unit 5 blog

I found this exercise to be the easiest one we have done.  I practice this breathing technique almost daily to calm my active mind when I am trying to fall asleep.  I work nights so it can be very hard for me to sleep and this technique works great for me.  I found it easy to release and almost ignore random thoughts that filtered through my head.  I think this was easier than the loving kindness just because it was so basic whereas the loving kindness you had to focus on your feelings and other people’s which was a little harder  to do because I was trying to push other thoughts out of my head where with this exercise I just relaxed and let them flow away.

The spiritual wellness is as important as mental and physical wellness.  If your spirit or soul as some refer to it is sick then mentally you won’t be at your best which can affect you physically because you may be depressed and unmotivated.  The same is true if you are physically sick then mentally and spiritually you will be down.  My personal life is a bit of a mess right now which affects me mentally which makes it harder to sleep because my mind won’t calm down.  That affects me physically because it makes me tired.  Being tired affects my desire to go and do things that I like which affects me spiritually.  So yes they are all connected and have an effect on each other and you as a person.

unit 4 blog

I like this better than the other ones because she had a soothing voice and the ocean sounds helped when I was trying to focus.  This exercise relaxed me and made me feel calm and peaceful when I was done.  I have been trying to remove the negativity in my life lately and this feels like the next step.  This was a longer exercise and felt hard at times to stay focused but I was able to get back on track with a little effort.  I would recommend this to my sister but I would also suggest that she read the book so that she has a better understanding of what the exercise is all about.

Mental workout is the daily proactive that assists us in evolving our psychospiritual life and access its capacity and resources.  Research shows that with continued practice and effort the progressive development of an expanded consciousness and its healing capacities are possible (Dacher, 2013).  By devoting time every day to these practices I hope to achieve the inner peace and cultivating wisdom that will help me progress through the future exercises.

Reference:

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

my total well-being

My physical well-being is at a 7, my spiritual well-being is at a 5, and my psychological well-being is a 5.  I have recently started working our again and with the warm weather I have been able to start running again which I really enjoy.  My spiritual well-being needs some work.  I haven’t been taking the time to connect with what is my spiritual center.  My psychological well-being isn’t where it should be because I am feeling overwhelmed with new changes at work and the work load of three classes.  Trying to keep everything in balance is hard right now.

My goal for physical is to hike at least once a week and run at least three times a week which will help my psychological well-being because it will clear my head.  My spiritual goal is to go out for nature walks and take pictures which are my way to connect and be at peace.  For my psychological goal I will get my focus back on school and realize that the job is what it is and I will be finding a new job soon.  I will set a daily goal for my school work so that the work is spread out in a manageable way and I won’t feel like I have to work on it all day on my days off.  I will set aside one hour a day on work days and three hours a day on my days off for my physical and psychological well-being,

So I listened to this relaxation exercise and didn’t really feel what he was talking about.  I had a hard time focusing and imagining the colors.  I don’t know if it’s because my focus wasn’t totally there or if I just didn’t connect with this exercise but this didn’t do anything for me like the last one did.  I couldn’t get on board with visualizing the light that he kept talking about.  I will try it again and see if it works any better.

Journey On

At first I thought this recording was a little funny and didn't think i would get much out of it.  The voice telling me to loosen any restrictive clothing and loosen your tie if you have one just seemed funny to me.  i decided  to really listen and follow his directions to try and get what I could out of it.  I did notice a tingling in my arms and hands when he first said to concentrate on redirecting your blood flow.  I think that it was a real feeling for me because it wasn't something he suggested I would feel.  I didn't really notice my arms and hands getting warm but they did feel heavy.  Is this a true feeling or just a feeling because he said it would feel that way?  I do think that by focusing you can relax your self and have a sense of peace and relaxation without all the other talking.  Try laying in bed at night and focusing on each individual limb and relaxing one at a time it works great and feels very good after.

So welcome to my very first blog.  I have never set one up before or even looked at anyone else's blog so this is very new to me.  If anyone knows how to get pictures onto this I would appreciate the help so I can personalize it a little.  I look forward to communicating with all of you in the coming weeks.
Thank you
Heidi