Unit 4 - Loving Kindness

Tonight I tried the Loving/Kindness exercise lying down on my bed in my quiet room with the light off. I began to envision my son as the one I hold loving feels for, but my fiancé kept popping into my head as well. It was as if they were battling for my attention. I also found my mind wandering tremendously to things that had nothing to do with the exercise. Embarrassingly I actually fell asleep! So I started all over again. Every time I get to the part where we are to extend loving-kindness to enemies I get a very uneasy feeling. I would say this has to do with a lot of resentment I have towards my brother over an argument we had about 3 weeks ago.

Mental Workout:
The concept of the mental workout is to exercise and train your mind as you would your body; to practice as you would practice during physical training. If we are to evolve our psychospiritual life we need to work at it just as we would anything else for at least an hour a day. The goal of the practice is to progress towards an expanded consciousness and greater healing capacities.

Research indicates that the benefits of a mental workout include transformation of the mind in which disturbing, negative emotions such as anger, hatred, and fear are diminished; and positive emotions such as patience, acceptance, happiness, and loving-kindness are enhanced. Resistance to disease as well as mental stress is enhanced as well. Developing the capacity to heal leads to an overall state of well-being.

Implementing mental workouts to foster my psychological health would entail taking time each day to peacefully engage in contemplative practice. Even just a short while such as fifteen minutes can be sufficient to start out with, and then the amount of time spent on the exercises can be increased gradually.

Unit 3 Blog - Physical Well-being, Spiritual Well-being and Psychological Well-being

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most optimal well-being, I rate my physical, spiritual, & psychological well-being as: Physical-7, Spiritual-6 and Psychological-6.

Physically, I feel pretty healthy, but I know I can do better.  About a year ago I had my gall bladder removed due to pain that I had been experiencing related to a car accident.  When the doctor checked me, he told me that I needed to have my gall bladder removed if it continued to be painful.  I did some research and found that the gall bladder stores bile which helps your body break down foods that are high in fat.  I am Hispanic and I must admit that I do indulge in the stereotypical unhealthy foods.  It was then that I realized that I needed to make a change in my eating habits and exercise more.  Other than this, I would consider myself to be somewhat healthy.  I am a little over weight and I am not on any daily medication so there is no excuse for me not to live a healthier lifestyle. My goals for my physical well-being are to lose some weight, eat healthier and exercise more. The things I need to implement in my life to achieve them are to become more active and exercise 3 to 5 times weekly, and start a healthy diet to lose weight.  This will take dedication and determination to accomplish this.

Spiritually, I feel I need to continue to grow as there is always opportunity for growth.  I used to live with my aunt and she was studying ayurveda and spiritual healing.  Her learnings also brushed off on me as well as her eating habits.  We used to do cleansing and detoxify our bodies naturally and holistically.  I learned that Spirituality involves the recognition and acceptance of a God (Brahman, El, Elohim, Tao, Allah) beyond our own intelligence and with whom we can have a relationship. This God can provide an experience of inspiration, joy, security, peace of mind, and guidance that goes beyond what is possible in the absence of the conviction that such a power exists.  My spirituality is deep within me and I will only continue to grow and become stronger now. My goals are to continue to grow spiritually. This can be done by continuing to go to church, learning with my pastors and reading God's word. Meditating can also help me to grow spiritually by clearing my mind and letting my spirit flow.

Psychologically, I need to learn not to let stress get to me. Like most people, I allow my mind to become full of every day challenges. I also have a hard time with letting go of the past.  My mind begins to wander and the stress sets in. My goals are to lessen the stress, let go of the past and have a clearer mind that doesn't wander as much. Meditation, yoga and exercise will help me to accomplish these goals.

The Crime of the Century relaxation exercise was very helpful and a stress reliever.  Through this class, I found deep breathing to be very relaxing.  I literally feel the stress flowing from the top of my head all the way down through my body and out my feet. The narrator’s voice was soothing and as he started at the base of the spine and worked the way up to the top of the head I felt myself relax even more and I was starting to become centered and balanced.

Unit 2 Blog - Welcome to Relaxation

Welcome to my spiritual wellness journey. I am very eager to learn about integral health, how to connect the mind and body as well as finding spiritual wellness. So far, I have learned that my mind can affect not only my body, but my spirit as well.  I am looking forward to learning as much as I can while I embark on this journey of self transformation with all of you so that we can achieve happiness in our life, wholeness and health.

As I lay in my bed in total uninterrupted silence and started the Journey on Relaxation exercise, I immediately closed my eyes and focused on my relaxation.  The narrator’s voice and the music are very soothing. When I began taking deep breaths, I found myself becoming more and more relaxed and in tuned with my mind and body. I felt warmth all over my body and felt the blood flowing throughout my veins. The narrator asked me to raise my arms and I felt them to be heavy perhaps because I was so relaxed.  It is truly amazing how the mind really affects the body.  At the end of this exercise, it made me appreciate how important it is to take time to relax.  It helped me to relieve my stress and get rid of all of the tension I was carrying.  This is something that I will definitely incorporate as part of my daily routine.

Unit 1 Blog

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my blog!  This is my first blog ever and was not familiar with creating one.  I gave it a shot and I hope it worked!  Feel free to comment :)