Calmness in the Midst of a Storm

 Ahhhh, this was a challenging week to succumb to the power of meditative practices. It seems as though everything around me was hectic and in chaos including my soul. This week I discovered that just DECIDING to begin a practice does not automatically end in a calmed and renewed mind. The universal Loving Kindness exercise was simple but going into it what I found challenging the most was perfectly remembering the exact verbiage. My focus initially was the words then I quickly realized as long as I channel the general meaning of each statement I would still find stillness and release positive energy and help those in suffering and in search for happiness. After this week’s practice it was confirmation that in the midst of a chaotic world the moments that generated stillness within can have unlimited powers.

The Integral Assessment was definitely enlightening. Through this assessment I discovered for me the healing process started about four years ago. Although I am a work in progress, at this phase of my life I am in a unique position where I can really focus on self and having purpose; moving in the direction of pursuing a dream that I didn’t exactly know existed. The assessment was confirmation that I need to continue to focus on my growth in my psychospiritual realm of human flourishing; specifically the conative and emotional line of development. I felt this is an area of focus because my life priorities are God, family, business (school) and cultivating these areas will allow me to build a strong foundation granting me spiritual maturity. In order to foster greater wellness in this area I can consistently practice Subtle Mind exercises, sow seeds of gratitude and thankfulness, and work towards using the Life-as-Practice approach.

Mental Fitness

 Here is my power point presentation https://dropbox.next.ecollege.com/(NEXT(c7ba38d5cf))/Main/CourseMode/UserBasket/DownloadAttachment.ed?attachmentid=1070487224

Subtle mind power

I am truly enjoying these practices prescribed to us. The Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise were very different in my opinion. I enjoyed the Loving Kindness exercise because the guide gave you cues to guide you through the entire practice. I enjoyed the Subtle mind exercise because the guide provide less cues and it gave me a greater opportunity to witness my thoughts and I felt like I had more freedom. I truly enjoyed the sound of the waves in the Subtle mind practice and it provided more relaxation, to the point of dosing off for a minute or two. I feel as though one of the benefits of the Loving Kindness exercise is giving more of me to others which makes me feel a part of a bigger movement to build unity among mankind. Practicing the Subtle mind exercise this week make me feel more mature in my practice because I felt like I was truly witnessing my thoughts and not running with each random thought that appeared. It was as if I was watching each thought roll out of my mind like drops of water.

I practiced the Subtle mind exercise today while we were out on our fishing trip to the Thousand Islands. It was so peaceful and initially I felt frustrated because of the challenge of blocking out the distractions of boats going by and the birds chirping but then I shifted my mind to allow me to witness those thoughts instead of allowing them to distract me. I was proud of myself after the practice was over.

The connection of spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness is an interesting one that the average people I come in contact cannot even begin to understand. I thoroughly believe that we have to be healthy mind body and spirit. Some people strive simply for the physical transformation which makes me sad because I believe they will never truly be happy if they don’t attempt to also work on their mental and spiritual wellness as well. I learned this week that simultaneously working your mind by visualizing during a physical workout is more beneficial. I was a somewhat confused on the explanation of spiritual wellness in our text. What I understood was, for some, this connection is like an out of body experience into worlds unknown. I think my untrained mind at this point can’t fully grasp the entire concept but I am hopeful that I will continue to grow in that area.

Loving Kindness (Unit 4)

This week my experience with the Loving Kindness mp3 was a relaxing experience. I went into this practice with the thought of “I can do this, easy.” I would have to say that was far from the reality of my practice this time around. Listening to the guided track was beneficial because it gave me time to myself. I really enjoyed the cues to apply visualization during my practice. I even felt a smile creep onto my face during some moments. It was difficult because the unwarranted chatter in my brain became distracting at times during my practice. I believe because of my procrastinating tendencies I hold on to a lot of useless thoughts that could easily be converted to proactive actions that move me closer to my daily, weekly, and ultimately long term goals both in my business and my personal life. I would recommend this to others because we could all use a few minutes out of our busy day to truly reflect on giving love away simply through our thoughts which in return shows love to ourselves.

The concept of “mental workout” relates to the training or conditioning of our minds to progressively develop it by expansion of our consciousness. If we consistently work to strengthen our minds we will maximize the benefits and ultimately reach a point of human flourishing. Research indicates that health, happiness, and wholeness are proven benefits of a mental workout. Through our mental workouts we are able to sow seeds of love and kindness through our minds and integrate a practice that will eventually lead us to higher levels in our psychospiritual growth. We can implement mental workouts to encourage our psychological health by contemplative practices. These practices are tools that allow us to tame the mind, gain access to deeper levels within ourselves, and gain a higher sense of awareness.

DREAM BIG

~Kanisha

Self Reflectin and Goal Setting

Self reflection is a practice that we should all incorporate routinely. It is an opportunity for us to realign our daily activities making sure they are on track to reaching our goals in life. Based on my reflections I would rate my physical wellbeing as a seven because I am in the best shape of my life at this point but there is still improvement that can be made. My spiritual well-being is a 6 because I can truly feel a connection with a higher power. I have never had as much faith as I do now but I still allow fear to overcome me at times. My psychological well-being is a five because of the mental stress I allow to creep into my mind. I believe this stress generally comes from a lack of faith which is the opposite of fear. Over the course of the last 3 years I have been on a specific journey to live my life on purpose and making the conscious effort to do activities that push me towards meaningful goals rather than randomly living each day. I am a work in progress but I do know that I am better than I was yesterday.

My physical goal that I will set for my physical well being is to reduce my body fat by 5% over the course of the next 30 days. In order to achieve this I will focus on my nutrition, work towards eating less processed foods, and stay consistent with resistance and cardio workouts. My spiritual goal is to focus creating silence and stillness during devotion. I have been doing great with consistency but I often allow random thoughts to enter my mind and cause me to lose focus. My psychological goal is to show more love, kindness, and belief in myself. I am great at providing positivity for others but when it comes to me I often revert to negative self dialogue.

The relaxation exercise this time around was frustrating because I could not listen to it. For some reason the link would not work; however, in the moment of frustration I closed my eyes and began to meditate to bring my sense of awareness to a place of forgiveness of getting angry about something I could not control.

Gratefully Living on Purpose

Living on purpose is a concept I only dreamt about years ago. This is only the second week of class but I am already grateful for being where I am at this moment. I feel like the recent lesson has already enlightened my mind and provided confirmation that there was substance to the random thoughts that I could not relay to those close to me. I would always hear "you'll figure it out" or just get a blank stare and I knew they could not relate or offer significant advice to satisfy my desire to connect on a deeper level. I am thankful for the positive people that cross my path and offer positive energy and hope that there is more to living a life full of excitement and continuous growth. Reflecting on the first two weeks of class my hope is that each of you, as well as myself, walk away from our ten weeks together and apply even a portion of what we learn to our everyday lives so that we can all come out on top flourishing like the successful people we are called to be. ~Kanisha