. I can cope with the stress. I was once told God only gives the strongest the toughest things to carry. My personal scoring physically is a 5. I walk when I can. I was doing Yoga but my Fibromyalgia has been taking a toll so I have been scaling back on a lot of things because of have been in pain lately. I just but an elliptical: so I have good intentions so I am focused. Hope in the next few days the pain will start to subside. And my personal scoring for my psychological I would have to say is a 6. I use meditation when I find myself getting upset and frustrated. I still have work to do on different methods of techniques of self-healing. I am still a work in progress but I am willing to put in the time.

    Goal development:

            I don’t have just one goal in any of these areas. First for my physical goals make sure that I incorporate flexibility exercises, cardiovascular exercises and strength exercises into a regimen each week for myself. But I also have to have good physical health. So another goal I will make sure that I at right and see a doctor regularly. And another goal that I would like to include would be more informed about different ways of becoming healthy traditional and nontraditional methods.

            My goals for Psychological (mental health) would be to be positive; I think that I need to look at the brighter side of things. Learn to count to 10 before getting upset.  Encourage my positive feelings. I think taking care of myself and loving me is a good way of making me feeling better. If I am struggling with something I need to learn and ask for help instead of taking on the world.

            My goals for spiritual would be to learn to relax more. I need to learn to set more time aside for myself each day to clear my mind. I also need to have a little more compassion toward people that I don’t really care for. I also have to try and open my heart and not hold a grudge and free my soul. I am going to learn to let more slide off my shoulders then letting things bothering me that I have no control over.

    Practices for personal health:

    Practices that I can incorporate for personal health in the physical domain would be to eat healthier, exercise and make sure that I have my yearly follow up with my doctor. As far as exercising I have to make sure that I have at 150 minutes a week. I will be walking and using my elliptical/bike that I recently bought. As far for my psychological domain I will make sure that I get enough rest, try and meditate more, be kinder to others and lend a helping hand more than usual. And some practices that I can use for my spiritual domain meditation, reading inspirational quotes makes you feel good, taking a walk enjoying nature, doing deep breathing techniques and yoga

    Commitment:

    By keeping a weekly journal I will be able to assess my goals. This way I can evaluate them on a weekly basis to try and keep them on track. If I do them on a monthly basis I will be more likely to fall off the radar. As far as my long term goals I know for sure graduation is definitely going to be on track without saying. I was considering making a board and using index cards or pictures for my long term goals to try keep me focused. It may sound kind of silly but I say this somewhere and I liked this idea and I thought it was a great way to keep it as a reminder and to stay focused. I always say that if something is out of sight it is out of mind. This way it is a reminder to keep pushing through. And no matter how hard it gets I have something that will drive me to work harder.

Optimal Well-Being

I would have to say that meditation and visualization methods are the two I am going to go with. As far as the meditation part of it I would have to say that I have learned that the art of meditation really puts your mind in a whole in level. It gives you a clearer state of thinking along with reacting. I think that it frees your body of negative energy and ill feelings. I noticed using meditation when I found myself in a dark place and it was like my mind knew to shut down and go to a zen mode and refocus my thoughts and energies on what was important and shift to a better place. As far as the visualization aspect I used this in my job. I remember someone telling me a long time ago keep your eye on the prize. And that is what I am doing to stay focused in school so I can get ahead in the workplace. Where I work now I know I will never be able to move ahead but by me going to school and earning my degree I will be able to utilize that elsewhere and be able to grow and be appreciated and be valued. It is a hard task and it is a hard thing to do but with determination and hard work there is nothing in this world that I am not accomplish. Life is a journey and life lesson and we are all the same train trying to make it in life.

Mind, Body and Spirit Unit 7

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?

I focused on my grandmother. She has been deceased since 2006 and she was my best friend. She taught me many things and I miss her very much. I really had a hard time with the focus of the white light around her. I really did not get that. It was very calming and peaceful with the sound of the water; it took me to a place where we use to go. Meditation has given me a calming sense and I have found myself doing it when I get agitated now. So I think subconsciously I have picked it up when I am stressed. It is weird it is like my body goes into a Zen state at times. If I can keep doing this on a regular basis I think it will help keep me from getting so stressed. But I am still a work in progress. I use to be a ticking time bomb so it will take time. But I have to say I have come a long ways because I find myself drifting to a better place during certain situations instead of blowing up.

    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 you can’t teach someone something if you yourself have not been through it. It is always easier to teach someone something if you have been through it. Like I tell my children don’t be like me and wait to go to school go when you are supposed to go and get your education. I think when you preach and teach people are more apt to take heed knowing you have already been down that road. Yes I think we do have an obligation to our clients to develop because it makes us a better person as a whole but it also makes us a better teacher. It makes us well rounded. Knowledge is power and the more we learn the more we can teach. We can implement all of this into our personal life by becoming a well-rounded person and by doing so we need to become one and what I mean by that are mind, body and spirit. We need to consider ourselves as a whole and treat our bodies as such. Are minds and bodies are sacred and should be treated like that. We need to exercise, eat right and have me time to meditate, quite time to relax and just think of ourselves.

Loving Kindness Unit 6

Describe the exercise and assessment process. What did you discover about yourself?

I tried doing the Loving Kindness meditation exercise and reciting the phrases. It took me a few minutes to have a few minutes to have a clear mind. Once I could have a clear mind my heart started to open up and feel a sense of warm and calmness. I felt at peace and I felt like I was connected as one. I liked the feelings that come over me. I felt like there was nothing else out there to bother me or harm me. I felt like I had no troubles or cares in the world.

 What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and development?

I chose my job. My boss does not care too much for me so whenever I ask for something she always drags her feet. I work at one of our satellite offices so out of sight out of mind. I have asked if I could take classes to further my knowledge in my job and she always gives me excuses about why I can’t take the classes. I have to come to the main office once a week to work and she avoids me like the plague. At first it bothered me since when my review was done I scored very well and I have no dings against me and I always offer to help whenever needed. But the mental strain has taken a toll and I think just mentally it is wearing on me. So I chose this as my exercise to work on for growth and development. I have learned and am currently working on not being so quick to respond to emails and verbally responding like I use to. I hope to develop a way for her to open a line of communication. I have tried talking to her but she shuts me down. I need to find a good place for my mind and soul to enter before approaching her. My goals are to learn how to communicate, how to open my heart to a loving kindness manner, how to meditate to have my body, spirit and mind come together as one.

  What are some specific exercises or activities that you can implement to foster greater wellness in this area?

Some of the exercises I would implement would be meditation, yoga, deep breathing techniques, writing journals, music therapy, walking and also swimming along with a good cardio workout will help relieve stress. Also having someone you can talk to about the problems at work just to release what is bottled up will help get the aggression out and make you feel better.