unit 9

Introduction

                As I start this journey into wholeness there are goals that I want to achieve for my personal development. The ultimate goal is to be a successful nutritionist. Part of what would make me successful is obtaining good health for me. The interesting thing about journeys is there is rarely a straight path; there is a starting point and an ending point. The way there is determined by what kind of obstacles one faces. For me some of these obstacles placed before me are becoming what I wish to promote in others and finding a work place that supports my beliefs in health care. Looking at the medical field, for instance, changes need to happen in order for healing to take place. Western society has focused on curing patients rather than healing them. It is one thing to cure ailments of the body, but it is a different notion to heal the whole body. Issues like stress, depression and improper nutrition can lead to all sorts of diseases. Stress, for instance, is a high risk factor for heart issues, obesity, and cancer.  If health care practitioners do not set their goals to heal the whole body the patient will never full heal from what ails them. I want to be part of a team that promotes integral health and wellness not just curing diseases.

                What is integral health? Integral health concerns the whole body. The whole body consists of a mind, body and spirit. All these need to be well for an individual to be truly healthy.  The mind not only needs to function properly, it needs to be stimulated.  The body can be stricken by disease and disabled. In order for the body to be healthy it needs to have the proper nutrition and exercise as well as any disease or disablement fixed to the best it can. The spirit is the intertwining inner self that needs to flourish. It needs to spill out and affect others.

                The other thing practitioners should be aware of is how they present themselves. There is an epidemic of unhealthy people and they have in filtered the health care system. How are they supposed to encourage their clients when they are themselves unhealthy? Who wants to walk into a weight loss clinic where the front desk personal weights 300lbs? I personally would think that something is not working here and would go try and find somewhere else. I myself am over weight. This issue has been running through my mind the last few months; how can I help others if I am not willing to follow what I suggest. It isn’t so much that I do not want to follow; I just haven’t done it yet. I want to be stress free with an open heart and ear. I want to help people, without judging them in their situation, to become a better them. I believe that people would find me more credible if I was at a healthy weight and had clear, healthy skin. I also believe they would trust me more if I sat and listen to them and treated them like they mattered and was not just a pay check.

Assessment

                As I move into this journey of wellness I have some areas in my life that need some nurturing. I currently do not feel complete. There are things in my life that I need to add, change or just get rid of. Looking at my mind, body and spirit each of these areas need some work. On a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being the worst possible and 10 being the best, I will look at these areas. My physical body I would give a 6 because I have no diseases currently, however, I do not exercise regularly and I have some risk factors. I am, also about 40lbs over weight.  My mind I would give an 8 to. I pick up on thing easily, have a decent memory and I am mentally stable. The spirit is where I feel is lacking the most, I would have to give it a 2. I have done nothing to feed my spirit lately.

Development

                When considering developing these areas in my life that need to be healthier, I want to take care of my mind, body and spirit.  I intend to start an exercise program and eat a nutritionally balanced diet. I will feel better and healthier, I will have more energy and it will make me feel better about me. I love to scrapbook, quilt, and knit. These hobbies are great to simulate the mind. They have an element of design and thinking process that is good for brain activity. My biggest issue with my hobbies is that I have started so many that I have not finished it has given me a reverse affect. Instead of stimulating it has caused me some stress and anxiety. My goal is to finish the projects I started, so that I can do new ones. This ongoing creativity will be good for my spirit as well.  I have just moved in to a new city and I have not been to church in a long time. I grew up in church so the singing of hymns lifts my spirit. I need to find a church in my area to develop my spirituality. Another thing I want to do, as silly as it sounds, is to put on makeup every morning. I see this as good for my spirit because it would make me feel good inside and out. I am not one for wearing makeup usually; I have honestly not seen much point to putting it on and never leave the house. I have noticed, however, that people seemed to take me more serious when I wear it. It might be that I feel more confident about myself and I release positive energy. This will help me be more sociable feeding my spirit as well has freeing my mind of negative thoughts about myself.  All this will start me on the right path to wholeness.

Practice for Personal Health

                There are certain activities that I can do to help me obtain my goals. I plan on doing Zumba three times a week. I will start slow because I am not use to exercise and then work towards 45 minutes at a time. This is a great aerobics exercise and a good way to release stress hormones.  This will help with my weight loss goals as well. Pilates would help strengthen muscles and increase flexibility; therefore I plan on doing it twice a week as well. Both these together will help my physical body be healthier. I love mind puzzle games and tend to do them every day to stimulate my brain function. I also enjoy the loving-kindness meditation and tend to do it every morning as well as finishing my craft projects. The meditation is a good time to clear my mind of negativity and replace it with loving-kindness. This will help me be more in tuned to my clients as well as those around me. When working on my spirituality, after finding a church, I plan on attending every Sunday morning as well as finding a bible study to get involved with. These are usually once a week.  I, also, want to get back into praying every morning. This lifts my spirits and sets my mind at ease. Being part of a church is a great social outlet and most have opportunities to do volunteer work that will also feed my spirit. My horses is one of the most important things to me. I love being with them and they have been boarded for the last three years. I have not been able to spend much time with them. I am going to get them tomorrow and they will once again be in my back yard.  I plan on working with my horses as much as possible. They are currently not ride able, and that is the goal I wish to work towards. I would say every day, but here in Washington State it is not always possible with the rain. This will definitely fill my spirit. Working with them takes all I am inside and lets me express it through caring for them.  There is something special about looking into the eyes of an animal. These are just a start in my wholeness journey, but they will set me down a path that will lead me further into health, happiness and flourishing.

 

Track Progress

                I would like to track my progress through two different sources: journaling and photographs. I can keep track of daily progress through journal writing. I think the morning would be best it is a great way to start the day getting everything out on the paper. All the concerns for the day ahead, all the plans set for the day and how well the day before went.  If there are struggles then those can be addressed and encouraged to keep moving forward with progress.  When trying to lose weight and working with my horses I think pictures are a great tool. I can take a picture of my starting point and then ever week after. For my horses it might look like: a dirty horse, a clean horse, a horse with a saddle, and then me on the horse. It would make a great scrapbook to look at for encouragement; I accomplished something. I think that pictures can be great to take of the world around me as well. I love flowers and nature. I scrapbook of a walk in nature could be another feel good coffee table book to lift the spirits.