My Psychospiritual Development

This week I practiced the Universal Loving Kindness exercise. I enjoyed my practices this week because they were more focused on others and a constant reminder during meditation of not being selfish, but thinking of our society and it's issues as a whole. The areas that I have chosen to be a focus for development this week is my psychospirtitual and biological development. I was not able to just choose one to focus on, which made meditation a little more difficult for me.  I opted to focus on one area per session.  I am severely weak in this area, because I do have some personal hang-ups with meditation as a whole.  Making my mind quiet so that I can totally focus on my spirtitual health has been a challenge for me every week.  I have also found that through my reading and research in this course that meditation can be a healing process for some medical issues that I suffer with.  I have some cardiac issues, coupled with high blood pressure and some cholesterol issues.  I also have modest hypoglycemia.  I am learning that mediation and yoga are actually natural healers for these issues.  I am hoping that even when this course is over that I will have learned enough to continue my practices, but also monitor how it has been beneficial to my health in the long run. Specific exercises that I can do to foster greater wellness in this area are to continue my meditation practices as stated earlier, but to also incorporate more mind body exercises like yoga and to incorporate a little tai chi since I am very interested in it.  This course is opening many new doors for me and each weekly practice is bringing me that much closer to my own personal goals for health and wellness.

The Subtle Mind vs. Loving Kindness

The Subtle Mind practice was way more difficult for me than the Loving Kindness practice.  I found myself having difficulty focusing during the initial 3 minutes of each practice.  I was able to fit in 3 of the Subtle Mind practices, because I was still focusing on the Loving Kindness at the same time.  Once I focused on my breathing I was able to not let my mind drift too much.  5 minutes into each session became very therapeutic for me.  The nice thing about the Subtle Mind practice was that there were constant reminders to bring your focus back on your breathing.  I still enjoyed the Loving Kindness sessions more, but that is also because I don't have as much practice with Subtle Mind practice.  The exciting thing about the Subtle Mind sessions is that I saw so much room for improvement with myself.  I know that if I continue to practice I can look forward to getting better at it and therefore evolve in my future practices. 

The connection of spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness is that all three are intertwined.  I did not know how closely in previous week's activities, but all three go together.  I cannot have TRUE physical wellness without TRUE mental wellness and my mental wellness therefore leads to TRUE spiritual wellness.  I didn't realize how much breathing and the BREATH have such a profound effect on one's mind, body and soul.  The breath is important not only during physical activity, but also in day to day thought processes and even during meditation.  The BREATH has the power to heal high blood pressure, cardiac issues, gastrointestinal issues and even psychological issues.  These were all profound things that I learned this week while reading on the Subtle Mind practice and other areas of the prescribed reading.

Mind-Body Awarenss This Week

This week I read Chapter 6 in Integral Health and began practice on the Dacher CD, Loving Kindness.  After reading the chapter I realized that there may be some challenges involved in clearing my mind and truly getting the benefit of the practice.  I practiced for the recommended amount of time and to my amazement I walked away from the session very mentally aware of myself and my surrounding.  It was a beautiful experience for me, to totally focus on not MYSELF, but the ones I love and strangers around me.  Focusing on positive energy rather than negative was a very beneficial tool for me.  I left my session excited and self-aware.  I would suggest this practice to others, but worry that they would not know how to get past the initial mental barriers that would truly help them focus and receive the benefit of it.  I can't wait to practice before bed tonight and again tomorrow morning.  I am now on a dedicated schedule, because it was good for me. 
The concept of "Mental Workout" is the practice of Loving-kindness and The Subtle Mind.  Both working together allow one to get a mental workout, but it takes practice and I am looking forward to my "Mental Workout" practice and plan to treat it just as I do my weekly physical workout sessions for my body.  I have learned through this session of study that both work together for the maximum benefit.

Personal Wellbeing

Based on my reflection, I believe that my physical well-being is a seven, because I have high blood pressure, modest hypoglycemia and I am eight week pregnant. My Spiritual well being is an eight because I am very in tune with myself spiritually. I consider all religions and faiths, and judge no one. My psychological well being is a nine because I have removed any negative impacts on my psychological well being. I believe that your psychological well being has a lot to do with the people who you surround yourself with, and I only surround myself with positive people nowadays. That didn't always used to be the case.
My physical goal is to get through my pregnancy with a healthy baby. I can walk more often. Right now I only walk on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it appears as if I need to add an extra day. This will assist my spiritual well being as well. My spiritual goal is to go to church more often. My psychological goal is to really work on my tempermeant. I think I need to meditate more often.

My Journey On experience

Welcome to my blog. I'm very excited at this chance to share my thoughts and experiences with my class.
My experience with the Journey On sound was very interesting. I did feel very relaxed and calm, but I did not experience the profound heaviness or warmth they spoke about. I enjoyed the music, but that's about it.