Universal Loving-Kindness & Integral Assessment

The Universal Loving Kindness exercise (meditation) was just what I like.  I am a word lover and I know that words are powerful when we put an actual meaning behind them.  The exercise was meant to open us up to universal loving kindness and I believe that it works when we focus and repeat these words and what believe in what they mean. 
I completed the Integral Assessment and I feel I need to focus more in the biological and interpersonal areas my being.  I need more focus on my fitness and my family.  These areas are where I am still in my mind, so to say.  I am still looking at my family as separate from others.  My family and I are Us and other people are you.  I once new my family as All of Us and adopted the World.  This caused me some distress in other areas of my life and now my family is my family.  This really not been working for me like it used to.  Now I want to reconnect with that feeling of wholeness which I once new.  This should not be a difficult task for I am already seeing that I have extended my family out to include many others, just not the whole World, yet.  My fitness I feel is still stuck in the mind/body and I want to achieve a more whole feeling in my fitness routine.  That is why I want to take back up Tia Chi.  It will reconnect me with my soul body more and I will feel even more at ease with myself.

Spiritual Wellness' Connection to Mental and Physical Wellness

It may not seem like it but creating wellness has more to do with our spirit than many would think.  The World is made up of material objects, things we can see, touch, smell, taste, and hear.  The spirit is not material.  It is harder to understand something we cannot put into a material perspective.  We know we have a mind and a body but the spirit is more elusive unless a person has grown up with a strong religious background and conviction.  
Maybe this is not all true.  Many people believe there is something that is a part of us that we cannot fully conceive.  It is spirit; a soul, an essence, a force that resides in us all.  We know it matters.  There is something in us that is aware that elusive spirit is as real and true as the rest of this World.  
We do not all know what it is and what it means but it is detrimental to the future of mankind that we learn to connect with this inner consciousness for it is connected to all consciousness (un-, sub-, higher-).  How do we do this?
We must realize that when have an illness it could possibly be due to more than just the environment we are in or the food we did or did not eat or the exercise we didn't do or the sleep we didn't get or the stress that is wrecking havoc in our lives.  It may be that we have become unbalance, lost connection with what is truly important.  We need to feed our soul.  We feed our mind knowledge and our bodies nutrients.  We must feed our souls.  How do you feed the spirit?  Believe in something.  Act with loving-kindness and compassion.  Take time to breath each day just to breath.  Look at what is really going on inside yourself and make a move to heal.  
Take care of all aspects of your whole health.  A heart attack is not just about the physical heart.  It is about our metaphorical heart as well.
I meditate and do yoga a few times a week.  I know this helps me to stay balanced in my being.  I am physical and eat well.  I work hard and play just as hard when given the chance.  I smile for the stupidest reasons and laugh at my faults.  I learn something new all the time and pass knowledge on when I can.  I take walks in nature and hike mountains to be simply be present in their glory.  I take nothing for granted but also do not desire for what I do not need.  I simplify the complicated and enjoy the simplest of things.  I am aware that in the end all my belongings will not be mine when I am no longer in my body, so, stuff is just that, stuff.  Stuff to fill the gaps, stuff to make life seem full, stuff to build up and collect but in the end just stuff.  This makes life seem not such a big deal.  
So... here is one of my all-time favorite songs that still means as much to me today as it did when I was 15.... 21 years ago... wow!

Loving Kindness & Subtle Mind

The subtle mind exercise was quite different than the loving kindness exercise last week.  This week was about letting the mind flow and observing without contemplating the thoughts.  Last week was more about viewing our inner being and feeling the sensations of this experience and then letting go.  

The subtle mind exercise was quite relaxing for me and also quite easy.  I am a person who can let the thoughts that may be distractions go and carry on with what I am doing.  I do not let myself be frustrated with life often.  Instead I just breath and let go of what I can do nothing about.  This has been learned while I developed the coping skills to deal with being bi-polar.  So, this exercise was not something I needed guided through but it was interesting to listen to the waves while my thoughts fluctuated and receded.  I also enjoyed the music in the background.  It made me visualize a Celtic land by thew sea with seals popping in and out of the waves.  Made me laugh and then I moved on.

All in all, I like the concept seen in this exercise and would recommend it to others wanting to travel beyond the bonds of the biased material world.

Loving-Kindness Practice and Mental Workout

Loving Kindness Practice on the companion CD to Elliott Dacher's Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing has a much more relaxing voice.  Is this because it is a woman?  Is it the light sound of waves I heard in the background?  I did enjoy this exercise.  I found it relaxing but not 'put me to sleep' droning.  
I already believe that taking time to slow my breathing and look inward for a few moments a week is what keeps me going each week.  I feel better for the time I spend on myself and I know it makes it easier for me to understand my position, my role, in this World.  Yeah, I may serve the people each day for hours on end but I make them smile and lighten their view of the World some days and they do the same for me.  It works.

I would recommend this exercise to others who would like to grow psychospirituallity.  The concept of loving-kindness is something we need more people to understand.  If we care for others and they can care for us back healing can take place.  

Letting go of negative emotional reactions and focusing on the positive aspects of life even when we are suffering or angry can create healing.  

I liked focusing on those I am close to and focusing on myself.  I think looking at my thoughts and what was comfortable about some and uncomfortable about others.  Emotions are something understand quite well being that I have met each emotion intensely for years until I was able to organize and integrate my emotions into my whole view of myself.  

Which brings me to the second question the professor wanted us to answer here this week.

What is the concept of "Mental Workout"?    Well, I think a mental workout is actually using your brain.  But according to our reading it is an exercise in clearing the mind or focusing on a specific thought.  Research has shown that great contemplators can change their physiological functioning.  They can mute their parasympathetic nervous system (the one that reacts to stress and makes our hearts race and bladders empty at the fright).  Mentally working out can mean meditating, visualizing, and is very useful in clearing the mind.  With a clear mind we may have a clear view of what is around us and within us.  

Criminal

Ok. Crime of the Century is right... I just did this relaxation exercise last term for my stress prevention and management course.  I like this one.  Ok, the voice is still a bit monotone but I like the use of color and chakras.  I am into those things so it helps.  I have read some exercises to myself. You know get a script for the exercise and record it in my voice and it helps.  Maybe it is that I am hearing me instead of someone else but I do find it easier to relax.  Maybe this won't work for others.  Maybe it is a helpful tip for some.  I just thought I would throw it out there because I heard from a couple of you last week that the monotone voice is not all that easy to listen to.  Remember high school? I had a science teacher that was monotone and he'd flat put me to sleep but maybe that is part of my problem now.  I think," oh, man, I could fall asleep."  I don't want to fall asleep when I am doing a visualization exercise.  I just wan to relax and come out of it rejuvenated.  Falling asleep would be bad in the middle of the day.  I can take a half hour and meditate but after my time is done I got stuff to do.  instead.
So, yes, I like this exercise. I just don't like listening to this guy.  So, I will keep my recording and use it when I want to go on this color journey through my body and relax.

My Health, My Goals

These are the first 3 questions I was asked to answer this week.  (Crime of the Century will be put in another blog for me)

Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal well-being), where do you rate your 

A-physical well-being _ 7 because I am a smoker even if I am active and eat right.

B-spiritual well-being _ 8 because I know I am part of something bigger than myself.

C-psychological well-being _ 9 because this girl has come a long way with a disorder that is suppose to make my life hard and medicated.

Why?  

Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

A- quit smoking this winter.

B- get more regular on my meditation.

C- start doing yoga again.

What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal?

A- Do more aerobic activities to get my pumping and get that euphoric feeling.

B- set aside at least a half hour each day for meditation.

C- Get yoga videos from the library.

Journey On Relaxation

Ok, for class I had to listen to an guided relaxation trip.  So, from this experience, as with all my previous experiences, with guided imagery and visualization I got to say, yes, it is relaxing but I am not sure if it really the monotone voices that use for these things or if it simply the fact that I lay down and just relax. 
I do try to meditate on a regular basis and manage to actually meditate about 3 times a week on average.  I live in this busy World with the rest of you and won't kid myself that it is easy keeping up with all that goes on daily.  I work 2 jobs (one full-time, one part-time) and then help out a friend about once a week for the extra benefits.  I go to school and am probably in a book or on the Internet for about 30-40 hours a week just for school.  I am also raising a 14 year old and and am looking at getting my 12 year old in about a month.  I am having to look for a new place because I cannot imagine the three of us in the tiny place I got now.  I am so busy that just lying down and listening to a guy guide me into a relaxed state feels great.  I always feel a little refreshed after stopping to meditate or be guided through relaxation.  I think that simply stopping to focus on breathing is an amazing exercise in feeling okay with all the hectic World blowing around us. 
So, remember, just breath in through the nose and down to the stomach... at least a few times a week... and this could make life's turmoil resemble the small storms that pass and leave blue skies.