Unit 10 Final Blog Post

Wow!  I have come a long way from unit 3.  In the unit 3 assessment my score for psychological was a 5 because I was mood, irritable, and angry.  My score for physical was a 5 because I was not getting any10 physical activity or exercise.  I had a lot of excuses why I couldn't.  Reality was that I simply wouldn't.  My score for spiritual was an 8 because I was pretty strong in my faith and activity at church.  My scores have certainly improved.  My psychological in unit 10 is now scored a 7 because I have incorporated meditation into my daily routine.  I have also began listening to quiet worship music and journaling my experiences.  My physical score has improved a little.  It is up to a 6 because I have begun walking and plan to see a nutritionist.  I have also begun journaling what I eat and drink so that I can see what I eat and why.  My spiritual score is now an 8.5 because I have become even more involved in my church.  I attend Bible studies, prayer meetings, and I am in the church choir now.  These scores have changed because I kept an open mind, an open heart, and remained teachable.  I have made progress in my goals and activities I set in each area.  I am meditating, exercising, journaling, eating healthier, and learning new things.  I have implemented the activities I chose for my well-being in each of the three areas.  Without the activities that I implemented I would not have been able to handle the huge amount of stress I have had this term.  Journaling, meditating, listening to worship music, exercising, and being involved in my church has helped me deal with the stress and death of my dad.  I know I will continue to make even more progress.  Before this class I had never experienced any type of meditation.  Now it is a major part of my daily routine.  It has been difficult to stay caught up because of my dad's illness and death.  With the experienes in this class I will be able to help others who have lost loved ones.  I will be able to teach others how to journal.  I will be able to help others learn how to eat healthier.  I will be able to show others how simply going for a walk can change their life.  This class has been hard, but it has been a wonderful learning experience.

Unit 9 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 need to be balanced in their psychological, spiritual, and physical lives.  When one area is out of balance it would be very difficult to complete an effective patient teaching.  Health and wellness professionals need to have their own lives in balance so that they can teach others from their experience.  They can’t teach what they do not know or what they have not experienced.  They need to practice what they teach.  They need to walk the walk and talk the talk.  They can’t give what they don’t have.  Client/patients are more likely to follow suggestions and instructions if they trust their health and wellness professional.  A professional who does not do what they are suggesting their client or patient to do is not likely to be trusted.

There is always room for improvement.  I need to develop and progress in all three areas to be in balance.  Spiritually is my strongest area.  My faith is strong.  I am very involved in my local church and my prayer life is very strong.  Psychologically I believe that I am much better than when this term began.  Meditation has become a major routine in my daily life.  I begin and end my day with meditation.  Before this term began I had never done any meditation.  I also listen to quiet worship music daily.  My email address is staying focused and that is what I strive to do.  I strive to stay focused on the positive and let the negative go.  I am not saying that I do that each and every time.  I am saying I have made a great deal of progress in this area.  I would have to say that physically is my biggest challenge.  Losing weight has been a huge difficulty.  My goal is to continue to go for walks and incorporate more exercise as my limits get better. 

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

I have my health in each area.  As stated above I am strongest in the spiritual area.  I lean very hard on my spiritual life to get me through each and every situation.  I would score this area an 8.5 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being optimal.  Psychologically I have made a great deal of progress with the help of meditation.  Incorporating a daily routine of meditation has really made a huge difference in my moods, emotions, and outlook on life.  I would score this area a 7 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being optimal.  The physical area is my weakest.  Having high blood pressure, asthma, and being obese continues to be big issues.  I have finally begun to make some progress in this area.  I have begun walking a minimum of 30 minutes daily.  I would score this area a 6 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being optimal.  There is certainly room for improvement in all three areas.

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

My goal for my physical area is to see my primary physician to see what exercises I can do safely since I had a total knee replacement two years ago.  I will not make excuses to not get exercise or be physically active.  I will increase my walking to a minimum of 45 minutes daily. 

My goal for my psychological area is to journal.  I plan to journal my feeling, emotions, and what I eat and drink daily.  I will also journal my weight so that I can see the progress.  I will continue with meditation daily and incorporate maybe some yoga or other methods to help with my moods and irritability. 

My goal for my spiritual area is to grow in my faith and prayer life, continue to be involved in my local church and church choir, and to go to prayer meetings and Bible studies.  I will also seek out friends from church to spend time with.

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.

Physical:  I will lose weight so that it will improve my blood pressure, breathing, perseverance, and endurance.  I will exercise 45 minutes daily.  I will seek the help of a nutritionist to help with my diet and learn more about what I eat and why. 

Psychological:  I will meditate every day for at least 15 minutes when I get up and before I go to bed.  I will journal daily so that I can see the progress I am making.  I will also journal positive things in my life so that I am not focusing on the negative. 

Spiritual:  I will spend time with friends from church doing fun things such as going to lunch, a movie, or a concert.  I will also find a female friend at church to be a prayer partner to come along side me to gain spiritual growth.

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 think that journaling will assess my progress very well.  Each day I will journal what I eat and drink.  My weight will be included weekly.  I will also journal every day to include feelings, emotions, meditation experiences, and any situations that arise and how I handled them.  I will seek out a nutritionist to help with diet, what I eat and why and I will journal the progress.  In the short term, I will see progress right away.  In the long term, I will see the progress and the weight loss.  I will see a reduction in stress and blood pressure.  I will also learn how to eat healthier for me and my family.  My asthma will get better as will my endurance. 

References

Dacher, Elliott S. M.D. (2006) Integral Health the Path to Human Flourishing

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., and Micozzi, M.S. (2005) Consciousness & Healing:         Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine

Unit 8 Loving Kindness and Meditation

The two exercises I chose for this blog are Loving Kindness and Meditation.  Loving kindness helped me to think more positively, be more optimistic and let go of some negativity and worry.  This week has been very hard to be positive or optimistic.  My dad fell and broke his hip on June 2 in Branson, Missouri.  He was put on an air ambulance to Omaha where they live so that he could have surgery.  He broke the same hip in 2009.  Dad had surgery on June 3 and then suffered a massive stroke.  On June 6 the doctors told us that dad would not recover and he was then placed in hospice.  My dad went to heaven on June 10 and we celebrated his life today at the funeral services.  I have had a very difficult time being positive.  I was very angry for a few days.  My dad broke his hip and now he is gone.  It is just hard to wrap my brain around that.  I have tried to meditate several times over the last several days.  I have not been able to concentrate or relax.  It has been very hard to stay focused and on top of things.  Dad lived a long happy life and he and mom were married for 63 wonderful years.  I am hoping that now since his services are over I can get back to whatever normal is.  I need to get back into my routine with meditation beginning and ending my day with meditation.  Making time for myself in meditation is part of taking care of myself.  As a mom I tend to take care of everyone else first.  I need to take care of me for awhile right now.  I have had to be strong and help take care of mom and the service arrangements.  Now it is time to take care of me.  It is time to get back to Loving Kindness and Meditation on a regular basis.  I am very grateful for meditation.  I am looking forward to reducing stress and maybe even my blood pressure again.

Unit 7 - Meeting Aesclepius

What an awesome experiene!  It was very relaxing and comforting.  As I reflected I remembered my Godmother, Nanny.  She is so special to me.  She has so much encouragement and wisdom to share.  My parents both passed away many years ago.  I never heard them say "I love you" or "I am proud of you" even once.  Yet my Nanny makes it a priority to tell me that she loves me and she is proud of me. Even during the times in my life when I was not making good choices, Nanny, still said she loved me and that she was proud of me and she knew I would get back on track.  I reflected back to last summer when I took my kids on vacation.  We went to Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas, Texas.  What a wonderful place!  Before we went there we went to see my Nanny.  She had no idea we were coming.  I told her all about school and what I was doing.  My Nanny said that my parents would be so proud of me.  I told her no I didn't think they would be.  Nanny explained that they were just to into their own stuff to pay attention to anyone else but she was sure they would be proud.  She went on to tell me how much she loved me and how proud she was at how I grew up and became a good mom even without a good example of a good mom.  As I reflected it was great to look back at the progress and accomplishments in my life. 

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself."  I think that means that it is not enough to have book knowledge only even though book knowledge is good.  I can only relate to my own experience.  For example, I can read all or parts of the Alcoholic Anonymous Big Book and try to help  an alcoholic get sober.  I will not be very effective.  However, since I have been in recovery and clean and sober for 24 years I can be more effective.  I can share my experience, strength, and hope with them.  I can what has worked for me and what has not worked for me.  I believe that God allows us to go through certain things and go down certain roads for a reason.  We may not understand that reason but down the road there will be people we can help because of our experiences. 

I belive the health and wellness professional needs to be a good listener.  It would also help if you put yourself in their shoes so you can show compassion and empathy.  It is important to develop your own psychological, physical, and spiritual self.  It would be very hard for a health and wellness professional who is not well herself or himself to help someone who is sick and needs help.  You can't teach what you don't have yourself.  An active alcoholic can't teach another alcoholic how to get sober.  I can implement psychological and spiritual growth in my own life by practicing meditation, relaxation, not focusing on the negative and worrying, being involved in my local church, and reducing my own stress.  I have found that staying in a routine really helps too.