My dearest friend....

I just want to say that life is short and we must stop and think about the life we have and the life we want before it is to late. I lost a good friend of mine and a great nurse yesterday at a very young age. I miss her smile, laughter, and joy already. She was great with my students in the learning environment and was held high at her place of employment as a bedside nurse. She left behind a young son, to whom life will never be the same. I pray that all will just keep in your prayers those who take care of everyone else's families while we put ourselves to the side. Nurses make great sacrifices to share their love and compassion for others...Sharon Matthews will be missed... Thank You...

Meeting Aesclepius

This exercise was interesting. I had to listen to it two times to actually feel like I was doing it right. When it tells you to picture a greater person, this always leads me to spiritual thinking of GOD. And when it tells you to picture the white light..it reminds me of Sylvia Browne and her meditation CD. She says when you pray or meditate you should ask GOD to surround yourself and loved ones in the white light of the Holy Spirit as it will protect you from evil. So in the same sense the white light and the greater being I picture were the same as the ones I picture when I meditate to her disk, it was very familiar to me. I will continue to listen to the exercises in this class and probably seek out more. I will also continue to work on my own integral health so that I may be able to help my clients learn about it and begin in their own Integral life challenge. "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (Sclitz, Amorok, & Micozzi, 2006, P. 477). I believe this is true in so many aspects of life. It seems to be a saying that has been around and interpreted in many different ways for many years. I believe it to be very true. If I cannot achieve Integral Health myself, how will I ever be able to suggest such values to my patients, friends, family, or anyone? I would not be able to. I believe in order to achieve psychological and spiritual growth in my life, I must continue to meditate and exercise. I need to re-assess my goals along with strengths and weaknesses at points to know where I need to adjust. Goals will always be important to me, so this will be my way of reminding myself that Integral Health is important.

Integral Assessment

Well this exercise made no sense to me...I found it difficult to keep my eyes closed because I had to keep opening them to remember what I was supposed to be repeating! I guess if I had time to do it everyday, I would have memorized them but did not get that chance. I think I do feel universal loving-kindness, maybe not to the full extent that is involved in the Integral Healing, but to a point. The Integral Assessment was interesting to me. I know there are things in all areas of my life I could work on. The one area of focus I feel maybe needs the most focus would probably be interpersonal, which I honestly feel I am already working on. I really love to run, so I have tried some new things with my running. When I focus on my breathing I focus on my inner self. I think about my day or week and think about the things I could have done differently, how I could have handled situations differently. I feel like this helps better myself. I have also been considering going to a life coach. These are counselors that focus more on the present and the future instead of tearing through your past, I really don't need to re-live that. I learn from my mistakes, but they also make you the person you really are. The only way to change or improve is to have someone help you, to give you feedback and ideas. Well...that is the only way I feel I can improve myself.

The Subtle Mind

I felt like this exercise was a world easier than the Loving Kindness Exercise. I did not find it very useful to relax thinking about the negatives of my loved ones or the hatred of others. The ocean waves and the flute music makes it very easy to relax and keep your mind focused and my breathing in tune with the exercise. This type of meditation exercise is one I could sit and do every day and concentrate on my mind and body instead of the things around me keeping my mind busy. The Loving Kindness exercise seemed to constantly shift focus from one thing to the next several times throughout the entire time. Overall, this is my favorite of the three we have had to listen to.

Loving Kindness

This meditation session was a bit easier for me to stay awake for. I found that meditating for my loved ones made me feel like I had purpose for doing it, sending love and spirituality their way. I do have a hard time with the enemy thing...I have not quite got to that part of my spirituality yet. I do pray each and every night for my family and friends so I looked at this session like that. I did try very hard to incorporate this every day but did not accomplish it. I am a very busy person and no matter how hard I try to find time...other things always come up. I am going to try harder to take a little longer then my exercise time to sit and meditate for maybe 15 minutes after my workouts. I believe that a mental workout is just like my physical workout...something that takes hard work and practice. I could not run on the treadmill for 45 minutes when I first started like I can now. So I am not disappointed I have a hard time sitting through a meditation session for longer than 10 minutes. It takes time and training. It also takes a commitment to want to do it and be better at it.