Unit 10 Blog

Initially, I rated myself as a 7 physically, a 5 psychologically, and a 9 spiritually. After taking this course, I would say that these numbers have definitely changed. I have not made very many improvement physically, and since being pregnant, I think that my physical well-being as actually gone down somewhat. I often feel sluggish and nauseated and do not exercise nearly as much as I used to. As such, I would rate myself as a 6 now. Spiritually, I feel like I still would rank highly as a 9. Psychologically, however, I definitely feel like my ranking has increased. After taking some real time to practice meditation and other relaxation techniques, I finally feel like I have the potential to allow my mind to calm down when needed. As such, I would rate myself as a 7 now psychologically.

After reviewing my goals, I also feel like I am making improvements. While I unfortunately am exercising less now than I previously was, I have gotten better psychologically and spiritually. I am slowly but surely meeting my goals of incorporating more meditation and mindfulness exercises in my life. From a spiritual perspective, I have also begun to keep a journal, which has helped me to reflect on the blessings of my life.

I do think that it takes a lot to really adapt change into a person’s life, but I am doing better as each day goes by. I am learning to adapt specific activities into my life to help me further progress in my goals. I am trying to incorporate both the relaxation techniques that were suggested to us in this class as well as yoga a few times a week. I have noticed that allowing my mind to unwind has enabled me to feel more calm and less stressed out. As such, I find that I am able to sleep better at night and in turn, have more energy throughout the day. As I am beginning to feel better and better with the pregnancy, I am also starting to bring in more exercise throughout my week. I try to walk a few times a week, which helps keep me motivated.

I think this class has been very rewarding. I think that the exercises that we did and the readings we were assigned really helped us students realize that meditation and relaxation techniques can in fact be implemented into a person’s life. I feel that as a result of exploring both my psychological and spiritual sides, I have a deeper understanding of myself and a more well rounded sense of well being. From my experiences, I feel that I will be able to show others how simple changes into a person’s life can make a really big difference in the end. Hopefully my experiences will be able to inspire others to get healthy as well.

Aimee Fairbanks

Unit 9 Blog: Final Project

Running Head: FINAL PROJECT

Unit Nine Final Project

Aimee Fairbanks

Kaplan University

HW420-03AU

Unit Nine Final Project

It is now becoming common knowledge that in order to be truly healthy, it involves more than just maintaining one’s body in a physical sense. Rather, comprehensive healthcare involves improving all aspects of a person’s sense of being, including psychologically, physically, and spiritually. Numerous studies in Dacher’s text (2006) point to evidence suggesting that the various parts of a person’s being are interconnected with each other. To disregard any one part is to throw off a person’s overall sense of health and well-being. For health and wellness professionals, maintaining an example of health is imperative in order for clients to better understand the importance of health. From a personal perspective, I have several goals in order to provide myself with a more optimal sense of well-being, including becoming more spiritually enhanced, physically strong, and mentally calm.

When assessing my own health, I have noticed that I would rate myself differently when assessing my spiritual, psychological, and physical self. While analyzing myself from a physical perspective, I would rate myself as a six. I do not have any real systemic illness, and I do try to incorporate regular exercise and a healthy diet into my life plan as often as I can. From a psychological perspective, however, I do not feel as healthy. I often find myself worried about the future or stressed out about futile things. As a result, I find myself getting sick rather frequently, and I consistently feel tired. I would rate myself as a mere five in the psychological category. I do think that I have the strongest rating in my spiritual sense. With this category, I would rate myself as a nine. I feel a very deep connection to a higher sense of power, and I feel I have a solid understanding of my purpose here in life.

Because I obviously did not rate myself perfectly in any one category, I have set some goals for myself to attain personal wellness. Physically, I would love to be able to have an activity that I enjoy doing, that will help me reduce inner tensions, and will ultimately provide me with more energy. From a psychological perspective, I would love be able to be more relaxed and stress free, so I do not feel so run down. Since I have noticed that my stress affects me physically, I want to work on reducing that stress so I can function on a higher level for the sake of myself and my family. Finally, I would love to find time to reflect on the blessings of my life in order to expand my spiritual sense of being. Because I am so busy during the day, I want to find time to see the positive aspects of my life rather than focus on the negative.

In order to accomplish my goals, I should learn to incorporate specific activities into my life that will make it easier to get started and to foster growth within the different areas of my being. From a physical perspective, I could try to exercise more or to plan adequate rest into my daily schedule. Rather than napping throughout the day, I should try to get to bed at a decent hour and get restful sleeps at night. Without naps, I will then have more time during the day that can be used for activities such as exercise. By allowing my body to be active, it can allow my stress and tension to be released in a healthy fashion. Psychologically, I would love to incorporate meditation exercises and other relaxation exercises such as visualization techniques into my daily schedule. By scheduling time during the day to take my mind off my stress, I can re-center my mind and teach myself to stay calm. Learning to keep my thoughts positive will also improve my psychological sense of being. From a spiritual aspect, I could try to keep a journal so that I can have a written account of reflection of the many blessings of my life. While expressing my innermost feelings may be therapeutic, I would like to focus my feelings on the positive ones so that I can see firsthand the good parts of my day. Finally, incorporating more prayer into my day can help before I write in my journal. By connecting with a higher sense of being, I will be able to keep my thoughts more positive as I write my journal entries.

Since I have listed specific goals and specific patterns for meeting my goals, I will be able to track my progress within the next few months. Again, health and wellness professionals such as me need to provide an example to our clients to prove that small healthy additions can be made in life. I tend to be a very visual person, and I think that physically seeing my progress in written form will keep me motivated. I should develop a goals calendar with both short and long term goals throughout the various months. By doing so, I will be able to readily track what I have already accomplished and what more I need to work on. I also should be realistic with my goals, and understand that allowing small changes throughout my schedule will enable me to be more successful. Hopefully, over time, I will be able to make these positive changes to provide myself with a balanced sense of health from multiple perspectives that will last a lifetime.

References

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