Dear
Professor and Classmates,
Universal Loving-Kindness – When I began the exercise
I had trouble maintaining my focus but was able to still my mind through
controlled breathing and focusing on these movements. Once I gained my focus I
began to picture the suffering of individuals and people longing for health,
happiness, and wholeness but unsure about how to get the process started. Then,
I began picturing the people I know in my life that I would like to help ease
their suffering and guide them to health, happiness, and wholeness (Dacher, 2006).
Integral Assessment
Psychospiritual Flourishing – For this dimension of
flourishing I have chosen the area of emotional to focus on. I have had many
issues in the last two years regarding job and personal issues. So currently I
am still holding on to the emotions of fear, anger, and regret. The two
exercises that I am going to pursue would be the preparation exercises:
skillful action and silence / stillness, found in chapter 5 (Dacher, 2006).
Biological Flourishing – For this dimension of
flourishing I have chosen the area of self-regulating to focus on. I do very
well with fitness and nutrition, but the self-regulating needs work. The stress
level in my life needs to be regulated better and I have chosen the exercise of
Yoga to improve in this area (Dacher, 2006).
Interpersonal Flourishing – For this area of
flourishing I have chosen the area of family to focus on. More importantly the
relationship I have with my wife. We are both going to school and trying to
raise a family so you can imagine that our personal relationship is just going
through the motion. The exercise I have chosen is the Intimacy and Spiritual
Union found in Chapter 9. This exercise is what we need to break the monotony
of the current relationship and begin moving forward in growth and development (Dacher, 2006).
Worldly Flourishing – For this area of
flourishing I have chosen the area of work to focus on. I was forced to take a
lower paying job about two years ago and it has been a rough transition. The
exercise I have chosen to develop my work relationship is the transformation
and beginning with small step, found in chapter 10. This has opened my eyes and
given me a different perspective when viewing my responsibilities at work.
Changing my attitude will allow me to touch more lives in a positive way and I
will do my job better (Dacher, 2006).
Ed
Busche
References
Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to
Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.
Hi Ed,
ReplyDeleteI too found it hard to concentrate when doing the first exercise. Which for some reason I found troubling. Why could I not concentrate on giving that energy to someone else? Was it ego or that my mind is not connected to doing this as much as I thought it was. I reflected a large amount on how hard it was for me to do that. I even went through a period of sadness as I felt a sense of guilt for being caught up into my own problems. Finally once I was able to concentrate and focus on others I was filled with a sense of peace. It felt good to focus on someone else other than myself.
Great post,
Ebony
Hi Ed,
ReplyDeleteHow do you see the two exercises, skillful action and silence, will help you overcome the emotions of fear, anger and regret? Do you feel that by focusing on these 2 areas it will replace these negative emotions? I have been pondering this myself. It seems that when we fill our mind and emotions with the positive, eventually the negative will be overrun and snuffed out. Is that how you are seeing it? Also, I saw that you are hoping to incorporate Yoga into your life. Do you have a specific kind that you are interested in? I am reading a book on Yoga right now because I want to learn more about it. I'm not sure I could do all the poses- in fact I know I wouldn't be able to. I have a niece that takes Bikram Yoga which she loves. I know this would not be the one for me since the room is over 100 degrees and I do not function well in the heat. I guess sweating out all those toxins would be good, but I would just be too uncomfortable. Integral or "gentle" yoga would be the one I would be interested in, but I would have to research what classes are offered in my area. I may wait until I am done with my degree in April and then look into it. Hopefully you will find a class that is right for you.
Thanks for sharing,
Steph G.
Hi Edward,
ReplyDeleteMeditating is such a powerful and calming technique. I believe the entire human race should be educated on how and when to use this technique. It would make the world a better place.