Unit 6 Integral Assessment

The universal kindness exercise and integral assessment gave me a new perspective on being connected to the source of my existence. In praying for the alleviation of suffering, and a life of health, happiness, and wholeness for all, I became present to the words I was repeating, and observed that I was repeating the words at a very fast pace; it was very noisy in my mind, at that instant I consciously, intentionally focused my attention to my breath and started breathing slower, which slowed down my speech. I then started to repeat the prayer out loud, which caused me to experience the relationship, or connection with the words, not empty words that flow from my lips, but a pouring out of my heart; being the conduit for freedom from suffering, loving-kindness, health, and wholeness for all people including the self.

I will focus on expanding my capacities for loving-kindness and a quiet mind; this will start me on the path of human flourishing. Periodic integral assessment will track my progress in fulfilling my goals to attain health, wholeness and happiness for all people.

Introducing Mental Fitness

http://www.scribd.com/doc/40290189

Spiritual and physical health Unit 5 Part 2

 To acquire spiritual wellness I must first cultivate a calm mind; calm abiding practice. A calm mind makes me aware of my connection to all of life, and the impact my thoughts have on my physical body; angry, worried, frustrated mind causes stress, restlessness and fatigue, a joyful, loving, grateful, and forgiving mind causes peace, vitality, energy, fulfillment, happiness, wholeness, and health.

The state of my health is a reflection of my thoughts; my mental processes, my thoughts are a reflection of my spirituality, the depth of my spirituality determines the state of my health.  

The subtle mind Unit 5 Part 1

The loving kindness exercise laid the foundation for the subtle mind exercise. When my thoughts are consumed with loving-kindness, happiness, health, and wholeness for myself and everyone else on this planet I am left with a sense of vulnerability, and peace, this sense of peace allows me to tune in to my breath and experience moments of oneness, and the calming of my mind. It was much easier to generate loving-kindness than it is to control and quiet the mind, ever so often I find my mind fixating on some random thought at which point I had to bring my attention back to the breath.   It is quite a challenge to tame the mind:)

Unit - 4 The power of intentionally training the mind

The conscious act of intentionally opening my heart to all the pain, and suffering in the world was rather challenging for me, but the act of generating loving-kindness, love, prosperity, compassion, wholeness, forgiveness, and health created a sense of ease, and peace. The experience made me aware of how connected we all are, the extent to which I can and should generate loving kindness, and the importance of opening my heart to all people. This exercise can benefit to anyone who practice on a regular basis, I would recommend it to others.

Part 1 of Mental Workout

The concept of mental work is to intentionally contemplate on a specific way of being in order to expand that way of being in your whole life; mental, physical, and spiritual. The proven benefit of a mental workout according to Dacher, (2006) is expanded consciousness, the opening of your heart and mind, diminished self-centeredness, preparing your mind for further development, and the revelation of a deeper wisdom that knows the truth of your own life and existence. Ultimately mental workout is the practice and development of loving-kindness, and wisdom, according to Dacher, (2006) this is essential to being healed at the source, and propels human flourishing.

The first step

We will never discover new grounds; have new experiences, unless we are willing to lose sight of the shore; willing to do some things differently.
Psychological, Physical and Spiritual health assessment
Assessing my A:-physical well-being, B:-spiritual well-being, C:-psychological well-being on a scale 1 to 10 (ten being optimal well-being).
Psychological = 7, Physical = 8, Spiritual = 8.
GOALS
Psychological: To alleviate unnecessary suffering in my life, live to developed my health, happiness, and wholeness, and practice skillful actions daily.
Physical: Develop my capacities of my mind-body connection.
Spiritual: Develop a practice of sitting quietly each day, and meditate on loving kindness for myself and all of life.
Activities or exercise to be implemented: sit quietly each day for no less than five minutes, practice loving kindness in my thoughts, my speech, and my actions, practice skillful action daily.
My experience after listening to: “The Crime of the Century”.
In preparation for the meditation I consciously chose to let go of what I already knew about meditation to absorb the new experience fully. I chose to come from the context of Loving-kindness, and use my breath as a guide to surrender to the directions that were given.
 The mental exercise introduced a different awareness of my present being; mental, physical, and spiritual.  This experience is the foundation of cultivating a new level of consciousness for me.
When the student is ready, the teacher will come.