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I found this exercise to be pretty amazing. I trusted my chosen guide and was able to relax relatively quickly. Coming from a Christian background, the exercise was a familiar idea in a different package. In the exercise we were able to choose our wise guide for the purpose of the exercise; in the Christian faith there’s only one true guide, Jesus Christ, and all the divinity in us is a reflection of Christ in us.I had a 60-minute massage today and practiced loving-kindness for part of my session. I focused on my son to evoke the purest deepest love I could imagine. I then turned my focus outward to my parents, my child (again), and the world to inhale the problems or challenges of each; I inhaled their challenges and dissolved them in my heart. I exhaled and released the love evoked using thoughts of my son, and showered that love over every issue or concern held by anyone in my mind’s view. Like the practices loving-kindness and subtle-mind, Meeting Asclepius would need to be practiced regularly to maximize results.
One cannot lead another where one has not gone themselves
I agree that one cannot lead another where they have not gone themselves because they have no emotional or experiential reference to aid in their guidance of another. Those who don’t know first-hand what they attempt to teach can only share what they’ve read or heard; those who teach from experience are able to connect on a deeper level with those they help because they’re language will reveal that they’ve fought the same battles, felt the same feelings, and have true empathy for what the student is enduring and may endure throughout the duration of the healing process.
As health and wellness professionals we too must continue to develop our psychological, physical, and spiritual health. In order to remain connected to the processes experienced by our patients — with their challenges, triumphs, and setbacks — we must remain engaged in our own journey toward holistic healing and wholeness. Treating others from a purely intellectual stance will fail to serve them fully; we must feel and know they’re struggles for ourselves; we must overcome the obstacles they face in order to speak about them with authority. In addition, to declare what is to be gained on the other side of the common struggle, when one obtains abiding-calm and unity consciousness, we must be able to tell people how our lives were transformed in the process of integral healing for it to become real attainable to others. By continuing to better ourselves we place a real and tangible face upon the journey toward holistic healing and integral health.
Implementing psychological, spiritual growth in my personal life
Continuance of the meditative and contemplative exercises mentioned throughout the blog (e.g., loving-kindness, subtle-mind, and meeting Asclepius, etc.) is the probably the most appropriate approach for me to further develop my psycho-spiritual growth. Excavating personal truth, confronting old mental hindrances, and visualizing my best and healthiest self of the future will all undoubtedly play an important part in my journey toward holistic healing.
I hadn't considered the potential religious figures that offer themselves as healing guides. Literature is awash with them and it makes a lot of sense given their positions within most faiths. Both times I have done this exercise, Mother Teresa has come to mind for me. I think in many ways she epitomized what religion is supposed to be when it isn't overun by personal agendas and political manuevering.
ReplyDeleteI think recognizing what belief system someone has is integral to aiding them professionally. Much of what they believe and what motivates them will be dicatated by their religion, values, and faith. Knowing, empathizing, and valuing those things gives a health professional more tools to aid a client. However, that also requires to many to suspend their own belief systems. Not easy, but I would think it would be wonderfully beneficial to both sides.
Briana:
ReplyDeleteI think religious or spiritual perspective plays a huge role in a persons' world view. Many times people are saying a very similar thing but using different language and that choice of wording may make all the difference between connecting with a person and offending them. Different religious groups are equally devout to their god and live their lives in reverence of their spiritual teachings but may judge another who worships differently, and may be very closed off to new forms of worship or those who understand God and spirituality differently. For a long time I only wanted to see things through a legalistic Christian perspective and thought only in absolutes; if I am a devout Christian I must denounce practices of Buddhism or must negate the perspective of an Orthodox Jew or I am somehow a heretic, but now I feel that we are generally seeking and saying similar things in the language and with the knowledge we have at the time -- this doesn't make any of us wrong, it makes us all seekers looking to connect with the divine consciousness that's beyond our carnal understanding.
The scary thing about religion is that it compartmentalizes and divides; religion often creates an "us" and "them" mentality that only drives people further away from unity consciousness, we see this even within the countless denominations of the Christian church. Christ was never about division or necessarily even "religion" as we know it today. Christ left humanity with a simple message, that people would identify Christians by their display of love one toward another; and Christ left humanity with the new commandment to love our brothers and sisters as ourselves.
Unfortunately, religion has become so mired in politics, business, money, and a desire for power, that the principle message has become muddied, as a result people are sometimes off-put by organized religion. As health care professionals, we need to understand the precepts of all religions and spiritual practices on some level and be able to relate to each patient with non-judgmental understanding.
Every encounter doesn't have to be a contrived conversion experience; as professionals we need to learn objective empathy, although it may be a contradiction of terms, and learn to share our own perspectives when asked.
It sounds like your experience went very well. I think I will be doing the same thing...in order to really grow in integral health, I need to practice. However, that is difficult during school time because we have so much to do to keep up. I will continue my education even after this class is over. I will listen to the CD more often and really put my head into the practice of the CD.
ReplyDeleteLaurie:
ReplyDeleteIt definitely seems as though repetitive practice is the key to successful contemplative practice.
Unfortunately, demands placed on us or that we choose to assume, make it hard to carve out time for ourselves; however, we have to keep trying because we owe it to ourselves and those around us to be our best selves. Maybe it's a matter of giving ourselves a break sometimes, not trying to be perfect, but striving to be better today than yesterday. I tend to be hard on myself and then become discouraged if I don't meet my own high standards. I work now to give myself credit for my intention, observe my actions, determine what element of my behavior, thinking process, or environment supported or derailed my intention, and then adopt or adjust the affecting element to continually work toward my intended result.
"Life is a process" and we generally know this, but I'm learning to submit to the process without totally giving up my vision of what I want my life to become; the pleasurable and painful parts of the journey all add to the experience and teach something different that we will need to avoid the mistake in the future or warn another who's willing to learn from rather than feel our pain themselves.