Meeting Aesclepius Reflection

Meeting Asclepius was a little confusing to me.  As the orator said to envision a person that had wisdom, qualities, compassion love and joy my great grandmother came to mind.  She died in 2002 but she is still very much in my mind all the time.  My great grandmother raised me as her own child so you can understand why I chose her. She certainly did have all of the characteristics that were mentioned in the audio and much more. As I saw the white beam that came from her to the crown of my head, throat, and heart it made me smile that she could still be so much a part of my life. I loved her dearly and still do. When I need to go to my happy place I always think of my memories with her.

As for the statement we are to analyze this week, it sounds like they are saying "experience is the best teacher".  I do not think that is necessarily true or even safe.  I think learning by example can be just as effective.  I should not have to do drugs or have extra-marital affairs to share with someone that these things are detrimental to life.  Maybe I could liken them to some other experience I have had that they can possibly relate to and see that I am not standing in judgment, but I am being as open and honest as I can.

Universal Loving Kindness Reflection

The Loving Kindness exercise placed me into a dreary type of mood. I am not sure if I was too tired when doing the exercise or if I had difficulty focusing, but whatever it was that I should achieve did not really materialize. However, I did experience the ease and stillness of my mind and body and I found that I had difficulty with the experience of separateness. Perhaps I could say that my experience was more of “a sense of oneness” which the text states “arises from a subtle consciousness” (Dacher, 2006).  Given this explanation, I would therefore prefer to have the “oneness” as the center of my experience. I believe this would be a focus of growth and development for me as it would allow me to identify my true self being someone who likes to give of myself to others. I believe this is where true integral health comes in as it would make me feel quite happy to know that I can give to others and at the same time receive the same benefit in return.

Specific exercises that I could recommend would be regular, physical activity and mental activity.  My personal physical activity favorites are group fitness classes such as:

Body Pump (weight lifting class)
Kickboxing
Zumba
Aqua Zumba
Running/Jogging
Walking
Pilates

My favorite mental exercises are :
Yoga
Tai-Chi
Meditation

Reference:

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach

Love and Kindness

1.      Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.

The loving-kindness experience was a much easier exercise than the subtle mind exercise.  I found that the loving kindness practice #1 exercise was more intriguing than the subtle mind exercises. In the first practice exercise we were asked to visualize a loved one who was suffering while we breathe in our in-breath. We were asked to allow the “dark cloud of suffering to ride the in-breath into our body” and then allowing them to completely dissolve in our heart (Dacher, 2006). The idea was to welcome all the loving-kindness into our heart thereby diminishing our self-centeredness and being able to share loving-kindness with others as we breathe out health, love and happiness. This exercise helped me to rest and be at peace while eliminating the stresses of life and leading me into the path of integral health and human flourishing (Dacher, 2006).

The subtle mind exercise reflects on three levels of the psychospiritual flourishing, namely the witnessing mind, calm-abiding and unity consciousness (Dacher, 2006).It took more effort to keep my attention with this exercise versus love and kindness but I really don't know why.  I think it was the voice in that lesson that distracted me.  

2.      Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

The connection of spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness is vital for an individual if he or she is to experience human flourishing. It is important for one to maintain a spiritual connection to the your higher power, meditation, and prayer.    In doing this it does not only help the individual spiritual connection that gives the individual a deeper sense of his or her spiritual awareness but it also helps the mental and physical aspect of the individual’s life. Proper nutrition and exercise are vital for the body if one is to experience physical and mental wellness. However, without a spiritual connection, proper nutrition and exercise alone would not create the spiritual wholeness that is needed for an individual to sustain a spiritual connection. 
For me personally my spiritual wellness needs some work but my physical wellness is pretty much on point.  It helps me cope with the daily stressors of life.  I have noticed lately that I work extra hard in my fitness workouts and when I'm home relaxing I can tell I pushed really hard.  While I do believe I have a decent spiritual wellness I could definitely brush it up a little.  My mental wellness is all over the place as it is always hard for me to stay focused on one  task.  I am trying to train my mind to be stronger than it is.  I can do it when I am working out but that's it.  Everything else gets jumbled in my mind as I do not have the peace I need at the moment.  

Health, Happiness, & Wholeness/Human Flourishing

This week's blog was quite interesting. Since I am counting down the days till I am able to hear real ocean waves I found this to be quite the enjoyable experience. I did think this week's audio was quite long, but nonetheless enjoyable. By the time I got to part about taking on other's pain it sort of brought me out of my calm state. Meditation to me is letting the negative energy go. I don't want to burden my calm state with my own problems let alone someone elses. For me meditation is letting go of the negative and bring in the positive. I cannot take in someone's suffering and put out positive energy. I would choose to deal with helping someone in another way. Meditation requires a great deal of mind control which not many have (including myself). I work very hard to stay focused when I meditate but often my mind drifts to the many things I need to do. If I focus to hard I fall asleep. Falling asleep is definitely a new way for me to "let it go." :) Ash

MY WELL BEING

Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal weel being) where do you rate your A: physical well being B. spiritual well being C: psychological well being My physical well being I would rate a 9. I typically work out and/or teach group fitness classes six days a week for a minimum of one hour. I also incorporate yoga/tai chi/pilates twice a week into my fitness routine. My spiritual well being I would rate 7. I am a Christian believer, however, I do not attend church to get the word of God as often as I should. I wasn't raised in church but I was raised to believe in God so I do not fully understand the bible as I should. My psychological well being I would rate a 6. I am going through some tough perosnal times and it is extremely difficult to maintain my life as it is. Between my family, work, school, fitness, etc. I'm burning both ends of the rope with nothing much left to give. Exercising helps me release the aggression I'm feeling but I am in the process of restructuring my life. Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological). Physical: My goal is to incorporate running into my weekly workout routine Spiritual: To connect on a deeper level with God and read the entire bible from beginning to end. Psychological: By restructuring my life I have to start over. One day at a time. I am working to create a better life for my family. What activities or exercises can you implement in your life to assist in moving towards each goals? Definitely add yoga or meditation to my routine. That has helped tremendously. Taking more walks and listening to nature is also something I can implement. It helps me focus and have clarity on which directions I should take in life.