Unit 6- Sending some Universal Love YOUR Way

Hey class and Professor Maule,

The Universal Loving Kindness exercise was really simple and easy for me to do. I honestly felt that by doing this exercise, that I wanted to go out and actually assist people in becoming happy, whole and healthy; as well as help others to become free from suffering. I believe with every fiber in my little body that there are two types of people in this world, those that live to serve themselves, and those that live to serve others. To me, I serve myself by serving others, it makes me feel good to do something good for another, even if it's as simple as letting someone into traffic, or not laying on the horn because some bonehead shot out in front of me all of a sudden. I truly believe that good deeds are contagious, and that one little one can truly make someone's day. A compliment to a random stranger can put a smile on their face that last the entire day, while a rude gesture, especially in the early morning can ruin that person's day.

The Integral Assessment I found to be an easier version of something that I have been doing for quite some time now. I just call it Self Work. The process of sitting down and picking yourself apart piece by piece in order to gain a deeper understanding of yourself. I always stress that it is a painful process that forces you to look at yourself honestly, and to try to understand yourself OUTSIDE of how others see you. That may not sound like much, but most of us are nothing more than copies of how we think others perceive us. It's why we dress certain ways, why we style our hair this way, why we walk or talk a certain way, or why we drive the car we drive. We constantly seek validation in the eyes of others...but why? What does that say about ourselves if we are constantly worried about how others will look at us or how they will think about us? As much self work as I do, I still constantly find myself worrying about what people think, and have to stop myself and say 'why does this matter? Will their opinion change any aspect of my life? Am I walking the correct path or doing what's right, right now?' Sometimes I don't like the answers I come up with, but I have to deal with them and fix myself in order to accomplish my goals.

Thanks for reading my blog, hope you guys have a great week!

Unit 5 Wooty Woot Woot

Woot

I liked this exercise, but I had more fun (for lack of better terms) doing it from the book Integral Health. Nothing against the narrator, but I need a very certain voice in order to make these audio tracks work, and if I don't hear it, I'm thrown off. I will also say that still, I'm not impressed by the audio quality of the waves. Kaplan, for realz, these classes cost too much to be using audio tracks from my Super Nintendo days.

Any who, I found that I like this exercise more than the Loving Kindness one.I will say that the Loving Kindness exercise made me feel happy, especially when I visualized my Mom saying "Hello my baby boy", as she has done since I actually was a baby. I see my Mom maybe twice a year now, and when I do, I realize how much I miss her. Speak of the devil, as I typed this out, she called me...weeeeeird.

For me, getting to the Subtle mind is the best aspect of meditation. I've said it before, but I work in a bar doing security. Having done security when I was in the Marines, I found that having a clear and subtle mind is crucial, as getting caught up in the thoughts will put you crucial steps behind in any developing situation. Just this weekend, I was involved in several potentially violent confrontations. By focusing on my breathing throughout the night, and keeping my mind quiet, I was able to pick up on things well in advance, getting into the mix before they turned bad for my employer. Fights are bad for business. By keeping my emotions in check, having an extreme amount of patience, and treating others with respect and loving kindness, I was also able to kick out several patrons, without making them feel embarrassed or making it into a scene. People usually want to fight when I make them leave...I hate fighting..

Thanks for reading. Peace.

Loving Kindness

I don't think that I was a big fan of this weeks exercise. I didn't like the sound quality one bit, especially when it came to the waves. I have found videos on Youtube that can literally make it sound like you are sitting on the beach, maybe because of the bass or stereo headphones. This exercise was just like the one in our text. I tried this last night and found that I was extremely happy, especially during the first part when I envisioned my mother. After I had completed this exercise, I felt much more at peace and much more at one with everyone else. I had a strong desire to give back, probably natural seeing as I had spent 45 minutes visualizing me giving life, love and energy to everyone. I even "gave" to people I don't like, especially a group of guys at my gym. That was a big step for me, and I will certainly do this exercise at least once a week.


A mental workout, to me is nothing more than any practice which helps to strengthen the mind and its abilities. Meditation, visualizations, these exercises we are doing in this class ALL help to build a stronger mind. I have heard of many people getting frustrated that they cannot keep their mind quiet while practicing. Many people do not realize that the mind is something that must be mastered. The more you practice, the better it gets. Many people also complain that they don't have the time to practice or that they are too busy. These things can be done anywhere. Something as simple as relaxing and focusing on your breathing and noticing the empty space and silence between breaths can by done while driving, doing the dishes, trying to fall asleep, anywhere. I have found that I can even ignore sounds that irritate me by switching my focus from something that bugs me to my breath.

Unit 3- My wellness

1). In looking at myself from a physical standpoint, I would give myself a 8 on the physical well being scale. Since I engage in over an hour of physical activity a day, eat a vegan diet consisting of almost all raw fruits and vegetables, and have no major (or really even minor) health complications, I would give myself an 8. There is always room for improvement, so I think that I could one day be a 9, but I don't believe that 10 is possible. Like I said, there is always room for improvement. On the Spiritual Well Being Scale, I would give myself a 7. I still have a lot of work to do in this area, but I make an effort to be conscious of all of my words and actions, every minute of every day. Sometimes I slip back into my subconscious habits, but when I catch myself, I focus on my breathing and try to keep my mind clear. The best moments of inspiration and insight have come to me as a result of practicing stillness of the mind. On the Psychological Well Being Scale, I would give myself a 6. Sometimes I am not as happy as I would like to be, and I understand that this is the case because of me. I am trying very hard to let go of the presumption that others provide me with happiness, and the more self work I do, the more I understand that this is not the case.

2). Physical Well Being Goal: Keep doing what I am doing, and don't slack on the diet. It..is..so..hard..keeping to this diet. I feel great as a result, but I live in a house of people who eat totally opposite of me. Staying on track can be trying at times.
Spiritual Well Being Goal: Meditate more, keep reading, using my now favorite audio books and keep expanding my imagination and creative potential.
Psychological Well Being Goal: Do more self work. Keep the things I have realized about myself in mind as much as possible. Stop relying on others for my sense of security and happiness. Understand for myself that truly, freedom and happiness is within.

3). I think to further my goals, I should go back to yoga. I loved it when I went, but my gym changed the day and time, and it threw me all off. The teacher was great and made it very easy for a newcomer like me being the only guy in the class to feel welcome. It would do me some good to return.

4). I liked this exercise. Towards the end, I really enjoyed the whole chakra meditation/ visualization portion. I know a lot of people don't believe in chakras and put them in that whole New Age category, but recently I have seen several videos that proved the existence of these electromagnetic centers in our bodies that are in the same areas that are being discussed in this audio. As I have said in the DB, the imagination is the most powerful thing in this universe, and using it in creative ways with the intent on improving your health does in fact work (well for me it does). Thanks for reading. Peace.