Meditation Recap. AKA I can't believe we are in unit 8 already!

How time flies!

After thinking back on all the meditative practices that we have tried these past several weeks, I keep coming back to the loving-kindness practice.  I like to do a short version of this practice right before I start work, and again before I come back from my lunch break.  I think it has helped me deal with the stress of the passed month at work in a much healthier way than I would have before.  I also keep coming back to some of the visualization techniques, and also some of the mantras that go along with them.  Although I have not used these as much as the loving-kindness practice, I feel that when I do use them, they work wonders.  I still feel like I have to come up with my own mantras or sayings; ones that mean more to me than generic thoughts of "I am loved" (although it is important to tell yourself that).  I also tried the meditation from out Dacher reading this week, and found it very useful, and energizing.  Although I did not participate in it for the recommended time, I did read the directions until I could practically recite them, and had an enjoyable experience.  As I stated in my discussion board posting, I feel that I will use this practice when I get discourage from my path towards integral health.    By the time I was done with the exercise and had this feeling of extreme happiness, wholeness, and vitality, that I could almost feel the excitement radiating off of my own skin!  Although that feeling did not last very long, it was a wonderful feeling and one I want to experience again and again.

Hope everyone had a wonderful week, and I hope next week (with all the final projects) goes well for everyone!

~Catherine

Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday! 

Been going through some photos lately

This blog isn't for class.  I've been going through digital photos, sorting them into folders my month and year, and trying to put together a collection of photographs that I feel are my best photos.  I don't really want to be a professional photographer, (although I must say it was a pipe dream for a year or so), but it is a hobby, and I would like to share some photos with anyone out there who wants to see them.  I have and Instagram account, but its is more for fun.  I do share some serious photos on there, but not many, and what I do share is mixed in with "selfies" and random photos from my life, with friends, and family, not to mention crappy cell phone pictures edited beyond recognition of their original state.  So, here are a few I thought to share, just because I felt like sharing.

Notre Dame

One of my favorite subjects

Eiffel Tower

Earlier work

Reflection

Meeting Aesclepius (Unit 7 Blog)

This week's mediation was the Meeting Aesclepius mediation.  At the beginning, you are supposed to picture a wise person in your mind, either someone you know, or someone who you have just made up in your mind.  I chose to focus on my grandmother on my mother's side.  She passed away almost 13 years ago, (less than 24 hours before my niece was born).  She was very religious, but did not use religion to discriminate like some do.  I remember her as a kind, compassionate, and wise women, who was not afraid to tell it like it is, or defend her children and grandchildren if necessary.  This week, much of my mediation has focused on stress relief and sending a loving kindness to those around me.  It has been a very stressful week at work; very busy with much to accomplish.  Being the manager, it has been my job to get my associates to work as fast as they can on getting all the new merchandise set out on the floor for the customers.  Unfortunately, they do not have the work ethic I do, and I have had to set aside my nice, easy going managerial style for one much more harsh and pushy than I would like.  At the end of the day, I am so stressed out from having to hound them to get work done, and also stressed because I have to act like someone I am not to get them to work, that I need to remind myself of loving-kindness, and send good vibes back out into the world, and out to them.  The job of retail manager is not very conducive to human flourishing, and as soon as I can after graduation, I am leaving that job and starting my career.

One theme that has been common throughout this process is that you cannot lead others to where you have not been, meaning you cannot help others achieve peace, flourishing, and integral health if you yourself have not done it.  This applies to every aspect of life.  You simply cannot teach something to someone if you do not know how to do it yourself.  This even applied to my future profession.  This week in my ABAII class, we discussed behavior chaining, (the act of breaking down a complex behavior like shoe tying into step by step components, to teach those with disabilities how to complete these tasks in a simple and non-overwhelming manner).  Before you can go through your chain, you must complete a task analysis, which is the part where you breakdown the complex task into smaller more manageable steps.  The most recommended method of performing a task analysis, is to perform the task yourself, and to take note of the steps needed to accomplish the end result.  Again, you cannot lead others where you yourself have not gone; teaching anyone how to tie a shoe if you do not know how to tie a shoe would be a very difficult task indeed.  So is guiding someone to integral health, and human flourishing. 

Photo I took of a peacock at the Brookfeild Zoo in Chicago

Integral Assessment (Unit 6 Blog Post)

I can't believe we are in unit 6 already!  Over half-way through the class and I have learned so much, but still feel like I have so much more yet to learn.  Anyways...

The Integral Assessment is sort of a meditative state in which you focus on a few questions, and then search out and find the answers within yourself.  The first question is “what aspect of my life is causing suffering?”  For me, this aspect is the biological aspect.  I have been trying to get into shape and exercise more often, and this was going very well while I was training for the mud run, but since then I have had very little motivation to make time to exercise.  Along with this lack of motivation, I have been stressed out at work, and so have not been eating as healthy as I have been in the past, (not to mention I just has a family reunion this past weekend in Chicago, and they catered all sorts of Italian foods, along with Chicago style hot dogs, and I consciously made the decision to over eat for some stupid masochistic reason!).   I also discovered that if I am honest with myself, the unhealthy eating is almost an addiction, and that it does affect the way I feel.  I have tried to get back to healthier eating the last couple of days, and I feel better rested, more energetic, and already back to my motivated self.  I need to continue on this path and also make more time in my schedule for exercise.  The next question is “what aspect of my life is ready for growth?”  With this one, I waffled back and forth between psychospiritual and interpersonal.  I eventually ended up decided on psychospiritual, and decided that to grow, I need to get back to being outside in nature more.  I feel at ease in nature, and my meditation will grow to the next level if I practice it outside.

The loving kindness exercise I found helpful, but sort of like other meditations we have done so far in class.  However, I do appreciate getting more ideas for meditation mantras.  The more written ones I read and use, the more it will help me define my own meditation style, and the more I can refine my own personal mantras.  The more sources I can draw from, the more I can customize meditation to me.

Going through old photos with my grandmother, and ran across this one of my grandfather and grandmother from the mid 1960's.  She kept reminiscing about my "handsome" grandfather and his "big blue bedroom eyes."  Awkward when you grandmother talks about her sexual attractions.

~Catherine

Loving Kindness V. Subtle Mind (Unit 5 Blog)

Hello everyone.

Honestly, I found both the meditation from last week, and the one from this week just about equally frustrating and helpful.  I liked the guided imagery from last week, but found the amount of guidance annoying.  This week, there was less verbal guidance, but I have been so stressed and crazy running around this week, where it was difficult to focus my thoughts.  I found it difficult to let go of my frustrations and not follow the disruptive thoughts that kept coming to mind.  Because of my high stress level this week, I also found it difficult to get physically comfortable and relaxed enough to really get into and enjoy the meditation. 

This week I have definitely fully realized the connection between mind and body!  Being in a heightened state of stress as made me have headache, muscle tension, the inability to focus on tasks, and also made me not eat as healthy as I usually do, which has then made me feel even worse physically.  I knew that the mind and body were connected in before I began this class, but I never knew how much.  Because of the things I have learned the past few weeks, I am now able to not only recognize when my mind and body are affecting each other, but also articulate the reasons behind it. 

I hope you all had a better week than I did, and I wish us all a less stressful week to come!

~Catherine

Thank God Dacher Himself did not Voice the Relaxation for this Week (Unit 4 Blog)

My very first reaction to the loving-kindness exercise for this week, was "please Please PLEASE, tell him Dacher does not narrate the practice himself."  And he didn't so that was nice!  In all honesty, I found the end visualization of this weeks relaxation exercise to be the most helpful.  I listened to the recording after having my good day at work ruined by one customer at the very tail end of my shift.  During the last bit of the relaxation time, where we were to expand our circle of loving-kindness to everyone, I included that man, and it really helped me to get over the anger I felt at being treated badly.  Taking in all the negativity, stress, and bad vibes from the world, dissolving them within the self, and then exhaling out loving-kindness and peace was a very power technique and visualization.  I would recommend this to anyone who works in a stressful environment, or to anyone who has to deal with others they do not necessarily like, agree, or get along with.  

This week, Dacher also continued to discuss mental workouts, and mental fitness.  He states that by practicing either loving-kindness, or the subtle mind exercises for just one hour a day, we will begin to see a vast improvement in our psychospiritual health and wellness.  I think I might start with half an hour a day, then work up to an hour.  Right now, between working full time, and full time college classes it is hard for me to find a whole hour a day to relax, but I think I could manage 20 to 30 minutes!


On a side note, meditation has been a big help to me this week.  My brother's dog ran away and was hit and killed by a car.  She was just like a second niece; part of the family.  She was my study buddy when I dog sat, and a constant companion for about two months last year when my brother had to move, so she came and stayed with me until her was settled in.  I hope she knows how much she is missed and loved.

Queenie

 

Unit 3 Reflections

If I had to give myself a rating on a scale of 1 to 10 for each of three areas, (physical, spiritual and psychological) I would first focus on the physical aspects of myself.  This past weekend, I participated in the Mud Factor Seriously Fun 5k Obstacle Run, with my brother(all the money went to MS research, which our grandfather had).  I prepared myself more for the obstacles than the running, thinking they were going to be the difficult part, and I was wrong!  I after that experience, I think I would give myself a 5 for physical well being.  My body is not in poor shape, but I have just learned that it is not in as good of shape as I would have thought.  Next year, we want to participate in the Tough Mudder run, which is twice as long with twice as many obstacles, (all the proceeds benefit the Wounded Warrior Project) so my goal over the next year is to go from a 5 to an 8.  My spiritual well being I will rate at a 7.  I have a fairly good relationship with the universe around me, and although not a practicing Catholic (for the most part) as I feel much more connected to God and the spirits in nature not in a church or cathedral, I know where I feel most connected.  I would like to improve to an 8 or 9, and be able to more articulately describe my sense of spirituality to others.

Lastly, I would give my psychological well being a 7 as well.  Although I have a fairly healthy mind, I am still overcome time to time by feelings of severe anxiety, dread, and apprehension.  I also have a tendency to hold onto stress, and not let it go.  I think that through mediation, I could work  up to a 9 in a fairly short amount of time, and be more at peace in times of stress.

As far as our guided meditation for this week, I felt it was a bit too long, although I did like the grounding phrases that accompanied each stage, and each part of the body.  I may use this technique again, but shorten it to fit my needs.  I may also listen to it again, and memorize each phrase with each part of the body, and use them for quick relaxation techniques along with deep breathing, when ever I feel anxious about something, or stressed and angry about work.

My brother and I after the Mud Run