Unit 8

The first exercise I found most beneficial was the subtle mind exercise, I found this beneficial because although I had a hard time focusing I found it very calming and relaxing. The second exercise that I found the most beneficial was the visualization exercise; I really liked this one because I was able to feel the way I felt in the best moments of my life and that made me feel happier and more at peace.

I could use both of these every day to help me feel calm and happy and content with my life. By using the subtle mind to become calm and the visualization exercise to become happy and content I can truly enjoy every day.

Unit 7

I have been having difficulty focusing during the meditative practices, it has been a very busy and stressful few weeks and I have been having a hard time keeping my mind from wondering. The meditations even when I cannot focus completely have given me a chance to stop it is a short time in my day when i don't do anything and just rest. I do find that it helps me refocus my thoughts when I am done so that I can better thing about what I need to do. Just by continuing to spend that time each day clearing my mind will allow me to refocus myself so that I will not feel so overwhelmed.

The saying "one cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" means that a person that does not believe or experience something cannot teach another person about it. If a doctor has not truly experienced human flourishing they cannot educate a patient about how well it works. As a health and wellness professional if I were going to use human flourishing as a healing process for my clients I would want to make sure that I have applied human flourishing to my life first so that I can be honest and truly know what I am talking about. I think that as a professional that will want to promote psychological, physical and spiritual health for my clients then I will owe it to them to be the same way in my life. It is hard for someone to take my advice on wellness seriously if I am not living a healthy life myself. It is like a doctor that encourages his patients to quit smoking then when they leave they see him outside smoking, why listen to the doctor when he is doing the same thing? I cannot tell my clients not to "sweat the small stuff" when I go home and stress about every little thing. I can use all the tools we have learned in this class to implement psychological and spiritual growth in my life. I have learned to clear my head and let the unimportant stressful things go and not think about them, instead I focus on what truly matters and makes me happy and peaceful.

unit 6 exercises

I enjoyed both exercises however I did find it difficult to focus, that seems to be the major problem I have with these exercises, my mind likes to wonder. This week particular has been a busy and stressful week so sitting and trying to focus was not easy. I discovered that I tend to take on more then I need to or should, there are certain aspects of my life that I try to control that I can't and I need to just let go. I do not like feeling helpless in any aspect of my life but there are certain things that no matter how hard I try I cannot change, my husband tells me I need to take a deep breath and just let it go whatever happens happens. If things do not work out the way i want them to the world will keep going and I just have to readjust. Even the things that I could control does not always mean I need to, somethings need to be left alone. I carry a lot on myself and it makes me worry and stress so I am going to start trying to let it go. I hope to achieve this by walking more, I exercise every morning but I like walking in the evening when things are quieter, it's a great way to clear my head and just enjoy having nothing to do.

Unit 5 exercise

I found the subtle mind exercise more difficult to concentrate on compared to the loving kindness exercise. I think it was difficult for me to not let my mind wonder when there was nothing to visualize. In the loving kindness exercise we were asked to visual certain things and this week we just had to focus on our breathing which made it more difficult to keep my mind from wondering. I did find it frustrating but I also find the quiet music soothing and comforting.

Spiritual wellness connects to every aspect of a person's life including mental and physical wellness. When a persons has spiritual wellness they have a clear mind and have a more positive outlook on their life and are more prepared to handle tough situations so their mental well being is better.r I think if a person has spiritual well being then they want to be more physically fit and there are studies showing that if a person has spiritual wellness they are less likely to get sick and they have a stronger immune system. Everything I do effects the rest of me, when I am exercising I am clearing my mind (for the most part) and after the workout I feel better and accomplished so my mental state is better.

Loving Kindness

I found this exercise beneficial, I have done something similar in the past. A friend and I when we are feeling stressed or overwhelmed close our eye and imagine what is causing us stress then we breath our imagining that the stressful feeling is leaving us then breath in imagining our favorite calming color coming into us. It is a very useful tool. The only difficulty I had with this exercises is that it takes a while. i do not usually have more then about 5 minutes of quiet time at my house so when I need to do something to relieve stress or to feel more calm it needs to be quick. I did find picturing all the different situations beneficial and I felt really relaxed and peaceful when i was done.

Mental workouts are needed for us to use our minds to the full extent. It is something we need to do daily for it to truly work however. I love the example of Olympic athletes, athletes need to train everyday and challenge themselves for them to perform at their best and our minds are no different, they need to be challenged and worked so that it can be a truly strong muscle.