Well here is my final project. I hope you enjoy reading it.


I .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 in all areas to better guide others to do the same. I would not want a physician who does not have good hygiene, a nutritionist who gives unhealthy snacks at appointments, or even a mechanic who has a broken down car. Therefore, why would I want to advise someone else about things that I do not practice myself? I would not want to do that and I feel that others would appreciate it if I did not do that either. I feel that all areas are in constant need of improvement. I think that it is impossible to ever be perfect in any area and that in order to be in optimal condition for each area, a routine needs to continue at all times. There should be changes made to the routine to maintain health and wellness when needed.

Psychologically – I feel that I am on the right track in this area. I try to continue to balance a routine of challenges and relaxation mentally in order to maintain good psychological health.

Spiritually – This is probably the area I need the most work on. I have taken a step backward when it comes to spirituality. I need to get back into a regimen that involves more focus on spiritual aspects.

Physically – I think I am in decent condition. I could always improve as with any other area, but physically I am fairly comfortable where I am at this point. I could definitely benefit from more exercise and activity. Now that the weather is changing and it is getting easier to get outdoors, I will increase my physical activity. The colder months always prove to be more difficult for me to stay as physically active as in warmer months.

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

My health for each domain has improved since the start of this course. I would say that right now I am in a transitional stage. I am transitioning from a negative standpoint to a more balanced one. I feel that while my overall health and wellness has improved and is no longer a negative, there is still much room for improvement and I have not reached the point of being satisfied yet. The following ratings are going to be based on my personal feelings on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being worst and 10 being best.

Spiritually – I would rate myself at a 2 spiritually. This is the area that I am struggling with the most. I have never been a spiritual person and do not come from a spiritual family. I have never had a good sense of spirituality and I am having a hard time finding a belief system that I truly believe in. I am not sure what I am supposed to do in this area. I truly feel lost and alone in this journey. I do not have any friends or family to help guide or advise me in this area. I am exploring on my own and I feel confident that I will find what I am looking for soon. I just have to keep working.

Physically – I would rate myself at a 7. I am fairly happy with my current activity levels and my physical being is pretty healthy. I stay active by walking, biking, and just playing with my children. Right now it is baseball/softball season, so I find myself in the backyard with the children daily helping one or another get warmed up for games and practicing on off days. My children are all very serious at such ages about playing ball and being the best players that can be for their teams. I try to be as involved as possible and it is more beneficial to me than it is to them.

Psychologically – I would rate myself at an 8. I feel this is the area where I am at my best right now. I have found a good balance between challenging my mind and relaxing it. I love to do crossword puzzles and play trivia. I feel that these activities are very good for keeping the brain active. I also have found great pleasure in some relaxation exercises. I feel that completing a relaxation exercise after completing a crossword puzzle is very refreshing. I hope to continue working on my mental wellness over time and hope for continued success with the exercises that not only have been working for me, but that I thoroughly enjoy as well.

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

The goals I have made for myself in each of these areas continue to change. At the start of this course, I was just trying to find exercises and activities that I would stick with in order to start working toward better health and wellness. Now, I have moved past those activities and had to find more challenging exercises in order to continue improving in each area and I am sure I will have to change these activities again at some point to continue improvement. The ultimate goal is to get to the point where I can stop working toward improvement and start to work on maintenance. I feel that when I get to the stage of simply maintaining health and wellness rather than achieving it, I have met my goals.

Physical goal – My physical goal is to become more tone and fit. I do not feel that I need to lose weight, but I need to tighten up and tone up in some areas. It seems as I get older it is a little more difficult to remain and fit and trim as before. I just do not want to let myself go and get to a point where I feel hopeless and have no motivation to keep working for good physical health. I also want to continue to work on improving my diet to help maintain my physical health. Eating healthy plays a huge role in my physical health and it is a great place to start. I feel that I have made some huge steps in the right direction (limiting alcohol and quitting smoking) and I want to keep going in that direction.

Psychological goal – My psychological goal is to learn how to manage stress better. I feel that stress is a negative factor in health and wellness in all areas (physical, psychological, and spiritual). Stress has a way of affecting psychological wellness if a person does not know how to properly deal with it. There are ways of controlling the way stress affects me and I intend to practice using those techniques in order to improve my health and wellness.

Spiritual goal – My spiritual goal is to find my faith. I feel that at this point in life I am confused as to where I stand spiritually. I need to take a step back and I find what I feel fits me. I have been told what I should accept as spiritual practice and what others believe is the “right” things to believe in and look to for comfort, but I am not sure that these same things work for me. I think it is time for me to explore and find what path I choose to follow spiritually. In order to do this, I feel that I need to do some searching of my inner self first. This is where I am going to start.

IV. 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.

I feel that whatever strategies I decide to use in each of the areas in order to foster growth they will have to be challenging. I know that the best way to improve health is to challenge myself in each area. Exercises and activities specific to each domain would seem to be best for improving in each area, but some activities can be beneficial to more than one area. One example of this is yoga. Yoga can be useful in all three domains and is one of the ways I plan to achieve my goals. There are also activities specific to each area that I plan to utilize in my regimen in order to continue toward my goal of improved health and wellness overall.

Physical exercises – The two physical exercises that I plan to do most are walking and practicing baseball/softball with my children. I know that to say that I am going to play with my children does not sound like exercise to most people, but believe me when I say that helping them improve in baseball and softball is more of a workout and challenge for me than it is for them. I am exhausted after an hour outdoors in the backyard “helping” them. I feel that this is my best source of physical exercise. Walking is my getaway exercise. I walk around my subdivision which is built on a circle (very convenient). If I walk around the whole subdivision, it is a 2.5 mile walk. I try to walk the circle at least 3 days a week. If it is a bad day and I need to get away for a while sometimes I will walk the circle twice.

Psychological exercises – The two psychological exercises that I am going to practice most are puzzles and relaxation exercises. I like to work crossword puzzles and puzzle games such as Sudoku. I try to complete at least a couple of these types of challenges a day. I am also going to continue to complete some of the relaxation exercises that were introduced during this course. I feel very refreshed after completing one of these exercises and I feel that it releases stress related to day to day stressors such as busy schedules and how to get everything done in only 24 hours a day.

Spiritual exercises – There have been several different exercises introduced to me during this course that I feel can be beneficial in this domain. The Subtle Mind exercise being the one that I find most helpful, followed by Meeting Asclepius. I find both of these exercises refreshing and helpful. I am still trying to find that spiritual place where I belong, but I feel that these exercises are very helpful and can be beneficial in my journey. These exercises are proving to be the hardest for me to dedicate time to. I find myself making almost everything a priority before these exercises. I need to make sure that I make time and reevaluate my priorities in order to include them.

V. 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?

The way I plan to track and later assess my progress over the next six months and even further is to keep a journal. I plan to save some of the exercises assigned throughout the term and go back from time to time and redo them. After completing the exercises a few times, I will compare them to one another to see the improvement or lack thereof. I hope to see a continued improvement each time.

My strategy for success is simply lifestyle changes. I feel that in order to truly improve I am going to have to make some lifestyle changes. For example, instead of eating late night snacks, I will do a relaxation exercise. Or, instead of sitting down to watch television, I will get my mp3 player and headphones and go for a walk. The only way for me to improve is to make some serous and permanent changes to my daily routine. I feel that after some time these changes will become my new norm and I will see great benefits from them.

Stephanie