Over the last few weeks I have been introduced to several types of exercises that promote spiritual and mental fitness. Of these, I have found the 'Loving Kindness' and 'Subtle Mind' exercises to be the most beneficial at this time.
As I mentioned in a previous blog posting, it has taken me a long time to learn to 'love' myself. What I learned the most from this exercise is that you can't fully love another until you fully love and accept yourself. For many years I have truly believed that I loved others and was giving everything of myself but this exercise made me realize you have to in essence be love to give love otherwise you are just going through the motions. I know that I have made a great deal of progress in this area but there are still parts of me that fill with doubt and judgment and I would like to come to a point that I love and accept myself NO MATTER WHAT. I also want to be able to love my partner and my step-daughter with everything that I have and that they deserve; by learning to love myself unconditionally I will also be able to give them infinite, unconditional love as well. During the day when I am faced with obstacles that cause me to fill with doubt or that sense that I just don't measure up, I stop and take a mental time out, reassure myself that I am worthy, and no matter the outcome, I am still worthy of love.
I also found the 'Subtle Mind' exercise extremely beneficial. I work in a career field that demands not only physical fitness but mental and emotional fitness as well. As a nurse, I am expected to be compassionate, caring, tentative to peoples needs, and intuitive. At the end of the day my mind is often running a thousand miles a minute in several different directions. On my drive home I may thinking of all the homework I have to do plus daily chores like dinner and laundry all the while still feeling an emotional connection to a patient that may have made an exceptional impression. The 'Subtle Mind' exercise was an excellent exercise in teaching me an efficient way to calm my mind. Although I have extremely busy days I can incorporate this exercise in the moments that I don't have to interact with others like when I am getting ready for work before everyone gets up, on my drive in to work or home from work, or in those moments before I go to sleep.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Meeting Aesclepius and A Walk in Anothers Shoes
Meeting Aesclepius
I'm not quite sure that I got to meet him the first two times I attempted this exercise, as once I again I fell fast asleep, but I think by the third time I at least got a glimpse. I was able to relate to the feeling of the mind feeling like a waterfall and by the end of the exercise I can honestly say that my mind was more like a still pond. There are times when I am focusing on my breathing that I actually feel and even visualize my breath coming in and out of my body. When I first started during these exercise this focus actually made me a little nervous but now I have found a rhythm like when I am on a distance run. The person that comes to mind when doing this exercise is a very close friend of mind named Joanna. There is a radiance about her that even when you aren't around her you can feel her prescence, warmth, and love. While doing this exercise I focused on her strength and some of the latest words of wisdom she gave me. A great sense of peace, calmness, and warmth filled me and the things that have troubled me lately just seem to disappear and find their own answer. This meditation exercise was extremely relaxing and insightful; I have not slept that sound and peaceful in several months. I even awoke the next morning feeling fresh and ready to start the day even though I knew my obstacle was still there. In the end it helped me figure out an alternative to the issue while at the same time enabling a sense of self empowerment.
The meditation exercises over the last few weeks have been very insightful to my own spiritual health. I have learned to disconnect the connotation or religion and spirituality. I am not saying that I do not believe in a higher power I just don't find solace and peace in organized religion; in fact the whole thing stresses me out. I grew up in a black Southern Baptist family where my dad was the minister of our church. I always felt that people were sitting there passing judgement; judgement on what people were wearing, judgement on peoples choices, judgement on someone being ill, nothing but judgement. I don't feel that this is what 'God' has intended for anyone. I never felt comfortable enough to bare my soul in church for fear of this judgement. I love the space that I am in now; I accept me regardless of what anyone else thinks; I can bare all aspects of being before my God and to myself and there is no judgement. The more I meditate the more I feel connected to my core values, to God, to nature, and the world. I hope that as I continue this journey people will see this change in me and hopefully I can share it with them as well.
The Walk
"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself". What more can really be said about this statement? It is about as cliche as you can get....I'm not trying to sound snooty or indifferent it's just that this concept is taught ad nausem but few actually follow it. We see it everyday from parents that tell there children not to smoke when they do, leaders that expect their subordinates to follow the rules when they don't, etc. When you think about it why would you want to follow someone who has no experience in what they are trying to teach or enforce. It kind of goes back to the saying of the blind leading the blind. It is far easy to have respect and take to heart the words of someone who has lived or experienced something when they are offering their wisdom. Although this concept can become frustrating to those who feel that there are far too many hypocrites in this world it does negate the fact that we should make a concerted effort to embrace it in our personal and professional lives. Often times I have patients that come in with an injury or illness and they will ask, "Have you been through this yourself" or "Have you treated anyone with this before". The look of relief and trust that comes over their faces when I am able to relate to them through my experiences is priceless. Not too long ago I had a teenager that came through my clinic and she had just lost her mother. At first she said, "Why should I bother talking to you, you wouldn't understand". Then I think she saw the look on my face because she recanted by saying, "Maybe you do". I was able to relate my experience of losing both of my parents when I was a teenager. As a health care professional I do feel a sense of obligation to maintain my psychological, physical, and spiritual health. For my own conscience I could not look my patients in the face or teach a class if I didn't feel I was at least attempting to maintain these levels of my life. I believe that you really have to practice what you preach. The process to implementing psychological and spiritual growth at first seems tedious but when you step back and actually look at all the learning possibilities it really isn't that hard. Each day I learn something from everyone around me, my co-workers, my patients, my partner, my step-daughter, etc. Taking as little as 5 minutes a day to just reflect and find quiet and peace will slowly start to take its course in your life. With school and work my quiet time is in the shower in the morning. No one is up, not even the dogs. I can stand there in a nice hot shower, focus on the water cleansing my body on the outside and inside and just be.
I'm not quite sure that I got to meet him the first two times I attempted this exercise, as once I again I fell fast asleep, but I think by the third time I at least got a glimpse. I was able to relate to the feeling of the mind feeling like a waterfall and by the end of the exercise I can honestly say that my mind was more like a still pond. There are times when I am focusing on my breathing that I actually feel and even visualize my breath coming in and out of my body. When I first started during these exercise this focus actually made me a little nervous but now I have found a rhythm like when I am on a distance run. The person that comes to mind when doing this exercise is a very close friend of mind named Joanna. There is a radiance about her that even when you aren't around her you can feel her prescence, warmth, and love. While doing this exercise I focused on her strength and some of the latest words of wisdom she gave me. A great sense of peace, calmness, and warmth filled me and the things that have troubled me lately just seem to disappear and find their own answer. This meditation exercise was extremely relaxing and insightful; I have not slept that sound and peaceful in several months. I even awoke the next morning feeling fresh and ready to start the day even though I knew my obstacle was still there. In the end it helped me figure out an alternative to the issue while at the same time enabling a sense of self empowerment.
The meditation exercises over the last few weeks have been very insightful to my own spiritual health. I have learned to disconnect the connotation or religion and spirituality. I am not saying that I do not believe in a higher power I just don't find solace and peace in organized religion; in fact the whole thing stresses me out. I grew up in a black Southern Baptist family where my dad was the minister of our church. I always felt that people were sitting there passing judgement; judgement on what people were wearing, judgement on peoples choices, judgement on someone being ill, nothing but judgement. I don't feel that this is what 'God' has intended for anyone. I never felt comfortable enough to bare my soul in church for fear of this judgement. I love the space that I am in now; I accept me regardless of what anyone else thinks; I can bare all aspects of being before my God and to myself and there is no judgement. The more I meditate the more I feel connected to my core values, to God, to nature, and the world. I hope that as I continue this journey people will see this change in me and hopefully I can share it with them as well.
The Walk
"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself". What more can really be said about this statement? It is about as cliche as you can get....I'm not trying to sound snooty or indifferent it's just that this concept is taught ad nausem but few actually follow it. We see it everyday from parents that tell there children not to smoke when they do, leaders that expect their subordinates to follow the rules when they don't, etc. When you think about it why would you want to follow someone who has no experience in what they are trying to teach or enforce. It kind of goes back to the saying of the blind leading the blind. It is far easy to have respect and take to heart the words of someone who has lived or experienced something when they are offering their wisdom. Although this concept can become frustrating to those who feel that there are far too many hypocrites in this world it does negate the fact that we should make a concerted effort to embrace it in our personal and professional lives. Often times I have patients that come in with an injury or illness and they will ask, "Have you been through this yourself" or "Have you treated anyone with this before". The look of relief and trust that comes over their faces when I am able to relate to them through my experiences is priceless. Not too long ago I had a teenager that came through my clinic and she had just lost her mother. At first she said, "Why should I bother talking to you, you wouldn't understand". Then I think she saw the look on my face because she recanted by saying, "Maybe you do". I was able to relate my experience of losing both of my parents when I was a teenager. As a health care professional I do feel a sense of obligation to maintain my psychological, physical, and spiritual health. For my own conscience I could not look my patients in the face or teach a class if I didn't feel I was at least attempting to maintain these levels of my life. I believe that you really have to practice what you preach. The process to implementing psychological and spiritual growth at first seems tedious but when you step back and actually look at all the learning possibilities it really isn't that hard. Each day I learn something from everyone around me, my co-workers, my patients, my partner, my step-daughter, etc. Taking as little as 5 minutes a day to just reflect and find quiet and peace will slowly start to take its course in your life. With school and work my quiet time is in the shower in the morning. No one is up, not even the dogs. I can stand there in a nice hot shower, focus on the water cleansing my body on the outside and inside and just be.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Learning to Love.....Even More
So here I am again being asked to dig deeper into the world of love. The first thing without a doubt is learning to love one's self then at this point will you be able to take it a step further and show this love to others.
Universal Loving Kindness Exercise
This exercise came at a very much needed time. I recently had a falling out with a friend over what seems to me and others as a very trivial issue. However, this friend refuses to speak to me, look at me, or even acknowledge my prescence when in the same room. It has been a couple of months now and I think what bothers me the most is that I really don't feel a sense of loss over the end of the friendship; I almost just feel relief. However, I am not and have not been angry at this person and can honestly say that I only want the best for her. While practicing the Universal Loving Kindness exercise I realized that I do love her as a person and it is ok to still feel that for her even though she does not want to be a friend any longer. It feels good parting in this way because I know and feel that whatever positive energy inside me will eventually spill over and infect her too. In essence, this exercise inspired a sense of hope for reconciliation.
The Integral Assessment
This process serves as a type of guideline or manual. It causes you to bring your attention to the here and now, the future, provides relevancy, and forces you to maintain your psychospiritual awareness. The most important part of this exercise is a sense of relevancy. Sometimes when we begin a journey in personal enlightenment we become stagnant in one area, neglect others, and do not bring attention to those that need it when the time arises. As mentioned in the previous exercise I lost a friend recently. This affects me mentally and emotionally and not so much physically. The integral assessment helps guide me to direct my efforts and attention to those aspect that need the most nuturing at this time. I can foster growth in this area by working on developing the witnessing mind and progressing to a calm-abiding. Finding peace and quiet on a regular basis will be a step in the right direction.
Universal Loving Kindness Exercise
This exercise came at a very much needed time. I recently had a falling out with a friend over what seems to me and others as a very trivial issue. However, this friend refuses to speak to me, look at me, or even acknowledge my prescence when in the same room. It has been a couple of months now and I think what bothers me the most is that I really don't feel a sense of loss over the end of the friendship; I almost just feel relief. However, I am not and have not been angry at this person and can honestly say that I only want the best for her. While practicing the Universal Loving Kindness exercise I realized that I do love her as a person and it is ok to still feel that for her even though she does not want to be a friend any longer. It feels good parting in this way because I know and feel that whatever positive energy inside me will eventually spill over and infect her too. In essence, this exercise inspired a sense of hope for reconciliation.
The Integral Assessment
This process serves as a type of guideline or manual. It causes you to bring your attention to the here and now, the future, provides relevancy, and forces you to maintain your psychospiritual awareness. The most important part of this exercise is a sense of relevancy. Sometimes when we begin a journey in personal enlightenment we become stagnant in one area, neglect others, and do not bring attention to those that need it when the time arises. As mentioned in the previous exercise I lost a friend recently. This affects me mentally and emotionally and not so much physically. The integral assessment helps guide me to direct my efforts and attention to those aspect that need the most nuturing at this time. I can foster growth in this area by working on developing the witnessing mind and progressing to a calm-abiding. Finding peace and quiet on a regular basis will be a step in the right direction.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Mental Fitness: Live Long, Live Strong, Live Well- UNIT 5 Project
}Objectives
Demonstrate and discuss the importance of mental fitness and its implications on physical wellness
}Review supporting evidence that mental fitness is key to overall wellness
}Explore some exercises that can help in practicing mental fitness
Mental Fitness: Live Long, Live Strong, Live Well
Ancient practitioners in Ayurvedic and Chinese cultures recognized the connection of the human mind and body within itself and its connection to the cycles and rhythms of nature. Their practices sought to bring harmony, peace, stillness, balance, and wholeness of the mind and body through conscious breathing, meditation, healing touch, and gentle movement exercises. Somewhere in the evolution of medicine the mind-body connection was replaced with the practice of treating the mind separately from the body. Now, after years of research and experimentation the Western world of medicine is beginning to embrace the concept of the mind-body connection and in doing so creates a paradigm shift in the promotion of wellness.
Importance of Mental Fitness:
Physical and Biological Benefits
◦Positive thinking leads to positive actions
◦Increased motivation and energy to stay physically active which leads to multiple health benefits
–Decrease obesity
–Decrease chance of heart disease and diabetes
–Decrease and reduce severity of depression
–Increase power of immune system
–Decrease chronic pain
–Decrease in probability of disease
–Increases overall brain function
}Psychological Benefits
◦Reduces mental stress
◦Builds confidence
◦Builds self-assurance
◦Replaces negative emotions like anger, hate, rage, fear, despair, helplessness, anxiety, and depression
◦Helps create positive self-image
}Spiritual Benefits
◦Development of positive emotions like happiness, calmness, peace, love, forgiveness
◦Acknowledgment of purpose and place in the world
◦Ultimately, the development of a higher consciousness
Validating the Importance of Mental Fitness
Dr. Candace Pert and the Discovery of the Neuropeptide
“The mind is the body, the body is the mind” (Dacher,2006)
•In 1970 Dr. Pert discovered that the body produces special messenger proteins called neuropeptides. Her research further concluded that these messengers communicated messages from the brain to the various systems of the body and that we could in fact control these messages by the way we think.
•This work was groundbreaking in showing that there is a direct link between our mental and physical levels.
Dr. Robert Ader and Classical Conditioning of the Immune Response
}In 1974 Dr. Ader conducted an experiment to prove his belief “that there is a link between what we think (our state of mind) and our health and our ability to heal ourselves.
}In this study he fed mice Saccharin laced water and injected them with the drug Cytoxan which induces an upset stomach and weakens the immune system.
}After conditioning them, the mice were fed the Saccharin laced water without the Cytoxan and still became ill
}One of the first experiments to illustrated an interdependence of the nervous system and the immune system
Dr. Randolph Byrd and Intercessory Prayer
}Between August 1982 and May 1983, 393 patients at San Francisco’s General Hospital Coronary Care Unit participated in a study to research the benefits of intercessory prayer.
}The patients were randomly placed in two groups: a control group that did not receive prayer and the Intercessory Prayer group. The patients, staff, doctors, nor Dr. Byrd had knowledge of which patients were assigned to which group.
}The results
◦Patients that received prayer spent less time in the ICU, required less pain medication, and had overall less complications than their counterparts that received no known prayer
TIME TO WORK IT OUT
We have now reviewed some of the research that supports cultivating a strong level of mental fitness.
Let us gear up and put it into practice!
MENTAL WORKOUT: THE SUBTLE MIND
“Peaceful breathing pattern leads to a peaceful mind”(Dacher, 2006)
}Begin by focusing on your breath
}Let your breathing become easy and rhythmic focusing on either the inhalation or the exhalation; let this me your focal point
}As you still the breath you still the mind
}As your mind wanders, do not give attention to the distraction, but instead bring your attention back to your breathing
}As you do this you are begin to witness your thoughts and emotions rather than acting on them
}Repeat this several times finding the quiet and stillness of your mind
}As you are able to maintain this stillness as you witness instead of acting you develop into a state of calm-abiding
}Now that you are able to be unaffected by your thoughts and emotions you will find yourself gradually transitioning from a state of calmness and mental stillness to a consciousness of unity
}You are able to visualize and feel the interconnectedness of your mind, body, and soul with the world around you
MENTAL WORKOUT: LOVING KINDNESS
}In a restful, comfortable state bring to mind someone that you love; allow the feeling of love to expand within your heart
}Reflect and allow yourself to fully experience this feeling; become comfortable with the feeling
}Now turn these feelings on yourself; embrace each feeling and emotion, do not judge; just let them be; allow yourself to let love fill those negative emotions
}As you let go of the negative, take the feeling of love and allow yourself to go deeper into the psyche; take love and kindness into the stillness, peace, and gentleness
}Allow this love you are showing yourself to spill over; embrace it from the inside to the outside, allow all of your loving kindness to be a witness of peace, harmony, and balance
As we gain mental fitness all other aspects of our lives fall into place, overlap each other and create a place of perpetual health and wellness across the life span
References
Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral health: the path to human flourishing.[eGoogleReader]. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=gn3iNymUVKwC&printsec=frontcover&output=reader
Posner, G.P. (1990). God in the CCU?. Retrieved from http://www.gposner.com/Byrd_study.html
Quinlan, J. (n.d). Psychoneuroimmunology. Retrieved from http://www.nfnlp.com/psychoneuroimmunology_quinlan.htm#history
Robert Ader. (n.d). In Psychology Wiki. Retrieved February 5, 2011 from http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Robert_Ader
The Subtle Mind
The Subtle Mind exercise and the Loving Kindness exercise both allowed me to find a place of stillness and quietness. However, the Subtle Mind exercise had me so still that I fell asleep. Not sure that was suppose to happen LOL. The Loving Kindness required more mental action and less witnessing, at least for me. I didn't get frustrated with the exercises at all and I even found myself driving into work doing them. I like the Loving Kindness exercise because it challenges me to embrace the parts of myself I do not like and it challenges me to show love to those that quite frankly get on my last nerve. However, I did find that I was even less irritated than I usually am at the end of the day. I am typically a pretty easy going person but these exercises brought me to a whole new level of relaxation and I have really enjoyed it.
There is no doubt that I can see and most importantly feel the connection of the spiritual, mental, and physical levels. But the thing I notice the most is you can't improve one without improving the other. Since starting this class I find myself looking deeper and deeper at myself. At first I wasn't sure I like it but now I am coming to understand that these are the negative emotions I have allowed my inner self to be slave to far too long. Even relationships that I did not think could get better have significantly improved over the last couple of months. I have been able to share many of these concepts with strangers and patients in my clinic. I find that the more I embrace the loving kindness towards myself and find stillness at the end of the day I am growing in ways that I never thought possible, simply because I never thought =).
There is no doubt that I can see and most importantly feel the connection of the spiritual, mental, and physical levels. But the thing I notice the most is you can't improve one without improving the other. Since starting this class I find myself looking deeper and deeper at myself. At first I wasn't sure I like it but now I am coming to understand that these are the negative emotions I have allowed my inner self to be slave to far too long. Even relationships that I did not think could get better have significantly improved over the last couple of months. I have been able to share many of these concepts with strangers and patients in my clinic. I find that the more I embrace the loving kindness towards myself and find stillness at the end of the day I am growing in ways that I never thought possible, simply because I never thought =).
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Loving Kindness and the Concept of the Mental Workout
This exercise was truly a blessing. A large part of my vision for this year is to find that peace and serenity which exists beneath my surface and cultivate it. Participating in this exercise made me realize that I do not always extend love to myself on a deeper level. I may show 'love' to myself by taking care of my physical body but I don't think I have ever taken the time to show 'love' to the inner me. I am not saying that I hate myself or anything like that but I realized that I do not acknowledge the emotion of 'love' in relation to my inner most being. I know I feel happiness and contentedness within but love never crossed my mind. I know that I love others around me but does this mean I am not giving them all the love that I really can? I have always held the belief that you have to learn to love yourself before you can love others, I guess I didn't really think about the spiritual self so much.
If I had the opportunity to share this with others I would do so as much as possible. In fact I might just start with my partner. Who knows where our relationship could go if we both learned more about this profound level of love and kindness.We have a beautiful relationship that is based on love, trust, and respect, but everything has room for improvement, right? We have often commented that maybe we really are soul mates, but discovering more about our inner selves may help us realize how deep our connection really goes.
The concept of the mental workout supercedes brain teasers and Mensa puzzles. A mental workout is developing the ability to process the negativity of our environment and either turn it into something positive or flushing it away and not allowing its negativity to become a part of our being. It is not something that we can find a manual for or a website giving us step by step demonstration. It requires a personal decision and choice to stay focused on what is going to bring about 'authentic health, happiness, and wholeness'. It is about developing all of the levels of our inner being, psychological, emotional, and spiritual, and finding our connectedness to the world and people around us. Putting all of this into practice is a life long journey that will never be perfect, but we can begin by taking the time to find stillness and quietness that will enable us to begin the filtering process. We can begin by showing love and kindness in place of anger and revenge. Step by step, little by little we can begin to respond to different situations in different ways. In doing so, we are cultivating that inner being without even realizing it; by the time you sit down and reflect upon past events you will begin to see that subtle changes also change the subtle mind.
If I had the opportunity to share this with others I would do so as much as possible. In fact I might just start with my partner. Who knows where our relationship could go if we both learned more about this profound level of love and kindness.We have a beautiful relationship that is based on love, trust, and respect, but everything has room for improvement, right? We have often commented that maybe we really are soul mates, but discovering more about our inner selves may help us realize how deep our connection really goes.
The concept of the mental workout supercedes brain teasers and Mensa puzzles. A mental workout is developing the ability to process the negativity of our environment and either turn it into something positive or flushing it away and not allowing its negativity to become a part of our being. It is not something that we can find a manual for or a website giving us step by step demonstration. It requires a personal decision and choice to stay focused on what is going to bring about 'authentic health, happiness, and wholeness'. It is about developing all of the levels of our inner being, psychological, emotional, and spiritual, and finding our connectedness to the world and people around us. Putting all of this into practice is a life long journey that will never be perfect, but we can begin by taking the time to find stillness and quietness that will enable us to begin the filtering process. We can begin by showing love and kindness in place of anger and revenge. Step by step, little by little we can begin to respond to different situations in different ways. In doing so, we are cultivating that inner being without even realizing it; by the time you sit down and reflect upon past events you will begin to see that subtle changes also change the subtle mind.
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