Exercises and Practice Sessions

A review of Dacher’s (2006) exercises and practice sessions completed in this course:

Ø  Meditation/Visualization - Subtle Mind: witnessing mind, calm-abiding mind, unity consciousness experience

Ø  Meditation/Visualization - Loving-Kindness: remove suffering, replace with health, happiness and wholeness

Ø  Meditation/Visualization - Universal Loving-Kindness: remove suffering, replace with health, happiness, and wholeness for all

Ø  Meditation/Visualization – Meeting Asclepius: Merging with higher self

Ø  Meditation/Visualization – A Taste of Human Flourishing: Merging three aspects of a flourishing life (happiness, wholeness and radiant health)

Ø  Meditation/visualization –  Integral Assessment: Identifies areas within that need work

Ø  Exercise: deep breathing (to relax)

Ø  Exercise: focused attention (to give ourselves direction)

Ø  Exercise: listening (registers needed information)

Ø  Exercise: observance (note behaviors and thoughts)

Ø  Exercise: intention (pursuit of desired goals)

Ø  Exercise: skillful action (ending destructive knee-jerk reactive behavior)

All of these exercises and practices have important values to anyone wishing to engage in their own journey to integral health.  As far as choosing only two to implement into my personal life, all I can say is that where I am in this current moment I will implement the Subtle Mind meditation to develop my level of calm-abiding mind which will lead into a fuller experience of unity consciousness, as well as Meeting Asclepius meditation to repeatedly experience more of who I truly am, and I don’t think I could leave out any of the exercises.  I understand the importance of the Integral Assessment meditation and will check in with this visualization from time to time to further clarify my holistic personal development.  I am also aware of the benefits of both Loving-Kindness meditations in that what you give to others so you yourself receive.

References

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health:  the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publishing, Inc.

"Meeting Asclepius"

Completing the “Meeting Asclepius” exercise on the companion CD by Dacher (2006) was a very pleasant experience.  Relaxing was not an issue and I loved working with the suggested colors.  I actually had an experience when I was in my early 20’s that changed my perception that is linked to the color indigo.  Some friends and I were in a spiritual development class and one night on my way to class, I drove over a hill and the entire night sky was indigo.  It so stunned me that I had to pull over to the side of the road and get out of my car because I wanted to know if I was seeing things.  Ever since that night, when I get the highest difference in light and dark, I will begin to see this indigo color. Sometimes when I’m driving at night, the dark pavement against the white stripes, the stripes turn indigo.  It’s like my own private light show.  The quickest place that it shows up is right after a camera flash.  You know how when that happens you see that red dot where the flash was?  Well, I see an indigo light.  No one has ever been able to fully explain to me what this is, so my interpretation is that there is something more than this physical universe. 

During the “Meeting Asclepius” exercise when it was suggested to begin working with a white light, what came to me was a white light edged in indigo.  It was very beautiful and it made me happy thinking that maybe now I get to develop whatever this indigo light is.  I really liked the idea of the blue light for authentic speech because as a child I was told not to ask questions.  This blue light felt really fantastic!   I’m looking forward to developments yet to come.

Wishing everyone well!

References

Dacher E S 2006 Integral health:  the path to human flourishingDacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health:  the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publishing, Inc.

"One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself”

Dacher (2006) makes the statement "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself”. An example of how this would not work in a positive way would be a severely depressed practitioner trying to guide a severely depressed patient to wellness.  On the other hand, a practitioner that practices integral healing, on a personal level and acquires those skills of attainment can view all beings as the jewels that they already are while enhancing awareness of their own personal transformation which is empowering to them.  For those practitioners who truly care about their work and the people they give service to, believe their own personal integral journey becomes abundantly beneficial to themselves and everyone else.  Every life can benefit from integral health, including me.  It is my intention to continue with my meditations and exercises, and further explorations on integral health to aid in my own transformation into flourishing.

References

Dacher E S 2006 Integral health:  the path to human flourishingDacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health:  the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publishing, Inc.

Universal Loving-Kindness & Integral Assessment

The Universal Loving-Kindness meditation practice was more challenging than I thought it would be because I was required to repeat four phrases and I couldn’t recall them during the meditation very well and had to start over several times.  So, by the time I finally did get through it, I couldn’t feel any expanded wellness in my mind or heart.  I just seemed relieved that I made it through the practice and got to the end.  I understand that the intention of this practice is to expand our consciousness using compassion for others.  So, I will try this again, after rehearsing the four phrases, to see if I can attain the witnessing mind concept to repeat the phrases for 10 minutes and see how it goes.

Completing the Integral Assessment as suggested by Dacher (2006), seemed sketchy in results.  In meditation, when I asked myself what aspect of my life was the source of difficulty and suffering, I didn’t get any answer, and then I got a small flash of interpersonal but no indication whether it was community, family or personal.  When I quieted my mind again and asked what area of my life was ready for growth and development, I didn’t get any indication at all.  Being that this is a new process for me and I wanted to make sure I was taking the proper steps, that in itself could have been a distraction preventing me from picking up on messages or clues.  Dacher also indicated that exploring this may take a few days to do, or even weeks, and as this becomes a quality and reliable tool for personal use, it should be used regularly to check on personal progress and to identify additional areas that could use some improvement.

What I understand is that Dacher’s Integral Assessment is an inner personal development tool that is used to review all aspects of our life and empower us to make choices which will further expand our life experiences in very appreciative and fulfilling ways.

Even though my integral assessment only briefly indicated the area of interpersonal as needing improvement, I feel sure that all areas, in this current moment, are in need of improvements.  I’m going to take the attitude that interpersonal is exactly where I need to start making plans of improvement and I will further that by identifying the target area of ‘family’ as where to start.  I desire to experience more quality time and conversations with family members.  Since I do not live around any of them, other than my mother, I will put positive efforts into quality conversations with them.  Actually, this idea is already filling me with happiness.  I will spend some time in meditation seeing this activity coming together smoothly, visualize loving-kindness flowing to each of them with ease, practice compassion and forgiveness for us all, and envision their happiness.  Then, from this place of joy in my heart, I will speak with them and further develop positive personal relationships.

References

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health: the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Meditation Comparison

In comparing the Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind exercises by Dacher (2006), I can see that different aspects of my mind are activated.  With the Loving Kindness exercise, I’ve come to spend extra time afterwards basking in the vision of the essence of me as a mature woman, embracing the essence of me as a young child, in this beautiful blended energy of wholeness that brings me great peace.  In the Subtle Mind exercise I need to stop the program in order to get all of my 10 deep breaths in then start it back up.  I find the flute music and waves distracting when I’m trying to learn how to witness my thoughts, maybe because I'm trying too hard.  Normally I love sounds of water such as rain, streams and oceans.  I can see thoughts come and go but I don’t know where they come from or where they are going.  I am beginning to understand what is meant by “grasping and clinging” to thoughts and that is pretty interesting.  So, I’m thinking this new exercise will need several sessions to achieve the stable calm-abiding that is mentioned by Dacher.  It does sound like an interesting experience and I’m looking forward to it.

References

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

The Mind-Body-Spirit Connection

In years past, Western civilization has long addressed issues with the mind and issues with the body, and in the 21^st Century we are witnessing an increasing shift to address the ‘Mind-body-spirit’ as a whole and what it takes to do so.

Aspects of mental wellness: develop and maintain alertness, cognitive functions, exercise the mind, meditate, challenge and stimulate the mind, acquire knowledge, and express creativity.

Aspects of physical wellness: develop and maintain exercise routines to build strength, flexibility and endurance; partake of a healthy diet, express creativity, and care for the body.

Aspects of spiritual wellness: develop and maintain an inner state of connected awareness to all that is, express creativity, experience the enormity of forgiveness, appreciation, gratefulness, mindfulness, and unconditional love.

These three aspects of holistic wellness are so joined that one cannot affect an area without affecting all.  In my own life, I can see beneficial effects in all areas when I meditate through a qigong practice, but not to the perfection levels as stated above.  My mind becomes relaxed and clear, my body becomes energized, and I feel euphoric until I apply my attention elsewhere.  That is an indication that there is more practice needed and I look forward to further developments on my journey.