Ahh, the end of the term. So let's recap. Back in unit 3, we assessed our psychological, physical and spiritual well being. At that point I rated them at an 8, 6 and 3 respectively. I would now rate my psychological the same still at an 8. I feel like I have made improvements but there is still work to be done. My physical has improved. I would rate it at an 8 as well. I have lost most of my baby weight and have been eating healthier. My spirituality has increased to about a 6. I have practiced more of the concepts we have learned in the course which have helped me in this area.
My goals are coming along. I have lost more weight from my pregnancy and have been eating healthier.My goals in psychological health and spiritual health still need attention, but i have made progress. I have dabbled with some yoga, but have not made it a habit yet, like I want to. My spiritual health is improving by practicing meditation and loving kindness.
Implementing the activities to achieve my goals has been a challenge with a busy work schedule again. However, I am working on it. I have been incorporating healthy snacks into my day. I have also found some time (not a lot) to meditate. I need to schedule time in my daily schedule to implement more activities that will help me achieve my goals. Maybe when its scheduled, I can stick with it more.
This course has taught me a great deal about health and wellness. It makes me want to change for the better and continue to make improvements. I have developed my overall wellness and feel much better than I did before the course. It has been a huge reward to analyze my life and see where I can make improvements and implement changes. This has also been a challenge. But its a challenge I accept and I know I can keep improving. Continuing with developing my own wellness will only help me help others with similar goals.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Unit 9
Personal Application of the Psychological and Spiritual
Aspects of Healing
It is important for health and wellness
professionals to develop psychologically, physically, and spiritually. This is
because in order to teach others how to improve their habits, one must practice
what they teach in their own lives. People are not going to take advice on
weight loss from a health and wellness professional that is overweight. This
same concept applies to psychological and spiritual areas of health and
wellness. All three areas affect the body as a whole and the human body
performs at its best when all three areas are flourishing. Personally I know I
can continue to grow in all three areas. Currently, I am mostly concerned with
my physical health. I recently had a child, and my goal is to lose the baby
weight I gained. I am also not able to exercise for the amount of time I used
to be able to. Developing my physical health will help me obtain my goal.
Having goals are an essential asset
to fostering health and wellness. It allows you to work toward something and
have a sense of accomplishment upon reaching the goal. In order to create
realistic goals, one must analyze each area of health and wellness and
determine where improvements are needed. Assessing where I was at the beginning
of this course compared to now, I know I have made significant improvements in
many areas.
My spiritual health at the beginning of the course was my weakest point.
I now feel I have bumped that score up to around a 6 on a 1-10 scale with 1
being the worst. This is because I have worked on changing my mindset when it
comes to health and well being. I know I must practice exercising my mind and
reaching higher levels of consciousness in order to foster total wholeness.
Physical fitness is not my only goal anymore; I want to reach human
flourishing. According to Dacher, human
flourishing is defined as
“a profound, sustained, and self-cultivated health, happiness, and
wholeness. It is an innate and natural human potential that each and every one
of us can actualize. It is the noble aim and final fulfillment of human life.
Its attainment is the highest meaning of human life” (2006).
My spiritual health still needs
development but I have made improvements with practicing meditation and the
loving-kindness concept more in my daily life.
My
physical health, as I discussed earlier, needs enhancement. However, I am
moving in the right direction. I am trying my best to eat healthy and get
enough sleep. For a score I would rate myself at an 8 overall. My fitness and
weight need attention but overall I am physically healthy. My weight is gradually
decreasing as time passes and as I increase my physical activity.
Psychologically
I believe I am very healthy. I am able to control my emotions which helps me
not to overreact in different situations. Having a good stress level is part of
psychological health as well. My stress level has been balanced with enough
stress to challenge my mind but not too much to wear me out. I would rank my
score at a 8.5 in this area, since there is always room for improvement.
I
have set goals in each area as a way to foster greater integral health. I have
already mentioned my goals for my physical health with losing weight and
increasing my stamina. Also in this area, I have a goal to improve my
nutrition. Maintaining a healthy stress level is one of my goals for my
psychological health. Spiritually, my goal is to work at achieving higher
levels of consciousness.
In
order to reach my goals I can incorporate many small changes into my lifestyle.
For my physical health, I can plan meals ahead of time in order to ensure
healthy options. I can also make grocery lists before shopping. This will
ensure that I have all the needed items to make the meals I plan. I tend to go
shopping on a whim and then forget things. I can improve my fitness by
gradually increasing my time walking and then move to jogging and then
hopefully start running again.
Having
a good balance of stress will keep my psychological health in check.
Maintaining a healthy stress level is the challenge. My life is very chaotic
with school, a full time job, and two young boys. This can be very stressful at
times. Finding time to relax is one thing I can do to de-stress and wind down. Scheduling
relaxation time is something that I can work in to my daily schedule. My
commute to and from work would be a good time for reflection and relaxation. Also,
enlisting a support system can help me to voice my frustrations without
judgment. Having an outlet for stress is very important in not letting it get
out of control. My husband does this for me currently. However, I could do more
with this idea by not relying on just him for this.
To
reach my goal in the spiritual health realm I can do more with practicing
meditation. I have just recently started to incorporate meditation exercises
into my life. Continuing this practice and focusing more time on meditating can
help with this goal. I do believe in a higher power, and I can do more with
allowing to let things happen the way they may. There are many things that I
try to control that I cannot, and it causes frustration. Learning to let things
go that are out of my control will help foster my belief in the higher power.
Believing everything will work out the way it is meant to happen is something
that I need to do more.
I
think all of my goals are very obtaining with a little more focus on my
wellbeing. Assessing my progress in six months will help to keep me on track. I
can measure my progress based on my physical activity level. Have I been able
to start running on a regular basis yet? Am I still making lists and preparing
meals in advance? I can also measure success in terms of stress. Have I been
bogged down by too much stress? My spiritual health can be measured by how
often I am able to meditate. Maintaining my long term practices can be
accomplished by monitoring my progress and changing techniques as needed in
order to adapt to my changing lifestyle.
References
Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health: the path to
human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Unit 7 - meditation and practicing what you preach
Hello,
Ok so I managed to jump the gun and go ahead to unit 8 before realizing that we were only on unit 7. :) So lets back up, and discuss meditation first.
I did not particularly care for the meditation exercise this week. Imagining a wise person with beams of light that are supposed to reflect back to ourselves and change our thought processes, speech, and heart was not easy to do. I have many people that I look up to and respect but at the same time I do not want to become these people, like the exercise suggests we try to do. Practicing the characteristics that I admire in the individual is something that I think is a little more realistic. The beam of light that enters through our forehead and radiates down into our organs was not something I could imagine and did not provoke any different feelings, as it apparently should have.
Trying out different meditation techniques is something that I can keep doing in order to foster psychological and spiritual wellness. Ones that do not have beams of light would probably work a little better for me.
The other half of the post is to discuss the phrase "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself." To me, this is another way of saying "practice what you preach." For the health and wellness professional this means to not only have the knowledge of what you teach clients but also use what you teach in your own life. This builds trust with your clientele because it shows that you are committed to what you do for a living not only with helping other people but also with helping yourself. In the this area, I do believe that we have the obligation to continue to improve our own health in all areas: psychologically, physically, and spiritually. If we do not do this then how can we be successful in teaching others to do it? It would be the same thing as a police officer being arrested for the same action that he has arrested others for. Once that happens, people would not show the same respect for the police officer because he tries to tell others its wrong but yet does it himself. It seems hypocritical. The same applies to health and wellness professionals. We should continue to develop our own health while teaching others the importance of it and setting the example. Psychological and spiritual growth are usually the most difficult to accomplish. However, continuing to practice loving-kindess toward others and trying to expand your consciousness level are ways to foster improved wellness in those areas.
Ok so I managed to jump the gun and go ahead to unit 8 before realizing that we were only on unit 7. :) So lets back up, and discuss meditation first.
I did not particularly care for the meditation exercise this week. Imagining a wise person with beams of light that are supposed to reflect back to ourselves and change our thought processes, speech, and heart was not easy to do. I have many people that I look up to and respect but at the same time I do not want to become these people, like the exercise suggests we try to do. Practicing the characteristics that I admire in the individual is something that I think is a little more realistic. The beam of light that enters through our forehead and radiates down into our organs was not something I could imagine and did not provoke any different feelings, as it apparently should have.
Trying out different meditation techniques is something that I can keep doing in order to foster psychological and spiritual wellness. Ones that do not have beams of light would probably work a little better for me.
The other half of the post is to discuss the phrase "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself." To me, this is another way of saying "practice what you preach." For the health and wellness professional this means to not only have the knowledge of what you teach clients but also use what you teach in your own life. This builds trust with your clientele because it shows that you are committed to what you do for a living not only with helping other people but also with helping yourself. In the this area, I do believe that we have the obligation to continue to improve our own health in all areas: psychologically, physically, and spiritually. If we do not do this then how can we be successful in teaching others to do it? It would be the same thing as a police officer being arrested for the same action that he has arrested others for. Once that happens, people would not show the same respect for the police officer because he tries to tell others its wrong but yet does it himself. It seems hypocritical. The same applies to health and wellness professionals. We should continue to develop our own health while teaching others the importance of it and setting the example. Psychological and spiritual growth are usually the most difficult to accomplish. However, continuing to practice loving-kindess toward others and trying to expand your consciousness level are ways to foster improved wellness in those areas.
Unit 8 - Incorporating the exercises learned
Hello,
Fostering mental fitness can be done in many ways. We have learned about several through the course content. Out the many that we have learned about we are to chose two that we found the most beneficial and how to incorporate them into our lives. Personally, relaxation exercises and visualization are the two practices that I have most beneficial.
Relaxation exercises can be implemented very easily, as they do not take a very long time and can be practices almost anywhere. All that you have to do is find what helps you relax. Personally, all I need is a quiet room. I can find this at work or at home and then I can start to quiet my mind. After listening to a few voice guided relaxation exercises, it is pretty easy to remember the basics of them. Quieting the mind and then focusing on different areas of the body is usually all I need to do in order to feel more relaxed. I can concentrate on calming down and letting my mind unwind and let go of the pressing thoughts that fill it up. Once I feel more relaxed I can slowly re-focus on the world around me. After practicing the relaxation techniques I go back to what I was doing and am more focused and refreshed and usually more productive. This will help foster mental fitness because it helps de-stress which will aid in reducing the risk of stress related illness. It also helps to prioritize thoughts on what needs to be done right away and what can wait.
Visualization techniques are also fairly easy to incorporate into daily routines. They can be as simple as visualizing a happy memory in order to not become angry in a situation. Or you can expand on this and visualize your goals in life and picture yourself where you want to be in order to build motivation. Visualization also can be done as a relaxation tool, you can picture yourself in a relaxing setting. Again, this can be done anywhere and at anytime you have a few minutes free. This will foster mental fitness because it can used to build self confidence and motivation. It also reduces stress and helps to focus your mind to achieve goals.
Fostering mental fitness can be done in many ways. We have learned about several through the course content. Out the many that we have learned about we are to chose two that we found the most beneficial and how to incorporate them into our lives. Personally, relaxation exercises and visualization are the two practices that I have most beneficial.
Relaxation exercises can be implemented very easily, as they do not take a very long time and can be practices almost anywhere. All that you have to do is find what helps you relax. Personally, all I need is a quiet room. I can find this at work or at home and then I can start to quiet my mind. After listening to a few voice guided relaxation exercises, it is pretty easy to remember the basics of them. Quieting the mind and then focusing on different areas of the body is usually all I need to do in order to feel more relaxed. I can concentrate on calming down and letting my mind unwind and let go of the pressing thoughts that fill it up. Once I feel more relaxed I can slowly re-focus on the world around me. After practicing the relaxation techniques I go back to what I was doing and am more focused and refreshed and usually more productive. This will help foster mental fitness because it helps de-stress which will aid in reducing the risk of stress related illness. It also helps to prioritize thoughts on what needs to be done right away and what can wait.
Visualization techniques are also fairly easy to incorporate into daily routines. They can be as simple as visualizing a happy memory in order to not become angry in a situation. Or you can expand on this and visualize your goals in life and picture yourself where you want to be in order to build motivation. Visualization also can be done as a relaxation tool, you can picture yourself in a relaxing setting. Again, this can be done anywhere and at anytime you have a few minutes free. This will foster mental fitness because it can used to build self confidence and motivation. It also reduces stress and helps to focus your mind to achieve goals.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Unit 6 - Exercises for Mind-Body-Spirit Wellness and Healing
Hello,
I have fallen behind in my postings, but I aim to get caught up soon. Before I get caught up with my back posts, I have to keep up with the current week. So this week our focus was on two exercises: Universal Loving Kindness and an Integral Assessment.
The Universal Loving Kindness exercise is very simple. First you quiet your mind and then you repeat four phrases for 10 minutes. The phrases make you think about others and ending suffering and helping find health, happiness and wholeness.
Personally, repetition of phrases does not do a whole for me. I did think about other people and especially in consideration of the recent even at Sandy Hook Elementary. I do wish that those families find peace and feel for their loss. This is where my thoughts took me during this exercise. However, I still feel like there is not a lot I can do for them. I cannot bring back thier lost loved ones, I cannot end their suffering, I can only feel for them and hope that they can cope and maybe one day it would hurt less.
The next exercise was a self reflection of your integral health, we had to determine which aspect of our life needs growth. Once that was figured out we had to ask ourselves questions based on what level we are at and what level we want to be at. For me, my interpersonal flourishing could use some growth and development. I have a great connection with my immediate family, which I consider as my husband and sons. Outside of the little circle though I can grow. I do not have the best relationship with my siblings or parents any longer. I can do more to work on those relationships. Along with my co-workers, this is another relationship that I can do more to connect on a greater level. A way I can implement wellness in this area is to be more mindful of how I am treating others.Show respect and listen more and try to understand on a deeper level rather than just at the surface.
Well, those are my thoughts on this topic. Until next time...
I have fallen behind in my postings, but I aim to get caught up soon. Before I get caught up with my back posts, I have to keep up with the current week. So this week our focus was on two exercises: Universal Loving Kindness and an Integral Assessment.
The Universal Loving Kindness exercise is very simple. First you quiet your mind and then you repeat four phrases for 10 minutes. The phrases make you think about others and ending suffering and helping find health, happiness and wholeness.
Personally, repetition of phrases does not do a whole for me. I did think about other people and especially in consideration of the recent even at Sandy Hook Elementary. I do wish that those families find peace and feel for their loss. This is where my thoughts took me during this exercise. However, I still feel like there is not a lot I can do for them. I cannot bring back thier lost loved ones, I cannot end their suffering, I can only feel for them and hope that they can cope and maybe one day it would hurt less.
The next exercise was a self reflection of your integral health, we had to determine which aspect of our life needs growth. Once that was figured out we had to ask ourselves questions based on what level we are at and what level we want to be at. For me, my interpersonal flourishing could use some growth and development. I have a great connection with my immediate family, which I consider as my husband and sons. Outside of the little circle though I can grow. I do not have the best relationship with my siblings or parents any longer. I can do more to work on those relationships. Along with my co-workers, this is another relationship that I can do more to connect on a greater level. A way I can implement wellness in this area is to be more mindful of how I am treating others.Show respect and listen more and try to understand on a deeper level rather than just at the surface.
Well, those are my thoughts on this topic. Until next time...
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Personal health status and goals
Hello again,
A goal I have after graduating is help people incorporate healthier choices in their own lives. However, before I can help others it is important to know my own health status and have my own goals that I continue to try reaching. This will help others take me seriously. That whole practice what you preach concept comes to mind. So the assignment this week: assess your own health in wellness in three areas: physical, spiritual, and psychological. Creating a goal in each area and what activities to incorporate that will help reach the goals is the second part of the assignment.
First up is my physical status. Right now, I think this needs the most work. I had a baby 9 weeks ago, so I am working to lose my baby weight. Therefore, on a scale from 1 to 10 I would rate my physical health at about a 6. I try to eat healthy and incorporate physical activity into my day but I still have not gotten the strength or the endurance back that I had pre-baby. My goal in this area is to lose the remaining 15 pounds and get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I can do this by gradually increasing my physical activity and being able to start jogging and running again.
Ok, next subject. Psychological health. I would rate mine at an 8. I did not get the baby blues after having my son, even though there are times that can be very frustrating. I credit this to my psychological health because I know that I always "talk myself down" and "go to my happy place" when things get rough. A goal in this area is to incorporate more mental health exercises into my day. Right now, I do not practice them on a regular basis. In order to meet this goal, I can purchase CD's that have guided relaxation techniques, and maybe try yoga. This would help improve my psychological health.
Finally - spiritual health. This is the area that I am lacking the most. I would rate my spiritual health at about a 3. I am not a religious person, and many people associate spirituality in religion. However, I find hope, comfort, and inner peace in other things. I have a belief in a higher power, and I know that some things are not able to be explained and that having hope and believing in something does help; however, I do not name this power or attend public services to discuss my beliefs. A goal I have in this area would be to try different exercises that help build spiritual health. Doing this can be accomplished by finding time to meditate, or reading an inspirational book.
The other part of the assignment was to reflect on another relaxation exercise. Personally, I am not a fan of the "rainbow" exercise. I have done it before and it does not work for me as well what I thought it would. Focusing energy on a body part and trying to connect it with a color was very odd to me. Repeating a phrase over and over does not help me either.
A goal I have after graduating is help people incorporate healthier choices in their own lives. However, before I can help others it is important to know my own health status and have my own goals that I continue to try reaching. This will help others take me seriously. That whole practice what you preach concept comes to mind. So the assignment this week: assess your own health in wellness in three areas: physical, spiritual, and psychological. Creating a goal in each area and what activities to incorporate that will help reach the goals is the second part of the assignment.
First up is my physical status. Right now, I think this needs the most work. I had a baby 9 weeks ago, so I am working to lose my baby weight. Therefore, on a scale from 1 to 10 I would rate my physical health at about a 6. I try to eat healthy and incorporate physical activity into my day but I still have not gotten the strength or the endurance back that I had pre-baby. My goal in this area is to lose the remaining 15 pounds and get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I can do this by gradually increasing my physical activity and being able to start jogging and running again.
Ok, next subject. Psychological health. I would rate mine at an 8. I did not get the baby blues after having my son, even though there are times that can be very frustrating. I credit this to my psychological health because I know that I always "talk myself down" and "go to my happy place" when things get rough. A goal in this area is to incorporate more mental health exercises into my day. Right now, I do not practice them on a regular basis. In order to meet this goal, I can purchase CD's that have guided relaxation techniques, and maybe try yoga. This would help improve my psychological health.
Finally - spiritual health. This is the area that I am lacking the most. I would rate my spiritual health at about a 3. I am not a religious person, and many people associate spirituality in religion. However, I find hope, comfort, and inner peace in other things. I have a belief in a higher power, and I know that some things are not able to be explained and that having hope and believing in something does help; however, I do not name this power or attend public services to discuss my beliefs. A goal I have in this area would be to try different exercises that help build spiritual health. Doing this can be accomplished by finding time to meditate, or reading an inspirational book.
The other part of the assignment was to reflect on another relaxation exercise. Personally, I am not a fan of the "rainbow" exercise. I have done it before and it does not work for me as well what I thought it would. Focusing energy on a body part and trying to connect it with a color was very odd to me. Repeating a phrase over and over does not help me either.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Relaxation
Hello,
Welcome to my blog. I am new to blogging, so this will be an adventure for me :) So let's start with a little bit about me. My name is Kalicia. I am attending Kaplan University to obtain my bachelors in Health and Wellness and due to graduate next September.
My life is usually very busy and is sometimes in mass chaos, like it is right now. My family and I just moved to a bigger place so we are still working on getting everything organized and still have a garage full of stuff at the old place, and massive amounts of cleaning to do. Trying to get things done with a newborn and a 5 year old in the house is next to impossible. (Hence, my schoolwork gets done at the last possible minute!) So everyday is definitely interesting!
Now, as far as this blog goes...This blog will be discussing topics surrounding health and wellness.This week as part of my coursework, we did a "Journey to Relaxation" exercise. I enjoy exercises such as these that you listen to a voice instructing you on how to relax. They always make me want to fall asleep (probably because I am lacking in that area!). As I listened to the voice, I made myself comfortable on my sofa. Ahh deep breath... Focus on relaxation...decrease muscle tension...
This worked a few minutes, but I kept getting interrupted by my newborn, who happens to be a very noisy sleeper... But a few minutes is better than none at all. Sometimes that is all I need in order to feel rejuvenated and keep going about my day. Sitting for a long period of time to try and relax is not something that I do on a regular basis because there is usually so much to do. However, a few minutes here and there is great!
Welcome to my blog. I am new to blogging, so this will be an adventure for me :) So let's start with a little bit about me. My name is Kalicia. I am attending Kaplan University to obtain my bachelors in Health and Wellness and due to graduate next September.
My life is usually very busy and is sometimes in mass chaos, like it is right now. My family and I just moved to a bigger place so we are still working on getting everything organized and still have a garage full of stuff at the old place, and massive amounts of cleaning to do. Trying to get things done with a newborn and a 5 year old in the house is next to impossible. (Hence, my schoolwork gets done at the last possible minute!) So everyday is definitely interesting!
Now, as far as this blog goes...This blog will be discussing topics surrounding health and wellness.This week as part of my coursework, we did a "Journey to Relaxation" exercise. I enjoy exercises such as these that you listen to a voice instructing you on how to relax. They always make me want to fall asleep (probably because I am lacking in that area!). As I listened to the voice, I made myself comfortable on my sofa. Ahh deep breath... Focus on relaxation...decrease muscle tension...
This worked a few minutes, but I kept getting interrupted by my newborn, who happens to be a very noisy sleeper... But a few minutes is better than none at all. Sometimes that is all I need in order to feel rejuvenated and keep going about my day. Sitting for a long period of time to try and relax is not something that I do on a regular basis because there is usually so much to do. However, a few minutes here and there is great!
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