The Crime of the Century - Relaxation Exercise

When I would think of health, I would normally think of my physical health as defining how healthy I was, but now I know it means so much more. When we look at our overall health, we must also remember to look at not only our physical health, but also our spiritual and psychological health as well. The only way we can determine this is by looking at these three aspects of our well being.

When I reflect on my physical health, I would probably rate this area of my well being as five. Although I do not have any health problems at the present time, I think I need to improve my physical health in several areas. The first area I would improve is with physical exercise. Currently, I do not get enough exercise in my daily life. The reason for this is that I usually spend most of my free time doing homework. It has been especially hard this semester because I have been traveling quite extensively. I used to exercise regular, but I had two stress fractures in my foot and this caused me to get out of the habit. I need to start my routine again, but I keep putting it off until I finish school in four months. Hopefully, I will find some time to do it between now and then.

When I look at my spiritual health, I would probably rate this area as being a six. Although I am seriously devoted to my religious beliefs, I tend to forget about them at times. I normally can’t contribute to volunteer work at my local church because I am never home. I also feel that sometimes I don’t always think and act in a spiritual way. I normally try to do this, but at times I feel that I could do better in this area. I know that there must be some way for me to contribute and be more conscientious of it. I think I must start concentrating on doing so.

When I reflect on my psychological well being, I would probably rate this area as a seven. For the most part, I feel great about my psychological well being. There are times though that I do feel down and/or lonely. I use to have more of a problem with this before I changed my job. Now, I love what I do and I also feel very rewarded by helping others with my work. It can be stressful at times, but my company tries to help to make my life more pleasant when I am away. I just got done spending three weeks in Australia and New Zealand. I stayed in fabulous hotels, ate and drank great food and wine, and they kept me entertained, but I still got homesick. I missed my family and my dog.

I think my goal for my physical well being would be to start to exercise on a regular basis. This will be hard for me, but I need to do it. I also need to begin to realize that physical activity will also help me in other areas of my life. For my spiritual well being, I think my goal is to take my religion with me. What I mean by this is that I need to begin to think about it when I am away from my home and family. For my psychological well being, I think I need to find ways to stay connected more with my family and I also need to acknowledge my feelings more to them.

To implement these changes into my “new” life, I will begin with starting an exercise program. I will set goals to at least have some form of exercise in my day. This may mean taking a walk after dinner or doing some Pilates in my hotel room. I also think this will help me with my psychological well being. I also will have a goal to read and meditate on at least one scripture verse per day. I think this will be a great way to end my hectic days. For my psychological well being, I think I will set a goal to use some relaxation techniques that we have been studying in class. This will help me to reconnect with my being.

The relaxation exercise “Crime of the Century” that we had to do for this unit was quite beneficial to me. I can’t believe how relaxing it was for me. I actually did the exercise three times because I felt so much better after I had done it the first time. I was on a 13 hour flight from Auckland to LA. I was seated beside a group of exchange students. They were very excited to be traveling to the US, but all I wanted to do was sleep! The relaxation exercise helped me to do this. I did it a second time when I got home. Although I was extremely tired, my mind and body was still on New Zealand time. When I tried to go to sleep, I could not because it was 7 am for my body, but the clock said it was 1 am here. I did the exercise and I fell fast asleep. I did it again today because I felt stressed with the amount of work I had to do today. As you can see by this very long post, it worked. I have renewed my energy level!!