Introduction:
It is important for a health and wellness professional to develop the psychological, spiritual and physical aspects of his life with the ultimate goal of human flourishing. He cannot teach or lead a client toward integral health and health practices, if he does not appreciate what it has done for his own life. Following these practices can also bring challenges that need to be experienced before a person can really teach anyone else how to meet them. I also think the health and wellness professional needs to be as healthy in all aspects of his life as possible, so that he can personally show the client through his actions and well-being how much these changes can enhance all aspects of a person’s life. And, most people do not appreciate someone telling them to “do as I say, not as I do.” Actions really do speak louder than words.
In order to achieve goals that I have set for myself, I will have to develop some aspect of each of the physical, spiritual and psychological domains. There is not one area that I can truly say is close to the ultimate goal of human flourishing, even though the physical domain seems to be developing more than the spiritual and psychological domains.
Assessment: I have assessed my health in each domain by looking at each area to see where I am experiencing positive feedback in relationship to my health, and where I am experiencing dis’ease or other health problems. Spiritually, I score my wellness at a 5. At first I thought it was higher, but I now realize that I have not put any contemplative practices into my life and am definitely still living in my outer most world. Physically, I would say that I am a 6 even though I have a lot of work to do to continue my recovery from reconstructive surgery on my ankle. Psychologically, right now I would say I am a 4. I have had a lot of stress in the form of chronic pain, and juggling my work schedule, classes and physical therapy treatments. I am definitely much more reactive than intentional, and it shows by the high anxiety levels that I am experiencing.
Goal development:
I have two goals that I want to set in the physical domain. Both have to do with my recovery from surgery. My doctor would like me to lose weight to reduce the stress on my ankle. The other goal would be to strengthen my ankle, so that I can eventually do my job and exercise without pain or the use of pain medication.
I have two goals that I want to set in the physical domain. Both have to do with my recovery from surgery. My doctor would like me to lose weight to reduce the stress on my ankle. The other goal would be to strengthen my ankle, so that I can eventually do my job and exercise without pain or the use of pain medication.
I have two psychological goals. I want to be able to relieve the anxiety that stress is bringing into my life and become less reactive to situations.
Spiritually, I would like to be able to move from my current outer life with constant distractions and “chatter” to a calm and quiet inner life.
Practices for personal health:
The following are strategies to reach my two physical domain goals. In order to lose weight, I am changing my eating habits with the help of a physical trainer who is employed by the college where I work. She told me that she would sit down with me and develop and outline a personal eating plan looking at calories and food choices. As soon as I get the okay from my physician, I will begin to exercise at my lunch hour through basketball games with my co-workers to help with weight loss. If I strengthen my ankle, so that I can do activities to include my job without pain or medication, I know that a lot of the stress in my life will ease. I will do this by continuing with my physical therapy treatments three times a week and working with my yoga instructor at least once a week. The yoga instructor is already giving me exercises to help me stretch, strengthen and flex my ankle.
The following are strategies to reach my two physical domain goals. In order to lose weight, I am changing my eating habits with the help of a physical trainer who is employed by the college where I work. She told me that she would sit down with me and develop and outline a personal eating plan looking at calories and food choices. As soon as I get the okay from my physician, I will begin to exercise at my lunch hour through basketball games with my co-workers to help with weight loss. If I strengthen my ankle, so that I can do activities to include my job without pain or medication, I know that a lot of the stress in my life will ease. I will do this by continuing with my physical therapy treatments three times a week and working with my yoga instructor at least once a week. The yoga instructor is already giving me exercises to help me stretch, strengthen and flex my ankle.
If I can begin to develop my spiritual domain, I know that it will also positively affect my physical and psychological domains. I will begin by going to a site that was recommended in our book by Elliott Dacher. The site is The Shambhala Centers at www.Shambhala.org. They have videos and exercises on the site that can help the beginner start meditation. After I go through these exercises, I will begin a daily routine of contemplative practices to include Loving-Kindness and Asclepius (the inner healer). I will start with only 10 minutes in the morning before work and 10 minutes in the evening before I go to bed. I will practice Loving-Kindness in the morning and Asclepius in the evening. I think that the Asclepius exercise in the evening will help me to relax and sleep better at night in addition to bringing a healing presence in my life. As I become more comfortable with these practices, I will increase them. I will also get some input from a holistic practitioner that I work with, so that she can give me support and suggestions on how to stay on track.
My psychological goals are to relieve the anxiety that stress is bringing into my life and to become less emotionally reactive to situations. I will already be working with my yoga instructor to help with the goals in my physical domain. She told me that she will also teach me relaxation techniques through yoga practices. During the two breaks that I have at work each day, I will practice these relaxation techniques. I know that the contemplative practices that I am adding to my life for my spiritual domain will also help me be less reactive; however, I will also practice deep breathing each day that my holistic practitioner suggested. This practice can take a person out of the present into a relaxing and rhythmic state of being, reducing or negating stress.
Commitment:
I will assess my progress or lack thereof within the next six months through the use of a journal and a wellness chart. Each day or at least every other day, I will journal and look at each area noting progression, a plateau or regression. I feel that this will help me to be aware of any changes that are happening in my life. The wellness chart will help me to focus on my goals. I will make a chart for each month with my goals written at the top of the chart color coded to indicate physical, social and psychological domains. The rest of the chart will be a calendar of that month with enough space in each day block to make a notation for each domain by putting a check in the code color on the calendar to show whether or not I have worked on my goal that day through the activity I chose. If I see too many blanks in a week, I’ll know that I am not staying committed to a specific part of my plan. This will also work in a constructive way, in that it will give me positive feedback, if each day has an activity or practice notation for each domain. I can also evaluate my progress by the changes that I am experiencing in my overall health.
I will assess my progress or lack thereof within the next six months through the use of a journal and a wellness chart. Each day or at least every other day, I will journal and look at each area noting progression, a plateau or regression. I feel that this will help me to be aware of any changes that are happening in my life. The wellness chart will help me to focus on my goals. I will make a chart for each month with my goals written at the top of the chart color coded to indicate physical, social and psychological domains. The rest of the chart will be a calendar of that month with enough space in each day block to make a notation for each domain by putting a check in the code color on the calendar to show whether or not I have worked on my goal that day through the activity I chose. If I see too many blanks in a week, I’ll know that I am not staying committed to a specific part of my plan. This will also work in a constructive way, in that it will give me positive feedback, if each day has an activity or practice notation for each domain. I can also evaluate my progress by the changes that I am experiencing in my overall health.
Hello.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you have some very good goals that should be easy to follow. I really like that you stated that" actions speak louder tahn words", this is so true.
Going through a recovery program is never easy. It takes a lot of determination and hard work but I think you have a clear plan and will do well. The website and personal trainer sound like great ways to get you on the track. I struggle with anxiety as well. It is easy to be reactive to all the stress in life but after a lot of practice I think we will be able to develop that "witnessing mind" that Dacher wrote about. Good luck on your journey and good job on your paper.
ReplyDelete~Amy Summey