Unit 6 Universal Loving Kindness and Integral Health

Just the words "Loving Kindness" can be difficult words to carry in my daily life. I have been exercise much more loving kindness towards others and I have been receiving very positive feedback in return. However, I struggle to exercise loving kindness with people I do not like, or people that don't like me much. I started convincing myself to love them from afar. Deep inside I no longer have hatred or anger towards those people, but I also will not allow these people back into my life. So I guess this is a small step towards improvement. I also realized that I have strengthen my love for strangers. Nowadays, I find myself interacting with many strangers and most of them interact in a great way with me. I began to realize that deep inside I think everyone really wants to be loved and accepted, however not everyone is willing to give love and kindness in return. We all want things that we don't always want to give back. So just as the Universal Loving Kindness exercise determines, I now have learned to express loving kindness towards my lover and partner, my friends, strangers, and my enemies. I have closed my eyes and chanted the words of the loving kindness practice. I felt as though I was becoming a little bit more at peace with some of my own fears. Currently my main fear has been financial, but I am teaching myself to believe that everything is going to be alright.

Now I focused my energy within the four quadrants of my life and personal development; the psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly aspects. During the integral assessment, I found my mind wondering mostly towards the worldly aspect. Similar to the loving kindness practice, I realize that I am finding myself interacting with more strangers and enjoying it. I do not think I have many issues within my interpersonal circle, except for the fact that I have many distant family members that I haven't spoke to in years. However, I did recently speak to 3 of my cousins that I haven't spoke to in 15+ years. All of them were extremely excited to hear from me and they called me "a ghost." Biologically, I have much discipline to take care of my health and fitness. However, although I am very familiar with healthy eating, I lack the discipline to do it more consistently. My psychospiritual development is also a work in progress. This is an area that I have much to learn in and I have to practice more strengthening techniques. However, recently I have learned that my weaknesses are my lack of patience and I find I can be easily distracted. I realize that the greatest exercise for me to strengthen and develop all of these aspects is patience. I usually wan't everything to work out for me very quickly instead of investing in a slow life-long yet prosperous outcome. I am learning to come to peace with the natural flow of time and my personal development.

Unit 5 The Subtle Mind

The subtle mind exercise was very interesting to me. It gave me the ability to focus all of my business onto my breathing. I think the loving kindness exercise was more focused on the heart with feeling and emotions. I had a difficult time control my mind to be calm. Just as the exercise mentioned, every time I let go of my busy mind, it came right back quickly. Although it seemed to be a little effective, I guess this is an exercise that takes much more practice and patience.

The mind is the focal point of energy that connects to the spirit. Mind body and spirit are all connected. A good example is when a runner is getting prepared to run a long distance. Many athletes tend to pray or meditate on the goal. Whether the goal is to finish, finish in first place, or to just participate in a run, it takes a higher energy to give the strength to run. This strength then channels the mind. It tells the mind what techniques would be needed to run. Should I stretch before running?, how long to stretch?, what should I eat or drink to prepare for the run? The mind state tells the body what is needed to run. The mind also sends signals to each individual body organ, function, and system, in order to run. The body then responds with signals from the mind and execute. All of these mind body spirit events are what I use when I run 4 days a week. This in return will help me keep a healthier heart, body, and spirit.

Thanks

Tony P

Unit 4 PsychoSpiritual Flourishing

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

For this loving kindness exercise, I actually didn’t get much out of it until I reached the portion related to breathing in loved ones suffering and exhaling positivity. Initially, I was in a “busy” mindset and had a little difficulty focusing and concentrating on the exercise. But as soon as it mentioned “suffering,” I thought about my dad’s death in 2008. It reminded me how much he suffered before dying. I then started thinking about my mother in law who is always in pain and suffering. I had difficulty “letting go” and I tried hard too. Afterwards, I kept thinking about how much we are trained to hold on to problems without ever really resolving them. So it seems that I, like most people, may have some “control” issues.

I think that most people can relate to this exercise and give it a try. I initially didn’t think I would get anything from it, but am surprised to see that it helped me to reflect on the way I handled the pain and suffering. Although my mother in law is difficult to talk to, this exercise gave me the courage to call her and offer assistance to her.

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?

Similar to an Olympian level of fitness, a mental workout requires daily practice designed to strengthen the minds consciousness. The most meaningful aim of contemplative practice is not rest and relaxation but rather the progressive development of an expanded consciousness and its healing capacities (Dacher, E. pp. 65). A mental workout is designed to consistently train the mind to conduct loving-kindness exercises and to have a subtle mind.

Research indicates that together these practices help us to tame and train the mind, open the heart, expand consciousness, and progress toward psychospiritual flourishing (pp. 66). Applying and practicing these practices a minimum of 15 minutes daily will train the mind to become psychologically healthy. For example, practicing loving-kindness daily by expressing love, helpfulness, and kindness to people will return to oneself tenfold. After a while of practicing, the routine becomes a part of the inner being, and the result is that one will then possess the ability to express and teach others how to do the same.

References

Dacher, E (2006) Integral Health –The Path to Human Flourishing, Psychospiritual Flourishing, Basic Health Pub Inc.

Unit 3 My Wellness Goals and the 7 Chakras

1. 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, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?

    

     I would rate my physical well-being at 7 out of 10. I do run at least 4 days a week and am in decent physical shape. However there is room for improvement, especially with my eating habits. In general, I usually am disciplined enough to maintain a physically active lifestyle. But now that winter is approaching, I will have to crank up my discipline levels much higher to stay active in the cold.

     

     Thanks to this course, my spiritual well-being is improving and I will give it a 5 out of 10. Prior to this course, I would rate spirituality at a 2, and most of that would come from beliefs, not application. Now I am applying meditation to my routine and am beginning to understanding the benefits of maintaining a clear, stress free mind. I am learning to let go of some of my fears as well.

     

     My psychological well-being can use some help. Prior to this course I haven't done much psychologically for my wellness. Now I am learning to improve my emotions, and control feelings of anger. I am learning to express love much more as well. So overall, I will currently give this area a 7 out of 10.

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

    

     Physically, I would love to lose 20 pounds. I would love to get involve in more group exercise activities to improve my social life as well. I am hoping I can accomplish all of this within the next 3 months.

     

     Spiritually, I would like to read more about spiritual improvement. I plan to also learn yoga and Pilates in the near future. I am also in the process of learning imaging.

    

     Psychologically, I want to try going to a few group therapy sessions and hear other people talk. I would like to engage as well.  I am curious about the effects of group therapy since I have never tried it before. Sometimes, I feel that this health and wellness field will take me to counseling people with different types of problems

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

     

     As I mentioned earlier, group physical activity can help me to improve my weight lost goals and social improvements. For Spirituality, I plan to read more spiritual content and learn more about yoga and Pilates as well. Psychologically, I would like to get involved with group or even family therapy sessions.

4. While listening to that incredibly relaxing exercise, I kept thinking about the 7 chakras. I focused all of my energy into all of the mentioned areas and felt deep relaxation. Even though I was awake and alert, it felt as though my soul fell asleep. I think that this exercise was incredibly effective for mental clarity. After listening to it, I found it is much easier to return to my course work.