Unit 5 Blog Posting

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

In comparing both exercises Loving Kindness and the subtle mind exercise I found them both to be relaxing. I do better with directed exercises as opposed to self- directed, seems I need something to follow. The Loving Kindness exercise was more frustrating as I tried to concentrate on taking into myself others pain and allowing it to dissipate. I liked the subtle mind exercise the most. I was able to concentrate on my breath and let go of my distracting thoughts or mental chatter. I did find it hard to observe my thoughts without participating or grabbing at them. I found it easier to simply let them go but I understand that I need to be a witness to my thoughts so that I can observe and evaluate them with an unbiased and clear mindset.

2. Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness.

Spiritual wellness affects our mental selves and our physically bodies and vice versa. They are interconnected and intertwined within each other. It is important to find a balance within each of these aspects of ourselves in order to be happy, healthy, and spiritually complete. If we are mentally or spiritually ill our bodies will begin to show the effects by causing physical symptoms of stress such as heart issues, stomach and fatigue. Being physically ill in turn can affect how we feel emotionally and spiritually by creating a depressed state of mind as this happens we the cycle promotes more of the same until we can pull ourselves out and put ourselves intentionally on the right track.

3. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

I can see how being emotionally stressed over work, family or my classes affects my physical body. My stomach begins to hurt, I will feel overly tired and want to sleep, and I may develop headaches. This in turn creates more stress as I have a harder time completing what I need to in order to reduce the stress.

Unit 4 Blog .. The concept of a "Mental Workout"

The concept of a mental workout is the same as giving your body a physical work out. It is not something you can think about you have to put in the time, plan and dedicate a sufficient amount of time to gain the benefits of a physical workout the same is true of a mental work out.. It is not sufficient to read on how to do this you have to take the time to meditate and exercise your mind. It is also important to be consistent and continue with the exercises to maintain mental fitness.

Research indicates that we can gain the progressive development of an expanded consciousness and an improved healing capacity. I can begin my own journey to psychological health by practicing consistently with the mental exercises like loving kindness, or others that promote the same type of mental training.

The hardest part for me is being consistent with the exercises..

Unit 4 Blog...Loving Kindness

I listened to the first track on Loving Kindness and found it relaxing.. I was very tired when I started it so it was easy to relax with his suggestions. It was different from other meditation tapes that I have worked with in that it had me concentrating on loving myself and then taking others pain into myself and releasing it. I like the part of loving myself and loving others, I admit I had a harder time accepting in my enemies and being willing to accept their pain as mine and then thinking of them being healed.  I understand the point of this exercise as a way of accepting others and forgiving.. but one of my enemies was an evil man who tried to hurt me as a child except that I got away from him. The thought of even just visualizing him as being a part of me is not tolerable.

Despite this aspect of the meditation I found the exercise to be beneficial and would recommend it to others as a way of accepting and loving ones self and then as a way of accepting and loving others.

Crime of the Century Exercise

I completed the exercise, I found it interesting but not as relaxing as other breathing exercises. I did however end up falling asleep at the end of the exercise so it was relaxing. I didn't find it frustrating just not as relaxing as I expected it to be.

Lisa

Goals Unit 3

For my goals:

I want to improve my physical health 

1. I want to lose 10 lbs by the end of this class
2. Improve my physical strength and endurance
3. Reduce physical tension intensifying joint and muscle pain

I plan on accomplishing my physical goals by riding on my exercise bike for 10min  3 x's a day and then increasing the time as my doctor approves it. I also am going to start a low Carb, High protein diet to lose weight
To reduce tension I will practice meditation and relaxation exercises, and consistently use my Alpha Stem daily.

Goals to improve my Spirituality

1. I want to be more attuned to my social world

2. Have a greater sense of peace and feeling accepted

3. I want to have a greater knowledge of God and my relationship with Him

To reach my spiritual goals I will continue working with Alicia on my relationship skills

Working with Alicia will also help me to realize acceptance from myself and others and help me find a sense of peace. To gain a greater knowledge of God I will read  and study the bible daily and try to understand how Gods words apply to my life.

Psychological health

1. I want to define my life and my future or be able to accept not knowing definitively what my future holds.

2. I want to eliminate my procrastination and avoidance of things that scare me or seem overwhelming

3. I want to be comfortable expressing my emotions to others, and in knowing when it is appropriate

To reach my goals I will continue to work through my anxieties, social relationships and in understanding myself with Alicia. By doing so I will become more comfortable with my own feelings and in feeling safe expressing them to others without guilt. Practicing meditation for relaxation, self imagery for both physical and psychological health. Exercising my body to help with my emotional and psychological health.

To reach my goals I need to strengthen all aspects of myself for whole health and healing. Each of my methods of reaching specific goals strengthens the other areas by helping me come closer to a balanced whole health.

I appreciate any comments or suggestions that may help me to reach my goals.

Lisa

Personal Well Being Evaluation Unit 3

First I have to say I am terrible at rating anything on a scale like this but I will do my best.
To make this easier for myself I am going to give a key for how I am going to rate each level.

Key

1. On deaths door
2. Miserably sick, unable to function or able to care for myself, psychologically and or spiritually blind/lost
3. Miserable but able to function, psych and spiritually lost but I can see which way to go
4. Sick
5. Neutral, not good or bad, luck warm spiritually, holding my own psych but not happy
6. Physically better, improving but not humming, spiritually walking towards wholeness, psych more happy than sad, actively working towards wholeness psychologically and spiritually.
7. Body is healthy with only maintained minor issues, psych and spiritually satisfied but still struggling for wholeness, complete acceptance, selfless and self is getting closer to being balanced.
8. Almost to 9, working, improving, I know what to do and can see myself doing it.
9. Healthy, fit, comfortable, at peace, acceptance of self and others, have found integral health and working to keep it.
10. On top of the world, Euphoria, great, nothing could possibly be better ( I think this could only be found    in  Heaven).

Reflection of Relaxation Exercise

I liked the relaxation exercise but unfortunately at the time I tried to do it I was unable to slow myself down enough to relax. I kept getting antsy for him to hurry up and get to the good part.

I have done these where I can slow down and relax for a short time, I find them to be very relaxing but at the same time I have to keep bringing my mind back to the exercise and away from my whirlwind of thoughts. I will continue to practice and I believe that I will be able to train my brain to relax and slow down effectively. I know I have a lot of tension and stress which makes it hard for me to relax as well as the challenge of ADHD that also makes it hard to slow not just my body down but also my mind.