A Clear Conscience but a Stuffy Head

1.        Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.

The Loving Kindness exercise was simple to follow, and the guided instructions were timed well. Attaching and projecting loving-kindness felt like a task that comes naturally. The tone of the exercise was relaxing, and the timing of blank space filled with the sounds of waves crashing on the beach was just enough to stay on task. Although it was slightly difficult to know whether I was doing exactly as the author intended, especially attaching loving-kindness to the deeper aspects of the mind and soul, the loving-kindness emotion is familiar. The concept of loving oneself first before having the ability to love others is also familiar, so this was much easier to follow than the subtle mind exercise. The physical act of breathing in the suffering and allowing it to dissolve is a very peaceful and relaxing act, and has nothing but positive intentions.

The Subtle Mind exercise is entirely too difficult for me at this time. I have the flu at the moment, and my congestion made it almost impossible to focus on the initial breathing exercises without being interrupted by coughing episodes. The blank space, or sound of waves crashing, were timed too far apart, in my opinion. I felt like I spaced out and lost focus. Attempting to bring myself back by focusing on breathing also did not go well for me during each attempt at this exercise. My mind would not stay quiet and focused enough to reach the first level, so I was unable to progress to the deeper states of mind. Both exercise were similar in that they were mentally and physically relaxing initially, yet I ended up feeling frustrated and slightly stressed by the middle of the Subtle Mind. Towards the end of the Subtle Mind, I was very distracted and thinking of everything but the exercise. I was able to stick with the Loving-Kindness exercise until the end.

Overall, I prefer the Loving-Kindness exercise. I will continue to listen to both to see if I have a better experience with the Subtle Mind exercise when I am feeling better.

 

2.        Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

The mind and body connection is fairly simple to understand, and even easier to witness in the physical sense. If an individual is under a lot of pressure and stress, he or she is likely to develop physical symptoms, even though the stress is of the mind. For instance, someone who is very nervous may experience gastrointestinal distress. People who work in sales and are required to meet a monthly quota may experience an increase in headaches or heartburn as deadlines approach. The physical and mental effects of anxiety can be calmed through the use of relaxation and breathing techniques. Physical exercise serves as a form of stress relief for the mind, and mental exercise can calm the physical body. The two are clearly interconnected. The spiritual wellness connection is not as cut and dry. There are not many obvious examples of spiritual wellness, but there are many subtle clues. For instance, there is a sense of calm in knowing a deceased loved one is resting in peace with the Creator. Depending on personal beliefs, others may be comforted knowing their loved one will be reincarnated. I have heard many people comment on coincidences when one family member passes and a new member is born within a short timeframe, even from those who may not necessarily believe in reincarnation. Spiritual wellness helps us find our purpose and explore the different opportunities that exist in our inner life. Spiritual wellness also connects to our physical environment. A hoarder’s home reflects a mental and spiritual issue. Finding the strength and courage to overcome the issues and purge unnecessary items is often a journey in spiritual healing. Oftentimes, spirituality helps people explain and understand the thoughts and ideas in their own minds.

     Personally, I cannot accept that this physical world is all that exists. In my mind, I know there must be something more. This idea is the foundation for my personal morals and may be the reason why I believe so strongly in having integrity. In my mind, there is absolutely no good that will come from making bad choices. I am far from perfect, but I try my best to make what I believe are moral choices that will not bring harm to others. I feel good about making good choices and doing the right thing. In times when I have made poor decisions, I suffer mentally, which eventually leads to physical suffering. I know the mind-body-spirit connection manifests in many ways and various circumstances in life, but this is one of the more evident manifestations in my own life.

                                                  

 

Love, Peace, and Brain Burpees

1.        Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

This week’s exercise, Loving Kindness, was much more beneficial to me than last week’s exercise. I appreciated the pauses in between instructions to allow time for focus and reflection. This exercise felt less demanding. The symbolism of breathing in the suffering of others to dissolve it, then breathing out positive feelings to replace the negative feelings felt like an effective strategy, similar to praying for someone. Each step was executed with ease, instructions were clear, and the extra time of calming waves crashing made this exercise easy. In fact, I listened to it two times. I would definitely recommend this type of exercise to friends and family members who would be willing to try it. Because it left me feeling a sense of calm and peace, I would want to share that with others.

2.        What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

Dacher (2006) noted that mental workouts are a necessary component to human flourishing because “it is not possible for us to evolve our psychospiritual life and access its capacities and resources without daily practice” (p. 64). Put simply, mental workouts are contemplative practice, such as the Loving Kindness exercise. Mental workouts develop and expand the mind, leading to an expansion of consciousness.  When we gain access to the deeper levels of our own mind, we tap into our own healing resources. This contributes to the connection of the mind and body. Research shows contemplative practice can contribute to improving skills, like memory, perception, and attention. Contemplative practice can also help to reduce negative feelings and the effects they have on the body while improving the effects of positive emotions. Mental workouts can be easily incorporated into a daily routine. Scheduling a small block of time in a quiet and comfortable place to practice is great start. Gradually reaching for a goal of one hour of practice per day, the positive effects of mental workouts will begin to surface in daily life (Dacher, 2006).

References

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. (S. Davis, Ed.) Laguna Beach, California, United States of America: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

 

  

                              

                                                                 

Wellness Reflections and The Crime of the Century

1.        Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal wellbeing), where do you rate your A-physical wellbeing, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?

A-I rate my physical well-being a 6, mostly due to existing health issues. I cannot completely overcome these issues, but I am working to adapt and work around them. I am somewhat satisfied with my diet and activity level, yet I still have a lot of room for physical improvements.

B-My spiritual well-being is improving due to all of the information from these courses I am learning and processing. I would rate my spiritual well-being a 7 at this point in time. The concepts in these wellness courses are clicking in my mind, and I find myself mindfully incorporating practices in my everyday life.

C-My psychological well-being needs the most development at this point in my life. I still find myself battling with immediate negative emotions and reactions, and I struggle with not expressing myself the way my mind wants to in a given moment. I almost feel like I have to suppress my feelings, but I am very slowly learning I can express myself in a less damaging way. This is a difficult transition, and I would rate my psychological well-being a 4 as of the date of this entry.

                                                       

2.        Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

One physical personal goal is to overcome my tendency to use not feeling well as an excuse to skip a workout. Instead, I will compromise when I am not feeling well and participate in a lower intensity workout. I also want to prevent myself from overdoing it on days I feel well.

My spiritual goal is to continue on my journey of minimalism, reducing attachment to physical objects, and focus more on finding my own peace. The more calm and content I feel, the better I seem to treat others.

My psychological goal is to catch myself before I say something negative, then mindfully choose a more positive way of relaying the same message. I hope this practice can become more natural in the future, and lead to a more constant positive state of mind.

 

3.        What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal?

I can reach my physical goal by scheduling my workouts and writing them on a calendar for the purpose of accountability. Since I use Sundays as my day to plan for my week, I will just incorporate a workout schedule that I can stick to when I am planning our other activities and meals for the week.

I can work toward my spiritual goal in the same way. During my weekly planning, I believe it would benefit me to plan quiet time for myself when I can shut off the rest of the world and focus on completely relaxing to a state of peace.

My psychological goal is going to take a lot more effort, and I will spend much more time practicing to reach this goal. I will take a few ideas from the text and mentally ask myself two questions before reacting: 1. Will this response cause me or someone else suffering?, and 2. Does this response align with my goal of integral health?

4.        Complete the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century. Describe your experience. (What it beneficial? Frustrating? etc.)

I will be honest. I am starting to feel irritated by these exercises, but I am not sure I can pinpoint the reason. I feel like certain activities are very forced and do not come naturally. I also feel like I have to put forth a lot of mental effort to create the scenarios described. For example, creating specific colors and imagining certain areas on the body are difficult, and my brain almost seems like it is fighting me. I also found I associated colors with certain emotions, other than what was being described in the exercise. I wish I could understand why I am mentally resisting, but I suspect it may have something to do with my mind wishing it would hurry up and just be over instead of enjoying the experience and taking it for what it is, an exercise to relax.

                                                         

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to Colors of Happy Junior! Thanks for stopping by! This is a spinoff of my main blog that was born last September. I was very caught up in everyday life taking care of my family and neglecting myself, as is common with many busy mothers. This realization was a huge turning point for me. I had a brief moment of pause when I realized it had been four years since I finished my Associate’s degree, and way past the time I promised myself I would return to school. Shortly after this moment, I enrolled in classes. I also decided I was tired of being unhappy. I spent some alone time to figure out what I loved about my life, what I liked, and what I wanted to change. At this point, I realized I needed to take care of myself and put a lot more emphasis on the things that make me happy. Being unhappy was a decision I was making every single day. Sure, I had fleeting moments of joy, just like most people, but there were huge voids of nothing and some pretty intense moments of anger, disappointment, and other negative emotions. Some very hurtful things happened the past couple years, and I allowed myself to become a victim of other people’s poor decisions. Deciding to just let go is the best decision I ever made. I have gained so much more confidence from choosing happy over misery that I have tried some pretty intimidating new things lately. Just today, I ran another 5K race, which is a really big deal for me. I have found my happiest times are trying new and different things with my immediate family. My husband and youngest daughter ran with me today, and we had a blast. I still struggle with controlling negative emotions, but it is getting much easier to cope and work through these emotions. This wellness study program is so much more than I expected, and it coincidentally aligns perfectly with everything I decided I want to do for myself to improve my mind and body. Most of all, I have a passion for learning things that hold my interest. I am the type to read and re-read a chapter in our text several times to really understand and absorb the information so I can apply it in my own life.

     The Journey on Relaxation exercise was a different type of experience. I listen to a lot of different types of calming music, and I did not care for the tones in this music. I understood the relaxation process described in the exercise. Apparently, I have some work to do to build a stronger bridge between my mind and body. At this time, I do not believe I can control things in my body like the flow of blood, but I am able to intentionally relax my muscles.