Close eyes for 2 minutes then repeat the phrases below for 10 minutes.

May all individuals gain freedom from suffering.

May all individuals find sustained health, happiness, and wholeness.

May I assist all individuals in gaining freedom from suffering.

May I assist all individuals in finding health, happiness, and wholeness.

 In the Universal Loving Kindness exercise I found it easy to genuinely want the words to be true. I didn’t really have to be in a quiet setting to picture it.

I say a prayer most nights, sometimes I forget or fall asleep before my head hits the pillow. But when I do its sort of sums up the above phrases. I pray for my family, and those in need of help.

The last phrase is: Ever this day -be at my side- To light and guard- To rule and guide, Amen. After "be at my side" I add in, and all those close to my heart and in need of your help. Praying always helps me sleep.  I agree with Dacher, pg 93, “the practice can be quite powerful in expanding your mind and heart.” There have been many times I used praying to cope. I don’t really look at it as meditation but I do repeat prayers over and over when I am trying to work through something. It is a different way of looking at it.  

 Integral Assessment:

“Which aspect of my life causes me difficulty and suffering? What line of development is most essential for me at this time?” (Dacher, p.115)

Currently the aspect of my life that causes the most difficulty is hard to say. There are so many different things to consider when I look at biological, worldly, interpersonal, and psychospiritual. For starters I can’t sit and do school work for more than 15 minute spurts. By the time I’m focused and starting to make progress I am called or pulled away. I would say working off of a routine would help improve many aspects. Setting time aside to plan exercise, school, kids, & work. Getting over the holidays and a sick family will help!
 
“What area of my life is ready for growth and development? What is the next level look like?” (Dacher, p.115)

The area I feel is most ready is biological. I had a great routine for 6 months and struggled to keep it going when the cold hit. My next level is to recommit and to stick with it year-round. Especially when I look at the whole picture. For me, when I exercise everything else falls into place. I feel better, my confidence and motivation goes up. There is a connection with yourself that you reach when running that helps mental clarity. I chose this because I know I want it, I know I need it and I’m working towards getting there.  To foster better awareness I am going to log and keep track of my daily routine. I have a new calendar to help me too.  

 

 

Subtle - Mind

I was finally able to complete the exercise. I found this one more enjoyable since there was more time to relax and concentrate on breathing. At the same time I feel it was harder because of the silence. I also found the water to be a little irritating. I did like hearing the flute, I think a meditation with just music would be nice. It also made me realize how easily distracted I am. My sister and I both work with my mom and we call her "goldfish". This came about because she is very easily distracted & they say everyday is a new day for goldfish because they don't remember anything. I'm not exactly sure how true that is, but the name and concept stuck. Looks like I might be goldfish jr. if I don't continue working on this! I still feel that I will focus better if I am physical at the same time. Something about being in motion puts my mind at ease. All the sitting around & forcing myself to not think is like trying to hold my breath. At some points I thought I was doing great than all the sudden I'd be thinking about something else completely and I'd think "aw crap, how long have I not been "not thinking" lol. But I get that even catching myself and trying to refocus is good for now.

I had this really great conversation with my dad today. He opened up after I was telling him about this class and how much I've been enjoying it. He told me about how when he rode across country on his motorcycle. When he was entering the Grand Tetons he noticed a hawk flying on his right. He was doing about 80mph. So he slowed down and so did the hawk. Then he'd speed up and so would the hawk. He explained what an awesome experience he had and how it made him think about how Native Americans had once lived; he even referred to the hawk as his "brother hawk". He got all excited, I could tell he got a little embarrassed remembering how much it had moved him. (which is pretty much impossible for my dad) He had such a spiritual encounter but shied away because he was judging himself. I think sometimes we don't embrace things because society thinks spirituality is weird. I'm happy to think I have the confidence now to not let things like society's expectations from holding me back. It also felt good to support my dad and tell him how awesome I thought it all was. It's hard to put into words but I feel this shift. A powerful awareness changing many things. It's encouraging & supporting my physical & mental wellness in ways I couldn't before. I grew up catholic but never liked the idea of judging others. I could never describe what I felt before. I've always sensed things like other peoples emotions & had strong intuitions.  I also get flashes as things are happening and know I've seen them before. These are all things that have made me feel crazy or caused me pain in the past. I remember things from my childhood and I'd think to myself, "I know this is real but when I get older will I deny it" because even at a young age I knew it wasn't "normal" & I could tune things out. Like I said, I feel a shift. Just at the possibility of being able to embrace myself and explore spiritualty. I know I will be using the text & ideas from this class long after it is over..

My experience with the mp3 was insightful. Without realizing it, each of my thoughts depended as the exercise went on. First I imagine my daughter when they asked me to think of someone I love. Then the water and waves started and it made me visualize I was holding her hand. I felt myself tense because of my instinct as a mom near the ocean. As it went on a tried to move towards a relaxed state. I listened tentatively and next I pictured myself trying not to hold attachment to my self image. I imagined the therapy running on the beach provided me before. I seemed to have a focus on the water. I found the breathing in sickness and breathing out health and wellness to be great for me. I constantly take deep breathes. It is my way of thinking before I react or respond. I do a lot of deep breathing so the idea of visualizing something as powerful as making someone feel better and giving them their health was significant. I found it beneficial to  me. The progression of thinking deeper and deeper was cool too. I began with thoughts of my daughter, then myself, my mom, to the Philippines. My wanting to help grew.

There are two types of mental workouts, practicing loving-kindness and subtle mind - witnessing, calm-abiding, and unity consciousness. In the text it reads "thousands of tested methods is available from the East" - in other words the odds are in your favor, try it. It is suggested to try 5-15 minutes everyday. I could try working on this because just this short one time has brought a lot more significance to my idea behind breathing. As weird as I felt in the beginning, the more I reflect on this exercise the more I see it could help. It could certainly improve my mental health by practicing the skills of loving-kindess and subtle mind. I think morning meditation would help remind me throughout the day of my goals to use these skills. The hurdle would be to wake up early enough to try and stay awake! I struggle with being tired all the time. 

The Mind-Body Connection

My current physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being are as follows:

A-    My physical wellbeing is an 8. I have kept an active exercise routine through the spring, summer and fall & am just currently hitting the cold weather. Time is also not on my side with losing light earlier and school work to do. My goal is to maintain an exercise routine through the cold months. One thing I can do is join the gym. I am actually going to check out a new gym in the morning. It gives me back the ability to run 3-4 times a week and it also provides daycare which is a huge bonus. I am looking forward to getting my runs back in more routinely. They have been off for about the last month.

B-    My psychological well-being is around a 7. The more I am physically active the healthier I am mentally. Running really helps me on many levels. My immediate goal for winter is to keep my mind clear and healthy. To do this I take more time to myself like getting baths or drawing. Keeping my mind busy but finding time to relax is a tricky balance. Winter is by far my least favorite season due to the cold and lack of sun. I fight the blues most winter and it tends to kick in about January. Working on my awareness and what I'm learning in this class I believe will help me continue to improve.   

C-  My spiritual well-being is a 5. When I am working on my physical and mental wellbeing simultaneously I feel like I can really work on this. I think this is where I could use the most improvement. Since this course has started I find the readings have heightened my awareness & opened my ideas a bit. One goal for me is to try a Pilate’s class and yoga class over the winter. I think this will help me focus on all three at the same time. I found a Pilate's class to try but have yet to find a yoga class.

4. The relaxation exercise was impossible for me to get through. I kept falling asleep and then waking up as soon as he would start telling me to tell myself something like, “I am grounded”. The rainbow, prism comparison didn’t help much either. “Imagine a window below your belly button” I guess I am not that imaginative... I did not find this exercise beneficial except for the temporary pause to close my eyes and relax; that is always nice.

Journey On relaxation exercise

Welcome:
Welcome to my blog, Simply Natural, Simply You! The name of my blog says a lot in a few short words what health and wellness mean to me. So many people look to medicine and ways to control their problems. I experienced a rapid decline in health about 2 years ago. I immediately turned to doctors to help me. I was becoming violently ill and losing weight rapidly. I was sent for test after test without any results. I remember crying to the doctors because my blood work kept coming back "normal". I actually wanted them to find something wrong with me so I didn't feel crazy. Finally I took to the internet and came across the idea of a food log. I had told my doctors I thought it may be food related and they told me there was no way.  I decided to go back to basics and track my symptoms and food. Within a couple weeks I could pinpoint exactly what was making me sick and the symptoms associated with it. My entire life I fought weight problems (underweight and over weight), migraines, anxiety, and depression; the list goes on. All I had to do was take dairy out of my diet & I found 80% of these struggles were removed from my life. It was in this pivotal moment that I realized my health was in my hands; NOT my doctors, nor will it ever be again. (OK that's an exaggeration, I'm totally not giving myself stitches, but I will forever look to myself before a doctor) I realized that by simply listening to my body, I could be healthy. I want now more than anything to be able to help others. I felt so hopeless, so helpless during that time. Such a simple, natural solution changed my life & I want to do that for others in need. Now, here I am, working towards my degree, here with you fine folks, writing this blog and working on this exercise!

Relaxation Exercise:
The relaxation exercise was interesting to me. I've tried these before but they tend to make me giggle and nervous. (I am not a serious personality at all) But I really gave it a good try. First off, I have to say it was pretty cool to learn about blood flow and that 80% is in your abdomen while you are resting. Then how he went on to explain that the other 20% does just enough to send oxygen and vitamins to the rest of your body. To picture it so well helped me to focus on the technique of "pushing" the blood to my arms. I thought it wasn't working until he asked me to pick up my arm. They felt exhausted. I was amazed at how relaxed I felt. I never did feel a warming sensation, but I'm blaming the thermostat for that one.. I don't think these types of exercises are very "me". When if comes to relaxation, I'm more of a, go on a walk & get some fresh air kind of gal. I also enjoy drawing. It seems that the more I try to relax my mind the harder I fight it. Yet if I put myself in motion, doing something I enjoy, my ability to relax is almost immediate. Perhaps this is something I could work on. There are times in life where I am unable to physically get up and move so to learn and practice sitting still and relaxing would be beneficial.

http://www.kushs.net/kaplan/HW420/JourneyOn.mp3