Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Unit 10


Hello everyone, 

In unit 3 I scored myself psychologically as a “7”, physically as a “7”, and spiritually as a “6”.  I score my self now as a “9” in each area.  The score changed because now, thanks to this course, I could develop skills in each area, and I could put into practice different tools that helped me achieve these results.  I achieve the goals I had in unit 3, I wanted to get to a “9” in each area, and I made it.  I have more peace in my life, my emotions are more stable, and I feel better in all areas of my life.  As I just mentioned this course has been overall positive for me.  I will continue putting into practice the knowledge gained through this class, and that will help me assisting others. 

Thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences and for let me learn from all of you, good luck in all your projects. 

Yesica Gonzalez.  

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Unit 9 Blog


I.  INTRODUCTION
The development of the principal areas that would allow a professional in the health and wellness field to achieve human flourishing is extremely important.  These areas are psychological, spiritual, and physical. As a professional in the field of health and wellness, I have to role by the example. I have to make sure I am looking healthy and feeling healthy. In addition, if I would recommend any practice to a patient I need to be prepared for any question. If I had experienced it, I could just share my experience and that would give the patient more confidence.  To achieve my personal goals, I have to develop the three areas.  I have to improve my physical, psychological, and spiritual health.
II.  ASSESSMENT
To evaluate our overall health we must consider the different domains of health, which are physical, psychological, and spiritual.  I have 27 years old and for my age, I consider myself very healthy.  Physically, I had the medical examination, and according with the results all my organs and body are healthy.  I have never been diagnosed with any health condition, and I have not taken prescribed medication.  I have a good nutrition and I eat healthy, I do not eat fried or junk food, I do not drink soda or artificial juices, I don’t eat meat, and I take nutritional supplements every day.  I have an active life, and usually I do not have stressful days.  Something I am missing in my lifestyle is exercising and meditation.  Therefore, I score my physical health as a “7” in a scale from 1 to 10. 
My psychological health includes my emotions, stress management, and relationships.  I need improvement in my emotions, I need to learn how to control and manage my emotions better.  However, I can say I have improved this area a lot, because now I have the ability to identify and change my negative emotions quickly.  I am very good managing my stress as well, I can control myself, and I developed some techniques that help me relax.  Regarding relationships, I consider myself very friendly, I usually have good relationships with people, and normally I have long-term relationships.  Therefore, I will score my psychological health as a “6” because there are some improvements to be made.
Finally, we get to the spiritual health, which I consider is the weakest one in my life.  I recognize I have to make several improvements in this area.  I feel connected to my goals, and myself but I have been disconnected from my divine self, which I call God.  Writing about this topic makes me feel sad, and make me realize I have to do something about it.  Therefore, I will score this area as a “5” because there is a lot to improve in this one.
III.  GOAL DEVELOPMENT
I have my personal goals to improve the three areas that will take me to human flourishing.  I would like to have a score of “9” in each area for the end of this year.  To improve my physical health, I have the goal to start exercising three to five days a week and practice meditation daily for at least 30 minutes.  The practice of meditation will help me improve my psychological health as well.  My main goal in this area is to manage my emotions better.  In the spiritual area, my goal is to start practicing prayer and get connected with my divine self.
IV.  PRACTICES FOR PERSONAL HEALTH
I will practice yoga, cardio, and aerobic to foster grow my physical health.  For my psychological health, I can practice calm-abiding and subtle mind.  For my spiritual health, I will practice prayer and loving-kindness.  The way I can implement this to my life is the following: I will start practicing loving-kindness in the morning to start my day with an open and loving heart.  In the afternoon after my work, I will practice during three days yoga, and other three days cardio and aerobic.  I will finish my exercise session practicing calm-abiding or subtle mind.  To close my day, I will pray before going to sleep to help me relax and connect with my divine self.
V.  COMMITMENT
To assess my progress in the next six months, I will implement a plan.  I will do a schedule starting the first week of May of my daily activities.  I will make an evaluation of my progress weekly.  I think is better to evaluate weekly to make any necessary adjustment on time.  I understand that I can have a last minute event that could prevent me of following my schedule, but I will put all my effort to follow the plan.  I will establish my goals, and I will put them visibly all over my house to help me remember, stay motivated, and committed to continue my plan.  At the end of the month, I will evaluate my plan again to see my progress, what I could change to do it better, and what I have to keep doing the same way.  Something very important is to celebrate and congratulate myself for every little accomplishment I start getting in the process.  That small recognition will show me I am going in the right track, and it will help me to keep going.  

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Unit 8 Exercises


Throughout this course, I have learned a lot about the different exercises to become more aware and achieve human flourishing.  One of the exercises that I believe helped me the most is loving-kindness.  It helped me to keep my mind open and sweet, feel my heart giving love to others and to the world.  I could experience inner peace and the necessity of giving love to people around me.  I could get relax and release the tension of the regular day.  I can practice this exercise to quiet my mind and open my heart, especially when I know someone needs love.  This would help me train my mind as well, and achieve happiness and that sense of wholeness.

The other exercise is the subtle mind.  Probably this one was somewhat challenging, but I think is very beneficial.  Develop the ability of quiet my mind, and achieve a witnessing mind is something will help me in the present and in my future live.  Discover the power we have, and have the knowledge of controlling my mind will be the perfect way to achieve everything I ever wanted.  I would continue practicing these exercises to foster my mental fitness and achieve human flourishing.

~Yesica Gonzalez. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Unit 7 Blog


I have to be very honest this time; the Aesclepius exercise was somewhat annoying for me.  The pauses between the voices were too long, and instead of relaxing me, made me lose focus and concentration.  Probably, with another exercise I would be able to get concentrated and experience it better.  I definitely believe this type of exercise can help my overall health and wellness, but I have to get used to it.  The best way to quiet my mind and perform the exercise is by practicing it.  Therefore, I will start dedicating a few minutes daily until I can perform it well and get the maximum results. 

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" this saying not only applies to the Health and Wellness professionals, if not to any profession and any area of live.  If I have not gone through a path, I cannot lead anyone because I do not know which way is the right one.  It is incongruent if I am sick give advices of health to a person, or if I am obese telling someone how to lose weight.  Therefore, in this profession we definitely have an obligation to develop our own psychologically, physically, and spiritually health.  I can implement psychologically growth in my personal life by applying and putting into practice the knowledge gained in my career.  Additionally, I need to lead with the example and practice all the principles that will help my well-being.

~Yesica Gonzalez. 

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Unit 6


The loving-kindness exercise made me feel like if I was a source of health, happiness, and wholeness.  I felt I could give peace, health, and happiness to the whole world.  I could open my heart and my soul, and at the end of the exercise, I felt so happy.  The assessment process helped me realize that I have to improve in different areas of my live.  I am ready to grow and develop those areas. I learned that in every experience I could have, I have to stop and ask myself how can I handle that experience? Instead of thinking, why that experience is happening to me?  The area I chose to develop is psychospiritual.  I think meditation can help me improve this area because is going to help me feel connected with my divine self.  Reading the Bible can help me as well.

~Yesica Gonzalez.