Unit 6 questions

Hello everyone here is my response for unit 6

1.        In practicing the universal Loving Kindness meditation, I felt more calm and happier when repeating these words over and over.  I closed my eyes in the beginning to relax and clear all of my minds chatter then I had to open my eyes in order to read these words.  When really reading them and listening and thinking about they are say, I reminded myself why I am in school to begin with. I am here to learn how to help others who are in need to become healthy through mind, body and soul.  No matter what obstacles that are placed in front of me that continuously test my strength, optimism and determination, I must remember why I am doing this and everything else can be overcome.  This is a short way to regain that inner calmness when faced with a stressor. It can be said anytime and anyplace either out loud or in my mind along with deep breaths to put the positive back in my spirit. 

2.       When I first got divorced 6 years ago, I can remember telling everyone that it was my time to reflect my time to find myself.  My kids were a bit older and I could think about who I am as person. Although I said this to people quite often, I am not sure I actually knew what it meant until now.  Those few years ago, I thought that it meant having the freedom to do what I wanted such as, going on vacations, exercising more, going to new and different restaurants, reading more books and going back to school. These were all things that I did for me and I searched for myself through the physical pleasures.  Sense I have been in school almost 2 years now, I have discovered the phase that I said so often “to find myself” meant something much deeper.  As I have learned meditations, yoga, tai chi, relaxations methods, I have learned a great deal and have faced my own evils. This assessment that Dacher describes has taught me even further what four quadrants that I need the most work in. I figure out which area that I am stuck or out of balance.  Although it may be one of these quadrants now,  I realize that down the road it could be something different.  But, for now after doing some breathing exercises and clearing my mind and repeating the questions he describes such as, “what aspect of my life- psycholspiritual, biological, interperson or worldly – is the source of difficulty and suffering? I found that I need the most work in psycholspiritual.  I am still learning to practice calmness and not consciously be aware of my thoughts and actions.  I need to replace my negative emotions with positive actions and behaviors and make choices that will make me and others happy.  I used to be very negative and thought that I had the worst luck and I was the one that had that black could above my head and I was dealt a bad hand in life. If I continued to think like that then, that is how my life was going to be. Now instead I focus on all of the wonderful accomplishments that I have done and the health of my family. If I am dealt an obstacle then it was for a reason.  I also am learning to stop or minimize the chatter in my mind so that I can clearly focus on my inner healing.  I am discovering my inner wisdom and loving-kindness.  I am practicing yoga, a little bit of tai chi and now I am learning new meditation methods.  Some work better than others. I do like the Chakras and the rainbow practice; it forces me to visualize each color and what they symbolize for each part of my body.  I also, like to sit quietly with no noise in my house and take a few moments to breathe deep and just listen to my breathing and scan my body for any tense areas and get rid of it.  Although I still have a lot of learning to do, I think that I am now realizing that it takes the mind and body connection to become healthy.

Cheryl