Unit 8

Well, I must say that I feel that all of the exercises that were assigned can be beneficial to my future and after some practice I am getting better at all of them. I know we are supposed to discuss the two that we feel have the most benefit, but I am going to start with discussing the one that proved to be most difficult for me. Loving Kindness was a very difficult exercise for me and I still struggle with it at some points. Now with that being said, I feel that this exercise will probably be the most beneficial to me in the future. I think that the reason I have such a hard time comepleting the exericse is because it forces me to face feelings and emotions that I have difficulty facing. The other exercises I feel will be helpful throughout time are the relaxation exercises. It is very refreshing to me to just sit and relax and think of the things that make me feel good. When the exercise is over, I feel as if I just awoke from a deep and satifying sleep. I will definitely continue to practice all of these exercises and hopefully find even more that can help me to continue to progress throughout life. I would also like to wish everyone in this course the best of luck in the future and keep striving to be the best you. Stephanie

Unit 7 Meeting Aesclepius

Hello,

Well I must say that I did enjoy this exercise this week. I do still feel that I like the Subtle Mind exercise best, but this one was good too. I feel that throughout the time I have spent in this course I have been able to really connect with my inner self and spiritually I am growing more and more. After this course is over, I feel that I will continue to practice these exercises and try to become more psychologically and spiritually sound.

I feel that in order to guide someone down I fulfilling path, you need to have already taken the path and explain the twists and turns that occur along the way. It is difficult to help someone accomplish something that you are not willing to attempt yourself. I feel that if I want to help someone else to find their way, I need to have already taken the path. I do not think it is fair to attempt to steer clients down a path when you have not started first. It is required to be in front of the line in order to guide someone else, therefore you have to be on your way before you can draw someone else in to follow.

Stephanie

Unit 6

First, I would like to say that I have a hard time with the Loving Kindness exercise. I had a difficult time with it the first time and I still do. My focus tends to shift during the exercise and it is distracting. I have tried it more than once since we initially were assigned to try it and I always have the same result.
Also, the assessment was enlightening. I feel as if there are a few different areas that I can work on, but since I had to choose one for the sake of the assignment I chose to work on the flaw of getting upset over small things. It is very stressful for not only me, but for my family when I get upset or hurt feelings over things that I really should not. I have found that as I get older, I am much more emotional than I used to be and things bother me that never would have before. I am going to try to not get upset over small things. The exercise that I am going to try to implement to help with this issue is the diaphragmatic breathing which is supposed to be an excellent relaxation exercise that we have been working on in my other class right now.

Stephanie

Unit 5 Blog

Hello all,

I have to say that I have been having mixed feelings when completing these exercises. I did not have much success with the Loving Kindness exercise, but I really enjoyed the Subtle Mind exercise. I am not sure if the difference was because that with the Subtle Mind exercise I was able to focus on myself or because the Loving Kindness exercise had me focusing partially on someone else and I kept changing the person I was supposed to be focusing on which made it hard to focus. I also had many distractions when trying to complete the Loving Kindness exercise. I did not have the same distractions this week. I will definitely continue to utilize the Subtle Mind exercise, but I am not sure that I will attempt the Loving Kindness any time soon. I look forward to reading about everyone else's experiences.

Stephanie

Unit 4 Loving Kindness

I just finished the Loving Kindness exercise and I found it to be a bit difficult for me. I am not sure if it was the distractions and interruptions that kept occurring during the exercise, but I am pretty sure that they had something to do with it. I tried to choose a time when I would not have these issues, but it seems that I have been unsuccessful thus far. I do plan to try to get through this exercise again later without interruption tonight. Maybe it will be easier with the family in bed. I would recommend all of the exercises so far to family and friends because I feel that with practice they can all be beneficial to myself as well as others.

I feel that the mental workout concept can be successful in training the mind for clarity and focus. These exercises that we have been working on for the past few weeks is a good start. These things can help us to be more involved in the training of our minds and to have more control of our thoughts and feelings. Research has shown that participating in mental workout exercises can be beneficial mentally, physically, and emotionally in the long run. I feel that if I continue to practice and include these exercises in my daily life that they will only continue to help me in all of these aspects as well.

Stephanie

Unit 3 Goal Setting

Hello again. Well, this week we are talking about optimal well-being and goals. I would have to say that when it comes to my physical well-being I would rate it an six on a scale from one to ten. Although I do not struggle with weight issues on a regular basis, I have recently experienced some weight gain. I believe that the reason for my sudden weight gain is because after 20+ years of smoking, I finally quit. I have decided to start walking regularly in my neighborhood to help lose the extra weight I have accumulated and prevent more from adding to the problem. As far as spiritual well-being, this is an area that has been seriously neglected. I would say it is probably a two on the scale from one to ten. I do not put much effort into this aspect of life. The only way I know to work on this and attain my goal of becoming spiritually satisfied is to start by going back to church on a regular basis. It has been close to 15 years since I have gone to church regularly. My goal is to return to church and continue to go. My psychological well-being is about a five on the scale from one to ten. I would say that there is definitely room for improvement. The relaxation exercises we have been learning have really helped. My goal is to try other relaxation exercises and find the ones that I find most helpful and implement them on a regular basis. The relaxation exercise for this week (The Crime of the Century) was nice. I think I liked this one better than the last.

Unit 2 Relaxation exercise reflection

I have to say that when I first started listening to the relaxation exercise I thought it would put me to sleep before I got half way through, but the truth is after listening to the whole thing and following the directions as I went along, by the time it was over I felt refreshed. I believed that the tone of the voice of the man speaking would relax me a little too much, but it seems that it was just what I needed. As a matter of fact, I saved the file to my desktop so I can easily find it and use it in the future.

Stephanie