Subtle Mind or Loving Kindness

Now that we are in the middle of our class I would have to say I am beginning to really grasp meditation. To me the loving kindness worked better, but I still had some relaxation occur with the subtle mind. I think it has to do with thinking about others and trying to "help" them in a sense. I know by breathing in the bad and breathing out good things for the person I am thinking of actually does not do anything for them, but I believe it allows me to feel in control and feel like I am doing something for them. I do like the ocean sound in the meditations. To me this is the most relaxing sound, and I would have to say this is probably why both of these worked so well on me. 

The connection between the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness is simple. They all work together to give you the feeling of being complete. By spiritual it does not mean having to go to church or pray every single day it is just connecting with yourself and getting into your spirit. I believe that the mind can't work without the body and the body can't work without the mind. They work together wonderfully as we have seen through different research. I believe that when you put spiritual wellness in the mix it just enhances your overall well being. In my daily life this connection is manifested when I run in the morning. I have to get myself into the right state of mind before I run. My body knows it can do it, but I need my mind to continue to reassure it. As I am running, I let go and just connect with myself and things around me. I embrace the time I have to run. I am not a huge fan of running, but I know it does me good physically, mentally, and spiritually. 

Loving Kindness

Each week so far I have begun to get the relaxation techniques down after a couple of attempts. The loving kindness exercise definitely was easier to grasp and during my first attempt I connected with what it was saying. I am not sure if it was because it had to do with loving others and and just letting go or I am just getting better at listening and allowing myself to relax. Either way I am definitely glad to see how well the exercise worked for me. I would definitely recommend this because it had such an effect on me I would love others to experience it too. I also think overall people could really benefit from it and grasp it easier than others.

The concept of "mental workout" is that you are doing what you can to train your brain. You are keeping your mind busy and it can be done different ways. "Mental workouts" allow the brain to grow and become stronger and sharpen all aspects of the mind. I can implement workouts by doing puzzles, number games, or memory games to help sharpen my overall mental state and allow my brain waves to register higher. The brain can always learn more and it seems to completely take it all in when you do different mental workouts.

How Fit is My Wellness Health?

I'll start by rating my physical health 7 out of 10. I say this because 7 years ago when I was in the Army I was at my peak physical fitness level so I know where my physical fitness should be. Two children later, like most of you know, completely changes everything. I am beginning to get back into working out slowly as well as eating at home more often and eating healthier food all around. My overall goal for my physical health would be to feel like I am able to conquer any physical obstacle put in front of me. I am beginning this journey slowly by running/jogging a half mile a day and slowly increasing that. I also do hot yoga to help build my core back up to where it was before two children. I feel like I am going in the right direction.

Moving onto my spiritual well-being I would have to rate that a 5 out of 10. My family and I believe in a greater being, but it's not talked about on a daily basis in our home. My 5 year old is becoming more interested in religion and I believe this will help me begin the path to a better rating. My husband is in the military so we are always moving and it's not always easy to find a church we like. We have been in Texas for a little over a year and I believe it is time to begin our search for a church we like. Along with that I think exercising prayer would definitely help raise my spiritual well-bring.

Lastly, my psychological well-being would probably by about 8 out of 10. My mind is pretty sharp when it comes to most things. I have pretty good memory and can get look at things strategically. I do, however, allow issues around me to change my mood. This is not healthy since the mind and body are interlocked. So I believe by doing exercises to gain relaxation or by learning how to look at the positive side of things could definitely help me psychological well-being.

I did do the Crime of the Century and it did help more so than the one from last week. I think it had more to do with trying to relate to colors that may have helped me. I was not totally relaxed because for some reason hearing all the talking throws me off, but I think over time I can get used to it. This type of technique may be able to help me improve m psychological well-being just by getting me into a relaxed state, hopefully, after a few attempts.

Relaxation Technique

I am back to bring you information on how the relaxation technique worked for me. After finding a quiet place (which is hard considering my two little girls), I laid down hit the play button and closed my eyes. I loved the background music/bell sound in the beginning. The sound seemed to relax me some, but then the man began talking and it through me off. Instead of just relaxing and listening to the sound I concentrated on what he was saying and wondered if I was doing the relaxation technique correctly or should I have been doing it different. It just definitely through me for a loop. So as he talked my mind began drifting and instead of relaxing I had numerous thoughts going through my mind.

I do hot yoga with my husband and if you follow yoga you know that it is meant to be done in quiet surroundings with some music in the background and the instructor quietly explaining what to do next. This type of thing relaxes me. I am not sure why the yoga instructor's voice is able to calm me and focus on what needs to  be done, but the man on this recording just did not have the same effect and I am not sure why.

I know this is only the first technique and I am hoping I can find one that truly helps. I am definitely looking forward to the next one.

Hi Everyone!

The idea of blogging is definitely new to me and has been an interesting experience getting everything set up. I am currently working on earning my Bachelor's degree in Health Science and only have 3 more terms left which is definitely exciting. I am a mother of 2 beautiful girls and am truly fortunate to be able to be a stay at home mom, even when the days get crazy! I am very excited to see all this class has to offer and learn new things along the way with you guys!