Final Project

            Developing your personal health and wellbeing is essential for the establishing the highest quality of life. It is increasingly important for professionals working within the health field to focus on developing their own health. I strongly believe that physicians need to practice what they preach. It’s important for them to be able to relate to their patients. I think physicians, therapists, and anyone in the health area need to focus on their own personal health in order to grow on a professional level. Again, physicians, therapists, and trainers who aren't practicing what they are lecturing about to patients won't be taken seriously and can lose their patients trust and respect. They also need to understand the value of what activities and health advice they are giving to their patients. The field of medicine and health can be a very stressful environment, so for a physician, it is very important to develop the highest level of consciousness, inner peace, and calm.  For myself, I need to focus on further developing psychologically. I often allow myself to be overwhelmed by stress and work and can let my mind be consumed with worry and frustration.

            Initially through this course we were asked to analyze and assess all aspects of our own personal health, from the physical, psychological, and spiritual areas. I decided to do another personal assessment of my overall health, and then compare them to my previously declared numbers. First, I would rank my current physical health at an 8, which I previously ranked at a 7. The reason I increased my physical wellbeing is that I have been working harder on incorporating exercise into my daily routine. I have always been an active person, but in recent months have been slacking on participating in rigorous activities. I recently began participating in an exercise program that meets twice a week. This program focuses on developing and strengthening the core muscles and burns over 1000 calories per class. I have already begun to see results. A goal I have set for myself is to maintain working out at this class at least once a week for the next year.

 The second area is my psychological wellbeing. I would rank myself currently at a 6. Previously I had ranked my overall wellbeing at an 8. The reason for my decline in my ranking is that I have been extremely stressed and feeling overwhelmed in the past few weeks. From working a full time job, a part time job, and the semester wrapping up, there seems to be an endless list of tasks that I need to accomplish every day.  A goal that I have set for myself is to being to eliminate the unnecessary clutter in my life and tasks that are not necessary. I want to tone down the level of chaos in my life and only focus on areas and activities that truly matter.

 The last area is my spiritual wellbeing. I would say that this has maintained at a six. I initially had set a goal for myself to find a church that is closer to my home and attend church twice a month. Although I have developed a process of increasing my spiritual wellbeing, I have yet to initialize this plan. I am hoping that once this semester is over, I will be able to put more focus on my spiritual goals.

            An exercise that I believe will foster the growth of my psychological, spiritual, and physical wellbeing is by practicing meditation. I have begun reading a book discussing the practices and beliefs of the Dalai Lama. Through his teachings, there are multiple suggestions on how to perform proper meditation throughout the day. There are several different levels of meditation that it offers, from highly developed practices to simple suggestive ways of thinking. I have begun practicing an exercise that is similar to the lovingkindness activity. It attempts to eliminate negative energy within the body and mind, and replace those feelings with love, acceptance, and openness.  Another activity that would provide benefits for all three areas would be participating in yoga. After beginning my rigorous exercise activity, I have decided to venture outward to other more calm activities, one being hot yoga. Hot yoga implements meaningful movements that tone and strengthen the body, and also deep breathing that relaxes and focuses the mind. The room temperature is also increased so that toxins are eliminated through the process of sweat. I have only participated in one class, but have found that I feel very peaceful and rejuvenated by the end of the program. Although tired, I feel that all negativity and toxins have been eliminated from my body and soul as well as my mind.

            In the next six months I will perform another self-assessment of my overall health and wellbeing. My six month goal at the time of this assessment is to increase my psychological wellbeing by at least a ranking of an 8 or 9, as well as have established a routine at building my spiritual wellbeing. By this point I aim to have found a church closer to home and be maintaining regular attendance. Even if I am only able to attend church once a month, I will view this as progress. As for my physical wellbeing, I hope to maintain the ranking that I have established now. I don’t believe that achieving a ranking of 10 is possible, because there are always going to be areas for improvement. So being able to maintain the way I physically feel now, I will be very satisfied and proud of my overall progress.