Unit 6: Exercises for Mind-Body-Spirit Wellness and Healing

     After completing the first exercise of Loving Kindness, I felt a sense of relief, but also a sense of sadness. I came to the realization that I have a few underlying issues, one which is very upsetting, that I need to get to the bottom of and perhaps even try to fix. It made me think of my step-mother, who passed away last March of Ovarian cancer, and it made me miss her even more. Before she passed though, we had just mended our relationship and I am so grateful for that. But now, for very unfortunate reasons, my mother and I are at a fork in the road, where we see our relationship dissipating, which is completely saddening to me. This exercise made me think of her too because I want nothing but the best for her, but over the past couple of months, I have felt otherwise and I feel horrible for feeling that way. I am hoping that we can fix whatever is "broken" in our relationship, so we can go on living happy, healthy lives with each other in our lives.
     The Integral assessment showed me how I really need to work on my worldly flourishing. I am already quite physical and I make sure to eat right and am aware of my mind and my body. But it has come to my attention that I am lacking in the worldly section. I think with my daughter in school, I could participate or even volunteer some of my free time to helping her out at school or just helping her school out. I was also reminded how well I am doing with my part in helping out the environment. I am a firm believer about recycling and reusing, and I make sure to teach the same to my children. I just need to work on taking an active part of my community. Overall, I feel my integral assessment is up to par, besides the few things I need to work on.

Thanks for reading!
Kristin Croake

Unit 5: The Key Role of Thought in wellness and healing

     In comparing and contrasting the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise, they were similar in that they had almost the same kind of background noise, but that really seemed to be the only comparison I observed. The difference was that in Loving Kindness, it seemed it was asking you to "use your mind" and "focus" on different things. But with the subtle mind, it was just asking if you could see certain things she would mention. I think I preferred the Subtle mind exercise more because there didn't seem to be as much talking going on. For me, the talking and telling me to focus on all these different things, gets my mind wandering and then I loose my focus and attention because I'm thinking of too many things. So the subtle mind seemed to mention things, then would be a longer "quiet".

     I think in order for us to reach our full potential, we have to be spiritually, physically, and mentally well. At some point in time, we all look to a "higher power" (whatever or whomever it may be) for help and guidance. I definitely do my praying because it helps me to believe. I also make sure to stay physically well by exercising because that is what keeps me sane, especially when I am very stressed or upset. So in being physically active also helps in my mentality because then I am able to keep my stressors down (or at least for part of the day, I am not stressing) because I end up becoming happier and in a better mood after I work out. When we are overall spiritually, physically, and mentally content then that is when we are able to reach our own human flourishing.

Thanks for reading!
Kristin Croake

Unit 4: The Mind-Body-Spirit Connection

     After practicing the Loving Kindness exercise over the past couple of days, I have come to enjoy it. I must admit, the first few days of practicing this exercise was a bit difficult and didn't really seem to be too helpful, however, after continuing it over this past week, the last few days I felt like I definitely got more out of it. I think it's because I never really tried to do this type of practice before, so in the beginning it's quite hard for me to really focus and concentrate, especially since I have a three year old who is home with me all day, so I don't get a lot of time to myself. So I also had to adjust the time down to 5 minutes the first couple of days because I was constantly interrupted and I just couldn't focus. I did get up to 10 minutes the last few days which is a great feat for me. I think it really is a beneficial and helpful exercise because being able to think and concentrate on a particular loved one (I chose my husband), made me feel very happy. I want only the best for my husband, and I want to be able to think of everyone in a loving, kind manner, even people I don't know. I think that being able to reduce our self-centeredness, so we can think about others is a great thing to be able to do. I think this really benefits everyone and I would recommend it to others.

     I think the concept of "mental workout" is being able to practice and train our minds, which help us to open our hearts to others, getting rid of the self-centeredness, and also open our minds so we can delve deeper into them. The benefits include we grow compassion for other people's well-being and we gain wisdom by training our minds. We can reduce our meaningless thoughts, feelings, and images if we practice on a regular basis.

     I think mental workouts help in our psychological health because it gives us a stronger sense of others. It also helps us to address and tame our busy mind. It will help us to progress to ending up with a calm and stable frame of mind. 

Thanks for reading!
Kristin Croake

Unit 3: Mind-Body Connection

     Well I am very much into physical fitness and exercise. So I can proudly say, I rate my physical well-being at a 9. I make sure to get out for a run, just about everyday, unless something crazy happens and makes it so I am unable to run that day. I try my very best to get some sort of physical activity each and everyday. A goal I am pursuing for my physical well-being is I am hoping to be able to run a half marathon by the end of the year. To do this, I am getting my running in as much as possible and making sure I am eating healthier foods. 
     My spiritual well-being is not where I'd like it to be. I would rate it at a 5 and the reason for this is because I have a hard time getting myself and my family to church every Sunday and I also don't take time for myself to just sit, relax, and/or pray. A goal for me, spiritually, is to get at least, myself attending church service every Sunday. I will need to make sure I am prioritizing my time with my husband during the rest of the weekend, so I don't feel as bad leaving for a couple hours on Sunday. 
     I would rate my psychological well-being a 7. Most of the time, I have a ton of things on my plate, therefore, bringing a lot of stress into my life. I have a three year old and a seven year old; I sometimes feel like my "job" as a stay-at-home mom is completely stressful and, at times, worse than a regular 9-5 job, I sometimes wish I had instead. Unfortunately, I don't always handle stressors in my life in a healthy manner; I have a tendency to bottle some feelings up inside, instead of letting them out and talking about them. A goal of mine for my psychological well-being will be to make sure I take time out just for myself; even if it is just 10-15 minutes each day. I need to make sure that I set aside quiet time, so I can de-stress or think to myself. In order to do this, I should set mark a time on my calendar for each day, of when I will take my own time to sit and relax; where I can not be disturbed and I can clear my mind for a few minutes. 
     The relaxation exercise, The Crime of the Century, did not seem too beneficial for me. I found myself going in and out of actually listening to what he was saying. I thought there was just too much thinking about the many different colors and the different meanings they may have in our lives. I did not find this relaxation session to be helpful to me because in my mind, I was not interested; I was not interested in the reds, blues, yellows, etc. and what they were suppose to symbolize in my life. Overall, I would not try to do this exercise again. 


Thanks for reading!
Kristin Croake