Final Reflections

At the beginning of my creating wellness class, I was asked to rate my wellbeing. On October 7^th I rated myself as follows: Physical wellbeing = 8, Spiritual wellbeing = 7, and Psychological wellbeing = 8. In my final project  on November 18^th I rated myself as follows: Physical welling = 5, Spiritual wellbeing = 7, and Psychological wellbeing = 6. My scores apparently changed but the decrease in two of my scores is not due to regression. After learning more about what each area really consist of, I realized I wasn’t doing quite as well as I thought. I don’t take this as bad though. It is actually good because I gained knowledge and it has enabled me to identify specifically what I can do to improve.

My original goals were to: Physical = become more physically fit, control eating habits better and make healthier choices; Spiritual = be at peace within and feel a complete connection with my personality, intellect, will power and emotions; Psychological =  finish training my mind and maintain it where my mental state is at peace at all times. I have not made progress towards my physical goal. I have not been running now that it is cold outside. Plus I have been so occupied with work and school, I haven’t made time to go to the gym. I have been eating better and controlling my portions and choices. I have been working towards my spiritual and psychological goals as well. I have definitely been praying more, meditating more, having positive self-talk and I have become more aware of my negative emotions.

The creating wellness class was very beneficial. I do feel as though I have slightly improved my wellbeing. I find the meditation practices rewarding but most rewarding is the overall knowledge I have gained. Nothing was really difficult but I just wish the class wasn't so fast paced so I could have focused more. My experience in this class will definitely improve my ability to assist others. I plan to share what I have learned with others when needed. I would love to see other people take my advice and make natural changes in their life that would foster a greater wellbeing and growth.

Fostering Growth in My Personal Life

Introduction:

It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically because your duty is to help others foster their well being. You cannot do so if your overall health is not up to par. Also, there is more to teaching others than just verbally educating them. You must be a role model as well which means you must properly develop in all areas. Personally, I need to develop more psychologically and physically.

Assessment:

I have assessed my health in the spiritual domain, on a scale of 1 to 10, as a 7. There is always room for improvement and further knowledge. Physically I am a 5. There is much room for improvement. I definitely need to incorporate exercise and or yoga into my daily schedule. Also, I need to eat healthier and make time to prepare my meals. Psychologically I am a 6. I really feel as though I need to meditate more and find better ways to cope with daily stressors. I tend to let them get the best of me at times.

Goal Development:

My first physical goal is to exercise at least 30 minutes each day. My second physical goal is to prepare lunch at least 4 days a week for work. My psychological goal is to find an opportunity in every situation to be thankful and or positive. My spiritual goal is to meditate more, at least twice a day.

Practices for Personal Health:

To foster growth in the physical domain I will go running and also go to the gym. Staring my day with a form of exercise will get my heart pumping. It will also give my energy to carry me through the day. To foster psychological growth, I will meditate and practice breathing exercises. These will allow me to train my mind, clear it of negative thoughts and promote positivity. To foster spiritual growth I will practice yoga as well as meditation practices. Yoga actually benefit me in all areas. It will promote flexibility, balance, calmness and focus. Prayer and meditation will be helpful to starting my day with the proper mindset. They will also give me a boost at any time of the day. For example, I could take a few moments just to be thankful or say a prayer for someone else. It really does evoke a sense of happiness to help others even if you have not done anything physically.

Commitment:

In the next six months, I will assess my progress or lack of progress by reviewing my actions. I will take some time to reflect in order to determine what I have or have not done to work towards the previously stated goals. Strategies I can use to assist in maintaining long-term practices for health and wellness would be leaving myself notes, or setting alarms as reminders. Also, I can pray and ask for encouragement and strength.

Mental Fitness

After considering each of the exercises that I've learned, I determined that the subtle mind and universal loving kindness are most beneficial to me. I can use both of these in my personal life to foster my mental fitness. The subtle mind exercise is going to help me achieve a personal goal of being able to clear my mind and block out mental chatter as well as other distractions. Universal loving kindness is going to help me to increase my capacity of love that I show to myself, family, friends, coworkers, strangers and my future clients. I would be able to let go of negative thoughts, grudges and anger so that I can really feel a deeper level of happiness and peace within.

Aesclepius & Leading

The meeting Aesclepius exercise was interesting. I chose to visualize my grandfather. He passed away in 2011 but he was and always will be a very important person in my life. He taught me so much and thinking of him helps me find peace and enables me to get through challenging times. Mindfulness and meditation is important in my psychological and spiritual wellness because it helps me to focus, maintain calmness, reduce stress and clear my mind of the irritating chatter. It helps to eliminate stress and enables me to find the positive in all situations. I will continue some of the practices I have learned in combination with yoga and my nature runs to foster greater health and wellness.

In my opinion, the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not yet gone himself" means that as a health and wellness professional I must master the concept of achieving complete wellness before I can instill the techniques and knowledge into another person. I do feel as though I have an obligation to my clients to develop myself psychologically, physically and spiritually. This is all part of leading and teaching. I am a role model and must be as one instead of acting. To be is natural as acting is just something you do for show and is temporary. I chose to make permanent changes in my life in order to achieve wholeness.