Meeting Aesclepius

This week's exercise had me thinking about my amazing Chinese grandfather, "Gung Gung," who passed away 5 years ago, and suffered from Alzheimer's for the last 10 years of his life.  I didn't see him often during that time (he moved from Michigan to Texas when I was in elementary school), so the changes in his health were dramatic and heartbreaking from one visit to the next.  The meditation was an opportunity to reconnect with him, as he was before his illness.  I felt warm and full, peaceful and open, but at the same time a little sad.

I can't say that the meditation we have done for this class has exactly overhauled my psychological and spiritual wellness, because I don't think I was out-of-joint to begin with, but I am glad of the "opportunity" (thanks, woodcarver, lol!) to commit to practicing mindfulness regularly.  I have been trying to ease into each day rather than jumping out of bed and taking off running then never slowing down until my head hits the pillow at the end of the night, and meditating each morning is something that has helped me do that, which I believe I will continue once this course is over.  This is definitely better for my health than zipping through the day in permanent sympathetic mode.

To me, the saying, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself," means you can't rightfully give advice about something you've never tried.  For an integral wellness professional, this translates to exploring all facets of your own health, from the physical, to the mental, to the spiritual.  I suppose that if, for example, you're a personal trainer in a setting where your clients are only interested in working out, you aren't ethically obligated to have psychological and spiritual expertise, but at the same time, doesn't improving yourself in these areas enable you to better understand and relate to others?  And any time you are on the professional end of a client/practitioner relationship, I believe that half the battle is establishing a connection with your client, if only so they trust you to give them your best.

I also think it's important to be OK with not being perfect in all these respects, and to be honest about your imperfections, preferably in the context of putting forth effort to change and grow.  If you pretend like you're infallible, your clients might falsely believe that you expect the same from them, and that could be counterproductive.  One way to encourage my own personal evolution is to periodically use Dacher's self-assessment method, so I can make sure my practice is in line with the areas that need work, and appropriate for the logistics of my life at the time.

Integral Assessment

This exercise didn't really do it for me the way the previous two meditations did, I think because of the words.  I am totally on board with the sentiment, but I was uneasy having to repeat the phrases.  I inherently get what they are trying to express, but I felt like verbalizing it took away some of the power and authenticity.  The experience of concentrating on universal loving kindness feels a very particular way to me, and I prefer to keep that experience between my heart and the world, and not mix language up in it.

The assessment, on the other hand, I found comfortable and useful.  I discovered that I'm not doing so shabby after all (lol), and that it really isn't that painful to admit to myself the particular areas of my life that could use work.  I want to further develop the “community” aspect of my interpersonal relationships, and engage more in social activism (a worldly line) (Dacher, 2006, pp. 109-110).  I chose these areas because I want to know that more than just having positive thoughts and feelings about others, I can make an immediate and measurable difference in the lives of real people with urgent needs.

Baby steps toward fostering greater wellness in these areas could be to finally get to know my neighbors, volunteer at local events such as the invasive plant workshops my dad runs or river clean-up days, and more consistently financially support and attend rallies for causes that are dear to me.  Further down the line, two things I would like to be able to do are start a community garden and hold free yoga classes for the unemployed.

Reference

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health: the Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

The Subtle Mind

• As with the Loving Kindness exercise last week, I enjoyed the Subtle Mind practice for this unit, but for different reasons.  This exercise felt more like a workout, whereas sending all that positive energy out into world in LK seemed more for the universal good than for my own personal development.  (I think I would probably have felt differently about it if I did not already try to think that way, as a baseline, because it would have taken more effort.)  With both exercises, I came away feeling relaxed, open, and unburdened, and did not find anything frustrating.

• Before reading the Dacher chapter, "Biological Flourishing," I was already aware of the connection between spiritual, mental, and physical wellness, if not from hearing about it, then from having experienced balance vs. imbalance.  I used to be sort of an angry person, and I pretty much always felt like I had no direction or purpose -- I felt unfocused and ungrounded, and had a hard time slowing down, calming down.  At this stage in my life, I got sick often.  I signed up for yoga to meet a phys ed requirement at a previous college, and discovered that it helped me connect with myself.  The more I took time to look inward, the easier it became to put what happened outwardly in perspective, and I morphed into a Big Picture person, instead of someone who was selfishly fixated on petty details.  As I learned to let go of daily annoyances, my unoccupied mind became less restless, and I felt less stressed out in general.  At the same time, my physical health improved, and I rarely became sick.  I could have read about the mind/body/spirit connection until my eyes crossed, but I might never have fully believed or understood how true it was if I hadn't witnessed it within myself.

Loving-Kindness exercise

• The main feeling I had during this experience was one of release.  Because the focus was on loved ones, I was able to let go of my own problems and think only of others and about sending them good energy.  I found this comforting and beneficial rather than difficult, for a few reasons: thinking about "others" in general, outside my circle of loved ones, reinforced the notion of the interconnectedness of everyone, and worrying about silly things in my life sometimes makes me feel selfish.  I would especially recommend this exercise to those who are trying to change the way they think about the people they interact with, as a reminder that everyone is worthy and deserves a dose of "loving-kindness."

• The contemplatives observed by both Davidson and Lutz were asked to focus on compassion; I believe this is what the loving-kindness exercise simulates.  This is a sort of mental workout, which studies have shown to increase integration of different parts of the brain, and improve cognitive function.  You can benefit psychologically from mental training by taking time out of each day (as little as just a few minutes at first, then building up) for mindfulness exercises, much as you would for a physical fitness routine.  Dacher recommends doing this early in the morning, when your mind hasn't yet been clounded by the business of the day.  :)