Unit 9- Final Project: Personal Assessment/Plan

 

Personal Application of the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Laura M. Beote

HW420- Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Kaplan University

4/18/13

 

Personal Application of the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

I.                   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?

If I were a mixed martial artist, teaching courses in the arts of Jiu Jitsu, karate, and other forms of self-defense, it would be expected that not only do I have knowledge of these art forms, but that I also have experience on the mats and actually perform these practices.  It takes education and experience to become certified to teach mixed martial arts (MMA).  One cannot teach MMA based on education alone.  If you have never practiced MMA, you cannot teach someone else how to do it.  When you, personally, have not experienced something yourself, you cannot teach it to others.  This leaves your clients lost, having little trust in you and your credentials and left with many questions that you most likely cannot answer.  Well, the same goes for health and wellness professionals and their need to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically.  Although there is much you can learn about this from books and courses, if you don’t develop in these areas personally, I don’t believe that you can teach or guide others on their journey to human flourishing.  There will be many questions that will go unanswered, experiences that you cannot relate to, emotions that you couldn’t empathize with, and it would be hard for you to give advice or suggestions based off of a client’s experience.  When you have not experienced something like this personally, a client is not going to feel that sense of trust and connection with you, and any information you give them is going to feel like you are preaching to them rather than helping them.    I know that at this point in my life, I would not be able to guide another person on a path to human flourishing, as I have not worked on my own.  I need to work on developing my own health psychologically, spiritually and physically.  Once I have achieved whole health and happiness in these areas, maybe then could I help another.

II.                ASSESSMENT

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

In the reading from our book Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing (Dacher, 2006), it covers something called the Integral Assessment.  This integral assessment has me take a careful look at my current circumstances, identifying the aspects of my life that require attention, determining the specific changes I wish to address, and establishing a way (program of integral practice) that will promote these changes (Dacher, 2006).  Within this assessment, there are six principles that are used as guidelines for me to follow to help transform my life and health from conventional to integral.  I have used this process and these principles as a guide in assessing my health in each domain.  Unfortunately, my assessment for each domain is simple and sad.  I have to be honest with myself with this assessment if I expect to make real changes in my life.  Physically, I do nothing to improve my health, fitness or nutrition.  I have medical problems and complain about them, yet I do nothing to help improve them when I know I can.  Psychologically, I am a high stress, low tolerance, and very emotional person.  For the most part, I know what triggers my stress and most of my emotions, but I do very little to avoid these things.  I tend to take my emotions out on others and get upset when they complain about it.  I feel like I never have time to myself, but yet never strive for inner peace or connectedness for spiritual healing.  I will go as far as saying that I seem to be very selfish.  I don’t think that I have ever said that about myself before.  Maybe this selfishness will allow me the opportunity to work on who I am and what I need in my life.  If I have to rate or score my wellness physically, psychologically and spiritually, I would rate myself as very poor in all domains.  I’m not saying there isn’t something good about me in each domain, but if I’m being honest, I really need to work on myself and each of these requires immediate attention.

III.             GOAL DEVELOPMENT

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

To have goals, you have to have motivation or desires for something.  This was a little bit difficult for me to come up with at first because I wasn’t really sure if I desired or was motivated to change anything at this time.  Then I thought about it for a while, and realized, even though I may not be on a journey for complete health and wellness at this point in my life, I do have the desire to change things in each of these domains.  Maybe small changes will turn into a desire to continue on for the journey/path to human flourishing.

Physical- My goal here is purely fitness and nutrition related.  My plan is to develop a schedule that incorporates a daily exercise routine that is fun, keeps me motivated, and helps me lose weight.  Along with the exercise, I want to incorporate a healthier way of eating.  Not a diet, but cutting out fatty foods and replacing them with healthier options.  Because I am impatient and low tolerance, I will have to work on realizing that things take time and progress will not be seen right away.  I cannot give up after two weeks.  I want to exercise and eat better to lose 35-40 pounds.

Psychological- My goal in this area is to start focusing on my stressors, my triggers and my emotions.  I need to learn to breathe and remove myself from situations that will cause a negative response from me which in turn leads me to be stressed out.  My stress affects me in every way possible, but it also affects those around me.  I have found a meditative practice from our book, Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing (Dacher, 2006), and I would like to start trying that out when I feel overwhelmed.  This meditation is called The Subtle Mind practice.  It helps eliminate racing thoughts and overwhelming craziness in your head and replaces it with calm and peace for a still mind.  My goal is to attempt this meditation at least once a day to reduce my stress levels.

Spiritual- I am not a religious person and I always thought that this is what spirituality was, so it took some time to understand what it meant and figure out what my goal was when it came to spirituality.  After thinking about it for a while, I realized that my goal is to find out who I am and understand me.  This means finding a way of figuring out who I am and who I want to be.  Am I okay with not having a desire for whole health and happiness, or am I just in a slump and needing a kick start to begin my journey?  This is what I need to find out.  I think one of the best ways to connect with myself would be through yoga or meditation.  I want to take personal time by myself to see if I can create a peace within myself and set my mind up for stimulation.  So my goal is to attempt to connect with myself. 

IV.             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.

After figuring out what my goals were in each domain, it was nice to know that I have something to strive for.  The next step for me is to come up with implementable strategies for these goals in each of the domains that will allow me to foster growth and development as I work toward reaching these goals. 

Physical- Since I know that I want to lose weight and start eating healthier, my plan or strategy to do this is pretty much the same as outlined in my goal.  I need to find exercises that I enjoy that will keep me motivated so that I will continue to exercise in order to lose weight.  I will need to find a workout plan that incorporates aerobic activity with strength training 3-6 days a week, based on my current fitness levels and start there.  I could go to the gym and speed walk for my cardio and do free weights for my strength training.  I also have two different CDs for home workouts.  I have the Insanity series that incorporates aerobic and strength and I also have Zumba which is dancing, that also gives you a total body workout.  Because I always use the excuse that I can never seem to find the time to exercise, scheduling my routine at the same time every day and making it a priority along with my other daily tasks is essential.  With that, buying healthier foods to take place of the fattier foods and replacing less healthy foods that I currently have in my house will help me eat the way that I need to.  I don’t want to go on a diet, I want to eat healthier.  I understand that diets are difficult to stay on and can be detrimental to weight loss success.  Healthy eating is part of a lifelong process and lifestyle that I want to have as part of my health and wellness plan.  I will be patient and consistent and realize that things take time.

Psychological- Because I am a high stress person and tend to let just about everything get to me, the way I handle things is not ideal.  My stress affects my whole being and those around me.  I am aware that I need to avoid my triggers and remove myself from certain situations at times, but finding a way to do so is what I aim for.  My strategy for clearing my mind, body and soul from so much stress and emotion is to practice a couple of daily exercises for release.  I think I will start my day off with a daily meditative exercise, the Subtle Mind, to clear my thoughts and frustrations so that I can begin my day with clear and positive balance.  This will allow me to open up my mind, heart and soul with less stress and anger and allow my thoughts to be calmer and still.  Throughout the day, if I find that I am tensing up or allowing my emotions or stress get to me, taking time to meditate again would help reduce these negative feelings and subside my negative reactions.  Another exercise that I believe will be helpful in fostering my psychological health and wellness would be yoga.  I would love to start practicing this art form as it is a great way to induce positive thoughts and self-connectedness.  It also improves physical health in the process.  This does not have to be done every day, but maybe a few times a week for optimal psychological wellness for me.  I believe it will help strengthen my mind and allow me to open up to new things and help clear my mind.  This, like meditation, can be done on an as needed basis.

Spiritual- Because our mind, body and soul are so very much connected, exercises in this domain are the same for me as in the psychological domain.  I will incorporate yoga and meditative practice (Subtle Mind) for spiritual wellness.  I am very unsure of my journey as of right now, where I want to start and where I want it to lead.  What I have come to realize is that I do not know myself as well as I would like.  This is where these exercises and practices will come into play.  Yoga will allow me to connect with myself and help me figure out who I really am and who I want to be.  It will give my aching soul a way to rest and find peace so that I can really look at who Laura has been and who she desires to be.  It will be a personal time to myself that allows me to assess my love and life for me, so that I can really assess my love and life for others.  I believe the Subtle Mind practice will allow me to calm my mind, still my thoughts and control my emotions so that I can welcome positivity into my life and soul.  Incorporating meditation and yoga together would be very beneficial for my spirituality and finding me.  I will implement these practices/strategies daily to weekly so that I can feel more relaxed, calmer and more open and in tune with my surroundings and myself.  I believe this will open up doors for beautiful exploration.

V.                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?

Assessing my progress or lack of progress in the next six months will be easier for my physical domain than it may be for my psychological or spiritual domains.  I could always keep journals for each domain as to what I am doing to stay on track and note progress throughout the process.  My physical progress will be noticeable to the naked eye.  I will be able to see the results in the mirror and by how my clothes fit.  Since I am very critical of myself, noticing change in the other two domains may not be so easy for me, even if others are able to see it.  What I am hoping for is others to comment on how they see changes in my attitude and applaude me for new ways that I handle my stress.  I would like to hear people tell me that I look and seem happier than I had been and that “something” seems different about me, but they’re not sure what.  I need to hear good things about my transformation if I am actually sticking with my practices.  Hearing these positive things will be my way of knowing, my assessment, of the wonderful progress that I am making toward my goals in health and wellness.  If I am not hearing such things, maybe I need to get to the bottom of the issue, find out what it is that went wrong and fix it.  If need be, re-assess my strategies and try something else.  There isn’t only one way to health and happiness.  Finding what works for me is what I need to do, even if that means a lot of trial and error.  I want health and happiness that radiates onto others so that they can feel it.  I want a transformation that makes me feel happy, healthy, beautiful and at peace with myself.  I want to know who I am and actually love me!

 

References

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.