Dacher, M. E. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human
Flourishing. Laguna Beach: Basic Health Publications, Inc.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Creating Wellness: Unit 4 Blog: Part 2: Mental Workout
The concept of a mental workout is every bit as important as physical activity. If we do not continue to work, train, and transform our mind, we will not ultimately reach complete integral health. This can also be termed "contemplative practice" according to our text
. This process first adds benefits such as stress reduction and relaxation, but after some time and practice and adherence to the meditation process, we begin to realize that it is so much more. We are gaining the ability to expand our consciousness and reach higher levels of total healing (Dacher, 2006).
Some of the proven benefits of mental workout are: an opening of the mind, gaining knowledge and wisdom, experiencing human flourishing through loving-kindness, and obtaining peace within our subtle minds (Dacher, 2006).
I can implement mental workouts to foster psychological health by continuing these types of exercise, by going even further with my studying of different levels of meditation such as alpha, gamma, theta waves, and learning more about the aspects of transindental meditation and other areas of mental workouts that I believe will ultimately help lead me to complete and total healing of the mind, body,
and spirit.
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Kris,
ReplyDeleteDo you feel any one part of the benefits of mental workouts is more appealing or beneficial to your personal journey in life? (ie. open-mindedness, gaining of wisdom, or obtaining a spirit of loving-kindness) Are any of the benefits more strongly your focus?
I've always been an optimist regarding the world around me. I give people the benefit of the doubt when they take advantage or act deceptively. However, I've learned that I tend to be negative regarding my own capabilities, strengths and accomplishments. Learning to love myself and yet keep from becoming so focused on the self is a challenge, but I'm learning to love myself and be more positive toward myself along this journey. It's an eye-opening experience.
Throughout this week, have you caught yourself thinking about the focused thoughts of the loving-kindness exercise and concentrated your efforts toward positive thoughts when dealing with difficult situations. It's been a joy to experience, especially when the kids get crazy and start to act like most do at times. Patience, understanding and a calmer level of response has been possible and I believe it's because of the exercises in loving-kindness, as well as a return to daily prayer and Bible study.
I'd appreciate your thoughts...
Sincerely,
Melissa Rasberry