Unit 9 Final Project

 

I. Introduction

As a health and wellness professional, it is of the utmost importance to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically. We set the standard for what we uphold to be integral health and it is up to us as health and wellness professionals to serve as the example for those we secure as clients. Listed below are the ways in which I believe health and wellness professionals should develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically.

            Psychological Development

In order to help others, regardless of the chosen career field you are involved in, you must have the right frame of mind and focus on the task at hand.  In health and wellness, one must be able to relate and interact with their clients in a way that the client knows the health and wellness professional is well versed in this field. This gives the client the confidence to trust you to help them achieve their goals. In order to do so, the mind must be free and clear of negative thoughts and focused on the good that comes from helping someone achieve their goal. One must also be able to draw from their own past experiences and relate them to the journey their client will have to go through to achieve the goals you have set forth for them. Psychological development starts from birth and continues on as you grow older. Experiences as well as the knowledge one gains while studying to become a health and wellness professional all contribute to their psychological development. Having a healthy and whole psychological development is of the utmost importance when it comes to being able to fully commit to helping others.

            Spiritual Development

Spiritual development is the one area that always seems to be the last portion that is looked at for development. I believe as a health and wellness professional, achieving integral health definitely involves spiritual development. Integral health cannot be achieved without looking at all aspects of health, which certainly includes spirituality. I believe in order to give clients a greater understanding of spiritual development in the body, they must understand that there is a greater force in this world that keeps our inner focus on alert. There has to be a balance within the body that included the spiritual aspects as a part of the wholeness that creates integral health. Health and wellness have to teach their clients that the entire body, inside and out, from head to toe, requires mental, psychological, physical, and emotional healing in order to work as one. In order to teach this to clients, health and wellness professionals must have and continue to practice wholeness in their life by constantly integrating the psychological, physical, mental, and emotional aspects of their being.

            Physical Development

Physical development, more than anything else, is the first thing a client has to go off of when they first see and meet you. Health and wellness professionals must maintain a great physical development because this is the first impression the client has of us. It is easy to tell someone what they should be doing to achieve great physical health but if we have not yet achieved physical health ourselves it can be very hard for a client to have belief that you are the right person to help them accomplish their healthy lifestyle changes. Physical development is just one portion of a bigger puzzle that once put together will be a picture of integral health. It is also important for clients to see you have a developed a great physical appearance because it shows proof that there is something you are doing right. This gives the client that bit of assurance to know they have made the right choice in picking you to help them reach their health and wellness goals.

Ultimately, in order to develop myself psychologically, spiritually, and physically I still need to concentrate on balancing all three together. I usually end up concentrating on one more than the other but in order to reach integral health, I should begin to maintain them all as one strong unit.

II. Assessment

Assessing my own health in each domain can sometimes be difficult. I say this because when I look at each one separately I believe I have made great strides and accomplished a great deal. When I look at all domains as a whole, I can easily see that I lack a bit more in some areas versus others. I believe my spiritual wellness has increased a bit since being in this class. I’ve been able to address some issues I’ve had filed away in my mental memory bank and doing so has lightened my mental load by a great deal, thus increasing my spiritual wellness. There still are things that I can do mentally to increase my wellness in that area. I say this because I tend to be a worrier and those things I worry about stay on my mind until I’ve found a reasonable solution. Even then I still think about them. It would benefit me greatly to learn how to let go of those things that are beyond my control. It is at that moment that my life will gain more control, but not until I relinquish those things I believe I have to control. I am also still on a physical journey and will continue to be for the rest of my life. I truly believe physical wellness is an on-going process. I work hard to get to my goals then once there I have to continue to work hard to maintain those accomplishments. In the long run, when I create balance among these three areas they will start to work together to help me maintain overall wellness.

 

 

 

III. Goal Development

Goad development is an important aspect in achieving integral health and continuing to maintain it. For my personal goal development I have targeted one goal that I want to reach in my physical, psychological, and spiritual wellness.

            Physical Goal

The goal I have for myself physically is to start cross-fit training. I have done Insanity and P90X but I now want to move on to a class that will allow me to interact with others. I crave the camaraderie and the motivation I would receive by being in a class and watching others strive for their own physical advancement.

            Psychological Goal

The goal I have for myself psychologically is to give myself more credit for the things I have accomplished in life thus far. I say this because I am super critical of myself and tend to judge my accomplishments on a different scale than the regular everyday person. This is because I have the perfectionist trait and I want everything to be done to the point that there are not possible ways to improve it. As I get older, I have realized that sometimes just right is ok. I have come quite a ways in letting things go but in my eyes, I still have some work to do.

            Spiritual Goal

My spiritual goal I would like to achieve is to become more spiritually faithful. I have a strong spiritual belief, yet at times, I have my moments of doubt. I want to get to the point where I am not second guessing or questioning the things I believe in and the way I feel about the spiritual aspects of things. I want to be able to trust in my spirituality completely and not find myself drifting back over to doubt.

I believe that by putting my plan into action and accomplishing these three goals, I will be able to make goals that are more long-term while I continue to move closer to being at my healthy full potential.

IV. Practices for Personal Health

The strategies I can implement to foster growth in my physical, psychological, and spiritual domains include:

            Physical Domain

I will incorporate yoga into my physical fitness routines in order to gain more flexibility and to calm my mind and body at the end of a long work day. I will also increase my strength training. Most times I concentrate on cardio but I need to either do free weights or use the exercise machines in order to increase my strength.

            Psychological Domain

I will incorporate having a designated time in the day for 20 to 30 minutes of undisturbed quiet time to reflect on my life and further understand what I need to do in order to continue to accomplish my goals. I will also incorporate chanting positive affirmations into my morning routine. I believe this will have a positive benefit on my frame of mind by the time I make it to work every morning. This will also create a better chance of my day remaining positive.

            Spiritual Domain

I will read my Bible more. As a child going to Sunday school I was able to quote just about any verse you could ask for but now not so much. I believe it is time I reacquainted myself with my Bible to gain an understanding of my spiritual self. I will also start going back to Bible study once a week. I will do this if for no other reason, to bring my spiritual being back out into the forefront of my life.

V. Commitment

The best way for me to assess my progress or lack of progress over the next six months is to actually sit down and write down my goals. I would first write down my short term goals (from day to day, then from week to week) for the first three months and from there I will develop my longer term goals for the last three months (from month to month) once I have accomplished a few of my short term goals. I believe that writing them down will help me to stick to accomplishing each one of them. Creating the short term goals first will give me the opportunity to commit to smaller goals, making it easier down the line for me to continue to maintain accomplishing my long term goals. This will give me a clear picture as to whether or not I am actually accomplishing all the things I have promised myself to do. The same way I write a to-do list every morning when I get to work is the same way I will write down my daily goals. This is a surefire way for me to stick to my timeline for accomplishing those things I have created a time limit for.