Unit 6 assessment post

It appears that we are finally at the point where what we have learned has to go from our heads to our hearts to our feet-- it's time to put it into practice!

I liked the short but powerful Longing Kindness exercise. It is simple enough to remember, you don't need a CD or your computer to guide you through, it can be done anywhere and it definitely takes the focus off ourselves and put it where it belongs-- consciously living as a channel of blessing and focusing on others.  

After doing a personal assessment to determine which of the four aspects of my life I need to focus on, I believe the interpersonal area is the one that I struggle with the most and that needs the most attention.  This area causes me the most pain, especially when I am thinking about my own needs and how they are or are not being met. I am not always a good listener, but inject my thoughts and the direction I think the person should take, rather than challenge him/her to continue to seek his/her own direction. I was tested in this last night as I had the opportunity to sit and talk to one of my sons about some personal issues. In the past I would've been more direct in telling him what I thought and how he should proceed.  This time however, I purposely gave him more time to talk and asked questions to encourage him to look deeper inside himself. It was amazing, and I didn't even care about him understanding my side, I just wanted him to be free from his own personal suffering. On the other hand, I did not feel responsible to make that happen. How liberating! This to me was a perfect example of how I can be more conscious of my reaction to other people, and how I can try to exude loving kindness in each situation, rather than allow my emotions and instinctual reactions to guide me.  In order to do this, I need to keep practicing mental fitness and meditating on scripture and the loving kindness practice.  I am so excited to see what opportunities lie ahead for me to walk out what I am learning!

Unit 5- Subtle Mind Exercise

I found this exercise even more challenging that the Loving Kindness exercise. With the Loving Kindness exercise my mind had a direction to follow and it was easy to focus on the directions. With the Subtle Mind, it was challenging bringing my mind back to my breathing and learning to just "observe" my thoughts rather than ruminate over them. There were a few times I realized after the fact that I had indeed been "thinking:" about something, only to discover it a few minutes later.  I find it is easier for me to focus on my chest rising and falling. I was keenly aware of my surroundings, the hum of the refrigerator, my dog's breathing, the cool air in the basement. My senses were heightened. 

Every time I sit down to practice one of these exercises I almost have to give myself permission as I am a "doer" my nature.  Different times during the exercise I almost feel my mind looking around for something to think about, just like a junkie looks around for another fix. This became really apparent after about ten minutes.  At that point I imagined my mind as a Teflon pan and began to allow the thoughts to slide off my mind.  A few times I started to jump ahead in my day and think about the things I needed to do later.
I could not relate to the end of the practice where it talked about Unity Consciousness. I am a long way from entering into this phase.

Since every part of our being is inter-related, you cannot separate spiritual health from  physical and mental health. Dis-ease in one area will affect the others.  Neglect in one area will cause an unbalance in the other two. Health must be all encompassing, reaching to the depths of every aspect of our being.  Exercising our mind and spirit is just as important as exercising our body.  We seem to be obsessed with our bodies in our culture. But many times this is with the neglect of our inner selves.  I love the list of virtues that Dr. D posted. I am going to make a commitment to learn about and practice one of these every week, and encourage my grandchildren to do the same.  This will help to develop my mental and spiritual self and help transform me into a more compassionate, spiritual person.

I found the Loving Kindness practice challenging in that I had to focus completely on other people. It caused me to lay down my personal feelings towards the people whom I know that have wronged me in the past.  I had to draw from my inner resources in order to do this.  It felt good to focus on others instead of myself and cultivate those life-giving thoughts of goodness and blessing.  This is something I will need to practice regularly, especially when I struggle relationally. It would be easy to just give in to negative feelings towards that person, and wallow in self-pity and anger. These emotions are all self-centered and bring me no real benefit-- they accomplish nothing except to make me feel more miserable!  
I would recommend this practice to others, but I am not sure everyone would be open to it. People tend to be steeped in their way of dealing with things, and this is a radical new approach. You have to want to change. I can at least share this option with them; then the choice is up to them.

The concept of "mental workout" involves taking time daily to practice contemplatively.  Even as we become stronger physically when we work-out and exercise, our spiritual and psychological muscles will develop as we put into practice Loving Kindness and the Subtle Mind. Research has shown that we can benefit greatly through regular meditative practices.  A well trained mind can influence our physiology, hormonal system, and immune system.  Our brain circuitry can be altered so that we can dwell in a sense of well-being and peace.  Our memory, attention, perception, and imagery can even be enhanced.  This causes not only short-term change, but also long term structural change.  Through constant mental training, negative emotions can be reduced that cause worry, fear, anger, confusion and doubt.  The positive emotions of love, patience, kindness, openness and honesty can be enhanced. Ultimately our goal is decreased mental distress and greater resistance to physical disease.  Our healing capacities can enlarge and we can dwell in a sense of well-being. Isn't this what everyone is longing for? 

The only way I can foster this type of mental workout is to make time for it in my schedule the same way I make time for my physical workout.  I need to make and keep it a priority!  They say it takes three weeks of an activity to make it a habit, so this is my goal. When I start to reap the great benefits from these contemplative practices in my life, I won't have to force myself to practice them, I will want to "dwell" here more and more.  Hopefully it will become a part of who I am and the fruit that results will touch those around me and make my little part of the world a better place! :)

Unit 3 post

Rating my Physical Well-being:

In rating my physical well-being, I have to take into account the different levels of fitness I have experienced over the years.  Ten years ago I was still dancing and loving it. Since then, I have become a massage therapist and pursued my degree and have put so much time and energy into that, I feel I have neglected the area of fitness in my life. Two years ago, through one of my classes at Kaplan, I made the commitment to  increase my physical fitness regimen and joined a local health club for those over 50. I got back in the pool and am loving it. I grew up swimming competitively and have always loved the water. I walk on the days I don't swim, but I know there is more. I feel I am at a stand still in my fitness level and want to push myself to do more. I just signed up for a Pilates class which I am so excited about. I know this will help to strengthen my core, and increase my balance and flexibility. Right now I would rate my physical well-being as a 7, with lots of room to grow!

Rating my Spiritual Well-being:

In rating my spiritual well-being, I also have to look back to see how far I've come.  I want to spend more time studying the Bible and be more consistent with my daily devotions. I try to meditate on scripture different times, but it is pretty random. I also try to spend time in prayer throughout the day, but I know there is room for lots of growth. This class is helping me see how important meditation is, and this is an area I want to learn more about and put into practice. I would rate my spiritual well-being as a 7 as well.

 Rating my Psychological Well-being:

In rating my psychological well-being, I need to consider several areas. First, do I feel emotionally healthy? My answer would probably be different depending on the day, week or even time of day. I feel most vulnerable in this area, partly because of how I am wired, and partly because of some complicated relationships in my life. The key for me is to stay constant despite the winds that blow around me.  I have learned that it is my choice to give people the power to bring me down emotionally or I can choose not to give them that power.  Through many hard times, I have learned to guard myself, in a good way, and keep emotional boundaries in place.  In the sense of using my mind to further my personal growth, I would give myself a higher rating, as this is an area that I have been intentionally developing the past 7 years. Overall I would rate my psychological well-being as an 8. I have come a long way, but desire to continue to be stretched and grow in this area as well.

2 & 3-Physical Goal and implementation:

I want to strengthen my core and improve my balance and flexibility. I can do this by taking a Pilates class and discover new ways of pushing and strengthening my body.

Spiritual Goal:

I want to grow in the area of being more connected to God and know Him better. One way I can do this is by beginning to practice regular meditation and increase my time spent reading the Scriptures by 10 minutes per day.

Psychological Goal:

I would like to discipline my mind and learn how to spend more time reflecting on the positive aspects of my life. One way I can accomplish this is to spend at least ten minutes each day in the practice of thinking positive thoughts and visualizing the positive aspects of my life. Continuing to read each day (at least 15 minutes apart from school work), will help me to stretch my mind and learn new things.

4- Thoughts on the Crime of the Century-

I have to say I am confused as to the title of this exercise. When I listened to the audio, it was titled "Rainbow Exercise" and this is more appropriate.  I felt this exercise helped me to take 20 minutes in the midst of my busy morning to focus on myself and calm my whole system. As I was going through it I had to remind myself not to analyze it, but to simply experience it. I enjoyed visualizing the colors and trying to imagine their brilliance. The areas of the body and what they stood for were enlightening. The only frustrating thing about the exercise was that after about 10 minutes I found my mind wandering and had to pull it back to the present moment. Also, some of the things the narrator said sparked a thought about something else, and then I realized I missed what he said. I realized I need to learn how to acknowledge thoughts and then let them go, rather than feeling guilty for not staying focused.