Unit 8 My favorite practices

Sitting here on the verge of unit 9 I am struck by how fascinating this course has been. I have learned so much and yet feel as if I have not been able to dedicate myself to this course the way I would have liked, however, I can continue to work on my meditations, vizualizations and other practices and improve upon all that I have learned. This week for Unit 8 we are to do the following...

Review the exercises and practice sessions you have completed in this course. (Loving Kindness, Subtle mind, Visualization, meditation etc.) Choose two practices that you have determined to be most beneficial. How can you implement these practices in your personal life to foster “mental fitness”? Provide specific examples.

All of the practices that we encountered during this term were quite beneficial but I think the ones that I found gave me the biggest benefit were the subtle mind exercise and meditation. The question is always worded as "how can you implement these practices in your personal life" but I really think that for the purpose of this course it should be stated "how have you implemented these practices in your personal life". I personally want to become more mentally fit and haved begun the process of implementing these practices, especially meditation into my daily routines. By spending just a little of each day meditating and just shutting down the mind and body, it can foster an improvement n my mental as well as my physical wellness. My mornings are crazy so a quick meditation is helpful in gearing up for the day then when things get quiet, the subtle mind exercise is what I find useful to revamp my day. I meditate again as I am working to wind down for the night, becoming relaxed and calm so that sleep may find me. I am not great at it but I am improving.

Marlyn D

Week 7 Meeting Aesclepius

Boy, I can't believe that it's week 7 already!  Time is just flying by. This week we were to do another stage of contemplative practice...this one was interesting.

Complete the Meeting Aesclepius mp3 (located in the Doc Sharing area). Describe your meditative practices for the week and discuss the experience. Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?

I was fascinated with this weeks exercise.  I like the image of the "wise one" and how we were to allow this person's wisdom, calm and intelligence into ourselves. I felt very calm and relaxed during the exercise and felt very connected to my "wise one".  I personally feel like these exercises or ones like it are very beneficial and have opened my mind and heart to a "better" way. I have a clear mind and a calmer demeanor. That's not to say I no longer am stressed, I just seem to be handling things better, I've been utilizing my "teflon mind" and don't allow things to make me angry. I was always interested in mind body practices but have not had a lot of success implementing them in the past.  I will be continuing with the practices, finding a few moments through the day to calm my mind and heart. I also have been looking into other guided meditations like the ones we have been using as I have better luck with guidance.

Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (p.477). How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not? How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?

The saying means that you cannot expect others to follow you into an endeavor unless you actually have experience in it.  As health and wellness professionals it is our job to lead by example not by the old adage "do as I say not as I do".  I personally don't believe that we can help others become healthy psychologically, spiritually or physically if we ourselves are not healthy in those areas because our clients couldn't take us seriously. We also would be unable to truly guide them because we would be lacking in our own experience. Book knowledge is fine but it's experience that creates true knowledge. My personal future is slated for a healthier diet, plenty of physical exercise as well as mental exercise. Meditation is becoming an integral part of my life and will surely allow me to continue to grow in this area.

Marlyn D

Unit 6

Week 6...sorry that my blog post was so very late. We moved over the weekend and I had to train my replacement at work so I barely even had time to do the practice let alone find an internet connection I could use.  This weeks blog assignment was as follows...

Practice the universal Loving Kindness (meditation) exercise on p. 93.

Complete the Integral Assessment discussed in chapter 11 (p.115).

1. There are a couple of areas in my life that are significant sources of stress; first is the fact that we lost our oldest son nearly a year ago, it's a constant sourse of pain and stress, second is trying to keep up with work (two jobs), TKD and school and to manage enough time to spend with my boys so they feel like I'm there for them when needed.

My greatest possibility for growth and development would be to learn to better deal with the stress that is inevitable in my life as well as to have enough peace of mind to not become angry or frustrated when things go awry.

2.

1. Describe the exercise and assessment process. What did you discover about yourself? What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and development? Why? What are some specific exercises or activities that you can implement to foster greater wellness in this area?

The exercise was okay. I was so crazy busy this week that it was hard to sit and do it on my own, a guided practice is easier I think.

The assessment, well that was easy enough other than digging deep and determining what it is I need to change or achieve to become more intuned to my inner self.  Understanding where I need to make changes and determining what it will take to do so was a large part of the assesment process. I know that I allow my stress to escalate and control my life and I am determined to end that process. My husband calls it spiraling and that's sometimes how it feels. I would like to learn to better deal with the loss of our oldest son and not let it  be such a source of stress in my life although it will always be a part of me I don't have to let it define who I am or how I live my life.  I also need to learn to handle lifes difficult moments with more grace. Stress is a part of life but I need to learn to accept it and not get upset by it.

Exercise is my first and foremost need in life, it's my stress reliever, my outlet but since learning the contemplative practices I want to work those into my daily life and keep them there. Even if it's just a few minutes here and there. I will find peace in my heart and discover my inner self, I just need time to work at it.

Power Point Presentation Unit 5

https://drive.google.com/?tab=wo&authuser=0#my-drive

Here is the link to my Power Point Presentation...enjoy

Marlyn D

Subtle Mind Practice

I can't believe that we've made it to week 5 already!  Halfway through the term and I think I just may finally be getting the idea of what we are doing.  I really wish that I could have taken this course during a less stressful time in my life because I don't feel like I get to devote enough time to understanding and experiencing the exercises. This week we are learning about the subtle mind and our exercise is how to achieve this...

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

Both exercises to me are beneficial and an excellent way to open up the mind to what I feel is a truly relaxed state.  I do have to agree with a fellow student that it's a bit startling when the narrator starts speaking after a long pause, you get so relaxed and deeply focused and suddenly there is this voice out of nowhere.  I jumped a couple of times.  Otherwise, I was able to achieve a very relaxed state and even keep from grasping the random thoughts that were popping into my head. Both exercises, if done it the right atmosphere and approached with a positive attitude are easily done as long as I listen to the narrator guide the meditation. This weeks exercise, the subtle mind is more directed at oneself, at achieving a calm mind whereas the loving kindness is more about directing positive energies to others as well as oneself.

Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

The more I understand about spiritual, mental and physical wellness, the more connection I can see.  I already, prior to this course, believed in the power of the mind over matter in many ways.  I knew that if I kept a positive outlook on life in general, life in general would be positive more often than not. The problem was learning how to come beyond the negative around me in order to maintain the positive that I desired.  How we percieve our lives has an impact, directly, on the way we live our lives.  Once we start working toward a healthy spiritual well-being it carries over to the other aspects of our lives both mental and physical.

Personally, since really learning about the mind-body connection, I have been working extremely hard at being positive.  I am becoming a calmer, more open person.  I am learning that I can manage stressful situations if I just give myself a few moments to calm my mind and spirit.  I have made decisions that will directly, postively impact my total well-being and in doing so have improved my positive outlook on my life.  A dear friend once told me that if you present the attitude of having the money for the things you need, that money will find you.  I think I understand what he was saying now and am becoming a better, happier and more relaxed person for that understanding.

Thanks for reading! Have a happy week!

Marlyn