*my plan*

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I. Introduction:

"Practice what you preach" is an old, but still good, saying just about everyone knows. In this case, well in every case really, it is very important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically themselves, before they can try to help others in those areas. Dacher states it nicely, "To become the agents of a more expansive health, we must begin with our own life" (Dacher, 2006, p. 167). We can be book smart and have all the education in these areas of health, but we would be missing the full throttle grasp if we have not experienced them hands on. Plus, patients are more comfortable with you, more confident in you, and more willing to actually listen to what you have to say to them.

The areas of weakness that I have at the moment is in physical exercise. For me this area of weakness also weakens me psychologically. Coming from a certified personal trainer background and playing sports all my life, I have set very high standards for myself. Just recently I have stepped down a bit on the physical activities and focused more on my spiritual journey. I do not regret this but it has not only affected me physically but also mentally. I get down on myself when I do not keep myself disciplined with workouts. My goal is to get back on track with a healthy regime that allows me to focus on all other areas of my life as well.

II. Assessment:

* Spiritual well-being, 8.5: Ahhh, spiritual well-being makes me happy. This is a HUGE part of my life. Not because I am a pastor's wife, or because I am a kid's pastor myself, but because it is everything I live for (or at least try to). I would say I am at an 8.5 in this area. Clearly, I want to be a 10, but no one is perfect. :) I want to make ministry my full time job, not only my actual job but also full time in life. All the time, I want to walk with God.

* Physical well-being, 7: Like I said I grew up playing sports my whole life. I played for several teams, for my own physical health, and for fun. Yes, I actually enjoy working out and being active. :) Right now in my life, I would say I am at a 7 for physical well-being. I am definitely eating healthy (especially since we are trying to start a family) but I know I can prioritize more exercise into my crazy busy schedule.

* Psychological well-being, 6: I would say this one has also been a challenge. I am constantly busy, doing something, thinking of something, thinking of doing something, etc. :) I can definitely get overwhelmed at times, and if I did not have my spiritual well-being pretty strong, then I am pretty sure I would go crazy. I don't know how some people can do it. But I would give myself a 6. I have really improved with my stress and worry (thanks to my faith and prayer), but I still have some work to do. I feel like there's always something going on and I just need to concentrate on the now time and not about the future.

III. Goal development:

* Physical goal: To put my certified personal training self to work. Like I mentioned above, I am certified, but once I quit working at the gym I have fallen off. I know I have the discipline. I just need to make the time, and the discipline will easily come with it. I would like to get back to my 5 days a week of training, but realistically, I would say at least 3 times a week (with my lovely dog walks every day of course).

* Psychological goal: My goal is to worry less. This flows with my spiritual walk. One of my favorite verses from the bible is Philippians 4:6 "Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything." I love this. I am not 100% there yet. I do pray about everything, but I still have a tiny bit of worry. That is frustrating. I do know that I feel so much less stress, worry, pain, suffering, etc. when I give it all to God (not trying to preach, but just writing my thoughts). I want to get my priorities straight with some time management restructuring as well.

* Spiritual goal: I would love to walk with God constantly, in everything I do. I do not want to get intimidated by that statement. I know how it can be, how hard it will be with temptations, the easy way out, even at times the minority in the group, etc, BUT I do know the rewards, and they are definitely well worth it. I would love to keep up with my daily (at least every day) readings of the word, and my prayers. Prayer works, so I must keep that up. I would also like to reach out to more people in my church home, those in need. Even if it is just to listen, help move things, or have lunch with them. We are looking for houses closer to our church home, so I am super excited that I will be closer to our church family and be able to help them more.

IV. Practices for personal health:

* Physical: Early mornings! I love working out in the morning before my day starts. I use to teach boot camp courses at 5:45 AM! Now, that is a little too early, but I loved being done with my workout and seeing the sunrise. This allowed me to not find many excuses not to exercise since I would do it right at the beginning. I have all sorts of knowledge on specific exercises...I just need to find the time. I think it will work when I literally tell myself that I have an "appointment" or "class" to go to and make myself responsible for being there. I also need to have an accountability partner that will go with me. Then I will feel even more obligated to go and not let that person down.

* Psychological: Focusing on others usually helps me have a clear and less crazy mindset. Plus it gives me that good feeling that I am not being selfish and caring and loving others. I love the Loving-Kindness exercise. It does just that. It takes away all selfish thoughts of myself and allows me to focus on loving others no matter what. God wants us to love all: friends, family, stranger, and even enemies. I also enjoy the Subtle Mind exercise. "This practice teaches us to tame and stabilize the moving mind, develop a witnessing consciousness, shift into calm-abiding when possible, and experience unity consciousness when the earlier stages have been mastered" (Dacher, 2006, p. 75). Who wouldn't want that??

* Spiritual: It helps me when I am surrounded by positive, uplifting, and God-loving believers. I have less distractions and less things/people pulling me down. I am not saying that I only hang out with this crowd, because I have plenty of friends who are non-believers. I do not judge them at all or hound them with my beliefs. I know God has a plan for them and I will be there for them no matter what. I need to educate myself more with God's word. I have a lot to learn. I have a few spiritual mentors that I can come to and pick their brains, and I should not take them for granted. Pray works for me. Having that quiet time or just random short prayers here and there makes a huge difference in my life.

V. Commitment:

I have been thinking about this lately, and I would absolutely love to keep up with this blog that we were assigned to all term. I feel that this is a great tool to jot down thoughts and concerns, and also to be able to share with others who might be interested and have a few kind words to offer. I would love to keep up with this blog and maintain the health, happiness, and wholeness theme. I would love for other classmates to partake in this with me, that way they as readers will know where I am coming from with this course as a background. I feel that this will help me keep up with progress or lack of progress by use of accountability.

My husband and I are about to open a new door in our lives with starting a family. I feel that I will need my health and wellness more than ever when this time comes. The motivation of having other people counting on me being there physically, psychologically, and spiritually will definitely help keep me on track. I feel that having this course behind my belt has opened my eyes, heart, and soul, and I feel that I am a better person for taking this course with Professor and my classmates.

Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral health: the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.

keys to health and thriving

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Looking back at my blog entries, I have realized there are so many beneficial exercises that we discussed and experienced. I would have to say that the two most beneficial practices for me are Loving-Kindness and Journey On.

Loving-kindness is one because I felt I immediately connected with this exercise. Some exercises are more difficult to really focus on at the beginning, and hopefully it gets easier the more you practice, but with the Loving-Kindness I had no trouble getting something out of it. I felt that many others reacted the same way. I feel this exercise would be helpful for anyone who loves and has loved ones who are in pain. Compassionate people will be great at this exercise, and those who want to be compassionate this will be helpful too. How can we not benefit from more people showing their love and kindness to love ones, strangers, and even their enemies? Our world will be a better place with the spread of this exercise.

I have a connection with the Journey On exercise. This was the first one we did in this course, and it was the first one for me to do ever. It was all new experiences and feelings flowing through my body and it was fun. I really enjoyed this visualization technique and I felt that it helped with a realization for me in the process. I was literally following my blood flow from my head to my toes, etc. I feel that this technique benefits those who are in need of physical healings. I have been in need of physical healing before and I know that I would have used this approach to my specific case if I knew of it. I could have visualized my problem spot and visualized it healing. Taking out the old, abnormal cells, and bringing in the healthy and happy cells that belong there. Afterward I would feel so rejuvenated, refreshed, energized, and even mentally more positive because of my experience.

my obligation

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"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (Schiltz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2005, p. 477). As a professional giving health and wellness advice and support it is truly helpful if we have had personal experience ourselves. It is hard to relate and try to empathize with someone if we have no idea what they are going through. Plus, I feel that the patients will truly appreciate the support and advice more if they know that we have gone through something similar. I feel that they can trust us more and feel more comfortable talking to us and actually using our advice.

We need to understand, as professionals, when it is appropriate to help someone or not. We need to be mature enough to tell that patient that we do not know the answer, but will find someone who does (perhaps a colleague who has experienced it). We should also learn from these situations. If we come across something that we are not familiar with, then it might be beneficial to either speak in person with someone who has or do our research about this topic. I feel that this will help us grow as a professional and can open new doors to our education and experience. It would be difficult knowing we cannot help our patients, therefore the more we learn and the more experience we have then the better chances we have of helping them.

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M.S. (2005). Consciousness & healing: integral approach to mind-body medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.

meeting asciepius

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The "Meeting Asciepius" exercise is powerful. The first time I did this I chose my husband as the person that I respect, honor, and have a special connection with. I loved the visualization that came into my mind from these words. The experience of myself receiving his purified mind, speech, and heart was amazing. I really, really look up to my husband. He is such a great role model as a Godly man. To be able to have anywhere close to the amount of wisdom, compassion, love, peace, passion, forgiveness, etc. that he has would be incredible. I have learned so much from him and am able to see myself grasping those amazing characteristics myself (at that high of a level).

When I visualized his entire image of him dissolving into the bright light and entering into my body, I could feel the warmth and positive energy flowing through. I just felt encouraged and loved more than ever. Near the end of this exercise, it mentioned to remember "your ever-present inner healer will support and guide you toward integral health" (Dacher, 2006, p. 57). I immediately thought of God and him being my healer. His spirit is what lives within me; he is alive and active in me. God is who can get me through anything...even integral health. The practicing of mindfulness has opened up even more doors for me, especially spiritually. It has given me a reason to have even more time with Him and to really focus on my life and how I can be more like Him with love, kindness, compassion, peace, joy, wisdom, etc.

These practices are very helpful for me, and my walk with God. It has helped me to focus better in general, which has benefited my quiet time with Him or in prayer. I am not perfect, so I can accept that it will be challenging to always have a clear mind so I can pull all of my focus on one thing, but I know I can use the tactics to help me lessen those distractions. I can use my clear mind to not only work on my spiritual walk but also with my physical body and my mental state.

Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral health: the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.

wellness and healing

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I absolutely love the loving kindness meditation. I find this very appropriate in my life. I try to love everyone. God wants us to love everyone, no matter what. To pray for our loved ones and our enemies, to forgive them, and to love them. I am not saying that it is easy for me, but I know that it is the right thing to do. God's words say it well..."And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13: 13). You have to love everyone people!! :) It truly and honestly makes the world a better place…as cheesy as that sounds. When I only think about love and how I can be of help to others and to love them and care for them, it makes me feel amazing. One can't help but being happy and spreading more love. It is a real test though when you find someone who rejects your love. I want to quit sometimes and just think that it's their loss, but that's when they need it the most. That's where I figure out ways around things to still show my love and let them know that I care.

The area that I would like to focus on for growth and development would be biological. I am in no means worried about my nutrition, body, or weight, etc. But the thing is I grew up playing sports and being extremely active my whole entire life all the way up until about last year. I am even a certified personal trainer, however I am not practicing this profession at the time. Because of this, I literally do not have a strict workout schedule like I have had my entire life. Fortunately, I eat healthy and move around a bit nannying my 3 nieces (all under the age of 5) and I have not gained any weight (although I have lost some muscle). But mentally it has messed with my head and I feel like I am weak. I feel unaccomplished and at times frustrated with myself. I was just so used to always doing something, and now that it has not been made a priority it is hard. So I would like to improve (slowly but surely) my physical fitness training. Come to think of it I can use some work on more mind/body exercises as well.

I know that I need to mentally work on my mind set on not getting frustrated or upset with myself for not exercising. I feel that when I get past that frustration, I will feel more motivated and energized to actually put more effort into making it another priority. I do not want to go overboard though, because I have many, many priorities that still need tending too. When I am with my nieces I can incorporate more outdoor (now that the weather is nice) activities. That has worked in the past, but I think I kept making excuses or they really were excuses. I know the girls love being active and involved so I need to focus on learning more activities that can be beneficial to me and fun for them. Accountability partners are fabulous! I know my husband is a great one. He actually says he wants to work on his workout routines as well, but it's hard for him since he's a workaholic. :) In the past we made a great team since we held each other accountable. Plus we can enjoy the time together even if it's hard and we want to give up.