Introduction:
It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically because if they have not develop these things in their lives, than they should not be able to help you or give you advise if they haven’t worked out their own demons. We trust the professionals who help us and guides us through live, so it is important that they have experienced the same sort of things so they can better help us understand how to deal with it in our lives. Once they have developed these things themselves, then they can truly guide us on the right path. I think at this point in my life I have come a long way psychologically, spiritually, and physically. I am a stronger woman now than I was ten years ago. I have made it through two abusive marriages and I am lucky to be here to talk about it. I think the area I need to develop more on to achieve my goals in life would be my psychologically being. I cannot let the pass keep haunting my future and for me to be truly happy in my life, I really need to forgive so I can heal my spirit.
Assessment:
Spiritually, I would rate mine as fair. I chose fair because I have lost touch with god, and I no long go to church. Actually I have not been to church in years. I do have faith and I do believe, but I think I can use some improving in this area.
Physically, I would have to rate myself as good think my overall health is good, I have good days and bad days, but I am healthy. I do have Hemochromatosis and Lupus, so everyday can be a struggle, but as of right now I am well and in remission, so everything is good.
Psychologically, I think this is where I need the most improvement in my life so I will rate mine as poor. Mymind is kind of a mess, I suffer off and on from depression, anger issues, and have trouble forgiving people who have hurt me and my family members. This is the reason why I have chosen poor, and this is the area that I will focus on improving the most. Goal Development:
One physical goal I have for myself would be to start exercising on a regular basis. I am the most out of shape skinny person you will ever meet. As I get older I notice that certain areas are not as tight as they use to be, ok they were never really that tight to begin with, but now I’m really starting to notice a change. Spiritually, I can make it a goal of mine to get back in touch with my spiritual self. I can start by going back to church or asking my counselor, who is a pastor, to help me by adding some spiritually into our sessions. I grew up catholic, but there were a lot of things that I disagreed with, so that is one of the reasons why I stopped going. I can try a different type of religious group, such as Baptist or even Buddhism. A goal for my Psychological self would be forgiveness. I have a lot of ex’s, friends, and family members that I know I need to forgive. This is an area that I have been working on for some time now, and it is the hardest thing for me to achieve. So I will differently make this one of my top goals.
Practices for personal health:
Strategies that I could use to help me foster growth in my physical health would be more exercise and eating better. I have an elliptical, so I can start by using it at least four times a week like I use to, or maybe start taking long walks with my husband. He could stand to use a little more exercise in his life also. I could help us both by not baking anymore cakes and pies, oh wait the holidays are coming, so maybe I can bake less goodies than usual. I can incorporate more vegetables and less meat into my diet so I can improve my overall physical health.
Spiritually, the first strategy that comes to mind to foster growth for me would be meditation. This is something that I never believed in and until recently, I thought it was a joke. This class has tough me that it can work and does. I will try and incorporate meditation into my daily routine to help relieve stress at the end of my work day. I have used the exercises from class to help me get through some difficult days and I will continue to do so throughout my life. Another thing that I can use is prayer; I have learned that the power of prayer does work. I think by adding prayer back into my life that it will help foster my spiritually and help me heal some old wounds.
Psychologically I need a lot of help. The first thing I can do and have been trying to do is learn to forgive. This is the only way that I am going to flourish in this area. I could start by telling my first husband that I forgive him for trying to kill my son and I, but without outside help I would be lying. I will continue to work on this so I can foster growth in this area. Another thing that I can do to boost my psychological being is to use the subtle mind exercise that I have learned in class to help calm and free my mind. This exercise helps clear my mind and helps me stay focused on my mental wellbeing.
Commitment:
I know that in six month I will hopefully have reach most of my goals. I think by keeping a calendar of events with the days I plan to exercise and meditate, will help me to stay on track. I think if I can visually see the calendar and plan out the day and time it will help keep me focused. I think if I give myself some kind of reward, like buying a new pair of shoes, or planning a trip if I reach my goals, will help keep me motivated. I think that my psychological goal will be harder to achieve in six months. I think I could keep a journal and wright all my thoughts and feelings down about my experiences. I think this will help me towards my goal of forgiveness, I know I can forgive, but it is going to take more than six months. I also think that continuing my counseling sessions will help me achieve my goals faster than doing it on my own.
Hi Nicki,
ReplyDeleteI admire you so much. The hand dealth to you is only a hand that will make you stronger. Forgiveness is hard to do believe the ego is alive and well. I think of the word ego as an acroymn meaning: easing God out. As long as we have not forgiveness, we have given that person power over us. That helps me to let go. Remember that that person is one of your life's teacher and has so much to teach and show you about yourself. Stay strong and continue to grow, and one day you too will achieve Integral Health! Great having you as a classmate/teacher! Peace and Love Nicki!
Yahimba (Ursula)
You have given yourself some very good goals to work on. I think that setting goals and making the proper steps towards then so you see results is a great way to stay motivated and positive.
ReplyDeleteI like your statement, I cannot let the past keep haunting my future and for me to be truly happy in my life, I really need to forgive so I can heal my spirit. I think this is very true! You cannot change the past but you can change your future. Holding on to the past only brings negative energy into your current space. It will consume your whole life.
The area that I can relate to your goals is incorporating more spirituality into my life. I too need to focus on this area. I have not been to church in about three years. I feel ‘lost’ in my life because I do not have a place for spirituality in my life. I too was raised Catholic, but I also do not believe in exactly what the Catholic religion preaches. If you can take a religion class because this could be very enlightening to you. I took a religion class as an elective for my Associates degree. It was one of the most interesting classes that I took.
I am glad that you have physical goals in place for yourself. Being unhealthy is not related directly to weight. You can weigh 120lbs and be very unhealthy. In order to be healthy you must eat properly, exercise, take care of your mind and spirit. I am learning how important it is to take care of your body. The older you get, the more important this is. My husband claims to be healthy, but I told him this morning that he needs to figure out what is going on. Just because you drink lots of water and take a plethora of vitamins does not make you healthy. Personally, I think he needs to work on his mind and spirit. I think this will eliminate his recent bout of illnesses that have been plaguing him in the past several weeks.
I do not think that your physical goals would work for me because I tend to keep my goals small an obtainable. My goal was to incorporate cardio twice a week into my routine. For me, I find this a reasonable goal. If I set my goals to aggressive, than I tend not to hit them and will become discouraged. I wish you luck on hitting your physical goals.
For my clients I would encourage them to also set goals. I would have them use SMART goals in order to assist them along their journey. SMART goals are:
S- Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R- Realistic
T – Timely
I think that if my clients (as well as myself) can use this system to set their goals they are more likely to achieve their goals and be successful in their journey to overall integral health.
I like the face that you have set a date to when you will have most of your goals met. I think that six months is a reasonable time frame for your physical and spiritual goals. Psychological goals I think are a little bit trickier and take a lifetime of work. I am sure you will see great improvements in your psychological goals in the next six months.
Stay strong and focused. You can do whatever you put your mind too!
Good luck to you.
NIcki, Thanks for your bravery and sharing your story. we have something in common as I, too, need to forgive someone to achieve better emotional health. Although, my tormentor sis not try to kill anyone. I wish I could say the perfect thing fro this situation, but I truly believe there is no perfect thing, but I will say that just by reading your project, and what I feel I know about you from class, you will eventually decide that letting him have this emotional power over you is holding you back. You'll get there, like you said, maybe not in 6 months, but I'm thinking that this power hold will release a little at a time until you realize it's gone.In my situation, it's a bit like that.. the anger is being tempered slowly and while not totally gone, I can push it back far easier than even a month ago..
ReplyDeleteI am a baker , too and with the holidays coming up and cooler weather, it's the perfect baking season.. my goal is to make the desserts healthier now then one or two seasons ago.. I usually hate the holidays, as I used to work in food service ( much overtime in NOv/Dec) and my mom died on Christmas eve, 2009 so many bad memories.. the comfort food was always just that.. comfort, but apple pie can be made healthier:-) And it's fruit, right ?? I hope that you can achieve all of your goals, and forgive yourself if you can't. I wish you much luck and success in your health journey and your future..
Peace and wellness,
Andi
Thank you all for your kind words. I wish you all luck, peace and happiness in your lives
ReplyDelete