Unit 9 Post

1. 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?

It is sort of like the saying “practice what you preach”. If a health and wellness professional does not take charge of his or her own health and develop it, how can they help their patients do so? Health and wellness professionals need to lead by example, and develop their own psychological, spiritual and physical health before they can help their patients. Not only does it set a good example for the patients, but it also helps the health and wellness professional empathize with the patients because he or she will understand the treatments from having already gone through them.

I am not going into the health care field, and have taken this course as an elective because it seemed interesting. While I learned a lot and have been exposed to different exercises and ways of healing both physically and mentally, I do not think there are areas in which I need to develop or improve on. My one goal is to continue my routine of regular exercising and eating healthy to maintain my current health status. I have witnessed the deterioration of health of some of my older relatives due to lack of exercising, and do not want that to happen to me in the future. The thought of their health deterioration is motivation for me to exercise on days that I feel too lazy to do so.

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

Physically, I have made a little progress in my health. In unit 3, I rated myself as an 8, and had set a goal for myself to exercise at least three times per week and to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet. Though I have done this, I have gained a little weight. On the other hand, my clothes are a little bit loose, but I feel a bit tired. Either I am not exercising right, or I am gaining muscle weight. Because of the uncertainty of what my diet and exercise is doing, I am scoring myself as an 8 again. I will continue to exercise regularly, but will change my routine a bit to see if that makes a difference.

Psychologically, as mentioned previously, I feel that I am quite strong in this area. I have a strong mind, and do not let much bother me. Once in a while, I will get a little bit stressed out from work, but it typically does not last long. I always tell myself that problems cannot last forever which makes me stop worrying, or worry less about the situation at hand.  I also make sure I wind down each night, either by reading a novel or watching a movie. I have read articles that say you should not do either before going to bed as it can cause fitful sleep, but it seems to help me sleep better. To keep my mind strong, I try to do at least one Sudoku puzzle each day as it helps keep my brain active and helps strengthen it. I cannot think of ways to improve psychologically, so I will just keep doing what I have been doing, as it seems to work pretty well.

Spiritually is a little difficult as I am not a very religious person, despite having been raised Catholic.  I no longer attend weekly services but I do still pray, and I do not feel that I need to attend services to have a relationship with God.  I have noted in one of my posts that one can achieve spiritual health through belief as a form of faith, and that if you believe you will become healthier and mentally stronger then you will. This is a form of faith and in turn a form of spiritual health. Whenever I am faced with an illness, I concentrate of becoming well, and believe that I will become well, and of course, I eventually do. I have never been seriously ill, so I cannot say if having faith in becoming better works personally, but I have had people close to me go through cancer, to which I held on to the belief that they would get better, and they beat the cancer. I am not sure if it had anything to do with my beliefs. In this category, I feel that I am at an 8.

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

Physical- to exercise on a regular basis

Psychological- to strengthen my mind through activities such as Sudoku puzzles.

Spiritual- to keep a positive attitude about life and believe that things will turn out well.

4. 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.

For physical health, as mentioned above, I will continue to exercise on a regular basis. Exercises I have been doing are DVDs I own with routines that focus on cardiovascular exercises and strength training. I am nearly done with school, so it will be easier to incorporate exercising into my daily routine as I will have more time. I have started to schedule my exercise time into the day’s schedule. Another thing I will do is continue to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet. I have started to work on weekly menus for myself which not only helps me control the groceries I buy, but it helps me eat better as I have noticed I am more inclined to eat healthier if I plan the meals ahead of time.

Psychologically, I recently created an account on Lumosity.com, which uses games to strengthen the mind. Since I have been creating daily schedules for myself, I have started designating a time each day in which to login to the site and play these games, which is referred to brain training. I will also continue to work on Sudoku puzzles on a daily basis.  This is easy to incorporate into my daily routine as I commute via train for work, and can work on these puzzles while on the train. It helps the time pass faster while also working on strengthening my mind. Spiritual health is a tough one as I am not really a spiritual person, and cannot really think of formal exercises to use here. I will continue to think positively and believe that everything will eventually work itself out. Also, as mentioned before, I feel I can talk to and have a relationship with God without attending church services, so I will try to incorporate conversations with God in my daily routine.

5. 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?

Measuring my physical progress will be the easiest task. I recently had a check-up with my doctor where my vitals were checked along with my blood sugar and cholesterol levels. I will know on my next check-up if I have failed or succeeded in eating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle if the blood work results are different then. I have also taken a photo of myself and taken down my measurements at the beginning of the month, and will take down my measurements and take a new photo at the beginning of each subsequent month to compare the results and measure the changes brought on by regular exercises.

Psychologically, I do not know how I will measure progress or lack of progress because I feel that I have always been mentally strong. The Lumosity site keeps track of mental game scores and shows progress on a graph. I will continue to use this site and review my progress. I think this is a great way to improve mental health and develop the brain to its full capacity. Spiritually, I do not know if there is a way to measure this, but I will continue to believe that things will get better whenever they are not going well.