Unit 8 - Blog

Hello Class & Professor,

During this past several weeks I have been exposed to different types of exercises that include Loving Kindness, Subtle Mind, Visualization, and Meditation. Looking back all of these exercises have been very beneficial. However, if I were to pick just two of them it would be the Loving Kindness and Visualization exercises to be the most beneficial to myself.

Without a doubt, in order to foster my own mental fitness I need to implement these two practices into my daily routine. Now trying to plan a time during the day to practice each exercise can get a little tricky since my days are usually pretty busy. So far I have found that in the morning when I first wake up before actually getting out of bed I practice the Loving Kindness exercise. It gives me a fresh and open heart to everyone as I start my day.

Next, I found the best times to practice the Visualization exercise is as I am going to bed at night and during my workouts. While I am working out I visualize my muscles becoming more toned, oxygen moving through my blood stream giving me energy, and my mental thinking becoming clear. I have used this exercise in past without even realizing it. A few years ago when I was not in the best shape I use to visualize myself running and could feel the air on my face as I ran. Now, prior to this I could not run to save my life, so to speak! Today I run 5 miles a few days a week!

Teri :)

Unit 7 Blog....Meeting Aesclepius

Hello Class & Professor,

Question 1:

Another great exercise we all completed this week!  I found the Meeting Aesclepius to be another relaxing meditation experience.  Of course the man’s voice in the beginning was annoying! Haha   However, I always find the female’s voice soothing and the sounds of the flute and ocean in the background always seem to calm my mind.  

For me, it was not problem to visualize a male individual in my life that practices loving-kindness and truly loves everyone around him.  This individual is my wonderful boyfriend, Scott. I noticed during the meditation they were referring to a few different chakras, which I am a firm believer in and can always tell when my own energies are not flowing in balance.

Mindfulness and meditation has allowed me to tap into my spiritual wellness on a much deeper level.  I believe this deeper level was buried deep down due to some emotional hurt I had experienced in the past.  As a result of working on my psychological and spiritual wellness, my relationships with others has grown on a deeper level and things that use to cause me emotional suffering no longer has its strong hold.  Though unnecessary emotional suffering has not completely left my life, I believe that by practicing all the meditation exercises we have done thus far in class will help continue to grow my psychological and spiritual wellness!

Question 2:

“One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” (Schlitz, Amorok, and Micozzi, 2005), is a very powerful and true statement!  My future career goal is to become a health and wellness professional and to be a good one at it as well.  How in the world will my clients take my advice on health and wellness serious if I am not in the best physical, psychological, and spiritual health myself?  It’s like going to see a doctor to lose weight and the doctor is 50 lbs. overweight themselves.  Why would I listen to them?  It is my responsibility to talk the talk and walk the walk.   

Since I have struggled with my weight through my teen and early adult life I know the struggles my clients are going through.  I know it’s not easy to get regular physical exercise, eat a balanced diet, and take care of your spiritual wellness when you have so much responsibility in your life.  However, I have been down that road and I hope through sharing my experiences it will motivate my clients to want to start living a healthier life. 

Furthermore, my psychological, physical, and spiritual wellness will always be an ongoing process.  For instance, I have lost weight in the past for the wrong reasons and thought once I reached my goal I was done with exercising and paying such close attention to my eating habits.  WRONG!!!  The weight only found its way back on and I had to start the process all over again.  This actually happened to me a few times up until six years ago.  This time I lost the weight for myself and wanting to work on my mind, body, and spirit.   As a result I was able to lose and keep off 75 pounds!    Through my past experiences I know my overall well-being is an ongoing process that will enhance my own human flourishing. 

Teri :)

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., and Micozzi, M.S. (2006). Consciousness & healing: Integral approaches to mind-body medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingston Publications. 

Loving-Kindness & Integral Assessment.

Universal Loving-Kindness – This exercise brought me such a feeling of calmness, universal love, peace, and an overall positive out look on life in general! The exercises requires the individual to close their eyes for 10 minutes and repeat four phrases. In addition, I put on my headphone and listened to my meditation music which I found to be very helpful in calming my business mind and staying focused through the exercise. As I got further into the exercise any hatred or anger I felt toward some individuals in my life started to disappear. I was freeing myself of any negative emotions I had tied to certain unpleasant memories. Now, I just felt love and wished everyone would be able to find health, happiness, and wholeness in their life no matter if they were my best friend to someone who has hurt me in the past. I will defiantly start incorporating the Universal Loving-Kindness exercise into my weekly routine!

Integral Assessment - I really enjoyed doing this assessment! Since I run a hundred miles an hour a day, so to speak, I knew there were aspects of my life that such as psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, or worldly that were not where I wanted them to be and needed some attention. I did notice that I was lacking in my worldly flourishing and that area needed the most attention. I always feel I am too busy to get involved helping out in my child's school. As a result of this assessment, I contacted my son's teacher and asked if they needed some volunteers. Then I contact the local chapter in Arizona for diabetes and starting to coordinate a walk in April for my son's school to help raise awareness and money for diabetes. My son has type 1 diabetes and now we can together bring awareness to his school!

Without a doubt, both exercises brought awareness to me and made me take a closer look at every aspect of my life. I would say both exercises were very beneficial in my own growth and wellness and will continue to practice them from this day forward. 

Teri :)

Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral health. The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.

Unit 5 - Subtle Mind Exercise.

Hello Class & Professor,

I found the Subtle Mind and Loving Kindness exercises to be similar and different at the same time. While listening to the Loving Kindness exercise I was given instructions on what to do, which I found easier to keep my mind from wondering. On the other hand, the Subtle Mind exercise was focused on breathing and trying to keep a calm mind without given instructions throughout the exercise.

Without a doubt, I felt the Subtle Mind exercise to be beneficial and frustrating at times in my experience. The woman’s voice, the sound of the waves crashing up on shore, and the soft music was very calming and I felt very relaxed. However, I was frustrated on how much my mind would wonder and had to pull my focus back. I know these exercises take time to master and if I keep up I will become a master at loving kindness and having a subtle mind!

Moreover, there is a huge connection between spiritual, mental, and physical wellness! I know in order to have optimum health and to practice integral health all three must be incorporated into my life. You can not just focus on one area and expect the rest to follow suit. For example, a few years ago I was going through a very difficult situation that greatly affected my mental wellness. Even though I worked out 5 to 6 days a week I felt my workouts where not doing me any good. My mental frame of mind just wasn't in it. Then I found out I had an issue with my kidneys and the rate they were functioning. At this time I was age 34 and had a GFR (kidney function) at 58%, where as four years prior my GFR was at 98%.

As a result, I took charge of my own health and started to focus on my spiritual and mental well being along with continuing my physical well being. Last June I went in for my yearly check up and my GFR was now back up to 70%! Now this was accomplished by taking no medications, but focusing on my wealth as a whole. I know that I need to continue to pay attention to my spiritual, physical, and mental well being. Since I have been doing that these past couple of years I have never felt or looked better!

Teri