Well being

    Hi everyone, hope everyone has enjoyed the blog so far; I have really enjoyed writing it. As health professionals it is important to achieve the goals that we are asking our patients to achieve. Also when we are healthier ourselves and practicing what we preach, well it is easier to convince our patients that they can achieve their goals and that it is very worth doing. I know for me I really need to work on the physical and psychological in my own life. I have come a very long way from who I was but every day is new day to make even more improvements.

    As for myself I would say my spiritually is a 10, I am very in touch with my beliefs and they carry me through daily. I would say my physical is an 8, I have a few things still to work on but I will not stop trying. I would say my psychological is also an 8, I have come a long way on this path but I so still have a few obstacles to overcome.

    My goals in each area are as follows; physical would be eating better and keeping my favorites to a healthy moderation level. Psychological, well I have still have a few past hurts that I need to let go off and a few issues that still pop up now and then. So my goal is to let it all go and to learn to train my mind so that those thoughts cannot just pop in when they want too. Spiritually, I plan to stay on my path as it has not failed me so far but I will always keep an open mind, as spiritual self is a continuing path of learning.

     How I plan to accomplish my goals, I plan on eating foods that are better for my body and mind and I also plan to continue with my yoga routine daily. I will continue my mind training by doing the subtle mind exercises at least once a week and my meditation routine at least once a week, as these calm my mind and give me peace within inside myself. My religion is a little bit different than most, I plan to walk at least once a week as part of my spirituality is communing with nature; as there is so much power and magic in nature. If we really pay attention being in nature can really put you at ease and show us that there is something bigger than us all.  

    Since starting this class I have been keeping a journal so that I can monitor my progress. I write down when I have random thoughts and how often they happen, that way I can see if they are changing. I keep track of feelings, headaches and anything that may seem relevant for my overall health. I check the journal once a week to see if I am improving or not, so far I have only been progressing but if at any time I feel that I am not moving forward; well then I can add more exercises during the week. I do believe in 6 months though I will be exactly where I want to be and then I will continue my exercises to maintain that overall health. Be well everyone and I wish everyone the best in reaching their goals for better health.  

Meditation and the subtle mind

The two that I have found that work best for me would be the subtle mind and my meditation routine that I do at least once a week. The subtle mind was a truly peaceful experience for me and truly relaxing. I felt just a wave of love, peace, relaxation and a oneness with myself as I laid there visualizing Buddha. To me Buddha is the very essence of all of those things and I cannot not see him without feeling those things. My meditation routine is to sit in a room only lit by candlelight, I sit in the quiet for 15 or longer depending on how I was feeling when I started. When I am nearing the end of my journey I blow out the candles one by one visualizing them carrying away my stresses, hurts and pain with them. I sometimes need this more than once a week but I make sure to find the time at least once a week. I will now start to incorporate the subtle mind into my week also as I feel this will be so beneficial to my overall health and to achieve the trained mind that I so greatly want in my life. While these work great for me, training the mind is very personal thing and we must all find the path that works for us. But these would be the ones that I recommend to others. Good luck to all of us on this path!! 

Hey everyone, sorry I missed last week. My doggie died and I was unable to complete any relaxation techniques. So this week we are talking about the Aseclepius method of relaxation. I must say this one has been my favorite so far. I laid there and visualized Buddha, when I see Buddha I think peace, love and wisdom; so when she said to pick someone well my mind went straight there. Buddha to me represents everything that I want to achieve in my life and during this exercise well I felt at one with him and it was a beautiful feeling. I have not felt this good in awhile. I believe this will be my mind building exercise from now on, it had everything. The feeling of relaxation, love, kindness, wisdom and just an overall wholeness with myself. 

 "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" to me this means that you cannot lead a person to a place of peace and wellness if you yourself have not gone there. You can tell people all day long that they need to do these exercises but how can you tell truly what the benefits are if you are not practicing yourself. Plus if you are not practicing this lifestyle yourself, well then why should anyone believe you that it is beneficial to them. Implementing these practices would make one a better healer and person, so it is beneficial for many reasons to practice what you preach. I know for me I am implementing these practices in my life simply because I want to be healthier and I want a inner happiness that no one can break.

 

The subtle mind

The subtle mind compared to the loving-kindness exercise, well the loving-kindness exercise did not go so well for me. But the subtle mind exercise went very well, yes my mind drifted a many times but I was able to bring it back quickly. I felt relaxed and actually feel like I may be able to get to a point where I can control my mind with just my breathing. It will take awhile and much practice as I am an over-thinker big time but I very much want to master this. When I do achieve this I know I will sleep so much better, over-thinking is really a big problem and causes insomnia. Sleeping better will reduce so many physical problems that I have such as headaches, fatigue and no energy, so accomplishing the subtle mind would be very beneficial to me spiritually, mentally and physically and I cannot wait to get there!! I hope that we can all reach this level as the benefits will be great!! Good luck all. 

Loving-Kindness

Hey all, hope everyone is having a great weekend. This week we are talking about the loving kindness exercise. I myself sat through the exercise twice and while I felt relaxed, I could not get my mind to feel calm,  so I could not really visualize or feel the words. I think I will need to practice this one a few more times, I have been really stressed lately and kind of mad at the world. So that is probably interfering with the exercise and the calming of my mind. I think I need to up my candle ritual to a couple times a week of instead of just once a week. Candle ritual is where I light a candle and whisper all my stresses, hurts, failures and anything else I need to release and then I watch it get carried away from the smoke of the candle (for anyone who missed my blog last week, I wanted to share what the candle ritual is). I would recommend all of these exercises to people, even if they were to never work for me; that does not mean that it cannot work for others.
   A mental work-out is just as a physical work-out is, we need physical work-out to keep the body healthy and we need a mental work-out to keep the mind healthy. Research shows that a mental work-out can reduce negative emotions such as anger, hate, worry, fear and doubt. It can also help improve happiness, love, memory and and an overall well being. We have to each find the best way for each of us to work-out our minds, for me it really is my candle ritual. I am clearing my mind of the things that I do not need and inviting all the good things in to my life as I sit quietly watching and eventually I will need less and less time to accomplish my goals. I am training my mind to let go! Be well everyone and I hope your journey is going as well as mine is. 

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Health, The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna, Beach: Basic Health Publications.

Hello everyone, this is my second blog post and I am hoping that y'all are enjoying so far. My physical well being I would rate that about a 5, my spiritual well being well I would put that at about a 7 and my psychological well that would be about a 6. While I have already greatly upped these numbers in recent years, as you see I still have some work to do so that they can all be 10's. Physical, I need to eat healthier, quit smoking, give up soda and start an exercise routine. Spiritual, I need to continue to let things that way me down go; such as negative feelings and feeling not good enough. Psychologically, I need to finish letting go of a very painful past and not let it be a part of my future anymore; also forgiving completely those who have wronged me. I would like to start doing yoga as this would help with the exercise routine and also with healing of the mind. I have recently begun a sort of mediation routine where I light candles and sit in a quiet place and whisper the things I need to rid myself of into the candle, and watch it get carried away in the smoke. I cannot tell you how therapeutic that has been and I feel a such a positive flow after I am done. I must say I really love these relaxation sessions that we have, I really do not sleep well and the man on the exercises well he helps me sleep so much better. I have tried to capture the relaxation that he makes me feel on my own and I am unable to do so, so I really need his cds until I can achieve it on my own. I hope that my post was enjoyable and maybe helped a few people.

Journey on relaxation

First I would like to welcome everyone to my blog and hope you enjoy my posts. I must say that I am not very good when it comes to relaxation, I cannot even relax during a massage (which I love). There has been one time in my life that I fully relaxed and that was during a facial and let me tell she put me to sleep. When I listened to the Journey on Relaxation, I laid on my couch and had the computer on my stomach. I fully intended to give the relaxation technique a fair chance, so I got completely comfortable and opened my mind. Well half way into his very soothing words my dog barked and I realized that I had fallen asleep to his words, so I think it is safe to say that yes he relaxed me completely. I was truly amazed and really want to download this onto my phone and use him for sleeping instead of medications. I would recommend using him to relax when needed, but I do believe opening your mind to the possibility of it really working is the key.