Looking back at this semester's journey

Hi All, have to say that this has been a very interesting ten weeks and I have learned a lot. Some of the practices we have worked on have been kind of difficult for me, especially the Silent mind. I did however, really make progress in the Witnessing Mind and will keep working on the first one. However, I did not something really important that not everything works for everyone every time. Being flexible and having lots of options works best for me. While Silent Mind was a hard practice for me, I did really well with many of the visualization techniques. Many paths get you to the same destination. I was able to put some of the practices I learned this semester into working with others which was really exciting. And I am definitely a calmer person. My daughters wedding is in two weeks, they don't know where my dress is, and I am perfectly calm.Last I heard its in a container ship coming in from the Orient. So, I guess you can say, I really put what I learned from class into practice! It was a please getting to work with everyone n class. :)

Week # 9

Sorry everyone, for some reason I can't publish my report here so I'll post it in Doc>Share. It was a pleasure sharing seminars with everyone & look forward to seeing everyone in other classes. I will continue my blog for a while to see how it goes & hope you do too:) Anyway, wishing everyone good progress in your journey to integral haelth, Adrienen

My favorite practices

Hi guys, can't believe that we're at week eight already. Looking at some of the practices and exercises that we've done in class, I can say that my two favorite are gratitude practices and visualization. The act of consciously stating what you are grateful for and then expanding on it, is a really powerful tool. And as many of us don't have a lot of free time, something simple like this can fit in everyone's schedule. Hands down though, my favorite is the visualization technique. Today is my day to work with clients at the food pantry and I wanted to discuss how to control your stress levels. One woman, Gladys, has hypertension and asked me how to work it it. We discussed salt restriction, weight control, and then we did Breathing in the Clouds. She really liked it and said she'll try it at home :)

Meeting Asciepius

This practice was a fairly interesting for me. I seem to do well with visualization techniques. I picked my friend Abraham whom I've not seen in many years. He was a pretty interesting person who really spoke few words but knew how to put a lot of meaning into them. I really do wish I could take some of his qualities especially unwavering patience.

Universal Loving Kindness

I tried to do this exercise really hard as suggested in the book but I found it really hard to read it out loud. The words may have a really great meaning but they don't exactly flow when read out loud. It is like reading a tongue twister. I tried it again reading it silently to myself and that gave me a lot more focus on the concepts of this meditation. After reading chapter 11, I believe that Dacher over-intellectualizes many of his concepts. If you think of his spiritual map with the 4 quadrants of experience which he then divides by three additional lines, you end up with a really complicated diagram of lines and curves.This does not seem to me to be a holistic approach to flourishing. I am far from an expert, but after reading this chapters I took a realistic look at myself. I thought about my strengths and especially about my weaknesses. There are some areas of development that I a really proud of and there are some that need a lot of work. I am accurately aware of both. And there are some areas that I know need to be addressed and some interpersonal relations that are absolutely toxic. However, I am only human with a finite amount of time limited to me and I am not sure that I will ever been able to resolve all of these issues. The truth is, I prefer to progress in a less disjointed manner and change what I can without worrying about quantifying or symbolically displaying my areas of development. I going to hobble on my disorganized journey to spiritual development and read Eat Pray Love.

The Subtle Mind & A Damaged CD

Today, I tried to do the Subtle Mind exercise but the pleasant sounds of waves was replaced with hissing & cracking. I tried to outlast the noise but the noise won. I did the exercise without the CD using the book as a guide. This exercise was much easy to do because you don't have to change your focal image mid-meditation. I tried to concentrate on a perfectly still ocean also. I did loose focus once or twice but tried to bring my intent back on my breathing. I can understand the premise behind this exercise; by clearing our mind of the trivial around us, we can allow it time to heal and de-stress. This will lead to a healthier body as by now we all know, elevated stress levels can affect our immune system, parts of our brain, and even blood pressure. My only additional comment, it would have probably worked better if the CD wasn't damaged. See everyone in class!

Wisdom

I'm afraid that everyone knows that I prefer Integral Health to Consciousness & Healing, but I really liked some of the concepts in C&H in this unit. Roger Walsh talked about the Cultivation of Wisdom which is a concept discussed in many of the world's major religions. What I'll take from this is " Knowledge informs us, but wisdom transforms us". A really profound concept as we learn concepts and ideas from books but do we really understand what we read? It is the ability to take that knowledge and see what it really means and how it impacts the world around us. This is one thing I know I will take from this class and try to use in the real world. I have to put it up there with "respond not react".

Loving Kindness Practice

Hi guys, this exercise lefts me feeling a little ambivalent even though it had many of the components that work really well for me. I concentrated on one of my favorite people, my Grandmother, who had a large role in raising me as my Mom worked. My Mom had a really short fuse and my Grandmother was the peace maker.It also has the sounds of waves and I have always used this technique to relax. My name means woman of the sea and I have always tried to live close to the ocean. This exercise did not make me feel relaxed at all. It actually made me a little restless which I'm sure was not the intended purpose. I will try it at least one more time but I think last week's exercise was better suited for my needs at this time on my journey. A athlete trains his body and his mind on a daily basis so he can perform to the best of his ability. This is also the concept of mental workout. By using practice techniques, we learn how to develop nuisances of our mind that we usually ignore in the Western World. This enables us to go past our accepted limits into new territory on our journey to integral health.
See everyone in class.

Rainbow Exercise

So, here I am in the middle of a crazy week writing another blog on mind-body-spirit wellness and actually liking it. Dr. Cindy has asked us to evaluate our optimal wellness in three categories. Not as easy as you would expect. As far as physical, about 7.5. I do a lot f things right like going to the gym and eating really well but I do have genetic predispositions that have resulted in some health issues. My resolve is to continue doing what I do and try to deal with issues as they come up. As par as my psychological well being, a 9. I have a really resistant personality and have learned to cope with difficulties. I have a really strong social support system and am a pretty happy person. My intent is to develop better coping skills and stress management. 410 really helped with the coping skills aspect. For spiritual, about a 6. This is an area I need to work on. I am not a traditionally religious person but I do believe in an inter-connectiveness between humans. I do a lot of hands on community charity work and I try and donate money to environmental causes. I often will walk by the ocean when I need to restore my sense of being connected to the bigger picture. I really liked the imagery of this exercise because I can actually "feel" the different rays of light emitting from my body. I feel renewed and restored. A great investment of my time. :) See eevryone in class, A

Journey to Relaxation

This might be a true test if this technique really works. I had a rough day and really could use some relaxation. I found out that I may have overextended myself (in my case that translates as I officially need 26 hour days) and also that I am highly allergic to ant bites. I am trying this meditation at 1:30 AM :( I do feel a little better after completing this exercise although I am sure I would have felt a lot better if I wasn't having an allergic reaction. Truthfully, my arms and hands still do feel a little bit warmer. Will have to try this again in the near future! Bye for now, Adrienne

Day One of Summer Internship
It was a really enlightening and tiring day. I think Professor Rouder would have been proud of me because I was able to put a lot of information from 54.6 to good use. This was my first real experience with clinical nutrition and it was challenging. Only wish I didn't have to deal with traffic on the BQE :(. Tonight is my first 420 seminar with Dr. Cindy and I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully, I'll be able to learn some new coping mechanisms . Obviously need more work on learning how to deal with bumper to bumper traffic.

First Time

Recently, I've been having a lot of firsts in my life. Today was the first day of a summer internship and I am really excited about it. I am working on an nutritional education initiative in a Brooklyn Hospital and I am really hoping that it will be a reciprocal experience where I can share some knowledge but learn a lot myself. I guess my blog is my story of change and realizing that it is never too late to make changes in your life. Anyway, signing off now. I have a lot of reading to do, A