Unit 3: Reflections, Goals, and Crime of the Century

Reflections on wellbeing:

I would rate my physical wellbeing at about a 6.  I have done a lot to improve my physical health (wiser diet and exercise habits), but there is still room for improvement.

I would rate my spiritual wellbeing at about a 5.  This is one area I know I need to focus more on and I feel I have much to accomplish in this area.

As for psychological wellbeing, I think I am at about a 6, nearing 7.  I work very hard in this area.  I think my biggest challenge is learning to calm my mind.

Goals:

In the area of physical wellbeing, I would like to tackle the last 12lbs I want to lose.  I have been successful at losing a considerable amount of weight so far, but these last 12 pounds have proven to be a challenge.  I am looking forward to the spring weather, when I enjoy hiking in the mountains and other outdoor physical activities.  I am confident I will reach this goal by the end of this summer.

To improve my spiritual wellbeing, one goal I would like to achieve is to be successful at meditation.  Although I enjoy relation and breathing exercises, I do not feel I have yet achieved a deep meditative state of complete calmness and clarity.

One goal in the area of psychological wellbeing is to improve my skills at mindfulness.  As I mentioned earlier, I still struggle with calming and quieting my mind.  I need to work on staying in the present and letting go of things from the past.   

Activities/exercises for goals:

To achieve my physical goal of weight loss, I plan to get outdoors more often.  I live in the Colorado foothills, which offer lots of great opportunities for physical activity.

I believe that reaching a deep meditative state, per my spiritual goal, requires practice and patience.  I intend to stick with it until I achieve it!

For my psychological goal of improving my mindfulness skills, I intend to continue to use relaxation and self-talk exercises.  As with meditation, this will take time and practice, but I will get there!

The Crime of the Century:

I found this relaxation exercise to progress a bit too quickly for my liking.  I didn’t feel completely relaxed until well into the guided imagery, thus was mostly unsuccessful at envisioning the colors suggested by the speaker.  I would have enjoyed this exercise more if the speaker had spent a couple more minutes with the initial breathing exercises, so that I could have been fully relaxed at the beginning of the guided imagery part.  Then again, perhaps I could have done my own breathing prior to starting the track, and been more relaxed and ready to proceed.