Unit 8- Top 2 Transformative Practices

The Loving- Kindness exercise has by far been my favorite and has proved to be the most beneficial to me over these past few weeks. Mental fitness is a transformative process of a higher consciousness (Dacher, 2006). The practice of Loving-Kindness, for me, has been the most influential and potentially transformative. My ability to extend love, kindness, and understanding to all those around me, to be without judgment and a whole lot less quickly to react is my greatest ally and tool in becoming the person I feel I need and want to be. I will be able to transcend past my current nature and grow to be a better practitioner and patient. These practices must be implemented on an almost daily basis in order to make any true and lasting progress. I should see a change in my perspective of and my reaction to my clients in a positive way.

The other practice is simply general meditation. Meditating as described by Dacher, as a way to get a “taste” of what we can experience in the essence of Human Flourishing can help transform our mental fitness and well-being. When we can and do envision the pinnacle of Health, Wholeness, and Happiness for ourselves it helps to keep us on task and focused on our development. As I face health challenges, I feel confident that these meditation processes can help me to garner the strength to push on and continually transform my life. It will help for me to procure a sense of wholeness in times where I feel lacking due to financial circumstances and where the situation may lend itself to me comparing my life with that of those around me. Also, I should be able to better harness a calm when in dealings with my current client with whom I will be working with full time five days a week until mid may of next year.

At times I look to these practices simply as grounding exercises. As a way or gentle reminder of the work that I have done and need to continue to do in order to keep level and productive. Maybe nothing specific yet focused. 

-

Christine M Campanella Dixon 

Unit 7 Aesclepius we meet again...

1.

Such a perfect fit for my needs this week and the fit with one of the articles that I choose to use this week for our assignment. The article discussed the effect of spiritual practices on heart disease, when I read it and connected with it all I could think of was how important it is for me to incorporate these practices into my life.  Seeing my mother pass away from heart failure at the age of sixty, I vowed to change my daily practices, my food, exercise, attitude, in order to avoid this fate. I have done considerably work in this area but know my stress levels are my biggest foe. This exercise, although not something I EVER allow myself to do, led me to have my mother focus quite squarely in my mind’s eye. I could not shake it and focus on another person, and when I allowed myself to go with it felt a wonderful sense of control and ease or calm come over me. It is wholly appropriate for my mother to be my guide and my best side in connection with being in control of my own being, health, and destiny.  I do not think I have embraced the idea of being truly  “mindful” or understood how this meditation could put me at ease and make me feel capable before this particular days practice.  I must continue to practice this meditation and work to believe in my own body’s ability to heal and help itself.

2.

This saying, to me, simply means that we can not help in an area in which we are inexperienced. Book knowledge is not enough when it comes to advising others on matters of health and wellness. If we have not traveled the road, how can we understand the trials and tribulations that come along with attempting to transform and better our lives. How can we understand and counsel our patients, empathize and help if we do not have the memories and emotions associated with such a feat.

We must constantly assess and move to better ourselves in the triad of health. We have a duty or obligation to our clients to be the best developed we can be just as we expect from them. There are no limitations to this development so there is certainly no reason to stop attempting to progress and experience deeper consciousness and forward movement. I feel we must continue our meditation exercises, establish physical fitness programs, and connect with a higher being on a constant basis in order to be the be the role model we should as wellness professionals.

Love and Light to all,

Chris

Unit 6 Loving-Kindness revisited and Integral Assessment

Once again the Loving-Kindness exercise was a pleasure to participate in. It is nice to “let go” of the chaos for a bit a truly focus my energies on producing good and effecting change in my life and that of my loved ones.

Taking in others pain and letting it work through you and not simply “breathing it out” always catches me a bit off guard due to the fact that every other time I’ve completed a meditation similar you were taught to “breathe out” or let go of the concern with your out breath, I enjoy the practice of letting it work through me much better and find it works better to complete the transformation of turning the intentions to another individual.

The assessment exercise basically takes Dacher and Wilber’s quadrant association of the four areas of development and removes the four stated stages for each area and focuses on each as an attribute of Body, Mind, or Spiritual development. In doing so he introduces new key ideas, concepts or actions to be considered. The new attributes for considerations are: Psychospiritual- Conative, Cognitive, Emotional; Biological- Fitness, Nutrition, Self-regulation; Interpersonal- Personal, Family, Community; Worldly- Work, Social Activism, Generativity.

In each of these new areas we instructed to assess where we are in regard to our development in relation to the Body, Mind, or Spirit. We then map out a much more intricate graph of where we are, what milestones we have hit/accomplished, where we need to focus, and any severe unbalances. We are instructed to consider where we feel and see we need development/help and then compare that to where we feel we are ready to develop. We can graph out these four quadrants and each marker in order to get a visual to assist ourselves. It is stressed that these areas although once developed usually do not fall back greatly but that they are fluid, there is no exact end to our development and that dependent on our place in life these measures can change.

I know where I want to develop is in the Worldly quadrant (Social Activism), I would love to be more involved in effecting the changes I want to see in areas such as “green” building/city planning, political concerns and even with more local endeavors such as my kids’ school. I want to be more involved. I yearn for it. Yet, I know this is not the appropriate area for me to put my time and energy into at this point in my life. This goes hand in hand with the Interpersonal aspect as well-Community.

Where I need to develop is in the Biological quadrant. Formerly I was extremely competent in this area but has fell quite far from where I know I need to be. I have lost my hold on a few areas of focus here such as source of foods, food choices overall and exercise- well rounded exercise. If I do not get my body in tune with my needs then my health seems to fail in other areas as well.  I get a pent up hostility with myself and become “bogged down” which leaves me feeling like I do not have time to get involved and work on other areas of my life. Right now I feel like I am betraying my true self by negating these desires.

I simply need to become more active again in my food choices and make the time to cook and prepare for the craziness so I do not end up starving, cranky, low blood glucose hazy and just go grab something fast food like. This will be a very big and important change for me that will also greatly help my mental state of being. 

Blessings,

Christine M. Campanella Dixon

Mental Fitness Power Point

C m campanella dixon hw420 02 unit 5 project from Christine Dixon

">