All exercises have been beneficial in their own right. The two that I
feel have been most beneficial to me are the loving-kindness exercise,
and the subtle mind exercise. I have already been implementing these
practices in my life for the past year or so. I didn't know them by
these specific exercises or names, but have been using the steps that
are in these exercises. For instance, I have been meditating and
practicing sending love and healing energies to others who need it
and opening myself up to receive those energies in return. What we
put out, we also get back, so when we send something out, we must
be ready to receive it back. This is the good AND the bad, so be
mindful about what you send out to the Universe. Don't send anything
out that you don't want to receive. Also, I use visualization. My
favorite visualization is anything to do with water, ie, waterfalls,
oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, etc. Water has SUCH a calming effect
on me. As a matter of fact, when I feel nauseous, I often go in the
bathroom and sit down and turn the sink on and just listen to the water
running. Sometimes, if I'm REALLY nauseous, I lay in the bathroom floor
and listen to the water. After a few minutes, I usually feel better.
I also dink MetroMint Water. It's AWESOME! If you've never tried it,
you should see if your grocer carries it. Not all grocery stores have
it but it's wonderful for upset stomachs and it's natural. (NO MEDICATION!)
It's just purified water and mint extract. :) Ginger is also good
for soothing the tummy, but it is VERY strong and can BURN if you
use too much.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Unit 7 Exercise
I was very relaxed during the Aesculapius mp3. Although I have had some
difficulties with previous exercises in this class, due to the fact that
the meditations are guided, I feel that I have had the most success with
THIS exercise. I could actually see the Dalai Lama and the white light
penetrating his head, throat, and heart. I could FEEL his presence. It
was an indescribable feeling! I felt love, peace, and joy from him. I
plan to revisit this exercise many times in the future. However, when
it got to the part of taking him into myself and "becoming" him, I decided
not to go along with that part of the exercise. The reason being that
we ALL are unique in our own way. I am ALREADY a great and wise healer
and don't need to turn myself into someone else to be so. Therefore, I
chose to hold onto my own uniqueness.
The saying "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" is
self-explanatory. Obviously, you can not take somewhere where you haven't
been because you don't know how to get there. The book uses the example of
having a map of Hawaii doesn't mean that you know the territory. The map will
point out where certain destinations are, but if you are at all familiar with
map reading, you will know that not ALL destinations are on the map. There are
a lot of things that you can only find be being there and experiencing it
first-hand. For instance, everyone reveres Duke University and it's medical
center as top notch and this is reflected by their stats and surveys. However,
I have had two surgeries there, and one of them was to cut away necrotic tissue
due to a staph infection that I got while in the care of DUMC. It turns out that
someone did not sterilize the instruments properly before using them and, as a
result, several people (including me) got staph infections. You can only TEACH someone
or "lead" them to something if you have had the experience of it yourself,or at least
first hand knowledge of it.
How does this apply to the health and
wellness profession? Well, I think it applies to everyone, in every situation.
That includes all aspects of your life.
I feel like you have an obligation to
YOURSELF to be developing your health psychologically, spiritually, and physically.
It IS possible to teach someone and help them through something without actually
having experienced it, IF you are well versed (have witnessed it) in what to do.
Therefore, I would say, NO. You DON'T have to have it all together and be working
on yourself in order to be able to help others with something. It definitely HELPS
to have the experience and know what it is to have gone through what you are helping
others through, but it is not necessary to have gone through it to be able to help
them. As I said before, if you have witnessed a situation and saw what was done about
it and witnessed the outcome of those decisions, then you know what should and should
not be done in that situation in the future. For instance, if you know that, in a certain
part of your town, there are gang members and they wear certain colors and you know what
those colors are and you find yourself HAVING to go into that part of town for some reason,
you will probably be conscious of what colors you wear, not wanting to set off one or the
other gangs. That is a rough example, I know, but you get the jist of it. Anyone with half
a brain or any sense at all will know that, if it is common knowledge that a certain herb
cures 8 different types of cancer and your cancer is not on the list but you have no other
alternatives, it may be a good idea to give it a shot anyway. I mean, what do you have to
lose? Let's look at the choices.....take this herb that MIGHT save you, is safe and effective
on similar illnesses, and has no side effects; OR do nothing and die. I think I will take
the herb EVERY TIME.
I implement psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life by being CONSCIOUS of my
emotions, mood, and attitude. I am CONSCIOUS of how I respond to others and how they react
to my response. You must be conscious and aware of what you are doing to/for/with people and
how they are being affected, as well as how your decisions are affecting yourself, and how
THEIR decision affect YOU. Also, the same applies with nature. If I am going for a walk and
see trash on the ground (that is not too unsanitary to pick up with my hands and there is
a trash can nearby) I pick it up. I teach my kids that every day is Earth day and that
we MUST keep the Earth clean. We mustn't waste water and I try to get them to get out and play
and walk whenever possible to get our natural source of Vitamin D and fresh air. As I have
said before, this is the only Earth we have....she sustains US, not the other way around.
The LEAST we can do is to maintain and care for her in return.
difficulties with previous exercises in this class, due to the fact that
the meditations are guided, I feel that I have had the most success with
THIS exercise. I could actually see the Dalai Lama and the white light
penetrating his head, throat, and heart. I could FEEL his presence. It
was an indescribable feeling! I felt love, peace, and joy from him. I
plan to revisit this exercise many times in the future. However, when
it got to the part of taking him into myself and "becoming" him, I decided
not to go along with that part of the exercise. The reason being that
we ALL are unique in our own way. I am ALREADY a great and wise healer
and don't need to turn myself into someone else to be so. Therefore, I
chose to hold onto my own uniqueness.
The saying "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" is
self-explanatory. Obviously, you can not take somewhere where you haven't
been because you don't know how to get there. The book uses the example of
having a map of Hawaii doesn't mean that you know the territory. The map will
point out where certain destinations are, but if you are at all familiar with
map reading, you will know that not ALL destinations are on the map. There are
a lot of things that you can only find be being there and experiencing it
first-hand. For instance, everyone reveres Duke University and it's medical
center as top notch and this is reflected by their stats and surveys. However,
I have had two surgeries there, and one of them was to cut away necrotic tissue
due to a staph infection that I got while in the care of DUMC. It turns out that
someone did not sterilize the instruments properly before using them and, as a
result, several people (including me) got staph infections. You can only TEACH someone
or "lead" them to something if you have had the experience of it yourself,or at least
first hand knowledge of it.
How does this apply to the health and
wellness profession? Well, I think it applies to everyone, in every situation.
That includes all aspects of your life.
I feel like you have an obligation to
YOURSELF to be developing your health psychologically, spiritually, and physically.
It IS possible to teach someone and help them through something without actually
having experienced it, IF you are well versed (have witnessed it) in what to do.
Therefore, I would say, NO. You DON'T have to have it all together and be working
on yourself in order to be able to help others with something. It definitely HELPS
to have the experience and know what it is to have gone through what you are helping
others through, but it is not necessary to have gone through it to be able to help
them. As I said before, if you have witnessed a situation and saw what was done about
it and witnessed the outcome of those decisions, then you know what should and should
not be done in that situation in the future. For instance, if you know that, in a certain
part of your town, there are gang members and they wear certain colors and you know what
those colors are and you find yourself HAVING to go into that part of town for some reason,
you will probably be conscious of what colors you wear, not wanting to set off one or the
other gangs. That is a rough example, I know, but you get the jist of it. Anyone with half
a brain or any sense at all will know that, if it is common knowledge that a certain herb
cures 8 different types of cancer and your cancer is not on the list but you have no other
alternatives, it may be a good idea to give it a shot anyway. I mean, what do you have to
lose? Let's look at the choices.....take this herb that MIGHT save you, is safe and effective
on similar illnesses, and has no side effects; OR do nothing and die. I think I will take
the herb EVERY TIME.
I implement psychological and spiritual growth in my personal life by being CONSCIOUS of my
emotions, mood, and attitude. I am CONSCIOUS of how I respond to others and how they react
to my response. You must be conscious and aware of what you are doing to/for/with people and
how they are being affected, as well as how your decisions are affecting yourself, and how
THEIR decision affect YOU. Also, the same applies with nature. If I am going for a walk and
see trash on the ground (that is not too unsanitary to pick up with my hands and there is
a trash can nearby) I pick it up. I teach my kids that every day is Earth day and that
we MUST keep the Earth clean. We mustn't waste water and I try to get them to get out and play
and walk whenever possible to get our natural source of Vitamin D and fresh air. As I have
said before, this is the only Earth we have....she sustains US, not the other way around.
The LEAST we can do is to maintain and care for her in return.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Unit 6 Assessment
I did the loving-kindness exercise as I have done it in the past. I envisioned my loved ones
who needed something, whether it was health related or spiritual or whatever. I sent out
love and healing energies to them. That was the easiest part of this exercise.
With the assessment, I chose to go with my spiritual growth, when choosing which area needed
the most work. Of course, I need to also enhance the biological aspect too, (I have a benign
tumor in my right leg), but I feel that when I am in alignment spiritually and mentally, this
will come to me. I am expanding my enlightenment and awareness every day by connecting with
people and places that are very spiritual. I also seek out educational spiritual videos and
books. It will take time to get where I need and want to be, but I am putting the time in and
am seeing results, little by little, almost every single day. :) As for exercises that I can
do, I already meditate but need to do more of this. I can also do other brain exercises to
help me. One such exercise that I do is the reverse psychology trick. I trick myself into
believing that I am feeling opposite of how I really do. You wouldn't think this would be
easy to achieve, but it is. :)
who needed something, whether it was health related or spiritual or whatever. I sent out
love and healing energies to them. That was the easiest part of this exercise.
With the assessment, I chose to go with my spiritual growth, when choosing which area needed
the most work. Of course, I need to also enhance the biological aspect too, (I have a benign
tumor in my right leg), but I feel that when I am in alignment spiritually and mentally, this
will come to me. I am expanding my enlightenment and awareness every day by connecting with
people and places that are very spiritual. I also seek out educational spiritual videos and
books. It will take time to get where I need and want to be, but I am putting the time in and
am seeing results, little by little, almost every single day. :) As for exercises that I can
do, I already meditate but need to do more of this. I can also do other brain exercises to
help me. One such exercise that I do is the reverse psychology trick. I trick myself into
believing that I am feeling opposite of how I really do. You wouldn't think this would be
easy to achieve, but it is. :)
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Unit 5 blog
1) Both the "loving-kindness" and the "subtle mind" exercises use the breath
as the focal point. They both, also, place importance on acknowledging
distractions and returning the focus to the breath. They both stress the
importance of maintaining firm concentration on the focal point. One difference
is that the "subtle mind" exercise is more forceful pertaining to keeping
the mind focused. The "subtle mind" exercise concentrates more on taming
the mind and it's distractions. The "loving-kindness" exercise focuses more
on emotion and attaining inner peace and love and putting that energy out
towards others. I enjoyed both of these exercises. I enjoyed the "loving-kindness"
exercise more, though. It was tough to do the exercise when it got to the
point of sending out love to my enemies. It was also difficult to take in
my loved one's suffering and let it "dissolve in my heart". However, I did
feel more at peace and full of love after the exercise. With the "subtle mind"
exercise, I felt it was a lot more difficult than the "loving-kindness" exercise
because it was dealing more with training the mind. It was dealing with the
distractions (mental chatter) that is so difficult to control. I did get frustrated
at times because I can't get to the point that I think I should be by the end
of the exercise. Practice makes perfect, however, and I know that I WILL get there.
2) When a person is spiritually well, it will manifest physically by causing the
body to work more efficiently and properly. For example, the person who is spiritually
well will have a normal BP, heart rate, less (if ANY) dis-ease in their body or illness,
more energy, and over all physical health. The person who is spiritually well will also
experience great mental health such as mental clarity, a good memory, good focus
and a higher intelligence. In my personal life, it has helped me in most of the areas
that I have mentioned. I do have a physical condition that I am working on. Also, I would
LOVE to have a sharper memory. lol I'm working on it, though. :)
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