Loving Kindness Exercise & Integral Assessment

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

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

3.            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 universal loving-kindness practice was very powerful for me. Having those 4 sentences to say to myself out loud was helpful to expand my mind and think of my family, friends, neighbors, and people I do not know kindness. This sort of practice has helped me socially because I have noticed myself striking up conversations with people that I do not even know and becoming much more social.

The integral assessment consists of six principles:

·      Alleviate suffering and promote flourishing

·      Recognizes short term and permanent suffering

·      Recognizes immediate pleasure and long term flouring

·      Psychospiritual development

·       Deep listening and guidance

·      Assessment of all aspects of life and being dynamic (Dacher, E. 2006).

I believe that I had done a great job growing into integral health, changing my mind to think more positively has helped me in many was at work, at home, and daily struggles. My goals and focus areas now are in recognizing suffering and pleasure I find that help me or do not help me. I think if I put more thought into the reasons my mind starts to think negatively I could set myself up to foster better health and wellness. Some things that I could implement in my schedule could be meditation and keeping a journal for reflection.  

References

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications. 

Loving-Kindness vs. Subtle Mind

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

The subtle mind exercise was much easier for me to understand because listening to the waves hit the beach my body felt so relaxed. Focusing on my breath kept me awake and aware, but still at ease. This helped my mind to not wonder.

 The loving kindness exercise was more difficult for me because it was hard from me to visualize taking in others suffering and replacing it with peace, love, and kindness. This exercise was also very long and I think it is mainly used for people who are more experienced with these types of exercises. It was hard for my mind to settle down and focus on the exercise.

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

Taking this class at this time of my life now has helped me mentally, spiritually, and physically. My grandmother died who I was very close with the day before my birthday. It was unexpected and I am glad I was able to learn about integral health so I could help my family and also myself through this grieving process. Learning about loving kindness and loving yourself first gave me the strength to give it to others. Spiritually I have grown into a faithful person who prays everyday and I feel empowered to pray for others.

Having my spirituality now has helped me get through many days I would have normally been depressed, and unmotivated to do anything. I have understood that my life will go on and I have learned many things through this grieving process. I am able to go about my day and with my work out regimens I have started to push myself further. 

Loving-Kindness

1.            Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

I found this exercise very difficult. The problem I had most was trying to imagine what the speaker was explaining. I tried to think about my family members and think about the suffering that they might be going through, but I could not imagine brining their suffering in and breathing out peace. There was a point when I was thinking about my aunt and her suffering that my head became very heavy and started to hurt.

I would not recommend this exercise to people who are just looking for relaxation techniques. I think this is more of a spirituality technique. 

2.            What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

The concept of a mental workout is a training that controls emotions and how it affects mood. Implementing mental workouts can foster integral healing techniques by promoting positivity for the body, mind, and spirit. Mental workouts can help reduce negative emotions like anger, hate, and distress and improve positive emotions like loving-kindness, acceptance, and happiness (Dacher, E. 2006).

I could implement mental workouts by focusing on the positive, rather than harboring on negative emotions or feelings.

References

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications. 

Journal- Unit 3

1.            Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal wellbeing), where do you rate your A-physical wellbeing, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?

My physical wellbeing I would rate a 7. I do not believe that I am in the best shape of my life right now, but I am being physical. When I have time I love running, walking, biking, and rollerblading at least once a week. I listen to my body when it is time to rest and relax my muscles.

My spiritual wellbeing I would rate a 6. This score is much higher that I would have rated it a year ago. I have started going to church and really enjoying the sermons. After I found out my grandma was in the hospital I started praying multiple times a day and being closer to god for strength for my family.

Psychological wellbeing I would rate an 8. I think I am doing a great job at keeping it all together in my mind and when I need it I give myself time to reflect on things that are done and things I need to do. Some days it can be rough juggling a 40+ hour week, school, homework, cleaning, and being a single parent.

2.            Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

Physical- I can use different techniques to relax muscles and tension.

Spiritual- find a way to get rid of my negative mind and implement healthy, positive thoughts and actions into everyday life all day.

Psychological- make time every day to let my body and mind relax.

3.            What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal?

For a better physical wellbeing I can implement listening exercises to relax my body, mind, and spirit.

For a better spiritual wellbeing I can try to commit myself to letting go of negative feelings and stop letting stress overcome my mind.

For a better psychological wellbeing sticking to the listening exercises, and a positive mind. I can also make time for reflecting everyday, this will help me make a list of things I need to do, what has been done, and what I can hold off on.

  

4.            Complete the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century. To hear this exercise, click here. Describe your experience. (What it beneficial? Frustrating? etc.)

My experience with this listening exercise was very relaxing. The moment he began talking about using my body as a prism for white light to come through and imagine the colors of the rainbow I became very warm. The warmest place was my spine. The bottom of the spine was in relation with the color red and being grounded. It was a little harder for me to experience many of the other areas the speaker was talking about. At the end of the recording I felt rejuvenated, and awake. Going into this exercise I was feeling tired and sore. I feel so much better after doing this exercise especially my spine. My back feels much better than it did before going into the exercise. The only negative feeling I had about this exercise was the length. I felt it was a little too lengthy, but that may have to do with the little experience I have with listening exercises.