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Psycho-spiritual Exercises & Practices in Review

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Of the four exercises and practice sessions learned during the semester, the two standouts are meditation and visualization. Meditation and visualization have long been revered in the East as methods of psycho-spiritual intimacy and enlightenment; as the West broadens its scope of medical practice; both are now more readily accepted as viable practices by the people and medical community of the West, respectively. As it’s noted by Patricia Gray (2007):

Americans are embracing alternative medicine with a passion. The most recent federal survey on the topic, in 2002, showed that half the adult population had used alternative therapy. Boomers are the top users: Nearly 70% of people 50 to 64 have tried alternative therapy, from acupuncture to chiropractic to meditation to supplements, according to a 2006 survey by AARP. And as demand has grown, the medical establishment, once avowedly anti-alternative care, has started to accept it. Most medical students now learn about alternative therapies (p. 1)

Federal testing is underway to qualify the validity of meditation, but regardless of the conclusions of the said studies: I can only speak for my personal experience with meditation. The past 10 weeks has been my longest consecutive period of meditation. I have enjoyed the practices learned in our coursework and have felt the calming effects of each exercise during the actual practice and for at least an hour post meditation. I notice meditation’s ability to center and redirect the thought process in the safe haven of my home, but the challenge comes after I open my eyes, once the soft gaze has refocused on my surroundings, and the issues on my mind slowly resurface.
I have to continue my meditation consistently in order for it to become the constant state of my being so I can think, speak, and be in the same mind frame as I am in meditation all day long. I can use meditation to put things in perspective rather than overreact and get into over-analyzing the “what ifs” in my daily life. I can also use meditation as a daily mental break, to carve out some healthy “me time”.

Visualization is a wonderful practice because it trains the mind to see things as you want them to manifest as opposed to dwelling on how they are now, especially if the present is in stark juxtaposition to your desired life. I could use visualization to envision my intentions for my life and see myself in that life: How does it feel?; who’s a major part of my life?; how does this state of living enhance my family life?; what does it feel like to live the success born of my hard work? All of the questions above can be posed and envisioned in visualization along with a plan to work toward the life of my own design.

Gray, P. B. (2007). It this man getting healthier, or just poorer? Money. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.kaplan.uah.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25058311&site=ehost-live

You Are What You Eat

The Importance of Empathy in Healing

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.

Self-Assessment and Strategies for Change

The assessment process is a challenge. The concepts are easier than the corresponding actions one must make toward long-lasting change. Regardless of the difficulty required to take an honest look at self, and identify areas in need of repair or enhancement, the practice is crucial and beneficial to the journey toward integral healing.

Self-Discovery

The exercise revealed that it's time for me to focus on two areas in my life: Psycho-spiritual (emotional) and Biological (self-regulation). If we're honest, many of us will have to admit that our emotions and lack of self-regulation are at the root of the majority of our imbalance. Whether it's being overly sensitive about a comment someone has made that hurt your feelings or a rash decision we made as a result of emotionalism, that we now regret...or maybe we need to not take a call, turn the TV or computer off and be still regularly: Emotionalism and poor self-regulation will sabotage us every time if we let them.

More on Areas of Development

I will continue to journal my feelings, hopefully more consistently now that I'm aware of a need to document my feelings, emotions, and behaviors, as they relate to corresponding events and triggers in my life. I will also cut myself some slack, something I rarely do, and submit to the process of practicing the witnessing mind daily.

Exercises to Implement Change

As I much as I hate to say it, I may have to become a list-maker to keep track of all I need to do. I know I need to do this but hate the idea of it and so...we'll see. Otherwise, I will continue my newly adopted meditative practices, loving-kindness and subtle mind, to get to the next level of integral healing.

Unit 5 PowerPoint Presentation: Mental Workout

Loving-Kindness vs. the Subtle-mind

Loving-kindness Compared to the Subtle-mind Practice:

The loving-kindness exercise reminds me of a prayer whereas the subtle-mind practice reminds me of a meditation. The loving-kindness exercise is more of an externally-focused practice, one meant to affect things outside of yourself even more than within yourself. The subtle-mind practice is an exercise that seems more focused on calming and centering yourself and your thoughts, and is therefore more of a meditative practice in my opinion.

This practice focuses on awareness of the pattern and pace of our breathing. It puts emphasis on the rhythm and calmness of our breathing to bring us to a place of stillness, a place within where we're instructed to dwell without losing complete notice of our breathing.

Like loving-kindness, the hardest part of the exercise is settling the mind, but Dacher (2006) notes that the difficulty experienced when we first attempt to quiet the mind is common and dissipates with continued and consistent practice

Mind-body connection and Holistic Wellness:
The mental and physical elements of wellness are interrelated and cannot be discussed or analyzed apart from each other. A person can become more prone to physical ailments like heart disease due to an ailing emotional heart, as purported by Dr. Dean Ornish (2005). I have experienced a great deal of emotional distress in the past few years and as that distress has intensified it has had an adverse effect on my physical health, especially in the exacerbation of chronic joint pain and migraine headaches. To date, I still experience chronic joint pain and regular migraines despite the meditative exercises within the course curriculum, but just like someone who becomes obese: The problem didn't occur over night and its remediation will require on-going and consistent treatment to restore my mind and body to pre-trauma status.