My Health and Wellness Journey

This class was a great experience. I now have a better understanding of myself and what I need to do to complete my goals emotionally, physically and spiritually.  When I started this journey, my health and wellness assessment was average and at the end of the term all three areas have improved to above average.  Below shows my improvement.

Psychologically - Unit 3 Assessment was 6 - end of Unit 10 Assessment  is 8

Physically - Unit 3 Assessment was 7 - end of Unit 10 Assessment is 8

Spiritually - Unit 3 Assessment was 5 - end of Unit 10 Assessment is7

I continue to work on my goals.  Physically, I exercise 6 days a week - 6 days cardio and three days strength training, however, I still need to incorporate yoga into my routine.  Although I feel better spiritually through meditation and prayer, I still need to locate church I'm comfortable with.  Psychologically, I take time for myself each day if only for 15 minutes. I've learned to manage my time and spend more time outside enjoying nature walks and helping others.

Holistic healing has improved my life by living better and feeling healthier.  Evolutionary healing has helped with the way I handle stress and anxiety; I am much relaxed and focused.  My psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being has improved and friends and family have seen a positive difference in me. I will continue to increase my body, mind and spiritual relationships with myself and others.

I highly recommend this class to all students; great way to reduce stress and increase focus.

Best of luck to you all!

My Integral Health

I wish you all the best of luck -

It's been a pleasure working with all of you!

I - Introduction:

            There are several benefits to developing one’s physical, spiritual and psychological well-being.  Health and wellness professional can better treat patients if these areas are developed as well as providing health professionals with a balanced life; reducing stress and anxiety. Other benefits include looking and feeling great which can lead to psychological benefits of increased self-esteem, self-control, determination and a sense of direction.  By practicing spiritual wellness, professional can be alert to patients signs of spiritual distress which can affect their capabilities and quality of life.  It is important for health and wellness professionals to be knowledgeable about the mind-body-spirit connection because it allows them to connect with their patients on all three levels.

I continue to develop all areas of my psychological, spiritual and physical well-being to feel the sense of complete wholeness and happiest.

II - Assessment:

            I have grown and learned a lot about myself during this term and will continue my journey to wholeness.  On a scale from 1 to 10, I would score my personal wellness at the end of this term as: Psychologically – 8; physically – 8; spiritually – 6.

III - Goal Development:

            To continue to develop my physical, spiritual, and psychological goals, I will commit myself to following. Physically, I will continue to lose weight by eating healthy, increasing cardio and focusing on toning my body through weight training and yoga. Spiritually, I will locate a church I am comfortable with, as well as continue practicing daily meditation and prayer. Psychologically, I will continue to learn more about the mind, body, spirit through reading and learning about myself.  I will also try to stay more positive and remove negativity in my life (easier said than done sometimes). To assist in implementing these goals into my life, I will continue to exercise, meditate, listen to my inner conscious and attending church as well as add new activities such as yoga.

IV - Practices for Personal Health:

            In order to continue to grow in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual, I will implement the following strategies.  Physical strategies will include meeting with a personal trainer 3 times a week, doing cardio 5-6 times a week for 45 minutes and on days I don’t meet with my trainer, I will look for a workout partner. I will also start implementing yoga on Sunday. Psychologically, I will continue to challenge myself and increase my awareness to improve myself and stay positive.  I enjoy visualization practices; I find them to be very relaxing both mentally and physically. I also enjoy reading self-help books.  Spiritually, I will continue to meditate and pray daily, as well as practice patience and continue to help others - which I find very beneficial to my inner happiness and spirit.

V - Commitment:

            In order to staying committed, I will journal daily to keep track of my progress and accomplishments. I will also re-evaluate my progress every two months or when I feel I need to stay challenged and inspired.  I believe it is very important to be involved and committed in your own health and wellness.

Unit 8: Review

From the exercises and practices we completed, visualization and meditation were my favorite.  Visualization allows me to create positive energy to help change my self-concept and attitude to live a happier and healthier life.  Meditation allows me relax, reduce stress and anxiety as well as feel the sense of wholeness by strengthening and improving my psychological health. I particularly enjoyed the "Meeting Asciepius". This experience provided a spiritual connection - an amazing feeling of love.

I have learned a lot about myself through this class and will continue to practice these and other forms of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Meeting Asciepius

The "Meeting Asciepius" exercise was by far the best meditative practice I've completed thus far this term! Especially,when we were to take on the qualities of the wise one  through the bright white lights. A warm chill radiated through my body. A spiritual connection with my wise one - my beloved father!  Yes, the "Wise One" I chose as my mentor was my father who passed in May 2005; he was a very wise, loving, compassionate, caring man with heart of gold.
As I started the exercise, I was very relaxed.  As I got deeper into the experience, I could feel my father near; his warm, strength and love.  It was an overwhelming experience, that brought tears to my eyes and a automatic smile on my face. Especially, when asked to allow the bright light with all the qualities of my father to enter into my mind, body and soul.  An amazing feeling of love!

I have tried this practice two additional times and each time the same spiritual connection.  :)

I will continue to practice meditation to enrich my life.  This class has provided me with a great deal of information on how to reduce stress, anxiety and to relax. I've always been a spiritual person, but with mindfulness and meditation, I can feel the spiritual connection with myself and a higher power.

I feel the phrase "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" is very powerful and true!  I believe a person cannot properly teach what he/she had not experienced themselves. To truly treat a client,  health care professional should lead by example!