Summarizing my Experiences!

After reviewing my unit 3 personal assessment of my psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being I cannot honestly say I have improved significantly anywhere over this course. Previously I scored physical at 7, spiritual at 7, and psychological at 9.  Now, I would leave both physical and spiritual where they are at 7, but psychological would definitely reach a 10.  I can honestly say that I have worked on loving-kindness, patience, and gratefulness a great deal over the course.  The only activity I have incorporated was to reduce unnecessary activities to replace with more relax time, meditation, and creativity.  The others such as jogging, boxing, prayer, and Bible reading were here and there if that.  This course has been rewarding because it has showed me that we all go through the same types of problems, but we all can overcome them by helping each other.  I can do my part to help others as a health and wellness professional by first attending to and improving my own well being and then using what I've learned from to guide others on their journey to integral health.  Although the meditative exercises were always a challenge, I have found myself making more contemplative quiet time to control the thoughts of my mind and creating a more pleasant psychological atmosphere.

Be Blessed!

Final Project

                         I.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 professionals serve as those who lead others to a life fulfilled with total wellbeing both internally and externally.  In order for these professionals to accurately and effectively achieve the most success in their clients it is vital that they have personally developed their own mind, body, and spirit collectively through the integral health approach.  This approach according to Dacher (2006) says that we will only learn it by doing so in our own lives.  For these reasons, it is important to develop ourselves psychologically, spiritually, and physically.  Personally, I have made huge strides in all areas compared to myself just one year ago today.  I would say that all areas equally could use improvements to reach my ultimate goal of wellness though.  This project serves as my formal plan to foster growth in all areas of my personal life. 

                      II.Assessment: How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?

I have assessed my health in each domain on a scale of poor, average, above average, and good as follows:

·         Spiritually, I would assess myself as above average.  This is because although I have within the last year developed a closer relationship with God like I never have before, I have still been struggling with incorporating daily prayer and Bible study. 

·         Physically, I would assess myself as good.  This is because I have managed to maintain a 70 pound weight loss for over 4 years now, I have no major medical problems, and my energy levels can compete and surpass most teenagers.  Recently, I have had a situation where I had a renal stone so I would like to fulfill my duty of meeting with a specialist and work on not overexerting myself anymore without replenishing electrolytes.  In my case, this is my problem and I really need to work on it.  Also, I would like to get back on top of my nutrition and physical activity plan so that I complete my physical physique as I envision it to be.

·         Psychologically, I would assess myself as good.  This is because I would say I am probably mentally stronger than most individuals.  I have already addressed issues such as unforgiveness and mistakes from my past life, so this is definitely not an issue for me anymore.  One issue is probably having more patience for others and reacting to negative behaviors of others in a more positive way.

                   III.Goal development: List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.

·         Spiritually, I am to incorporate daily prayer and Bible study in addition to going to church on a regular basis.

·         Physically, I aim to take the steps of contacting my primary care physician and urologist to make appointments to assess my current health status.  I also need to schedule a dentist appointment to begin setting out a plan to get some much needed dental work completed.  I also aim to lose 30 pounds. 

·         Psychologically, I aim to develop loving-kindness for others by finding better ways to react to the negative behaviors and attitudes of others. 

                   IV.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.

·         Spiritually, I know that daily prayer and Bible study is a huge part of developing one’s self spiritually and I hope to improve by the end of this year.  I will do so by setting out time first thing in the morning when I wake up and on those days I work overnight I will do so as soon as I get home and settle in before sleeping.  Also, I would like to take the step in choosing a church home for me and my family to fellowship with other believers to praise God and encourage each other.  Lastly, there are three components critical to becoming a healthy individual internally, so that you can deal with life’s experiences and receive personal healing through the reciprocal effect of giving and receiving love, forgiveness, and gratefulness.  With these three tools, we can definitely become a well person. 

·         Physically, I will make sure to stay on top of my regular appointments by setting out a clear schedule and reminders.  Also, I will set up and include an eating and workout plan around my current work schedule that is adequate yet flexible.  I will limit my workouts to no more than an hour and a half per day to reduce excessive exertion.

·         Psychologically, I can start and end my days with contemplative prayer and a moment for complete stillness of mind.  After, I can continue that stillness while engaging in my morning jog by focusing on my breathing.  Even during the day, while I both work and interact with others I can take brief moments to calm my mind, allow rambling thoughts to settle, and choose to respond to circumstances in healthy manners.  Meditation has been a great strategy I’ve learned in this class that can be used regularly as well.

                      V.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?

I will assess my progress or lack of progress in the next six months by evaluating each area every 90 days.  One of the main strategies I’ve learned that can assist in maintaining long-term practice in health and wellness is keeping a journal.  Inserting daily entries will not only assist in my successful progress, but it can serve as a useful tool when I am determining best methods to suggest to my future clients.

Reference

Dacher, Elliott S. (2006) Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing.  Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

My personal path to mental and spiritual fitness!

After considering all of the exercises we have had to endure over the past weeks, I have come to the conclusion that both Loving Kindness and the Subtle Mind was most beneficial to me.  I've come to this conclusion because I felt as though I just could not stay focused and my mind either wanted to drift on another random thought of chatter or I wanted to fall asleep in the other exercises.  Either way, I've just been struggling to even get a chance to see what works for me.  In spite of this trouble, the speakers in both Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind did a great job at guiding my focal points as I've mentioned before.  This was a huge help for me.

I've realized that family is a major motivator for me, like many other people I'm sure.  Learning how to treat others should not only exist within the family unit but transcend to others I may encounter on a daily basis.  I have learned that this is very important especially with a career guided toward health and wellness.  I've also come to realize that establishing and maintaining overall health has so much more to do with gaining inner stability over outer physical stability.  With this is mind, these exercises can be a huge help for clients that are struggling with people on their job or just struggling to manage a heavy load of responsibility.  Some of the methods that have not worked for me, may just as well be perfect for some of my clients and their progress toward integral health.

Subtle Mind Exercise

1. Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.

As I've completed both the Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind exercises, I noticed that I was more easily frustrated while the speakers spoke.  However, I appreciated the fact that they briefly gave me my focal point during the exercise.  I also really like the periods where you only heard the sounds of water, as it was very calming.  As I stated last time, it was quite hard to get into loving kindness at first since I was dealing with such a stressful situation.  It was also difficult to complete the subtle mind exercise, because I went into it with the worst migraine you could imagine probably as a result of the stress following the effects of Hurricane Isaac.  I noticed that as I completed the exercise it felt like a struggle and it felt like my blood flow was trying to change inside my body.  As I felt this, it was almost scary and almost made me want to discontinue. As I continued on, the speaker mentioned how it would seemed like a forceful struggle to get through the exercise and that is exactly what I felt.  However, as I stuck it out to the end I found that my mind had found so much more stillness and the migraine was completely diminished.

1. Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

In my opinion, spiritual wellness is an integral tool to mental and physical wellness. I feel as though the three coexist and/or thrive off of the others.  When one piece is missing, we will eventually find ourselves hungry for something that we cannot explain and spirituality will be it.  According to Dacher (2006), it is virtually impossible to reach the subtle mind-body experience without development psychospiritually and I firmly agree with that.

Loving Kindness Exercise

I'm afraid I have been struggling to complete this exercise this week as my family has been making preparations and experiencing high anxiety as Hurricane Isaac approaches the coast.  I think I am so sleep-deprived right now that all I experience is deep sleepiness every time I attempt the exercise so far.  I will try my best to try again as the day progresses, but I will probably have to report after the Hurricane has passed later on this week.

Please keep those of us on the coast of Louisiana in your prayers.

Thanks

Wellbeing Reflections

If I were to rate my current well being on a physical, spiritual, and psychological level it would be as follows:

1. Physical a 7, because although I have come along ways and am very active I could improve some poor impulsive eating habits and consistency in my exercise schedule.
2. Spiritual a 7, because again although I have come a long ways as far as developing a relationship with God and realizing my true purpose by reading the Bible I know I can improve.
3. Psychological a 9, because I have probably come the furthest on this level as far as controlling the mental chatter that can often rule and destroy lives.  I have realized for some time now that some things just aren't important, and the mental thoughts that try to torment you will only hinder your life from moving forth positively.

If I were to set goals and activities to improve my well being it would be as follows:

1. Physical is to lose 20 lbs so that I can get within my target weight for optimum health.  I can achieve this by being more consistent with jogging and boxing fitness sessions per week in addition to resisting the temptation to indulge in one too many batches of baked snacks on the weekend lol.
2. Spiritual is to develop a closer relationship with God by reading and praying on a daily basis.  I could probably also make the decision to attend church regularly.
3. Psychological is to reduce some unnecessary activities in my life and replace them with some quiet time to relax, meditate, and become more in tune with myself, my potential, and creativity.

As far as the relaxation exercise, I would say yes it was beneficial since I was able to achieve complete relaxation through my entire body and mind by the end of the audio.  At first, I will admit I was a little frustrated as I had to keep warding off thoughts in my head in addition to not being able to visualize the rainbow beams of light.  However, as I stuck it out I became very relaxed except for feeling tingling sensations on my skin in various places.  I am wandering if this tingling is due to changes in my blood flow.

Welcome Classmates!

Welcome everyone to the blog site of someone most people would say is a very opinionated, outspoken individual so you never know what you might hear from me.  Thankfully, this blog is dedicated to class assignments so it shouldn't be too bad.  A little over 4 months ago myself and my family rededicated our lives to God as born again Christians, and let me tell you there is no renewing of the mind, body, and spirit than giving your life to our Heavenly Father.

I finished the relaxation exercise and I have to be honest that I just could not get with it.  In the beginning, I felt myself falling into a deep relaxed mode but as he continued talking my mind began to wonder and I just could not remain focused.  It's funny that he focused so much on the blood flow, and the way it predominates the abdominal area while relaxed because I actually just learned that a few days ago for the first time.  Other than that, I was very disinterested at the time.  Maybe I should try it again at another time.

Welcome

Hello all,

This will be very interesting for me to start a blog! 

I am a US Army Veteran that was once deemed disabled by PTSD, Bipolar, and other personality disorders.  However, thanks to the help and support of my wife, I have been able to address the internal issues causing my external outcomes.  As a result, I have been leading a happy, healthy, ad well lifestyle for over 4 years now.  I've made so many strides that I have found myself capable of counseling others in their struggles.  I hope to soon open a boxing gym that trains in boxing fitness for discipline, training technique, and weightloss purposes.  I envision a place where boys and young men can have a place to learn and grow, channel stress, and find more positive ways to respond to the rigors of life. I hope my life experience will provide some helpful insight to others who may share the same or similar stressors I've faced.

Say hello to one of my new loves.....Gracie Grace!