Hello Professor and fellow classmates,
The universal loving-kindness practice was nice because it took the spotlight off of myself and shined it out to the rest of the world. Instead of thinking about my own personal life, it had me wishing good thoughts for everybody. I do already love myself (most of the time) but I have trouble loving and opening up to others anymore. I mean, I love my boyfriend, my cats, my family, and a few friends and I, in no way, wish pain and suffering for anyone, it's just hard for me to get close to people and trust them. I hope to oneday change how I feel and maybe this will be the beginning of me doing that. For the integral assessment, the psychospiritual is the source of difficulty for me. I really want to have a closer relationship to the big guy upstairs and I want to have the ability to find calmness, peace, humor, and positivity in any situation that comes my way. I want to be stronger spiritually. I will keep practicing the universal loving-kindness exercise as well as prayer and meditation to foster greater wellness in these areas and to oneday achieve these goals. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend...mine, so far, has been very nice! Blessings and peace to all! :)
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Unit 5- The Subtle Mind....
Hello everybody,
Well, I just listened to the Subtle Mind and I must say I had a better experience with this than I did with the Loving Kindness. I enjoyed the Subtle Mind exercise and it really did help to relax my mind. I did wander off quite a few times, but I was able to bring it all back to the focus of my breathing. Then, with the sound of the waves in the background, I ended up imagining I was sitting on the sand at the beach, watching the ocean. So, I guess I did wander off yet again with that image, but it was a very peaceful, calming, and good feeling....and a great start to the control of my thoughts. I do feel a bit more at ease after that experience and I know with practice, I will show great improvements in my ability to cope with stress in more positive ways. There is definitely a connection between spiritual wellness with mental and physical wellness. I truly believe that the spirit, mind, and body are all connected and all play a role in our health and well-being. I believe that if we learn how to get in touch with our inner spirit, then we will be able to enjoy life and happiness more by not dwelling on stressors all of the time. I hope everyone else has a good experience with this exercise...we are all a work in progress, and if we spend a little time and effort on ourselves, we can be awesome!!
Well, I just listened to the Subtle Mind and I must say I had a better experience with this than I did with the Loving Kindness. I enjoyed the Subtle Mind exercise and it really did help to relax my mind. I did wander off quite a few times, but I was able to bring it all back to the focus of my breathing. Then, with the sound of the waves in the background, I ended up imagining I was sitting on the sand at the beach, watching the ocean. So, I guess I did wander off yet again with that image, but it was a very peaceful, calming, and good feeling....and a great start to the control of my thoughts. I do feel a bit more at ease after that experience and I know with practice, I will show great improvements in my ability to cope with stress in more positive ways. There is definitely a connection between spiritual wellness with mental and physical wellness. I truly believe that the spirit, mind, and body are all connected and all play a role in our health and well-being. I believe that if we learn how to get in touch with our inner spirit, then we will be able to enjoy life and happiness more by not dwelling on stressors all of the time. I hope everyone else has a good experience with this exercise...we are all a work in progress, and if we spend a little time and effort on ourselves, we can be awesome!!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Unit 4 Loving-Kindness
Hello everyone,
Well, I just listened to the Loving-Kindness audio exercise and I must say, I need a lot of work in the concentration department. I think it's a good idea and may be beneficial to others, but not to me, not yet anyway. I have never really given any type of meditation a try, but that is my goal. It is hard for me to wish love and kindness to rude people who I don't care for very much, but I am trying to improve in that area. I have kept my feelings guarded and at a minimum for a very long time now, I think I may have some of the traits of a Type D personality that we are learning about in my Stress class. It's kind of scary when you learn more about yourself and/or get confirmation of it, but also a good thing because I am hopefully going to learn ways to change for the better. I want to feel passionate about things (and people) again, but I think I have a ways to go yet. That's where the mental workout comes into play. Mental workout is like any other type of workout, it takes practice and determination to get any results. It is something you have to practice on a regular basis in order to achieve healthy outcomes. Research has proven that mental workouts are beneficial to our health and well-being. I think if I incorporate mental workouts into my everyday life, then in time, it will be easier to perform these exercises and easier to open up my heart again. I hope this doesn't make me sound completely heartless, I do care about people and I don't wish suffering for anyone, it's just not easy for me to express how I feel. I guess I feel I have to display a tough exterior so I don't seem vulnerable. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy (ha ha). On that note, I hope all of the mothers out there are having a wonderful Mother's Day!! :)
Well, I just listened to the Loving-Kindness audio exercise and I must say, I need a lot of work in the concentration department. I think it's a good idea and may be beneficial to others, but not to me, not yet anyway. I have never really given any type of meditation a try, but that is my goal. It is hard for me to wish love and kindness to rude people who I don't care for very much, but I am trying to improve in that area. I have kept my feelings guarded and at a minimum for a very long time now, I think I may have some of the traits of a Type D personality that we are learning about in my Stress class. It's kind of scary when you learn more about yourself and/or get confirmation of it, but also a good thing because I am hopefully going to learn ways to change for the better. I want to feel passionate about things (and people) again, but I think I have a ways to go yet. That's where the mental workout comes into play. Mental workout is like any other type of workout, it takes practice and determination to get any results. It is something you have to practice on a regular basis in order to achieve healthy outcomes. Research has proven that mental workouts are beneficial to our health and well-being. I think if I incorporate mental workouts into my everyday life, then in time, it will be easier to perform these exercises and easier to open up my heart again. I hope this doesn't make me sound completely heartless, I do care about people and I don't wish suffering for anyone, it's just not easy for me to express how I feel. I guess I feel I have to display a tough exterior so I don't seem vulnerable. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy (ha ha). On that note, I hope all of the mothers out there are having a wonderful Mother's Day!! :)
Monday, May 6, 2013
Why can't I comment on your blogs??
I am quite frustrated right now with this thing. For some reason after I leave a comment on someone's page, it will show up saying it was published, but is gone when I go back to the page. Although, I am able to comment/reply to people on my own page. I have been fooling with this for hours now and I am going to take a break before I scream! Just kidding...I'll figure it out somehow, hopefully.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
having comment difficulties....
Hello everyone,
For some reason when I leave a comment on people's blogs they are not showing up. I type it in the comment box, type in the code words, and hit publish and it says it was published and shows up, but when I leave that page and go back it's not there? Has anyone else had this problem? I've been trying to figure it out, but no luck yet.
For some reason when I leave a comment on people's blogs they are not showing up. I type it in the comment box, type in the code words, and hit publish and it says it was published and shows up, but when I leave that page and go back it's not there? Has anyone else had this problem? I've been trying to figure it out, but no luck yet.
Me.....a work in progress....
Hello classmates and Professor,
Where do I rate myself physically, spiritually, and psychologically...wow, let's see. I would say that physically I am about a 5/10 because I am not in bad shape, but I'm not in the greatest shape, either. I also tend to have a problem with sticking to a workout routine. Psychologically, I think I'm probably about a 7/10. I feel I am pretty sane and I handle dealing with my emotions and stress pretty well, but there is always room for some improvement. I have gotten better with this category over the years. Now spiritually is where I definitely need the most work and I would only give myself about a 2/10, at best. Why? I'm not sure...I guess maybe because I doubted religion for such a long time and for the past year I have been trying to change that. I don't feel any connection to it yet, but I want to and I'm not going to give up until I do.
My goals would be to stick to a workout plan and find a way to connect to God and Jesus spiritually. I don't know what to implement to help me with these goals. I guess I would like to learn how to meditate to improve my concentration skills to be able to spiritually connect, improve my concentration, and calm myself down by being able to tap into my inner peace when things get really bad.
Speaking of concentration skills, the Crime of the Century relaxation thing ended up being a bit frustrating for me. I was upset about a family matter earlier, so that didn't help. I thought though, that maybe it would help me to relax. First of all, why is it called Crime of the Century? I was wondering about that. When the man was talking about windows with beams of light, I couldn't concentrate enough to visualize any of that stuff. This exercise was not very beneficial to me and I liked the other one much better. I will say that the man's voice and the music in the background is soothing. I hope everyone else had better luck with it than I did. :)
Where do I rate myself physically, spiritually, and psychologically...wow, let's see. I would say that physically I am about a 5/10 because I am not in bad shape, but I'm not in the greatest shape, either. I also tend to have a problem with sticking to a workout routine. Psychologically, I think I'm probably about a 7/10. I feel I am pretty sane and I handle dealing with my emotions and stress pretty well, but there is always room for some improvement. I have gotten better with this category over the years. Now spiritually is where I definitely need the most work and I would only give myself about a 2/10, at best. Why? I'm not sure...I guess maybe because I doubted religion for such a long time and for the past year I have been trying to change that. I don't feel any connection to it yet, but I want to and I'm not going to give up until I do.
My goals would be to stick to a workout plan and find a way to connect to God and Jesus spiritually. I don't know what to implement to help me with these goals. I guess I would like to learn how to meditate to improve my concentration skills to be able to spiritually connect, improve my concentration, and calm myself down by being able to tap into my inner peace when things get really bad.
Speaking of concentration skills, the Crime of the Century relaxation thing ended up being a bit frustrating for me. I was upset about a family matter earlier, so that didn't help. I thought though, that maybe it would help me to relax. First of all, why is it called Crime of the Century? I was wondering about that. When the man was talking about windows with beams of light, I couldn't concentrate enough to visualize any of that stuff. This exercise was not very beneficial to me and I liked the other one much better. I will say that the man's voice and the music in the background is soothing. I hope everyone else had better luck with it than I did. :)
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