It is very important that health and wellness professionals develop as psychological, spiritual, and physical beings. In order to have total and complete confidence in the practice, one must be confident and satisfied with their own state of health and wellbeing. The experience gained from thriving as an individual can be utilized to direct patients into the right direction, so that they can experience results for themselves.
The area that is most underdeveloped for me is the psyche. I am definitely not where I want to be psychologically, nor do I feel that I am improving at a significant rate compared to other aspects of my health. I have the vision, and the drive is there, but I cannot seem to get over this hump. I feel that being a smoker really diminishes my health and quality of life in a number of ways. Physically, I am causing damage to my lungs. Psychologically, I must deal with the fact that I am deliberately causing damage to my lungs, and watching those who care about me watch me do it. Quitting is difficult, and I have failed over and over again. I am not confident that I can quit on my own, and I am scared that I will not thrive like I want to, and that I will die an early death.
This addiction hinders me from reaching the main goal of achieving an integral state of health. I know that smoking is a physical addiction, but I believe that it is more of a psychological habit. But this class has taught me that the mind is a very powerful tool, if trained correctly. If I can pull this aspect of my life up to par, I know that I will finally kick the habit and thrive at a much more significant rate than I am right now.
Physically I feel that I am average with the potential to be way above average. I am at a healthy weight with no health conditions at the moment. Although I do not feel that I am in complete control of my physical health like I want to be right now, I do think that this aspect of my health is stronger than the others.
Psychologically I feel crippled because of the lack of control that I have over my decision-making. I feel that this aspect of my health is the weakest compared to the others. An unhealthy psyche is a major issue to me because I know that an unhealthy psyche also affects the other aspects of health, such as my physical health in regard to smoking.
The area that is most underdeveloped for me is the psyche. I am definitely not where I want to be psychologically, nor do I feel that I am improving at a significant rate compared to other aspects of my health. I have the vision, and the drive is there, but I cannot seem to get over this hump. I feel that being a smoker really diminishes my health and quality of life in a number of ways. Physically, I am causing damage to my lungs. Psychologically, I must deal with the fact that I am deliberately causing damage to my lungs, and watching those who care about me watch me do it. Quitting is difficult, and I have failed over and over again. I am not confident that I can quit on my own, and I am scared that I will not thrive like I want to, and that I will die an early death.
This addiction hinders me from reaching the main goal of achieving an integral state of health. I know that smoking is a physical addiction, but I believe that it is more of a psychological habit. But this class has taught me that the mind is a very powerful tool, if trained correctly. If I can pull this aspect of my life up to par, I know that I will finally kick the habit and thrive at a much more significant rate than I am right now.
Physically I feel that I am average with the potential to be way above average. I am at a healthy weight with no health conditions at the moment. Although I do not feel that I am in complete control of my physical health like I want to be right now, I do think that this aspect of my health is stronger than the others.
Psychologically I feel crippled because of the lack of control that I have over my decision-making. I feel that this aspect of my health is the weakest compared to the others. An unhealthy psyche is a major issue to me because I know that an unhealthy psyche also affects the other aspects of health, such as my physical health in regard to smoking.
The spiritual aspect of my life was always the weakest aspect for me, but has improved a lot for me in the past few years. I feel that I have a positive outlook on life and that I have good morals and values. I believe that everyone was put on Earth for a reason, and I am comfortable in my role. I have tons of compassion for people, and have a strong desire to help others thrive. My religious beliefs have gotten stronger as well, which has provided me with a lot of confidence in my marriage and my career.
A physical health goal for me is to stick to a workout routine that works for me, eat healthy, and maintain a healthy weight for the remainder of my life. Psychologically, I want to gain control over my negative mental behavior. This includes suppressing the useless chatter when it is time to focus, beating the nicotine addiction, and learning to thrive in this area of my life. A spiritual goal for me is to utilize my strengths (attitude toward others, perspective on world, and relationship with God) and to incorporate them into my medical practice someday.
To foster growth in each aspect of health, I need to create and implement a strategy that is well-rounded and tailored to my specific health needs. The physical aspect has plenty of room for improvement. Running on the treadmill and participating in Yoga classes will help to improve my stamina and flexibility. Psychologically, I need to practice my meditation techniques. If I continue to practice, I can only get better. I need to train the mind to accomplish the goals that I have set for myself. Practicing the loving-kindness exercise regularly will ensure that my feelings of love and kindness are fresh. Visualization techniques are helpful as well, as they show us that our goals are obtainable. Spiritually, I would like to give more of my time to helping others. I think that volunteering yourself for the benefit of others is very healthy and satisfying to the inner self and spirit. I also want to attend church on a regular basis. These activities will foster growth in the spiritual aspect of my health.
Assessing progress may be a little difficult due to changes in attitude, perception, and standards that are associated with a health transformation. Therefore rating yourself on a scale of one to ten would not be as accurate. I feel that a more accurate way to assess improvement would be to list the aspects of health in order from strongest to weakest (both before and after assessment time period) and compare the results. This way, you can see if the weaker lengths have bypassed former stronger links, and you can identify the aspect that is lagging behind the most. Constant improvement is the key, but maintaining a healthy balance between all aspects is important too.
There are several things that I can do to assist myself in maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness. I think that developing a routine is essential so that the balance between aspects is maintained. Turning the practices into a habit is the key to maintaining the practice for a long time. It is hard to remember everything that needs to be done in order to maintain this balance. It would be helpful to designate a specific time period every week for working out, meditation, church, volunteering, etc, and keeping track of the events with a planner of some sort. I like using the calendar on my phone. I can set a calendar event for a specific time each week with an alarm so that I do not forget. When the events are planned out, there is a much higher possibility that it will get done.
A physical health goal for me is to stick to a workout routine that works for me, eat healthy, and maintain a healthy weight for the remainder of my life. Psychologically, I want to gain control over my negative mental behavior. This includes suppressing the useless chatter when it is time to focus, beating the nicotine addiction, and learning to thrive in this area of my life. A spiritual goal for me is to utilize my strengths (attitude toward others, perspective on world, and relationship with God) and to incorporate them into my medical practice someday.
To foster growth in each aspect of health, I need to create and implement a strategy that is well-rounded and tailored to my specific health needs. The physical aspect has plenty of room for improvement. Running on the treadmill and participating in Yoga classes will help to improve my stamina and flexibility. Psychologically, I need to practice my meditation techniques. If I continue to practice, I can only get better. I need to train the mind to accomplish the goals that I have set for myself. Practicing the loving-kindness exercise regularly will ensure that my feelings of love and kindness are fresh. Visualization techniques are helpful as well, as they show us that our goals are obtainable. Spiritually, I would like to give more of my time to helping others. I think that volunteering yourself for the benefit of others is very healthy and satisfying to the inner self and spirit. I also want to attend church on a regular basis. These activities will foster growth in the spiritual aspect of my health.
Assessing progress may be a little difficult due to changes in attitude, perception, and standards that are associated with a health transformation. Therefore rating yourself on a scale of one to ten would not be as accurate. I feel that a more accurate way to assess improvement would be to list the aspects of health in order from strongest to weakest (both before and after assessment time period) and compare the results. This way, you can see if the weaker lengths have bypassed former stronger links, and you can identify the aspect that is lagging behind the most. Constant improvement is the key, but maintaining a healthy balance between all aspects is important too.
There are several things that I can do to assist myself in maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness. I think that developing a routine is essential so that the balance between aspects is maintained. Turning the practices into a habit is the key to maintaining the practice for a long time. It is hard to remember everything that needs to be done in order to maintain this balance. It would be helpful to designate a specific time period every week for working out, meditation, church, volunteering, etc, and keeping track of the events with a planner of some sort. I like using the calendar on my phone. I can set a calendar event for a specific time each week with an alarm so that I do not forget. When the events are planned out, there is a much higher possibility that it will get done.
Mitch,
ReplyDeleteI like how you admit that you cannot control your decision making, but at the same time, that is the first step. It is so very important to make goals for yourself and it seems like you are on the right path. It is very important to keep track of your goals and live through them. Keeping track of practices is really the key to completing them! I wish you luck!
Hi Mitch,
ReplyDeleteI have a suggestion for you! I hope I can break it down in a logical statement. First, I have gained this knowledge that my mind is a powerful tool. Therefore, my next step is tapping into that strength. I also have an understanding that my mouth holds life and death in it so I only attempt to speak life. I make self confession, because I also believe that I am more driven by the words that come from my mouth than any other. Simply, I am commanding myself to say, do, act in a certain way. I line this up with visuals....seeing myself saying, doing, acting! If I am saying and seeing, what do you think is produced? What I am seeing and saying about me. As a child I said I was going to own a business and I saw myself running a business...I have since 1990. I am using the same thing now with my weight. I can tell you that since I started 5 weeks ago I have lost over 15 pounds.
Be Whole Mitch!
Carla
Mitch,
ReplyDeleteGreat final project. Straight to the point, and lots of your own opinion. Its nice to hear what people are think instead of always referring to an article or book. I had about the same lifestyle choices to maintain my long-term health and wellness routine. Church, meditation, exercise, and socializing. Its not hard to do, but a lot of people get lazy and that leads to an area in their life psychologically, spiritually and physically. Good job!