Unit 8 Summary of Mental Exercises

  I have enjoyed this class immensely due to the mind stimulation that it has brought into my life.  I feel sorry for those who have not been introduced to these concepts because they can drastically change the mental and physical health of anyone who attempts them.  I personally enjoyed the subtle mind exercise more than any other that we have learned.  As an old cross country runner I have been aware of breathing techniques for a long time now.  Only recently have I discovered that our breathing patterns can be used to calibrate our minds so that we are able to confidently face all of the stressful situations that we may encounter during our lives. The focus that can be achieved through the subtle mind exercise can be used to help us help others, and this may truly be the highlight of it's simplicity.
  The loving kindness exercise was also a great achievement in my spiritual growth.  I really can appreciate the concept of projecting ones love and caring feelings to those who surround our lives.  I have always been a big believer in Karma, and the loving kindness exercise seems to revolve around the fact that we get out of life only what we put into it.  I spend a great deal of time concerned about my fellow man, and the loving kindness exercise makes me feel as though I am actually helping people by using my positive thoughts, and in this way I am indirectly effecting peoples lives without interfering with their own free will.  

Great Wellness Website

http://www.associationfornetworkcare.com/articles/chirojournal.shtml

Unit 7 Meeting Asciepius

  Hello to all, I am simply amazed at how well these new practices work for me.  It was very easy for me to envision someone in my life who I could project my attention towards.  The person that I thought of has been the "glue" in my life and the lives of many others, and has always put aside their problems in order to resolve the issues of the ones that she cares about.  She writes down all of the days happenings so that there is a log of how well the people around her are doing.  I feel that this practice is meant to teach us that we should be the subject of someones "Meeting Asciepius" practice.  We should take a page from the book of the person that we are focusing on, and try to discover why that person stands out in our head.
  One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself.  This statement describes the experience that all of us have gathered in our lives.  If you are trying to explain to a client that they can reach a level of clarity in their lives that will bring them balance, peace, and health, they are going to wonder what this process feels like and they will have many questions as to how to get there.  I have always enjoyed introducing people to new experiences, and there is a great feeling of accomplishment when you teach someone something that they may not have understood before they met you.  It is crucial to our learning process that we have a path that we are following, and that we know where we have come from and where we are going.  By having this full picture we are able to not only explain where we are going, but how we have progressed in order to get where we are today.  There will always be others who have been traveling this path before us, but being on the path is better than not knowing about it.

Universal Love and Kindness Unit 6

Hello to all.  I really enjoyed our newest mind exercise and have felt the results almost instantaneously.  The first sentence resonated the most with me.  "May all individuals gain freedom from suffering."  I feel that some of the most tedious points in our lives are the benchmarks for how we view our overall situation in this world. The pain and suffering that we may go through should be considered to be the tax that we pay for the lessons that we learn through these experiences.  My life lessons have been difficult at some points in my life but it truly makes me feel great about the life that I have now.  There are some areas in which I could use some improvement though.  I try very hard to believe that people have the ability to find their own path, but it is frustrating when I come across people who have not made goals for themselves, and seem to be swimming in circles in an infinite ocean of possibilities.  This is not for me to worry about but it still crosses my mind when I do exercises such as these.  My line of development is on the right track and I feel that my next level of development will involve trying to combine my mind with my body by introducing my body to some new stretches and possibly some more intense yoga positions.  

Unit 5 PowerPoint

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWuc9dm-ihRdZGdzYmRyanFfMGZ0bWRmcGhn&hl=en

The Subtle Mind

Hello class, I have a problem that I wanted to tell you about.  It's pretty ironic but the Dacher CD that was sent to me has a ton of white noise on it.  I was able to listen to the introduction of track three but it turns into this awful loud static right after the lady gets you all calm and relaxed.  So I had to do this assignment from just the text.  I will do some more research to see if I can find this on youtube, which I had no problem finding a version of the loving kindness exercise there as well that I posted on my Facebook page for all my friends.  I enjoyed the inner aspect of the Subtle Mind exercise which seems to focus on one own well being and metal status.  I know it is important to respect and appreciate all of the people around us, but I think it is more important for our own mental well being to be in order before we try to focus on the people around us.  I like that these exercises focus on breathing as our way to calm ourselves and create an "anchor" as they put it by paying close attention to how we breath.  I think back to when I was running cross country in high school and how much emphasis our coach put on correct breathing patterns.  I thought I had made this up but when I would lay in bed at night I would take as many of the deepest breaths that I could as I fell asleep.  This matches up very closely to the exercises that we have been introduce to in this class.
As for the connection between spiritual wellness and mind and body wellness I think that all three are very important to each other.  I see spirit as a willingness to see beyond what we know and to believe that there are things that can help us even if we don't fully understand why.  Once we have the spirit, we can train our minds to positively accept all of the stimuli that we receive throughout the day.  By having this positive reaction or flow through our bodies we have a much greater chance of staying healthy in mind and body.  Our brains are so powerful that if we are stressed out for a period of time this will most certainly reduce our abilities to fight off the many different strains of viruses and diseases. So keep your spirits high, your mind grounded, and your body fit and you will have a much more enjoyable life.