Unit 9-Final Project

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.