Unit 9: Putting It All Together

Introduction

            Health care professionals must develop psychologically, spiritually, and physically so they can provide first-hand knowledge to their patients.  One cannot guide another to a place they have never been.  Therefore the professional must understand what the journey entails (through personal application) to successfully assist their clients.

            Of the three areas, I would need to work more diligently on my spiritual development than on the other two.  I have been working tediously on my physical development for about 30 months and my psychological development for nearly 34 months.  My spiritual development is the one area that is neglected more than any other.  To continue my journey to human flourishing (my ultimate goal) I must not neglect any area of my life.

Assessment

            In unit three we were to assess ourselves.  My self-determined scores were as follows: psychological – 8, physical – 8, and spiritual – 8.  Although I am working carefully on two of the three, I feel there is certainly room for improvement.  As for my spiritual wellbeing, I have not been actively working to improve it, but I do consider myself quite spiritual.  To improve all three areas, though, I must apply intentional development and application of various practices.

Goal Development

            I could list a couple dozen physical goals I have because this is something I think about every single day.  As a personal trainer (and formerly morbidly obese woman), physical appearances are in the forefront of my mind constantly.  I will say; however, as a general goal I want my body to be optimally fit and functional (meaning full range of motion of all joints, aligned, and without dysfunction).  This is something I work toward constantly with functional training and specificity in exercise.

            As for a psychological goal, I would probably have to say I would like to continue to improve my stress coping skills to declutter my mind.  I worked with a therapist for about two and a half years to learn many tools to cope successfully with stress.  Although I have improved greatly, I would really love to continue that development and to adapt my initial reactions.  With practice, I will learn to stop reacting and begin being intentional with my actions under stress.

            My spiritual goal would probably be the most difficult for me to define.  I suppose I would say I wish to continue to develop my connection to my fellow humans and to nature.  Fostering growth in this way will allow me to further develop my spirituality.

Practices for Personal Health

            The implementation of physical practices will be quite simple since it is my career.  To foster my above goal, I will increase my flexibility and stability training.  These practices will improve the functionality of my body and reduce risk for future injury (keeping my body at optimal fitness and function).

            To facilitate my psychological change and meet my above goal, I will continue to meditate a minimum of twice weekly.  As a blended method to work toward both my physical and psychological goals (as well as my spiritual goal), I intend to incorporate yoga into my routine.  This will be in addition to guided meditation practices.

            With the intention of improving my spirituality I intend to spend more time outside doing contemplative practices.  Practicing the loving-kindness exercises we covered in class will also help to improve my spirituality and further develop my inner self.

Commitment

            I will use the tools provided to me during this course to continually monitor my own progress throughout this transformation.  Building a network that keeps me accountable will also help me stay on track.  I have been discussing the possibility of beginning a “support group” (of sorts) to clients at the gym who wish to improve their psychological and spiritual health along with their physical health.  This would create an environment in which we can work together to support each other’s journeys.  It would also allow us to learn from others new ways to implement these changes and foster inner growth.