Unit 10 Reflections

I would now score myself a 6 in my personal well-being, I feel that I am not necessarily taking steps to improve my physical well being by diet and exercise I am more or less accurate on my goals for myself in these areas. I know what I need to do and how I can get there. I have since gotten a bow flex for myself and I have made a promise to myself to get into physical shape after I graduate after this term.

In my spiritual track I have not found a church I would like to attend with my family. I need to work harder for this goal. I wrote that I scored a 6 in this area and I feel that I would probably still be in the same spot now. I have not made any efforts to get any better at studying the word of God or finding a spot for my family.

Psychologically I feel that I have regressed because I am disappointed with my job at this moment and my career field that I don't feel is rewarding to me at this moment. I need to find my place within a company where I can utilize my skill, techniques and empathy for the people that I have dedicated my time to. I would now score a 7 when I was a 9 before.


My experience with this class was neither beneficial to me nor is was it a negative experience. I feel that I have gained an understanding of myself with this class due to having to take a class that I was not interested in. I do not mean to discount the work the instructor has put into this class but, it's just not something that I would like to take again. I thought that I could have done a better job at choosing an elective and finding something that better suites my needs and interests me.

Unit 9

I.          Introduction: It’s important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically because they are the professionals that are going to be assisting others with their psychologically problems, or thoughts. Spiritually it’s important to believe in something bigger than them, this gives us all ways to cope with what we have to deal with on a daily basis and how to better manage out thought process through a successful and healthy way of thinking. Spirituality is something that allows us to look forward to the future and think that what’s to come is going to be better than we are currently at, at this moment. Physically, our bodies, minds and thought process are interconnected and react to each other, if one is not in sync with the other than it’s going to throw off our whole system of health and wellness.

The areas that I need to personally develop for myself to achieve goals is

spirituality and my physical well being, due to my hectic schedule I am not able to invest as much time as I would like to my physical well being and spiritually I have been slacking.

II.          Assessment: I have not personally assessed my health in each domain; if I did I believe that I would not score too high. Spiritually I feel that I would score high in consideration and thoughts of it but actually practicing and meditation I would not score too high. Physically I would not score high either since it’s been a pretty long while since I’ve done anything physically. Psychologically I believe I would score the highest because I believe that my mind is sound and my focus is in all of these areas, the only thing lacking in my life is time.

III.          Goal development:

1.     Physically: to get physically fit and to a healthy weight.

2.     Spiritually: Practice my faith more often and attend a church.

3.     Psychologically: I would like to see a social worker often to openly discuss my fears, goals, and thoughts.

IV.          Practices for personal health: Physically I believe that once I am finished with school next semester I will dedicate some time to a gym and get involved with my children more. Spiritually I am going to actively look for a church and attempt to make more time for myself. Psychologically I am going to look into my new insurance through work to figure out who I can find to sit and speak to at least once every 2 weeks. I am also going to speak to my husband more often.

V.          Commitment: After my next semester in school I plan to mark my progress in pounds with weight loss and being physically active. I will also judge this on my own wellness of my body and mind. Getting to a better state of mind and actively recording thoughts that are positive will help me in determining if the psychological help with speaking to someone is assisting me. Spiritually, I believe that finding a church and having my children in a happy place with positive feedback will give me the measurement I need to track my progress in this area.

                   Some strategies that I can put in place to keep me on track with this progress is to get my whole family involved in it and assist my children to a more positive and healthy place for themselves. When a person has more to account for they are able to assist each other in their goals and it’s harder to fall back because you are being held accountable for your goals.

Unit 8

I would think that visualization and meditation are the 2 practices that would assist me the most. Visualization would assist me by allowing me to see myself in a better way than I currently am. I am able to visualize myself in the places I want to be both physically and mentally. With meditation this allows me my time to heal, pray and self reflect on what it is I need to accomplish, what I have accomplished and what I need to do next in life. I beleive that these 2 practices together will give me the chance I need to have a better relationship with God. I don't foresee myself doing my meditations as they are in our units but I will do some form of meditation and visualization. I am able to see what it is that needs to be done and I am able to accomplish this on my own and with my own spiritual beliefs.

With visualization I can see myself finishing school, having a better relationships with God and seeing myself accomplish what I have always wanted to accomplish with God's help.

With meditation this means for me to sit and pray or to have a peaceful time for myself to just, speak to God and give him all my worries and thoughts. At this time I feel that I will get most of my answers to what I have been searching for within myself and answers to life's struggles that I am facing.

Unit 7

This exercise was not very helpful and did not assist me in connecting with my mind, thoughts, and inner peace. I don't find meditation to be helpful in my life at this time because I am a person who is very active and doesn't have time to sit. I also find that by thinking of someone who was from my past or present isn't something that can help me to find a peace that is going to assist in inner strength or reflection. The mp3 for this week was not something that I could even imagine myself doing ("imagine a light from a person's heart going into mine") that just sounds ridiculous.

I did like the sound of the water it's a little relaxing. I have discussed that I do not have time to meditate or time for myself with my work schedule. It's just not possible for me to find this time and fit it in. I also have no personal interest in meditation being that I have already found my place in my life where I find comfort. \

Spiritual wellness for me comes from my belief in God and my understanding of his word. My personal form of meditation would include praying. I have found that pray has given me a sense of calmness and peace in my life. When I have troubles or concerns that don't have a cure on the outside I find that peace within myself through prayer to get through the tough times.

The way that I can include these experiences and exercises into my life is to continue to pray and have faith in God that his plans and will be done within my life. I truly find that it's the only way for me and my family.

The saying "one cannot lead another where he has not gone himself" is about having someone in your life that knows what you are going through and how to overcome it. This personal experience and reflection can assist a person in obtaining human flourishing (according to this weeks reading).  If a person has no idea what you are trying to achieve or what you are going through than there isn't a way they can be a role model for you to follow.  This doesn't apply to a health and wellness professional because we are only taught what is in our books, a professional doesn't have to experience cancer or mental illness in order to help someone overcome it. I beleive that my only obligation to my clients is to have pure intentions, and a duty to assist them, meaning I do everything within my knowledge, and power to assist them in achieving health (of course without breaking laws, or cod of ethics). It's up to a person to want to help themselves, I can not do everything for them.

The ways I can include psychological and spiritual health in my life is to have a balance of what occurs and  how I handle what is happening in my life. I beleive that God doesn't give someone more than what they can handle.

Unit 6 Blog

Universal Loving-Kindness Exercise
With this exercise I have found that I felt empowered and motivated to assist others in achieving personal growth, happiness, and forgiveness. I beleive that we all have the ability to assist one another in accomplishing many things, gaining happiness and leading others to feel the same way. When I read this over and over I felt a sense of belief. I started to get motivated and beleive what I was saying to be true.

The Assessment Process
Through this exercise I found that I really want to work on my love and compassion for my children. I feel that life sometimes takes over and fills my day with things that take me away from my family. When I am home with my children sometimes I just feel so tired or have so many tasks to accomplish that I don't take the time to experience and take in what they have to offer and what I have to offer them. I beleive that making more time and maybe calming of my spirit and mind are going to assist me in becoming a better mother and a listener.
The area of development that I would like to work on is listening and patience for my children. I do believe that I have all of that now but, I don't use it as much as I possibly could.

Some activities that I can use to exercise this area of development would be to take some time for myself to decompress and clear my mind of the days work before interacting with my children and using meditation or exercise to get through this might help give me the energy and feel better about myself.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. :)

Unit 5

The exercise for this week was a little different for me. I beleive that I was able to calm and relax a little bit more than last time. With relaxation and focus on my body and my inner conscious I was able to come to a baseline where I was able to focus on my mind and it's ability to just sit still. In the previous mp3 I was not able to settle down my mind. I felt as if I was going to explode. I beleive that the thought of thinking about someone who is close to you is a little harder than I thought because I was not able to focus on the good things. I was more worried about the bad things that were happening at the time.
With this exercise this week, I found that the waves, the flute playing and just the over all sound of a woman's voice was more calming to me than a mans voice. I was able to connect with my mind and realize that I have all the control to change things in my life and with my body. It was kind of interesting. With the loving kindness mp3 I was able to connect with my mind and body a little more extensively due to the relaxation and that idea that it was possible. I too beleive that through this course I have found more of an understanding of my body and how my mind,body connection is worth.
With the subtle mp3 I started to fall asleep and was not able to concentrate, I feel that I did a much better job this time around and I didn't fall asleep. 

Unit 4 blog

While I completed Unit 4 exercise I did not find this activity beneficial because I am not able to fully rest because of the voice of the person speaking and the sleepiness that I have. I have a full schedule and it’s hard for me to sit still without falling asleep or getting bored. I lack patience and it’s difficult for me to be in a resting relaxed state without finding something else to think about. Even though the focus should be on the positive and love and kindness I find other things to fill the brain with. 

When I conducted this exercise I was focusing on my children and all of the issues we are having with physical health. I understand that the purpose of this exercise was to gain and understanding and concentrate on certain aspects of our experiences but, I just can't keep my mind of one area and not have the other areas present. I am bring up other thoughts and tasks that need to be completed and things that need to be accomplished while trying to focus on what is important. I was not able to successfully conduct this exercise. 

I would however recommend these exercises to someone else because what doesn’t work for me might work for someone else. Everyone is different and this might be the best things for them.

Mental workouts are the way a person is able to use parts of the brain that is not typically used and exercised. A workout might strengthen a piece of the brain that is going to benefit that person in some way (positive).  The proven benefits of mental workouts are the strengthening of the brain in the area that is being worked out. There is also a memory sense that is used to access that part of the brain for future use. I believe that mental workouts will create a path for thoughts and feelings to follow when it’s necessary to maintain psychological health.