My final Project

Introduction

It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically.  Professionals in this field must be as healthy in these areas as they possibly can.  They benefit personally from being all-around-healthy, and they gain first-hand knowledge of the battle their clients face.

There are many options to become healthier in the three mentioned areas.  Clients may suffer in one or all areas when they come to a professional for help.  A patient with psychological issues would benefit from the personal experience of professional who really knew the path of their treatment.  It is the empathy that is missing in the healthcare industry as a whole.  

The caregiver’s spirituality will not necessarily be pushed upon the client.  A spiritual Christian is able to see the need for religion, regardless of the branch of religion, to make a person’s life more fulfilling.   The same can be said for Muslims, Buddhists, Native Americans, and others with a firsthand experience of the positive power of belief.

The physical health of a caregiver gives them more physical stamina to perform their job.  A strong immune system and healthy body gives us a stable platform to perform well as caregivers.  It is difficult for a client to take weight loss advice from an obese professional.  The image of physical health is still seen as the hallmark of a healthy individual.

Personally I need to develop my spirituality to become a more spiritual person.  I realize the benefit of a strong sense of faith, but I haven’t devoted the time to it I should.  We have been attending church weekly for almost three years, and I love being there.  I rebelled in my youth against religion, and did not realize the sense of calm that can wash over you with sim0le faith.

I also need to study other religions in greater detail.  I enjoy religious study with a historical perspective, and have taken college classes in Biblical study for a previous degree.  Understanding the main tenants of other religions can help me to steer clients in the right direction, and not to inadvertently offend them with misinformation.  

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Assessment

I have been reviewing my health in the three categories:  spiritual, physical, and psychological.  Even though my assessment may be different than an outside opinion I believe I can make a fairly honest assessment.  I have rated my wellness in each category on a scale between 1 and 10 with 1 being poor and 10 being excellent.

I would rate my spiritual wellness as a 6 currently.  There is a lot of room for improvement, and I haven’t decided on a path as of yet.  I realize there is so much to learn about my religion, but I do not know where to begin.  Before we started attending church regularly I would have rated myself at a 7 or 8.  This was because I was determined to be fine without it, and did not see a need for organized religion.  My perspective was way off, and I see now that being misguided can make you misjudge yourself.  I am happier now with a 6 because I recognize and desire the improvement needed.

My physical assessment is extremely good.  Out of 10 I would rate it as an 8 any day of the week.  I run marathons, mountain bike, spin, life weights, and dance on a very regular basis.  I am a vegetarian as well, and I grow many of my own vegetables.  I do not eat dairy due to allergies.  I do not drink caffeine, smoke, or drink alcohol.  I have not had a stomach bug or a virus for several years. 

My psychological assessment is about 7 out of 10.  I have been in the military for the last 15 years, and have developed stress management skills over the years.  We have a very intricate job and we must think quickly at difficult times.  I do have problems I discovered with slowing my mind down.  This was very evident with the meditation exercises I attempted during this course. 

Goal Development

            The goals I have for the three areas are both short-term and long-term.  I attempted to define goals that would give me the ability to build off them in the future.  I recognize that there are no quick fixes to making myself truly healthy according to the whole person concept.

Physical goals are the easiest for me to define.  We stress fitness in the military above any other aspect of our health.  My goals have changed over the years with advancing age.  Short-term my goal is to incorporate stretching and yoga into my routine.  I tend to skip these types of movements because they are uninteresting. 

When I was younger it was much easier to recover from races, over-lifting, and straining muscles.  I did not develop good habits like stretching then, and am now reaping what I sowed.  I have several yoga DVD’s I can do at any time to improve my flexibility.  Developing a fitness plan that also focuses on maintenance is key to being physically active in the long term.

Psychological goals are easier to define after this course.  I realize I need to take time each day to slow down, reflect, and relax.  I did not realize that I had a hard time making my brain ‘turn off’ each day.  It affects my sleep, and I suffer daily from exhaustion.   I have been trying the exercises (guided meditations) from this course to increase my concentration.

Long-term I would like to attend mediation classes at our local Buddhist monastery.  They have thriving classes on meditation weekly, and offer additional study.   It is not something I can fit into my schedule at the moment, but I will find time in the next year to begin.  It is a goal I have been thinking about for the last five years.

My spiritual goals are difficult to define.  I desire to know the Lord, but this is in itself a mystery.  I have been talking with my Priest lately about getting more involved in our Church.  I am part of the hospitality board, and will be reaching out to new members.  To prepare I have ordered several books on our religion, and I signed up for interfaith training.

Practices for Personal Health

The strategies to foster growth in the three domains mentioned (physical, psychological, and spiritual) are almost limitless.  Depending on what kind of lifestyle you have you can choose from a broad array of practices to better your life.  I will list two exercises or practices per domain as examples of how to grow that aspect of yourself.

            Improving your diet is a great way to improve your physical being.  Your body only runs as well as the fuel you put into it.  Switching to a low fat, low meat, low dairy diet will do wonders for your health.  Lowering intake of animal products will reduce many diseases including cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease (causes heart attacks), cardiovascular disease and obviously obesity (webnd.com).

            Another way to improve your physical health is to develop and maintain an active lifestyle.  Exercise reduces body fat, released endorphins, and strengthens muscle.  You could walk more, train for a 5k, lift light weights, or start a fitness group with friends. 

            Improving psychological health is easily explained as training your brain to become stronger or train your mind to calm down.  There are easy ways to do both, and they can be done alone at any time.

            You can sharpen your mind with websites designed to strengthen different parts of your brain.  They have games, memory exercises, and training to make your brain work better.  These sites are good for teens, adults, and the elderly.  They are easy to use for all ages (postitscience.com).

            Meditation is a great way to take control of your overactive mind.  Elliott Dacher has a beautiful quote regarding this type of exercise for you mind.  It reads:

There is an essential distinction between meditation taught as a relaxation technique and its traditional use as a path of self-inquiry leading to the expansion of consciousness and authentic compassion. Understood and utilized in this manner it becomes a time-tested practice which returns us to the center of our being. It is there that we discover the truth of life, the goodness of heart, and the beauty of existence (Dacher, Elliott).

            Developing the ability to quiet your mind to study yourself is a real skill that takes time to develop.  This ability lets you quiet your thoughts to study your thoughts, study your state of mind on an issue, and determine what is making you nervous in your life.  The modern world makes it very difficult to learn this kind of discipline.  It requires us to not multitask, but single task. 

            Developing your spiritual health can be done with a group of people or alone.  Group study is a great way to expand your understanding of the religion of your choice.  Studying scriptures (Christian, Islam, Jewish, Buddhist) is often difficult to do alone.  An expert leading the discussion makes deciphering the text easier. The fellowship had been linked to stronger communities, strong marriages, and well-behaved children (heritage.org).

            Another great way to strengthen your spiritual health is to take formal classes on religion.  Developing a strong understanding on the history of your faith, its’ traditions, and the information behind how your religion was shaped throughout history makes you more connected to your faith.  It is very emotional to understand what happened during Communion, for example, when the host is transformed. 

Commitment

I will assess my progress over the next six months in several ways depending on the aspect of my health.  I am used to tracking my physical health on a daily basis with apps, a tape measure, and a scale.  It is a little obsessive compulsive, but the military makes it easy to get that way. 

I have plan on training for my first ultra-marathon this Fall. This will require a whole new level of focus on nutrition, muscle fatigue, and proper training.  The website I have always used to train for distance races has kept me from getting injured is www.halhigdon.com.  The distance I am training for isn’t on this site, and I will have to graduate to the training program on www.irunfar.com. 

I will track my psychological development over the next six months with a meditation diary.  The Dacher method of using it for a deeper understanding of oneself is my goal.  I hope to learn what makes me calm down, and what I can do to become a more focused person.  I can document my meditation practices, how well they worked, and what I learned from each experience. 

Tracking my spiritual progress over the next six months will be based on how well I understand the modern Episcopal Church, Christianity, and my relationship with Jesus Christ.  I have so much to learn, and I can write down questions that I will find the answers to soon.  Tracking those answers will show me how well I am focusing, and understanding my spiritual development.

Maintaining my long-term practices will be easy once they become part of my lifestyle.  The physical aspect is already ingrained to my core.  Psychological strategies should be easy since we love mind games in my family.  We play mental acuity games, and love to play ‘stump the dummy’. 

I will have a harder time maintaining my meditation long-term.  I am not naturally prone to sitting still, and letting my mind quiet.  This will take dedication to make a dent in my problem with being overly active.  I really want to develop this aspect of my personal health because it is obviously lacking.

Developing my spiritual health long-term will be inevitable.  I am developing a thirst to really know the Lord.  It may be age, experiences while deployed overseas, or a inner longing that makes me feel that way.  I know that I am happy reading scripture, understanding the meaning, and wondering about more.  This will be a lifetime of study. 

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Conclusion

This was a brief paper on integral health as it applies to me life.  There are three parts of the plan to make you truly healthy.  Physical, psychological, and spiritual development are key to making you a completely healthy person.  Taking this course has made me aware of the importance of all three.

Dr. Elliott Dacher was featured heavily, and has really given me a lot to think about.  The use of meditation to determine what you are lacking, what you desire, and what you really feel is not something I was familiar with.  Focusing on the whole person was also something I often ignored in favor of focusing on physical health.  

The development of these three aspects of my health will really make me a healthy person inside and out.  A strong spiritual framework for my life will make dealing with difficult events easier.  The happy times will be better, and blessing can be celebrated.  



I commented on two wonderful final projects from these two blogs:
http://thequeensdomain.blogspot.com/2013/05/unit-9-final-project.html?showComment=1369094764927#c289375086150236775

http://thechaoticlifeofmrsrogers.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2014-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=10