The Final Blog

We were asked to assess our outcomes and self scores from unit 3 and 10. My scores are as follows

Physical Wellness: In unit 3 I scored my self a 6 out of 10. Since then I have recently scored myself a 7 out of 10. Just recently I became the member of the week in my gym and have lost 8.5lbs and 17lbs of fat. This has been a life changing time for me and I feel great. I have made some real big changes in my physical well being and plain on continuing my diet and workout.

Psychological Wellness: In unit 3 I realized that my psychological wellness has been the best it has ever been and that attitude continues even today. I have made it a point to view everyday as a blessing and look at my day as the glass being half full instead of half empty.

Spiritual Wellness: In unit 3 I scored myself a 4 or 5. This score still remained the same in unit 10 with a score of 4. This continues to be a struggle but I have realized that I have a stronger faith than what I thought I did. By becoming more aware of my daily activities I have realized that I find myself thanking God everyday for all the blessings I have. I also find myself feeling extremely blessed for my son and my family. I have also found myself praying I just never took the time to realize how much I do. By becoming more aware of myself I have realized how strong my faith really is and I know it can always be improved but I am happy with what I have accomplished.

Thank you to the Professor and my classmates for all the wonderful posts and great ideas. You all have been wonderful and wish you all the best in your futures=)

Unit 9 Project

Introduction

The mind, body, and spirit is an interconnected woven system that needs to be developed to its’ full potential to ensure the best health possible.  Health and wellness professionals need to lead by example to ensure the best relationship with their clients. It’s all about practicing what you preach. By doing this the health and wellness professional is taken more seriously by the client and the client will be more willing to make a change. The health and wellness professional also needs to have strong psychological, spiritual and physical wellness to be an effective teacher and counselor. All three of these areas are also something I need to develop more effectively. I need to learn how to de-stress my mind, get in better physical shape and learn more about my spirituality. By achieving these goals I am making not only my life better but also my families. Assessment

To assess how I am doing in each domain, I have to reflect on what I have learned about myself throughout this journey. I decided to use the scale of one to ten to assess how I am doing in each domain.  This scale is graded as one being the worst and ten being the best.

Physical wellness I would rate myself a 7. I have just recently started going to the gym regularly and have changed my diet to a much healthier one. The reason I rated myself a 7 and not a 10 is because I still have a lot of work ahead of me and have not yet met my fitness goal. I also continue to have some back problems that have been a chronic condition for me, but with exercise I have started to notice a decrease in this problem.

Psychological wellness I would rate myself a 6. If I were writing this paper a year ago I would have scored myself a 2-4 because that time in my life was very difficult and the only way I knew how to deal with stressful situations was to shut down. Over time and with some counseling I have learned how to deal with stressful situations in a much more positive way. I feel as though I am a much happier and calmer person now. I have also learned to be realistic with my goals so that I am not setting myself up for failure or disappointment.

Spiritual wellness is one area that I feel needs much more work, so I would rate myself a 4. The low score does not mean I don’t believe in a God or heaven because I do. The low score is because we have been working on going to church more regularly but have not yet done it. Also I do not talk to God on a regular basis and sometimes I feel awkward when I do. I don’t know why this is but I have been trying to work on this by making a point to thank him every day for all the blessings I have.

Goal development

Physical wellness: I am going to continue to exercise on a regular basis. I will do at least two days of cardio and strength training but would like to increase to three days. I will also do at least 30 min of cardio five days a week. I will also continue to track my calories, fats, proteins and carbs on my Lose It app.

Psychological wellness: I will continue to practice deep breathing techniques when I feel stressed or upset. I will also continue to practice yoga every evening. I will also attempt to learn more about meditation and how I can incorporate it into my daily practices.

Spiritual wellness: I will start going to church on a more regular basis. I will also begin to pray at least once a week with the hope of increasing this to a daily practice. By doing this I hope to become more comfortable with my spirituality. If I continue to have problems I will consult with a preacher to help me with my spiritual needs

Practices for personal health

Physical:  I will continue to go to the gym five times a week. I will do strength training every other day rotating exercises so I do not do the same exercise every day. For my cardio I like to walk but since the weather is not very nice for walking at this time I have been using my treadmill at home or the elliptical at the gym. I have also been tracking my calorie, protein, fat and carb intake on my Lose It app. Since making these changes can be difficult for me, I also have a trainer who monitors my intake as well as my weight and measurements. This helps me to stay on track and keep my goal insight.

Psychological: I will use yoga every night to help calm the end of my day. I will also start to learn and practice meditation to help relieve stress. I will continue to use deep breathing as a way of calming my mind since it has been a huge help in allowing me to think before acting.

Spiritual: I will start to implement praying into my daily practice along with going to church on a more regular basis. I will also seek help from other sources such as readings to help me become closer to my spirituality.

Commitment

I will continue to track my progress by tracking my intake and having my trainer monitor my weight and measurements which keeps me accountable for my progress. I will also track my progress by how many times a week I pray and go to church. By doing this I will see how close I am to reaching my goal. One of the biggest goals will be my comfort with prayer, I will be able to track this by how comfortable or uncomfortable I will become after praying weekly. By setting goals and having exercises to reach these goals I will be able to focus on progression of my physical, psychological and spiritual wellness. 

Unit 8 exercise

One exercise I have found really helpful is visualization. I use this every time I go to the gym and it has helped me push through some of my workouts. Visualization is “an exercise that can be used to help facilitate optimism, confidence and personal effectiveness” (Psychology Today, 2013).  I feel that by using visualization in my workouts it helps me to remember and work towards my goals.

The other exercise I found extremely relaxing was the Subtle Mind. This was the first exercise that I felt so relaxed I feel asleep. Now my life is very crazy and my mind seems to go continuously so for an exercise to relax me that much is just great. I felt very refreshed and clear after this exercise. I was able to sleep much better and I felt as though all the clutter in my mind was removed.

I would love to continue these exercises even after the class has ended. I have really learned a lot about relaxing and clearing the mind of clutter. Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions

Psychology Today (2013) Three keys to optimum mental fitness retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/think-well/201105/three-keys-optimum-mental-fitness

Unit 7 exercise

1.      During this exercise I tried to do some deep breathing which actually gave me the ability to focus more on relaxing. It was really relaxing. I like how we had to imagine someone of wisdom which then became our inner guide to help heal and also reject any unnecessary chatter or stress. I always feel so much more relaxed and calm after doing these exercises especially now that I know what is starting to work for me like using ear phones. I enjoyed my relaxation time and this exercise.  

2.      This saying, to me, means unless you have experienced it you cannot teach it. It like the saying you don’t know unless you have walked in the other persons shoes. Schlitz, Amorok, & Micozzi (2005) states that “providers of health care must work on their own spiritual evolution to actually experience what the model represents” (p.476). I think we do have an obligation to our patients/clients to be developing our own health and wellness. By us doing this we will have an open mind and heart which will increase the relationship with our clients. I think increasing psychological and spiritual growth takes time but I always like to start my day off thinking positively and being grateful for everyday I have with my family. Although these are little steps they have improved my life for the better and I am a much happier person.

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. S. (2005). Consciousness & Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-body Medicine. Philadelphia, Pa.: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.

Unit 6 exercise

Hello everyone=) I hope you all are having a great week. In this assignment we were asked to do the integral assessment in our book. This was interesting for me but I already knew what aspects of my life I need to work on. One is my spirituality, I have said this in past posts that I feel I am lacking in this area of my life. I have been trying to be more open to spirituality and prayer. I have also started to do yoga and try to do it every night before I go to bed. This helps me to focus on my breathing and wash away what is on my mind so I can be ready for bed. One of the other aspects is my body. I have realized that my son is only getting bigger and I have thrown my back out way to much already. Because of this I decided to join a gym and change the way I eat. I keep track of all the food I eat everyday and go to the gym 5 days a week. Since I have started I have lost 4lbs off the scale and 11lbs of fat. I also have so much more energy and look forward to going to the gym. This is the time I take for me and I enjoy it. I have to say that another idea I have been thinking about is continuing my education and going for my Masters. Although this is just a thought I have been really thinking about it. I guess I just have to wait and see what happens after this chapter of school closes.

Unit 5 Exercise

 

Last week I listened to the loving kindness exercise and thought I got some benefit out of it, until I listened to the Subtle Mind exercise. My life is always crazy so this time I decide to listen to this week’s exercise with my earplugs so I can hear only the exercise. Well if you have never used ear plugs before and you have a hard time relaxing please try it. I was listening to the exercise and before I knew it I was out cold. I did not realize I feel asleep until I woke up at the end of the exercise. I could not believe it but I must say I felt really relaxed and also refreshed. So I would have to say the exercise was great for me. I have never fallen asleep during an exercise before so it obviously was very relaxing for me. I enjoyed itJ

Love and Kindness exercise

 

I did find it very relaxing and beneficial. The music made me feel like I was at the beach, listening to the waves. I liked how this exercise had you focus on different people in your life. I did have a hard time with focusing on a person who is suffering. Although I think about my gram everyday, I just don't like to think of her in that way. I would recommend this exercise to others, I would just let them know that they would need a quiet room to be able to get the benefit out of it.

Mental workout I think is the ability to open your mind and soul to new ways of thinking or acting. It is always a good idea to keep you mind strong since we all can be forgetful sometimes but I have found that if I am under a lot of stress the forgetfulness becomes worse. Changing the way we think and act will not only help reduce stress but it will also help other to have a positive outlook. I have learned that our attitudes do "rub off" onto each other so it is time that we change the way we look at things.