Unit 9 Final Project

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?

Any health professional that really wants to be integral practitioners needs to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically.  Physically speaking there are so many benefits of physical fitness and wellness plans that men and women of all ages can gain from and obtain a higher quality of life.  As a health professional they must be able to help their clients see the benefits of this and also be able to speak for it themselves and show that physical fitness and spiritual wellness can grow into a positive attitude.  This will help people see their life’s full potential and work towards their goals.  The mind, body, and health are all interlocked together and cannot work to its fullest extent if one is lagging behind. 

Personally I need to develop my physical body and my diet.  While my weight is right on the spot for my height, I do not eat very well which does not do any good for my body.  As I age my bad eating habits will be sure to catch up with me and my perfect weight now will balloon upwards.  I have actually started trying to eat better in the mornings and instead of eating a few donuts and cupcakes I am bringing instant oatmeal to work and adding in fresh fruit.  Over time I hope to develop better eating habits for lunch and dinner as well but one step at a time for me or my poor body will go into shock!

Assessment

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

In Unit 3 this was how I assessed myself on a scale of 1 (lowest) – 10 (highest):

Physical well being – 8

Spiritually – 4

Psychologically – 8

I feel that physically my health is very good even though I do have some poor eating habits that I need to address.  Psychologically I keep a smile on my face every day and am always looking for a positive in everything no matter how bad.  Even when I am feeling down I try to force a smile because just the act of doing so can help cheer me up.  I keep my stress down to a minimum by only worrying about what I can control.  If I cannot control the final results of it then I do not see a reason to stress about it and possibly get myself sick with worry.  My biggest area that I need to address is my spirituality.  I scored myself somewhat on the lower side only because I do not have any religion or any person or thing that I look up to for guidance.  I also have a lot of things going on in my life right now that does not allow for inner peace and calmness. By working on those issues I will be able to raise my rating of spirituality.  

                                                     Goal Development

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

One physical goal that I have for myself is to exercise a little bit more.  While I do end up walking 6-7 miles a day at work over an eight hour period, it is not a very strenuous walk and my heart rate does not go up much if at all. I just adopted another dog from the Humane Society yesterday so that will give me even more reason to get up off the couch and take the pups for nice long walks every day at least once. 

Psychologically my goal is to continue to work on loving-kindness every day no matter how hard life gets.  Working in retail I deal with a lot of not so smart people so it does try my patience and stresses me out but if I practice loving-kindness it will allow me to open my mind and heart to love everyone and not take any frustrations out on them and it will reduce my stress at work too.  By shifting my vision to practicing I can accomplish this goal (Dacher, 2006).

Spiritually I am going to work on keeping a calm abiding mind.  While I do not see myself meditating or anything like that, I do see myself making time out of my day to give me some quiet personal time where I can just lay down and focus on nothing.  I will work hard on not thinking about all the things going on in my life and just focus on the quiet and empty my thoughts.

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 my physical domain I am going to implement longer walks outside with my puppies.  With the great south Florida weather it is mostly sunny all year round so there is no reason why I should not do this.  I get home from work about 3:00 p.m. and if I take the dogs for a walk first thing when I get home I should be able to get in a good 30 -60 minutes of walk time for both them and myself.  I will be sure to walk briskly so that I can get my heart rate up so it is at least worthwhile.  Another strategy to help with my physical domain would be to eat healthier.  By replacing junk food for breakfast with instant oatmeal and fresh fruits I will be starting out my day on a better foot instead of running on pure sugar.  I am also going to try to work in a salad every night before dinner instead of munching on chips or cookies. 

            My strategy to foster growth in my psychological domain is to increase my energy. Accomplishment depends a lot on energy.  The higher the energy that I have, the greater the chance of accomplishment in my life.  By challenging myself to have higher aspirations, the greater the energy that I have generated in my personality and spiritually.  By accomplishing my aspirations, I will be better psychologically.  I need to pick a goal that I want to aspire to reach and create energy to hit that goal.  Being positive is another practice that I can do to help myself psychologically.  By thinking and feeling positive about myself, my goals, and life in general I will reflect that onto people I know and meet by giving them a smile and a happy attitude.  When people are greeted and given a smile they react the same way thus raising their psychological domain as well.

            In order to foster my spiritual growth I plan on always trying to look on the bright side of life.  I am always trying to find the positive in every situation no matter how poor things look. By making an effort to think positively I shut the door to negative thoughts that can sometimes dictate my life and how I feel.  Positivity helps raise the spirit.  Another practice that I will work on is by doing my best to be tolerant, patient, tactful, and considerate.  While people in life do push my buttons, I need to practice loving-kindness and learn to be tolerant and patient with people no matter what the situation.  When I run into a guest at work that is negative, I will treat them with kindness and consideration and be patient with them while they scream and insult my store and myself. 

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 the lines of development in the four quadrants of human development which include the psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly areas where we look for balance (Dacher, 2006).  Any of those areas that seem to be lacking or not reaching its full potential that it needs to be addressed quickly.  The psychospiritual line of development has me evaluate the stillness of my mind from a witnessing mind to a calm-abiding mind and then finally to unity consciousness (Dacher, 2006).  If I see a problem in this area like I am not able to focus and still my mind then I need to address it by learning how to heal with meditation and maybe some breathing exercises.  Next, the biological quadrant relates to fitness, nutrition, and self-regulation.  By knowing my body and its subtle signals I can maintain a fit and healthy body.  I know when I am starting to come down with a cold or if I have pushed my body too far so I course correct and make things better.  Interpersonal is a tough one when constantly bombarded with friends, family, and co-workers.  They pull me away from focusing on myself so this is an area I do need to work on by practicing loving-kindness.  Worldly is another quadrant that involves knowing all that is around you.  By being aware of my surroundings whether it is people, places, or things, I need to be aware of them to allow for peacefulness.  If I notice a lag in any of those quadrants in the next six months then it needs to be addressed and fixed quickly.

            A good way for me to assist in maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness is to make a list of my stressors and then throw the list away.  This is something I learned a long time ago was that if something was bothering me I would write it down on a piece of paper and then crumble it up and throw it away.  The act of throwing away that paper would make it feel as though I was throwing away that trouble or stressor and it would then be gone.  It seems silly but it does work for me. 

Reference:

Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.