Unit 7 Blog Post

1. Complete the "Meeting Asclepius" exercise on track #4 on the Dacher CD. Describe your meditative practice(s) for the week and discuss the experience.

This week I focused on my inner being in my meditation, I am conflicted between my love of my family and my desire to do something meaningful that makes me happy. I want so badly to join the Navy, but you can’t be in the Navy and live in land-locked Iowa. My meditation has consisted of me working to find what my heart truly desires, like the woodcarver.

Explain how mindfulness or meditation has fostered an increase in your psychological or spiritual wellness. How can you continue to apply these practices in your life to foster greater health and wellness?

Meditation and mindfulness has helped to foster my spiritual and psychological well being and growth by allowing me to become more in touch with my thoughts, processes, judgments, and desires. I can continue to garner greater health in all aspects of my life by continuing these meditative and mindful practices, particularly the subtle mind practice, which was very difficult at the beginning for me, but has helped me greatly.

2. Describe the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself”

This saying, to me, means that I cannot get help to become a more balanced person spiritually, physically, and psychologically, from a person who has not gone through the journey before me. Just as: I can’t get directions through the mountains from someone who has never traveled the mountains themselves.

How does this apply to the health and wellness professional? Do you have an obligation to your clients to be developing your health psychologically, physically, and spiritually? Why or why not?
This applies to me as a health and wellness professional by showing me that, even if I have great training and knowledge is this sort of change and transformation, I cannot truly guide a client on this path without first completing it myself. We do have a responsibility, in these aspects, to our clients, making positive changes in the spiritual, psychological, and physical well being is the way to bring a greater sense of peace, happiness, and wholeness.

How can you implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life?

You can implement psychological and spiritual growth in your personal life through practices such as the subtle mind, loving-kindness, and Meeting Asclepius practices. Also, you can do so through personal exploration and generalized meditation.

Unit 6 Blog

I enjoyed both the loving-kindness and subtle-mind exercises, along with all of the exercises we have done in this class. I still am having difficulties finding the time, quiet, and patience to complete these exercises. This world is so busy and chaotic that it is hard to just stop, even for a minute or two. I discovered, about myself, that I want to love what I am doing but I don't, I just don't. So I have resolved to go ahead with my plan to join the Navy and do all I can with the time I have left. I have chosen to focus my growth and development into furthering my ability to make decision based equally on myself and my loved ones. Prior to this I had based my decisions almost solely on my loved ones; while I love them greatly I know that, in order to be happy (which is what they want for me as well), I need to follow my heart. I will continue to do both the loving-kindness and subtle mind exercises as they allow me to reach deep inside, sift through the clutter and find what I want, need, and am.

Unit 5 blog post

The loving-kindness exercise focused on feeling love and kindness and sending that to a person whom you feel for. Once you have done that you are to redirect those feeling of love and kindness toward yourself. I think that the loving-kindness exercise is very important because turning those good feelings to yourself is easier said than done. Once you are able to turn those feelings inward you can explore and entreat you inner mind to a better sense of well-being. This is the subtle mind exercise. Finding an inner balance and sense of calm and peacefulness is hard as well but it is a vital step on the path to human flourishing. It was not until I started this class that I realized how important my spiritual well-being is to my whole well-being. By looking inward I can improve my spiritual well-being and so I can further my expedition into the world of human flourishing. To do this I will continue the living-kindness exercise to help turn those good feeling inward and I will continue the subtle mind exercise to help me find myself and increase my whole well-being (that of mind, body, and spirit).

Unit 4 blog post

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

I found the Loving-Kindness exercise beneficial in that it made me realize just how much I care about the people around me and how little time I spend on myself. I found it difficult in that the exercise lasted as long as it did and I began to get restless during the pauses in instruction. I would recommend this exercise to others because it helps to draw attention inward without creating a self-centered state.

2. What is the concept of “Mental Workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a Mental Work Out? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

A mental work-out is an exercise that is done to push your mind in a direction it usually doesn't go, to stretch the limits of your mind to create a wholly healthier state of psychological well-being. Research indicates that a mental work-out reduces stress and can actually alter the physical aspects of the body as well. I can implement mental workouts to foster my psychological health by doing exercises each day; setting time aside to pursue psychological well-being each day through exercises like the Loving-Kindness exercise.