Week 9

Here goes...

It important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically so that we are able to not only teach these things but also live them. As we have covered extensively a health and wellness advisor should be incorporating wellness throughout their own lives as well as those in their care. All aspects of my own personal health and wellness could use improvement; as could everyone’s I believe. If I had to pick one though it would easily be my spirituality that needs the most improvement.

My own wellness assessment is one that is constantly changing. Physical well being has always been one of my strong suits, but I have tried to improve my nutrition habits in recent years. My exercise habits come and go but I usually maintain above average physical fitness. Physiologically my wellness is pretty stable. I am in my second marriage and my wife is very supportive of me going back to school. Her support makes it much easier to stay focused and mentally sharp in school and all other facets of life. Spiritually I am afraid my score is a negative. I am not religious, nor do I meditate or do yoga. I have no real spiritually fulfilling activities in my life either such as charity work or volunteer work.

            My Physical goals are not quite as high as they used to be, however they are practical. As slowly approach age 40 I hope to get down a few pounds and keep myself in the low 170 pounds (I’m only about 175 now). I alter my workout routines from time to time, but mainly the key to my goals is frequency. Nutritionally I have a goal of continuing to learn new and healthy options to not only maintain my weight but also stay healthy. Psychologically my goal is to stay focused on my school work and also take care of my family. As a stay at home dad with several small children, taking care of them is the main priority right now. But equally important looking ahead to the future is for me to achieve my scholastic goals. These two things together require a lot of mental focus day in a day out. The end goal would be an advanced degree that leads to a career and kids that at least make it to college. Spiritually I have a hard time setting a goal because  I am not all that enthusiastic about spirituality. I guess my goal going forward would be to be more open-minded and to try out new things that might lead to a spiritual breakthrough.

             To foster physical growth I think the main strategy for me will be working with others more. This could include workout partners, structured group activities, and also hopefully using some of the knowledge that I am learning in my degree plan with others. I find that I can focus more on my own nutrition and workouts when I am helping others because my focus is on that more than it would be just by myself. Fostering Mental growth will require a strategy that incorporates time management. Time management is something that seems to get more and more important the older I get, but also more difficult. It is a lot easier to stay mentally focused and on task when time is managed as best as possible. Spiritual growth will again take working with others I think; perhaps trying out a few group meditation classes or yoga classes. By using the knowledge and experience of others perhaps I can find an outlet that works for me.

In the next six months it should be very easy to assess my physical results. Not only by losing a few pounds, but overall performance. This will be the easiest to judge. Psychologically the results should reflect directly in my grades as well as the quality of life in my home from day to day. Spiritually it will be hard to tell, but if I at least try to develop spiritually then I would think that alone would produce healthy results. I think a continued pursuit of my degree in health and wellness and a long career helping others achieve their goals will ensure the long term success of my own wellness. 

Week 8

I think visualization and meditation are the two I would most likely use and would be most beneficial for me. I think visualization is something that I can implement in my daily life quite well. Visualizing what will be accomplished at work that day and then making it happen. Visualizing a good workout and then going in and performing. Visualizing the right way to raise my children. The meditation would come in handle to put myself in the right mind set to accomplish the things that I visualize. These two together I think would help me reach a higher level of mental fitness.

Week 7

My meditation practices this week included staying awake through three days of boring military briefings. Th
"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" I believe this to be true in most cases. It certainly applies in the military.I think it definitely applies physcologically and spiritually because you must believe in what you are teaching to do so effectively. I think taking these courses and getting my degree in this field is how I am implementing growth in my life.

Week 6

I think I need to focus on spiritual and interpersonal. As I've stated below I have no real spiritual outlets so these need improvement. Interpersonally I have always been a hard person to get along with. I know this about myself and have accepted it but it does make it hard to make and keep lasting friendships. I've never had too much of a problem with the opposite sex, but I tend to be too un-emotional at times. I think being more involved in my neighborhood and community could help me with these issues.

Week 5

The connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness is one that affects all of us. In my personal life I can clearly tell the difference in my attitude and demeanor when I have not been physically active. And of course there are times when I am in a bad mood or perhaps something in my life is making me down; it is hard to motivate yourself to go do physical activities. It can also affect school work. I often find myself not in the right mindset or lacking the physical energy to want to take care of schoolwork.

week 4

Well the Loving kindness mp3 did my me think about those that I love. It is always difficult to me to focus on these seminars but it is getting easier. I am in need of a mental workout I beleive (and physical). They can be a good way to focus and to study.

Week 3...

Physical well being - (7) I am in ok shape but have only been working out once or twice a week lately. I am also not getting any younger and at the age of thirty-seven I certainly can't do some of the things I could ten years ago.
Spiritual well-being - (4) I am not religious and there are not too many things in this world that I actually do believe in.
Physcological well-being - 8 I believe that I am a pretty strong minded person.

Goals -
        Physically - Work out more.
        Spiritually - This class.
        Physcologically - Stay strong.

These relaxation exercises are way too long...I can't see what could be beneficial about them honestly...who has time for this stuff.

My experience with the Journey On relaxation exercise

I would like to reflect on my experience with the Journey On relaxation exercise. I decided that maybe listening to it mught relax me enough to get a high score on this annoying phone game called Temple Run that my 11 year old daughter is better at than me. I did pretty well actually, but alas I did not beat my own high score (let alone her's which is much higher). I think in the future I may have to actually listen to him and lay down and relax, and I'm almost certain it might put me to sleep:)

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. It is my first blog and I am not much of a conversationalist so it should prove interesting.

So...what's the point of this anyway? Is it like Twitter...which I don't get either?