Unit 4: Loving-Kindness

I can see how this exercise could be beneficial, but I had a rather difficult time with it.  I attempted the exercise twice, with the recording and with the directions on the book.  And though I was able to maintain focus the first time, I was interrupted by my baby. The next attempt, I completed the exercise, but found that I couldn’t maintain my focus. My thoughts were constantly wandering and I just couldn’t seem to grasp the loving-kindness feelings, especially towards strangers and enemies.  As Christians, we are called to love all, including our enemies. I am going to be honest and admit that I have a hard time with that. I don’t necessarily harbor hatred for others, but when I think about murderers, rapists, molesters, I can’t bring myself to feel love for them. During the exercise, for some reason, I thought about the father who savagely took the lives of his two young sons, and then took his own, here in Washington. I thought of this family specifically, because the crime happened relatively close to where I live.  I couldn’t feel love, peace, or anything positive at that moment and instead felt an overwhelming sadness for the loss of the precious lives of these boys.  I immediately tried to focus my thoughts on others, but I couldn’t wait for the completion of the exercise.  Although, my experience wasn’t great, I realize that it is going to require perseverance and hard work in order to train the mind, just as it would a fit body. I am not going to let this experience discourage any future attempts. My issue is finding time, twice a day, to do this. Perhaps I will be able to do so when my husband returns from training, but at the moment, I am having difficulty setting aside time for school! I would recommend this exercise to others because I believe that each will experience this differently and if there is a chance for benefit then it is well worth the try.

In the context of psychospiritual flourishing, a mental workout entails incorporating practices into one’s daily life in an effort to attain this full inner flourishing.  The purpose of the loving-kindness exercise is to diminish self-centeredness, thus setting oneself up for further development.  The subtle mind exercise aims at cultivating wisdom and addresses witnessing, calm-abiding, and unity consciousness (Dacher, 2006, p.65).  Research studies indicate that a trained mind can influence our physiology, hormonal system, and immune system.  It can also positively affect attention, memory and other mental functions (Dacher, 2006, p. 63).  Aside from  these two exercises, I can incorporate other meditative practices that promote an overall sense of contentment. I will always look toward prayer for self-development.

Dacher, E. (2006).  Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

    

Unit 3: Wellness and Crime of the century

This is hard for me to admit, but my physical well-being is between 4-5.  After giving birth, I waited three months before resuming physical activity…so one can imagine how out of shape I was! It’s been over a month since I started and I am starting to feel better, physically.  I’ve probably only lost about 2 lbs., so far, but I am ok with losing it slowly, but surely.  I am aiming to lose about 10 lbs., and to attain this goal, I plan on increasing my workout days to 4-5/week when my husband returns in a month.  Additionally, I will incorporate more strength training into my routine.

I can always use an improvement in my spiritual well-being.  Right now, it is about 6.  It fluctuates often, not because I am scrupulous, but because there are times when I neglect my spirituality.  Since I am Catholic and we are in Lenten season, I especially feel that there is more that I could do, aside from sacrificing favorite foods, during this holy time.  I wish I had time to visit the Blessed Sacrament, but with my children, I just can’t.  The only people I trust to watch my children seem to always be so busy, that I have to schedule things way in advance – I don’t function that way.  I am truly at a lost as to how I might improve upon this aspect.

It seems that my psychological well-being suffers the least at this time.  I would say it is between 7-8.  I am giving myself a ton of credit for being able to enhance my calm during stressful moments (which seems like many).  I’ve notice a significant difference in my patience, compared to about 6 months ago – this is a big deal to me because I’d been praying for this the past several years.  Nevertheless, there is much room for improvement.  Since I’ve been fairly consistent with maintaining a positive outlook and not giving in to anxiety as much, I feel an overall sense of contentment with my psychological well-being. 

As for this week's exercise, I've done it before, and it is definitely one I can do repeatedly. I enjoyed the affirmations used in connection with a color of the rainbow and a body part.  I found myself yawning, which actually helped me breathe better. Whenever I was distracted by wandering thoughts or noise from my children, I regained focus by concentrating on my breathing. I started to feel a little emotional, but in a positive way.  This exercise would have been more effective, if I had done it while my children were asleep, but because I wanted to complete my blog fairly early tonight, I didn’t really have a choice. By the way, whi is the exercise called Crime of the Century???

My Tres Marias

Halina, Mariana, and Amilia

Unit 2: Journey On Relaxation Exercise

I finally found myself in an environment conducive for this exercise - children are all asleep, the house is quiet, and I am still awake, surprisingly, and it is past midnight! I've been looking forward to completing this exercise, as I had attempted twice already, but had to stop for mama duties. Anyway, I was surprised with how well my body responded to this exercise. Despite the house being uncomfortably cold, as the heater was off, I was able to feel the warmth and heaviness in my arms, while the rest of my body was practically freezing. At the close of the exercise, I reverted my focus to channeling the blood flow towards my legs and feet, and I started to feel a sense of warmth in my toes. I was so amazed and excited by this that, instead of lingering on the carpet to deepen my relaxation, I got up so that I can blog about my experience. I am very fond of guided relaxation exercises, as I am not not disciplined (or patient) to meditate on my own, and look forward to doing more.