Unit 8-The benefits of taking time out

There are many things that benefit us in life. However, the two things that we practiced in class that can be beneficial and helpful in my daily life is visualization and meditation. I believe these two things go hand in hand. As we take the time out to calm our mind and spirit we can focus on visualizing one thing to help us remember something that brings us peace, calm, loving thoughts that helps us get to the state of peace and calm within our mind, body and soul. It is easy to focus on the negative and bring negativity into our life but I believe daily reflecting on positive thoughts can help us learn to train our mind to grow to think positive on a more routine basis instead on thoughts that don't bring us peace.

The focus point

The first thing that comes to mind when focusing and trying to find that focal point is my fiance. His loving and kind ways and beautiful features makes it easy to view him. I know I need to learn to be more patient and loving and when surrounded by positive people who continue to show love even when love is not given, makes you have to change your view and actions yourself. I continue to need to learn to meditate and take the time to focus but it is not an easy task due to my daily routine of work, kids, school and home.

I always believed that one can only lead another to a certain point if they have not walked the walk due to needing to know and experience for themselves what they are teaching. We can study to a certain point but experience is the best teacher in my view. I want to teach others about nutrition and being healthy but at the same time I can not live an unhealthy lifestyle and then teach others to not do as I am. Health to me is a daily lifestyle not just a diet that you do for a couple of days or weeks and then back to your old self, it is a change. The change has to first start in your mind and then your body will follow. I loved the saying in the book about how we should view everyone as they were Christ. This is an interesting point because we do treat others differently when we know they are of a certain status, so if we look at everyone as important than we would treat everyone kind, loving, attentively and respectfully. I will try this for myself when dealing with people for now on.

Loving Kindness Exercise

It is funny that I did this exercise when I was actually angry and having a bad day and the book says it can be helpful when dealing with anger or hatred. After completing the exercise I can understand how training the mind to think positive things and speaking positive things can alter you emotional state. I tend to say at least one prayer when I go into work that I am a blessing to whomever I touch or come in contact with before I start my job but I guess it would be best to say this prayer before I even get out of bed. Daily stressors and problems can build up and if not addressed quickly can lead to negativity and other problems. I will continue to say and think these words for the rest of the night to help me get through my situation and help the people around me.

Loving kindness and mind exercise

As I laid in my bed listening to track 3 and trying to practice my breathing and do the relaxation exercise my CD went to a loud static sound and disrupted the relaxation exercise. However, before the CD was interrupted I felt the practice was very helpful and I felt my mind and body relaxing. Breathing helps you stabilize and calm the body. I recently used ear plugs just to try them out to see if it made a difference when sleeping and when I put the ear plugs in my ears it was like I slipped into a whole new world, the outside world was suddenly calm. The ear plugs enabled me to listen to my own breathing and hear the steady rhythm of breaths which relaxed me and helped me fall asleep. If you anyone hasn't tried this technique I highly recommend trying it one time and see the difference. As far as the dysfunctional CD, has anyone else had problems with the CD they got from Kaplan? I guess it is too late to return it and ask for a new one.

Unit 4 Getting Started

As the week goes by it is hard to take time out to get started and relax. Getting started and practicing the home exercise for loving and kindness it makes me realize that I should take the time to to practice these techniques more often. Sitting calmly in a peaceful state and opening my mind to experience loving thoughts makes me shift my inner and outer emotions to be more loving and kind to others. A mental workout is being able to control our thoughts and train our brain to function in a more clear stable way. This is an ongoing exercise that we all should practice on a daily basis because it doesn't just train our minds but it also trains our bodies to function properly. It has been proven that health begins in the mind, healthy mind can mean healthy bodies.