Unit 9 Final

Maria Mejia

Unit 9 Project

September 28, 2013
 

I think it is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically spiritually and physically as experiencing growth in these areas gives the professional experience and knowledge that can be shared and modeled to those who are just learning the process. The words of advice and support from the experience professional are genuine, they have learned of compassion and want to see clients succeed and eliminate suffering. For myself, I need to develop all three of these areas as growth is an ongoing process.

In the beginning of this course I assessed my health in each domain and I can say that at this point, each has improved even if just a fraction. My physical well-being score was pretty high as I have always been very conscious of my eating habits, staying away from processed and packaged foods. I have been more consistent with exercise than I have been in the past, so I feel that that has brought my score up to an 8.5. My psychological well-being score has gone up a bit as well, 8.5. Like I have said before, I am very optimistic and handle stress pretty well although I did struggle when it comes to sticking up for myself sometimes and I tend to just let things slide. However, there have been a few instances recently where I confronted people when I needed to without hesitation. I was proud of myself for doing this and to me it was a sign of growth. As for spiritual well-being I still struggle with this. I believe that utilizing some of the practices in this course have helped in the area of spirituality which is now a 6 since I catch myself putting others before myself occasionally. Assessing myself now I can say that by just being aware and acknowledging the need for development in these aspects is growth in itself.

A goal I have for myself in physical well-being is to get a gym membership, create a routine, and adhere to it. For psychological well-being I plan to broaden my meditation and yoga horizons, implementing new techniques and work on those that I struggle with. For spiritual I want to work on connecting with people and nature on a deeper level. My overall goal is to reach a point where I don’t have to think twice about developing my well-being, that it just becomes a part of my life naturally and easily.

I plan to implement a workout routine incorporating weight training to tone my body. In addition to creating growth in my physical well-being, I would also like to increase my running to at least 5 days a week. Being in a good physical state will keep me in shape and confident.

For spiritual I would like to practice the loving kindness meditation and imagery practices a few times a week. I think being outdoors will help me feel connected to nature while exercising the area of spirituality. I also plan on inviting others to meditate with me to create a sense of connectedness to the individuals joining which can promote understanding, nonjudgmental attitudes, compassion, etc.

Creating a meditation and a yoga routine will foster growth in my psychological well-being. I find that these types of practices work best for me at night when I am already winding down. Doing these things will keep stressors at bay leaving me with plenty of room for focus and peace.

To stay committed to these goals I think journaling would be a great tool for tracking my wellness progress.  I am a visual person so to have the documentation of what I am doing on a day to day basis and knowing my thoughts/feelings in the process will be motivating. Keeping a wellness journal will hold me accountable, I won’t like to see regression.

References;

Dacher, E. S. (2006) Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health Publishers. Laguna Bch, CA