Meeting Aesclepius

I did the meditations this week and they helped very much with anexity of starting my new job and also stress with my little one not wanting to take his bottle anymore and me having to take him to daycare! I imagined my grandparents who passed a couple years ago in this mediation they were both very insightful people so full of knowledge, life and of course so much love!  I see them as my angels watching over me and my family =) "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself". I think this is very important to health and wellness professionals because I would not want a doctor telling me what is best and I should try this or that when he has no idea how it works from experience because they have not tried it their selves. I can implement more spiritual growth in my personal by mediating more out in nature, by taking a minute to sit in silence and enjoy my surrounds.

Unit 6 Exercise

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?

• I liked this Universal Loving Kindness mediation exercise this week, I liked it so much because it made you think about others and how to want to help others not just yourself. I liked the second assessment as well because like the Universal Loving Kindness mediation exercise it was easy to follow because I did not have to listen to anyone else I could say the phrases to myself at my own pace and take the amount of pauses I wanted to! The area of myself I choose that needed growth at this time is my body in the sense of health getting back into shape now that it has been 3 months since my sons birth and staying on track with my exercise and eating right. It is not only good for me but also my son that I nurse and I want to be a great example of health when he is older and will take into account for his own healthy ways.

The Subtle Mind practice

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

- If I had to choose on which exercise I liked more I would have to say it would be the Loving Kindness one only because the amount of paused silence used for breathing and thinking almost made me feel uneasy. I guess I need more practice with meditating because my low patience tolerance is frustrating. Those blocks of silence make mind wander to what all else I have to get done in my world outside of mediation. Hence why meditation would be actually good for me it would help with my patience and my stressful daily life but I need to find one I actually can do and enjoy.

     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 a little different from mental and physical wellness but they all work hand in hand to achieve the ultimate goal of full happiness of Mind, Body & Soul. My physical and spiritual wellness are great I workout, I do a lot of it in nature like hikes and yoga and such but my mental is a little off still. I can not seem to clear my mind through mediation, its like everything in my outside world clouds my clear mediation mind.  

Mental Workout

I found this mediation exercise "Love & Kindness" a little tricky compare to the last two because there were no visual cues (like the colors, beams of light etc. in the last one) to work from to create an image in my mind, it was hard for me to concentrate. I do like the concept of the Love and Kindness idea though that was very good, you have to love yourself before others but loving others can bring great happiness to you. Even though I was not a fan of it I would recommend it because it had a good message and someone else might like it even though I could not get into it. Mental workouts is something that help you mind and body become one to help you achieve a level of happiness in yourself.