Most Beneficial Meditation Exercises Unit 8

I personally found peace of mind and relaxation doing The Subtle Mind Practice as outlined on pages 75 – 76 in our text “Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. I also like doing any kind of visualization meditations like The Meeting Asclepius meditation on pages 56-57 of our text. To foster my mental health I have found that I need to quiet down and/or stop the mental chatter I have going on in my mind. I found it helpful to concentrate on my breath as a focal point as well as to be able to “witness” my own mind chattering away. It was if I could walk away from a table where the committee chattering in my brain sat and just them talk and talk while I went on to sit quietly in peace in the shade under a tree on a hill (all this in my mind, of course). That is what I like about visualization meditation as the peaceful images I conjure up distract me from the chattering committee.

One Cannot Lead Another....

The saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" means that if you have not experienced something in life then you cannot understand and help another person go through it. An example I can think of from my own experience is that I know what it is like to be in active drug addiction. I understand the feelings of hopelessness, despair, shame, and extreme loneliness that an addict feels while in active addiction. I know the consequences and the losses. I also know recovery  from this seemingly hopeless state. That is why I chose to be a substance abuse counselor as I will understand first hand what my clients are going through as I have been there. 

In terms of integral health we cannot teach and guide others towards integral health if we ourselves as health care professionals do now know what it is and practice the work daily to achieve it.

Meeting Aesclepius

I was fortunate enough to have a previous counselor in my last treatment center who I used in this visualization meditation as my mentor. He is an older man and just retired. He is sick and not doing well but he taught me a great deal and I always think of him of like a "Merlin" to me (my personal wise wizard in my quest for sobriety).

This was a peaceful and positive experience at 12:15 am when all is dark and quiet. I find mindfulness exercises ground me, keep me focused on the positive and present moment, and relax me.

Cindy

Part-time Job in Treatment Center

I was offered a job Friday at the drug and alcohol treatment center that I went to in 2009 for 6 months! It is a part-time per diem position for now but can work into full time. I took the job as it is a foot in the door and a paycheck! I went for my urine test and fingerprinting...once those results reach Human Resources they will call me with a start date! $12 per hour!
 

My Integral Assessment

The aspect of my life that is my most significant source of distress is the job that I work out. I am taking on looking at work in the light that Dacher explains in chapter 10 and so much as a means for survival. 

I have been on 3 job interviews in the past month to work at drug and alcohol treatment centers in my area. I am trusting my gut as to which job to take and have enlisted the opinions of trusted friends and family. One interview I could not wait to get out of and the other looked like it is going to pay really well but is far from home. The third place is where I went to treatment at and it has no benefits right now and is more of a per diem position at the moment but can work into full-time with plenty of room for advancement. They are willing to mentor me as I work on my Master's Degree. Money is not so big either but I feel comfortable there. This is new for me to trust my gut, trust the process, listen to others, and not go for big money/benefits. I feel I can best help others at this place and that is what Dacher is talking about when he suggested looking at work as a means of adding to the betterment of the world and then I will find meaning and joy in my life.

I continue to work on finding stillness and quiet times during the stay to just be. I love the witnessing and calm abiding mind exercises and will continue those, going to church with my family, reading my meditation books, and keeping life simple.

Cindy

Universal Loving Kindness Exercise

I did not really get much out of this exercise just reading it and repeating the phrases over and over. To be honest I did not do this for 10 minutes as it just wasn't comfortable. I like listening to the other exercises as a voice guided me with the music in the background....that was beneficial to me but this one was not.

Mind-Body-Spirit Connection

Strange as it may seem, when my physical and mental health is not well I seem to look toward my spirituality to help me get through what ever it is I am dealing with. However, I found out over the past few months that I have not been able to look to my Higher Power (or the Divine) with as much faith. I have, in fact, even doubted the existence of a Higher Power. This was not so a few years ago as my spirituality was strong. I did not nurture my spirit, stopped taking care of my physical health, and allowed the mental chatter and negative emotions rule my life.

I have lost 3 jobs in 2011/2012 due to being out sick too much. I have various flu bugs, severe low back pain, gastrointestinal problems, and upper respiratory infections. I always felt fatigued and began to isolate making my only priorities in my life to get an A in every course and make as much money as I could. I even went to the midnight shift as they paid more money.

Just losing a very good job and all the fear/anxiety surrounding that plus taking this course has helped me to see the connection of the body-mind-spirit. As I look for work I am practicing stress reduction techniques like using music, the meditations from this class, sitting still in the quiet and relaxing, practicing gratitude and loving-kindness. I began to read my daily meditation books again and today I spent time at the beach. I am trusting the process, doing the footwork, and leaving results in the hands of my Higher Power…..

Cindy