Universal Loving Kindness and Integral Assessment

Hello Class~

I really enjoyed reciting the Universal Loving-Kindness exercise/mantra.  Repeating the following phrases………Ommmmmmmmm

“May ALL individuals gain freedom from suffering”

“May ALL individuals find sustained health, happiness, and wholeness”

“May I assist ALL individuals in gaining freedom from suffering”

“May I assist ALL individuals in finding health, happiness, and wholeness”

………made me feel a sense of empowerment, joy and happiness.  It made me want to help myself and others to experience the awakening of human flourishing.  Saying these phrases is almost like having a calling on your life because I believe that we are here on this earth to help one another--unconditionally.  Giving universal love to the all humankind is something we should strive for daily.  Trust, me I have my flaws (don't we all) but for some reason or another, the virtue of L-O-V-E is embedded in my spirit.  I believe  that I possess this virtue from my mother who transitioned when I was 14 years old.  From what I can remember, my mother was a kind and loving person and I knew she loved me with all of her heart.  Because I strive to bring universal love in every aspect of my life, I sometimes feel that I am connected to the “hippie” era of “flower power”, peace, love, Age of Aquarius and unity.  Sounds kind of sappy right?  That is who I am.  As I look back over my life, it has not been “peaches and cream”…..and boy, I've had some hurdles and pain. Thank God that I overcame them (for the most part) and continue to love others when others don’t care to love me back or when they misuse or mistreat me. "Do unto other as you want them to do unto you".

For the Integral Assessment, being centered, calming and still really plays a significant role  in our body, mind and spirit.  Within this course, I am discovering (I have not mastered it yet) how to become more calming within my spirit.  I am a very sensitive person and as I've matured, it has gotten worse because I can't stand foolishness whatsoever so I allow myself to react to things which causes me to stress.  So for my growth and development, I am going to work on not allowing people to "work my nerves" and tell them how I feel without being confrontational (which I dislike).  My specific exercises and/or activities will continue deep breathing (wooooosaaaa) and meditation when I feel my stress levels rise.  My health and spiritual wellness is very important to me; therefore, I am going to continue relaxation, prayer and meditation.

 

Peace and blessings always~

Patricia

Loving-Kindness Vs. The Subtle-Mind

Greetings Everyone!

In my wonderful opinion, the contract between the Loving-Kindness exercise and the Subtle-Mind exercise was somewhat different.  For example, during the Loving-Kindness exercise, we were to focus and actually “feel” various emotions like “bringing to the mind an individual (someone close to you) who you hold with great love and tenderness” and then next “shifting to thoughts, feelings and images that moved in and out of our awareness; those that were unpleasant and disturbing as well as those that were pleasing and welcomed” (Dacher p 68).  Although I make every effort to practice loving-kindness daily, that exercise was not too enjoyable for me because I did not want to think about negative thoughts.  With the Subtle-Mind exercise (although I preferred the literature instead of listening to the audio) we were asked to focus primarily on our breathing and stilling the mind in the process.  I had to really laugh at myself because I did try the Subtle-Mind exercise twice with the audio and fell asleep :).

To me, it is impossible to separate spiritual, mental and physical wellness because they all connect with the mind, body and spirit.  These connections have to manifest in my personal life because I’d go crazy with all the busyness of life—family, job, school and some many other added responsibilities.  Spiritually, I love to pray. Mentally, I love to stay peaceful and physically, I love to do some form of daily exercise. 

Wow.....this is the middle of the term!  My, how time flies.  I really like this class it has certainly given me a paradigm shift.  "Gotta" run......finishin' up my project :).

Peace and blessings always~
Patricia

 

Unit 4 Overview The Mind-Body-Spirit Paradigm

Hi Professor and Class~

Responding to this blog had mixed emotions for me.  I am going to answer the questions below to the way that I felt about this exercise.

I enjoyed the soothing sounding image of the waves tossing to and fro in the ocean.  I really liked that and it gave me a sense of peace and tranquility.  The only benefit that I felt was the positiveness to reflect loving-kindness towards myself and others.  I did not find it beneficial to focus on the negative or those who may be suffering.  That was a downer for me and focusing on negativity is what I do not want in my life because it is not good for me at all.  I did however, think of someone so very close to me who recently transitioned in September.  This person was a "big" sister (that I don't have) and she was my #1 fan when I returned to school.  Although she is gone, I brought her to my mind because I still hold great love and tenderness in my heart towards her.  My "big" sister had lung cancer.  Each and everyday I witnessed her strength and courage--going through chemo and taking lots of medication.  Although the doctors told her that her "days were numbered", she exuded so much belief and faith in God.  I truly admired that.  

Going back to the exercise, I really could not recommend this to others because of the focusing of negativity.  I am trying to heal from negativity and focusing on it would not be helping myself or others.  I make it a point to extend loving-kindness to all that cross my path--that is just who I am and want to be.  I am an encourager and make it a point to speak "life" into others.  When I extend love to others unconditionally, it allows me to free and to know that my purpose on this earth is to help and be a light to others.

The concept of mental workout is to me is to train the mind towards healthiness and well-being.  For instance, when we do a physical workout, we are either doing some type of physical activity like running, jogging, weight lifting, proper diet and nutrition.  This makes the body strong and functional.  With the mind, I believe we have to train it in the same way, but use techniques like prayer, meditation, reading, crossword puzzles and thinking positive thoughts.  Please know that I am quite aware that life is not "peaches and cream".  However, dwelling on the negative is not healthy and focusing on negative people is not healthy.  I plan to take care of myself physically, mentally and spiritually.  I have too much life and love to give :0).

Seeing Ourselves......YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL ;)

Seeing OurselvesYou Are Beautiful
by Madisyn Taylor
"Many of us do not take the time to notice and acknowledge how beautiful we are as humans" "Many of us do not take the time to notice and acknowledge how beautiful we are as humans. We may be great lovers of beauty, seeing it in the people, places, and things around us, while completely missing it in ourselves. Some of us feel that it is vain to consider our appearance too much, or we may find that when we look at ourselves, all we see are imperfections. Often we come to the mirror with expectations and preconceived notions about beauty that blind us from seeing ourselves clearly. As a result, we miss the beauty that is closest to us, the beauty we are. Sometimes we see our beauty in a shallow way, noticing how well we are conforming to social norms, but failing to see the deeper beauty that shines out from within and that will continue to shine regardless of how we measure up to society’s ideal".

"If we can cut through all these obstacles and simply appreciate how beautiful we are, we free up so much energy.. We also become less dependent upon the opinions and feedback of others since we become our own greatest admirers. Many of us know that after a great yoga practice or a long, deep meditation, we are more able to see how beautiful we are. This is because we have released some of our baggage, thus unburdening ourselves and summoning forth the spirit that dwells within us. It is the heady combination of the divine spirit and the human body that conveys beauty more accurately than anything else".

"To keep ourselves in touch with our own beauty, we can surround ourselves with images that reflect our beauty back to us—photos of a relative or child who has our eyes, images of teachers who embody spirit, or self-portraits that capture our essence in a way that allows us to see ourselves anew. The best way to keep ourselves in touch with our own beauty is to keep looking deeply into our own souls and opening our eyes to the human being we see in the mirror every day".

Unit Three~The Mind-Body Connection

Peace, love and greetings classmates!

What another interesting exercise to stir up the mind, body and spirit. I am going to answer the questions in the order presented to us: 

Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal well-being), where do you rate your A-physical well-being, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why? 

For my physical well-being I rate myself  an "8".  For my age, I am pretty active and love taking care of myself.  In 1999, I decided on a lifestyle change by changing my eating habits and becoming a vegetarian.  I took meats/fish, sugars, starches, sodas, (and all of the non-nutritious foods and ingredients) out of my diet,  Within the last year, I've decided to take the vegan journey and I feel wonderful!  For my psychological well-being, I rate myself  a "7" and the reason (I believe) is because I lost both of my parents before the age of 18 and I had to become independent very young and take care of myself.  I did not really enjoy my teenage or young adult years.  I got married young because I wanted to create a sense of family connection  I had two children, divorced after 15 years and then became a single (working) parent.  There was NO family to lean on.  I tend to attach myself to others just to have a sense of a family connection--which is not healthy but I am working on it.  I rate my spiritual well-being a 10+.  I have always believed in a higher power.  I practice the Christian faith and personally, I could not have gotten through all of my obstacles and adversities in my life without God.  I do not see God as a being who sits high and looks low.  The God that I serve is all around and is constantly with me, loving me and always taking care of me and my children. 

  
Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

Although I rated myself an "8" physically, the goal that I am going to set for myself is to do more meditation and learn more yoga techniques.  I tend to stress a lot and I multi-task all of the time.  I work a full-time job, a part-time work-at-home job AND take two classes at Kaplan.  I know that this sounds like a lot, but I have a son in college as well and I need the extra money.  My spiritual goal does not need developing.  I am good in that area because I pray daily and I give thanks for all of my blessings.  As far as psychological, my goal is to work on who I want in my inner circle.  It  has taken me a long time to really understand that everyone is not your friend and everyone does not have your best interest at heart.  Therefore, I am weeding out those who do not mean me any good.

What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal?

The activity and/or exercise that I can implement in my life to assist in moving toward each goal is to "prepare the ground" and exhibit silence and stillness.  In our Unit 3 readings, Dache, talked about this.  There are three aspects of silence and stillness: the outer, the inner and the innermost.  The latter of the two are attained through mind training.  Our final preparation begins when we carefully examine our day-to-day activities and physical with the aim of identifying and eliminating excess sources of noise and busyness (Dacher, p. 54).  Returning to school after a long time has been my goal for years!  That door finally opened and I am so happy!  Therefore, my goal is to release the distractions around me and focus so that I can continue being the best me that I can be (smile). 

Complete the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century.  Describe your experience. (What it beneficial? Frustrating? etc.) 

Ok. I am 50/50 on this relaxation exercise.  Again, I become so relaxed that I fell asleep (LOL).  I had to restart the tape and begin again.  I enjoyed the concentration and focus; however, I could not get into the "rainbow" colors.  That was distracting to me.  My mind wanted to just focus on the parts of the body and relax.  I became distracted when I had to focus on the various colors associated with the different focal points on the body.  I recited the mantras of "I feel grounded", "I feel centered", "I feel loved" and "My life has a meaningful purpose."  This experience was beneficial to me.  Saying those words really gave me a sense of joy, peace and well-being and it confirmed that I am loved (I am learning to love myself more) and I do have purpose no matter what.

Patricia