1. Introduction:
It is important
for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually,
and physically because this enables them to be a better teacher to those that
they are helping. Developing psychologically through gaining knowledge of their
teachings is obviously pertinent. But, also developing psychologically in a
manner that allows them to feel calm and at ease in difficult situations and
also to have feelings of loving-kindness will allow a health and wellness
professional to make their clients feel more comfortable and also allow the
professional themselves to stay in control and not become stressed if dealing
with a difficult situation or personality. Developing spiritually allows a
health and wellness professional to acknowledge that there is something bigger
out there beyond them and that they aren’t doing everything alone, no matter
what their beliefs are. Also, it allows the professional to develop their own
spirituality that is within them. Developing physically gives a sense of pride and
strength to any person, a health and wellness professional needs to be at ease
with their physical being and teach their clients or patients how to develop
physically by using knowledge that they apply in their own life.
As far as what I
need to develop personally, I think that there is always room for improvement
in all of these areas. Psychologically I need to focus on not becoming so
easily stressed so that I can handle difficult situations. Becoming stressed
out yourself is only going to make your client or patient feel a sense of
unease and then you won’t be able to truly help them. Spiritually, I need to
focus on developing this aspect of my life by practicing loving-kindness
towards others and by not feeling like everything that I need to do is on my
shoulders alone. Being spiritually whole will allow me to know what this feels
like and then to lead my patients or clients down a path that leads them to
their own feeling of wholeness. Physically I need to develop by just keeping on
the path that I am currently on. I go to the gym five days a week for about an
hour each day and work out with my husband who is a body builder. I have
achieved so much in the past year and I plan to keep working towards my goals.
Being physically happy with oneself allows a person to have a sense of pride
and confidence. Being confident without being full of yourself will allow
patients or clients to feel like they are being helped by a person that knows
what they are talking about and that is truly practicing what they preach,
which is what I plan to do as a health and wellness professional. I feel that
if I am going to help others to lose weight and to feel good about themselves,
I need to be at an appropriate weight and to be confident in my appearance.
2. Assessment:
Spiritually:
Mediocre
I rate myself as mediocre
spiritually because I think that I am on the right path to develop myself
spiritually, but I have just begun this journey less than a year ago. Through
this class I have realized how much more spirituality is than just simply
connecting through going to church. I have now started to develop my
spirituality beyond this by thinking about spirituality in a different way. One
of my favorite activities is to go outside in the morning and just look at the
stars, it gives me a sense of peace and lets me realize that I am so small
compared to this world and everything beyond this world, but that my life does
matter and will make a difference in so many other peoples lives. Doing things
such as this has allowed me to develop my spirituality in a way that I didn’t
realize was possible, it gives me a sense of peace and calmness.
Physically:
Suitable
I rate myself as suitable physically
because I don’t know if anyone can truly ever feel like they are at their peak
physical state. I have made so much progress this past year physically, but
each goal that I meet just leads to the making of new goals for myself. Going
to the gym five days a week for about an hour and working the different muscle
groups each day has helped me gain so much muscle and strength. It amazes me
what I can do now and how I keep progressing towards heavier weights and that
doing the exercises feels almost “normal” to my body now instead of trying to
work so hard to get into the correct form. Going to the gym simply makes me
feel happy and helps me to relieve a great deal of stress.
Psychologically:
Suitable
I rate myself as suitable
psychologically because I have gotten to a point where I am able to calm myself
down when I am feeling stressed but, there is so much more that I can learn and
train my mind to do. Learning about training our minds in this course has
really helped me to understand what an important factor the mind itself plays
in overall health. Meditation and deep breathing exercises make me not just
feel calm mentally, but they make me feel more at ease physically and help my
muscles to relax. I plan to continue these practices so that my mind can become
even more fully trained to immediately go to a place of calm during stressful
situations. I have also found that talking things through with myself when I am
feeling bad about what happened during a situation helps me to come to an
understanding as to why other people have done what they did. Instead of
jumping to conclusions and feeling angry, mentally taking a step back and
looking at the big picture allows me to reflect on the “why” of situations and
to feel a loving-kindness to those who have done something negative to me.
My Scale:
|
Peak
|
At the top of your game with the area.
|
|
Suitable
|
Doing well in the area but have room for improvement.
|
|
Mediocre
|
Doing what I would consider “just ok”. It could be worse
but improvement is definitely possible.
|
|
Bottom
|
Not yet developed or just thinking about furthering
development without taking steps towards improvement.
|
3. Goal Development:
Physical Goal:
Continue to go to the gym five
times a week for at least one hour and continue to gain muscle strength.
Specifically, my goal is to be able to do at least one pull up with no assist
within the next year.
Psychological Goal:
Meditate at least three days a week
for fifteen minutes at a time to help engage in mind training that enables me
to find inner peace during stressful situations.
Spiritual Goal:
Work on embracing loving-kindness
towards strangers. Specifically, become more involved with donating food and
other goods to those in need. For example, for Thanksgiving my husband and I
are donating an entire Thanksgiving meal to a family in need. I want to engage
in donations of this sort at least six times a year.
4. Practices:
Physical:
Ex 1:
Going to the gym five days a week
with my husband allows me to have the support system I need to push myself to
meet my physical goals. When I don’t feel like going to the gym or he doesn’t
feel like going, we can push each other to get there.
Ex 2:
Doing yoga twice a week will help
me to be more limber, which assists me with doing exercises while at the gym. I
do yoga at home in a quiet room and use a dvd for guidance.
Psychological:
Ex 1:
Attending church every Sunday with
my husband helps me because it gives me a sense of calmness and helps me to
prepare to tackle the week ahead with a focused mind.
Ex 2:
Taking time each day to sit in a
quiet room and listen to calming music. This helps me to keep a clear mind and
to de-stress so that I can focus on the things that I need to get done after
having this “me time”.
Spiritual:
Ex 1:
Spend time within nature for at
least one hour throughout the week. Completely immersing myself in nature
really helps me to take time for deep thinking. As I had mentioned previously,
looking up at the stars and just thinking and reflecting on the universe helps
me to feel at peace. Nature itself is peaceful and I think just simply sitting
outside and looking at a beautiful sunset, sunrise, or the stars, or even
taking a walk through nature helps to foster spirituality.
Ex 2:
For one day each month “throw away”
all technology and just focus on personal relationships. Technology causes a
disconnect between people. By not using any form of technology for an entire
day each month it allows me to spend time with my family uninterrupted by all
the noise and distraction that phones, televisions, computers, and tablets
cause. This time is very important and helps me spiritually by putting the time
for undivided attention with loved ones in my life, which allows us to show
each other why our relationships are so important.
5. Commitment:
I plan to take note of my goals and
progress towards those goals on my cell phone in the notes section. I typically
have my phone with me throughout the day so this will allow me to be able to
take notes when needed so that I do not forget. I have made a different section
for physical, psychological, and spiritual goals and will type notes underneath
them once I make steps towards that goal or when I make moves that bring me
further away from obtaining my goals.
Once I reach my physical goal of
doing at least one pull up at the gym, I am going to reward myself by going on
a mini-shopping spree! This progress can be gauged by taking notes of progress
in the notes section on my phone and by, obviously, attempting to do pull-ups
with less and less assist each week.
My strategies I am going to use to
maintain my goals are self-motivation and also by feeding off of the motivation
and successes of my husband with reaching his goals.
