1.
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?
Unit 3: A-I rate my physical well-being a 6,
mostly due to existing health issues. I cannot completely overcome these
issues, but I am working to adapt and work around them. I am somewhat satisfied
with my diet and activity level, yet I still have a lot of room for physical
improvements.
Unit
10: I maintain the rating of a six at this time. I switched to a vegetarian
diet in January. I am still working on ironing out the kinks in my nutrition
because I think I was not doing a good job of balancing proper nutrients.
Recently, I found a supplemental nutrition shake that my digestive system can
tolerate, and I think I am beginning to feel better. Also, our Spring/Summer
CSA is in full swing, so I am eating loads of nutrient dense foods now. I was
unable to remain consistent with physical exercise when I was feeling weak and
depleted, but I am almost sure I am on the mend now.
Unit 3: B-My spiritual well-being is improving
due to all of the information from these courses I am learning and processing.
I would rate my spiritual well-being a 7 at this point in time. The concepts in
these wellness courses are clicking in my mind, and I find myself mindfully
incorporating practices in my everyday life.
Unit 10: Contemplative
practices are becoming a daily habit. I have to think about doing them less and
less. Instead, I just automatically spend some time each day. I have also
incorporated guided meditation in my youngest daughter’s bedtime routine. I
would rate my spiritual well-being at a 7.5.
Unit 3: C-My psychological well-being needs
the most development at this point in my life. I still find myself battling
with immediate negative emotions and reactions, and I struggle with not
expressing myself the way my mind wants to in a given moment. I almost feel
like I have to suppress my feelings, but I am very slowly learning I can
express myself in a less damaging way. This is a difficult transition, and I
would rate my psychological well-being a 4 as of the date of this entry.
Unit 10: I have noticed subtle changes in my
psychological well-being. I feel more calm and more able to participate in
activities. I have a lot of work to do in this area of my life, but I feel
comfortable rating myself at a solid 5. I am okay with slow progress, as any
progress is still progress.
2.
Review the goals and activities you set for
yourself in each area. Have you made progress toward the goals? Explain.
Unit 3: One physical personal goal is to
overcome my tendency to use not feeling well as an excuse to skip a workout.
Instead, I will compromise when I am not feeling well and participate in a lower
intensity workout. I also want to prevent myself from overdoing it on days I
feel well.
Unit 10: Unfortunately, I am still caught in this vicious
cycle. This is a difficult habit to break. I have been doing it for ten years,
and I cannot get past the mentality of working hard and making the most of my
good days. It is not in my nature to hold back and conserve energy when I feel
well. I guess I am learning the hard way.
Unit 3: My spiritual goal is to continue on my
journey of minimalism, reducing attachment to physical objects, and focus more
on finding my own peace. The more calm and content I feel, the better I seem to
treat others.
Unit 10: I am making progress with this goal, as I
continue to declutter my life of unnecessary material possessions. I am also
working on organizing areas of my home and life, with success.
Unit 3: My psychological goal is to catch
myself before I say something negative, then mindfully choose a more positive
way of relaying the same message. I hope this practice can become more natural
in the future, and lead to a more constant positive state of mind.
Unit 10: I am making great progress in this area. I still
occasionally lose my cool and say things out of anger, or in an angry way, but
I feel like I have shown marked improvement in this area.
3. Have you implemented the
activities you chose for your well-being in each of the three areas? Explain.
Unit 3: I can reach my physical goal by
scheduling my workouts and writing them on a calendar for the purpose of
accountability. Since I use Sundays as my day to plan for my week, I will just
incorporate a workout schedule that I can stick to when I am planning our other
activities and meals for the week.
Unit
10: I do this! The only thing that held me back from meeting my written
commitment was not feeling well. On the days I was up to exercising, I do
believe this helped!
Unit 3: I can work toward my spiritual goal in
the same way. During my weekly planning, I believe it would benefit me to plan
quiet time for myself when I can shut off the rest of the world and focus on
completely relaxing to a state of peace.
Unit
10: I do not even really have to do this anymore. Because I did not allow any
obstacles to stand in my way, I believe taking this time for myself has become
a habit. I will just make sure I remain committed.
Unit 3: My psychological goal is going to take
a lot more effort, and I will spend much more time practicing to reach this
goal. I will take a few ideas from the text and mentally ask myself two
questions before reacting: 1. Will this response cause me or someone else
suffering?, and 2. Does this response align with my goal of integral health?
I am
making progress in this area. I have learned to quiet my mental chatter and
practice more positive self-talk. I will probably be working on this goal for a
very long time, but I am making changes and attempting to live with intention.
4.
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?
This course has helped me
the most in two areas:
1. My anxiety issues
2. My interpersonal
relationships, especially with those in my immediate family.
At first, I was really
struggling with the weekly guided contemplative practice exercises. I went back
and read some of my earlier blog entries, and I was clearly frustrated with the
process. At some point in the course, I stopped fighting it and actually began
to enjoy the experience. My mind was just way too busy to relax. This
breakthrough was rewarding, and I do believe it has improved my well-being.
From my perspective, this entire journey will last a lifetime. This ten week
course is only a tiny fraction of the time it will take to approach integral
health. Sometimes the idea of the time commitment necessary is difficult to
accept. I believe I will be able to offer guidance and assist others, and I
think I can one day be instrumental in helping others also suffering from
chronic pain and anxiety issues because I fully intend to continue the
practices learned in this course, as well as digging deeper into the world of
integral health.






