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 themselves psychologically, spiritually, and physically so they can be of service to their clients. Developing these aspects will allow the professional to offer comprehensive health care to people (Dacher, 2006). According to Dacher, “to become agents of a more expansive health, we must begin with our own life.” (Dacher, 2006, p. 167). Psychological development creates self-discipline which allows an individual to prevent emotional and mental breakdowns. Spiritual development encourages physical healing. Physical development promotes better healing because an individual is in tune with their bodies enough to not push past their limitations.
            My personal area of growth is in the physical wellness area. Yoga would help me strengthen my body and also help my mind relax.  Relaxation will enable me to sleep better at night and concentrate on the more important things in life.  Engaging in Yoga will help me improve my overall psychological, spiritual and physical health.

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

I rank them as follows:
Spiritually – 9 I believe in God and believe in the power of prayer. I attend church twice a week and serve in ministry.  There is always room for improvement in this realm so that is why I rated myself as a 9.

Physically- 7.5 Since starting this class I have increased my workout days at the gym from 1-2 days a week to 4-5 days a week.  I’m following the Mediterranean diet which means I’m eating more raw food and less processed food.

Psychologically- 8 balancing being a full time student, working 60 hrs a week, the responsibilities of being a mom and wife it can get very hectic.  My brutal daily schedule leaves me wishing that I could take more time to practice the Loving Kindness exercise.

Goal development: List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area:

Spiritually-I would like to engage in doing more in-depth studies of the Holy Bible.  This would mean that I maybe find a character in the bible to study like Ruth or Noah.

Physically- My goal is to run in my first marathon June 2015 in preparation for this I’m going to join a local female runners group to get my body disciplined and in shape so I can achieve my goal.

Psychologically- I would like to mediate more.  Mediation will help to decrease my stress level and give me some needed unselfish me time.

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.

Spiritually- I can implement the Loving Kindness exercise by at least focusing on this activity twice a week.  Another strategy that I can implement is to volunteer more with my youth group.  Being around the youth will force me to study the bible more because I would want to always give them a positive and correct answer.

Physically-I will limit my eating out at restaurants to twice a month which will help me with keeping in line with my physical goal of running a marathon.  For the days I don’t go to the gym I would use an older DVD that I brought called Walk Away the Pounds.  This will keep me on track with my cardio.

Psychologically-I will continue to work on forgiveness that includes forgiving myself when I fall short on a goal.  When faced with a stressful difficult situation at work I will take a moment to mediate and calm myself down.

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? 

To hold myself accountable I will keep a journal to keep tract of progress.  It’s much easier for me to read back over different journal entries.  I will also have the group of ladies that I will be training with for the marathon to keep me motivated. I believe I will work out harder and achieve my goals easier when I have someone next to me pushing me to do so.

Katrina A.

Reference

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