Unit 9 Final Project

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