1. Practice the universal Loving Kindness (meditation) exercise on p. 93.
This exercise is great. It helped me to feel the full capacity of love that I should be exercising. This pure love also is how Christ lived on this earth.
2. Complete the Integral Assessment discussed in chapter 11 (p.115).
• Begin with a still and silent mind
• Focus on the four quadrants
• Take inventory of the four aspects and choose which needs attention
• Identify specific lines of development that need the work
• Set a plan in motion to help balance the problem
• Live the plan and development
3. Describe the exercise and assessment process. What did you discover about yourself? What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and development? Why? What are some specific exercises or activities that you can implement to foster greater wellness in this area?
This exercise for me wasn’t easy. I tried to give myself excuses as to why I am the way I am. I’ve learned that by giving excuses, there will be no healing. Without this personal healing, there will not be a unity in mind, body, and spirit.
I have chosen to take the four aspects and divide them up in each month. Each week I will focus on a different aspect and help my life become balanced. I think by focusing on each aspect will help me assess my weakest areas and discover my strongest. For this week I am choosing to strengthen my Psychospiritual aspect in particularly my emotional line of development. With my daily added stressors of being a wife, mother, and student, keeping my house tip top shape to show at any given moment so that it will sell, and packing to move 1700 miles and across 3 states in less than 30 days. I have felt that my “uncontrolled desires, anger, fear, and other reactive emotions” have taken over (Dacher, 2006, p 108). I have become too emotional and am too quick to react. This has caused me great sorrow and pain for myself and for my family. Assessing myself after practicing the Loving Kindness exercise has made me realize that love is more powerful than any other emotion. With loving-kindness, all negativity will disappear.
Loving-kindness is the exercise that I will implement to help with this assessment. I feel that if I always remember to use kind, gentle, loving words and actions, I will become more calm and meek. I took a great 6-week class a year ago called Parenting with Love and Logic. It was hard work, but I felt that my kids and I were connecting more often, and I was yelling less often. I will again start implementing the exercises that I learned from that class.
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
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It certainly does sound like you have alot going on. I think your plan to focus on goals separately will increase the probability that you will be able to stick with the objectives. I've found in my own life if I set out to do too many things at once it is unrealistic and I end up becoming more stressed. So by setting responsible goals we are more likely to be able to achieve them which will promote our wellness. Good luck to you with everything!
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteYou have a lovely layout for your blog! Everything is so organized and easy to read. Giving ourself excuses is probably one of the hardest road blocks to remove in wanting to change. But I think its great that you recognize it and want to change so that you can achieve your goals. You certainly have a great plan to address these aspects of your life! Psych-spiritual would be the first area I would work on as well. It seems to be the key to reducing stress, enjoying life and strengthening relationships with the people around you. Good luck with everything, you seem to be very passionate and ready to learn!
Wow, with your busy life, I can how it is easy to get caught up in reactive emotions and such. I really like your approach to the mindfulness assessment and practice. I think that if we all worked on ourselves the way that you plan to work on each aspect of your health, we would all benefit greatly! I think that you are already ahead of the game by being so aware of yourself. Great job!
ReplyDeleteBritt
It's hard to find that calm-abiding when you have so much going on around you! I think it's a great idea to break up the four aspects and work on each one individually. Your exactly right that we cannot achieve healing if we continue to make excuses for ourselves. We need too be honest with ourselves even if we don't necessarily like what we see. This is when we can really identify the areas of our lives that need work and then move towards healing. I wish you luck with selling your home, packing, and still finding time for school and taking care of your family! You'll get through it and be stronger for the experience! :)
ReplyDelete~Lindsay S
I must commend you on all of your great accomplishments. Mom, wife, student and now trying to sell a house and move. NO doubt you are stressed. I like your plan to separate all the aspects into 4 different areas. That is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI took a class on Love and Logic as well, it was actually taught by Jim and Charles Fay. It was well worth my time. Although I felt like if you don't listen to the tapes or CD's often you can become lax. They help instill that movitation in you needed to be a parent.
Best of Luck with all that you have going on.