Hello classmates who may be reading my blog. This has been a rough week, but productive nonetheless! We are buying our first home and remodeling, which got put on the back-burner due to leaks and electrical issues that popped up now that we are owners! But we learned a lot in the process and had to laugh at the timing, fixed our issues and now back to remodeling.

     As for our assignments, we were asked to do the Universal Loving Kindness exercise.  I love this exercise, its simple easy and gave me a chance to be in my own head. No prompts, no voices was a welcome escape from the previous meditative exercises. 

     We were also responsible for doing the Integral Assessment. What I learned about myself is that my psycho-spiritual aspect of my life is always in need of fine-tuning. I am always striving to better my attitude, improve my mood, and eliminate stress and anxiety from my life. Another area I am focusing on is worldly aspect. I was really struct by the chapter in our text speaking of the worldly and "our work." I need to look at my job as more than a mere way to survive and provide for my family. I need to look at it as providing service to others and doing my part to aid in eliminating suffering others. I can attain these goals by changing my mindset through meditative exercises, by training my mind using visualizations and mental imagery. 

Brandy

A Subtle Mind

Hello to all my classmates who may read this! It has been a great week! We have been busy remodeling our home we just purchased. We are excited as this is our first very own home that is all ours!!

But I digress, on to business. This week were expected to listen to the Subtle Mind exercise. Personally   I love this exercise. I found it to be easy and quite helpful. I am a huge fan of ocean sounds and find them quite soothing. This was a great deal easier for me to do compared to last week. The speaker was  better and the prompts were easy to follow. Again the ocean sounds were soothing and relaxing. I would definitely recommend this exercise to others.

We are also suppose to discuss the connection between spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness.I personally believe that the three go hand in hand. I feel as though finding mind-body-spirit exercises such as yoga can facilitate this connection. I do believe that one can be spiritual independent of religion, as I do not practice religion. But with yoga I can be spiritual. I can center my mind and spirit all way working my body.

Brandy

Mental Workout and Psycho-spiritual Flourishing...

   Hello to all who may be reading my blog, I hope this finds you well and healthy!! This week in my Health and Wellness class we were asked to blog about our experience with the Loving Kindness exercise, as well as answer a few questions regarding mental fitness and mental workouts.

     So with most of the exercises I have had great experiences, not the case with exercise. I found the person speaking to be rather annoying. The prompts/instructions were more distracting rather than calming or focused. I found the idea of thinking of a loved one’s suffering to be ever so slightly disturbing. I work in healthcare in a hospital setting and I see suffering on a regular basis, so thinking about the suffering of a person close to my heart was not peasant. I appreciate and do my best to alleviate the suffering of others so I felt that part of the exercise was not beneficial. I guess this whole exercise felt forced. Having said all that I am very open minded and I am willing to give this exercise another try on another day, maybe I will be more receptive.

     The concept of mental working out is the limitless ability to develop the qualities of the mind. Unlike physical exercise the body has limits the mind however, does not.  There is no limit to learning, compassion, biological and spiritual health and healing. The research indicates that training our mind can foster a healthier inner life. The research tells us that our physical and emotional lives are not fixed, “our capacity for health is flexible, dynamic, and expansive.” (Dacher, 2006)

     In order to foster my psychological health I can train my mind daily. I can use mental fitness exercises to calm my mind, to find forgiveness, compassion, and gratefulness.

Reference

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health Publications.

Reflecting on My Wellness...The Importance of Self-Awareness.

    Hello to all my classmates who may be reading this. Its been a much better week for me. I have been off work for a glorious 8 days so far and its been a great time to relax and reconnect with my family. This was a much needed vacation from my job! It was also the perfect time to reflect on my wellness. 

    After giving it some thought I would rate my physical well-being at an 8. I rated myself at an 8 as I workout 4-5 days a week and try to stay active. However, I did not give myself a 10 as I still over-weight after having lost over 100 lbs. For my spiritual well-being I will rate myself at a 6. I am not religious, but do consider myself to be spiritual, but this area could use some work. My psychological well-being on a normal basis I would rate at a 7. This is also an area that can always use improving. I tend to stress and worry often but I am working toward implementing strategies that will lessen the stress. 

     For each of these areas I have set forth goals. For my physical well-being I will stay on track as I am and continue toward my goal of my healthy goal weight. In order to do this I will continue to be physically active and participate in vigorous physical exercise for 30-45 minutes 4-5 days a week. I will also continue to monitor my eating habits by being more consistent in keeping a food journal as I have off and on for three years. For my spiritual well-being I will seek and give forgiveness to those who I have wronged and feel as though have wronged me. I will garden more, as this allows me to commune with nature, as well as it allows for time to observe and admire the beauty of my surroundings. This time will also allow me to seek peace and stillness in my mind. Which leads to my psychological wellness goals. For this aspect of my life will more diligently and consistently participate in my yoga practice. The deep breathing and meditative aspects of yoga allow for relieving of stress and calming my over-worked mind. This leads to less stress, worry, and anxiety. 

     The final part of our blog assignment for this week was to participate in the "Crime of the Century" relaxation exercise. The first part of the exercise was wonderful as I really enjoy deep breathing exercises. I liked how the person speaking said that if you have a fleeting thought, "acknowledge it then move on." This was important as this is how I have been able to be successful at meditation,by acknowledge the stray thoughts then put it past you. The next part of the exercise, imagining the various colors and repeating the phrases that were prompted was easy to follow and not hard to imagine. I have always enjoyed the mental imagery relaxation exercises. Usually I would find this exercise with all the talking to be distracting, but interestingly enough it really was easy to follow and quite honestly the phrases that I was being prompted to repeat was things I needed to hear and needed my inner-self to know and comprehend, and in turn had some healing from this exercise. I really enjoyed the connection to the chakras and the colors related as this is something I am studying more in depth on my own. I think this is an exercise I will use again, but next time use my chakra stones. 

Brandy 

     

Journey On Relaxation Exercise...

Hello and welcome to my classmates that might be viewing my blog! The last few days have been quite stressful for me. Needless to say using this relaxation exercise as well as my yoga was very much needed. I saved this exercise for bedtime as I was having a bit of trouble quieting my mind during my yoga, and bedtime was no different. My first impression of the recording was how soothing the gentleman's voice was. I have used many of these relaxation exercises and if the voices isn't exactly right it becomes too much of a distraction rather than help. Instantly I could feel myself relax as I focused on that one word. Its interesting how just by the power of suggestion and of mind how my body felt heavy and warm and ready for sleep. Following the voice prompts was easy and helpful, it was no time before I was relaxed and off to sleep. My favorite part of this exercise is the deep breathing, as an asthmatic this is something I practice often and is very effective in relaxation and de-stressing. Overall this was a great exercise in relaxation and one I would suggest to others, especially beginners.

Brandy

Welcome!

Hello Everyone! I am so looking forward to this part of our class. This is not my first attempt at blogging as I already have a Health and Wellness as well as a Personal Blog on a different site. I view everything as a opportunity to learn and this is no different as I hope to learn new things from my classmates. I look forward to getting to everyone a bit better.

Brandy