Mental Fitness Project

The Subtle Mind

1) Ok, this time I used the cd for the meditation. I felt the cd's guided meditation exercise for the Subtle Mind was better than the Loving Kindness exercise. I really got alot out of the Loving Kindness meditation and its meaning was very clear to me. I'm not real sure what to make of my experience from this meditation. I saw many things but not sure what they mean. I journaled what I saw and feel I will definitely revisit this exercise again because my curiousity has me wondering about the meaning of many of the things I encountered. There were few times during this exercise that I was startled by the narrators voice.

2) I can only share with you how I interpret the spiritual to mental and physical connection. When I am feeling down or blue on the outside (mentally or physically), I have learned that the only way to truly feel better (other than a temporary fix) is to meditate or connect with nature. It starts from the inside (the spiritual). I am reminded that I am a part of something much larger than my physical self. I am able access resources that give me strength and understanding and the ability to forge ahead. These experiences allow me to realize that I am where I am supposed to be.

Mental Workout

Question 2
A mental workout increases and develops our inner awareness and the healing abilities available to us when we are willing to invest time in ourselves through contemplative practice. Through this practice, we gain fulfillment through harmony, intelligence, kindness happiness, and intuition This is only available to us through higher levels of consciousness. In helping me to figure out many of my own dilemmas (be it stress, problem solving, to find peace, etc.) I incorporate this practice to promote my psychological health. Honestly, for me what’s most difficult is to make meditation a part of my daily routine. Like so many others, I tend to get caught up in this busy life cycle.

Loving Kindness - Question 1

1) Oops, I did the meditation without the cd. I actually had a wonderful experience. When it came to the part of sharing loving kindness with all I saw a big green sun and from the inside of me (from below my heart but above my abs) I felt a surge of emotion rise up. I don't really know how to describe it except I felt "full of peace". It was quite the experience. It was really intense, a good intensity. Afterwards, I realized I was supposed to do it with the cd. So.....I listened to the cd. Did not like it at all. Glad that I did it my way. I would not recommend it to others. I did not feel the narrator was comforting, there were lots of pregnant pauses, and I guess it was supposed to be the beach in the background yet the waves(?) stopped and started. I thought that would be a big distraction, especially for someone who is not used to meditation.

Relaxation Exercise

I found this exercise to be very relaxing. I loved visualizing all of the colors of the rainbow. I went under easily and had felt the narrator's voice was soothing and peacful. I throughly enjoyed this experience.

Goals & Activities

My Goals will be as follows:
Physical well-being: Eating healthier, decreasing the amount of red meat for dinner from 5x per week to 3x per week. It will be a creative challenge to plan meals without meat. I will make time to take out the cookbooks and see what I can come up with.
Spiritual well-being: Meditate dailyy, I will put a block of time every day to meditate and journal. I will choose a specific time of day to devote to meditation and journaling (hopefully that will make it easier to follow through).
Psychological well-being: I will counter every negative self-talk statement with a positive affirmation. I will carry my positive affirmation cards with me at all times so I have no excuse!

An Inventory of My Wellness

A) Physical Well-being: 8 Physically I feel pretty good. I try to walk or do some form of exercise (at least 5 days a week), I go to bed early (around 10pm) and usually sleep pretty well and I generally don't feel any pain on a regular basis. I know that when I am mentally distracted or stressed I tend to hurt myself and that happens often.

B) Spiritual Well-being: 9 Spiritually I am very happy. I have unwavering faith and what I consider to be a good set of morals and values. I try very hard not to judge others and am learning how to forgive others (and myself) as we are all on our own journey at our own pace. I am also learning to trust my intuition which I've discovered has never been wrong yet. Intuition is a gift we all have but do not pay attention to. I believe that we are where we are supposed to be right now even though we may not understand why. My spiritual growth has helped me to get through alot of psychological pain. It is an evolution. I know there's still so much more to learn.

C) Psychological Well-being: 6 Psychologically I rate myself the lowest of the three catagories. It has been an interesting journey for me to discover why I have struggles in this particular area. I am a co-dependent and tried to get my value from pleasing others for most of my life. Nobody was ever really pleased including myself. It took some hardknock life lessons to finally realize that I was not being "real" or authentic with myself (and therefore others as well). I wanted to be authentic with myself and others so I educated myself and learned that it was a choice, my choice. Its a challenge to train myself to think positively after using negative self-talk for over 35 years. I am still learning, but I've come along way!

Reflection: Journey On Relaxation Exercise

I felt the exercise was relaxing and I had no problem getting to a meditative state. The narrators voice was calm and soothing and the bells were nice. I followed his instructions and did actually feel my arms get heavy and tingly, but I had no problem lifting them up. I was not distracted by anything at the time. Perhaps I should not have let myself go into my "usual" meditative state? Maybe I went in too deep? I will definitely do the exercise again and try to see if it's any different.

And the journey begins.......Welcome Everyone

Welcome to my blog. I am very excited to be in this Creating Wellness class with you. I know that some of you are not crazy about sharing your personal self with others but I do not have a problem with it. I feel that our best learning experiences will be from each other. Perhaps the reason I like sharing (as well as when others share) is because it reminds me that we are all on our own unique journey, at our own pace and learning different (or perhaps the same) lessons. One of my favorite sayings is "What other people think of me is none of my business".