Unit 9 Project: Self-evaluation

Running Head: SELF-EVALUATION PLAN

Final project: Self-evaluation Plan

Margaret Horne

Kaplan University

HW420: Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing

Kim Montgomery

April 2, 2013

          When one thinks about health, the thing that they are mainly thinking of is just the physical aspect of health. There is more than just the physical part when it comes to health there is also the spiritual aspect and physiological aspect. All health and wellness professionals need to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically. Honestly who would want a doctor that is obese, smokes, and is just not in any good health at all telling them what to do? No one wants a doctor liked this it basically goes back to practice what you preach. Dacher has stated many times why one has to develop in these areas to be in their practice, it is stated that “to become the agents of a more expansive health, we must begin with our own life….We must start with preparations and practice. Nothing less will do” (Dacher, 2006). He then goes on to basically say that by incorporating integral health into your life you will discover new possibilities of integral health and healing and you will start to know firsthand what happens when you evolve. If the professional is doing the things that they are trying to convince their clients to do, they can tell them how it has personally helped them and how it can do the same for them. When it comes to me personally I need to develop in all three areas, especially if I would like to achieve the goals that I have set for myself.

          When it comes to my health psychologically, spiritually and physically I have assessed each domain by taking time looking within myself and seeing where I am at and if I am where I want to be at. I have rated myself in each domain on a scale of 0 to 10. When it comes to my psychological well being would be rated a 5. I have come to find myself being stressed out a lot with so many things on my mind. There has just been so much bothering me all the time and it is just hard for me to keep a clear mind. Spiritually I would to rate my well being at an 8. I do believe in a higher power. I love going to church, I look forward to going to church because when I’m there I am able to clear my mind some because I am praising God and giving my problems to him. When I started working though I stopped going to church because I don’t get Sundays off, I may get a Sunday off every few months but I still can’t go to church like I want to because the person I stay with doesn’t go to church and I don’t my own car. When it comes to my physical well-being I would rate that at 6.5. I honestly do not have a good diet and I do not exercise at all. I’m always out so I just grab some fast food, but I don’t eat much candy and chips, I will eat it though when I’m at work and I feel like I don’t have any energy. When it comes to exercise or any physical activity I can’t fit it into my schedule any more. Before I started working I was always outside walking around all the time and that how I stayed active and was able to keep some weight off.

          I have set goals for myself when it comes to my psychological, spiritual and physical well being. My goal for my psychological well-being is to stay stress free as much as I can and to and being able to let go of things like holding grudges towards people for things that they have done to me. My goal for my spiritual well-being is to start going back to church every Sunday and even on other days when they have services. I just want to get back involved into church the way I was before I started working. When it comes to my physical well being my goal is to lose weight, starting off at just 50 pounds for now and moving forward from that. When it comes to meeting my psychological goals I will do this by writing in my notebook more when something is bothering me and finding me a quiet place to just go and meditate even if that means to go sit in the car. Also doing a loving kindness exercise will help me to reach my goal of not holding a grudge towards others because I will be forgiving them during the exercise and showing nothing but love for them.

To reach my spiritual goals I am going to start requesting some Sundays off so that I will be able to attend church services. I will also be waking my boyfriend up so he can take me even if that means he will just drop me off and come back later and get me or maybe even catching a cab if I have to. If I can’t make it to church I will just continue to listen to my gospel music and pray in order for me to set the atmosphere as if I were in church. To reach my physical goal I will do this by starting to eat healthier, even if this means to spend extra money on groceries that are better for me. I will also start to take time out of my day to exercise. I will go to the gym when possible and when not I will do my Zumba workout at home on my game system. In order for me to do any of these things I will be clearing time out of my days just for myself, so that I can better myself. I need to start thinking about myself more to make that I am healthy and doing what it is that needs to be done to live a healthy life.

In the next six months how will I assess my progress or lack of progress? For starters I am going to get me planner and start planning things out. I will make a “me time schedule” that is just all about me. This schedule will include times where I am going to church, praying, going to the gym, going grocery shopping, meditating, and doing exercises like the loving kindness exercise. When I do go by schedule and follow it I will highlight it in green showing that I did what I need to do. Then for the days when I put in some effort but not the way I wanted to I will mark that in yellow, to show that I need to put a little more effort into it. Then on the days that I didn’t stick to my schedule at all I will mark that in red. Then by seeing how my schedule works out at first I can try to alter it to get it to fit around my work schedule more if that is necessary. Also when it comes to me eating healthier I will start to plan out my meals ahead of time. I will probably plan my meals out for the whole month, so that I will know what it is that I am going to eat and to be able to make sure that the meal is healthy. When it comes to a long term strategy I will have to take it day by day and base it off of how I see myself doing with my six months. I say this only because I am not the type of person who is good with long-term planning, but hopefully my short-term planning will lead to long term. Overall if I want to start living a healthier life I will have to go by the plans that I have made and try to stick to them as much as possible.

 

References

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

 

 

 

 

Beneficial Practices

There have been many exercises that we have done for this class. Some of the exercises were more beneficial to me and interesting than others. The two exercises that were more beneficial to me were the relaxation exercise and the loving kindness exercise. The relaxation exercise was able to get me to relax like really relax like I have never been able to do. The loving kindness exercise showed me how to get past my problems with others and be able to be at ease and peace even if the person has just made me really mad. I would love to do both of the exercises every day. In order for me to do that I will have to take time out of my day (probably right before I go to bed) specifically for that and not plan anything else around that time. I will also have to find a quiet place to do these exercises at. The time thing is just the hardest part for me since I don’t have a set schedule at work but I will be working on finding time to do these exercises.

There have been many exercises that we have done for this class. Some of the exercises were more beneficial to me and interesting than others. The two exercises that were more beneficial to me were the relaxation exercise and the loving kindness exercise. The relaxation exercise was able to get me to relax like really relax like I have never been able to do. The loving kindness exercise showed me how to get past my problems with others and be able to be at ease and peace even if the person has just made me really mad. I would love to do both of the exercises every day. In order for me to do that I will have to take time out of my day (probably right before I go to bed) specifically for that and not plan anything else around that time. I will also have to find a quiet place to do these exercises at. The time thing is just the hardest part for me since I don’t have a set schedule at work but I will be working on finding time to do these exercises.

Aesclepius mp3/One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself

This exercise was very relaxing. I was actually able to meditate. At first I didn’t know what to expect out of the exercise. I didn’t know if I was going to like the exercise or not. This was just a great exercise. It made you as if you were the person you were thinking of. Overall though it kind of made me feel more connected to the person, which I’m sure others felt the same thing whether the person they were thinking of was alive or not. Meditation really relaxes me and trust me I need that, because I be so wound up. If I want to continue this though I am going to have to start making more time for myself where I can do more exercises like the ones that we have been doing in this class.

The saying one cannot lead another where one has not gone himself basically says to me how can you help someone get to a certain place in life if you are not even helping yourself get to that place. When it comes to the health and wellness professional, this basically says that you cannot tell your patient that they need to do this and that and don’t do this and that but you are not going by your own words. How can a doctor tell one not to smoke because of all the bad effects but the doctors themselves smokes? No one wants a doctor like this, everyone wants a doctor that will lead by example. Show me that you are doing this and that and that what you are doing is helping you with your health.

Loving Kindness/ Assessment

The exercise basically had you saying to yourself that you want others to be healthy, happy, whole, free from suffering, and etc. it wasn’t just about yourself the exercise seems like you are praying for others. You are opening your heart towards other individuals and not just yourself. The assessment was kind of like prayer also but it more about yourself and where you need healing, growth, and development to take place at. I liked both the exercise and the assessment either way though. The area that I would like to focus on in my life is interpersonally. I have always been the type who tries to make it seem likes everything is ok when it’s not. There can be a million and one things bothering but I won’t admit. When it finally does come out is when more and more problems are just loaded on top of the first one and then I just finally blow, especially when someone pushes the wrong button. I need to learn how to deal with my problems and not try to make it seem like there is nothing wrong.

Subtle Mind/Connection

Both of these exercises are just really long. My mind begins to wander very easily. The good thing about the exercise this week is that it got you to refocusing on your breathing once your mind started to wander. This was a plus about this exercise so I guess you can say that I enjoyed this one more than the loving kindness exercise. I was able to get back on track and focus on my breathing. I actually learned that I can stay focused on one thing and even if my mind does start to wander I can get right back on track. Also this exercise didn’t have you focusing on all these different concepts like the loving kindness exercise did. Just like the loving kindness exercise I will have to give this exercise another shot. I just have to get use to doing these long exercises. This exercise was really relaxing in my opinion.

When I am well spiritually I am also well mentally and physically. When I am having problems that I just can fix or deal with I just give them to God. He takes care of these problems for me and helps me through them. When I do this a lot of stress and pressure is taken off of me. So I don’t have to deal with being stressed out so much or getting sick because I am stressed out so much. We have learned that all three concepts are connected. A mental problem can have an impact on you physically and spiritually and vice versa.