Unit 10

During unit 3 personal assessment I gave my self a 5 in all three aspects of well-being (physical, spiritual, and psychological). Now I can say that I was only a 3 in a scale for 0-10. I have increase my physical activity, reduced carbohydrate intake in my diet, and practicing meditation/prayers for 10 minutes every day at bed time. Now in unit ten I give myself a 6-7 score.

I have learned a lot during this course specially meditation and relaxation techniques that are very helping when dealing with every day stress. Meditation is a way to eliminate the lack of balance caused by mental stress. By spending time in meditation, we create a calm haven to restore balance to our physical, mental, and spiritual functioning.

We must teach with example and promote positive changes in health to our clients. It is important to realized people are motivated by positive actions, and results. When we practice we become part of the action, and other will follow.

SMILEJ

Unit 9 Project

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?

Health and wellness is more than physical conditions of the body. There are multiple aspects of wellness to consider, including physical, emotional, and spiritual. Each area requires especial attention, dedication, and integration to achieve optimal wellness of the inner and outer aspects of the body.  It is to look at the body as whole unit and take into consideration external factors that may upset the balance that predispose the body to disease. Integrating   healthy life styles may be the first step to promote optimal wellness.

The first step for  integrating a healthy life style is to follow a healthy diet for weight reduction, including vegetables, fiber, whole grains, lean protein, and increase daily water intake. In my diet I will include eating salmon twice a week. Eating salmon can help me reduce my cholesterol levels which are a little elevated. I also want to integrate physical activity to my daily routine. Sometimes I’m too busy to go to the gym, so my plan is to take the stair (to the fifth floor) at least twice a day.

II. Assessment:

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

Spiritual, mental and physical wellness refers as the integration of all aspect of the human being to maintain the balance between body, mind and spirit.  Creating wellness can mean focusing on practices that benefit one or all of the tree dimensions: body, mind and spirit. Physical wellness includes healthy eating and maintaining moderate physical activity. Assessing eating habits requires daily monitor of food and fluids intake. I don’t have regular schedules for meal time; I’m always on the run. In a typical day I may have coffee for breakfast, a fruit for lunch, and an oversized, full of empty calories dinner. In number scale from 0 to 10; 0 being the worse and 10 being the best, I score 3 in healthy eating. Even though I don’t eat fried food, I struggle in maintain a regular meal schedule. Many times I skip breakfast which is the most important meal of the day.  For lunch sometimes a have a fruit, usually an apple. At dinner time, I’m starving and I end up eating a lot of carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, or rice. 

Mental and spiritual wellness requires stress reduction. Sometimes it seems that there is nothing I can do about stress. I have million things to do, and not enough time to do them. Even when I am trying to rest in my day off, my mind is always going on about the thing that need to be done. In the scale of 0 to 10, I give myself a score of 3 in mental wellness.  To help dealing with everyday stress I have started integrating mini meditation breaks throughout the day.

Reaching spiritual wellness is important to explore my own sense of meaning and purpose. Spiritual wellness involves meditation, prayer, or specific religion practices to support my connection with a higher power. In the scale of 0-10, I score 6 in spiritual wellness. I’m not a religious person and don’t go to church as often as I should but the values of respect and love guide my decision and actions. I seek to find harmony in the relationship with other people and I always have a helping hand for those in need

III. Goal development:

 

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

 

Physical Goal

Increase physical activities by taking the stairs to the fifth floor twice a day. Taking the stair can help me to get in shape, control my weigh and to reduce my cholesterol.

Mental Health Goal

My goal for mental health is stress management. There are many ways to manage and cope with stress, but they require time and practice. The right relaxation technique is the one that fits my lifestyle.

Spiritual Goal

Spiritual wellness can be done with prayer beyond the physical or even meditation for ten minutes a day.

 

IV. 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.

Adapting healthy diet and increasing physical activity to my daily routine. Not skipping breakfast and start every day with a healthy breakfast such as yogurt and cheese, focusing on finding foods and easy recipes and switching to olive oil when cooking.  Increasing physical activities going from walking to running will help me to improve body resistance and to reduce weight. 

Meditation offers a great tool for coping with stress; it promotes spiritual growth, and can help strength the bond between mind and body. I believe that loving-kindness practice is one of the most useful tools for developing holistic integral health. This exercise supplies the concentration, understanding, and directions to love ourselves and others. Creating integral health can mean focusing on practices that benefit one or all of the tree dimensions: body, mind and spirit. Loving kindness meditation is a method of developing compassion. By spending time daily in meditation, we come in contact with a healing power within that can transform our lives and give us relief from suffering for a happy life.

Subtle Mind Practice focused in breathing and concentration.  The Subtle mind practice aims to decrease mental activity, thoughts and feelings. This exercise requires practice and it takes longer to fully experience its benefits.

Meditation and visualization practices provide positive state of mind which helps to promote wellbeing and happiness. Visualization helps to focus the mind in happy memories, and feelings of wholeness. The mind can use mental pictures to create feelings of wellness, happiness, and wholeness.

V. 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?

An easy way to track my progress is to maintain an activity and diet journal.  Keeping a journal means a can look back or make plans for the future. It is easier to keep track of my diet and physical activities if a have it in writing. I can write calories consumed, exercise done, recipes, or whatever a need to change to achieve my goals. Seeing my progress in black and white helps me carry on when I have no motivation to continue with my plan. The journal can also help me with long term goals because I can go back and modified the plan if I’m not having satisfactory results.

Unit 8 Exercises Review

The Loving Kindness, Subtle mind, Visualization, and meditation practices have been a new and helpful experience. These practices have giving me the opportunity to change habits and cultivate a commitment for living a healthy and conscious life.  The two practices that I have found beneficial   for me are the loving kindness and subtle mind which use meditation and breathing exercises to calm the mind to reach a profound mental clarity and open awareness. In the loving kindness exercise
the part that I liked most was the sound of the water because it calms me; it helps me to relax. It helps to slow down the active mind and brings a peaceful sensation. It is an easy way to stop for a few minutes and connect to pleasant moments, and restore at least for a few minutes my inner peace.
The Subtle Mind Practice focused in breathing and concentration. Dacher (2006) stressed “Used the breath as a focal point” (p. 75) It is a unique practice with periods of silence which I liked a lot. I found that the Loving kindness exercise is about sharing loving kindness with others. The Subtle mind practice aims to decrease mental activity, thoughts and feelings. Dacher (2006) recognized that “We must learned to quiet the seemingly uncontrollable and obscuring movements of our outer mind” (p. 71)

Dacher, E. S. (2006) Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. (p. 8). Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publication, Inc.