Unit 7

Thinking of a person was not the hard part of this exercise. I immediately could think of a person dear to my heart and when the narrator left silence to think merely about the memory of the person I could take my mind back in time to my favorite memories of them, but as soon as the narrator asked me to join in communion and draw on a connection I felt like the tone of the exercise changed from simply focusing on a positive influence/mentor to a more spiritual or unworldly exercise, which I don't feel like I particularly connect with yet. I also have a hard time regrouping and focusing back into an exercise once I feel this awkward disconnect. I just feel lost and like I am missing a link to the spiritual aspects the exercises are expecting. I honestly feel like some of the phrases are just cheesy and not my favorite style. I try to complete these exercises with an open mind, but I don't think I am in the right frame of mind or leaving myself the room in my busy lifestyle to fully partake in everything the exercises have to offer. At one point in time I was taking a meditation course and utilized the skills daily. I was "forced" to take the time to meditate and was guided through it with an instructor I respected, in an environment where I felt safe, and a time during the day when I had no other distractions.

The quote, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" very much pertains to the health and wellness professional. If a health and wellness professional wants to suggest a technique for a client, but has not attempted the technique themselves then the professional cannot expect the client to be as willing to try. The professional should understand exactly what the client will experience even if the technique was not particularly necessary or successful for the professional. If nothing else the health and wellness professional should be highly educated and knowledgeable about anything they suggest to others.

Unit 6

As I sat in my room with my eyes closed I repeated the four sentences from the universal loving-kindness exercise. I found I would at first picture people close to me and think about how I could help them or picture them smiling, but then I started thinking in bigger pictures and wondering about those I interact with daily. I may want to change my personality or the way I come off towards others I do not know so well so that I can openly help them achieve what it is they want to achieve. While I can only think of a few individuals I truly do not care for, this exercise made me think about them too and wonder how I could help them and maybe if I did I would not feel so opposed to them.

It does bug me when I am asked to complete an exercise and you are reading along and the book asks the reader to close their eyes. My first thought is always "if I close my eyes I won't be able to read what to do next!" Aside from my little pet peeve these exercises really do have some great value. I have a couple areas in life that are suffering and could use added support, but I think the two areas that really suffer the most, with me, are my interpersonal and psychospiritual aspects. This class has opened a lot of my down time to be dedicated to self-reflection and in turn I am learning more about who I am and why I react the way I do at times. I hope to only continue to grow from these experiences.

Unit 5

For starters I have been struggling through these exercises, so far each one more difficult and challenging than the last. Something really major for me to easily get into a meditative state is the voice of the narrator, the background sounds and the focus on breathing. If the I do not find the voice of the narrator soothing I find it more difficult to focus, if the background noises are too upbeat or too distracting I also find it hard to focus on the task at hand, and if there is no focus on breathing I tend to lose connection and fail to be able to relax. This exercise started off with a man’s voice, which I did not particularly connect with, but soon the real exercise started and a woman’s voice narrated. I found her voice more soothing than his and just like I prefer, she brought focus to breath and gave me time to really focus on slowing down my breathing and consciously focusing on each breath. I find this deeply relaxing and it calms my mind. I often find my mind wanders during most of these exercises, but the ones that acknowledge that that happens and just remind me to bring it back to focus really cater to me. I loved the ocean sounds and the soft flute like notes gently accompanying it at times. This was probably my favorite exercise so far. Last week I commented that the pauses were too long, but this week I enjoyed the longer pauses and just let everything quite and slow.

Unit 4

This was a pretty difficult exercise for me. I immediately felt the first pause in the exercise was too long and I became distracted quickly. The introduction was not long enough to place me in the right kind of mind to fully experience what the exercise was calling for. I was able to think of a person and instantly fond memories came to mind, but after a while I found myself wondering how long the pause would last and my mind wandered on to other thoughts. The second section asked me to turn the loving kindness to myself and since I already felt disjointed in the exercise from the first pause I found it difficult and actually impossible to get back into the exercise. I was able to feel relaxed and comfortable sitting with my eyes closed, listening to the waves in the background, but found it near impossible to connect with the activity. This exercise was even more difficult than the unit 3 exercise and unit has been the easiest by far for me to connect with.

One hour daily of practice in loving-kindness and subtle mind can make a difference and also create a "mental workout". Loving-kindness opens individuals to each other and take the attention away from the first person, placing onto another. Subtle mind is a technique that learns to quiet the hectic and careless movements of thoughts, feelings and/or images.