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?

Integral health involves connecting all aspects of care to the individual’s mind, body and spirit. In order for a health and wellness professional to promote healing for their patients it is essential that the practitioner also practice these behaviors. To reach full potential an individual must be able to understand their own thoughts and feelings. Only once a person can take care of their own psychological, spiritual and physical needs can proper assistance be provided to others.

I think that I could benefit from expanding in each of these areas. My primary emphasis is currently on my psychological health to create healthy relationships in my life with all my family to help promote genuine happiness.

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

Overall, I would consider myself a happy, healthy individual. While I do believe that there is room for improvement in each domain I feel that any goals I do set forth will be obtainable since I have a positive attitude and willingness to continue my learning. For my spiritual wellness I would rank myself at a 7. I have been raised in a Christian family and continue to hold these beliefs and values in my daily life. My belief system has expanded since my childhood to include a much broader sense of spirituality and I feel that it has promoted a higher level of spiritual health in my life. For my psychological health I would rank myself at a 5. Between work and school and various interpersonal relationships I have been struggling more recently to maintain my usual upbeat attitude. For my physical health I would rank it a 7. I am highly active and participate in many physical activities which promote wellness in this domain.

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

Physical – After my graduation in December I plan to begin training for my first marathon. I will take it in steps and begin by participating in a half marathon in March with a friend. My goal is to participate in a full marathon by August of 2011. This will give me plenty of time to gradually increase my routine to avoid injury.

Psychological – For my psychological wellness I will continue to work on the previous goal that I set for myself in this domain which was to spend more time with family. I tend to not express any problems going on in my life and try to deal with them on my own but I feel if I promoted the relationships that I have with my family members then I could use them as a support network during challenging times.

Spiritual – My current goal to promote an increased level of spiritual wellness is to practice daily prayer. Especially after learning about the proven benefits of intercessory prayer I want to incorporate this practice into my daily life to assist in promoting wellness in those around me as well. 

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.

Physical – To improve my endurance I will continue with my current running routine and each week increase my distance by one mile. To improve my strength I will continue with my current weight training routine but increase the weight and reps as my strength progresses.

Psychological – Each week I need to set time aside to spend with my family. Perhaps one night I can go over to my brothers for dinner then the next week go and visit my Dad etc. That way I will be able to visit with everyone on a more regular basis. Continuing on with practices such as universal loving kindness I can also promote healthy interpersonal connections. While I do not believe it would be realistic for me to set a goal of practicing this exercise daily I do think it would be reasonable to practice once a week.  

Spiritual – To improve my spiritual health I am setting a goal to pray every day. Secondly, I would like to practice exercises such as the subtle mind at least once a week to increase my inner peace and promote unity between my mind, body and spirit.

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 have recently starting writing in journal so I think that I will use this journal to assess my progress in achieving these goals. In my journal I can track my frequency of participation in the exercises I would like to do and assess my progress toward achieving integral health. I think that developing a routine will assist in keeping up with these practices long term. I think that once I am finished with school in December I will really be able to set more time aside for activities that will promote my flourishing in all aspects of life.

Unit 8 Reflection

Through out this term I have struggled with some of the exercises we have tried. Being able to concentrate i the task at hand for an extended period of time proved challenging for me. Recently though we have completed some exercises that I have found to be extremely beneficial. The visualization exercises I really enjoyed because it made me focus on very happy times in my life and the experience truly did uplift my spirit for the rest of the day. Doing other visualization exercise allows me to be creative in my thinking process so I do not get bored and I can remain focused on the exercise. My favorite exercise that I've tried was not actually from our book but one that we discussed in seminar this week. The walking meditation was very intriguing to me since  it combined motion with meditation. I live out in the country so there are lots of fields around so I picked one and made laps around focusing just on my steps and it really helped to clear my mind. I probably looked crazy walking around in circles but I'm pretty sure nobody was around :)

I think that I am most likely to continue on with some kind of meditative practice in the future. If I can set aside a few minutes in the morning or do some walking meditation after work each day I feel that it would be beneficial to promote and maintain my mental health.

Unit 7 Reflection

For this weeks meditation practices I am still having trouble with being diligent on the amount of time I dedicate toward each activity. I find it easiest for me to simply spend a few minutes through out the day going through some of the relaxation exercises in my mind rather than dedicating a set amount of time each day to the soul practice of the exercise. I do feel though that even these brief moments have helped me increase my psychological wellness because it provides me with enough time to separate myself from the consistent chaos going on in my mind. I will likely continue these types of meditative practices through out my life and hopefully once I am finished with school in December I can dedicate more time to these practices to continue my spiritual and psychological flourishing.

I think that the saying "One cannot lead another where one has not gone themselves" refers to how we must learn from experience and it is not until we have those experiences that we can assist others in the journey. This concept can apply to the health and wellness professional because a wellness professional must seek out their own path to inner freedom in order to provide care that can fully integrate all aspects of the mind, body and soul. A wellness professional should be able to apply the techniques and lifestyle they are promoting to their clients to lead by example and show how it is possible to lead a fully integrated lifestyle. By performing meditative or relaxing exercises regularly this will assist in promoting one's own integral health.

Unit 6 Reflection

I think that of all the exercises we have tried to this point I have had the most success with the universal loving-kindness. I liked the repetition of the mantra because it kept my mind focused on what I was saying. At first I was having a hard time remembering the phrase but after a few minutes it became much easier and I was able to really focus on the meaning of the words. I found that through out the day after performing this exercise certain things would come up and I would be reminded of the concepts from this exercise. I think the repetition of this exercise really allows the feelings of loving-kindness to sink in.

After performing the integral assessment I think that it is hard to select only one area to focus on. Each aspect of my life could benefit from more integral practices. The priority would probably my psychospiritual flourishing. By performing some of these exercise perhaps I can create a more balanced approach to my feelings. Often times my decisions are made based on my emotion at the time but if I can learn to control my emotions better it will help me flourish.