Staying true to myself

Hi Professor and Class,

In Unit 6 we practiced the universal loving kindness exercise, and an integral assessment. I have to say that the loving kindness exercise seemed very familiar to me, that's because I used to watch this movie called "The Secret" which was based off of law of attraction, this means that whatever you think and feel (actual feeling, the kind you get in your stomach) the most you eventually will see it come to in your life. In the movie they say how if you want to truly be happy in life you must exercise that feeling everyday you wake up by saying "thank-you" and showing gratitude throughout each and everyday. One exercise was to go to a near by stream or lake and pick out a little quarter size stone, and put it in your pocket everyday. Every time you touch the stone you have to say to yourself what you are thankful for. So the loving kindness exercise reminded me of that because after about 5 minutes of repeating those phrases I was getting the same genuinely good feeling that I got with the stone exercise.

 As for the Integral Assessment, I noticed that I am not happy biologically which in turn is also having an effect on my interpersonal level. Biologically I am not at the weight I would like to be, also I am not meeting my nutritional goals. It has become very hard to eat during work because of how busy it has been, and I'm the type of person that wont stop working to eat if I feel that I'm behind schedule. So because of this it will sometimes get me down and question myself (interpersonal). In order to fix this, I have come to the realization that sometimes its better to stop and eat, that way I can think about how to approach my next project etc. Both of these areas need healing, however, both of these areas can also jump to the next level of growth and development. Just by doing this blog new ideas are flowing through my head on how to proceed to my next goal; cooking my meals for the next couple day all at once, waking up an hour early to prepare my meal or doing it before I go to bed the night before, getting to work early and cooking my daily meals there since I'm an executive chef. These are very easy ways to get back on track, now its just up to me to implement these into my daily routine.

Jr Woolson

 

Love & Kindness v.s. The Subtle Mind

Different points of interest, love and kindness was to feel a sort of warmth and compassion by concentrating on a person you love because of how they make you feel, and then also by helping the person you love by taking their pain away, and then by adding more people into the mix by sharing that feeling with everyone not just loved ones.The subtle mind was all about calming your mind controlling your thoughts that flow in and out of your head by focusing on breathing, the mind is directly affected by breathing. So focusing on a slow controlled breathing exercise you calm your mind as well. Now there were some points where my mind wandered a lot I think, for only a split second I was thinking about work tomorrow and what I'm going to have to do throughout the day, to how I'm going to answer this blog when I'm finished, etc. I wasn't frustrated with it, as much as I was surprised at how random the mind goes from one end to the other. Breathing however is the trigger, concentrate on the breathing and for me the deep inhalation and the thoughts dissipate. The ultimate calming aid is breathing though, no matter how bad of a day I am having if I just stop and do controlled breathing exercise for five minutes I'm back to feeling relaxed. Spiritual Wellness to me is everything as a whole, you can't have happiness, satisfaction, love, health (both mind and body) without a sense of wellness. Figure out what makes you happy, truly happy, and by surrounding yourself with that in your life, it will only get better and better.  From a professional stand point, I don't particularly enjoy my job these days, I have spent the last five days there with at least ten hours each day with no day off in sight, it's days like that when I think about what makes me happy and I visualize being a nutritionist and a trainer helping people reach their goals. That's what makes me truly feel good, that's why I'm going back to school. Other than that it feels awesome just being outside; beach, mountains, forest, etc. 

Jr,

Unit 4, Practice makes perfect

Hey everyone! 

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

           My experience during this exercise was relaxing and not difficult at all as long as you find a quiet comfortable place. I'm saying this is because my laptop crashed while I was trying to submit my homework assignments and hasn't turned back on yet, so I was getting a little stressed out. Thank god I have an iPad or wouldn't have been able to access the class online or the blog for that matter. It was extremely beneficial, as I am now thinking clearly and am stress free. I would recommend this because it really does help maintain calmness.

1. 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?

            Mental workout, meaning just like a physical workout. You can't just do it sometimes, and expect results, this requires a high level of motivation, and determination to start training your mind. The more it is trained the smarter, faster, and stronger it becomes (like working out), you have to stick with it or else you digress. Performing mental workouts on a daily basis, really helps with the amount of control needed to float by the negatives and turn them into positive results. 

Jr,

P.s. Sorry for being late.

Goals on a personal level.

            From unit 1-3 reading about integral health has been very interesting, that combined with past experiences and reading I have learned a lot about inner peace and stress relieving techniques. Rating my physical, spiritual, and psychological well being on a scale from 1-10 (ten being the best), I would have to say; physical-9, Spiritual-8, Psychological-7/8.
            I choose 9 for physical because I feel that I have achieved a lot physically between, going to the gym, and doing hapkido 4-5 days a week, I am in the best shape of my life. However, its only a 9 because I feel that I can get better, I constantly make goals for myself trying to achieve better results, always pushing myself.
            For spiritual, I said an 8 because my mom a few years ago made me watch this movie "the secret" and it really had an impact on me and the way I looked at life. I realized that my life starts with me and if I'm not happy with me than how can I be with my surroundings. Ever since I began practicing hapkido I have learned how to be more in touch with my inner self.
            Lastly Psychological I gave myself a 7/8 because I consider myself to be very cool and relaxed in most stressful situations, most. It is really difficult to stay firm and hold strong against those types of situations, however, gym training and practicing hapkido really offer a good way to cope with life's adversities. I read a book called "Zen in the martial arts", when it comes to focusing the mind, this book is awesome.
             My goals for Physical is to incorporate a lot more cardio, for Spiritual I would like to meditate more, and Psychological would be to not get stuck in life's traffic but to accept it and move with it in a progressive way. In order for me to complete these goals I have made significant strides to test myself (goal time lines), I have recently signed up for two different obstacle courses; one seven mile and one three mile. For spiritual I have signed up for yoga classes at a local recreational center, I chose yoga because it requires a lot of concentration and breathing in a controlled environment (much like meditating). To hit my goal psychologically I want to wake up each day and try to visualize how I want that day to go, if something happens during the day that could cause a problem, to step back see whats happening and adapt.
             This exercise was incredible, so relaxing. During the exercise I was yawning and feeling sleepy, at the end of the technique when we were asked to open our eyes and look around and to slowly start moving, I felt energized and ready to take on the rest of my day.

Jr,