~Meeting Aesclepius~

Greetings all!

            Well, I completed this meditative practice and, I must say, I thought it was a very unique experience. Meditation has most certainly led me to a distinctive place in my life and has created a desire within myself to seek a greater place! My personal meditation practices have always been unique to my individual needs and have, also, always provided me with a renewed perspective on things. It has created a healthy way for me to deal with difficult situations in life, and has had a major impact on how I react to things around me. In addition, the meditation practices that I have completed have truly helped me cope with pre-existing relationships and the dynamics of those relationships. Instead of fostering ill-hearted feelings (that only harm myself), I can approach relationships and individuals with a loving-kindness mentality and this has nurtured growth, wisdom, and a much healthier level of mental fitness.

            All of these practices have done a great deal in advancing my psychological and spiritual wellness; the freedom and openness that comes with this type of wellness is an amazing feeling. I will continue these practices because I have a deep-rooted appreciation and yearning for a more advanced level of psychological and spiritual wellness. I can continue to apply these practices through continued practice and continued education; constant learning and growth will be what helps me develop a higher level of wellness.

            Schlitz, Amorok, and Micozzi (2005) stated a profound quote by saying that “one cannot lead another where one has not gone him or herself”(p.477). To me, this would be a statement that I would apply to my professional career of psychology; if I have not begun and experienced my journey towards integral health, how could I help future clients in beginning their journey towards health, wholeness, and happiness? These are all thoughts that we, as professionals, must consider while trying to help others heal. To be a healer, you must first experience healing. If we have dedicated ourselves to professionally helping others, then we are obligated to be pursuing our own psychological and spiritual wellness. If we have not yet begun our journey, how can we teach others to begin theirs? In fulfilling my obligation to my future clients, I must continually be pursuing a greater level of psychological and spiritual wellness. I will do this through continued meditation practices and further my education in integral health. While committing to helping others heal, we first, must be fully vested in the healing and wellness practices of our own lives.

Reference

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. (2005). Consciousness and healing: Integral approaches to mind-body medicine. St. Louis, Missouri: Churchill Livingstone.

~The Loving Kindness Exercise and the Integral Assessment~

Greetings all!

            Well, upon completing the universal Loving Kindness (meditation) exercise and the Integral Assessment, I will begin to explain my experiences and the developments that took place. The Loving Kindness (meditation) exercise and the Integral Assessment were unique processes in which I discovered some unique qualities that I have, but also showed me some areas where there needs to be some improvements. The exercise was a great asset in helping me discover some of my weak points in my life, but also helped me discover why I continue to selflessly give myself even when others don’t appreciate it or recognize it. The Integral Assessment process wasn’t quite as formal as I had expected, but the assessment did reveal some unique aspects about myself upon the completion of this process. One specific area that stuck out to me was that I noticed just how much healing I have left to do; I hadn’t realized how much work there was to do in this area alone.

            Through these two processes (the Loving Kindness exercise and the Integral Assessment), I have discovered that for a very long period of time I have been focusing on other people’s health and wellness instead of my own. So, that is now the area that I am going to focus on; creating health and wellness within myself through the process of putting myself and my healthful needs as a priority instead of something that is neglected. Because I have experienced suffering and the effects that it can have on a person, I feel that I have also grown as an individual and have gained a certain amount of freedom, sustained health, happiness, and wholeness. Once I have spent some time working on my own development, I feel I will then be able to help others again in the future. Through putting my wellness and development first, I will then be able to develop a stronger me; I will be able to help others find their strength, freedom, health, happiness, and wholeness. Just like with many things, we need to start with healing ourselves before we can help others heal.

            Exercises and activities that I am going to do to promote this growth and development will be exercises like the loving kindness exercises. Even though I will be devoting time to healing and strengthening myself, I still wish to foster feelings of loving kindness towards others. I think having and maintaining these feelings for others helps immensely in our journey towards a more fully developed and intentional lifestyle. Another exercise that I will continue to do will be meditation; it is during this time that I am able to foster positive feelings that promote health and wellness while still helping my development of mindfulness and will aid in my journey towards unity consciousness.

~The Subtle Mind~

Greetings everyone!

            Well, I must say, this was, yet again, a very unique and inspiring experience! For this week I was to complete The Subtle Mind relaxation exercise, and then to compare and contrast it to that of last week’s exercise: Loving-kindness. I remember last week I thought the Loving-kindness exercise was long, however. This week’s exercise, The Subtle Mind, was longer, but it didn’t really feel that way.

            I would have to say that I found lasts week’s more relaxing, but this week’s exercise more beneficial. Maybe it’s the difference in exercises or techniques, or maybe it’s also partially to do advancements that I am making in my psychological and spiritual growth. The Subtle Mind felt like it took a lot more work and force to keep my mind free of thoughts or distractions because there was significantly more quiet time in this one versus the exercise we completed last week. However, I am always learning though, and I find it enormously interesting how much the breath is connected to the mind! I find that it is easier for me to minimize the distractions when I’m taking deeper longer breaths versus shorter ones.

            I did find a great deal of peace when my thoughts and distractions where limited and my mind was able to take a break, but what surprised me was every time I reached a place where my mind was free and where there were no distractions or thoughts, it was as though I was startled and I would even flinch. My interpretation of this was that my mind was going through a series of shock because it’s so used to processing a hundred different things at once, that I feel there was a slight “shock factor” when I would ease my mind of the stress and work. This is something that I did not experience with last week’s exercise, but we were also being instructed on what to be thinking about, so the mind was able to continue in somewhat the same fashion that it usually does.

            Relaxation exercises greatly enhance your psychological and spiritual growth, but that is only a small portion of the benefits. The mind-body-spirit is, how I like to think of it, is like a triangular model with inner wires that are all connected. Each of three major elements is, in hundreds of ways, connected to the other. Therefore, when one area is being enriched, the other two will benefit as well. This goes for negative regression as well; if one area is destructively affected, the other two elements will feel the impact too.

            In my life, I find the greatest peace, joy, happiness, and wholeness when my psychological, spiritual, and physical elements are at a healthy state.  By working on these aspects of our lives we can immediately see improvements in our lives. Not only do we become more positive and life seams a thousand times better, but we also start to see how it affects those around us; we are more loving, patient, accepting and kind. Start building a better you!

~Anna

~Make a change: Loving-kindness~

Greetings all!

            I am writing this blog in regards to a relaxation exercise I recently completed, and it was called Loving-kindness. It was a unique experience and I would recommend it to others, but the only thing is, is I feel that a person has to be at a specific point in their psychological and spiritual growth in order for this to be the most effective and beneficial.

            This experience I did find beneficial, although, at times it was a little difficult to remain focused due to the length, but I do feel that with time, it would become easier and further advantageous. Despite some minor difficulties, I would recommend this exercise because I think it could greatly help an individual feel stronger and also feel like they could then be better capable of helping others.

            While considering this exercise, it would be important to consider the term “mental workout,” because that is essentially one of the things we are doing when we complete relaxation exercises. Mental workouts can very much be compared to physical workouts; the goal is to keep them in shape, on their toes, and in the best possible condition to perform at optimal levels. To help our minds grow and become the best possible version of themselves, then we need to work them out! With working out our minds on regular basis, we can strengthen our minds ability and agility. To foster this strength and growth, one should dedicate a certain amount of time each day in order for there to be a growth in psychological health. For some, it may take smaller increments of time to begin with, but then one can lengthen this time as growth and strength extends. Then, as time goes one, one can begin to experience the benefits of psychological and spiritual growth, health, and overall wellness!

~Anna

My personal wellbeing.

            On a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal wellbeing), I would rate my physical wellbeing at an 8, my spiritual wellbeing at a 7, and my psychological wellbeing at a 9. I rated my physical wellbeing at an 8 because even though I eat very healthy, I feel that there are some improvements that I could make. I rated my spiritual wellbeing at a 7 because I feel that I need to spend more time on spiritual health and growth. I rated my psychological wellbeing at a 9 because I feel that that is where I spend most of my focal energies. I am a psychology major, so that must explain that.

            Goals that I would create for myself to improve my personal ratings would be to decrease unhealthy consumptions, and increase physical fitness from 4 days a week to 6 days a week. In order to increase my spiritual wellbeing I would increase my bible study time and self-meditation time from once a week to four times per week. I believe that through increasing the ratings in my physical wellbeing and spiritual wellbeing, my psychological wellbeing would be increased to a rate of 10, which would be perfect!

            Exercises and activities that I could implement to help me succeed in my personal goals would be to devote additional time to physical activity through cardio, strength training, or plyometrics. Then, to aid in raising my spiritual rate, I would devote more time to myself for meditation and spiritual growth through prayer and reading the bible. To complete that goal, I would a find a time each day that would cooperate with my children’s’ schedule, my schedule, and my husband’s schedule that would allow me time to do so.

            Upon completing the relaxation exercise, I realized that the most frustrating part for me was how long it took to complete it. In addition, I also found the first three colors a little frustrating: red, orange, yellow. However, I found the final colors (emerald green, aqua blue, indigo blue, and violet) far more relaxing and inspiring. What I found most beneficial was the significance that was placed on each area of the body, the color, and the meaning. I would calculate it as a very unique experience!

Thanks!

~Anna