My Health Assessment Unit 9 Final Project :)

Hello Professor and Class,

 

Introduction:
Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically? What areas do you need to develop to achieve the goals you have for yourself?

According to Dacher, “if humanity is to evolve to integral health, it is imperative that our health care systems encourage and support our efforts” (Dacher, 2006). As health professionals it is crucial for us to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically within our own lives in order to help another. By the lives we choose to live and the choices that we make we must live and breathe health and wellness in order for our practice to be genuine. We first must find ourselves and explore ourselves to the deepest level in order to have a full understanding of how this all works, we must “go there ourselves.” Then through our own knowledge and experience, we will be able to authentically help guide another towards the life that they were meant to live.  We must be patient with ourselves and with others on this beautiful journey and allow for life to come and go on life terms. The area that I need to develop to achieve the goals that I have set for myself is the calm-abiding mind. Through attaining a continued calm mind, I feel that I will be holistically well and that is exactly what I need. In order for me to get there, I need to continue to practice mediating, yoga and visualization exercises daily as I have found that through these practices that my mind, body and spirit are calm and quiet. I need this in my life in order to reach my fullest potential and be able to assist others in getting there as well.

 

 

Assessment:
How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?

Since the last time that we were asked to address our health in each domain I would have to say that I have been doing much better with addressing all areas of my health hence the last week and my emotional down swing due to not getting enough sleep. The ways in which I have continued to address each domain of my health has all come down to consistency.  My physical health I would not rate at 8 out of 10. Physically I am feeling fit, and internally feeling really energized and over all well! I am eating healthy foods with little to no processed foods and no gluten. Getting enough sleep is one of my biggest issues and I have been working on this by going to sleep earlier but I still find that I wake up in the middle of the night and want to eat to fall back to sleep. This is a work in progress but I am doing much better as I have been keeping a food journal and meditating before bed.  I am rating it at an 8 because I know there is always room for improvement. I have been walking a lot and engaging in my yoga practice 5 days a week and I feel great! To continue to stay on this path I will need to continue doing the above things that I mentioned, yoga being my number one priority and consistency for me is the key! My spiritual wellbeing I would rate at a 8 out of 10 as well. I feel that through my meditation, prayer, yoga and visualization practices this area of my life has become much more in-tuned and I “feel” better and much more connected. However, consistency is the key for me in this area as well because I have found that when I do not practice my yoga, meditation, prayer and other exercises I feel off balanced and my anxiety gets the best of me which not only affects me but those around me such as my family. So I need to stay on the path that I am on and continue to practice each and every day. My psychological health I would rate at a 8 out of 10. I feel that again through my practices that I have been doing mainly my yoga, prayer and meditation I feel so much more alive, aware and ready for the day. When I am not practicing I feel a mess, very emotional and find that my anxiety will get SO bad that it immobilizes me to the point that I can barely get out of bed and my chest becomes very tight. In order for this to not occur, I must practice my prayer, meditation, yoga and visualization practices each day because it allows for me to be a better person because I “feel” better. Again, consistency in this area is the key component. I feel that I am doing all the “right” things that I need to do in order to be the person that I am meant to be, but it is through consistency that will truly make all the difference.

 

Goal development:
List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.

Physical: My goal in this area is to engage in 30 minutes of yoga 5 days a week.

Psychological: My goal for this area is to meditate 30 minutes each night (7 days a week) before I go to sleep.

Spiritual: My goal for this area is to pray to God each morning before I start my day and list what I am grateful for and thank God for the life that he has given me and ask for guidance each and every day. I also let go of anything that I am holding on to and give it to him.

As the days change and I continue to grow, I will reevaluate each of my goals that I have set for myself and be flexible with myself to change what needs to be changed in order to give my mind body and soul what it needs. I will continue to be open, honest and flexible listening to my body and what it needs.

Practices for personal health:
What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual. Provide at least two examples of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.

Practices for my personal health will and already do include the following: I will wake each morning and do 100 sumo squats, then I will do 30 minutes of walking in the afternoon on my lunch break and then 30 minutes of yoga as soon as I come home from work.  I also teach yoga here at my house on Thursday nights for 1 hour and Tuesdays I play on a softball league that lasts 3 hours which is a great workout as well. Eventually, I will be getting back into my routine of running again and my goal for next year after my schooling is completed and I have more time I will be running 5K, 7K and marathons each month for the entire year.  For my psychological health, I will meditate in bed as soon as I wake up for 10 minutes and also at night before bed for 30 minutes as it helps relax me so that I can fall asleep. When I meditate at night, I listen to ocean wave sound tracks that I play in my bedroom and it helps me to let go of the thoughts in my head and focus on sleeping, breathing and relaxing. For my spiritual health I will start doing the loving-kindness exercise as a way to refocus my mind and gather my thoughts each day. By doing this I will have a quiet mind and be able to listen to the needs of others more readily and attend as needed. I will also continue to use my prayer each morning and each night and anytime during the day that I feel necessary to let go of the things that I cannot control and give my anxiety to God. I have found that through prayer, and giving what I struggle with away to my higher power I am able to feel better and I feel as though a 100lbs has been lifted from my shoulders. So this I will continue to do each and every day as much as I feel I need to.

 

Commitment:
How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months? What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices for health and wellness?

The ways in which I will assess my progress or lack of progress over the next 6 months or more will consist of writing everything down as I do now. I have found that if I write each and everything down on paper that I need to do for each day I will get it done, and after I complete each goal that I have set for myself for that day I get to cross off each item that I have completed and it makes me feel as though I am getting a lot accomplished and give me the motivation to continue achieving and reaching higher and keeps me on track. I also keep a journal and write down how my day went, what I accomplished each day, how I feel on that day and what emotions or negativity that I want to let go of and I write it down and let it go. This helps me to evaluate myself on a daily basis and continue to stay on track. The above I will also use as my strategies to keep my on track for the long term as well. By practicing all the exercises that we have used in this class, being open and flexible with myself and change what needs to be changed as the days go and talking to others about my goals I will be where I want to be, balanced, loving –kindness, calm-abiding, and passionate. One of the biggest things that I will be continuing to do is reading our text Integral Health by Elliot Dacher over and over and over again as I have found that through reading this book I am a different person because it has gave me a different view on life and for that I am ever so grateful. I never thought that I would ever say that because I do not enjoy reading but this book has changed my life.

 -Megan Bohlman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Dacher, E. (2006) Integral Health: The path to human flourishing. Published by Basic Health Publications, Laguna Beach, CA.