1) 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?
Health and wellness are essential to your every day life. Some
things you can live with or without but these are determining factors that
provide the capabilities to do various activities. I think it is very important
for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually
and physically before working with clients. I believe in the saying “practice
what you preach” and by doing so you can learn from experience and then truly
be able to teach someone else. If you do not develop these steps on your own it
will be much more difficult to emphasize or show honest empathy to someone
because you have not personally experienced what they are.
The areas that I need to develop to achieve the goals I have for
myself are mainly from a psychological standpoint. I think I do very well in
other key categories such as physical and spiritual. Psychologically I just am
somewhat scatter brained and my mind is always racing regardless of what I am
doing I do not totally focus on it. For example I can be watching a movie and
I’m thinking about work the next day, or reading a book but thinking about
checking emails. If I can control my mind and learn how to slow it down I could
function much better and reduce stress as well. The other thing I
want to make sure I’m doing is taking a Self-cultivating approach. By to
creating my own wellness by making smart decisions, like dieting and physical
activity. I think you ultimately have the right recipe to wellness and living a
health life, you just have to put all the ingredients together.
2) Assessment: How have you assessed your health
in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and
psychologically?
When assessing myself and thinking about
how I go about my daily life it helped put things into perspective. On a scale
of 1-10 grading the different categories wasn’t too difficult, I think my
physical wellbeing is about an 8. On average I work out about 4-5 times a week and
usually engage in some physical sports activity weekly as well. I would
consider my physical wellbeing to be above average. Of any of my family or
friends I am definitely surpassing them all with the amount of effort I put
into physical health. My spiritual wellbeing I also rated high with an 8, I try
to stay positive and optimistic through all situations and wake up looking
forward to what the day has to offer. I think many people wake up with the
opposite approach and dread having to go to work or whatever other task is
before them. Doing this simply begins your day on the wrong path. Psychologically
I give myself a 6. I could use more focus on my psychological wellbeing, I do
not take specific time to enhance my mind, like meditation and so forth but do
understand I should but need to improve in that area to fully flourish. I need
to take the practice make perfect approach in with this stage.
3)
Goal development: List at least one goal you have for yourself
in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.
When
it comes to your health and wellness it is your responsibility to take the
necessary actions that are going to be most beneficial to you for creating health,
wellness and longevity. The goals I have for myself physically are to maintain
my daily focus and dedication to keeping my weight training and dieting in
control. My psychological goals is to begin practicing relaxation meditation once
a day, I think this will really help soothe and ease my mind which will make
daily activity easier while reducing stressors. Over this course we have
learned and practiced many different exercises that have really taught me how
powerful the mind is. The more you are in tune with your mental state the
easier it is to progress in other areas. Dacher describes this as you “inner
essence: peace, clarity, spaciousness, and ease”. Meditation relates to health
and healing because the mind is the root and engine to your body. I am very
confident in where I am with my spiritual aspect. My spirit is always high and
that tends to rub off on other people whom I surround myself with. I believe
positive actions create positive results. I would like to elevate spiritually
with more prayer. I think when you practice the power of prayer on a daily
basis it helps you get through and overcome your battle whether that is work,
family or illness.
4) 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.
There
are many strategies that you can implement into your life to foster growth. To foster
my growth in a physical aspect I plan to incorporate different exercises into
my workout, this is something I have been meaning to do but will plan to
actually stick to it. Besides being good for muscle confusion it broadens your
workout. The two things I plan to incorporate are yoga and cycling. These are
classes that are both offered at my local gym facility for free. Psychologically
besides participating in meditation I would like to begin creating a focus for
my mind like reading, crossword puzzle’s, or something like Sudoku. Just like
anything else if you don’t use it on a daily basis you lose it. The last domain
that needs to be fostered is spirituality; I think this can tend to get
overlooked at times. Dacher
describes this as “redirecting their energy from an exclusive focus on outer
things to a focus on inner development”. I think implementing prayer and initiating
psychospiritual practice allow you to commit and re focus your energies inward.
5) 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?
Over
the next six month I plan to track my progress by making daily reminders in my
phone calendar. I am going to create a schedule with reminders of practices to
do like meditation or daily readings and check them off as I finish them. I
also will inform my wife of my daily regimens and ask her to engage with me as
I do them, and if not to ask me throughout the day which ones I have
accomplished and when will I get to the others. I think the concept of integral
flourishing of health and wellness is self-motivating. The more you practice each
stage the more you will benefit. . Living and promoting integral health improves
all aspects of life, physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Reference:
Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path
to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc
