Unit 8- Useful practices.

For me the most beneficial practices are visualization for both relaxation and outcome, and mindful meditation. Visualization of course can be used in stressful situations by imaging calming scenes in order to lower heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure. Then again you can also visualize how you want a situation to turn out by doing a mental run through kind of like a dress rehearsal of sorts. I'm a planner so this works well for me.

Mindful meditation, working to calm the mind works well for me, especially when practicing it while being active. For example in my other class there was discussion about how running, walking, or cycling can be used while meditating and letting the mind drift freely. This is especially beneficial for me because I do not really have 30 minutes to sit in the same spot and meditate while not doing anything else. Multitasking is definitely the only way that I will fit it into my day.

Unit 7- Meditation benefits

For meditation can be beneficial. I find that mindful meditation as taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn is the most beneficial to me. You can view it on YouTube here. I viewed this video a few terms ago for a CAM class and I find it the most relaxing and centering type of meditation for myself. The other types I tend to get distracted as I'm allowing thoughts to enter for the exercise.

As for those advising patients on using meditation without actually practicing this could be a tough subject. This is because one could actually tell a patient that they may benefit from meditation because of the research, yadayada, but if a patient comes with specific questions then they would not be able to guide them. Of course the reasonable thing to do here would be to direct them to a trusted source. So, to each there own and I'll reserve judgement.

Unit 5- Subtle Mind

I had actually learned the Subtle Mind technique through another class several months ago, but it was called Mindful Meditation. I definitely prefer this kind of meditation over the Loving Kindness that we had to try last week. It is much easier for me to focus my energies and try to clear my mind as much as possible. Although I still haven't reached that perfect spot where the mind is totally still. I can definitely get it down to a babbling brook at least from the mountain water fall.

As for the spiritual aspect of mind-body connections I'm not really sure how that could manifest itself in my life right now. While I definitely know there is a mind-body connection, I'm not so sure about necessarily needing the "global connectedness" for myself at this point. And to be quite honest, it's definitely not high up there on my to do list to ponder about it right now as I have way too much on my plate as it is.

Loving-Kindness

Completing any kind of meditation can be difficult. I was not a huge fan of this Loving-Kindness meditation, I did not find it really difficult, besides finding time without kids coming and interrupting me every five seconds. I actually prefer mindful meditation which I learned about in another class. This involves clearing the mind which I find much more relaxing. This process may work for others well, but I find it distracting trying to focus on different thoughts and practice loving-kindness toward each one.

Mental workouts train the brain to think in a positive light. This can be accomplished with mental focus typically attained through a practice of meditation. Of course there many ways to focus mental energy and many different types of meditation. Each person can choose the one that feels best for them.

Unit 3 Blog Post

For Unit 3 we were asked to rate our well-being in 3 different areas and create goals in order to achieve optimum wellness.

Physical well-being- I'd rate this about a 7. My physical health is fine, but I still am not quite where I want to be. My ultimate goal is to get back down to about a size 6. Right now I'm right around a 10-12.

Spiritual well-being- I'd rate this about a 5. This is because with everything going on in my personal life right now I really can't see having faith in much of anything. I'm also really not at a point that I want to make a goal for this area, so I'm not.

Psychological well-being- I'd rate this about a 6 right now. I have a ton of stress in my personal life and I really don't see it going away anytime soon. The only goal I can make with this aspect is to cope better.

Obviously for the physical element the activity needed is more physical activity in general and I need to get back on an eating schedule. If I don't schedule it I just won't do it cause I'm hardly ever hungry. I'll go all day with just 2 cups of coffee and then eat dinner. Hopefully next week I will be starting another job at a gym and will be able to go in and work out beforehand each day.

For the psychological well-being the only things that I can really see helping right now is meditation and possibly some yoga. For me talking about problems I'm dealing with really doesn't help, it just causes more stress.

So, that's my thinking on those items. See you next week.