Unit 5

Loving Kindness, Subtle Mind and Spiritual Wellness

 



 

The loving kindness exercise and the subtle mind exercises are completely different, although ironically they have the same intention, overall. In the loving kindness exercise, we really focused on expanding our awareness through our body. It was more of a directed exercise that used body areas and colors to bring awareness and expansion to the mind/body connection. It was meant more, energetically, I believe, to "feel" the aptitude for love that the human is capable of. In the subtle mind exercise, we were allowed to just focus on mind primarily using breath work to bring us back whenever we felt that we were "attaching" to anything coming into the mind during this awareness practice. The subtle mind exercise practice focused on teaching, also, the differences between attachment and just letting go. And, it is true. When someone first starts to practice meditation or mind awareness, it is so easy to become distracted. I had the hardest time with distractions when I first began my conscious practice. As you practice and become more aware, the distractions tend to disappear. Now, after about 10 minutes of meditative practice, I find myself truly in another dimension. And, there are different things that help me in meditation. I don't like to sit in silence. I have a specific type of music that I play when I meditate and it truly helps me to sit still, be quiet and let go. I think as individuals, we get caught on that meditation has to be in silence and in silly positions. That is the furthest thing from the truth. All we really have to do is sit or be active, such as in active meditation, and we can listen to whatever we want such as a script like guided imagery, or music, or nothing if that is what the individual so desires. As long as the focus in on "going within," it's all the same. I like both of the meditations. The only thing I found a little frustrating during the subtle mind meditation is how they kept bringing me back to "and let your mind release things, like no attachments," and I felt it was geared more toward beginner meditation. I'm personally at the point where I don't have thoughts that constantly filter in so out of the two, I enjoyed the loving kindness better.

Spiritual wellness, in my book, is essential for wellness throughout the body. I believe there are so many disease processes that stem from lack of spiritual wellness. A person who is harvesting hatred, anger, jealousy, or grief, probably will not be the most physically or mentally healthy. It's all connected. If a part of you is suffering from dis-ease, it is going to eventually show physically. For instance, I have a best friend who suffers from obesity. She is about 450 pounds. When we really broke into her childhood, it was discovered that she was sexually abused as a child. As a protection mechanism, she packed on the pounds to 1)protect her physical body by being "unattractive," and 2) her physical body is a result of her mental/spiritual connection or lack thereof and total lack of self respect and self esteem. She still harbors lots of guilt and anger and in turn, that comes out as eating very high fattening foods/sugary foods and gaining weight. She honestly doesn't think she's worth it, so she treats her body the way that individual made her feel. It starts in the spirit and in the mind, and it comes out in physical. I understand everyone is different and has different outcomes, so this is just my example of how mental/physical and spiritual wellness is all tied in together.

Personally, I try my best to keep everything in balance the best that I can. I understand the implications of imbalance and dis-ease. I do need to get better with my diet and with exercise, because I honestly need to respect my body better. I have a long journey coming with my master's program and if I do not learn to get into shape and handle stressors better, I may not have an easy time with it. I do meditation at least three days a week, and I believe when I start working out that I will connect even more. One of the things I learned in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition is that food is energy and not just in calories, but energetically speaking. So, personally, if I am bogging myself down with meat from animals that have been fed hormones or may not have been treated well, and refined foods that truly hold no nutritional value, my energy level (physically and energetically) is going to be much different than if I were to be eating a vegan or clean diet. And, in turn, all of that affects my spiritual wellness. When I am balanced spiritually, I feel better mentally and physically. Again, it is all a circle and there are no separate pieces of ourselves. Our health is one and all and all in one. We cannot separate any piece of ourselves from another. And, if there is an imbalance in one section of our circle, eventually, the other pieces will be affected too.

Mediate, mediate and mediate!!! Seek stillness and stillness will see you.

Heidi

Unit Four Blog

Unit 4 Blog: Loving Kindness and Mental Workout

 

 

In this assignment, we are suppose to write about listening to our meditation, Loving Kindness, as well as describing what a mental workout actually is. I absolutely loved the loving kindness meditation. I also find meditation beneficial for myself and when bringing others into the space, I find it beneficial for them too. As a Reiki master, I absolutely am familiar and comfortable with using meditation as a projection and healing space. I loved how this meditation in particular has you hold space for someone you love and admire and then turn it in towards yourself. That is so beneficial...to feel that same adoration for yourself as you give others. I did not find this meditation difficult at all because I've been doing it for a few years; however, when I first started doing meditation, I did find it challenging like most everyone else. I would absolutely recommend this particular reading to other individuals. It's just super important to develop a healthy psycho-spiritual aspect of yourself.

 

Mental workouts - the concept of the mental workout is to continually practice mindfulness which comes from contemplative practice. Our intuition is a keen muscle and it expands and strengthens as we develop it. The more we exercise that muscle, the stronger and more fine-tuned it becomes. The more connected we become. When we stop doing meditative and contemplative practice, we tend to disengage with our oneness or connectedness. Research in this area of development is proving that mental training can transform the mind. It can reduce negative emotions and enhance positive ones. It also shows that through the practice of mental workouts and expansion, we can increase our resistance to mental distress and physical disease. Another way of saying this is that the more "at ease" you are with your body and mind, the less stress hormones that have to fluctuate through your body which sets off all sorts of chemical events in your body and brain. When your brain doesn't have to react to stress, that is a good thing. All stress is not  bad thing, but continual stress is a different story and brings on disease manifestation because it is a sign that you have not gotten control of the stressor in your life. The more we practice mental workouts as well, it expands our healing capacities and not just within ourselves, but with others as well. The way I implement this practice is by practicing meditation and connectivity to my spirit and divine life daily. There was a time in my life when I had no idea about meditation or the benefits of it. Now, I cannot imagine a day to go by where my life is not spent in meditation and connected to the Universe.

 

My goal for every woman that every comes across my path is to teach her this simple skill because I truly believe that when we get still inside is when we find the answers. 

Unit 3 Blog: Personal Inventory

Unit 3 Blog: Personal Inventory & Relaxation Script

 

By reflecting on my own level of wellness (physically, psychologically and spiritually), I've rated myself on a scale from 1-10. I've explained why I rate myself there. I've also developed a goal for myself in each area and explained what activities I can do to help me move towards each goal.

 

 

Physically - I rate myself about a four in this category of reflection, mainly because I need to work on losing weight and gaining a healthier appearance. It's really hard to be able to instruct others in wellness with my own physical appearance. I am hoping to be able to meet my own criteria. The goal I have for myself is to lose weight by re-balancing my diet, eat more real food and less processed food as well as increase natural supplements and exercise at least three days per week.

 

Psychologically - I rate myself about a eight in this category of reflection. I feel like I am pretty developed in this area. I have been in the wellness industry for about three years now and I feel like I have truly reflected on my psychological state and have balanced it out. What I would like to get better at here is developing a daily gratitude practice. I do practice gratitude, but not as often as I should. What I can do to work on this goal is write one card per day to someone who needs it. Gratitude is extremely important to self development and a higher consciousness.

 

Spiritually - I rate myself about a seven in this category of reflection. I feel like I have done a lot of evolving work in this area and while I'm not completely spiritually developed, is anyone? The goal I have set for myself in this area is to continually strive for a higher consciousness and also to emerge as a spiritual teacher and speaker. I would love to work with other women on developing their own inner being and help them bring forth their own truth and awareness. What I will do to get me there is continue to read, keep focused and keep practicing my Reiki healings and readings with others.

 

The other part of our Unit four blog is to write about the relaxation script, The Crime of the Century. I found this exercise to be helpful. It reminded me of a chakra exercise where you fine tune the energy points or centers on the body. Personally, I have never found a relaxation exercise that I didn't like. I have done some in the past that I did not find particularly effective, but they all contribute to an area of development. In my quest for spirituality, I've found that the term spirituality is like a huge puzzle with a bunch of little pieces. Everything thing I do including meditation sessions, relaxation scripts, readings, etc, is one piece of growth and someday the whole puzzle will come together. What I know right now is that I love evolving and I enjoy the journey. It's the journey that actually excites me, not the end result. 

Reflection of Relaxation Script (Unit 2)

Relaxation Reflection

I really enjoyed listening to the relaxation script given to us in class two. While I'd much rather focus on imagery in a relaxation script, I found this one to be relaxing as well. When I first started participating in relaxation techniques and meditation about three years ago, I found that it was really hard to just let go of thoughts and to actually relax. Now, I find that as an instructor of relaxation therapy, I feel like I'm in another dimension within five minutes. I also use relaxation with the students I teach. Although it is a birth class, I focus on a relaxation script where they visualize the baby they are carrying and we work on really connecting. Relaxation therapy has so many benefits for anyone who participates. And, all it truly takes is just a few minutes per day for these benefits. I like to connect mostly in the morning to help me focus my day, focus my awareness on what is to come and connect to the energy of that particular day. I wish everyone could participate in relaxation because the better you learn to relax, the quicker you can use the techniques in situations where they are needed.

Welcome (Unit 2)

Hello fellow bloggers and conscious friends,

I created this blog a few years ago as part of my wellness business dedicated to women. Life got in the way and I wasn't able to dedicate much time to it, so here we are again - the Universe has led me back to my passion, or one of them.

I am so blessed to be here. I have never been surrounded by other conscious seekers. Most of my clients seek advice and readings, ways to evolve into a higher level of consciousness or awareness, two terms I always use interchangeably, so welcome to my corner of the world. I hope that throughout our time together, we influence one another, lift one another, and serve as a reflection for each other's highest purpose. I am honored to participate in this class.

Welcome and Blessings to all!

Heidi (Indigo Rayne)