Unit 5

1. Our assignment this week was to practice the Subtle Mind exercise which helps to tame the busy mind. The Loving Kindness exercise had us thinking about others, this exercise was focused on us and our minds. This exercise was a lot of work for me. I am a person that goes 100 miles an hour all day long and so does my brain. I had to keep going back to my breaths and saying "focus on your breath, focus on your breath" in my head. Hopefully after a few days, I will not need to do this anymore. After I was finished with the exercise, I did feel more relaxed and like my head was not as jumbled. This will take some work for sure, but I am excited to see the progress.
2. I think spiritual wellness is very important in our lives. I see it as giving all our worries and fears up to someone else that has more power than us. When our mind is not consumed with things (worries, fears, stress) we can focus on things we enjoy. Our minds and bodies also feel a release of tension, pain, stress. I begin my morning in prayer, I thank God for my children, our health, our blessings and ask for guidance in other areas that I am struggling it. My mind is then clear of all of the things that I cannot control, I gave it all away. When I am stressed, I take a minute and pray about my situation, I then take a minute to pray for others that have it so much worse than me. It really helps to put things in perspective and be thankful.

Unit 4

1. Our assignment this week was to listen to an exercise on Love and Kindness and describe our experience. I found this exercise to be very beneficial, though difficult. It was hard to turn off all of the outside thoughts and feelings and focus on the experience. I though it was beneficial, because it was getting us to stop focusing on ourselves and think about others. I would recommend this to others, especially those going through a tough time. It helps to put life into perspective in your life. 
2. Mental workouts are to get our brains thinking about a certain topic, teaching them to stay focused on a single topic instead of all the wandering thoughts that full our brains all day long. Meditation helps to foster psychological health.

Unit 3

1. Based on your reflections, and on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being optimal wellbeing), where do you rate your A-physical wellbeing, B-spiritual well-being, C-psychological well-being? Why?

I would rate my physical wellbeing at about a 7 with hope that I can eventually move to a 10. I take pretty good care of myself, eating a very healthy vegetarian diet and practicing yoga daily. My spiritual well-being would be at about an 8. I have a very close relationship with God, very involved with my church etc. I only rated this at an 8 because I believe in this area, there is always room for improvement depending on the season of life you are in. My psychological well-being is rated about a 5. This is the area that I struggle in the most. I struggle to find balance and quiet my mind from negativity. Most of the time I can get myself grounded fairly quickly, but I would like to reduce the need to do so. 

2. Develop a goal for yourself in each area (physical, spiritual, psychological).

Physical- Try 3 new meals a week. Take my children and dogs on a walk early every morning. Spiritual- Spend 15 minutes reading the bible and journaling every morning. Psychological- Journaling as well as meditation daily.

3. What activities or exercise can you implement in your life to assist in moving toward each goal?

In order to help me move toward each goal, I need to wake up before my children each morning and give myself some quiet time. After my quiet time, my mind is clear to be able to plan meals, spend time in the word, journal, yoga, get things ready for the day.

4. Complete the relaxation exercise The Crime of the Century. To hear this exercise, click here. Describe your experience. (What it beneficial? Frustrating? etc.)

I was not crazy about this exercise. It was relaxing and helped me center myself. I was very distracted by the man's voice though. I could not fully relax and ground  myself. I feel like the rainbow and the colors were too long and drawn out. I was not able to focus on it.