Loving Kindness & Integral Assessment Results

1. Practice the universal Loving Kindness (meditation) exercise on p. 93.
2. Complete the Integral Assessment discussed in chapter 11 (p.115).
3. Describe the exercise and assessment process. What did you discover about yourself? What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and development? Why? What are some specific exercises or activities that you can implement to foster greater wellness in this area?

There are many parts to the Loving Kindness exercise that I enjoyed and other parts that I struggles to remain focused on my breathing. There were a lot of different instructions and the most difficult part was breathing according to the guide's pace and learning to now allow the mind to wander off. I really did feel like it opened my heart to loving myself more and being a lot kinder to myself. Sometimes, I can tend to beat myself up if I don't feel like I did a good enough job at something. This exercise helped me to realize that we are not perfect, we are all human beings and mistakes happen. I did not find it difficult to send out love to my enemies because I never really felt good about having enemies or animosities built up inside of me over past issues or mistakes. I have chosen to forgive all of my enemies and release any hold that they have over my heart in mind. It is much easier to love someone then to hold a steady grudge for years to come. 

I really enjoyed completing the integral assessment because I felt that it helped me to recognize the area of "quadrants" in my life that I need improvement on. I am always a work in progress so any help that I can get towards these goals are always good for me to know and understand. I know that one of my areas is fitness. I have promised myself that I would workout at least 3x a week, but between working full time and school part time as well as keeping up with doctor appointments, household chores and balancing family time, I am exhausted by the end of the day. I plan to improve this area by getting my butt moving first thing in the morning, before I brush my teeth! I will try to do at least 15 minutes of exercise. The next works in progress would be my nutrition and family. I know what I eat is important because it not only affects one life, but two. I try to follow the myplate.gov instructions as closely as possible, but I do indulge in sweet treats and processed foods from time to time (more than I would like to admit). Balancing my family life with social, school and work is always a task, but I manage to have a date night with the hubby at least once a week and we might squeeze a movie in if we are lucky. I plan to get this aspect of my life more balanced once I am off work to take care of the little one. 

Subtle Mind Vs. Loving Kindness Exercise

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

               I really enjoyed both of these exercises. The Loving Kindness exercise helped me to achieve love for others and not be so vain and caught up in my own self-thoughts. The Subtle mind exercise helped me to understand that I can pull away from distracting thoughts. I liked the idea that the breathing was my anchor and each time I had a thought that was distracting, I was to go back to my anchor and focus on my breathing, that really helped. I was only frustrated with the ten breaths part, it seemed like the guide too forever to come back on! I am sure I took like 20 breaths in that time period of waiting, but when frustration arose, I just went back to focusing on my breathing like she told me, it was like playing ping-pong ball with my mind!

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

Spiritual wellness is very important because to me it helps stabilize your mental and physical wellness. I am still working on my spiritual path, but I am surrounded by a host of friends and family that always pray for each other in times of need and really believe that prayer works. So I feed off of their energy and focus on holistic healing for the mind and body. It is a personal journey that I love to share with others and I cannot wait to achieve my optimal level of well-being so I can share the same with others. 

Loving-Kindness

 

Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

I really enjoyed the Loving-Kindness exercise and plan to do it every night. When I completed the exercise, I had my feet raised and my head back with my eyes closed and my hands laid across my tummy. As I listened to the exercise, I could begin to feel every quirk and movement inside of myself, including my little turnip-sized baby thumping about! I was so in awe, I told myself that if I ever wanted to check on my little one, I could just relax back and listen to some soft music and really become in-tuned with my body. I felt like I was in a trance as I was thinking of my loved one and letting all my random thoughts flutter away. 

I found the exercise to be very beneficial because it allowed me to take time out of my busy day to sit back and relax and for a second. I thought no way can this be apart of my college homework! Most universities puts you under more stress, not ease your stress! I would definitely recommend this exercise to others, if they are open-minded and are in need of some loving-kindness within themselves. Sometimes people who are hateful, mean or judgmental to others are just crying out for help, maybe all they need is a little TLC for themselves.  

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?

The concept of "mental workout" is that we need to exercise our minds, just as we need to exercise our bodies to experience optimal health. Our brain is a muscle and can grow like any other muscles in our body. Studies show, working out our minds by playing "brain games" like luminosity for example can increase our intelligence, vocabulary and expand our knowledge on a variety of topics. The neurons in our mind are chargeable and need to be active and alert so that our minds stays sharp, focused and we can increase our memory as well to achieve new heights.  I have always wanted to better understand math and science and learn a new language, but ask me have I set aside time to practice daily for at least 30 minutes in those subject areas? NO! I haven't, the only way to learn new topics is to study and implement them into our daily lives, so the next time I fail a quiz on a foreign language, math or science I have no one to blame but myself. You can implement mental workouts such as downloading free brain game apps or puzzles onto your device and practice them daily. You can also meditate or listen to exercises like "loving-kindness" to foster love and well-being into your heart and your mind.