For this practice I had to sit quietly and focus on my breaths. I chose to focus on the rise and fall of my chest with each breath. This practice was different from the Loving Kindness exercise because it was about paying attention to yourself and your own silence and peace. Loving Kindness was about loving yourself and giving that love out to others. In the beginning, this exercise was easy but as I sat in silence longer I began to grow restless. I was able to witness my mind fairly well which surprised me because I am always thinking about something and analyzing those thoughts, but the silence for so long was a bit much for me.
Spiritual wellness is connected to mental and physical wellness because all things are connected. In order for you to be mentally and physically healthy you must have a clear and healthy spiritual connection. For me that means noticing nature and life around me and acknowledging the gratitude I have for whomever has given it to us. I do not go to church or believe in one specific God but I do believe in a higher power and know that we are all bound together at some point or another.
~Tamara
Monday, June 17, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Unit4: Loving-Kindness
This week I practiced a meditation technique for loving-kindness. This allows you to be aware of your love for yourself so that you may extend that love outward to others. I sat quietly, breathing deeply and focusing on those that I love. I absorbed that love into myself and allowed my whole being to be at ease. I then absorbed the pain of a loved one and extended out love, joy and health to him. I found this exercise to be a little difficult, not because I do not love myself or have love to give but because focusing on one feeling was hard to do. I did find it beneficial though as it relaxed me and did allow me a time to focus on what is inside of me rather than what is around me.
The concept of a mental workout is like that of the above exercise. Like our bodies, our minds must be exercised too. If you do do take the time to place your mind first and control what it is doing, it will become limp and out of shape. You want your mental state of mind to be taut and focused just like your external muscles.
~Tamara
The concept of a mental workout is like that of the above exercise. Like our bodies, our minds must be exercised too. If you do do take the time to place your mind first and control what it is doing, it will become limp and out of shape. You want your mental state of mind to be taut and focused just like your external muscles.
~Tamara
Monday, June 3, 2013
Unit 3: The Mind-Body Connection
Well-being is to be considered on many levels in order to render a correct outlook of ones health. For me personally, I would rate my well-being on a scale of 1-10 as follows:
A-Physical well-being 6 because I am active on a regular basis and conventionally healthy, but I need more fitness activity in my life and I need to get my body in better shape. I do eat a decent amount of whole foods but I also eat too much processed food.
B- Spiritual well-being 7 because I believe in a higher power although I am unsure of who or what that is. I am generally at peace with my surroundings but find myself questioning my life a lot.
C- Psychological well-being 7 because I am sane by all accounts, but I doubt myself and my choices a lot and this leads to undue stress and at times depression.
My general goal for each of these areas would be to raise them in the near future. There are activities that I can implement in my life to assist in moving toward a higher part of the scale for each level of well-being. These would be planning healthier meals and fitting in more physical activities, taking time out to free my mind of my physical surroundings and finding a way to accept my life for what it is, and analyzing the choices I have made so far to see why I have done so and what I can do in the future to accept those choices and relieve my stress.
Relaxation Exercise: The Crime of the Century
This exercise required me to relax and picture 7 parts of my body projecting the 7 colors of the rainbow. This exercise was relaxing but frustrating at the same time. Picturing the projection of colors from my body and paying attention to my breathing was relaxing to my body but the whole exercise was so slow that I found it frustrating to my mind.
A-Physical well-being 6 because I am active on a regular basis and conventionally healthy, but I need more fitness activity in my life and I need to get my body in better shape. I do eat a decent amount of whole foods but I also eat too much processed food.
B- Spiritual well-being 7 because I believe in a higher power although I am unsure of who or what that is. I am generally at peace with my surroundings but find myself questioning my life a lot.
C- Psychological well-being 7 because I am sane by all accounts, but I doubt myself and my choices a lot and this leads to undue stress and at times depression.
My general goal for each of these areas would be to raise them in the near future. There are activities that I can implement in my life to assist in moving toward a higher part of the scale for each level of well-being. These would be planning healthier meals and fitting in more physical activities, taking time out to free my mind of my physical surroundings and finding a way to accept my life for what it is, and analyzing the choices I have made so far to see why I have done so and what I can do in the future to accept those choices and relieve my stress.
Relaxation Exercise: The Crime of the Century
This exercise required me to relax and picture 7 parts of my body projecting the 7 colors of the rainbow. This exercise was relaxing but frustrating at the same time. Picturing the projection of colors from my body and paying attention to my breathing was relaxing to my body but the whole exercise was so slow that I found it frustrating to my mind.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)