Loving Kindness Practice/ wk 4

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

My experience has been a positive one as of now (I did start this practice Tuesday not Wednesday). I enjoy my 2/15 minute periods in my day that I get to focus on  me and quiet my mind. In the beginning it was a little difficult because I would fall asleep. I hurt my back recently so I have to practice lying down.  But I change my times of day to practice and have been successful. I would recommend this to a friend. I think it puts an overall peacefulness in my existence.

*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 workout - In this course a mental work out is defined as time spent concentrating on learning how our minds work/function. For example, with the loving-kindness practice we are working out our minds; conditioning them to fill with loving-kindness. Spending time in a practice like the loving-kindness practice and/or something very similar are ways we can foster psychological health. Anytime we spend time consciously exploring/developing/cultivating and/or encouraging our minds to function in specific healthy ways we are working towards our psychological growth and overall wellness.  

Janena 

level of wellness/unit 3

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

I would rate my A-physical wellbeing as a 8. I am a vegetarian and I work out regularly (about 5 times a week), so I feel my physical wellbeing in being tended to.  I would rate my B-spiritual well-being as a 9. I am very connected to my higher power and for that I am grateful. I would rate my C-psychological well-being as a 9 as well. I do what I need to maintain my psychological wellbeing. I am very mindful of it.

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

A goal for my physical would be to do more yoga. I love yoga and I could practice more. A goal for my spiritual would be to just to work to be even closer to my higher power. A goal for my psychological would be to meditate more. One can always meditate more! :)

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

As far as yoga and meditating, I do as much as I can now. I am a single mother of two and am taking 4 classes. I am lucky to be able to practice as much as I do.:) As for being closer to my higher power, I need to take a few more minutes a day and make contact with him. Completely doable.

4. Complete the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century. To hear this exercise, click here. Describe your experience. (What it beneficial? Frustrating? etc.)

I did like the exercise. I was not frustrated by it at all. I enjoyed the rainbow analogy and liked the white light encompassing us at the end.

Welcome!!

Hello All and Welcome to The Whole Self. I do know that the 'self' in the blog itself is spelt with two f's but the singular form was taken so we get two f's... :) I chose the name the whole self because it seemed to sum up this course. With that in mind I am excited for this course and hope that I can let go of my sceptic a little and enjoy as well as embrace this approach. I do believe in the main tenants, I just think sometimes things get jumbled up a little when we try to 'prove' them. :) Sometimes we need to just believe.

I have never blogged before and to be honest I am not that excited to do it now. So far I have subscribed to blogs that aren't from our class (and can't figure out how to delete them, so if anyone has any ideas :)), and have no clue how to find the journey on relaxation exercise. So over all this whole aspect is becoming an epic fail...but I will remain optimistic...lol

If anyone has any helpful info it would be greatly appreciated! I'm sure this will all come together eventually...:)

Have a great day/weekend!

Janena