Unit Nine

Introduction

I think one of the most important reasons health and wellness professionals should develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically is to show that they practice what they preach. If patients/clients do not see any of the practices being utilized by the teacher they may not be open to the ideas and believe in the benefits. I am currently working on developing my psychological, spiritual, and physical being, enhancing practices involving mindfulness, meditation, and a steady exercise regime so I can create optimal wellness within myself in order to teach others how to develop these aspects within their lives.

Assessment

I would, as of recently, assess my health and wellness on a high rate in each domain, spiritually, psychologically, and physically. If I had to rate on a scale of one to ten, I would put myself at an eight in each category. I have dedicated my life to achieving optimal wellness and with the practices I incorporate into my life I believe I will be able to achieve a score of ten in the near future.

Goal Development

One goal I have to increase the physical aspect of my life is to follow the workout schedule and regime I, and my trainer, have created and also incorporating yoga as a core builder. A goal I set for the psychological aspect of my life is to practice mindfulness to remind myself everyday the importance of being in tune with the mind as much as the body. As for the spiritual aspect in my life I will set a goal to weekly utilize Elliot Dacher’s Loving Kindness meditation (2006) to help me practice compassion and love, as well as Dacher’s Subtle Mind meditation (2006) to help me rest my thoughts in order to perform my daily tasks with happiness and ease.

Practices for Personal Health

One strategy that helps me stay on track is a checklist; by creating a daily checklist I create time for all my things, work, school, exercise, yoga/meditation, family, friends, and hobbies (reading, knitting, baking, and just about anything outdoors). All of these aspects make me who I am and increasing my health through my physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects can benefit how I handle my checklist.

My physical health can benefit by sticking to my exercise regime three days a week and by incorporating yoga three to four times per week, alternating days in order to not strain the body but to benefit it.

My psychological health can improve and benefit by adding mindfulness practices into my daily schedule, now by implementing this practice everyday and all day I will be able to build it into my schedule, therefore not having to make time to practice, or put it on a checklist, it will be something I just do, like breathing. Another practice to benefit the psychological aspect in my life will be reading, by making time for recreational reading I keep my mind stimulated and it also allows me to stop what is going on around me and place my focus on a story, allowing my mind to rest and recharge so I can come back to reality and take on all the ‘things’ in my life.

My spiritual health can improve by adding meditation to my weekly schedule, for me it would be best to add it to the days I practice yoga and depending on what time of day I would either place it before or after my yoga practice. I think the effects of yoga and meditation complement each other and create mind, body, and spirit benefits. Another way to improve the spiritual aspect in my life would be to evolve my religious and spiritual education. I think by learning how people of the world view religion and spirituality I will be able to create an understanding that will allow me to build on my integral health and enable me to practice compassion for all human kind. To implement this I will create something like a word-a-day calendar with a new view towards religion and spirituality for each day, allowing me to be reminded of my spiritual goals.

Commitment

In order to view my progress in achieving optimal health and wellness by following the goals I have set for myself I will keep a journal for the next six months. I will be brutally honest with myself so I can have an honest assessment for myself at the end of the six months. Along with keeping track of my daily checklists I will also record how I feel before and after each day in order to allow myself to physically see the benefits or challenges I faced along the way. I feel that by seeing the many benefits that come with improving health in all aspects will help me to continue the practices for the rest of my life, if it makes me feel better everyday or at least most days, why wouldn’t I want to continue?

Reference

Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health

Publications: Laguna Beach, CA.