Unit 9

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?

The importance of a health and wellness professional developing himself/herself psychologically, spiritually and physically is, he/she will better understand the needs of the client, the more developed these areas are the more compassionate and empathetic they can be when dealing with others. The health and wellness professionals who go through the process of developing these things understand the struggle  that go along with the development and are able to help by giving advice on how to meet goals that a client my set for himself/herself.

It is hard for to choose which just one of these areas, believe me they all need work, however I the one that I feel should be addressed first is psychological.  I struggle with depression and am in a constant battle with negative thoughts vs. positive ones.  Being able to develop this aspect of myself will help to bring back out the positivity that I once had.  Having a positive attitude makes all the difference in health and wellness, I think of stories you hear of cancer patients that hold on to hope and fight and wind up going into remission and then there are the people who just see the illness and just can’t seem to grasp the hope, sad to say these people give up and give into the illness. Even though, they are all important I believe the key to integral health is developing a positive mindset.

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

 Spiritually, I would have to say that I rate myself at about a 5. I grew up going to church, I don’t currently go.  I have the background knowledge and believe in God, I am just not currently a fan of many people that go to church.  Seeing my family burned a time or two and seeing how hypocritical they can be turned me off. Physically, I would also rate a 5. I am overweight and I am not a fan of exercise. My nutrition has improved but I am still in search of an exercise program or physical activity that is fun and keeps me interested. Psychologically, I would rate at a 6. This class I think has helped to boost the rating.  The exercises that we have done throughout the class have opened me up more to my true self, who is a happier person and someone that I want to be again.

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

My physical goal is to increase the amount of time that I spend on my elliptical machine and to supplement the days that I don’t use it with another form of exercise instead of avoiding it completely, by finding either a fun DVD or a class that I can do with a friend.

My psychological goal is to reduce my stress which can deepen the feelings of depression when I am overwhelmed. By taking a few minutes and stepping back from the situation to clear my mind, practice the subtle mind exercise and focus on finding an answer to the problem instead of letting myself get caught up in the problem and the swept away by it.

My spiritual goal is to meditate daily.  The loving-kindness exercise has been the biggest help for me. At first it was very difficult I think because it opens you up to people that you may not really like or give much thought to. It is the fact that it asks you to consider those people that now makes it an important exercise.  I found myself going more out of my way to help strangers and being kinder to those I would normally just ignore because I don’t care for them.

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.

To foster growth in the physical domain I need to create a nutritionally balanced diet that is low in calories, and also come up with an exercise program.  Now that the weather is nicer doing family outings where we are physically active instead of just going to a movie will help with weight loss. Using the visualization exercise, envisioning the body and level of activity I would like to have will help to reach my goals.

Psychological growth can come from learning to control my emotions and learning to let things roll off my back, instead of giving them a hold in my life. Taking the minute or two to step back instead of immediately reacting to a person or situation and putting into practice the witness mind by letting all the snarky comments I would react with pass over until I can respond rationally.

I can foster my spiritual growth by reading a daily scripture verse that is applicable to my life or situation at the time and meditating on that, using the Bible verses like a daily affirmation to inspire and uplift. Also using the loving-kindness exercise which helps you see other in a better light so you are able to treat others the way you what to be treated.  

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?

My physical development can be monitored or tracked by using one of the online health sites like sparkspeople.com which will track your nutritional intake and also your physical activity and calories that are burned.

The psychological and spiritual can be measured in my attitude and the way I treat others. Having someone that I trust and am accountable to, who will tell me when I am getting out of hand and need to chill is a good way to keep me in check. I also think that journaling when I feel overwhelmed, stressed or slipping into my depression this way I am able to track the causes and also see how often these things occur. Hopefully as I continue to meditate I will see a decrease in the episodes that I need to write about.

Reference

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