Personal Reflection

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?

I believe it is important for health and wellness professionals to develop in these areas in order to gain trust and understanding in their patients. What better way to help people then to actually have gone through it yourself. The knowledge will be helpful because they will have a better understanding of what a patient is going through and can help them on a more personal level. Practice what you preach would be my motto when I am a health coach because I will know what the patient is trying to achieve and I can help them reach these goals.

In the mind and spirit asset I think I am pretty secure but physically I am not where I want to be. Working out needs to be a number one priority to me and need to develop longer workout sessions. I already exercise but some days I can be lazy and then my mind starts to remind me that. When I do my workouts I always feel energized and have a great rest of day eating and getting things accomplished. So I know that my physical self needs work because I do not feel secure with the way I look and feel sometimes so to be more consistent with workouts and adding more to them such as weights and stretching can really help me in the long run.  

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 of the areas, mind, body, spirit, by a number system of 1-10. 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. When we started this class one of the first blogs we did we had to asses these areas. Physically I would say I am around a 6-7. I need to make better choices when eating and extend beyond cardio when doing my exercises. Perhaps adding in more weight training will help me feel more accomplished and tone up faster. After I accomplish this I think psychologically I will be in a better place because I would say I am an 8 but once I get my physical part better I will be better mentally because I always feel guilty after not exercising or eating something bad. Spiritually I am at least a 9. I pray, meditate and some yoga sometimes. But I know I could pray more often and read the bible more for more spirituality. So I am very close to having all 10’s in my life and feeling good each and every day.

Goal Development:

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

Physical- One goal I have is to lose about 10 pounds in two months because I have a cruise I am going on and would love to be in better shape. So if I lost about a pound a week I would be in better shape when the trip comes. I will have to run at least 5 days a week, eat healthier and also do some weight training.

Psychologically- My goal in this area is to continue to meditate in order to stay calm in stressful times and to stay focused on my school work. I am doing great in school and almost finished so I need to look at what I have accomplished so far and how far I have come. In order to maintain this I think I will meditate at least 4 days a week. Sometimes when I am running I also do my own type of meditation with applications I have on my phone to help me focus and get through a workout but it also has me connect to things around me and really zone out and appreciate things.

Spiritually- My goal in this area is to feel more connected and deeper with God. This is how I am spiritually now but I feel as though I lack somewhere. To attain this I need to make time to read the bible daily such as just reading a passage or two a day. Praying in the morning and night is something I need to remember to do.

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.

Physically- 1- running 5 days a week to stay in shape. This will be my cardio workout. I will use an application on my phone to keep track of my workouts and how many calories I am burning which in turn will hopefully give me more incentive to keep going when I see what I am accomplishing.

            2- Weight training- I need to do this at least 3 days a week because although I am doing cardio I need to tone up and it could make me feel better by being stronger. I will mark this down in my phone on an application on how many reps and I will take measurements on myself so I can see how things change on my body.

Spiritually-1- Daily praying- What I need to do is daily praying in the morning to get the day started good. I figured I could set my alarm earlier than normal and add a note to it saying something like “Time to talk to our Savior” or something along the lines of that so I do not forget. Taking the time out daily to do that will surely bring me closer to myself and to God and I will spiritually be where I want.

            2-Universal Loving Kindness meditation- I really loved this because I was sending out loving feelings to people that needed it and I was saying these 4 sentences over and over which to me is almost like a prayer but different. I liked this because I did not have to focus on one person. I can think of people freely so I will be sure to do this exercise every day or every other. 

Psychologically- 1- I really loved writing a blog and keeping things written down about my experiences so I think I will continue to do so. This is an outlet for me to write and people respond and it’s something I enjoy. Maybe I can even help someone if they read it and enjoy it themselves.

            2- Yoga- I love yoga because of the stretching techniques’, great for you, and great for our mind. During this time I want to just clear my mind and focus on stretching and being healthy. I think this will help me really think about things I want to change in my life in all other areas since I will be fully concentrating on that.

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?

First and foremost I think I need to grab a journal or even start another blog. Next I need to write down the goals I want to accomplish. I need to rate again all my areas I want to work on. Writing daily any problems or accomplishments I have will give me more incentive and just keep me going. I will ask my husband to help cheer me on for support and perhaps he can even join me because sometimes it is easier when someone is doing the same thing with you. As I accomplish goals such as doing my weekly runs 5 days a week, losing 2 pounds or just eating healthy I can just cross them off and I will be happy to see how many I have done. If there is anyone that is a negative influence to me I will spend less time around them if they cannot understand. I will continue to focus and learn in school and use that to obtain daily progress in my goals.