Self - Awareness

No. 18 To facilitate awareness of self as an individual with varying physical , emotional, and developmental needs By: Karen Paclibar

Awareness of one’s self as an individual with varying Physical, Emotional and Developmental needs is Abdellah’s No. 18 Typology under Sustenal Care Needs. In this section, I will mention some perspectives that I myself consider that self awareness as a whole is very vital for an individual. We believe that our bodies, organs and systems are totally separate from our thoughts, emotions and energy fields . We need to look at how our thoughts can affect our behavior and ultimately our health. We need to understand how our emotions work and how psychological factors or even repressed emotions can create serious illness in our bodies. We need to appreciate how our values and beliefs can directly affect our everyday health. Our body, emotion, mind, energy body and soul together form the whole person. It is only by dealing with each part of the whole within the whole, that we can have vital and energetic health.

All organs, systems, thoughts, emotions, have their own specific energy or vibration. Each organ vibrates at an energy specific to it alone. Each piece of food or drink that we consume has its own vibration. Each emotion has its own vibration. Therefore what we feel, what we think, what we eat and drink, even what we daydream about, has a direct effect on our health. One may feel comfortable when talking about his/her physical needs but yet know little of how the bodies actually work. Because we can touch our skin and feel our limbs we feel comfortable. But does one really understands the functions the skin and how it performs? Does one knows how to look after his/her skin so it will be vibrant and healthy? One can feel his/her bones but does one know what to do to have strong and healthy bones? The body may do things that a person doesn’t understand why it is happening. Let’s say one example, a person craves for mangoes but promised himself not to have it anymore. We don't understand that it is our body which is asking for that food, that the craving is triggered by a chemical reaction. Perhaps we use certain foods for comfort when we are lonely or afraid. Emotions create chemical reactions which trigger cravings for a specific food. Our bodies respond to different thoughts and emotions. The chemical processes in our bodies change depending on which types of emotions we are feeling. When an individual is angry different chemical reactions occur in their body creating stress on various organs, especially the liver and pancreas. If these emotions continue for extended periods of time illness can result. Therefore physical, emotional and developmental needs when taken into priority will really make a person healthy. Awareness of these needs are very vital as the body(physical) reacts(emotional) with the developments accompanying each and every day of survival.