My final Blog Unit 10

In reflecting on my spiritual, physical and mental health in unit 3 to now there has been dramatic changes in my life that has raised my scores. I would score my previous mental health at a 5 and now I would say it is a 7. I think that is because I have learned breathing and some calming techniques to cool my temper. I think it is a work in progress but I have shown much improvement. I would score my spiritual health at a 6 now and a 4 in unit 3 because I have got more in touch with my spiritual side but not much more. I think the greatest improvement for me would have to be my physical as I am back in the gym and eating better than I was before. I have mentally been working on my temper so I am getting closer to my goal of being able to control my feelings. I have been saying my prayers and thanking a higher power for my blessings but still have not made it to church so I have not made much progress in this area. I have been going to the gym and eating right so my physical is progressing. I implemented meditation for my anger and prayer for the spiritual aspects of my life. I also added exercise and eating right for the physical aspects of my life. My life has improved for the better from taking this class and I hope I continue in this direction. It has been difficult for me to always remember to calm down and breathe  when I get angry and it has been difficult for me to get to church but I hope soon things will improve. Improving these abilities will help me show others how to cope with stress and difficult situations and give them a healthier way to live life.

Unit 9 Blog

1.      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?

A: It is harder to help an individual heal when a practitioner is not psychologically, spiritually and physically developed. This is true because it is a matter of ‘’ the blind leading the blind”.  Negative energy occurs when the practitioner and patient are not on the same page and this does not encourage healing. In order for me to achieve the goals I have for myself, I need to improve all three areas of wellness, the physical, psychological and spiritual.

 

2.      How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness, spirituality, physically and psychologically?

A: I assessed my physical health by looking at what illnesses and diseases I suffer from, can contract or have contracted. I also looked at if I was preventing any of these things and my likelihood of getting a disease or illness. Spiritually, I had to look inside myself and find out what my beliefs are and how strong my beliefs in, my own purpose are and there being a higher being. Psychologically I used how I handle stress and stressful situations as measurement tool. In assessing my physical health I scored a 5 out of 10 with 10 being top health and 1 being poor health. I scored a 5 because I have not been eating and exercising like I should have. This has caused me to gain weight and put me in the overweight category. Spirituality I scored a 7 out of 10 as I do have some spirituality but could definitely use more. Psychologically, I scored a 6 out of 10 as I do not handle stress well sometimes. I often have a little temper as well and need to get better control of it.

 

3.      List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, physical, psychological (Mental Health) and spiritual.

A: In my physical health, my goal is to lose at least 15 pounds in the next 6 months. Psychologically my goal is to have considerably fewer emotional outbursts than I do now in the next 6 months. My spiritual goals are to start back attending church services on some occasions and making prayer a daily thing in my life.

 

4.      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.

A: Strategies that I can use in each domain are setting realistic goals and treating myself for achieving my goals. Physically I will set a schedule for exercise and create a menu of healthy foods that I will eat. Psychologically, I can continue to find different stress relievers and techniques while Spiritually, I can always read the bible or a holy book to help me foster my spirituality. Spirituality exercises include meditation and prayer. Psychological exercises include writing letters of gratitude to someone for a service, writing down positive things down that was accomplished in a day, writing down funny things that happened in a given time frame. The physical exercises that I could do could include, stretching, jogging, weightlifting and playing sports. I will spend some time meditating each day when I wake up and pray before going to sleep and eating food. I will occasionally write a letter of gratitude for good service in a restaurant or to a business who does something good in my opinion. I can write down some funny things that happened in a given time frame when I get angry or stressed out or write down some positive things that I have accomplished in a period of time. I will stretch daily after I either play a sport, go jogging or weightlift.

 

5.      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?

A: I will assess my psychological progress by documenting every time I have an emotional outburst. This will allow me to see how much better psychologically I have improved. Spiritually, I will see if I am praying more and meditating as well as documenting how many times I went to church in the next six months. Physically, I will look at my weight loss progress, my eating habits and how often I actually get sick to determine an overall improvement of my physical domain. In order to ensure I am doing this in the long term I can incorporate rewards for accomplishing certain things and changing up my basic routine to keep things interesting and fresh. I can document my progress and therefore see my progress and continuously make goals so I can always have something to work towards.

My Favorite Exercises

My favorite exercises that we have taken in this so far has to be the relaxation exercise that was one of our initial exercise and the loving kindness exercise. The relaxation exercise was one of my favorites because it was sort of a new beginning to me. It opened me up to being able to do the other exercises and helped me to relax enough to put myself in a mind state that allowed me to complete all of the next activities. The loving kindness exercise had to be one of my other favorites because it allowed me to develop and reach a level of compassion and love that always has been beneath the surface of me. This exercise touched a part of me that I rarely show and bought that part of me to the surface. This exercise allowed me to find out where the loving-kind part of me was and how to bring that side of me to the surface. I really enjoyed all the exercises as they have taken me on a roller coaster of emotions but each exercise has taught me something individually and it is unique to see how much you can learn from the good and bad aspects of the things you do.

Meeting Aesclepius

In this weeks assignment  we get a look at what a clear mind is and looks like. It gives us a look at our inner healer. I like this exercise because it made me feel comfortable and happy with the creating a healer from my own mind. I feel as though I can continue to use these exercises to foster a more calm mind in stressful environments and to try to heal myself through having a strong control over my mind. I believe these practices can help me deal with stress and anger that build up and arise on an everyday basis in my life. "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself", applies to health and wellness profession by saying that you can not guide an individual to having a clear consciousness or to a deeper mind state if that is a place that you, yourself have not been mentally. Only a person that has been to a certain can describe how that place is to another individual. I feel as though a practitioner should be developing all aspects of his or herself so that they will always be able to provide patients with the best care that they can. There are many ways to implement psychological and spiritual growth in your life such as growing to church, meditation, reading and puzzles as well as sports and anything that allows deeper concentration.

Loving Kindness Exercise and Travelers Assessment

In doing the loving kindness exercise from pg. 93 of our book I feel as though I discovered somewhat more of my sensitive side. I thought about individuals all across the world as I uttered the phrases that were required to complete the assignment. In thinking about all these individuals it made me realize that there is always someone out there who has it worse than I do and that I should be happy for what I do have and use it to try to help the people I can. I discovered my heart is much bigger than I tend to think it is from doing this exercise. In doing the travelers assessment I focused more on my anger and attitude as it sometimes keeps me from accomplishing tasks and gets the best of me. I think meditation is going to be a great exercise that I can use to foster improvement in this area because it will help me think and focus. I think I lose a lot of focus when I am angry and to remain focused would definitely keep me from losing control. I think the breathing part of meditation will be vital to me improving my anger issues as well as the calming effect it will have on my body.

Loving Kindness vs The Subtle Mind

I personally enjoyed the Subtle mind exercise much better than the loving kindness exercise. I felt that the subtle mind exercise put me more in touch with my body and mind. I think the breathing of this exercise put me in a calmer, more relaxed mood as I was able to relate to this exercise much better than the loving kindness exercise. The loving kindness exercise had my mind all over the place while this exercise had my mind rooted into one basic emotional state of calmness. I feel that spiritual wellness is connected to mental and physical wellness by creating a oneness. If one aspect is not well than the whole body is not well. I feel to be completely well is to be in good shape in the physical, spiritual and mental aspects of the body.

Dr. Love

The loving kindness aspect of the Unit 4 assignment was different than I expected. I t was somewhat weird because it made me think about someone I really love and than transfer that to my body. I did not find it beneficial at the time I did it because I think I was too focused on other things to really grasp a great concept of this weeks assignment. I would recommend this assignment to others but only once they have a clear mind because I feel that this exercise can and will only be beneficial to those with clear minds. The concept of a mental workout is to keep the brain trained to move from one elemental form of thinking and doing to another. This gives the individual practice at being in the soundest of mental states at all times. This can be beneficial to your health mentally and physically. It can reduce stress, headaches and body pains that are associated with stress as well as give an individual a sense of purpose or being. You can use mental workouts to deal with everyday life events and stress. This can help you come to a calm mental state anytime without stressing too much about one particular thing.