Week 4 Relaxation

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

2) What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research
indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you
implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?


Answers:

Honestly, there are those who benefit from guided meditation and there
are those who do not. I happen to be in the latter group. Her voice was
calm and soothing enough. I just find it very distracting to have someone
tell me what to do during meditation. I loved the ocean waves sound and
the flute sound in the background of the "loving kindness" and "Subtle Mind"
exercises, though. I love to meditate to Zen meditations with sounds of nature.
It was very relaxing, I just couldn't get my mind to totally do what was being
asked of me because I found the talking distracting.

Mental workout refers to training the brain. There are many games that have
been created to train the brain to improve memory and logical skills as well
as other skills. According to the "Canadian Mental Health Association", it is
just as important for us to maintain good mental health as it is to maintain
good physical health. When we are mentally healthy, we can be more creative,
enjoy our life and environment more, learn, try new things, and take risks.
Also, we are better able to cope with different stressors such as the death of
a loved one, the loss of a job, etc. When we are in good mental health, we
can move on with our lives more quickly after these types of stresses in our
lives. The best way that I know to foster good psychological health is meditation
and other "Eastern" practices. I find it also helpful to try and stay away from
people or situations that you know BEFORE HAND are going to be stressful.
I do my best to only communicate with people who have a like mindset to myself.
As I like to say, I only deal with people who are "on my level". That's not to
say that I am better or worse than anyone else. Different people have different
types of mindsets, however, and are of different personality types. I find that
it is easier just to stay away from people who stress or upset you than it is
to try and force yourself to get along with them.  Having said that, I DO respect
other people's choices in their lives. I don't JUDGE; I just don't associate with
people who don't have a lot in common with me. That may sound harsh, but it takes
a LOT of stress off of me and the other person/people too. :)


Source:

http://www.cmha.ca/mental_health/benefits-of-good-mental-health/#.UQQ9rvJIrtk

Week 3 post

Question 1)

Based on my reflections, I rate my physical well-being at about an 8.
I do have a tumor in my right leg. Other than that, I am "healthy as
a horse", as they say. I have stopped eating meat and get a normal
amount of exercise. I eat a lot of vegetables and fruit. I almost
never get sick. If I do, it is a mild cold. If I get a cold these days
it only lasts maybe a week at the most. When I was younger and got
a common cold, it would last 2 to 3 MONTHS. My son just had a stomach
virus last week. I took care of him and never got it. If that had been
the "old" me, I would have had it the very next day. I rate my spiritual
well-being at a 10. I am very in tune with myself and the universe, generally
speaking. I would rate my psychological well-being at about an 8. I say
an 8 because there are times when I do succumb to stress. I don't let it
get to me as often or as much as it used to, though.

Question 2)

My goal in the area of physical well-being would be to get more exercise.

My goal in the area of spiritual well-being would be to meditate more.

My goal in the area of psychological well-being would be to find ways to
stress less.

Question 3)

I would like to start back walking as much as I used to. I would also like
to learn some yoga poses. The exercises that help me the most, it seems, are
those that pertain to just calming the mind and focusing (mental).

Question 4)

"The Crime of the Century" seemed like a strange title. It did not seem to
correlate with what I heard. It was very relaxing and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hi All!

Hi all! I meant to comment on the Journey On exercise. I found it very relaxing. I do my best to meditate at least twice a day. Sometimes, though, (usually when I need to the MOST) I don't have time to do that. I had not meditated in a few days when I listened to this and I loved it. Honestly, I would rather have a normal (un-guided) meditation rather than a guided one (where someone speaks throughout the meditation). I feel that I can focus more if I just hear the music and not someone talking. Anyway, I look forward to sharing more in the future with you guys. I hope you have all had a good weekend. :)

I read an article in National Geographic today that said that only 1 of every 10 genes in the human body are of HUMAN origin. How about that! I would also like to share an excerpt from one of my books. The author is a man named Naazir Ra and you can check him out at naazir.com.  In his book "The Hidden Self" he talks about the power of the mind and how it works with our DNA to help us reach our full metaphysical and spiritual potential. In one section he states that when we are in our true state of consciousness, we can access and awaken parts of our DNA that allow us to be immortal, have lucid dreaming, trans-dimensional time travel, shape-shifting, telepathy, and even control the elements (earth, wind, fire and water).