Loving-Kindness

Greetings to all of my lovely little squirrels out there!! (Yes, the craziness is still there. It's pitched a tent and it's determined to stay.) Here we are for yet another week in the adventures of physiological and spiritual healing. This week, we explored another exercise, listened to a couple of MP3 waves and were asked to determine what our opinions were. So, let's get started for this week, shall we? All those in favor, raise your hands. (Okay, seriously, if you just read that and actually raised your hand, at a computer screen no less, you're just as crazy as I am, so welcome to the Funny Farm, sit back, and enjoy your stay.)

Question #1 for the week:

Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

Okay, I'm not usually one to complain when it comes to these exercises, but man, this one was not a good choice. The sound of the waves at the beginning were great and I was hoping that this exercise would have been as enjoyable as the previous ones. Boy, was I wrong. The previous two exercises had a man instructing the listener and his voice was very calm and had a soothing quality to it. This time around, a woman gave the instructions. Not a good choice. Her voice was so dull, like a computer generated voice, and it grated on my nerves. Seriously, it was like nails on a chalkboard. It was very hard to concentrate on what she was saying and it was not relaxing at all, especially not enough to get the exercise to work well for me. I've tried to work on practicing loving-kindness this past week. It's not as easy as it seems, but I think with some work, and perhaps a different exercise if I can find one, I should be able to eventually achieve this. It's not something that you can make happen overnight. It's something that takes time and practice, but if your heart is not in it, then it won't happen for you.

Question #2 for the week:

What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

For me, a 'mental workout' is just that; a workout for my mind. As much as our bodies need physical exercise, our minds need mental exercises to stimulate and challenge them. Think of the phrase 'use it or lose it". That's extremely true for our minds. I found an interesting article from USA Today online that talks about the benefits of a mental workout and gives some ideas on how to keep your mind sharp. The article is here: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-06-10/mental-exercises-brain-health/55497440/1.

I've also found that taking visual trips helps a lot and gives me a great mental workout. I try to visualize a place like a cabin high in the mountains, surrounded by tons of snow, a cheery fire burning in the fireplace, and as quiet as can be. I've also done one where I'm on a beach at night, hearing the quiet rush of the waves, the feel of the water as it splashes over my feet, the feel of the wet sand between my toes, the moon and stars reflecting off of the ocean. If I do this right, I can actually smell the scent of the ocean or the wood from the fireplace. I let my mind drift and don't try to stop any image that comes into the visualization. Sometimes, if I'm having a problem, that's when I will find the answer I was looking for. I also get quite a mental workout from brain games, like hidden object games or speed games. My video games that I play are ones that make me find things, complete quests (and yes, I'm one of these that has to complete the entire game or I'm not happy), and are god for my hand/eye coordination. Plus, nothing relieves stress like incinerating the bad guy in a video game (at least for me it does).

As we come to the end of our adventure for the week, I encourage everyone to challenge themselves and give their minds a good workout. Remember, my dear squirrels, we are never too old to learn.

Until next time, may a smile be your umbrella and may your camels never run out of spit. (Yeah, thank Klinger on M*A*S*H for that line.)

The Crime of the Century (Don't You Believe It)

Hello, my freaky darlings!! (Yes, that was taken from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. What can I say? I’m nuts and love every minute of it.) Anyhow, welcome to yet another week of psychological and spiritual healing adventures. This week, my fellow classmates and I were asked to answer a few questions about our own well-being before we listen to our weekly exercise. So, let’s see just what I have found out about myself.

First, I had to determine, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being optimal well-being, how I would rate my physical well-being, spiritual well-being, and psychological well-being. With my physical well-being, I would rate myself around a 6. The classes that I’m taking for this degree are showing me that I need to start making some changes and I have done so. I’ve begun watching what I eat (trying to stay away from the items I really don’t need), drinking more water, and working out. I’ve only been at this for a couple of months now, but I have seen some small changes and I have to remind myself that things won’t change overnight. Still, if I keep at it, I know I’ll do fine. My spiritual well-being is around a 5. Don’t get me wrong, I have good relations with people, a comfortable home, and an okay job. I don’t often think much of my spiritual well-being. Usually, I have too many things on my mind. This is one area I need to work on for sure. I would rate my psychological well-being at around an 8 or 9. Yes, I’m crazy as can be, but it’s that craziness that keeps me grounded. I do my best to not let things get to me mentally, like stress, and humor helps me quite a bit on this area. Yes, there are times when I feel mentally drained, but for the most part, I think I do pretty well.

Next, I’ve been asked to develop a goal for each area. For my physical well-being, I want to get as healthy as I can. For my spiritual well-being, I want to work towards finding inner peace with everything around me. For my psychological well-being, I want to drive as much stress away from my mind as I can.

Now, I’ve been asked what exercises or activities I can implement into my life to help me move towards these goals. For my physical well-being, I can follow meal plans and try different ways of exercise. There is everything from walking to aerobics and even muscle strength and training. For my spiritual well-being, I need to find a way to connect more with my ‘soul’. I can use meditation for this as well as other practices like breathing techniques and feng shui. I can also implement more of my beliefs into my life to reach a balance. I do believe a lot of what others, believe, but I also have my own thoughts and beliefs as well, and I think I will be able to find a balance between all of this as long as I’m willing to learn about them with an open mind. For my psychological well-being, I want to keep my mind active. I try to do puzzles, play video games, and do a lot of crafts. This actually helps me a lot, especially if it is something where I have to think about a solution. This can keep my mind busy and help take my mind off any stress I may be going through.

Now, after all of this, it’s time for the weekly exercise. This week, we are listening to The Crime of the Century. Before we begin, let me just say that the title of this exercise does not reflect the actual exercise at all. (Kind of a letdown because I was hoping for some kind of really good mystery) This week, we have the same narrator from the previous week and more soothing music as well. We begin with a comfortable position and work on our breathing. We now get to work on a technique called Rainbow Meditation. We use imagination, using the colors of the rainbow, to use meditative thoughts. We think of the colors, items that are that color, and imagine a beam of light is running through an area of our body, and this helps us to feel grounded or centered, or whatever depending on the area. Breathing continues as we think and we move to each area, using a different color for each. Listening to this exercise, I’m reminded of the Chakra. The Chakra involves 7 areas of our bodies and each area is associated with a color and meaning. The Chakra has been associated with spiritual healing for a long time. If someone is new to the Chakra, this exercise is a good way to be introduced to the basics of the Chakra.

Overall, this was a good exercise. Again, it’s a good idea to remember to keep an open mind with these exercises and suggestions being made or they won’t work.

Until next week, stay well, my darlings!!

Journey On

Well, folks, here we are on our first journey. For class this week, we listened to a clip online aptly titled 'Journey On'. It runs for about 15 minutes and, as it turns out, is a relaxation technique.

So, what was this clip like? It was very interesting. The clip begins with soft chimes and soon a voice comes on, telling us that this session will help us in relaxing. The chimes fade to the background, but you can still hear them. They are rather relaxing to listen to. The instructor tells us to find a comfortable position, loosen any restrictive clothing, and get as comfortable as we can.

The instructor elaborates on the fact that when we are relaxed, around 80% of our blood is housed in our abdominal cavity, while the other 20% is circulating through our bodies. He tells us that this technique will help us move blood to any muscle in our body and help us relax that particular area.

Now, my first thought on this was 'yeah, right'. Still, I do believe in, and have used, meditation before and really this is a form of meditation, but this doesn't just involve the mind. This technique will involve my whole body, so what the heck, let's give it a shot.

As I listen to the instructor, I notice a change in the sounds in the background. The chimes are still there, but there is now a soothing music playing as well and it helps me to relax even more. I pick an area that I want to be more relaxed and I decide to go with my legs, since this part of my body always seems to be tense (the instructor used our hands and arms, which is fine and this can be used for any part of the body. Just change up the areas). I guess that's what I get for being on my feet a lot at my job.

Breathing deeply, I do as the instructor says and try to suggest to myself to get my blood flow to move down to my legs, to help relieve the tension and stress. I think to myself that my legs are getting warm and heavy and surprisingly, I do feel this change. I can tell that my blood is shifting from my abdominal cavity down to my legs.

After a minute or two, I can feel my legs becoming very warm and comfortable, very relaxed and I don't think I could move them right now if I wanted to. I'm too comfortable. I can feel the tension and stress leaving. I stay this way for a bit, before following the instructor and begin to shift the excess blood flow back to my abdominal cavity.

Thinking that the blood is moving back to my abdominal cavity, I feel the heaviness leaving my legs and I know that the blood is moving back to where it originally was. I keep my breathing slow and deep and soon all of the tension has left my legs, the blood is back where it should be, and I feel really relaxed.

Now, you would think that something like this would make me feel tired and sleepy, but it doesn't. I'm relaxed, but energized at the same time and as the music softly fades away completely, I feel like I'm ready to continue my day.

This is the interesting thing about meditation and relaxation techniques. They are designed to get us feeling energized again and not sluggish, relaxed, but ready to continue on. This is definitely one technique that I would recommend to anyone, and for anyone who is skeptical, I will say this. Give it a try. What do you have to lose? If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work. But, if it does, think of how relaxed and energized you'll feel.

But, there is a trick to this that I've noticed. If you go into this technique thinking that it simply won't work, then it won't. This is about training our minds and if you're not opened to trying something new, then you will gain nothing.

Welcome and Hello!!!

Velcome to my blog!! <evil laugh> Okay, so that was a really bad attempt at some vampire humor, but hey, you have to give it a go every now and then. :) Anyhow, welcome to my blog! My name is Lindsey ( or Lynne, whichever you prefer) and I an a student through Kaplan University, studying for a Bachelor's in Health and Wellness. This blog is being done for my one class, Creating Wellness: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing. Please hang in there with me during this small adventure since I have never done a blog before in my life. Each week throughout the class, I will be posting my reflections about our assignment for the blog for the week.

I hope you join me on this journey to see just how psychological and spiritual needs affect our bodies in out everyday lives. Enjoy!!