In my unit three personal assessment I was asked to rate my psychological, spiritual, and physical well-being.  I rated my psychological well-being at a 9/10 and said that I was fairly sound, but unable to control my anger at times.  Now I am more self aware of my emotions and able to control them a lot easier by just taking time to understand what is angering me.  It is probably a 9.5/10 because I am still working on progression with this one.  Spiritual well-being was by far the lowest ranking area for me.  It was a 5/10 because I did not pray as much as I felt I needed to.  I had grown distant from a healthy spiritual level.  Now it is at least an 8/10 because I remind myself daily about praying and using prayer for stress reduction as well as a way to clear the mind.  Physically my well-being was a 8 or 9/10, but it is probably still the same.  Out of convenience, I haven't been eating as nutritionally sound as one should eat.  I choose options, that are not health, more often than I should.  I plan to get myself back on track by starting a grocery list to help me avoid unhealthy and convenience foods except for occasional.  I have quit buying soda and my kids have adapted very well to this change.  They drink lots of water and kool-aide on occasion as a treat.  I still let them drink soda when we eat out, which is not very often.

I have made progress in all of my goals except switching out healthy sweets for unhealthy ones.  I used to eat five small meals and have recently switched back to three meals a day with a few snacks.  Praying has become a daily regimen for me, reading my Bible has not become regular, but will definitely be easier when I don't have to read so many text books for school.  I barely have time to get those readings in before bed since I cannot stay up late and get up early.  My body requires at least eight hours of sleep each night for optimal performance.

I have implemented meditative practices into my life for improved well-being.  I have found that this works the best when I can lock myself in the bathroom.  My three children give me a reason to long for meditation.  This will only benefit them!

Before taking this course, I was unaware of the benefits of staying in control of our own mind and body.  I now understand that I can be more responsible for my health and control my physiological functions by using a mind-body approach.  When we have a clear head we can think better, become physically more productive, and spiritually in tune with the human experience.  The reward I have experienced is being able to relax.  The difficulty that I have experienced was trying to find peace and quiet in a house with three very active children.  This experience will help me to help others by teaching them practices I have learned to reduce my stress levels so that they too can self heal.

Tracy