Final Project

Hello  Class & Professor,

Wow...I can't believe another semester is almost complete.  These past weeks have flown by and I've learned so much wonderful information that I am excited to implement into my own life!  Below is my final project and I have truly enjoyed corresponding with all of you and wish you all the very best of luck!

Teri :)

I - Introduction: 

The health field is ever changing and much different than say 30 years ago.  30 or so years ago individuals had their basic primary doctor that would treat most of their health issues.  Today, not only do you have your primary doctors still around, there is a whole new category of health services among us known as complementary and alternative medicine.  Medical schools across the world are offering unique programs in holistic healing (Schlitz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2005). For example, in the United States the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is conducting research on the effectiveness of alternative and complementary therapies.  Many of these new types of therapies focus on an individual’s psychological, spiritual, and physical well-being (Schlitz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2005). 

Above all, health professionals need to take the time and develop their own psychological, spiritual, and physical well-being before they can successful help their patients.  After reviewing the stages of my own well-being the area I need to take the time to develop more on is my spiritual well-being.

 Therefore, I have made a commitment to myself to set aside some time each day to practice my meditation.  I found the subtle mind and loving-kindness exercises to be very beneficial and will continue to practice them.  I realize that my psychological, spiritual, and physical well-being is an ongoing process that will change from time to time.  Right now I need to focus more on my spiritual well-being and down the road it may be my psychological well-being that takes presence.   Only then when I am taking care of all these areas can I have the knowledge and skill to help others develop their own.  If I want to talk the talk I must walk the walk!

II - Assessment: 

            In Unit 3 we were able to assess our own spiritual, physical, and psychological well-being and rate them on a scale from 1 (low) to 10 (highest). My results indicated my spiritual well-being was ranked at 5, physical well-being 9, and psychological well-being 8.  My results were not surprising to me, but I knew there were some areas I needed to focus on.

III - Goal Development:

            Most importantly, goals are good to have in my opinion.  They keep us focused and something to work towards.  I personally find having goals to be motivating and keep me on track.  There is nothing more satisfying when you set a goal, work hard, and achieve it!  As a result of the scores of my spiritual, physical, and psychological well-being I had some new goals to set.  My spiritual well-being came in the lowest ranking area and honestly I knew needed some attention.  I am so focused on my physical well-being that I tend to ignore my spiritual well-being and as we all realize by now that is not a way toward human flourishing.  

            Therefore, as I have mentioned above I am going to take the time even if its five minutes a day to start to practice exercising that will flourish my spiritual well-being.  I found that I do better when using guided exercises then trying to meditate on my own.  My mind is very busy and I need to work on achieving a subtle mind.   Dacher (2006), said “the undeveloped mind, which was once our greatest slayer, can then become our greatest healer” (p71).  My goal at this moment is to develop my mind.

IV - Practices for Personal Health: 

            Undoubtedly, goals are great to have!  But the question is how are you going to get there? In order to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves an action plan needs to be implemented.  I have come up with a set of strategies to implement to achieve my goals toward human flourishing.  My physical well-being was ranked the highest and I do enjoy working out.  However, I will admit I have a tendency to push myself too far at times which leaves me to be completely exhausted and my other domains start to suffer.  My strategy for my physical well-being is to get 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise 4 – 5 days during the work week and give myself permission to take two days off from the gym.  I found that when I was doing my boxing/kickboxing classes on the weekends I was beginning to resent them.  I needed to reclaim my weekends and use them to get my house cleaned, grocery shopping done, and time to enjoy the weekends with my loving boyfriend and children.  As a result, I found my psychological well-being to improve!

            Next, my psychological well-being was ranked at 8, which I know was a big improvement than a few years ago.  Within the past years I have been doing a great share of research and reading on how to improve my psychological well-being.  Also, I realized that my physical well-being and nutrition was closed related to my psychological well-being.   When I am taking care of my body my mind just seems to follow.  Most of the time I work out know because I know my stress level, thinking, and every other aspect of my life will go much smoother after a good work out!  Also, my psychological well-being is equally affected by my diet.  If I eat too much sugar or fatty foods it has a huge impact on my mood and thinking capabilities. I will honestly say I am not a fun person to be around if I am not eating properly or getting enough physical activity! Life just seems much more manageable and therefore my strategy in this area is to keep my physical activity and eat a well-balance diet on a daily basis.

            Lastly, my spiritual well-being ranked the lowest at 5.  This is an area I have been working on for a few years now and do believe it has improved.  I have a tendency to spend too much time and energy on my physical well-being which leaves my spiritual well-being in the just. As a result, a few years ago I started to find ways to flourish my spiritual well-being.  I discovered some video’s on Charka healing and was immediately hooked.  For those who are not familiar with Charka’s is a Sanskrit term meaning “spinning wheel of energy”, which describes specific energy locations related to the body, mind, and spirit (“Foundation for Well Being”, 2008).  For more information on what each of the 7 major Charka’s centers are go to link http://www.foundationforwellbeing.org/innerawareness.htm.  I have practiced Charka healing video on YouTube to be very helpful and will add them to my plan to help flourish my spiritual well-being.  Secondly, I am going to implement into my strategy practices the wonderful exercise we have been exposed to in this class.  I found the subtle mind, loving-kindness, mindfulness and meditation, and visualization exercises to be extremely beneficial to my spiritual well-being.

V - Commitment: 

            Above all, having goals in place is the first step toward achieving integral health.  But it takes commitment, motivation, and accountability in order to achieve goals and know when the goals need to be shifted and re-addressed.  For myself, I have a few assessments in place to keep myself on the right track.  The first step I do after setting anytime of goal is tell a close friend.  By doing this it give me accountability and keeps me motivated.  For example, I remember when I first started to work out on a regular basis which was about six years ago.  It was not easy, especially since I was about 75 lbs. overweight!  However, I had a workout buddy and we held each other accountable and motivated each other in times when we just didn’t feel like working out.  It paid off in more way than one.  It helped to develop a deeper friendship with my friend and soon I started to work out because “I” wanted to. 

            In order to keep myself on track and asses my efforts in six months I was able to find a great questionnaire that would help me asses my physical, social, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual well-being, which also applied the six principles of integral assessment (“A well being”, n.d.).  Below is the link to the questionnaire. 

“A Wellbeing Assessment Tool.” http://cms.services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/95109/Wellbeing_Assessment_Tool.pdf.

            Most importantly, the developmental process of one’s psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being is an ongoing process that will change many times as we continue down the path of human flourishing.  As the old saying goes, “practice makes perfect!”

Teri :)