Unit 3 Blog-Reflection on Personal Wellness

Hello! I hope that everyone is having a great week! 

1. Ratings:
     A. Physical Well-being: 8, I am giving myself an eight because I believe that there is always room for improvement. I go to the gym 5 days a week and try to eat healthy, but do I eat healthy every single meal and snack of everyday? ABSOLUTELY NOT! lol
     B. Spiritual Well-being: 7, I am giving myself a seven because I am new to working on my spirituality. I have been attending church for almost a year now, but need to work on broadening my horizons and expanding my spiritual well-being in other ways as well.
     C. Psychological: 6, I am giving myself a six because I am still young and have not obtained optimal psychological well-being, or even come close really. I have gotten better at staying calm and trying to have a positive mindset, but I often fail. The progress I've made recently would be that when I do fail at staying calm or being positive, I reflect on this quickly and correct my actions or thoughts.

2. Goals:
     Physical: My physical goal is to be able to do a pull up at the gym (this has been my goal for about 6 months now). I started out with very weak arms, but after working out with my husband for about a year and a half, I actually have some strength in my arms. I cannot do a pull up yet, but I am about halfway there. 
     Spiritual: My goal here is to start reading the bible. I have it sitting right next to my computer and have been meaning to start on it, but homework tends to constantly get in the way of this. 
     Psychological: After reading what we have of the textbooks so far in class, I feel that meditation would really benefit me psychologically.

3. Implementing goals:
     Physical: Well, I can work harder at the gym, especially on arm day. Incorporating an extra arm exercise into my workout a few days a week will help to build my strength more quickly as long as my arms are allowed to rest in between days. 
     Spiritual: I plan to start out by reading one single page of the bible before bed, this won't take very long at all so it will be easy to work into my routine. 
     Psychological: I plan to work meditation into my lifestyle at least twice a week. I am going to do more research on meditation and find some helpful relaxation technique videos similar to the one we listened to last week. 

4. Some of the breathing techniques at the beginning were similar to what is done at the end of a yoga video that I have, I always find these beneficial and relaxing. Focusing on each part of the body and repeating the phrases really started to make me feel pretty good about myself by the end of this video. lol I think this video really helps with loving and caring for yourself, which is a very important step to be able to show this love and care to others. I enjoyed this exercise, the only part that irks me about this and that also did in the last exercise, is that he says that we will feel very energized at the end. His voice and all the deep breathing about puts me to sleep, I don't feel energized at the end, I feel good, but not full of energy. Maybe I'm just not fully immersing myself in the video and need to work on this.

Kristen 

Unit 2 Post-Journey on Relaxation

 Hello! Hope everyone is having a great week, I'm glad it's Friday!

 

Wow do I feel relaxed, yet energized, after that video! I found it interesting that simply thinking of a certain part of the body will allow the blood to flow to that area of the body. I was skeptical at first, but once I gave in and actually started thinking of my arms and hands, they did become warm and heavy. My arms also felt like they were tingling, I assume because there was a greater degree of blood flowing throughout the area than is normal. 

Upon relaxation, the GI tract will contain 80% of the blood flow, as mentioned in the video. From this, I get the idea that a person who has a weakened GI tract would benefit from relaxation techniques, such as meditation or yoga. In my other class we were discussing the importance of having a working GI tract, using relaxation techniques to allow the majority of the blood to be flowing in this area seems as though it would be useful to help the GI tract to get back to a good state. 

Kristen :)

My name is Kristen Koger. I am completely new to blogging and it took me a ridiculous amount of time to figure out how to create this blog! haha I would like to start out by telling everyone a little about myself. I am 21 years old and originally wanted to be an elementary school teacher, it took me two years at a different university to realize that this career path was not for me. My goal with schooling is to earn a Bachelors in Nutrition Science. Nutrition and helping people are two of my greatest interests and hobbies, so I am looking forward to my future career! I am a health nut, my husband and I have a workout that involves going to the gym daily, five days a week, and I also try to eat (and attempt to get him to eat! haha) the healthiest foods possible! My husband and I, Derek, just got married in January in a small chapel in Tennessee. We have three small dogs that are our only children for the time being, but do plan to start a family once I complete my degree. Below, I have included a photo from our wedding day. Yes, my dress is pale pink and I am still in love with it!

I am looking forward to this term of classes and getting to know everyone a bit better!

Kristen