Final project, Yet the Journey has Just Begun:)

Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically?

It is important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically because to truly “teach” and “motivate” those around us, we must truly “walk the walk.” Our beliefs must be naturally apparent to those that surround us and look to us for advice and support. Practicing, and using the tools that we have learned, such as loving kindness and a calm, subtle mind, will lead us to a truer sense of self, and that will be conveyed to those that look to us for assistance. We must be able to touch lives around us with a sense of peace, understanding, and love.

In my journey to help others, I find that I must work continuously on all of these traits.

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

In my psychological life, I need to continue to work on many things, most coming from my past. I need to focus on the many positive aspects of my life, learn from those negative aspects of the past, and continue to “let go.” I have come a very long way, but I still experience moments of anger over past events that I have absolutely no control over. Learning to “let go” of such anger is not an easy thing to do, but the results of doing so are amazing! By doing so, I have found a calmness and a freedom from things that poisoned my life for years and years. And with this movement from anger, I have found more happiness and love then I could have ever imagined possible. In this area, I plan to continue my work with my psychotherapist and focus on my meditations that allow me to “rid” myself of bad memories, thoughts and feelings. I would currently score my psychological health as an 8, on a scale of 1-10.

My spiritual life is constantly deepening as I learn to forgive and move on in my life. My spiritual beliefs have always been very deep, and I base my daily life upon those beliefs. My belief system is very much based on karma, and the idea of “energies”. I believe that the energy I give out is equal to the energy that I take in. I believe strongly that the love I give is equal to the love that I receive. This balance of energy is very important to me, and becomes more important each day. I had some very hard lessons to learn about this aspect of my life, and I have made MAJOR changes in how I let these energies flow within my life. As a child, I was taught that I had to “earn” love; it was not something freely given. For many, many, years, I spent all of my time and energy trying to feel a sense of love and acceptance from those around me, only to find my heart and soul broken, and my mind, and even body, abused. I spent more time trying to please others, and be what others wanted me to be, only to feel like a constant failure. It took a very long time and a lot of tragedy within my life to gain the strength and wisdom to be able to remove myself from these horrors. When I was able to remove myself from this prison of dysfunction, I found that every aspect of my life changed. From that point, my entire life changed, and I gained love, acceptance, happiness and joy. My energies changed, as did the people and situations surrounding me, and I found the true meaning of love. I will continue to work on the love that I put out into the world. I will focus on the pureness of the love that I have learned to feel, and I will mindfully project that into the world around me, each day. In the spiritual aspect of my wellness, I would again, give myself a score of 8.

My physical wellness is rather solid, and has been for quite some time. Good health and physical wellness is something that is a major focus in my life and in my profession. I work in the fitness/diet/wellness field, and I absolutely MUST “walk my words”. I must be an example in all aspects of my lifestyle, physically and nutritionally. I just experienced spine injury this past winter, and have worked VERY hard to gain back my muscle tone and strength in the last months, and would very proudly score my physical wellness at a 9. I am working on making it a ten!

Goal Development

I continue to set goals in the physical aspect of my life, and continue to educate myself in all matters in my field. My new goals in this facet of my life are to try new things, perhaps barre class, and to continue to enjoy my healthy body even as I age. I turn 50 in two years, and suffer from back issues, as well as easy weight gain. (A family trait) I have set very specific goals that are daily, short term, and long term, and I keep track of my progress through journaling. I motivate myself with constant education, and I refuse to let my body “get old”. I constantly push myself to try new things and to be involved in an active lifestyle and community.

Spiritually, I would like to become more involved with a broader community of people with similar beliefs. I was extremely involved with such a community when I lived in Maryland, but have not found such a community in my new city. My spiritually is something that has become very personal and private to me, but I do miss sharing it with others. My goal would be to find that community.

My goal psychologically is to stay on track with my current ongoing therapy sessions. After a terrible event 2 years ago, I went into therapy to make sense of some things that had a huge, negative, affect on my life, yet were very much out of my control. I was able to see things clearly rather quickly, yet continued with the therapy because I had experienced an incredible amount of betrayal and pain. I have overcome these challenges, and am stronger then ever. However, I will continue my now monthly visits simply because the process has been such a wonderful and healthy experience. I have gained wisdom and peace in this process.

Practices for personal health

To foster further growth in my personal health, I plan to stay more in tune with what I have experienced and learned. Spiritually, I will continue to seek out and spend time with people that have positive attitudes about their lives. I plan to continue my spiritual journey with mediation practice, and lots of reading on the subject. I am also considering continuing my blog, but through a different format. Psychologically, I plan to continue with my therapy, and also continue to write in my journal of gratitude. I find that spending time writing about the positive aspect of my life each day-even for just a brief moment-helps me to find, and appreciate, my blessings. Physically, I plan to continue challenging my body and appreciating the workings of my body. I will be working with new clients in months to come, and embarking on a new nutritionally related business venture, so these new endeavors will keep me learning and moving forward.

Commitment

I think that my progress will be easy to assess in the coming months. I have been on a serious journey for quite some time, and I am quite comfortable with the goals that I have set and met in the past. My current goals are much like the ones I have already met-they are just taking things to the next level. I believe in setting many small, obtainable goals, with the larger goal as a prize. Smaller goals, or steps, are easier to reach and bring a success that provides motivation. Each small goal leads me to the higher goal, with little chance of failure or exhaustion. My journals, blogs, and tracking calendars will inspire me, allow me to see my progress, and make it easy for me to set the next obtainable goals in my ever changing life.

My biggest strategy for success in health and wellness is to live each day to the fullest, to live within each moment, and find appreciation in the blessings that I have been given in the lifetime. I must breathe in each moment, feel the sun, or the moon, on my face, and know that my heart beats for one lifetime. I must make this life the very best that I can possibly be, and place that before me, as I interact with the world.