I.
Introduction:
It is very important for health and wellness professionals to have a good understanding and a regular practice to develop and maintain their psychological, spiritual, and physical wellness, because in order to teach someone, or lead someone down a path to integral health, the professional must have experienced these things themselves, understand the challenges and the benefits of the work invested. They must be able to lead by example, without the personal experience, they will not be able to help their clients navigate through difficult times or understand what they are experiencing on their journey. For myself, I believe that all these areas are a constant work in progress, it is not a task that has a completion point, we must always strive to continue developing these areas. Most specifically however, my spirituality has fallen by the way side since I’ve been in school and I will have to focus a bit of extra energy in that direction when I am done with school.
It is very important for health and wellness professionals to have a good understanding and a regular practice to develop and maintain their psychological, spiritual, and physical wellness, because in order to teach someone, or lead someone down a path to integral health, the professional must have experienced these things themselves, understand the challenges and the benefits of the work invested. They must be able to lead by example, without the personal experience, they will not be able to help their clients navigate through difficult times or understand what they are experiencing on their journey. For myself, I believe that all these areas are a constant work in progress, it is not a task that has a completion point, we must always strive to continue developing these areas. Most specifically however, my spirituality has fallen by the way side since I’ve been in school and I will have to focus a bit of extra energy in that direction when I am done with school.
II.
Assessment:
My assessment of my health in these various areas can change slightly depending on the day, but for the most part, my scores are fairly good; my physical wellbeing is about a 7 on most days and this is directly related to specific physical challenges I have that limit what I am able to do which can be frustrating; my psychological wellbeing is generally a 9 but on some days can drop to a 6 or 7, my psychological wellbeing is directly related to my physical wellbeing and changes depending on how I’m feeling physically, if I’m frustrated because I can’t do something I want to do, or because of my challenges I am feeling old and helpless. Spiritually, I am definitely at a 9, I know how I feel and what I believe, I know who I am and where I am headed, however, lately I haven’t had a lot of time to invest in my spiritual wellbeing, this is something I will remedy when I am done with school.
My assessment of my health in these various areas can change slightly depending on the day, but for the most part, my scores are fairly good; my physical wellbeing is about a 7 on most days and this is directly related to specific physical challenges I have that limit what I am able to do which can be frustrating; my psychological wellbeing is generally a 9 but on some days can drop to a 6 or 7, my psychological wellbeing is directly related to my physical wellbeing and changes depending on how I’m feeling physically, if I’m frustrated because I can’t do something I want to do, or because of my challenges I am feeling old and helpless. Spiritually, I am definitely at a 9, I know how I feel and what I believe, I know who I am and where I am headed, however, lately I haven’t had a lot of time to invest in my spiritual wellbeing, this is something I will remedy when I am done with school.
III.
Goal
development:
I just set a goal for myself in the physical area, my yoga studio is having a 60 day “Summer Olympics” challenge, there are medals based on how many classes you do in those 60 days, and I am shooting for a silver medal which is over 30 classes in that time frame. As for Psychological goals, I intend to set additional time for meditation, currently I only stop to do this after or before driving to and from work, I intend to set aside 15-20 minutes each day before bed to clear my mind. Spiritually, this one is difficult because this is something that I approach by reading, I have been taking time to read for pleasure each week, I intend to continue this, or at least try, to take 5-10 minutes each day to read at least a chapter from a book that is not required for school, once school is done, I can go back to reading every night before bed.
I just set a goal for myself in the physical area, my yoga studio is having a 60 day “Summer Olympics” challenge, there are medals based on how many classes you do in those 60 days, and I am shooting for a silver medal which is over 30 classes in that time frame. As for Psychological goals, I intend to set additional time for meditation, currently I only stop to do this after or before driving to and from work, I intend to set aside 15-20 minutes each day before bed to clear my mind. Spiritually, this one is difficult because this is something that I approach by reading, I have been taking time to read for pleasure each week, I intend to continue this, or at least try, to take 5-10 minutes each day to read at least a chapter from a book that is not required for school, once school is done, I can go back to reading every night before bed.
IV.
Practices
for personal health:
As I said above, I have joined a challenge at my yoga studio that will help me stay committed to my physical wellbeing. I will also set aside time each day, or at the very least every other day to meditate and clear my mind to refresh me for the next day. Yoga also offers me the time to clear my head, doing yoga several times per week will give me the opportunity to “kill two birds with one stone” and allow me meditation time during my physical wellness time. For my spiritual wellbeing, I have started taking a bit of time every few days to read for pleasure, at the moment I am reading a memoir about a woman’s journey with Bikram yoga, this is also helping me get through some of the challenges with my own practice.
As I said above, I have joined a challenge at my yoga studio that will help me stay committed to my physical wellbeing. I will also set aside time each day, or at the very least every other day to meditate and clear my mind to refresh me for the next day. Yoga also offers me the time to clear my head, doing yoga several times per week will give me the opportunity to “kill two birds with one stone” and allow me meditation time during my physical wellness time. For my spiritual wellbeing, I have started taking a bit of time every few days to read for pleasure, at the moment I am reading a memoir about a woman’s journey with Bikram yoga, this is also helping me get through some of the challenges with my own practice.
V.
Commitment:
I have a calendar on my phone that syncs with my tablet, I use this calendar to track all of my activities, physical, social, work, etc, I also do some journaling on this calendar. I log all of my activities here for a couple reasons, one because I like to be able to look back and recall what I have done, my life is so busy that I tend to run on auto-pilot and forget what I have done on a given day, keeping a calendar helps me to recall details. Second, it helps me to view a chart of my activities on each day, so I can look back and see exactly how many yoga classes I’ve done and how many times I stopped to read for pleasure, etc. To assess my progress, I will review this calendar each week and see what I have done and where I can make better use of my time.
I have a calendar on my phone that syncs with my tablet, I use this calendar to track all of my activities, physical, social, work, etc, I also do some journaling on this calendar. I log all of my activities here for a couple reasons, one because I like to be able to look back and recall what I have done, my life is so busy that I tend to run on auto-pilot and forget what I have done on a given day, keeping a calendar helps me to recall details. Second, it helps me to view a chart of my activities on each day, so I can look back and see exactly how many yoga classes I’ve done and how many times I stopped to read for pleasure, etc. To assess my progress, I will review this calendar each week and see what I have done and where I can make better use of my time.
Andie,
ReplyDeleteI think you have great goals lined up, and a good plan on how to achieve them! I think the yoga challenge is a great way to help your physical health. I used to attend a regular, weekly yoga class, and my flexibility and strength greatly improved during that time. Unfortunately, the studio raised the cost of the classes, as the rent on their studio spaced increase and I could no longer afford to take the classes. I think that reading for fun is a great way to improve your spiritual health, and reading before bed (especially non course work related books) is a great way to calm the mind, and relax yourself before bed. I also keep a calendar to help me keep track of my progress. It is nice to be able to look back on what you have done, in order to keep yourself motivated! Good luck in the future!
~Catherine