Health & Wellness

Health and wellness professionals are the go to people in the healthcare field in order for someone to better themselves psychologically, spiritually, and physically. Because of this reason they must be sound in all three areas. Without the experience or knowledge of the three disciplines that have no room to give advice out to the public. Why would the public listen to them if they had no expertise anyway? They wouldn’t, therefore health and wellness professionals must develop each area in order to help others. The area that I personally need to develop more is my spirituality. This discipline has always suffered a bit for me because I have never found the time to delve into my inner self or the world around me. I need to work on this because it is important to develop a sound spirit in order to create balance in all other areas of health and wellness.

As far as my health in physical and psychological I think I am doing fairly well. I exercise daily in the form of walking my dogs which also helps me psychologically. Walking helps me to clear my head and de-stress while also helping my overall physical appearance and internal wellbeing. My spirituality suffers a bit as I mentioned above. Spirituality is the concept of an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the "deepest values and meanings by which people live.", including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop an individual's inner life. Spiritual experiences can include being connected to a larger reality, yielding a more comprehensive self; joining with other individuals or the human community; with nature or the cosmos; or with the divine realm. Spirituality is often experienced as a source of inspiration or orientation in life. It can encompass belief in immaterial realities or experiences of the immanent or transcendent nature of the world (Eck, 2001). I need to learn how to connect with this other side of life and become more open minded.

Each area of discipline requires goals in order to be successful and continue to grow. One goal that I have set for my physical development is to work on my internal physiology. Although I walk my dogs every night I need to set aside time for learning about nutrition. I enjoy food and need to learn how to nourish my body in a better way. This will not only help my exterior views but will also make me feel better overall creating more complete health and wellness. Another goal that I have in the psychological arena is to practice yoga. This not only helps the physical side of things but also helps with the mental portion of wellbeing. It is also a mind exercise that forces you to free your spirit and concentrate on breathing. The potential health benefits of yoga are numerous and may include: stress reduction, increased fitness, management of chronic health conditions, weight loss. Yoga is the perfect way to escape from the stress of the day and regain balance with one’s self (Stress management, 2012). One goal that I have for myself in the spiritual arena is to try meditation. Meditation is considered a type of mind-body complementary medicine. Meditation produces a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind. During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. This process results in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.

In order to assess my progress in each area of development over the next six months I must begin to keep a journal. Having a journal is not only a way to relieve stress but it also keeps track of how you are doing in a certain area or activity. It shows progress and how committed you really are to a particular thing. This is a healthy long term activity that can health in all areas of develop in health and wellness.

References

Eck, D. L. (2001). A New Religious America. San Francisco, CA: Harper.
Stress management. (2012). Mayo Clinic. Retrieved September 19, 2012 from
            http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/yoga/CM00004.