Creating Wellness Final Project

Tonia Weakland-Wilhelm

Kaplan University

HW420

Unit 9 Final Project

Integral Assessment and Commitment

04-03-2011

It is important for me as a health and wellness professional to continually develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically. I have been working on developing all of these areas and I believe I need to continue to work towards higher goals in all of these areas. This class Creating Wellness, as a whole has helped me to assess my health from a holistic perspective. This assessment has enabled me to set specific goals for developing the various aspects of myself. With my goals in mind I can implement practices that will foster my physical, psychological, and spiritual growth. Time will prove my level of commitment to lifestyle changes. In past courses I have had projects that take me through a similar process of assessment and goal setting. Each time I do such an assignment, it is an opportunity to see how far I have come and where I would like to go. 

My assessment of my health encompasses the physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of my human experience. Physically, I am in pretty good shape, but there is room for improvement. I am fairly strong and very flexible. I enjoy walking and yoga, so I do these things regularly. I also enjoy hiking and biking, but only engage in these activities periodically. Mentally, I keep my mind fit by continuing my education and studying the complex human mind. I nurture my spiritual side with meditation, yoga, and  by visiting temples and beautiful places in nature that bring me closer to God. If I had to rank myself on a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest level of development in all areas, I would rank at a 7.5. I say this because I do live with an awareness of what is healthy and in my best interest, but I do not always do what I know is good for me. 

In the past, I have set goals for myself and have had varying degrees of success with committing to long term life changes. I find that I am most successful when I make one small change at a time. When I am able to make that change a part of my routine without any additional effort, I am ready to move to the next step. Physically, I know I need to do more aerobic activity and strength training. I am going to sigh up for the Body Conditioning class at San Francisco City College again. I have taken it before. It is a good mix of low impact aerobics and light weights. The Contemporary Diet and Nutrition class at Kaplan and the book Fast Food Nation has inspired me to eat healthier. I rarely eat fast food and buy more organic, locally produced, non processed foods than I did a year ago. Recently I cut the processed sugars from my diet almost completely. I would like to start eating more healthy vegetarian food and cut down on my meat intake. Next quarter at Kaplan, I would like to take a class in abnormal psychology. The things I have learned about how stress effects our health is fascinating to me. The power the mind has over people is interesting too. The books Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulsers by Robert Sapolsky have been very enlightening as to the cascading effect stress has on our minds and bodies. In order to continue to develop my optimal mental health and cognition, I think taking another psychology class would be helpful. Spiritually, I think I have developed the most recently and have strong aspirations to develop this aspect of myself. Partially inspired by this class, Creating Wellness,  I have sought out local meditation centers and made great progress with my daily meditation practice. My goals for spiritual development are to become more deeply involved with local buddhist and yogic communities in the short run. In the long run, my goal is to develop a strong relationship with one or more of these local centers with ties to countries such as India. Once I graduate from Kaplan with my BS in Health and Wellness, I intend to go abroad to study and experience life in new ways. 

Practicing for my personal health means implementing strategies that foster my personal growth and overcoming obstacles that tend to throw me off track. Physically, I have set a goal to get more aerobic activity and strength training. One way to do this will be to sign up for Body Conditioning at San Francisco Community College. In addition, I am working on challenging myself more in my yoga practice by integrating more poses that require upper body strength in particular. Also, I have begun to ride my bike to run local errands. Now that the weather is improving, I intend to ride more frequently. For my psychological development I practice daily meditation and study the mind. I intend to continue my meditation practice and explore various types of meditation. I am at the point where I can call upon my breath, a mantra, or visualization at almost any time in order to keep my mind calm and quiet. I enjoy reading about how the brain functions, how the mind interacts with the physical body, and chemical reactions that effect the mind and body. Next quarter, I will take a psychology class that will serve to deepen my understanding of the human mind, help me to strengthen my own mental health and capacity, and to empower me with knowledge on how to deal effectively with people who may not be mentally healthy. Spiritually, I am drawn to nature, I am drawn to serve others. I am fortunate with my work that I get to help people feel their best. As I continue my educational, career and life goals, I look for ways to be resourceful and to give back, which nurtures my spirituality. I have attended functions at local meditation centers and yoga ashrams from time to time. I need to find a way to work this into my regular schedule. This means finding family friendly functions at these centers. In the resource  section of Dacher’s Integral Health text I did find a couple of Buddhist based organizations that had chapters in my area and around the world, that offer events for children, teens and families. Spirit Rock and Shambhala are easily accessible for me, have programs or events coming up that I am interested in and have centers around the world in places I would love to visit. I enjoy being in nature. Last week I visited a beautiful area in China where limestone mountains tower over rice patties and villages of people who live a primitive life by our standards. I intend to visit more such places and help improve quality of life while protecting environment and wildlife. I support nonprofit organizations which hold these values. As I mature professionally and my children grow up, my intention is to become more involved with these organizations to expand my worldly self, my knowledge and my spirit. I would love to work with Habitat For Humanity, Doctors Without Borders and other such organizations that are making a difference in my back yard and around the world. 

Assessing one self and setting goals is one thing, but to commit is another. In at least two previous quarters, I have had projects that involved these practices. I think the key to success is to take it a step at a time. Setting too many goals and major lifestyle changes can be a setup for failure for many of us. Looking back upon the previous assessments and goals I have set, I do believe I have made progress. Even if I am not where I would like to be, any progress is good. My goals today are essentially the same as the goals I have made in the past. Several months ago I set goals to get more physically fit by eating healthier, exercising more, and deepening my meditation practice. I have, in fact done this. Today I eat very little processed foods, almost no refined sugar, much less cheese or fatty foods than I did a year ago. My mountain bike sat in my garage for years, but in the last several months I have ridden it a couple of miles about once a week. One time recently I even took by bike to run errands around downtown San Francisco. I have been consistent with meditation practices daily for nearly a year. I often meditate as soon as I wake up and meditate my way to sleep. I find times throughout the day to get centered. If I do not have twenty minutes, I at least go for five deep breaths. I will continue to assess my progress, congratulate myself for my successes and keep working on the aspects of myself I could improve upon.

References

Dacher, Integral Health the Path to Human Flourishing, 2006, Basic Health Publications, Laguna Beach CA

The Spirit Rock Meditation Center, www.spiritrock.org, Woodacre CA, 2011

The Shambhala Centers, www.shambhala.org, 2011

Sapolsky, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulsers, 1994, Holt and Co., New York

Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, 1995, Bantam Dell, New York