Unit 6 - Loving-kindness and the Self-assessment

For this week’s exercise, I wrote the mantra down on a little piece of paper and carried it in my pocket. I looked at it whenever I had a moment to concentrate on the words especially when I was feeling frustrated. As I read it over and over, different ideas or questions would come to mind; for example, assisting all individuals to find health, happiness, and wholeness – How am I to do that? And, my mind would wander from there to other ideas and questions. I’m not sure if this was an intentional part of the exercise or not.

In going through the different recommendations on how to do a self-assessment, each one lead me to immediately think of a specific area of my life that is in great need of help…my marriage. I decided that this is the area that I need to work on, because it causes so much distress for me as well as my husband, children, and friends. It is the area of my life that I can do the most good for myself and others around me.

An exercise that I have considered might be helpful is meditation to calm myself, clear my mind of mental chatter (especially the negative kind), and hopefully gain some patience.  I also continue to carry around my little mantra on loving kindness in hopes of gaining some toward my spouse. I have also intentionally started doing more nice things for my other half. I talk with friends that love us both in order to get their support in the best way to improve my marriage. Interestingly enough, they are both divorced, but they know that pain and do not wish it on others. Those are just a few of the things that I can do to improve. In reviewing and thinking about this problem, I came to realize that there is actually quite a bit that I can do to improve this situation.

Unit 5 - Subtle Mind Exercise

This week, we are to compare and contrast our experiences with the Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind exercises. For me, the Loving Kindness exercise was an important teaching tool for learning how to forgive. The Subtle Mind exercise instructed  how to recognize and let go of mental chatter to obtain a state of mental clarity. At the start of the Creating Wellness class, I found it very difficult to concentrate on the meditation exercise. Today, I noticed that it seemed much easier to concentrate on the exercise despite the noise in and around my house. My husband was in the kitchen making noise. The kids were bouncing the basketball in the driveway outside my window. However, I was not disturbed by any of it like I was with the first meditation we did. If you remember, I was searching inside and outside of my house for a completely quiet spot.  I didn’t need complete silence this time; in fact, I just about fell asleep.

To answer the next assignment question, spiritual wellness is connected to mental and physical wellness by “ease and lightness entering our life and cleanse our mind and body…extends our ability to prevent mental distress and physical illness, enhances recovery from disease, and promotes integral health, happiness, and wholeness” (Dacher, 2006, p. 86). I can relate to this in my own life through the comfort that I get from the belief in an afterlife. That comfort increases mental and physical well-being.

References

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

Unit 4 Blog - Loving Kindness

The Loving Kindness exercise that I did this week for my Creating Wellness class was interesting. I sat in my chair and listened to an audio guide assist me through the meditation. At first, a man gave basic instructions on the audio. He had an annoying voice, and I hoped that he was not going to guide the meditation. Fortunately, a woman came on for the exercise with the sound of waves in the background. She was better. I appreciated the loving kindness exercise, because it immediately brought to mind a very dear person in my life…my Plain Grandma that passed 6 years ago. When asked to turn those feelings on myself, I had difficulty understanding exactly how to do that. When the guide instructed to think of a person that is suffering currently, I immediately thought of my other grandmother that was admitted to the hospital this morning. By the end of the meditation, I thought that this would be a good practice for me to do to help forgive others. There are a few people in my life that I have found it very difficult to forgive, and I think this practice may help facilitate that. One of the things that I really liked about this particular audio is that it allowed ample time to follow instructions. One thing that I did not like was that the guide startled me every time she began to speak again. I would recommend this practice to others, because there is so much worry and stress in our society; I believe this would help to calm and make others feel better.

For the next part of my blog assignment, the term “mental workout” means to exercise your mind. To do this, one must spend time in contemplative practice every day just as one must exercise daily to keep the body in good physical shape. Perseverance is key to continued improvement. I haven’t been to the gym in a couple of months, and I feel the effects of lost conditioning. The same is true when training the mind. The benefits of mental workout are “the progressive development of an expanded consciousness and its healing capacities” (Dacher, 2006, p. 65). However, contemplative practice must be done correctly in order to obtain these benefits; otherwise, all you’re doing is relaxing (Dacher, 2006, p. 65).

References

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

Unit 3 - My Current State of Being Rated

Per my instructor’s assignment, I took a few moments to reflect on my own psychological, physical, and spiritual health at the present moment. This is what I have decided.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the healthiest level), I rate myself an 8 on psychological wellness, because I feel that I have good coping skills to handle what life has thrown at me thus far and, therefore, manage my stress fairly well. I also feel that I am a genuinely happy person most of the time. I did not rate myself higher than that, because I do find myself worrying needlessly at times. My goal is to continue to improve my skills of self-reflection and relaxation in the midst of chaos. I was an emergency room nurse and intensive care nurse, and I learned that it is important to be able to know how to keep anxiety at bay when chaos is all around. The activities that I do to maintain a low level of stress and to maintain control of my own anxiety is consciously choosing what thoughts to allow and what not. It is like continual meditation on the moment and not allowing worry of what could happen (whether rational or not) to take over my thoughts.

On the same scale, my physical health is a 5. Two months ago, I would have rated myself an 8, but I have not been to the gym in about two months. Now I feel tired, lazy, achy, flabby, weak, and, at this very moment, very stiff. I strained my back yesterday doing absolutely nothing. I didn't rate myself any lower than 5, because I am generally in good health. I’m at a healthy weight and do not have any comorbidities like diabetes, dyslipidemia, or hypertension. My goal is to get back to the gym as soon as my strained back says so…maybe in about 7 days.

My spiritual health is currently a 5. I consider myself a Christian. I try to treat others and live my life the way Jesus teaches we should, and I pray several times per day. I did not rate higher, because I have felt disconnected from the church lately. I haven’t made going to church or reading my Bible a priority for the last couple of months. I would like to feel that connection with God that I once had. My goal is to read my Bible after lunch each day and start going back to church starting next weekend.

The audio relaxation exercise this week involved guided imagery and progressive relaxation. Last week, while trying to do my exercise, I had a house full of chaos and people. This week, it’s just my husband and I at home. He is on a jog, so this is a perfect time for me to relax. I started off by getting comfortable on my bed with my ice pack to my strained lower back. Anyone who has strained their back knows that movement does not come easy. I started the audio then realized that my bra was tight and distracting, so I got back up with much difficulty, took it off and layed back down with much difficulty. O.K. now I’m ready. Audio back on. As the guide spoke, I felt like my muscles were relaxing but I still felt tense inside. Throughout the exercise I continued to attempt full relaxation. Then I hear keys dangling, doors slamming, feet stomping through the house, more doors slamming. I think to myself, “This is very distracting and not very relaxing.” My husband is stomping through the house and slamming doors looking for me. He’s not angry, just loud. Then I hear his feet come to my bedroom door and stop. I try to ignore him thinking that I can get back to relaxing and he will realize what I’m doing and quietly leave. No, he stays. I open my eyes. I tell him that it is difficult to concentrate on my homework with him just standing there looking at me. He says, “I’m just trying to figure out what you’re doing”. He leaves and leaves the smell of his sweat from jogging lingering in my room…another distraction. Overall, I felt the experience was relaxing, and that all the distractions tell me that I’m not very good at meditation.

Unit 2 - "JourneyOn" Relaxation Session

Hi everyone. Hope you are all having a great week. The photo that I attached this week is of a Japanese Magnolia that I saw at a park early this year. Gardens and gardening relax me.

This week's assignment for my journey involved listening to an audio relaxation guide. It calls for finding a quiet place to follow the mental and physical prompts required of the session. I started off sitting at my desk. I turned on the audio, closed my eyes, and tried to listen and relax. I sat and listened for about 15 seconds and decided this is not going to work. My husband and his friend are tiling our bathroom on the other side of the adjoining wall. There is the sound of men's voices, radio, saws, and tile. Farther out, there is the sound of five little boys between the ages of 8 and 11 yelling over a Wii game. So, I packed up my laptop (that's one of the great things about them) and went into the backyard. I sat on the lower level of the kids' fort. The sun was too bright and too hot. I packed up the laptop again and climbed to the top of the fort. O.K., there is shade and a comfortable breeze. I setup the laptop again and pushed play for my audio guide to relaxation. As the guide spoke, I couldn't help but look around. I hadn't been in the kids fort before. It is actually pretty nice up there. I had a great view of my tiny yard. I noticed the back of the house needs to be pressure washed. I also noticed a little noise on the ground behind me under the fort. I strained to turn to see what it was. A little Carolina Wren was looking back up at me from the shrubs below. Looking around a bit more, I noticed that the neighbors' Confederate Jasmine has taken over their swing and our fence. I wondered if they would be offended if I take a hedge trimmer to it. As I looked, listened, and enjoyed the relative quiet of this spot in my backyard that I had discovered, I also tried to do the breathing and imagination activities that the guy on the audio was leading me through. At the end of the audio, he says "Now open your eyes". Oh, my eyes were supposed to be closed? O.K., this must be evidence of lack of focus, but the way I feel at the end does not mean lack of relaxation. I learned something new about how to relax through the audio guide (I'll try it again later), and I also found a quiet place to retreat to...if the weather is nice.

First Blog, First Entry

As a result of taking a class called Introduction to Human Wellness, I have been coerced (just kidding) into creating my first very own blog. So I'm just trying it on for size to see if it fits. Looks like I have some growing to do.