A Bloggers Delight...

I found "Meeting Asciepus" and the subtle mind exercises to be the most beneficial. Both require focus but in the end have completely different outcomes for me. With "Meeting Asciepus" I felt happy, energized and even strong. This is perfect for me to use every morning with my yoga before I start my busy day. It really amps me up and gets me excited to take over the world. I found the subtle mind exercise to clear my mind by quieting my thoughts. I felt extremely relaxed and I slept soundly that night. I was not as strung out or as grumpy as I usually am in the evenings because of my long tiring day. I see myself using this exercise at the end of my day to ease me out of my hectic life and help me thoroughly enjoy my down time with my family. 

Meeting the Healing...

Id like to say that "Meeting Asciepius" was effective but I found it silly. I can appreciate the healing process and the respect that comes with obtaining anothers attributes, but I found my focus off. I focused on the light beaming from within and then slowly found myself thinking I was a Greek god in a silly get up making out with Sam Worthington (Clash of the Titans, 2010) and being chased by a Kracken. From their it was all giggles and day dreaming (me and my over active imagination, I swear!) 

However, more than meditation, mindfulness has fostered a healthier bond with my spiritual wellness. As I use art for my outlet, I've noticed that my paintings and photography are starting to lean more towards nature and depicting a needed balance between her and society. I will continue to try meditation but I think it will be more effective for me to add these techniques to how I apply my art. Then I can gain peace from both aspects that functionally works for me.

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” makes me think of the blind leading the blind, as that is exactly how it would be if an inexperienced  healthcare professional stressed the importance of a healthy lifestyle, but in fact did not practice it. There is an obligation to yourself and those you care for to develop all aspects of health and wellness. This obligation builds trust, security, allows the professional to ease fears or concerns, allows an open mind, helps the professional stay current on modern methods or techniques, and understand side effects or outcomes. In my mind there is no reason for a professional to hesitate going down the path of Integral Health. 

Assess This...

Universal Loving Kindness just sounds like a far stretch and I still cant find my groove in this exercise. However, I do notice that during the day I am more open to others and their feelings. I've started being more conscience of others, listening more intently and processing their situation understand it better. Not a fan, but it is an effort.


During the assessment I came to the realization that I hold others to a high standard. That is why I have a hard time feeling sorry for someone when they complain. Even if it is serious! This isn't because I am cold (even though it reflects as so) but it is because I believe you are capable of anything you set your mind too and I hate to see you wasting your energy crying about it. For growth I may need to be more soft spoken and as much as I struggle with the Loving Kindness exercises I believe they are helping me open my heart to others feelings and situations. I am used to being the rock and adviser in my group of friends, I think it might be useful for me to make myself more vulnerable to them and learn how to be more accommodating and sympathetic.

Subtly Out of My Mind

These 2 exercises were like day and night to me. Both have the goal of bringing your conscientiousness to a higher level, but the loving kindness seemed to make you more aware of your emotions while the subtle mind practiced breathing techniques. I found the Subtle Mind exercise much more to my liking. Its drive was to let go and release any and all unwanted energy, an emotional freedom if you will. This exercise was very good at clearing the mind from emotional distractions and mental chatter. I found it to be very relaxing. The Loving Kindness exercise was very awkward for me. I felt it was forced and I found my emotions tend to get lost or fall out of place. I was easily distracted and didn't feel good by the end of it. Honestly, I felt guilty and a lot like I was a bad person. I know that was not the intent of the exercise, but unfortunately the outcome was very disappointing.
The connection between spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness is important, and you can not function as a balanced individual without it. I believe that mental wellness strengthens your physical wellness with motivation, optimism, and drive. Spiritual wellness is the direction and the focus. Only within the 3 will you find balance and an escape from toxic and negative environments.

Unit 2 Blog Post, Better Late Then Never?!

Welcome to I Hate Peas! You may wonder but yes, it is true. I hate peas. The look, the taste,  the smell, the color and everything else. When I was young I had no fear (actually I am still the same way today) every time I ate it off a horse, roller blades, skate board, jungle gym (you name it I fell off of it) she would put a bag of frozen lumpy peas on it. Now all I can do is associate peas with pain and sadness. This is important because it reveals, in a round about way, how powerful our minds are and how links are formed within ourselves.
On that note, I really enjoyed the breathing exercise. It was calming and I found the days stress's greatly reduced. I was more focused after and noticed that I even slept better that night. I am now teaching my daughter to use these breathing exercises to deal with pain and overwhelming feelings.

That is a nice mind :) Have you been working out?!

The Loving Kindness exercise officially kicked my butt. This was not easy for me, I lost focus and found myself frustrated then uncomfortable with the whole thing. I find it really hard to be sympathetic or empathetic of others. I tend to feel desensitize myself to the suffering of strangers because I feel like they are just feeling sorry for themselves. To me that is a waste of valuable energy you could be using to "save" or "better" yourself. The list goes on. If this exercise is right, I think I owe some people an apology for my insensitive thinking and feelings. I would not recommend this exercise to others as I struggled with it, and wouldn't want to see others suffer that way either.
The idea of Mental Work-Outs is like conditioning for the mind. Research shows that condition your mind improves outlook, eases stress, and prepares you for life's different challenges. I find that the Nintendo DS games specific for mental challenges is a good place to start (fun too) or you can also use Yoga or Pilates to strengthen your body, mind and soul. These help me focus better then breathing or meditation exercises as they keep my hands busy.

Mind and Body Dis-Connection

1. Based on my reflections, I rate my physical well being at a 7. I am in very good shape, the best I have ever been in but there is always room for improvement. I run 3-4 times a week and am physically active daily with the horses. My  spiritual well-being at a 5. I am lost, when it comes to what I believe. I have had religion forced on me through out my childhood and no I completely reject it. More than a religious being I am a spiritual being. I believe in life and that it is all created equal, nothing is better nor worse, every aspect of life is needed and should be respected. After that, it is all kind of a grey area, Surprisingly,  I rate my psychological well-being at an 8. I am the one all my friends turn to and seem to be the rock of the group. I try to act and not react in life, I am the sensible one that laughs at everything (including myself) and I couldn't hold a grudge against another if I wanted too. I am emotionally stable and understand that no injustice in this world is suffered alone, nor do I take things personally when other lash out.  
2. Goal for myself in each area include physically to stop taking diet pills (I know, I know) everyone is shocked when I tell them that I do but its not to stay keep skinny, I take them because I need the energy to keep up with my life. Coffee just isn't enough anymore! I am young and work hard now so that I can play even harder later.  Spiritually, I would like to find faith and comfort in myself and in some form of an outlet. I need to research cultures and their religions so that I can give my daughter morals and values a direction.  Psychologically my goal is take a mental vacation for at least 20 mins a day. Just to give my mind a rest, maybe this will also help me ditch the diet pills once and for all too. Blogging is actually helping me with this, so I plan to continue even after the term is over.
3. The Crime of the Century exercise seemed tedious to me. In order to relax (your are going to laugh) I need to be doing something with my hands. I find art a great outlet and I spray paint or paint with acrylics to unwind. I also like to just brush my horses and talk to them in a soothing voice as it soothes me. I should start using a mantra to help me focus and balance myself. The problem with this exercise is that I cant just sit there and listen to audio, I tend to tune it out. I found it frustrating and hard to focus as I lost interest a few times.