Final Post

Last time I rated my physical wellbeing as a six; now I would have to say that I rate my physical wellbeing as an eight.  I have been working out regularly for the last month and feel so much better than I did even at the beginning of this course.  Last time I rated my spiritual wellbeing as an eight and I would still rate it as an eight.  I feel like I haven’t changed much when it comes to my spiritual wellbeing; I still go to church on a regular basis and practice my religion on a regular basis.  Last time I rated my psychological wellbeing as a seven; I would now rate it as an eight.  I feel that I am able to be more positive now and look at things from a “better” point of view.  I have made progress towards most of my goals.  I wanted to be able to find a way to relax and calm my mind at the end of the day and I have found many ways to do so throughout this course.  I feel like I am making major and important changes in my life.  Through this course I have learned many different activities and exercises to use in my everyday life to see the bigger picture, set my goals to a reachable limit, and relax and calm my mind at the end of a long day.  I feel healthier and more relaxed ever since I started using relaxation techniques at the end of the day.  

unit 9

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?

In order to be in a place where one can psychologically, spiritually, and physically help another person grow they must first know what it is like to grow in all areas of their lives as well.  My favorite saying that I am able to take away from this course is, “you cannot lead another where one has not gone himself”.  People are more likely to take advice from someone who has traveled down the same road.  It gives people comfort to know what to expect and as health and wellness professionals it is easier to help people through situations that we ourselves have already been through. 

I have achieved many goals that I have set for myself psychologically, spiritually, and physically.  I would say that it is time for me to set new goals.  I have noticed that personal I struggle the most in the psychological area. 

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

I have sat down and looked at my life in bits and bits and then overall as a whole.  I thought about where I wanted to be in my life now, five years from now, and fifteen years from now.  This helped me to realize what I needed to be doing differently in my life and the steps that I need to take in order to make these goals a reality. 

If I were to put all three domains (spiritual, physical, psychological) in order from which one needs the most improvement to the one that needs the least improvement it would be: psychological, spiritual, physical. 

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

Physical: Within the last month my roommate and I have started working out 4-5 times a week and we were feeling awesome.  However, this past week and a half life has been crazy busy and we haven’t been working out at all.  We have both gotten so busy with school and work that we are left with no down time at all; so of course there’s not much time for working out.  I would like to change this.  I want to get back to working out at least four times a week in order to keep the endurance and strength going that I have gained over the last month. 

Psychological: I would like to reduce the stress in my life.  I know stress is part of human nature and it is good to have some levels of stress.  However, here lately, I have gotten to the point where I am barely sleeping because all I can do is think about all the things that I need to get down. 

Spiritual: I would like to find a stronger relationship and bond with God. 

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.

Physical: In order to increase my physical activity I will get back to working out at least four times a week with my roommate.  Even if she is too busy to workout with me I can continue to do the workout videos that we do by myself.  I will also get back to doing my abdominal workouts every night before I go to bed.  Surprising, these make me feel way better as well.  In order to achieve these goals I will set aside at least 30-45 minutes a night so I can work out. 

Psychological: I have found in the past that making “to-do” list helps me to organize my thoughts therefore reducing my stress level a little bit.  I would like to get back to using “to-do” lists.  Every time I feel overwhelmed I will just make a list of everything that needs to get done and get after my work.  I would also like to start spending more time alone in order to unwind from the day and relax a little.  Working with children, having six younger siblings, and living with four other girls leaves me with little alone time.  This past week I started spending a little more time in my room just reading or “hiding out” and it made me feel a lot more relaxed. 

Spiritual: I would like to start going to church more often.  I normally go every Sunday but sometimes I just get so busy that it becomes hard for me to find the time.  That is not acceptable for me because God always comes first.  I am going to start going to church every Sunday.  I would also like to start praying more before I go to bed.  I think spending more time alone in my room will allow me more time to pray instead of just falling asleep as soon as my head hits my pillow due to exhaustion. 

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?

I have always had a calendar that I carried around with me.  I haven’t had one in the last year.  I am going to get another one and write my full schedule and “to-do” lists in there so that I can better organize my time and my life overall.  That way in six months I can look back on how often I worked out, went to church, and organized my time.  

Unit 8: Looking Back

The two exercises that I have found to be the most beneficial for me personally have been the Subtle mind and Visualization.  Subtle mind helped me to slow my life down in a perceptive and realize what is important and taught me to not focus on or spend too much time on the little things that just add to stress levels.  Visualization helped me to stop and see where I wanted a situation to end; therefore, giving me the chance to stop and see what needed to be done and in what order things needed to be done in order for me to reach my overall goal.  The subtle mind practice I can use when I feel myself getting too stressed and overwhelmed.  I can just back away from the situation at hand and take a few minutes to look at the bigger picture (I have an hour drive to work, so this is a great time for me to think). The visualization practice can come into handy lately as I apply for the master’s programs I am interested in.  By using this technique I can slow things down into steps instead of overwhelming myself and trying to do everything at once.  

Meeting Aesclepius

I found it extremely difficult to focus and actually calm myself down enough to truly meditate.  For the last five days I have been in a constant state of arousal and feeling like I’ve been on a 24/7 adrenaline rush.  I work in Grapevine, TX and I am not sure how many of you live around here or at least heard what has been going on in the small suburbs of Grapevine.  Last Monday (February 11), a Florida fugitive that was being transferred escaped in Grapevine (less than a mile from my work) and the FBI was brought in immediately.  From Monday-Friday there have been FBI agents walking up and down the wooded areas and ditches around here (which I never realized how much of this place is all wooded area until last week).  Everyone in the area has been in a constant state of panic, therefore, calming down was in an easy task for me to do.  Not to worry though, they caught the man this past Saturday; everything is slowly getting back to normal around here. 

I have to constantly remind myself throughout my day to take a step back from the hassles of life and just breathe.  That is the best way for me personally to continue applying these practices in order to increase my health and wellness. 

The saying, “One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself”, is one of my favorite sayings.  How can someone possibly and 100 percent help someone if they don’t know what the person is going through?  This applies GREATLY to health and wellness.  I work with children who have severe learning disabilities, visual tracking problems, ADHD, anxiety disorders, etc…. When I was younger I spent almost every day doing visual tracking therapy because my eyes were so weak; also leading to and playing a role in the learning disability I grew up with.  My brother that is 8 months older than me has severe anxiety disorders and ADHD.  There is not a lot of stuff I see at work that I didn’t either experience myself or that I haven’t experienced just living with my brother.  It gives people hope to know that there is a way to overcome situations and I am proof of that for me.   

Integral Assessment/Univeral Loving Kindness

Out of the Universal Loving Kindness exercise and the Integral Assessment; I would have to say that I preferred the Integral Assessment.  The Universal Loving Kindness exercise was a great exercise; however, I feel like I gained more and learned more about myself from the Integral Assessment.  The Integral Assessment helped me to focus on certain areas of my life that aren’t exactly where I want them to be.  I took lots of time to focus on the Integral Assessment and really think about my life and the people and situations in it.  I realized that even though times are tough; I still have the world’s greatest friends that will always have my back, I have a family that I couldn’t even dream of living without, and I have a job most people would die for… overall, I found out that even though I am not exactly where I want to be in life I still have more than I could have ever asked for.  The area in my life that I focused on with it comes to growth and development has to do with my physical health.  I use to be an extremely athletic person and ever since I quit playing I stopped working out.  My body and energy level are not what they use to be and I don’t like it one bit.  Ever since starting this assessment a week ago, I have decided to do something about that.  I started an intensity workout video with my best friend (and even though I couldn’t walk for a few days) I still feel better than I have in the last seven years! For me, everything is mental.  If I make up my mind that I am going to do something; there isn’t a whole lot anyone can do it change it.  In order to improve in this area I just have to make sure that I keep my positive mind set and the motivation from my friend to help me.   

Loving Kindness vs Subtile Mind

I actually liked both the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtile Mind exercise.  I would have to say that the Subtile Mind was probably my favorite though.  I have never in my life been that relaxed after doing one of these exercises.  I didn't fall asleep but I got REALLY close.  I was totally and completely relaxed.  The Loving Kindness one had me thinking a little more; therefore, I wasn't able to get completely relaxed like I was with the Subtile Mind exercise.  I have found that the more open-minded and connected I feel the healthier and more relaxed I feel.  When I am positive and truly know in my mind that everything will be okay in the end, I feel healtier and more relaxed and ready to take on the world!

mental workout

I found this experience extremely relaxing.  I sat in my room and did this exercise in complete silence.  I like how it had me focus on different people in my life.  I automatically thought about my “family”.  I consider my family to be my four roommates.  My roommates are my backbones in life.  For every person we were told to think about, my roommates fit into every category.  It made me stop and actually think about the trouble and struggles that they have in their lives as well.  I would for sure recommend this exercise to other people.  I would recommend that they give themselves plenty of alone time to really get into it without any interruptions. 

A mental workout to me is when you allow yourself to open up mentally.  To see things from other people’s point of view and not just your own.  Mental workouts allow people to think more smoothly and, if done without any bias in mind, free themselves from negative thoughts.  I am a very open minded person and tend to be really good at seeing things from other’s point of view.  I guess it just comes naturally when you grow up and live the way I do.  All of my friends are very different people but we are all so open minded that it allows us to bond with almost anyone.  

wellbeing

This blog assignment made me actually stop and think about my overall wellbeing.  I would have to rate my physical wellbeing as a six.  I am in decent health, I suffer from migraines and always have, and I also have some digestive/intestinal issues that the doctors can’t really seem to figure out.  I don’t exercise as much as I should and I am in my mid-20s, so I obviously don’t live the ideal “healthy lifestyle”.  I would rate my spiritual wellbeing as an eight.  When it comes to my belief system I know what I believe to be right and wrong and I am always one to stand up for and stick by my beliefs, no matter what anyone else says or thinks.  I would rate my psychological wellbeing as a seven.  I tend to be one of those people that can, “get inside my own head”.  My biggest critic as always been myself, and at times I tend to be too hard on myself.  A goal I would make for my physical wellbeing would definitely be to start working out more and eating better (my diet has always been horrible).  The best way for me to go about reaching this goal is to make a realistic exercise schedule and stick to it.  A goal for my spiritual wellbeing would be to believe more.  In order to achieve this goal I would need to develop a deeper understanding of what it is that I actually believe in.  A goal for my psychological wellbeing would be to develop more self confidence in myself.  I am actually already working towards this goal and have been talking with a good friend of mine to see myself in a better light. 

I tend to find a lot of relaxation exercises frustrating because it is so hard for me personally to relax.  I tend to have trouble letting myself let go of all of the stressors and worries in my life.  I can see how this would be a great relaxation exercise and technique; however, I had a lot of trouble letting myself relax due to the amount of stress in my life at the moment.

Relaxation

My name is Rachel Villarreal.  I have never used a blog site before and have never blogged at all actually.  To be completely honest, I am not even 100 percent sure how I got to this page to even type my blog! So, just a fair warning ahead of time, I am clueless on how to work this thing right now.

I just listened to the Journey On Relaxation exercise and I will say that it did completely put me in a relaxed state.  On the other hand, I have lots of work to do tonight and the exercise might have put me in too much of a relaxed state.  After completing the exercise I pretty much had to chug my cup of coffee I had sitting next to me to get me going again after my long day and the relaxation exercise.