Universal Loving-Kindness and Integral Assessment

1. I started doing the universal loving-kindness exercise and I honestly find it a little tougher to do since there isn't really anyone to specifically focus on. It is also hard to know for sure if it is effective since there isn't a particular person that you are trying to effect. However, that being said my wife leaves tomorrow for work and will be gone for a week. So I figure that I will continue doing this universal exercise, but focus this time specifically on my wife and see if there is any difference.

2 and 3. Secondly I did the integral assessment of the four aspects of wellness. I chose to focus on nutrition specifically since the last few weeks I haven't been focusing as much as I should be on it. I feel like I'm out of sync with my energy levels and it seems to be effecting my workouts more than it was initially. So I chose to really get back on my hardcore nutrition plan. I will start counting my macro nutrients while staying under the specific level I need to be at for my total calories. I hope this will put me back on track and continue to help me while I work on my physical wellness!

Subtle Mind Exercise

1. First off I finished the full week of the loving-kindness exercise. It went great and it really became a lot easier as the week went by. This week we were asked to switch the loving-kindness exercise out for the subtle mind exercise. This exercise was a lot easier for me to do since it was very similar to the meditation technique that I have already routinely incorporated in my day. I also added the second part of mental training during my cycling rides. I still focused on my breathing to become aware of my surroundings like I do during the subtle mind exercise, but connected it with mental training during my rides.

2. The way I have connected the three in my personal life is really how I was able to combine my cycling with mental training and awareness training. Now while I'm cycling I'm not only training my physical fitness, but also mental and spiritual training as well. I have found it to be an even more enjoyable experience. It has not only helped me slow down my heart rate and blood flow during the long rides, but it has also allowed me to really zero into my surroundings; this might sound a little weird however I connect more to my bike and the road. I have also noticed it has also increased the potential stress management I usually gain from my rides and by trying to control my blood flow I have also been able to have less muscle soreness and more endurance while on my rides as well!

Loving Kindness Practice

1. I haven't completed the full week yet, but did start the practice exercise on Wednesday. Since the book wanted us to do it twice a day I kind of made the exercise my own and tweaked it a little. The exercise is first suppose to help you focus on someone you really care about and love then turn that inwards on yourself. This helped to prepare me to not only see the love the other person has for me, but also to really see how much love I have for them. I also know of a personal situation they are going through and started to send that same love back mentally to them and I can honestly say that I have seen a positive change not only in my life, but their life as well. The second session I actually used to for the second part of the exercise. The second part wants us to take anyone that we perceive as an enemy, but actually send positive feelings towards them which will hopefully help the relationship between me and them to change. The reason I switched this to the end of the day is because it allowed me to analyze any problems I had throughout the day and the people associated with those problems. I haven't really noticed any changes in them yet either, because they were patients that I saw initially but haven't made it back to my work yet. I really did find this beneficial and would recommend other people to do this. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the week of practice goes and to really see if the ones I considered my "enemies" actually end up being a great relationship!

2. The idea of a mental workout can be compared to the same thing as a physical workout for your body, but as the name suggests it's for your mind. For example the loving kindness practice would be a mental workout that you can do continually or once in a while. By doing this it will allow me to not only expand my mind on my inner self, but eventually it will also allow me to get to the spiritual aspects of consciousness that Dacher is describing in our book.

Wellness Reflections and The Crime of the Century

1. I would honestly grade my physical wellness as probably a 7-8 on the scale. There is of course plenty of room left for improvements to my health, but for the most part I have really made nutrition and fitness a lifestyle. By doing so I can honestly say that I'm currently in the best shape I have ever been in my life! Spiritual wellness I would unfortunately have to rate pretty low probably around a 5 or a 6. This just recently over the past year as come about where I'm not fully sure what I believe in spiritually. I grew up a son of a preacher and went to church religiously no pun intended. Now that I'm a little older and been on my own for a few years I have realized that I just don't believe with the same conviction I used to. I still believe that there is a higher power and there is of course a purpose for each person's life, but beyond that is a blank page waiting to be written. Lastly, psychological wellness I would also score pretty high around a 7-8 since I have been able to control stress in my life a lot better with my workout routines and meditation.

2. My goal in my physical wellness is to keep on switching from my running habits to more solely focused on cycling and having my lifting routine focus solely on improving different aspects for cycling. My goal is to hopefully enter my first road race in the spring! Spiritually I will continue learning and exploring different aspects of this topic to see what I really connect with. I honestly see myself leaning more towards not so much religion, but just trying to become whole in all aspects of my life and I guess you could use the term transcend. Lastly, for psychological wellness I plan to continue my meditation and see what other types of relaxation techniques I might be able to incorporate.

3. To reach my goal for cycling I really have to just focus on cycling as my cardiovascular exercise and change my lifting routines to only help strengthen me in this area. For spiritual and psychological wellness I just need to really discover what things might get me to where I want to be in these areas. This might consist of learning about different religions to see which one I might see myself really cultivating or finding different relaxation techniques that I can use along with my meditation practices.

4. I really love these relaxation exercises; personally it really makes me relax especially during the weekend when I usually do them. It helps me to just forget any frustrations that I experienced through the week and it allows myself to just re-charge and get ready for the next week. In this weeks exercise it was pretty cool to have the mental imagery and color associations to go along with the recording. It helps to really focus on the exercise and allowed me to block distractions out of my mind.