Based on the exercises that I have so far completed in this course, the most beneficial practice sessions for me have been the: 1) Integral Assessment and the 2) Loving Kindness Meditation.
During these past few weeks, I have been working with the Integral Assessment to help identify what areas of my life are the sources of my distress. Thus by sitting in a comfortable position, with my eyes closed, I am able to still my mind and ask “what aspect of my life - Psychospiritual, Biological, Interpersonal, or Worldly - is the source of my difficulty or my suffering?” Since I was so successful with my first few attempts for this practice, I have continued to work with it. This is an example of the last one that I did:
1) Question: What is wrong with my computer? Why can I not get it to work? Is it me?
2) Answer: Psychospiritual - You need to think more POSITIVE. Keep trouble-shooting. Don’t give up.
During this term, I have used the Loving Kindness Meditation with some great results. During this meditation, I am able to quiet my mind and concentrate on sending love to another person, who I love (one who is content and another loved one, who is suffering), myself, and to strangers. Since I did very well with my first few attempts, I just recently practiced this for the following reason:
1) Problem: Having problems with those, who behave NEGATIVE towards me in my life.
2) Solution: Practice the Loving Kindness Meditation. Then, even though I am firm with these people, I do not harbor hatred towards them. Try to hold them in the “light of God” for direction. It seems to work. This is probably because as they say “Like attracts like.” There can be no tug of war if the other side firmly agrees not to participate.
Thus by continuing the Integral Assessment practice of quieting my mind, I am able to see the answers to my life’s problems with more clarity. By continuing with the Loving Kindness meditation, I am able to lift the negative energy that I sometimes get from others, off of my shoulders and to obtain a calmer state of mind.
Last, I would definitely recommend the 1) Integral Assessment and the 2) Loving Kindness Meditation to my clients for the same reasons that I find them helpful for my own integral health. This is due to the fact that making health decisions and dealing with other people, do tend to be some of the most crucial issues that many of us face. Yes, these areas seem to cause a vast amount of stress in most of our lives.
Reference
Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.
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Maria,
ReplyDeleteI think you have done a great job in using the exercises in your day-to-day contact with people. I have found that when you are dealing with a negative person, treat them with kindness, it disarms them because they have nothing to fight back with. Negative people are so caught up in being negative about everything that it spills over into their everyday contact with people. I wonder if they are ever happy about anything. For me, that is an awful way to live.
Hi Maria
ReplyDeleteYou have put a lot of effort into performing the exercises and making them work for your life and current situations. That's great and also the intention of this class. We need to find our own path to integral health and it will be different than the path someone else would take. You are making good use of all we have learned.
It is challenging here, but I think that we all have learned a lot and then by still having our blogs we can keep working on stuff like this. Thanks.
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