Hello everyone! Glad to have you back for another week. I hope things for you are happy and healthy.
This week I did the universal Loving-kindness meditation and have to say, I felt really good doing it. My first thought was, "this is a little goofy," but after a few minutes of repeating the words out loud and then quietly I began to feel lighter. I felt as if nothing could bother me well after the meditation was completed.
Not long after the meditation I had to have a conversation with a woman at work who had done me wrong yesterday. I thought of her as I was meditating and sent her peace. When I spoke with her, I felt a sense of calm and understanding. She really messed up so initially I wanted to scream at her and make her feel as badly as I did....but I didn't. I had made the conscious decision to send peace and love her way and mine. I was really happy with that decision.
The assessment process was very revealing for me. I have been working so hard on reframing and training the mind that I have left out my body. I am nourishing the mind and spirit but have not done any work to body. I am having pain in my hip and I find that that arises periodically when I am not paying attention to my physical self. I typically receive weekly massage and exercise regularly...well, it's been some time since I have received bodywork and I have been exercising sporadically.
My plan for the next couple of weeks? I plan to return to massage and bodywork as that is very powerful for me. I will return to the daily exercise I was engaging in before. I am going to get as much rollerblading in as I can before the snow flies, and I am starting a community walking group. It will be great to keep myself and others motivated through this chilly fall season so that old habits of nestling in for the winter don't creep up!
Love & Light
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Unit 5 The Subtle Mind
Greetings everyone!
This week was the experience of the elusive subtle mind. Last week I practiced the loving-kindness exercise that brought me back to loving myself and others. It lifted a heavy load off my shoulders and I literally feel lighter!
The subtle mind practice is somewhat different. It is used to begin to train the mind into a witnessing and calm-abiding mind. The focus was on the breath and becoming still with the breath to become still with the mind.
This week I was admittedly distracted by my "to-do list." Each time I practiced I was unable to completely stop the mental chatter. This week has been especially heavy with classes as it is midterm time and each time I sat to work on this, I thought, "this is 20 minutes that I could be studying." I know, I know, getting around this is the main objective, but always a work in progress!
When I am consciously nourishing my spiritual health, I find myself being more motivated to exercise and I feel a mental clarity. My focus becomes sharper and my ambition and intention grow stronger. I feel at peace with the world and everything that surrounds it. I do however believe that you can lose this feeling when you decide to put nourishing the spirit for a rainy day....Striving towards optimal health needs to be worked on daily....well, at least for me!
Love & Light
This week was the experience of the elusive subtle mind. Last week I practiced the loving-kindness exercise that brought me back to loving myself and others. It lifted a heavy load off my shoulders and I literally feel lighter!
The subtle mind practice is somewhat different. It is used to begin to train the mind into a witnessing and calm-abiding mind. The focus was on the breath and becoming still with the breath to become still with the mind.
This week I was admittedly distracted by my "to-do list." Each time I practiced I was unable to completely stop the mental chatter. This week has been especially heavy with classes as it is midterm time and each time I sat to work on this, I thought, "this is 20 minutes that I could be studying." I know, I know, getting around this is the main objective, but always a work in progress!
When I am consciously nourishing my spiritual health, I find myself being more motivated to exercise and I feel a mental clarity. My focus becomes sharper and my ambition and intention grow stronger. I feel at peace with the world and everything that surrounds it. I do however believe that you can lose this feeling when you decide to put nourishing the spirit for a rainy day....Striving towards optimal health needs to be worked on daily....well, at least for me!
Love & Light
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Unit 4 Getting to Know Loving-Kindness
Recently I have been feeling ill and all around fatigued. Some would describe it as "down in the dumps." This exercise couldn't have come at a better time for me personally. I do not believe in coincidences. I believe that everything that is experienced is at a specific time in my life to help me understand the path I need to be traveling.
This week I was to practice the art of loving-kindness. Loving-kindness brings about a peace in the mind, body and spirit. I have been doing it for the past 4 days and feel it is getting easier to do. I say it has become easier because my attention only lasted 8 minutes the first day. Now, on my fourth day I was able to expand my intention and attention for the complete 17 minutes. I noticed when I take a deep breath in my arms and back feel heavy. I have been sitting on a pillow with my legs crossed and eyes closed.
I plan to do everything I can to get others to participate in their own spiritual well-being starting with the exercise. If every human participated there would be a decrease in fear, anxiety, animosity, and hatred. Leaving only room for understanding, confidence, love, kindness, and peace.
The concept of a "mental workout" is practicing and exercising the mind and training the brain to react with more compassion and understanding. Just as a top level athlete needs to exercise daily, psychological and spiritual well-being and loving-kindness need to be exercised daily. It is true about nearly everything you wish to pursue...you do not become a world renowned chef for cooking once in a while. A craft is cultivated with daily use, inspiration and the confidence to put into motion.
The research of "mental workout" has shown that those who actively participate by integrating practices that improve psychological and spiritual development have increased cognitive activity. Also, they harbor feelings of love, respect, gratitude, and all over peace.
I want all of my readers to set aside 10-15 minutes a day. This time can be any time that you find for yourself. The morning is recommended because your brain has not yet been bombarded by what the day will bring yet. Before bed is always a great time to begin coming down from the experiences your day has brought. This will ease your mind into relaxation and improve sleep for you. Practice meditating and loving-kindness and things will fall into place in other ways. I am a firm believer that the universe will give back what you give to it.
Copy and paste this URL into your browser and practice!
This week I was to practice the art of loving-kindness. Loving-kindness brings about a peace in the mind, body and spirit. I have been doing it for the past 4 days and feel it is getting easier to do. I say it has become easier because my attention only lasted 8 minutes the first day. Now, on my fourth day I was able to expand my intention and attention for the complete 17 minutes. I noticed when I take a deep breath in my arms and back feel heavy. I have been sitting on a pillow with my legs crossed and eyes closed.
I plan to do everything I can to get others to participate in their own spiritual well-being starting with the exercise. If every human participated there would be a decrease in fear, anxiety, animosity, and hatred. Leaving only room for understanding, confidence, love, kindness, and peace.
The concept of a "mental workout" is practicing and exercising the mind and training the brain to react with more compassion and understanding. Just as a top level athlete needs to exercise daily, psychological and spiritual well-being and loving-kindness need to be exercised daily. It is true about nearly everything you wish to pursue...you do not become a world renowned chef for cooking once in a while. A craft is cultivated with daily use, inspiration and the confidence to put into motion.
The research of "mental workout" has shown that those who actively participate by integrating practices that improve psychological and spiritual development have increased cognitive activity. Also, they harbor feelings of love, respect, gratitude, and all over peace.
I want all of my readers to set aside 10-15 minutes a day. This time can be any time that you find for yourself. The morning is recommended because your brain has not yet been bombarded by what the day will bring yet. Before bed is always a great time to begin coming down from the experiences your day has brought. This will ease your mind into relaxation and improve sleep for you. Practice meditating and loving-kindness and things will fall into place in other ways. I am a firm believer that the universe will give back what you give to it.
Copy and paste this URL into your browser and practice!
file://localhost/Users/Stevi/Downloads/Loving%20Kindness%20Practice.mp3
Love & Light
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Unit 3 The Mind-Body Connection
I appropriately named the blog "The Journey That Will Never End" because optimal well-being is a lifelong journey. There would not be a destination without the journey. I can say I am enjoying the ride! On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being optimal wellness I would rate my physical well-being as an 8. I won't get into the details but I will say that I eat fresh, exercise regularly and don't smoke. A friend once told me that the number one thing you can do for your health is to put down the cigarettes. I would like to pass that on to you and hope that you can pass it forward. It may just click for someone.
Spiritually I rate at a 6. I like to think I rate higher but that is not the case. I am very close with the spirits that are around me all of the time. I can feel them and I can hear them but my intuition wavers. I am reminded often that I have a great energy but sometimes I let my environment overshadow my feelings on that. Everyone has this ability but needs to be practiced. Intellectually I know I need to spend more time on this subject but emotionally I am stunted. Maybe afraid of what I might find out?? Maybe.
Definitely an 8 psychologically. I spend a lot of time on this area since I returned from the war. Re-framing is key in this department. Being able to view negative events and interactions with a positive twist is like shining a light in a dark room...it provides hope.
Having goals to work toward helps tremendously to keep you track of your health. Accountability can be the deciding factor in a monumental success or an epic fail. So here are my goals and how to achieve them toward my optimal health. If this inspires you, get yourself a pen and paper and write down 3 for yourself!
1) I WILL NOT EAT NON-ORGANIC APPLES!!!!
Seems like a silly one, but apples that are not organically grown can be just as toxic as a Big Mac. Be warned. There isn't much of an exercise for this but I guess I could learn to juggle with organic ones!
2) I will refresh my attunement to the spiritual world and practice it daily on myself and others that will allow me to. Imagery lends a helping hand with this. I will secretly do it to my better half while he is asleep! Shh.
3) My goal here is to work on training my mind to respond to stressors that are out of my control in a more calm, peaceful way. I plan to enrich my psyche with positive energy and think with a stillness before reacting. I am partial to the progressive muscle techniques so that is how I will start.
Spiritually I rate at a 6. I like to think I rate higher but that is not the case. I am very close with the spirits that are around me all of the time. I can feel them and I can hear them but my intuition wavers. I am reminded often that I have a great energy but sometimes I let my environment overshadow my feelings on that. Everyone has this ability but needs to be practiced. Intellectually I know I need to spend more time on this subject but emotionally I am stunted. Maybe afraid of what I might find out?? Maybe.
Definitely an 8 psychologically. I spend a lot of time on this area since I returned from the war. Re-framing is key in this department. Being able to view negative events and interactions with a positive twist is like shining a light in a dark room...it provides hope.
Having goals to work toward helps tremendously to keep you track of your health. Accountability can be the deciding factor in a monumental success or an epic fail. So here are my goals and how to achieve them toward my optimal health. If this inspires you, get yourself a pen and paper and write down 3 for yourself!
1) I WILL NOT EAT NON-ORGANIC APPLES!!!!
Seems like a silly one, but apples that are not organically grown can be just as toxic as a Big Mac. Be warned. There isn't much of an exercise for this but I guess I could learn to juggle with organic ones!
2) I will refresh my attunement to the spiritual world and practice it daily on myself and others that will allow me to. Imagery lends a helping hand with this. I will secretly do it to my better half while he is asleep! Shh.
3) My goal here is to work on training my mind to respond to stressors that are out of my control in a more calm, peaceful way. I plan to enrich my psyche with positive energy and think with a stillness before reacting. I am partial to the progressive muscle techniques so that is how I will start.
The Crime of the Century Reflection
Another truly wonderful relaxation technique. I love that it was chakra based and I can't get enough of that man's voice! How soothing! I love that he incorporates science into this. He describes tapping into your left and right brain etc. That is what integral health is all about! A truly unique mind-body-spirit sensation that has lifted my mood for the evening. I might knock out early though!
Love & Light
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