Unit 8 Loving- Kindness and a Subtle mind

I had mentioned previously that I had really benefitted from the loving kindness exercise and the subtle mind exercises as well. The first time I tried to do both of them I fell asleep :) For me this is a huge thing! My busy brain takes hours to quiet and calm down after most of my days, but these literally calmed me right down and put me to sleep. So when I tried them again my focus started on not falling asleep, then they took me away! I utilized the loving kindness exercise at work, and one of my co workers who is a stressed out, tough person to be around, let her guard down and we are now actually becoming friends. I really have been more open to a loving kindess attitude and I have opened my heart to a lot of things after this class has started. I truly hope I can take these exercises with me. They are really helpful and I am truly greatful this has been introduced to my life.

Unit 7 "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself"

I do these exercises and I alsway get so relaxed. I always like many of you picture my grandmother. She was so important to me in my life and some of her last words to me was how she was so proud of me. I get so emotional picturing her, but it makes me smile, she was so selfless and so happy to be a part of me and my sisters lives, and in so much of it. My son even remembers her, and remembers her love. So as I sat back quietly in my chair I always feel waves of color and as my breathing sets a regular rythmic pattern, then next thing I know I feel this raw sense of happiness as the voice awakens me from my experience. I love implementing meditation in my life, life is busy and not calm with 2 little kids and work and school, the list of my responsabilities are endless, but with these calming exercises (especially before bed) I sleep sounder, my head is clearer and I do feel such a raw sense of happiness and joy. Life in the raw I like to call it. There is no other noise, no other disturbances, it is me, myself and I, and the beauty my mind can possess, despite the chaos.

 "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself"

I think the ultimate saying here is "Practicing What You Preach"!! There is no way I can go into a fitness facility or help nutritionally counsel people if I am not following nutritional standards and taking good care of myself. It reminds me of nurses and doctors who constantly need cigarrette breaks, it reminds me of a doctor my son had when he was sick in the hospital. This doctor gave my husband and I such an egotistical attitude, making us feel like it was our fault my sons gall bladder was failing, and this doctor had looked like he swallowed 2 watermelons. I bet this doctors skin was screaming at him so being so stretched! How can a doctor whho practices health and medicine let himself go. He knows better, just as I will. I will always maintain my fitness and nutritional mind frame to help others achive theirs. How can I possibly teach people nutrition if I don't study it and practice it in my everyday life as well. Always keeping your subconcsious open and spirituality in tact you can soar higher and maintain the utmost feeling of health.

Unit 6 Loving Kindness and Integral Assessment

The first exercise I did of course the loving kindness exercise. When the text says to envision someone you have a close connection with, or that important individual I always choose my grandmother. She passed away in July of 2010. I always even as a child admired her selflessness and her capacity to love no matter what the circumstance. Even when she was ill, it was made know her outstanding love for my sisters and I. When I close my eyes and drifted into this exercise I felt and overwhelming sense of joy and love flow all through my body. I even felt tears when I truly felt nothing else. It helped me get through my long and extremely hectic weekend of work with a continual smile on my face.  With opening my heart and mind to all things I really truly was successful and never felt the weight of the world on my shoulders which I do often.  The weekends are the hardest for me, long work hours, very little family time, and very limited time to get school work done, but after this exercise I really felt an overwhelming greatness and this weekend went off relatively unscathed.

Psycho spiritual and biological are the areas in which I think I need the most attention. I am in physically good shape and pretty healthy, but I know these aspects could flourish with harder work and dedication. My spiritual health needs work too; I need to clean out the noisy, chatter and the clutter of my mind.  Being a busy mom and full time student along with work and my kid’s sporting activities I am spread really thin. I need to work on my psycho spiritual well-being and learn how to take time for myself and meditate and get deeper into what needs to be done within myself to attain some wholesomeness. I even got my husband to do a meditation exercise with me and let me just say we both slept like babies and I also didn’t have any crazy or bad dreams that sometimes interrupt my sleep.

Unit 5 The Subtle mind

The subtle mind activity was I think equally frustrating as it was beneficial. I seriously fell asleep 3 times while trying to get to the cal-abiding aspect of this exercise. I truly love how relaxed these exercises are, but at the same time I feel incomplete while doing this. This last time however, I got through the whole exercise, but my daughter would not leave me alone (possibly the only reason I didn't fall asleep). I have a lot of clutter in my heart and I had a hard time releasing it. I feel like the Loving Kindness exercise was easy for me, I do practice those behaviors daily. But our subtle mind can get the best of us at times and I know that I really need to keep practicing this exercise so I too can calm my clutter and quiet my chatter. While I dislike calling this exercise frustrating, due to the fact it put me to sleep nicely, it is frustrating due to the fact I can't seem to finish it. I am goin gto listen to it again later to see if my results vary, stay tuned......

Spiritual, mental and physical wellness are all very important aspects of overall health and wellness. These are the core of our wellness and they should all go hand in hand. You have to mentally prepare yourself for a race, you have to calm the breath and take your time focusing on what it is you need to do. Physical wellness brings an enlightnement unlike any other. When you tie all of these aspect of humanity together you get purpose, you get meaning, and you understand the necessity and the exuberance life can bring. Ultimately all of these aspects of life collectively aim to the highest of conciousness and the highest of health and wellness.