Unit 8 to Meditate or Not to Meditate is the question of the day

Hi All,

1.      Review the exercises and practice sessions you have completed in this course. (Loving Kindness, Subtle mind, Visualization, meditation etc.) Choose two practices that you have determined to be most beneficial. How can you implement these practices in your personal life to foster “mental fitness”? Provide specific examples.

The two exercises that I have implemented in my personal life and that are most beneficial to me are the loving-kindness exercise and meditation.  Every day I am engaged in customer service and they are moments when I interact with people who have very nasty attitudes and can be condescending. Before applying the loving-kindness exercise, my attitude would match theirs but not to the extent where the person files a complaint to my supervisor.  But I’m sure the person on the other of the phone or in person can tell my attitude change.  Since I have been practicing the loving-kindness exercise, when I encounter those types of people, I think about the loving-kindness exercise and think more positively without letting him or her get the best of my day.  I say to myself, that person needs love and I will show him or her that regardless of their attitude, I will show a loving-kindness one.  For the most part, he or she will calm down and they begin to discuss why they are in a foul mood (i.e. woke up late for work, heavy traffic, or missed or short notice deadline). 

The second practice is meditation.  I was introduced to meditation last semester and even though I heard about meditation and yoga, I didn’t think it was for me. Now I meditate before going to bed and I sleep more comfortably and soundly. I am more alert and my mind is completely erased from the previous day events.  I am more relaxed and find that I can meditate with my eyes open as well as sitting or lying down.  I think that’s the best part of meditating.  I can also play it on my iPhone to meditate during lunch.  Meditation has done wonders for me. 

I started the P90X exercise where yoga is also incorporated in this extremely high cardio and strenuous regime.  I recommend this program for those that are able and needs a physical and mental challenge.

Marivic

Unit 7 Meeting Aesclepius

Hi All,

Another entry in my integral healing journal.

For this week, I’ve used the Guided Meditation called “Nirvana: Absolute Freedom” by Yogi Kanna on youtube.com and Meeting Aesclepius (in Doc Sharing). Nirvana is a 17 minute guided meditation that helped me relax the entire body.  In the second exercise, my grandmother was my focus point because we have a very close relationship since I was small.  As I listened to the guided instructor to close my eyes, I can recall the white beam of light was very bright coming from the top of head, through my throat, and through my heart.   I thought about the great times we shared when I was small and the great times now as an adult.  The change brought inner peace and of course relaxation.  In both exercises, I was so relaxed that I almost fell asleep. I have added the guided meditation and deep relaxation exercises as a favorite to my homepage making it easier for me to locate different guided meditation.  There are guided meditations for healing, sleeping, relaxing, cleansing, and hypnotizing.  I’ve also purchased a couple of CDs that have nature and ocean sounds.  I find those comforting because I can listen to them going to work or cleaning the house.  It’s kind of like listening to a music CD.

If I were to describe the saying “One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself”, I would say practice what you preach. I cannot advise nor have other people include something in his or her life that I have not experienced or used as practice.  As a professional, I want to relate my experience with clients so they are aware of what changes that may take place and share our experiences together because each of us may have different experiences.  I do think as professionals we have an obligation to develop our own health in all aspects of human flourishing because clients will be more committed to you and your practice if you are practicing and developing your own integral health.  Clients are able to see the results and understand what integral health is and what it means.  For example, if I am a nutritionist, how can I advise a client when my own eating habits are unhealthy or if they notice a soda and chips on my desk or I am overweight.  That is why it’s important to practice what you preach.  To implement psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life, I have to consistently practice both of these daily…not when I think I should or occasionally to achieve the best results.  

Hope you have fun listening to Aesclepius.  

Marivic

Unit 6 Integral Assessment

Hello Al,

The universal loving-kindness exercise is powerful words to help a person expand his or her mind and heart. I think the only frustrating part is remembering the words with your eyes closed but it find it comforting. The other exercise we completed in the previous chapter was also helpful however too long.  I think the four phrases on page 93 can be memorized or written and can be done anywhere.   The exercise was simple and only required to close your eyes, still the mind, and repeat the four phrases for ten minutes.  

The assessment process expanded the areas of psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly flourishing and each areas three more specific lines were added.  I discovered that I am satisfied and feel I am developed in the areas of psychospiritual and biological flourishing. In my life, I am motivated with the decisions and actions I make and not base my decisions on other people’s personal opinions.  I am in totally control of my destination and goals.  However, on the spiritual side I am lacking but I don’t need to focus on this area as much because I am close to God and believe all things are possible through him.  I am not concerned with the biological flourishing because I’ve been involved in fitness, nutrition, and self-regulation since elementary school.  Physical fitness and nutritional well-balanced meals are important for a fit mind and helps reduce sickness and diseases.  The areas I need to focus on for growth and development is interpersonal and worldly flourishing.  Since my two children are grown, I have to find other social outlets to get involved with.  When the children were in school, I was involved in the school PTO, attended all their sporting events during the week and on weekends.  I need to get more involved within the community by volunteering, joining a bowling league, or sporting activity. It is very hard for me to develop close relationships because of trust issues.  I do have few close friends but do not hang out as regularly with them because of distance.  I would like find a good man and be in a healthy relationship but with work and school it’s kind of difficult to do. I enjoy being single but sometimes it would be nice to go to a movie or dinner with a guy and not always with your girlfriends.  To implement growth, I will get involved with more community and sports activities by looking in the local newspaper and through base community center.  I will continue the practice meditation for loving-kindness and start practicing yoga daily to focus on the still mind.  I think with practice and the exercises I am on my way to reaching integral health.

Marivic

Unit 5 - the Subtle Mind

Hi,

Another wonderful exercise to complete...I really enjoyed this one.

Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including benefits, frustrations, etc. 

In the Loving-Kindness exercise, I had to focus on different types of situations whereas, in the Subtle mind exercise, it was easier to focus on my breathing (either the rise and fall of my chest or in/out of my nostrils).  The Subtle mind exercise was better for me because I was able to concentrate on my focus point and not have to recall what I should be doing on the “in-breath” in the Loving-Kindness exercise (kind of confusing).  I was able to reach my relaxation state quicker in the Subtle mind exercise than the Loving Kindness exercise and was able to redirect my mind to the focus point when the mind was distracted.  I enjoy both exercises; however, I will use the Loving Kindness exercise when I get upset or annoyed with someone (family or friend) and think about the person that is close to me that brings me much joy and happiness.  My body will settle and relax to the natural state of peacefulness. 

The integral approach is looking at the whole rather than the parts and that the mind/body is connected.

Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.  The integral approach is looking at the whole rather than the parts and that wellness is the integration of all these components: the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.  Spiritual wellness may involve activities such as meditation, prayer or yoga to reach that state. However, many of us may look at spiritual wellness separately.   The importance to a holistic approach is very important to achieve total wellness.  I have always practiced physical and mental wellness but have neglected spiritual awareness.  It is beginning to come clear why each of these aspects is vital in reaching a holistic approach.  Theses dimensions may contribute to our own quality of life.

Marivic

Unit 4 Mental Workout

Hello Everyone,

1.          Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

I felt more relaxed and enjoyed the sound of the ocean waves that made the session better than the last meditation.  The waves also focused away from the narrator’s voice which was kind of annoying to listen to.  I found this exercise beneficial in training the mind-focusing on stillness.  The difficult part for me was diminishing the thoughts, feelings, and images that entered my mind and having to refocus on my breathing so those thoughts, feelings, and images will go away.  When it was time for me to focus on a person I loved and cared the most, I thought about my mother which brought me great happiness. As I have gotten older, our relationship seems to get better with each passing day.  I don't have too many enemies that I can think of so I focused on strangers /passer-byes on the streets and thought about his or her situation, let it go, and refocused.  This exercise was too long for beginners and I would begin with 5 to 10 minute sessions and then gradually increase my minutes.  I would recommend this meditation exercise to others who want to reach and experience the highest level of consciousness.  I think this exercise would be difficult for people who have not listened to or practiced to any type of meditation exercises to remain focused.  The more I participate in the different meditation exercises the more I appreciate the benefits from using its practices.   

2.          What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

The concept of mental workout is reaching the road to happiness, health, and wholeness with daily exercise and commitment.  The proven benefit is the progressive development of an expanded consciousness and its healing capacities (Dacher, 2006).  This mental workout will allow us to open our minds and heart to others that will reveal the truth about our life and existence.  To implement mental workout for myself, I will make it a priority to set aside 10-15 minutes a day and practice daily using the meditation exercises provided until it becomes natural. I definitely want to feel and experience peace, calm, love, and kindness for the rest of my life.  It is like exercising, if you want to feel great and have more energy, you’ll exercise daily incorporating various exercises for each body part.   

Marivic

Unit 3 Level of Well-Being and Crime of the Century

Here are my answers after reflecting on my level of wellness in physical, spiritual, and psychology.

1.  Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal wellbeing), where do you rate your A-physical wellbeing, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?

I rate my physical well-being a nine.  Physical fitness is very important to me since elementary school.  Exercising daily is important to me because of the all the benefits that exercises provide me such as energy, weight loss, and reduce disease.  My regiment includes riding a stationary bike, weight lifting, and running afterwards, in addition to morning and evening toning exercises, sit-ups and crunches.  I have always enjoyed physical and sports activities for fun and competition and how exercising has made me feel afterwards.  I notice a difference in attitude and body change when I do not get the exact amount of exercise and sleep daily that my body is use to completing so I try to exercise faithfully or make up my exercise routine during the weekend.

I rate my spiritual well-being a six, on a much lower scale, because I know that I have not taken the time to include spiritual awareness like I plan and want to.  Spiritual well-being is important to me because I feel that a person needs to have faith, belief, and connectedness to a higher being.  As a child, I attended Sunday school and regular church service; as I got older, I have not found a church service but keep promising myself that I need to locate a church that I would really enjoy listening to the word of God.  I have not prayed regularly like I use to but will resume prayer every night like before.  I feel better about myself after talking with God about situations I cannot trust or confide in others and he has on several occasions answered and listened to my prayers. 

I rate my psychological well-being an eight.  I feel my physical and psychological well-being is connected because if I am not physically and mentally prepared then psychologically I am not well prepared. Overall, I feel my life has purpose and meaning and I am happy in my current situation.  If someone would have asked my years ago, I would have given myself a much lower score because of personal situations I was experiencing such as divorce and work.  I feel I have matured more as a person and do not allow anyone or any circumstance take control over me.  I have to learn how to accept things I cannot change or control.

2.          Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).  For each of the following areas in physical, spiritual, and psychological, I would maintain the current level of readiness in physical activities by avoiding not missing too many days of workout; I attend to church on a more regular basis and pray a more often than I am now; psychologically, I need to continue to grow as a person and expand my knowledge like I am currently doing.

3.          What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal? Exercises or activities I need to implement to assist in moving toward each of my goals is include meditation, yoga, and massage therapy for my total well-being.

Crime of the Century.  Normally, I enjoy the relaxation/meditation exercises and after several early morning and long days from attending my son's basic training graduation ceremony, this relaxation exercise would have definitely place me at ease.  However, I could not imagine relating my body parts to different colors of the rainbow.  It felt like I had holes going through my entire body. My preference of meditation is listening and hearing nature sounds, being on a secluded beach or outdoors.  I think there was too much things going on with trying to relate colors to different body parts.  I do not think the relaxation exercise was frustrating but I did not find it relaxing so I focused on the background music and on the narrator’s voice.   I will attempt listening to this relaxation exercise later. Hope ya find more relaxing.

Marivic

Unit 2 Reflection

The relaxation exercise was exactly what I needed to loosen my muscles.  The narrator's voice was calm and soothing as well as the background music.  I was completely in another dimension.  I enjoyed participating in those relaxation exercises in my last course and found them interesting and fun.  There were a lot of mental imagery and deep breathing that made each one different to experience.  

I usually exercise or run for relaxation but sometimes hearing the narrator's voice during the relaxation exercises seems more comforting.  I think more people should include some type of relaxation exercise for stress relievers.  I hope you enjoy the relaxation exercise.

Well, this is our second week.  I'm kind of glad I only enrolled in one course for the summer because I wanted to spend time with my family.  Normally, I would tackle two classes at a time but I was getting burnt out from reading and studying and just decided to take a small break.  I'm enjoying the extra time I have either with family or with myself.  

Marivic