Final Post

1.       My scores were the exact same for physical and spiritual well-being. My psychological well-being on the other hand went from a two to a seven. This is obviously the area where most of my focus has been. I have always bottled up my emotions, tried to make everyone else happy, and never really thought about myself. Since this class, I have tried to simply give myself time to relax and meditate so that I can breathe, let things go, and overcome obstacles much easier. I think I have come a long way in the past ten weeks and I see things completely differently without being self-centered and still placing my family first.

2.       I set my goals in the last unit so I have not made any visible improvements yet. I think it will take a while to change/better myself in these areas, but I will do so a little at a time. I have been consistent with the goals I have for myself so I may be improving, but in three months, I will look back, reflect, and compare to see the improvement.

3.       I have done the activities that I have planned for myself as much as I can. I have been working out, eating fairly healthy, reading spiritual articles, and I have set time aside at night for about ten or fifteen minutes so that I can meditate and relax in peace so that my thoughts can settle.

4.       Overall, I believe that I have definitely developed improved well-being by realizing that this includes more areas than just physical. This is rewarding because I can live a healthier lifestyle with a better understanding as well as help my patients more by understanding each category to integral wellness. I really don’t think there was a difficult part and it was simply an eye-opener for me to realize everything I have learned. I can now better assist others because I know that health is something that can be seen from the outside, but from the inside as well. We never know what all a patient has gone through, and we should treat them all with respect, courtesy, and compassion.

Step one in a long journey ahead

                         I.                  Introduction:

It is vital for all medical and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically because that is what we are enlightening in our patients on a daily basis. We are basically becoming a role model and teaching from our own personal experience and perceptive which helps us become more involved with the patient. This gives us more attention, listening, and comprehension from the patient because they know we strongly believe what we are telling them because we fixate these values into our own lives. I set my personal goals very high so that I always have something to strive for. I need development to occur in all these categories because even if I meliorate over time, there is always room for further improvement.

                      II.                  Assessment:

I have assessed my health in each domain according to where I currently stand. I would score my wellness spiritually the lowest by giving it about a five. This is because I go back and forth with my beliefs. I will go to church, then decide it doesn’t really help, then read the Bible, then quit doing everything. I need more stability in this area and I need to have a permanent structure in this category. My wellness physically is probably the highest, and I would give that a nine because I don’t think I can ever be perfect. I have no medical problems, work-out often due to being in the military, and I feel as though I am very happy and content with my physical health and appearance. My wellness psychologically is something that I go back and forwards with. At the moment, I would rate it about a seven, but a couple of months ago, it would have been maybe a five. This really just depends on what all is going on in my life and I really need to stabilize this as well and not let stress and a hectic lifestyle affect my emotions and psychological behavior. I need improvement in this area, but I honestly need to work on all three.

                   III.                  Goal development:

My physical goal that I have set for myself is doing my work-out video three times a week for thirty minutes each time. This is convenient for me because I do not have to go anywhere, and I try to do it around the same time at night once my daughter is in bed and I have the availability. I also try to go on a run two times a week and I will occasionally go to the gym with my husband on the weekend. A goal to improve my psychological health is to write in a journal. I used to do this before I got married and it made me feel so much better once I was done. I felt as though I was releasing all my negative emotions and stress without having to talk to someone. I may actually type because that is faster but still just as effective. My spiritual goal is to simply start from scratch. I need to sit down with my husband and tell ourselves to commit going to church at least every other Sunday. I also used to read Christian literature with little phrases and articles that were inspiring for me, but I have quit. I want to start this again just to get that “feel good” feeling again.

                   IV.                  Practices for personal health:

There are so many strategies that I am contemplating that could potentially foster growth that I don’t even know where to begin. Starting with physical, I need to make an actual chart and write down every time I run, work-out, or do my exercise video. I will implement this by seeing how much I am doing on a weekly basis. I cannot make a strict schedule because I live a very unexpected lifestyle, but I can record what I do to ensure that I am remaining persistent with my routine. Another example would be to begin working out with my friends. I usually go to the gym alone or with my husband, and I feel as though I do the same things. If I go with friends, we can share our work-out methods so that I can exercise different muscles and areas of the body. Psychologically I need more time to myself. I feel as though I am worrying about work, then coming home to cook and clean-up, getting my baby ready for bed, and then doing college at night. I need to force myself to spend about ten minutes here and there to just sit down and relax and personally meditate. I have done this a few times in this class, and it truly works wonders. Another example would be to start reading again. This makes me feel as though I am in another world and I can forgot about all the trouble and go on a different journey. This is very relaxing and peaceful for me, and I need to find a really good book to start on here and there. Finally, Spiritual improvement will include talking with my husband. We never really discuss going to church and we only go if family invites us. We need to set a schedule and plan to go on certain days for the benefit of our personal family. I also want to start reading spiritual items again. I actually have a few books and magazines packed away that I need to get out and refresh my memory on. This helps me feel inspirational and gives me a positive uplifting feeling.

               V.            Commitment:

This is personally the most difficult part for me because anyone can talk the talk but it is difficult to walk the walk. It is so simple to tell myself how to improve and succeed, but I am horrible about delaying everything. There is never a perfect and stress-free time to start so it never gets done. So that is why I am going to start this right now instead of procrastinating for a day that will never exist. I am going to reflect upon this paper in the future and compare it to my thoughts I have then. My goal is to see improvement even if it is only a small amount. I should be working out the same amount if not more, going to church, reading inspirational literature, reading or writing for my own entertainment, and giving myself some “me-time”. For long-term practices, I need to continue improving. I cannot really increase the time I do these things because time will always be limited, but I can choose to do each of these tasks at a higher level. Quality not quantity is a major constituent and that is something that can always be improved.

Loving-Kindness and Visualization

Hello,

 

     For the most part, I would rather listen to an audio segment to help me find my inner peace. I can close my eyes and not move and relax. When I am reading an exercise, my eyes are open so I am more opt to get distracted and lose my focus. However, the idea to loving-kindness was very good to me because it personally touched my strong point. My world revolves around my daughter and husband and I get my greatest strength when I think about doing something that will benefit them. The thought of them getting hurt or of me losing them makes me realize how fortunate I am to have them in my life happy and healthy. Visualization is beneficial because I can take my mind anywhere specific and not have to worry about where I am physically at the time being. Several of the exercises we have done this term have been very interesting and I will try to apply them in my life by looking at all the good I do have, and taking time for myself to simply breathe.

 

Marissa

MP3 exercise and practice before you preach :)

Hello,

     This MP3 exercise was very beneficial and interesting for me this week. I feel as though there are two different sides of me after this exercise because what lives down deep in my mind is not always what I show and act on the outside. For example, I am a receptionist, so I try to be friendly, happy, and encouraging to all my patients. However, I do get stressed, worried, and have things that really trouble me even though I do not show it or talk about it. This exercise allowed me to dig deep, address these hidden issues and breathe it all out after I correct the matter. I do feel much better after this exercise and need to think like this more often since I do not really like to confide in other people about serious things. Writing has been my personal meditation because I feel so much better after getting everything out in the open without having to confide in someone about things that are very personal to me. I am also getting a Pomeranian puppy on Friday, and it is a proven fact that pets can decrease stress, improve the immune system, and make our lives healthier mentally and psychologically so with both of these put together, I hope that I can become much less stressed and look at life more optimistically.
     I also agree with the saying that one cannot lead where one has not gone himself because we must practice before we teach. To me, this is common sense because anyone would rather take advice from someone with experience regarding the subject compared to someone who may have knowledge, but no experience. This is very important in the medical field because we are trying to teach our patients to become healthy physically and psychologically. This is very contradictory if they can tell that we do not care about ourselves health and they will be less likely to truly listen to us and try to change.

Exercise and Discovery

      The universal Loving Kindness exercise really didn’t do that much for me. I repeated the four phrases for about five minutes, but it is just saying words. Instead I told myself to try and help people with their problems, ease their suffering, and lend a hand to those in need whenever I can. When I set small goals like this for myself, this is the best way for me to accomplish something and make a difference. I could have repeated those phrases for twenty minutes, but it wouldn’t have been as powerful as truly having a goal set with myself to help and love others more. I did discover that I do as much as I can to help my family and friends, but I really never stop and think about myself. I do not focus on what makes me sad and overwhelmed and how I can make it better and easier, so that was interesting to change my focus to me. This is the area I am choosing to focus on because if I am happier, then so will everyone who is around me and influenced by me. Exercises and activities are basically alone time so that I can relax and reflect certain areas and topics in my life and try to find the most optimistic and positive route to go.

Comparing Exercises and the Contemplation with Spiritual Wellness

Hello again class, 

 

        Both of the exercises allowed me to relax and feel totally peaceful and content. The Loving Kindness exercise did allow my mind to wander more and there were a lot of thoughts that crossed my mind in that short ten minutes or so. With the Subtle mind exercise, I actually almost got sleepy. To me, it was a little too much breathing and when I block the thoughts out, it made me feel very tired and almost hypnotic. This is probably because I do this at night to try and shut my mind off so that I can sleep peacefully. I did not really have frustrations with neither one; however, I do not think the second exercise really did that much for me. The connection from spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness is definitely existing.  I think if a person works out, eats healthy, has no medical complications, and is positive and encouraging, they could still be in better health with spiritual wellness. I also think this topic may be very contradictory because everyone believes differently. However, if a person has a basic spiritual belief, then they have something they may look forward to and have faith in. They can turn to this belief when they feel pain or they are in doubt and reassure themselves that everything will be ok. However, I also feel as though we can confide in friends and family and not pray to a higher power and still (if we have the right influence) become reassured and confident in a positive way. As I said earlier, this topic is very contradictory but interesting to think about.

 

Marissa

1.       The Loving Kindness exercise was very relaxing and soothing to me. It almost felt like a meditation to me and I enjoyed it. I feel as though there is never really time in the day to sit down and relax and just basically focus on our breathing in and slowly breathing all the stress out. I like things like this because I can go in my room and it is quiet and this makes me feel as though I am not on earth for a few minutes and I cannot feel any stress or bad emotions; just a calming feeling. I would recommend this to people because it cannot hurt and only help them.

2.       I think that mental workouts may sound doubtful at first because we cannot see physical results that we would see if we did a physical workout in a gym or something. However, I definitely do think that it works. My Journalism teacher in school would make us draw a chart or a web and sort our emotions and feelings. It makes us dig deeper into our thoughts and actually allows us to feel more organized and understand things better. Our minds become smarter when we think outside the box and use our mind in different ways than we normally do.