Final Project

Introduction:

            Throughout this course I have been able to learn just how important it is for health and wellness professionals to develop themselves as a whole.  By learning how to approach health on not only a physical level, but also spiritual and psychological, we are able to fully understand what life is supposed to feel like.  Development in each area fosters the other, making it imperative to continue improving in all three in order to truly understand what health means.  When a health and wellness professional develops their own health physically, spiritually, and psychologically, they are then able to lead their clients by example and can speak from personal experience when helping someone to pursue their wellness goals.  This can make it much easier for a client to relate to their wellness coach, knowing that they may have experienced some of the same obstacles when first attempting their overall health. 

            In order to achieve my own wellness goals, I must continue improving my health in all three areas.  As a nutrition major, I am always working on improving my diet as I learn more and more through my courses.  This will help me to improve physically when I am eventually able to adopt the right diet specifically for me.  I believe my psychology and spirituality have already begun to improve through taking this course and learning about what I can do differently in order to foster this development.  Finding new ways of meditation and achieving quietness will help me to further my growth in these two domains as I continue on my path to wholeness.

Assessment:

            A few weeks ago we were asked to assess our health in each domain, one being least developed and ten being highly developed, and I rated myself a seven physically, an eight spiritually, and a nine psychologically.  Because this was not too long ago I would tend to say I am probably around the same in each currently.  I assessed myself based on how often I address each area and how “whole” I feel when I think about what I do to keep that domain “fit”.

I have still scored myself lowest in physicality because I am still working on getting back on track regarding diet and exercise.  I still have trouble sticking with a schedule because I never really have and I think it’s going to take a while to actually adapt to one.  This affects my being able to eat at the appropriate times and to incorporate exercise daily for the proper amount of time, but I am constantly working to improve this! 

I am still an eight in spirituality, but I believe this number will soon grow as I have been opening myself up a lot more and exploring different ways of becoming more spiritual.  Recently I visited a Baha’i temple in Illinois and in the silence of the empty worship area I felt a deep spiritual sense of myself that I have never experienced before.  Since then I have been trying to discover new ways to feel that part of myself even more. 

My psychological standing is still a steady nine because although I feel I am pretty developed in this domain, I would never rate myself a ten in any area because I believe there are always ways in which I can improve even more.  This area is most developed because I think it’s probably the domain I pay most attention to and have been able to improve over time through experiencing different situations and learning how to handle them in the appropriate manner.  I can easily stay calm and positive in pretty much any bad situation and am working on developing this even further.

Goal development:

            Goal setting is the key to constant improvement in any aspect of life and is no different when dealing with your personal health.  Since beginning this class, I have been trying to set goals in each integral health domain so I could truly experience what the class was about.  Physically, I am still working on developing a schedule for meals and exercise that I can easily adjust to considering my not so constant work hours.  This one is an ongoing process for me because I have been trying to achieve it for a while, but still have not been able to reach full success.   I am hoping with the knowledge I have gained through this and my nutrition courses, I will be able to address this more attentively.  Spiritually, I want to set aside more reflection time.  I currently am only active in this domain probably once or twice a week.  I would like to schedule a time daily to devote an allotted amount of time to just sit in the silence and think about nothing but the integral journey I am on.  Psychologically I would like to focus more on quieting my mind.  I have noticed through practicing the exercises from this class, it is very hard for me to remove myself from all of the thoughts I have flowing through my mind throughout the day.  I want to be able to step out of the jumble of thoughts in my head and just see them being let go and floating by so as to allow myself a much needed break from the fast paced everyday life we tend to get stuck in.  This will allow me to focus on the real issues and address them in a healthy, peaceful way.

Practices for personal health:

            In order to improve my physical health I plan to make a weekly meal plan I can actually stick to and schedule at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.  My nutrition courses are helping me learn to plan proper meal times and healthy foods to incorporate into these meals, so continued focus in class will help me to make an appropriate meal plan for myself.  Using a tracking system like Super Tracker provided through the USDA website will help me to stick with these goals as I can easily track my food intake and exercise through the tools they provide on the website. 

            To improve my psychological well-being I plan to include meditation in my daily routine and to read more thought-provoking books.  I want to continue using the exercises that we were provided in this class, as well as finding some new ones on my own to use.  Even giving myself just 15 minutes a day will help me improve in this area.  I think reading will help because it in a way exercises your mind and you are able to entertain yourself without the use of current technology.  I think phones, television and internet eat up a lot of people’s days now, including my own, so by only allotting certain hours to technology and spending more time in peaceful meditation or enjoying a good book I will be able to “flex” my mind and allow myself to learn more.

            Spiritually, I think I can improve by continuing my exploration of the Baha’i faith (which I’ve become very interested in since visiting the temple) and by dedicating more time for outside activities, like walking the dogs or just enjoying nature overall.  I’ve learned that the Baha’i faith is accepting of everyone (including all other faiths) and I really felt at peace when visiting their temple as I stated earlier, so I think pursuing my interest in them will help broaden my spiritual horizons.  And spending time outside is very peaceful for me because I live at the beach and have always felt a connection to the ocean.  Taking a walk with my dogs on the beach will give me time to reflect on things and understand more about why these things take place.

Commitment:

            Over the next few months if I see I have made no strides forward in developing physically, spiritually, or psychologically, I will sit down and develop another “plan of action” in order to make my goals more reachable.  I think the best way to make sure I continue on my path to wellness is to consult with someone who is either on the same journey or has been on their own journey once before.  Using a guide who knows what I am going through will definitely help me to not give up.  If something is not working for me, they may be able to advise me on changes I could make to make my journey easier and goals more attainable.  Making check points to assess myself every few months can also help me to continue towards my ultimate well-being.  By taking the time to “check in” with myself every so often I can make sure to notice what progress, or lack thereof, I have made, and whether or not to change things up a bit to make my goals more achievable.