unit 10 reflections

In unit 3 I raged physical well-being at an 8, spiritual at a 10 and psychological as 8-9. Now at the end of this class I would rate my physical well-being at 7, this is not a surprise it is now winter and the cold weather prevents me from being outside as much as I would like, this happens every year since I am very cold natured and do not tolerate the cold and indoor activities such as gyms cannot keep my attention. My spiritual well-being remains at a 10 and continues to slowly deepen as time goes by and my meditation practices increase. The psychological has also decreased to a 7 which at this time of year is only to be expected. The holidays add stress and while it has gotten much better over the years the dark winter months do cause a slight case of seasonal depression. I have not experienced improved well-being during this course and did not expect improvement during the winter,   the best that I can work towards in the winter is remain static and not to fall back into any  bad habits and undo any accomplishments made during the spring, summer and fall. It’s a good thing that here in Georgia winter only lasts 4 months. This class has reminded me that people have the ability to heal themselves all they need is encouragement to believe in themselves.

unit 9

 

The importance for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically so that they can lead by example cannot be exaggerated. A health and wellness professional will not be able to provide guidance that others will follow if that professional is psychologically unbalanced. Psychological unbalance can be illnesses that require medication to irrational dislikes and prejudices. This is the same with physical development, that is not to say that health and wellness professionals must be in the best shape that they can, but that they continue to evolve their physical fitness and by example encourage others to try new things and improve their own physical fitness. Spiritual development can be an intensely personal, however spiritual development does lead to psychological and physical development and balance between the three. Spiritual development may lead to a calm and reasoned personality leading greater understanding of the obstacle that others may face when trying to achieve health and wellness. For myself to achieve health and wellness I must continue to develop all three areas. The practice of meditation and increased physical activity is the path that needs to be followed for increased physical health as well as spiritual and psychological wellness.

To assess my personal growth in each domain I have had an honest look inward and outward. Spiritually I need to continue to commune with the world around me through meditation. Increased awareness of the world around me brings peace and comfort in the knowledge that there are other more important things in this world than the day to day stressors of life. Psychological health or balance is good but must be maintained through meditation, understanding and forgiving. Understanding that no one is perfect and forgiving ourselves for not being perfect. Once we understand ourselves we can begin to accept others for who they are.  Overall physical health has always been very good, but there is always room for improvement. Improvement in weight management and nutrition. The only way to improve on these issues is to increase physical activity and a change of eating habits. The challenge to physical activity is the cold winter months where outside activities are limited and workouts on machines do not seem to get the job done. The nutrition issue is an ongoing one. Changes in habits take time and understanding to make changes permanent. Understanding is required because it is important to understand and forgive yourself when bad habits resurface. The overall grade for each area is good but needs improvement. It is my belief however that it is the journey to balanced overall health and excellent health in each area is more journey important than the destination because it is on that journey that we learn and grow.

The goal for physical health is to improve the cardiovascular, increase lean muscle mass and to improve nutrition. To meet these goals increased winter physical activity is a must.  To increase mental health practicing the technique of calm abiding will help to decrease stress and accept others as they are.  Spiritual health goals include increased meditation. To foster growth in the areas of physical, psychological and spiritual health increased physical activity and better nutritional choices will increase the physical health while supporting better psychological and spiritual health. Increasing physical activity during the winter months is difficult when outdoor activities are not really viable. Still increased physical activity can include parking at the farthest edge of a parking lot, taking the stairs instead of elevators or escalators and incorporating simple calisthenics into the daily routine until outdoor activities are possible.  Better nutrition is as simple as making better choices. The better food choices began six months ago and except for a few minor setbacks continues to this day. The better physical shape will support the increased psychological and spiritual health. Increases in spiritual health can be achieved through increased community involvement and increased participation in a spiritual community, such as a church. Volunteering in the community and increased participation in the spiritual community will bring balance and increased understanding and acceptance. Psychological health can be increased with better health and meditation. Meditation will help with decreasing the stress of modern living. Meditation will need to made part of the daily schedule.

To assess progress over the next six months a system of checks will need to be implemented. Looking inward during meditation will allow me to assess the strength of the physical and spiritual changes in daily life. Improvement in the physical area will be evident in an increased level of general wellbeing. Meditation can also be used to assess the level of psychological wellbeing. Daily meditation will decreased stress allowing for increased psychological health. The assessment of increased spiritual health can be assessed through meditation and looking inward to assess increased involvement in the community.  If one is honest with one’s self it is easy to see where improvement is needed and the areas where improvement has been made. The most important part of the journey to health and wellness is the ever changing journey, lessons learned, successes and failures.

Unit 8

The two practices that I have found the most beneficial are the visualization and meditation. Meditation helped me to look inward, let go of those things that really don’t mean much, but in our hectic lives and things oriented culture all the unimportant things seem to take over and this exercise helped to refocus on the important thing. Well the things that are important to me anyway.  The addition of wholeness to the visualization exercise really helped to reinforce the good feelings and balance.  I have at times in the past visualized happiness but this was the first time I have tried to visualize health and that brought me back to remembering a time when I was still young enough to run in high heels without caring about breaking a heal or an ankle, I really like that feeling, young and excited about life and all the possibilities that it has. If you have forgotten this feeling or never experienced it just throw your head back hold  your arms out at the sides parallel to the floor and twirl in circles until you are dizzy doing this with your eyes closed helps.  Doing both of these exercises on a regular basis will help to keep me focused on the important things in life and decrease my stress level. With a decreased stress level I can remain calm and balanced.