Unit 6 :Integral Assessment

For this week I gave the Loving Kindness a few more tries. I discovered that it is getting a little easier but it is still a huge challenge for me to concentrate. With moving out of my house that I have called home with my boyfriend of three years, to separating possessions and dealing with leaving my dog I have had a few things on my mind. I hope that with more time I will be able to fully benefit from this practice.

The integral assessment was good. I discovered that I have quite a few areas that need work. Right now the most important for me to focus on is the emotional and personal relationships that I have with those around me. I feel like both areas are extremely important at this time because of everything I have been going through lately. Some activities that I can implement to increase my wellness in these areas are writing. I have found that to keep my daily thoughts and feeling jotted down it helps me to see how I deal with my emotions. Being able to assess emotions later when I am not upset has helped me to see how incorrectly I deal with them at times of frustration. As for my personal relationships I can visualize having fun times and planning events that will lead to happiness and not harboring feelings of loneliness or sadness.

Unit 5 Subtle mind

 

For me the subtle mind exercise was even more a challenge than the loving kindness. I did not enjoy this one as much. Although the background sounds were soothing and I did relax a bit I really struggled with controlling my thoughts and focusing on my breathing.  A few times I was able to regain my concentration but only momentarily. This is extremely frustrating for me. I know that right now I have a ton of things going on in my life and I really think that I could benefit from both exercises. At this particular time in my life I am struggling through a painful break up and I think that process of moving and separating lives is really taking a toll on my spiritual well being, as well as my mental and physical wellness. With this I have discovered more than ever how connected the three are. I think that by placing more focus on calm and relaxing time to help heal I will be better able to reach a more connected understanding of why things work out the way they do. Maybe I will give the exercises a few more tries.

 

 

Unit 4

 

For me the loving kindness exercise was a bit of a challenge. I have found that I really struggle with relaxing and being able to concentrate in silence. I cannot figure out how to turn my mind off. Its always running a mile a minute. After about half way through the exercise it got a little easier and at the end I did feel a little more relaxed. I think that maybe with some more practice this exercise could be very beneficial to me. I would recommend this to other simply because it is important to relax, myself like a lot of people have a hard time with it.

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?

Mental workouts are important to help keep our minds sharp and functioning at their highest capacity. The brain is just like a muscle in the body, if it does not receive enough exercise it begins to lose its function. Some great mental workouts that anyone can do are meditation or visualizations.   

 

Unit 3

1. Physical well being: Score of 7. I decided on a 7 because I need to be more physically active and eat better. At this time I have let my fitness practices go to the point that I am suffering from intermittent back pain due to lack of physical activity. A goal that I have to increase this score would be to practice the exercises from physical therapy in order to get back on the road to an active lifestyle. Activities that I can do to reach my goal are the daily stretching learned in physical therapy and to remind myself of all the fun things that I can participate in once my healing is complete. 
   
   Spiritual well being: Score of 5. I choose a 5 because up until recently I had never even explored the idea of spiritual well-being. It is rather new to me and I feel that I still  have a lot to learn. A good goal for me is to continue to explore the world of spirituality and find what fits me. A good exercise for me would be to dedicate time each day to practice a new spiritual exercise.
   
   Psychological well-being: Score of 8. Trying to keep everything in my life balanced is a difficult process. I know that sometimes the stress and fast pace takes a toll on my psychological well-being. Since being out of the country on vacation for the past 10 days and trying to readjust and catch up on my daily responsibilities I think this score may be even a little lower. A good goal for me is to keep organized, this will help to reduce some of the stress. An exercise that I can do would be to keep a list handy to help remind me of what I need to get done each day.
   I  completed the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century. For me it was difficult to keep my concentration and focus. I kept having to refocus and try to catch up on what I was zoning out of. After about half way thought the exercise I became frustrated and restless. I think that I need to adjust my timing of the exercises. Maybe the evening is not good, I maybe should try this in the morning when I do not have a million things on my mind