Week 10 Reflections

1. Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal well being), where do you rate your A-physical well being, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?

a.       On a scale of 1-10 I rate my physical well-being at a 6 right now. I say this because I feel as if I have fallen into a rut lately with eating unhealthy and not taking the time to get back in shape. I have a 2 year old and a beautiful 3.5 month old and I have been feeling so run down lately that I haven’t had time to focus on me and get back in shape and shed those few extra baby pounds.

a.       Now I would rate my physical well-being at an 8. I have started to excersize and have started to juice fruits and veggies on a daily basis. I have felt my energy level increase and I just feel better in general. I have also lost about 6 pounds, so that is a great start to getting back in shape!

b. When it comes to my spiritual well-being I would rate it at a 4. This is something I would like to change and really get back to practicing my religious beliefs. I would like for my children to grow up knowing their religion and having their faith to help guide them through life. I have strayed away from my church since my teen years and I think that it is time to find my way back.

        b. Now I would rate my spiritual well-being at a 5. This is not a big jump, but I feel that I have started to integrate religion back into my life. I have started to read to my son about the bible and have really enjoyed teaching him the valuable life lessons within it. I hope to get back to church in the future.

c. I would rate my psychological well-being at a 8. I have an amazing support system around me and I have so much help that when I feel overwhelmed that I have someone to ease my mind. It is not easy being a full time mother and student, but I feel so excited to think about our future once I am finished with school.

                c. I would now rate my psychological well-being at a 9. I have really enjoyed learning the meditation techniques and have practiced them each night before I go to bed. They really help me to unwind from the day and to clear my mind. The also allow me some “me” time where I focus soley on myself.

2. Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

a. Physical: I would like to shed my extra baby weight within the next 3 months. This means cutting out fast food as well as junk food and to start a reasonable work-out program.

                a. I think that I have been working toward this goal. I have started to excersize each day and I have began to juice and eat healthier overall. This has helped me to loose 6 pounds, so I feel as if I am going in a positive direction!

b. Spiritual: I would like to go to church at least once a month to start out and then join a church group to meet other parents within the Catholic community.

                b. I did not reach this goal, but I have however started to read children’s bible stories to my son, which he loves! I hope to in the future be more involved in church and some of the groups they offer.

c. Psychological: I would like to take more time to talk with my husband about our days. Sometimes I feel as if we get so caught up in our evenings with the kids that we do not spend time just talking about how our day was. It seems silly, but sometimes it is good to share the good and bad points of your day with someone.

                c. I feelt that I have accomplished this goal. My husband and I take time once the kids are down for the night to talk more about how our days have gone and about our hopes for the future. It has been an amazing experience to just slow down and help one another out when one of us has had a stressful day. This is something that we both enjoy doing and will continue to do!

3. What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal?

a. I think that what it really comes down to is to make time for each goal. If you do not stop and just give yourself that little bit of extra time you will never move forward with each goal.

                a. I have slowed down in general to make time for each goal. I feel that this has really helped me to see what is important in life and has made me see things from a different perspective!

4. Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others?

        a. I feel as if I have grown tremendously throughout this course. I have learned to take more time for myself, which has helped me to relieve a great amount of stress through meditation. I have also found that I am more perseptive towards others. I think that the one thing that was the most difficult was to open my mind up to these new ideas, but once I did I found that I will always incorporate them in my life from now on! I feel that through my experiences I can help others to do the same. It is always so important to have experienced the things you teach others!

Unit 9 Project

I.                   Introduction:

I feel that it is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically in order for them to be well rounded both individually and professionally. One must always lead by example, one of my favorite sayings is “Do to others as you want done to you.” You have to first take care of yourself in order to take care of someone else.

I feel as if I can always develop further in each area, however, the one area I could use the most improvement is the physical. I use to be very fit and loved to exercise, but since the borth of my children I feel as if I have just settled. I need to start to add exercising back into my daily routine not only to look better, but to feel better as well. I feel that this will also give me the confidence that I need to become a more rounded individual as well as to help my myself confident in my professional life.

II.                Assessment:

            On a scale of 1-10 I rate my physical well-being at a 6 right now. I say this because I feel as if I have fallen into a rut lately with eating unhealthy and not taking the time to get back in shape. I have a 2 year old and a beautiful 5 month old and I have been feeling so run down lately that I haven’t had time to focus on me and get back in shape and shed those few extra baby pounds.

            When it comes to my spiritual well-being I would rate it at a 4. This is something I would like to change and really get back to practicing my religious beliefs. I would like for my children to grow up knowing their religion and having their faith to help guide them through life. I have strayed away from my church since my teen years and I think that it is time to find my way back.

            I would rate my psychological well-being at a 8. I have an amazing support system around me and I have so much help that when I feel overwhelmed that I have someone to ease my mind. It is not easy being a full time mother and student, but I feel so excited to think about our future once I am finished with school.

III.             Goal development:

Physical: I love to do yoga when I have free time, it allows me to just relax my mind and escape from my everyday craziness. I would however like to devote more time to exercising, I feel as if I need to get out of “mommy mode” and get back in shape for myself.

Psychological: I would like to open myself up to others more. Opening your heart will allow you to let others know how you are feeling and be open to their feelings as well. This is something that I try to do on an everyday basis with my children and family, you have to have unconditional love even in those moments of trial.

Spiritual: I would like to open my mind up to my religious beliefs more. I have not been to church on a regular basis in about 5 years. I would really like to get back to church on a weekly basis and even join a church group, maybe one for parents. This would allow me the opportunity to make new friends and to connect with other individuals that share my religious beliefs.

IV.              Practices for personal health:

An example of an exercise an individual can implement in his/her life to foster greater physical wellness is to walk. Walking is a great way to get exercise while not being too demanding on the body. I can implement this in my daily life by walking in the evening with my children, even if it is just around the block. Another example of physical wellness would be to implement healthier eating habits. Healthier eating habits will allow for an individual to not only feel better but to actually help their body. I can do this by trying to reduce my sugar intake and to eat more fruits and vegetables.

An activity one can do to foster greater psychological wellness is to journal. Journaling can provide an outlet for an individual to express his/her thoughts and feelings so that they are not just kept and bottled up inside. I have started to journal my thoughts and hopes for my children and it makes me feel good knowing that they will have something to look back on to let them know how I felt about them or what I wished for them. Another activity one could do would be to talk to someone. Talking to someone else is a great way to get thoughs and feelings off of your chest and to feel as if someone else cares. I always try to sit down with my husband at the end of the day and share how our days went. It makes me feel good to tell him about my day, even if it wasn’t a great day and then to hear about his day.

An example of an activity one can do to foster greater spiritual wellness is meditation. Meditation allows for an individual to relax and clear his/her mind of all their thoughts and problems in a calming, peaceful environment. I have really enjoyed all the meditation activities that I have learned in this class and try to find some quiet time at the end of the night when the kids go to sleep to practice meditation. Another activity would be yoga. Yoga is very relaxing for me, I actually started doing it when I was pregnant with my first child. I have continued to practice yoga and it makes me very relaxed and gives me peace of mind.

All these things are beneficial to holistic wellness because they all work together to keep an individual at ease and keep their mind and body healthy so that if they were to have an illness they could focus on the illness rather than all the other aspects in their life.

V.                 Commitment:

I will assess my progress of lack of progress in the next six months by journaling my progress. I will journal my daily experiences and how these things have helped me throughout my days and what I feel I could do differently in the future. Therefore, by journaling I can look back and assess either my progress or lack of progress and which areas I need to make improvements in.

The strategies that I can use to assist in maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness are to make a goal list and to check off things on it as I complete them. I think that this will give me a great sense of what I have accomplished and what I have to work toward. I also think that I can have my husband participate in some of the activities with me, which will motivate me further knowing that we are on this journey together.

References:

Dacher, Elliott S. (2006). Integral health: the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications