1. Review your unit 3 personal assessment of your psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reflect on these areas . How did you score yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 in unit 3? How do you score yourself now? Has the score changed? Why or why not?

I rate my physical wellbeing an 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.  I can really do more if I would.  I rate my spiritual well being at a 6, because I have been slacking.  I need to read my Bible more, pray more and be more expressive with my spirituality.  I rate my psychological wellbeing at a 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10.  This part of my life goes up and down with certain times of the month, who I am around, work, and family. 


I have actually went down in my scores.  My physical well being I feel is now a 6 mainly because I work two jobs now and try to stay up date with my school work, and make time for my family.  Every where else I have stayed the same. 

1. Review the goals and activities you set for yourself in each area. Have you made progress toward the goals? Explain. 
   
   
   
   I want to get at an overall 8.5 in all three areas.  I am comfortable I can achieve this in my spiritual and psychological wellbeing, however, I need to work harder to achieve this goal in my physical wellbeing.  
   
   I intend to keep practicing and keep my scores where I want them to be.  Rome was not built in a day and it will take some time.    

1. Have you implemented the activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain.

 I mediate, pray and try to implement exercise as much as possible.  I can always tell when I am lacking in one area.


Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others?  This has been a great experience and I have learned so much about the material we covered and even more about myself.  There were times it was difficult but I feel that as long as I continue to do what I have been taught and practiced I will be able to assist others   by doing what I preach. 

Unit 9

Sara Griswold

HW420-02 Unit 9 Project

Kaplan University

9/25/13

1. 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?

            It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically so he or she can help other individuals do the same.  This is a profession that one must practice what he or she preaches in order to better provide the upmost care, guidance, and help to others.  The areas that I need to develop more to achieve the goals I have set for myself are all three.  I need to practice more, exercise more, meditate more and pray more.  It is very hard to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily lives and routines and forget to do any of the mentioned.  I need to incorporate all of these on a regular daily basis as part of my goals.       

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

            I have a good general score in each domain, but there is much more room for improvement because some days one domain is higher than the others or lower.  Finding balance in each of these is key for me.  I have given myself a 7 spiritually because I am thanking God for his many blessings, lifting up the sick and others in prayer, and praying for my family more each day.  Psychologically, I give myself a 8 but it can be a 7 at times, especially when certain types of stress are present.  However, I have been able to change the way I react to stress and let it go instead of holding on to it and bottling up inside.  I am much more in tune to my emotions and feelings and have embraced them, which has always been difficult for me.  There are a few stressors in my life that come and go periodically but I can still handle them much better than I ever have.  I feel like I am neglecting my physical domain, while concentrating on the other two.  I am continuing to eat healthy, with a few splurges occasionally, but I do need to incorporate more physical activity and exercise into my routine while continuing to improve other domains of my health and wellness.  I do walk places instead of diving, park my car further away, take the stairs instead of the elevator and others. 

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

            I want to wake up  every morning and after drinking my coffee and warming up, I want exercise to come natural again. 

            For my spiritual, I want to become more active in church by taking my son to Sunday school, and joining some groups.  By doing this I hope to make praying in my daily life more comfortable and like second nature. 

For my psychological, I want to continue meditating.  It has helped me so much just in the last six months.  My relationships within my family is not as stressful for me as before. 

4. 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:  Walking, and weights.  I will implement these by making them fun again instead of work.  I want to increase my cardio exercises and maintain and gain more muscle. 

            Spiritual:  Prayer groups, and fellowship.  I will implement these by going to church lessons about prayer and how to pray.  I will implement fellowship by meeting and becoming more involved in church activities to develop friendships. 

            Psychological:  Meditating and yoga.  I will implement these by practicing more meditation activities and continuing to meditate in my daily routine.  I will implement yoga because it helps me psychologically and physically by concentrating on certain movements, stretching, and thinking about the actions and movements of my body. 

5. 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 a schedule for work and school and I need to set aside time in my schedule for each of these like I would a meeting because it is a meeting with myself.  I will track my progress on my calendar.  I have found some really helpful applications on my phone to help me keep track as well.  I think by scheduling time for me into my calendar will help me long term and help me get to where these practices come natural as drinking my morning coffee.  There are many useful websites and applications through Google Play on Android devices and with I Phones that help you track your diet and calories and exercises and relaxation practices. 

References: 

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

Mayo Clinic.  21 April 2011.  Meditation:  A simple, fast way to reduce stress.  Retrieved From.  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meditation/HQ01070

Schlitz, Marilyn; Amorok, Tina; Micozzi, Marc (2005).  Consciousness & healing.  Elsevier Churchilll Livingstone.  St. Louis, MO

The Guardian.  21 Jan 2011  How to meditate in 10 easy steps.  Retrieved From.

Unit 8. Trying it again

For me, I find the Subtle Mind and the Loving Kindness to be the most beneficial practices.  The Subtle Mind is great opener to these practices I think and are very calming.  After revisiting Loving Kindness exercises and trying new ones, I think these are great for getting in touch with your emotions, letting things out, and staying balanced.  I cried on several attempts at this, but I think I needed to let my emotions out instead of keeping them bottled up.  It is a great practice for any person of any age. 

Is that you again Aesclepius? ( Unit 7)

1. Complete the Meeting Aesclepius mp3 (located in the Doc Sharing area). Describe your meditative practices for the week and discuss the experience. Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?

 I still do like listening to this woman.  I prefer the male voice.  The first person I thought of was my papaw Warner, the man I am named after, then as I listened more I thought of my Granny Griswold.  I saw our last family dinner together while she was living and the smell of the foods (mostly vinegar "salads"), I could feel the coolness of the rock hearth and house, I could almost see and hear everybody there and see her big, swollen legs in her chair. She was a very wise and caring woman. 
My meditations are not like these.  They have direction, I think but these are so specific as in look as this person's throat and imagine a bright light...
My meditations are based on me being more calm, more loving toward others, letting go of what has been bothering me as if I am releasing an animal into the wild or ashes into the wind. 

1.  Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (p.477). How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?                                                         Absolutely.  I am not going to lead a workshop on meditation if I have not tried it, practice it and believe in it.  We have to set examples not only for our clients but we need to set one for our children and everyone else.  Like kudzu, a positive attitude can spread.  

Unit 6

I was able to complete this exercise much more easier than the mp3.  I did it with out crying and feeling sad, and felt the feelings and emotions of care, helping, and love where as with the other I felt sorrow, guilt, and sadness.  
As far as the assessment goes, I need to become more organized with my time and thoughts.  I feel that I am running in a thousand directions and my mind and body are going the same speed in opposite directions.  I have done much better about over coming the guilt I feel about leaving my son to have some alone time.  It just feels like when I get ahead in one aspect or area, there are others that fall behind or lack.  I have had a rough time at work the last couple of weeks, and few members of family need a major wake up call in the worst kind of way but I have to remember not to let it stress me out and get me down like it has been. 

Easy Come...Easy Go

This weeks exercise was much easier than the previous week.  I was able to do this without crying.  I think my emotions from the week before played a major role in how I reacted.  I felt a little "hormonal".  This week I feel better.  My dad actually received some great news from his doctor and no longer has to take one shot that I was giving to him (thank God I got my Medical Assisting Degree in order to this for him, hind sight).  Now he just gets one shot a week and will go to the doctor at the end of the month.  I think I do have a preference when it comes to the voices on the exercises.  I like soft, spoken voices, that speak calmly, smoothly and are in lower tones.  The higher pitched voices catch my breath when they start speaking again. 
These exercises are helping me concentrate better when I pray, and I like that.  My mind has always wondered, especially when I start to pray for people I care about and when I am laying in bed. 

My faucet of care turned on the faucet of tears : /

I am not sure I liked this technique at the moment.  Maybe another day I would like to come back and retouch on this.  I could be me, I have been feeling somewhat emotional the last week.  It did not help that I thought about my dad when asked to think about somebody that I love dearly.  My dad is not in the best of health at the moment and it breaks my heart into a million pieces.  I thought about him, how much I love him, how much he loves his family.  I thought about much he loves Dawson (my son) and doing things with him and spending time with his extended family and helping others.  How much it misses doing all the things he loves because he does not feel able.  I thought about how I want to take away his illness, pain and sadness and make him well again.  I thought about how much pain he has to endure with every shot and blood draw, how he almost cringes when it is time to eat because everything has lost its flavor or has a bad taste in his mouth.   However, I do feel that this is a great exercise and practice and I can almost feel a difference with one practice.   I wish I could encourage others to try this because I see this being very helpful to many people.  It is like as Dacher stated in our book, "cross-training" the mind.  We can work out our physical bodies for an hour or more a day and we need to exercise our minds for an hour or so daily too because exercise adds up.  These exercises decrease stress and can improve relationships.