Unit 10

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?

In unit 3 I scored a 7 in physical well-being, a 7 in spiritual well-being, and an 8 in psychological well-being. I would say that I have made major improvements in my life scoring a 9 in physical well-being, an 8 in spiritual well-being, and a 9 in psychological well-being. They have changed because I have made adjustments in my life. I started to exercise daily increasing my workouts from 4 days a week to 7 days a week. I finally had my epidural and am no longer in pain except every now and then I get spasms. My spiritual well being is much better because I have focused on being positive and staying that way. I started my work out regiment and have been on track and getting back into shape. My psychological well-being is definitely better because I am more focused on making myself healthier and better for me.

2. Review the goals and activities you set for yourself in each area. Have you made progress toward the goals? Explain.

My goal in all areas is to be healthier, feel better about myself, and be happy. I have been logging the things I do in a journal entry. For example, I log the things I eat, my moods, and the things I did that day. In doing so, I can reflect on the things that need improvement so that I can reach my goals.

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

Yes, I have implemented activities in all areas. For example, I work out seven times a week, eat healthy, meditate at least twice a day, and go to church. I do things that make me happy and comfortable.

4. 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?

I definitely have improved my well being from this class because I have become a better person as well as a healthier person. I have learned to be more patient and not stress out about everything. It has been rewarding in the fact that I feel good about myself as well as improving my overall health. In the beginning it was difficult in meditating because my mind would tend to wander and I had trouble focusing on my meditation. This experience will improve my ability to assist others because I can tell them the benefits of these exercises and how it could improve their lives.



Heidi

Unit 9 Final Project

I 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 because they are the ones who will guide their clients in the same path. Health professionals can’t guide clients in a direction they want them to go if they themselves haven’t been there. It is important for health professionals to be well balanced and have a clear mind. Areas that I need to develop in achieving the goals that I want for myself are being able to meditate and really focus on my inner peace. Being able to connect my mind, body, and spirit is really important because it will help me achieve human flourishing. 

II Assessment:

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

I have assessed my health in each domain by seeing how far I have come and how much I have learned. I practice my meditations each day and have learned to reduce my stress levels and not get so worked up about things in life. I score my spiritual wellness at an 7, my physical wellness at a 7, and my psychological wellness at a 9. 

III Goal development:

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

One of the goals I have for myself in the physical area is to be more active than what I already am. Spiritually I need to meditate more in the morning, mid-afternoon, and before I go to sleep so that I can keep reducing my stress levels. I feel that in doing so I will be more calm and relaxed throughout the day. Psychologically I need to be at one with myself including my mind, spirit, and physical well-being. I need to focus on bettering myself and seeing the larger picture in my life. 

IV 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. 

Some of the strategies that I can implement to foster growth in each domain would be increase physical well being by exercising every day, eating healthy, and incorporate breathing exercises. Furthermore, meditating on a daily basis would help spiritual domain because it would decrease my stress levels, help me analyze situations first before reacting, and decrease my blood pressure. I can foster my growth psychologically by focusing on what I need to improve as a person as well as not letting things get to me and bother me. 

V 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 will assess my progress in the next six months by keeping a journal to track when I meditate and how I feel on a daily basis. Furthermore, keep a track of when I exercise and how I feel before and after I exercise. Also, keeping a track of my moods and the things I do to change my mood. 

Reference: 

Dacher, E. S.(2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications Inc.

Unit 8- Optimal Well-Being

Hello Everyone,

1. Review the exercises and practice sessions you have completed in this course. (Loving Kindness, Subtle mind, Visualization, meditation etc.) Choose two practices that you have determined to be most beneficial. How can you implement these practices in your personal life to foster “mental fitness”? Provide specific examples.


I feel that the two practices that have been most beneficial to me are Loving Kindness and Meditation. These two practices are most beneficial to me because I can focus on myself in becoming a better person. Meditation helps me relax, analyze situations, not become angered, and think things through. I can implement these practices into my personal life by meditating everyday and practice loving kindness to family, friends, co-workers, and people I have just met. I believe it is important to understand yourself as well as others. I also feel that before you can show loving kindness to others you have to show it to yourself first on the inside as well as the outside and in doing so meditation helps bring out the best in you.



Heidi

Unit 7- Current Trends and Research Supporting the Mind-Body-Spirit Paradigm

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?




Mindfulness has helped me become a better person both psychologically and spiritually but more spiritually. The exercises have been great and some conflicting because I don’t agree with a couple of them or I should say I don’t feel comfortable in doing some of them. Meditation has helped me become a more relaxed person as well as understanding. It has helped me analyze situations from a different point of view. For example, in the unit 7 exercise I did imagine seeing a wise person that I know and did connect with that person and analyze the individual however I did not participate in the part where it said to transform into that person because that is not something I believe in for religious reasons.



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?



The term, “One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” means you can’t tell people to do something or to try it out when you yourself haven’t done it. This applies to health and wellness professionals because how will you know the outcome of what they did when you have not done it yourself you won’t be able to lead your client this way. Yes, I do believe that you do have an obligation to your client in developing your own health psychologically, physically, and spiritually. How can you sell a product if you have not tried the product or how can you expect others to try your product when you yourself don’t live by it? I can implement psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life by keeping up with my prayers, meditations, breathing exercises, showing loving kindness, eating healthy and exercising.



Heidi Fuentes

Unit 6: Exercises for Mind-Body-Spirit Wellness and Healing

When I practiced the loving-kindness meditation I felt so comfortable and at ease with myself and those around me. Expressing loving-kindness to family, friends, and those around me showed me how I could help others and how it made them feel by simply seeing the expressions on their face as well as their reactions. Seeing them happy and having smiles on their face made me feel happier about myself because I know that for that moment I made it all about them. I feel that this meditation is great because it really gets you to open up to everyone around you and at the same time helps you heal. I feel that happiness heals the heart and livens up the soul. 

I felt that the integral assessment was a bit more challenging because it wants you to focus on several things however, I strongly feel that I need to work on my psychospiritual health and in doing so I would need to use the subtle mind exercise along with the loving-kindness exercise. I feel that using these two exercises will help me focus on my psychospiritual health on a higher level. 

Mental Fitness Unit 5

1.Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc. 

The difference between the loving-kindness exercise and subtle mind is that in loving-kindness you have to use your mind where the subtle mind exercises you get to to relax your mind as well as your body experiences including benefits and frustrations are trying to focus on my thoughts and actions can be difficult for me because my mind starts to wander. I did not  have trouble in expressing my love and kindness towards others and myself. According to Dacher through loving-kindness one matures through the mind. The subtle mind exercise was a bit more challenging for me as my thoughts started to wander. I didn't have any trouble in the loving kindness exercise because I felt better once I was finished doing the exercise.

2. Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

The connection between spiritual, mental, and physical wellness is that they all lead to integral health also known as holistic health, happiness, and wholeness. In order to achieve health, happiness, and wholeness we need to mentally focus on calm-abiding consciousness as well unity consciousness.
I feel that I am able to connect the spiritual, physical, and mental wellness into my persona life by praying, meditating, and understanding the feelings of others.

Unit 4: The Mind-Body-Spirit Paradigm Blog

1. Describe your experience. (Did you find it beneficial? Difficult?) Why or Why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or Why not? 

I found this exercise to be beneficial as it was relaxing and calming. Focusing on the sound was so peaceful and felt a form of serenity when taking deep breaths. The words helped you meditate and focus on yourself. The only area I did not agree with was taking in the pain from those of the ones I love. I feel that working on yourself is a good start and have the ones you love do the exercise so they can work on themselves is a better idea. This exercise minus the part of taking in the pain of others would bring love and wholeness to your true inner self. I would definitely recommend this exercise to others as it would also help them relax and find true peace within themselves. 

1. What is the concept of “Mental Workout? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a Mental Work Out? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health? 

The concept of “Mental Workout” is to train the mind so that the mind can work at a higher level of consciousness. By training our minds we become better people in showing love, kindness, and consciousness. I can implement mental workouts to foster my psychological health by staying positive and analyzing situations before coming to conclusions as well as doing the meditation and breathing exercises.