Unit 10: The Final Blog!

Review your unit 3 personal assessment of your psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Reflect on these areas . How did you score yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 in unit 3? How do you score yourself now? Has the score changed? Why or why not?

In unit 3, I rated my spirituality a 4 out of 10, my psychological well-being at a 7, and my physical level at an 8.  I think at the beginning of this class, I wasn't really in touch with my spirituality, and I didn't pay much attention to where I would rate myself on a 1-10 scale in psychological well-being. Now that I have taking this class and got to experience so much and look deeper into my physical being, I rated myself the same physically with an 8. Psychologically at an 8, and spirituality at a 6. I honestly do believe I use some of the integral health techniques in my everyday life and since doing so-I have had more more of a positive outlook on my life.

 Review the goals and activities you set for yourself in each area. Have you made progress toward the goals? Explain.

I have made progress in all of my goals so far. I wanted to advance my score in spirituality and psychological and I think I have made many conscious efforts to do so. I know that I have advanced physically because I continue to workout everyday and follow a fairly strict diet plan. I don't rate myself higher because I think I have a little further to go on my physical journey until I am completely 100% happy with my body. Personally, I think it would be nearly impossible to reach a goal of 10 out of 10 because there will always be room for improvement.

 Have you implemented the activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain.

Yes, I have implemented the activities that I said I was going to.  I haven't necessarily set aside a certain time of the day to pray, but I find myself looking to God for more of life's answers. Before I never really stopped to think about things as much as I do now. As far as meditation exercises go, I haven't been performing those but I have been stretching a little longer each time and becoming more and more relaxed as I do that. I want to eventually start doing yoga at least three times a week like I used to.

 

Summarize your personal experience throughout this course. Have you developed improved well-being? What has been rewarding? What has been difficult? How will this experience improve your ability to assist others?

Throughout this course, I have noticed myself taking more time out of my day to stop and appreciate the small things. I have used quite a few of the exercises in the Integral Health text and I feel so much more relaxed mentally and physically. The only part of this class I haven't used in my daily life is the meditation practices, I just don't think I benefited much from them and I chose not to continue to practice them. As I live my life from here on out, I will take that extra time out of my day to help someone else out. It's such a great feeling to know that you were able to make someone's day or do a huge favor for them and get  nothing in return. I will continue to be much more self-less and love every important person in my life unconditionally.

Beth Bjorkgren

 

Unit 9 Health Assessment

Introduction: Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically? What areas do you need to develop to achieve the goals you have for yourself?

            It is important because of the simple fact “practice what you preach.” If a health professional isn’t fully developed psychologically, spiritually, and physically, he/she would not be able to teach it to the clients and others around them. Being a health professional comes along with not only being physically sound, but also mentally and spiritually. There are probably not a lot of people that will go to a health trainer or professional that is out of shape and be motivated by that. Being spiritually and mentally sound means that the professional has an understanding of their inner selves.  In order to fully connect with a person or action, the professional must be aware of how that person is feeling or what they are thinking. By being developed with these different aspects, a health professional will have the ability to inspire and engage everyone they come into contact with.

            Personally, I think I need to develop my spiritual side. Throughout all of the exercises we have done in this class, I have had such a difficult time connect with the meditation practices. Hopefully in time I will be able to set aside a specific time in each day to meditate and fully connect with my spiritual self. I want to become a fitness trainer after I graduate from Kaplan, and with that profession, I will have to be able to connect with myself on a spiritual level. I will run into all different types of clients and people that I will have to work with and be able to inspire and connect with them on a more emotional level. Until I can completely get in touch with my spiritual side myself, I don’t know how I will be able to do so with another person.

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

            As of today, I have assessed myself physically at an 8. I say this because I love to exercise and it is a huge part of my life. It is important to me to stay in shape and be healthy. The reason I would say 8 instead of 9 or 10 is because I don’t believe that anyone is in perfect physical shape. Someone always has a weakness in something. Even though I eat clean and stick to a healthy diet, I believe I will score myself higher over time. My weakness is that I still want to lose a little weight and tone my body in a few areas. I believe that even when I do reach my goals, I will still not reach the peak of physical perfection.

Spiritually, I rate myself at about a 6. I have so much trouble finding time to sit and relax each day and falling into a state of complete relaxation. I have found the meditation practices challenging, and it’s tough for me to stay fully connected throughout the entire length of time. I have taken into consideration that maybe I need to set aside a certain amount of time each day to specifically dedicate to meditation. I have a daughter that will turn 3 in August, and she makes it that much harder to find any time to sit and focus on myself and my feelings. In time, I want to boost my score from a 6 to an 8. A fitness professional needs to be able to connect spiritually with themselves and others to reach a level of complete understanding. Over time, I will definitely give much more of an effort to appreciate meditation and all of the good that is has the ability to give.

Psychologically, I rate myself at 8 out of 10. I feel that I am in touch with myself mentally and I have a good understanding of how my mind and body work. I believe that through exercise and spending time with my daughter Mila, I am able to feel at complete ease with myself and be a happier individual. Without physical activity every day, I think that I would be a big crazy mess. Exercise is my release, it makes me feel awesome, and I feel that it lets others around me know that I take care of myself. It is also a great feeling for me to show Mila how great it is to stay in shape and lead a healthy life. I want her to learn that I changed my unhealthy habits after she was born to be able to be around as long as I could for her and keep up with her throughout her life! As long as I continue to incorporate physical activity and bonding time with my daughter into my life each and every day I will keep my sanity!

Goal development: List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.

            My goal in the physical area would be to reach the highest level possible for myself. I want to lose about 10 pounds and tone my body more in my stomach and arms. Spiritually, I want to be able to incorporate meditation into my life at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes. It is important to me to become more spiritually sound to be able to connect with people on a deeper level. In my future profession, it is mandatory that I advance spiritually, and I plan on taking that part of my life a lot more seriously. As far as my mental health is concerned, I want to be able to incorporate the loving-kindness exercise more. I want to let go of any negative feelings I have for anyone in my life. I have no time to feel negatively, the only thing I am doing is taking away positive and happy moments from myself and others around me. My goal will be to take 5 minutes each time I get mad or upset, I will step away from the situation before I say something I will soon regret out of anger. By taking that small bit of time to focus and relax, I will be able to better communicate my feelings and avoid a lot more nagging and meaningless arguments.

Practices for person health: What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual. Provide at least two examples of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.

            To grow physically, I will incorporate more running into my exercise regimens. Although I work out for about an hour each day, I wish I ran every day too. I will run one mile after each work out, every day to eventually add more distance. I will also start yoga back up for 2 days a week to make sure I completely relax my muscles and stretch them to advance my current physical level.

            Psychologically, I will try to use meditation practices at least one day a week starting at 15 minutes. I do not want to completely over load my day with worrying about when I am going to have time to meditate. I think that one day a week for a little chunk of time will be more than enough to feel at ease and regain my mental strength. Spiritually, I will attend church with my mom and daughter Sunday mornings. Right now, my mom goes to church by herself, she is always hounding me on getting Mila involved in church so she can understand who God is and why he is so important. I feel that by incorporating these things into my life, I will be able to fully connect with myself and really appreciate everything that I have in this life.

Commitment: How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months? What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices for health and wellness?

            I will track my progress in the next six months by writing everything down, and checking it off as I go. Right now, I do this with my work out schedule, I have it written down for a month at a time and after I complete a work out, I get to check it off my calendar. I have always told my friends to do that because when you finally get to mark that day off, it is such a great and accomplished feeling. By writing down my new commitments, (meditating, running, and going to church) I am positive I will stick to a program that works for me.

            The strategies I will use to maintain my practices are ones that I have obtained during my time in this class. I have learned a great deal about my inner self while studying the Integral Health text book. I had never imagined that there was so much more to life than just the physical or obvious means of healing and health. With the knowledge I have gained, I know that over time I will continue to be a better person by using the loving-kindness and calm-abiding practices. By taking time to step back and assess a situation, I know that I can resort back to this book and full understand what my next move should be mentally. Health, happiness, and wholeness are now the three principles that I will continue to live by for the rest of my life. 

Beth Bjorkgren

Loving Kindness/Subtle Mind unit 8

I chose to review the effects that Loving Kindness has had on me since I started this class. I find it easy to warm up to others. I don't like to hold grudges against people; I hate to have drama and awkwardness with anyone, so I like to have an open mind and heart as much as I possibly can. It is just not in my nature to wish ill feelings on anyone, because I always think "What if that really did happen? How would you feel then?" Loving Kindness always brings me back to the Golden Rule, to treat everyone as you want to be treated. As far as incorporating Loving Kindness into my mental fitness, I would just continue to do as I already do today. I will not let negative energy and emotions take over my mind and mental wellness, because they will cause nothing but stress and anger. I will continue to forgive people quickly, because life is just too short to hold onto bad feelings and resentment!

The other practice I chose to discuss was the subtle mind. I was able to relate to this in a few ways because although I don’t get a ton of out the meditation exercises, I am able to clear my mind in different ways throughout my day. During and after my work outs, I feel like my mind has complete clarity. I feel great about myself, I am normally in an awesome mood and my mind is at complete ease. Mentally, I believe I can continue to practice using the subtle mind and stay mentally relaxed as I exercise. Physical activity is my getaway, I am able to forget about everything else around me and completely focus on what I am doing and how I am feeling at that moment.

Beth Bjorkgren

Meeting Aesclepius

Describe your meditative practices for the week and discuss the experience. Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?

The meditation practice this week was more challenging for me than most. I was able to imagine a person, my grandmother who passed away the day before my daughter was born almost 3 years ago. I could imagine her standing in front of me, but didn't really connect with the confession side of the exercise. Although I have noticed somewhat of a change in my psychological side, I slow things down a bit more and think things through. I can continue to apply some of the meditation practices into my life by taking more time to myself to just sit and relax. I would like to meditate immediately after I work out, but I feel like I just would not be able to sit still after I had just finished. For me to actually sit and be able to focus on meditation practices, I feel like I should set aside a certain time each day to do so.

Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (p.477). How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?

I think the saying means that you cannot fully understand or coach something to someone else unless you have experienced it for yourself first. This can apply to health and wellness in quite a few ways.  If you are preaching to a client about eating healthy, but you are not following your same rules they probably won't be too enthused about it. If you don't exercise and keep yourself in shape as a trainer, why would someone want to listen to you tell them what to do but not actually do it yourself? You definitely have an obligation to your clients. We all choose our own paths in life, and our own careers. If you aren't in touch with yourself physically and psychologically, it would make it hard for anyone else to become closer to you in those aspects as well. It is important to continue to grow psychologically and spiritually throughout your personal life to have some sort of stability. We as humans need to be in touch with our inner selves to completely appreciate who we are as people.

Beth Bjorkgren

Loving Kindness/Integral Assessment

I can understand why the universal loving kindness exercise is used by many people, and helps them throughout the day. The passage had a great message, but I found myself not gaining much from it. Meditation and all other practices like it don't necessarily help me in many ways. Although I can completely understand how many people would benefit greatly from these exercises.

The Integral assessment was nearly the same as the loving-kindness exercise. I can sit and focus on these things and repeat them in my head over and over, but I just don't feel like I gain more spirituality or mental focus from performing them. Sometimes it is nice to sit and relax, but I think spirituality and mind/body connection is gained through interaction and other types of activity that can relate better to each different type of person.

I personally discovered that I am the type of person that is able to focus more and connect more with things by actually seeing or performing them, and not meditating to seek these things. Although I can say that I chose to focus on my fitness and how my body keeps constantly changing and getting stronger. Exercises that will be helpful to me are anything that I do now. I am proud of myself for the amount of time that I spend exercising and eating healthy. I will definitely continue to grow and develop in that part of my life. Maybe over time, I will be able to connect with my inner self more and see a whole new perspective on things.

Beth Bjorkgren

Mila Rae on the Daily

I wanted my first blog to be written about my daughter Mila because she is the center of my life. I could write millions of blogs about her and her different adventures of a day to day basis.I am a stay at home mom so I am lucky enough not to miss a moment of her life. Usually everyday she does or says something that makes me laugh out loud or just shake my head. For instance, she is two and a half and just got potty trained in January, so yesterday she was going to the bathroom and I happened to walk in and stepped in a huge puddle. She was already sitting on the toilet so I thought the shower had leaked and she goes, "hey mom, I just wanted to pee on the floor." Her pants and socks were completely soaked and I asked her why she did it and she responded, "I don't know, bro." It is extremely hard to get upset with a little girl that just called you bro. That's most definitely her dads fault because he is a serious Jersey Shore fan and "bro" is said at least 1,000 times an episode.

She loves to sing and dance. Her favorite TV shows are Bubble Guppies, Doc McStuffins, and Dora the Explorer. Her favorite movie is Tangled and she watches it at least once a day. She has every Rapunzel doll you can possibly imagine and recites the entire movie word for word. I will continue to post her everyday shenanigans and give everyone a few laughs.

Photo 1 is at the Omaha Zoo
Photos 2-5 are Mila with her different hairstyles that she demands
Photo 6 is her driving my car
Photo 7 is of her sleeping her dog Tyson