Unit 10: Final Assessment.

My personal assessment for unit 3 had my physical aspect rated at an 8, my psychological at a 6, and my spiritual at an 8. Now I feel that my physical is still a strong 8 bordering on 9, my psychological is at a low 7, and my spiritual is at a 6.
The scores have changed, physically I have increased running more and hiking, psychological has increased a bit due to more meditation and clearing my mind of negativity and stress, but spiritually I have lost sight of my goals and need a lot more work.
The goals and activities I set in unit 3 I have put a lot of positive effort towards, my physical goals and activities have definitely been met, I am running more, I have been hiking every weekend and I feel that I have gained muscle. Psychologically I have not reached my goals but feel that I am making good efforts to let go of the things I can not control, to be happier and reduce stress. Spiritually I need to find faith and believe more often which is a struggle.
I have implemented most of my activities I set for these goals and will continue to work on them in my future.
I do believe that my well-being has improved, this class has made me more aware of things in my life which cause me struggle and through many interesting aspects such as meditation, loving kindness, and subtle mind exercises I feel more awake. The reward has been that I can clear my mind, relax, and just sit quietly for a bit without constant noise inside my head.
I find difficulty in letting go of thoughts and feelings, I can not heal spiritually at this point and it concerns me.
This experience has helped me understand myself and that will allow me to be more patient, loving and understanding towards others and their struggles.

Unit 9 Final Project.

 I believe it is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically so that they can completely understand their own mind, body and spirit, then they can teach and treat others not as a one size fits all but individually. I think that it is impossible to help others accomplish their health goals when the professionals do not implement good nutrition, or practice physical or mental fitness in their own lives.

In my life there are still many areas that need development to achieve my goals. One goal is to increase my physical fitness and get in better shape. To implement this goal I have recently started running two days a week with a great motivating partner, as well as hiking when I have the chance. I also want to make healthier nutrition habits, which I already have but I feel that too often I give in to sugary temptations. Implementing healthier snack choices with little or no sugar as well as avoiding temptations by reminding myself of my goals will be how I work on my nutrition. A very important goal I am currently working on is to reduce stress and worry from my daily routine. When things happen that cause stress or things I tend to worry about occur they consume my entire mind for the rest of my day. Working on this goal has been hard so I am using visualization, meditation, loving-kindness and the subtle mind practices and I am seeing some improvement.

            My assessment of these goals has improved in each domain as I have been very proactively working on each aspect. Physically I am feeling much better and getting closer each day to my goals, being more active and making healthier choices. I am also seeing improvement psychologically, situations that have upset me in the past are fading away quicker after they occur and when I meditate my mind seems more clear than before. My nutritional choices have improved greatly with less unhealthy cravings which makes me happy. And spiritually I feel better as I have been allowing myself to be more open to change as well as new things as they come into my life. I score my wellness spiritually, psychologically, and physically at a 7 for all three, which is good but leaves room for improvement.

            One goal I have for myself physically is to be able to jog for a full thirty minutes without stopping to walk or being out of breath. Psychologically I would like to lessen the amount of stress that fills my mind and consumes my every thought, so my goal is better stress management, with longer meditation sessions. Spiritually I want to allow myself to be more open to things instead of being closed minded to certain aspects.

            To implement growth physically I am putting in more effort, finding time to walk more, getting up early to jog, taking the steps instead of the elevator, parking further out instead of close to the building, as well as fitting in sit-ups, push-ups and triceps dips whenever I have some free time during my day. Spiritually I am opening my mind, allowing new experiences to present themselves, also I am practicing loving-kindness and opening my heart more often, being more patient with people as well as situations. Psychologically I am meditating for longer periods of time, allowing my thoughts to become clearer and more focused. I practice visualization when I feel upset, stressed or worried, which have lessened their effects on my day.

           In the next six months I will assess my progress by how I feel physically, psychologically and spiritually. I will see if my overall health has improved and by how much I have gained in these aspects of my life. I also think that the best assessment will come from the change others will see and with their reactions to them I will know that all my efforts have been worth it.

My strategy for long-term practice of health and wellness is to stay motivated and clearly focused. I will remain as positive as possible and place people in my life that also think positively and contribute to my health and wellness journey.