The Final Evaluation

After reviewing my Unit 3 personal assessment of my psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being I think it is pretty close to the same.  Unit three I rated myself a 7 on physical well-being and I would have to say I am an 8 now because I have made some improvements in this area.  I stated in my Unit 3 assessment that I was lacking adequate physical activity, but in the last two weeks I have been attending hour long Zumba classes two to three times a week.  I am working towards getting myself physically fit.  In Unit 3 I rated myself an 8 when it comes to my spiritual well-being and this has not changed between then and now.  I have not changed any aspects of my life in this area.  In Unit 3 I gave myself and 8 when it comes to psychological well-being and this has not changed either.  I am still working on driving away the negative thoughts from my mind and building a stronger self-esteem. 

A goal I set for myself in the Unit 3 assessment was to exercise more regularly and I have made progress in this area by attending Zumba classes a couple times a week.  As far as attending church more or talking to a professional about my thoughts and feelings I have not done either one of these things. 

As far as activities go I suggested in Unit 3 that I set aside at least thirty minutes a day three times a week to take a walk.  I have set thirty minutes aside three times a week, but instead of taking walks I have been attending hour long Zumba classes.  I would say that is an accomplishment in this area.  Another activity that I suggested in Unit 3 was to work with my three year old son and his behavior so we could attend church regularly as a family.  I can honestly say I am always working on my son’s behavior and teaching him to be a kind and respectful little boy especially when we are in public.  However I cannot say I have taken him to church recently to see if he can behave during that time any better now than he did when I tried last time during Unit 3.  When it comes to my psychological well-being I suggested in Unit 3 that I could sit down and talk with someone about my thoughts and feelings to help me clear my head and I suggested I find time for myself to decompress and recharge my battery.  Since Unit 3 I have been talking to my Mom more about my thoughts and feelings which have helped me to clear my head and feel like I am being heard and understood.  Participating in Zumba has helped me to decompress and recharge my battery because it allows me to do something I want to do and I enjoy doing it and I always feel better after my Zumba class. 

This class has been a growing experience for me.  In the last ten weeks I have learned to understand others better and more importantly I have learned to understand myself better.  In addition I have learned new exercises that I can partake in that will help me further my health and wellness to the next level.  Some of the guided exercises were hard for me because for one reason or another I could not get into it and let my mind and body relax enough to follow the prompts.  This experience will improve my ability to assist others because I was introduced to new methods that I can forward on to others.  Just because something didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else.  I think one important factor for any health and wellness professional is to understand that everyone is different and a method that works for one person may not work for another.  It is important to have access to many different exercises and methods to pass on to your clients to be a successful health and wellness professional.

Unit 9 Final Project

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 they can gain credibility with their patients.  If a health and wellness professional can’t walk the talk they preach they will not be known as being very credible.  Health and wellness professionals also gain the inner knowledge of the joys and challenges involved when trying to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically.  If a health and wellness professional has been where there patient is and knows firsthand the challenges they are facing they can better identify with their patient and help them conquer and grow beyond their obstacles.  If a patient feels that their health and wellness professional is compassionate and can identify personally with the challenges they are facing they are more likely to comply with the ideas and advice given to them resulting in both a win-win for both the client and professional.  

In order for me to develop personally and achieve goals I have set for myself I need to learn not to be so compassionate and do more acts of loving kindness.  Sometimes I can be so compassionate towards others that I let my feelings get in the way and affect the decisions I make.  If a person tells me about an extremely difficult personal situation they are going through I have a hard time not putting myself out on the line to do everything I can for them.  As a health and wellness professional I have to learn that there is a time and place for feelings, and I cannot let them get the best of me and become my weakness.  In addition I need to learn to make a conscious effort to think of others beside myself and do acts of kindness towards them.  I can at times get so caught up in my own life that I tend to forget about others.  I concentrate on what is going on in my own life and the life of my immediate family and tend to forget that there are others in the world that is a lot worse off than I and there are things I can do to help them out.

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 by looking at my mind, body and spirit and recognizing that each one of them are separate pieces of a puzzle that come together to form a whole puzzle and that puzzle is me.  I score my wellness on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest score.  I give my spiritually a score of 7, physically I score myself a 6, and psychologically I score myself an 8.

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

I have many goals for myself and they are always changing and evolving.  As soon as I reach one goal I set and strive for a new one.  It keeps things interesting and gives me something to look forward to and strive towards.  A current goal I have for myself physically is taking on the challenging of exercising more and getting myself in better physical shape.  In the psychological department my goal is to develop a higher self-esteem and self-worth.  I need to work on believing in myself more and not doubting myself.  I have negative inner thoughts that I let get in the way of me being self-confident at times.  Spiritually my goal is to go to church more often and make my religion a higher priority in my life.  I always find when I attend to church regularly I always feel better about myself and have a more positive outlook on life.

Practice 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.

Physically I can schedule time on my calendar to exercise more often.  I could also find a partner to exercise with.  If I had an exercise partner it would make me more accountable because I would have to answer to someone else besides myself.  The first step in making this happen is I need to find a gym or place to take exercise classes that provide childcare.  I often times use the excuse that I don’t have someone to watch my children when I want to exercise as a reason that I can’t exercise. 

Psychologically I can practice meditation and positive self-talk.  Each morning when I get up I can get in the routine of looking in the mirror and stating three positive things about myself and repeating each one of those things three times out loud to myself.  This would help quiet the negative inner thoughts that tend to pop up throughout the day.  I could also take the time at the end of the day to meditate.  By using meditation I could clear my mind and cleanse it of all the unhealthy thoughts and problems that tend to clog my mind throughout the day.  The use of meditation would help me get back to the basics and develop a stronger mind.

Spiritually I can pray each night before I go to bed and attend church every Sunday.   I could get in the habit of going to bed 10 to 15 minutes earlier to allow time for me to pray at night before I go to bed.  By praying every night it would make me stop and think about all the wonderful things in life I am blessed with and it would allow me to pray for others who are in need or less fortunate than myself.  In regards to going to church I could make it a known fact to my family and friends that every Sunday morning at “x” time we will be at church so we will be unable to do anything during that time every week.  I think it would be easier to pick one mass time on Sunday and make that the one mass we always go to.  My husband and kids would do better if I just told them that we are going to church every Sunday at “x” time versus giving them a choice, because if I gave them a choice they would always find other things to do and not want to go to church.  The act of going to church every weekend would allow me to be an active part of my church community and get that one hour of quiet time a week to collect my thoughts and feel at one with my spiritual self again.

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?

Over the next six months I will assess my progress or lack of progress by taking another self-assessment of myself in all areas to include Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual.  I will look at what my goals were six months ago in each area and see if I have achieved any of those goals.  Some things I can do to assist in maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness are make a calendar with short term goals, do a self-assessment from time to time, reward myself for small goals, and make myself accountable.  The first thing I can do is make a calendar with some short term goals on it that will lead me to my long term goals.  At times goals can seem so big and can overwhelm us that we just want to give up before we even get started.  I could also do a self-assessment every couple months to see if I am on track to reaching my long term goals.  If I stop and take a honest look at myself and where I am on the path to achieving my goals from time to time it could keep me focused and on track.  In addition I could reward myself by buying a new piece of clothing or going out for dinner at my favorite restaurant when I reach one of my small goals.  This would make me feel accomplished and make me want to continue to work hard to achieve the rest of my goals.  Lastly I think it’s important to hold myself accountable by acknowledging that only I have the power to achieve or not achieve my goals.  I need to know and always remember that it is up to me and I can’t take the easy way out by blaming other people or life’s circumstances of getting in the way of achieving my goals.  I must always have a positive attitude and make the best of every situation and have my eye on the prize and that is achieving a life of integral health. 

Unit 8 Blog

The two practices that have been most beneficial to me are the Subtle Mind and the Loving Kindness practice.  I liked the subtle mind practice because I found it very easy to do because I didn’t have to try and imagine anything all I had to do was focus on my thoughts and my breathing.  This practice was very effortless for me and it could be modified to fit into any amount of time I have available during the day.  For example I could do this exercise during my lunch break before I have to head back to work to finish the remainder of my day.  When I work all day and have a challenging morning I find it beneficial to do this during my lunch break because it helps me to clear my mind and prepare myself to deal with any situations that may arise in the afternoon.

I liked the Loving Kindness practice because it made me stop and think about other people who are important to me and think about other people who are struggling and may be less fortunate than me.  I will be honest sometimes I can get so wrapped up in my personal life and the life of my husband and kids that I forget about others.  I find the Loving Kindness practice helps keep me stay grounded and it humbles me.  I think I am a very compassionate person, but at times I need to be reminded to turn outside of my own inner circle and help others who are in need. I can help others by volunteering in a soup kitchen and participating in food drives and other activities meant to benefit people who are in need. 

Unit 7 Thoughts and reflections

The wisest person I have ever known was an older lady who used to babysit my brother and me when I was a young child.  At the time she was an 86 years old and she lived down the street from me.  My parents both worked full time jobs and needed someone to watch us about an hour before school and an hour or two after school.  This lady was a widower and lived by herself in a house down the street from us.  I thought of her when I did the Meeting Aesclepius exercise.  The exercise made me think of her and realize what an impact she had on my life.  At the time I was a young child and didn’t really value her as much as I should have.  Now that I’m an adult I can look back at my life and realize what a positive effect she had on my life and what a valuable role she played in my life.  I really learned a lot from her. 

I personally don’t tend to use meditation regularly in my life.  I have two young children and I can’t find the time to have any alone time to even exercise my body let alone my mind.  I have a three year old son and a six year old daughter and they are glued to me all the time, especially my three year old son.  If I am even out of their sight for two minutes they are looking for me and wondering where I went.  When the kids go to bed at night it is homework time then time to get things ready for the next day, shower then off to bed.  I think if I did actually have time to meditate I would have a clearer mind and be less stressed out.  Maybe one day I will have the time to meditate regularly.

To me the saying “One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” means you have to practice what you preach.  A health and wellness professional that is going to be in the teaching or coaching role must have an open mind and be willing to accept and try many different things to see what works and what doesn’t.  Also health and wellness professionals have the responsibility to keep up with current trends and know what the latest and greatest methods are out there.  Things in the healthcare field are always changing and we must keep on top of them.  Yes I think health care professionals have the obligation to their clients to develop their health psychologically, physically, and spiritually.  I think that everyone especially healthcare professionals should always be moving forwarding and continually developing their life, health, and happiness.  Healthcare professionals have all the info at their fingertips so why not use it to benefit themselves both personally and professionally. 

Unit 6 Personal Experiences

Overall I think of myself as a very caring, compassionate, giving person and I enjoyed the universal Loving Kindness exercise, because it actually made me take time out of my day and consciously think of other people and how I can help others.  Sometimes life gets too hectic and I find myself constantly playing catch up that I forget to think of others outside of my own little family (my husband and two kids).  I am really close with my Mom and I talk to her almost every day to see how things are with her and the rest of the family, but outside of that I get caught up in my own personal things and forget others at times.  This exercise allowed me to expand my mind outward and think of others.

When I did the Integral Assessment exercise I chose to focus on growth and development in my job.  I recently changed jobs and I got a new job that I thought was better than the one I had and now I’m sorry to say I was wrong.  I do not like my new job at all and I am now looking to find another job.  I am so frustrated with myself for changing jobs.  However I look back and I thought I was doing the right thing in the moment when I took on this new job.  I like the job itself, but I do not care for the people I work with.  I can get along with everyone so that isn’t the problem.  Let’s just say I hold myself and my work standards to a certain level and this office I’m working in does not require their employees to hold themselves to the same level as I do and it’s very frustrating.   I am now spending my extra time looking for a new job and I am so mad at myself because I do not want to be the type of person that keeps moving from job to job, but I also think life is too short to be working a job that I do not enjoy going to.

Some exercises I can do to foster greater wellness in this area is keep focusing on what I need to do and keep asking myself what else I can do personally to make this situation better.  I can also have a positive mind about the situation and not beat myself up over this decision I made that turned out not to be a good one.  I just have to remind myself that things happen for a reason and sometimes doors close and new doors open.  I just have to tell myself to be patient and something good will come out of all of this and if nothing else this has been a learning experience.

Comparing Subtle Mind vs Loving Kindness

Personally I think I enjoyed and benefited more from the subtle mind exercise.  I enjoyed listening to the water and the exercise made me feel relaxed and brought a calming emotion over me.  I did have a bit of a problem keeping my mind focused because I thought there was too big of a gap between the person giving us directions on what to do next.  Overall though I thought this exercise was easy to do and I felt better when I completed the exercise.

When I did the Loving Kindness exercise I found the instructors voice to be annoying and for some reason I got frustrated with that exercise and wasn’t able to complete it.  I don’t know if I was just feeling anxious at that time in my life and I wasn’t able to relax and let go, but I know it didn’t work for me.  My mind kept wandering and I was thinking negative thoughts and just couldn’t wait for the exercise to be over.

I think there is a big connection of spiritual wellness to my mental and physical wellness.  If I am at peace and in good health in the spiritual aspect of my life it allows me to be at peace in the rest of my life to include my mental and physical well-being.  Personally I find if I attend church regularly and take an active role in my church by volunteering in church I feel better about myself and I feel a deeper calmness and peacefulness deep inside.  I feel fulfilled because I feel I am doing something to help others and it makes me feel good about myself.  In order for me to be at the top of my game and have optimal health I have to have balance in all aspects of my life to include my mind, body, and spirit.  If even one area of my life is “off” I will not be at the top of my game and therefor will not be in the best health that I could possibly be in.

Unit 4 Blog

Hello,

I found this experience very relaxing and beneficial.  The lady’s voice was pleasant and she spoke clearly and was easy to understand.  The lady’s directions were easy to follow.  The crashing waves was kind of relaxing, but I also found them kind of annoying after a while.  I will say that my mind kind of wandered away from time to time.  I found myself thinking of other things.  I think there was a little much time between one set of directions to the next.  I know this was done on purpose, but like I said my mind tended to wander.  I would recommend that others try this exercise, but I know that this type of relaxation is not for everyone.  I am always open to new things and new ideas so I would suggest that others try this and if it isnt’ for them that is fine they can perhaps find another method that works for them.

The concept of “mental workout” is making your mind work by putting it through exercises to open and stretch the mind beyond its current capacity.    Mental workouts help us concentrate and help us rid ourselves of egoism, and achieve higher goals, which opens our minds to the truth and wisdom of our human existence.  Mental workouts help us get on the path to Human Flourishing.

Taking My Self Inventory

If I would reflect on my own physical well being I would have to give myself a 7 because after years of being overweight I have lost over a 100lbs and am now within normal weight limits with a healthy BMI and off all my medications for hypertension and high cholesterol that I used to take.  When I go and get all my blood work drawn for routine tests to check my cholesterol, glucose, and vitamin levels I fall within the normal limits.  The one thing I'm lacking when it comes to my physical well being is the physical aspect of it.  I do not consider myself physically fit.  When it comes to my spiritual well being I would give myself an 8 because I consider myself a spiritual person, on a personal level I pray, believe in God and celebrate all religious holidays and days of observation.  The reason I don't give myself a 10 in this category is because I could attend church more regularly and be more active in my church.  Lastly when it comes to my psychological well being I would give myself an 8 because I think I'm a pretty well put together person with rational thoughts and feelings, but I know I have some negative inner thoughts about myself that I could benefit from talking to someone about to help me feel more at peace with myself.

Some goals I could set for myself in the area of my physical well being is exercise regularly.  When it comes to my spiritual well being I could make a bigger effort to attend church more regularly.  Lastly when it comes to my psychological well being I could find someone on a professional or personal level that I can talk to about my thoughts and feelings. 

Activities I could do to implement moving toward each of my goals in each area of my life are I could set aside at least thirty minutes a day three times a week to take a walk around the block to benefit me in both the physical and spiritual aspects of my life.  This would allow me to exercise and clear my mind.  When it comes to my spiritual well being I always use my three year old son and his behavior during church as an excuse not to go because I feel I'm always watching and correcting his behavior during church and that I'm not fully able to participate or enjoy church.  I could work harder with my son to help him understand he needs to be good or come up with some sort of reward system to make him behave during church.  Right now I will admit I have been lazy and it's just been easier for me not to go and not deal with his behavior.  If my son's behavior doesn't improve I could also arrangements for my husband to stay home with my son while my daughter and I attend church and hope with time my son will realize he needs to straighten up so he too can go to church.  When it comes to my psychological well being I could make time to sit down and talk with someone about my thoughts and feelings to help clear my head.  Also as mentioned above I can make time to exercise to vent my frustrations and clear my head.  Also I can find time for myself to decompress and recharge my battery and help me deal with life and all of life's events that come up.

I completed the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century and I personally found the guy's voice really annoying, but once I got over that I learned to concentrate and follow his directions.  I liked this exercise and how it used different colors to represent certain feelings.  I also liked the visualization of light aspect and focusing my thoughts and imagination on visualizing the light beam as suggested.  Overall I found this exercise beneficial. 

Thanks,
Kelly Kearns

My thoughts on "Journey On"

Hello,

The guided meditation did not do much for me to be honest with you.  I find it very hard to sit down and be comfortable enough to totally let go and let a complete stranger's voice take me to a place of complete relaxation.  In reality I think I am a bit of a control freak, which does not allow me to fully relax and be guided to a place unknown.  In an exercise such as this I want to know ahead of time what we are doing and what the point of the exercise is.  I don't do well by being told to just sit down and listen to this and follow the directions.  I can't fully let my self go and make my thoughts stay focused on the task at hand.  I find my thoughts constantly wandering to other things and wondering what the purpose of this whole thing is.

I live a very busy lifestyle and I would rather relax by participating in an activity that I find enjoyable such as talking on the phone to a friend, watching TV, reading a book, or taking a walk.  The music and meditation method does not seem to work for me on a personal level.

Thanks,
Kelly Kearns

A Little About Me

Hello everyone!  My name is Kelly and I just had a birthday this month and turned 32.  I have been married to my wonderful husband for 12 years and we have two children Paige who is 6 years old and Ian who is 3 years old.  We also have two dogs Max and Kona.  Max is a Jack Russel Mix and Kona is an English Bulldog.  I married my husband when I was 19yrs old and he was 21yrs old and in the US Navy.  He was in the Navy for the first 7 years of our marriage and we lived in a variety of places to include Hawaii and Australia.  My husband go out of the Navy in 2007 and he got a job as a civilian working at an Air Force Base close to where we both grew up in Ohio.  We moved back to Ohio in 2007 and have lived here close to both of our families since 2007.  I dropped out of college at age 19 to move to Hawaii and get married so in 2009 after the birth of our son I decided to go back to school.  I went to school when our son was 4 months old and attended school three nights a week for two years at our local college to get my Associates Degree of Applied Science in Medical Assisting.  I graduated with that degree on July 1, 2011 and I attended my brother's graduation in Chicago from Kaplan University in August 2011 (a month after my graduation) and decided that I wanted to continue my education.  I signed up and started attending classes here at Kaplan in September of 2011 and have been attending full time since then.  I am projected to finish my Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness next summer (2013).  I have been going to school eight months already and have about a year left.  My husband too is going to school online right now for his Bachelors degree in Computer Forensics.  He is using his GI bill and attending school through DeVry University.  My husband and I are in the thick of raising our young children, we both have jobs, and are attending school full time online, which makes us very busy people right now.  We know this won't last forever and we know we are doing this now because we chose to get married young and not go to college right after high school.  We did things a bit in reverse, but we have no regrets.  We are living life and loving it :) 

I look forward to reading all of your blogs and getting to know all of you better!

Thanks,
Kelly Kearns