Integral Assessment

As I was doing the loving-kindness exercise, I had some hard time at first trying to connect to the person that I find lots of love from. However, I was finally able to and that led me into deep in my inner person and I had a time to reconnect with myself as well as a time to get a good look at myself. I found out that there are areas in my life I needed to take a closer look at and I found out that it was indeed very relaxing trying to offer the same love ad kindness to someone who was in suffering.
After now taking the assessment, I found out that there are some connections between the area need development and all the four quadrants. I am a very religious person and I have grown up being committed to my faith but as time went by, it all became a routine. I gradually started to be reckless in my interpersonal area, biological area as well as my worldly area. Life soon started to look kind of mixed up and as I was looking into my psycho-spiritual area, I have realized that the core beliefs that made me a better person are eroded and I have decided to spend more time in connecting with my faith through bible study and prayer. When I decided to do that, I was reminded that I need to serve other people, love all, take care of my body and understand that I am here for a little while.
I am now seriously exercising, I have been going through my job and other assignments with the spirit of servant hood as well as trying to show more love and kindness to not only my family, but to ll people I come across daily. As I do so, I am feeling that I am becoming more and more less stressed and my mind and body are feeling energized. I now believe that the holistic view of integral health is very possible and that it is also practical. I am looking forward to continuing my journey and get better as I go along.

Subtle Mind

I did not have a clear idea where this exercises were headed to. I had very mixed feelings and I could not see myself being able to do anything in terms of the exercises. I struggled the fist two exercises but the loving-kindness exercise really changed my mindset. There was really that aspect of the mind and body attaining some level of relaxation by just focusing on an external person. This week would not have been easier were it not for last week. By trying to focus on the  loving-kindness exercise last week, it makes it easier to focus on the internal me and thus be able to get that relaxation feeling. this is brought out during the breathing exercise and the process of bringing the thoughts together and avoid wandering off. However, it is not as simple as it looks but I am developing a mindset that I can be able to do it and I am getting there.

        Just like I said i my earlier blogs, the hustles of life had made it hard for me to maintain a healthy lifestyle that involved good nutrition and exercise. I gained some significant weight and I realized that even my mind felt cluttered and clogged. I decided to put more emphasis on my Christian faith and become more connected to God and after sometime, I felt motivated to start exercising and what happened was just amazing. My attitudes changed, I felt light all over and that enabled me to get even deeper in my faith. I believe that's the benefits of wellness and they affect every aspect of our lives. Coupled with the exercise we are doing in this class, the connection is becoming more and more clearer.

Mental Workout

I had declared my frustrations with the first exercise and to some degree the second. for this exercise, I made a decision to put all my efforts into it. It is just amazing how it is possible to focus on someone who has tremendous influence on me and then get to feel the same character and the 'goodness' of the person permeating our inner being. It is therefore true that we can be able to train our minds to dwell on the loving-kindness, subtle mind and the wisdom that can help us maintain a level head in a world full of negativity, turmoil and full of bad news.
By being able to workout our minds in the form of contemplative thinking and also through the deliberate efforts of doing the exercises that will strengthen our minds to beat off  all these negative aspects of our minds. Just like we cannot attain physical health by just seating around and eating anything we want to, we cannot workout out minds whole at the same time taking in all the junk around us into our minds. I now believe that the west has neglected this aspect and we have been taught to believe that medicines can take care of all our ailments. I am hopeful that we can be able to make the necessary changes in our own lives and at the same time try to do the same in our individual careers.

My Wellbeing

I had to really take some time to look critically at the three aspects of wellbeing I am to rate myself  on. In my physical wellbeing, I had allowed myself to be so idle and did not exercise as much as needed. I can rate my self at around 6. As for Spiritual wellbeing I am at 8. I know for sure that human beings have a spiritual part and I have sought to seek my spirituality seriously and I completely believe in God and committed to it too and strive day by day to get to a 10. Psychologically I am at 10. I do not consider myself as having any psychological issues.
I am now on a very strict diet ad exercise regimen and I have seen some change in my physical wellbeing and that has also affected my spiritual side. I am finding my mind very clear and very receptive to the books that I read and the personal studies that I do. I am also very well able to react to life situations differently and in the process maintain a level head so to say. I am planning on having more quiet times, meditate and also find more opportunities for me to serve other human beings. I am also deliberately working on reducing my friends to only those that are meaningful to my wellbeing and those that encourage me to be the best person I can be.  By doing these things, I am sure that I will be able to add 'muscles' to my spiritual and psychological wellbeing.
I tried the relaxation exercise and keeping in mind all the valuable tips I got after the first exercise, I could at least feel some difference and was able to relax even though not completely but I can see some improvement. It is a little frustrating not to feel exactly what the exercise wants me to achieve but knowing that Rome was not built in a day, I am encouraged to keep trying and going by the little relaxation I felt, It will be awesome to get it all the way.