Self Reflection: Wellness and Coping that Needed Evaluation - Coursework Example

Self-Reflection Introduction Over the term, I have learned several concepts related to the wellness and coping plan. The real essence of the massive knowledge amassed over time is far reaching. As a student, there are daily stressors that originate from the academic work, examination, studies and tests. These stressors tend to lower my personal wellness and, therefore, there was significant needs to understand wellness concept and various coping plans in life, especially as a student. The different concepts learned over time may not have been applicable to my wellness plan, but there has been a positive impact on the wellness and coping strategies learned through the term. Initial Reasons for participating in the Class Initially, I had a lot of expectation on learning new concepts related to the personal wellness and coping plan for various stresses, both physical, social and mental stresses that I experience as a student. From the course outline, the class was ideal for meeting my wellness knowledge requirement. The personal objective was to develop a natural wellness plan. The wellness program could aid in coping up with the contemporary lifestyle related issues such as obesity, unfitness among other western dominated lifestyle-related health problem. These in turn were to result to enhanced personal life quality. Being a student as well, improvement in wellness and coping plan leads to increase in performance. Due to the attendance of the class, I expected to learn new concepts about wellness that would eventually translate into an improvement in the personal performance both in-class and out of class. The class also was to provide me with the opportunity of making inquiries especially those related to the wellness and coping plan. Such inquiries were to assist in making due improvement in my wellness program and also help other friends and colleagues on such issues. Things about my Wellness and Coping that Needed Evaluation There are several things and issues in regards to my wellness that requires evaluation as a result of participating in class. Initially, my wellness plan was almost wholly centered on physical wellness. Much of the time I was carrying out physical exercises, for instance, resistance training in the gym or other physical training in the field. However, the class focused much on meditation as a form of a well and coping plan. I learned that everything started and end with the mind. As a result of these, everything is created twice, in the mind and eventually in its physical form. The wellness of the mind, therefore, constitutes an important category of wellness that dictates the quality of our individual lives. The focus and commitments towards meditation changed drastically as a result of participation in this class. Another change that occurs in my wellness and coping plan is relaxation. From the class, there was an emphasis on the need to relax regular and give oneself time out of the engaging and involving mental and psychological processes. Prior to the class, I had very little time relaxing time. There was less emphasis on the relaxation as a means of wellness. However, after the class, many changes are evident in my wellness and coping plan as far as relaxation is concerned. Besides, I had lots of problems concerning visualization. I had hardly developed an effective visualization, and, as a result, there was little progress as a result in the visualization related wellness. Though up to now, the visualization does not help as such but I have massive knowledge in regards to the technique. Lesson Learnt on Stress, Wellness, and coping with the Class Through participation in the class, I have learned several lessons in regards to stress, wellness, and Coping. These include lessons on relaxation, visualization and various methods of meditation and precisely how they result in an individual wellness and coping plan (Edwards, Daryl, 83) Meditation Meditation refers to the turning of one’s mind towards a single reference. The reference may be a particular word, breath or a given body sensation. Meditation entails turning minds away from the distractive thoughts and focusing wholly on the current moment. In the class, there are several meditation methods that were learned. These include progressive muscle relaxation meditation, diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing, mindful breath counting, release-only relaxation and cue controlled relaxation. The guided meditation and aromatherapy work perfectly for me giving a restful sleep (Zeidan et al. 597). Progressive Muscle Relaxation Meditation The progressive muscle relaxation meditation is a two-step process that aids individual relieve anxiety. The relaxation process involves systematical tensing of a particular group of muscle in the body, for instance, neck muscle. The tensed muscle then allowed to relax slowly as one notes the feeling in the muscles as they relax. The meditation can be achieved in 15 minutes and helps relieve anxiety and other tension in the body. Abdominal Breathing The abdominal breathing achieves relaxation by shifting from swift, shallow breath to deep slower breath. In case of stress, it’s a natural tendency to develop fast, shallow breath or hold breath momentarily. These breathing characteristics may intensify the negative impact of stress to our minds. When one relaxes, there tendency of developing deep slower breaths. Taking a deep, slow breath sends a signal of relaxation to our body (Feldman, Jeff and Senville 1005). The abdominal breathing, as a result, give rise to a relaxed state of the body and the mind. The technique facilitates coping with both acute and chronic stress that people encounters in their daily lives. It is a relaxation technique that can be used anytime and relieves stress when used effectively (Zeidan et al. 598) Release-only Relaxation The release only relaxation emphasizes majorly on the relieve of tension in an individual’s muscles. Unlike the progressive muscle relaxation meditation, it does not involve the initial application of tension to the muscles. The release only relaxation focuses majorly on the use of breathing as a way of relaxation. An individual sits on a comfortable seat and wholly focuses on the breath. The person envisions tension leaving the body with every exhalation that come out from time to time. The meditation on one’s breath, therefore, brings the relaxation of the body muscles (Zeidan et al. 599). Visualization Visualization is a relaxation method that entails the creation of mental images to make dreams, and other individual goals come true. An efficient use of visualization improves one’s life and make most of the dreams come true. It relieves mental stress by creating a particular single focus for the mind. For my case, however, visualization had a very scanty impact on my wellness and coping plans. Coping Techniques and Thinking Patterns that I will implement From the class, there are several coping techniques that I have developed to control the present and future stress. Among the methods include; First, I will always be positive to the life stresses, be it psychological, physical or social stress and take every obstacle as a learning opportunity. Secondly, I will make a right choice of not overreacting to the stressors that I face in daily life but try to deal diligently with them each at a time. Thirdly, I will develop objective look at my stressors. I will analyze the most challenging aspect of my stressor and develop an appropriate way of handling it. The fourth technique is practice. I will practice the new wellness and coping techniques learned in class in real life situation to improve the quality of my life. Lastly, I will observe strict self-discipline and self-control in handling various issues that may cause unnecessary stress as well as in the daily-to-day activities. Self-discipline will facilitate adherence to the wellness and coping plans learned in the class (Feldman, Jeff & Senville, 1008). Conclusion Indeed, the class has been of great benefit to me. I have learned so many new concepts in regards to wellness and coping plan. Most importantly is the evaluation of my wellness techniques that will evidently enhance my quality of life. Work Cited Edwards, Daryl. The Psychology of Stress: What’s behind your Stress and How to Deal With It. New York: Maxhouse Publishers, 2014. Print. Feldman, Greg., Greeson, Jeff & Senville, Joanna. "Differential effects of mindful breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and loving-kindness meditation on decentering negative reactions to repetitive thoughts." Behaviour research and therapy 48.10 (2010): 1002-1011. Zeidan, F., Johnson, S, K., Diamond, B, J., David Z., & Goolkasian, P. "Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: evidence of brief mental training." Consciousness and cognition 19.2 (2010): 597-605. Read More