Integral Assessment and Universal Loving Kindness

In conducting the universal loving kindness exercise I felt a shift in energy that is difficult to explain. As I repeated the phrases I started visualizing people that I know who are suffering such as the victims and families of the Boston bombings, victims of the fertilizer plant explosion in West, TX, families and members of our Armed Forces who have suffered a loss or severe injury, friends who have experienced tragedies and are experiencing heartache. Then, I realized that pain and suffering as well as lack of health, happiness, and wholeness is even more widespread than the people I know and learn about through the media so I began visualizing the whole world and imagining that my words were able to reach every area of the world and as I repeated the phrases I imagined my words covering each area like paint covering a wall until the whole world was covered, in red, which could represent many things, but to me represents love. I have to admit that I feel a little strange sharing all of that, but I felt really moved by this exercise and amazed at the path that my mind took while repeating those phrases.

I found the assessment process to be interesting and a little challenging, but I like assessments in general as I think it forces us to think critically and look at the things that we may not like about ourselves or our lives. I identified the things that cause distress in my life and realized that the greatest conflict in my life exists in the interpersonal area. I think it is easy to blame others for the way that we feel, but in reality I think we can change our perception of others by changing our way of thinking and behavior. I think to improve in this area I need to focus on the loving-kindness exercise to actively give love. I think it will also be important to me to focus on being grateful. I listened to a short inspirational message on a Christian radio station the other day that talked about a woman who was dissatisfied in her marriage and constantly thought about all the things that her husband did that she didn’t like. She prayed for her husband to change so she could be happy and one day she realized that perhaps it wasn’t her husband who needed to change, but that she needed to change. She said that she made a list of all the qualities and characteristics that she liked about her husband and realized that there were so many things that she was grateful for in relation to her husband’s character. From that point on she said that she focused on these positives and slowly her relationship began to change for the better. I think this can be applied in many different situations and relationships and reflects how our negative and positive emotions can dominate our lives.  

Subtle Mind

I definitely enjoyed the subtle mind exercise more than the loving kindness exercise. I liked the prompts to concentrate on my breath and to dismiss thoughts that came to my mind. Initially, I didn’t find it difficult to focus only on my breath, but as time passed I noticed thoughts creeping into my mind. It’s interesting how that happens and the amount of time that it takes to realize that you have lost focus on your breath, at least for me. I think this exercise is beneficial because it will help me to be able to focus on the things that I need to do and rid my mind of irrelevant thoughts and be able to choose what to focus on.

Developing the highest level of wellness requires the understanding that the answer lies within us. Through self-transformation, self-regulation, and self-development we can attain the highest level of wellness. Our inner development is our spiritual wellness, our ability to witness our mental activity and demonstrate loving-kindness are both indicators of our spirituality. Through increasing our spiritual wellness, we impact our mental and physical wellness by controlling our emotions and preventing physical sickness. 

Loving-Kindness Exercise and mental workout

Initially, I had a hard time visualizing the prompts and understanding what I was being asked to do. Additionally, I found the voice unnerving. She sounds like a robot and emotionless considering the topic is loving-kindness. This wasn’t my favorite exercise to listen to, but I am looking forward to using the text. I would recommend the text portion for loving-kindness exercise, but not the mp3 file, because I didn’t have a positive experience with it.

A mental workout is the use of contemplative practice to achieve human flourishing. Studies have shown that those who use contemplative practice are able to permanently enhance their well-being by altering the brain’s neural circuitry. As with any new process it is important to start slow. Dacher recommends starting 5-15 minute sessions daily until you become comfortable and then increase your sessions by a few minutes. Selecting a time of day and sticking to that time frame will help to establish a routine. Ensure that you have quiet time to enjoy and get the most out of your mental workout. 

Crime of the Century exercise and Self Assessment

Taking inventory of our well-being is very important as it indicates areas of our lives that may be out of balance. In general, I believe that when we don't feel well we can look at these areas and identify at least one area that we have neglected. When we fully understand how each of these impact our overall wellbeing a lack of balance will quickly be recognized and we can implement changes to get back on track. For me personally I would rate my physical, spiritual, psychological wellbeing at an 8 for each. I feel that I am aware of the requirements needed to achieve a high level of wellbeing for each of these categories and make an effort each day to practice wellbeing in each one, although I believe there is always room for improvement.

Goals that I would like to set and actions needed for physical, spiritual, and psychological wellbeing include: 1) maintaining my current level of fitness and eating habits, 2) increasing my spirituality through implementing prayer into my day more frequently, 3) implementing relaxation exercises daily to promote greater psychological wellbeing.

 

The relaxation exercise provided an opportunity to visualize concepts that are central to integral health including the sense of feeling grounded, loved, loving, sense of meaningful purpose, balance, and being connected to others and the environment. This exercise promoted relaxation and over time I imagine that the process of visualizing and utilization of affirmations would promote thoughts or questions within to trigger actions toward achieving a greater sense of these concepts.