While sitting here reading over the Unit 3 self-assessment I am completely floored at how down I was when I started this class. I noticed that I scored a 5 in the physical well being category. I would say that right now I am scoring a 7, which is not a great improvement, but considering how I felt at week 3, I may have been giving myself a higher score I did not deserve. The goal that I created was to increase my physical exercise to 30-45 minutes 3 times a week, and I have not reached the goal completely but I am working on it.
The score for my spiritual well being in week 3 was a 6 and I agree that I am at a level 8 now, but again I think that I was being overly optimistic in week 3 in giving myself such a high score. I understand now that I was no where close to a 6. The goal that I created for myself was to meditate more to improve my spiritual well being. Well I can say that I have meditated more and prayed more over the last 7 weeks than ever before in my life and I feel great. I have been able to make some major life changes that I would have never made before and changed my life for the best.
The score for my psychological well being was a 4 in week 3 and now is a 7. I think that again I was being over optimistic in scoring myself in week 3, because I was no where close to a 4. The goal that I created for myself was to make more personal time for myself. I have truly done that, and have found myself just sitting in silence. I enjoy silence, and a still mind now because of the subtle mind practice.
I can honestly say that I have implemented the activities that I planned for myself and added more, not only am I using the contemplative practices for myself, I am sharing them with others. All of this goodness should be shared.
Over the course of the last 10 weeks, I have truly grown as a person with health in mind. Before I thought that being healthy meant that I felt okay that day. I will no longer accept okay as the best I can do. I know that I can calm myself, and calm my body to the point that I actually feel wonderful. I have also learned to listen to what my body needs, when it says rest, I rest. When it says move, I move, and when it says pray, I stop and pray. I guess you could say that I have actually started listening to myself, which I should have been doing all along. All of it was difficult, but this process is something that I needed to go through to survive. I will continue to work toward my integral health and will take as many people with me as I can. I want others to know that we do not have to settle, we can direct our lives in the direction we need to go and be happy doing it. This is our one and only life on this earth, will we continue to watch it pass us by or take control and live?
Dina
Dina!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great blog to end this course. I have read, I think, all of your blogs and I can truly see that this course has helped you so much. Keep working on all your goals in each aspect of physical, spiritual, and psychological and I truly think you will reach integral health someday! You are absolutely right, we do not have to settle on feeling "okay," we should want to feel fabulous every single day; at ease, peace, and have patience and loving-kindness. Continue to share this amazing experience with all those around you! Good luck with all you do :-)
-Natasja
Hi Dina,
ReplyDeleteYou have brought up a good point about being optimistic at the beginning of this course, when you say that you gave yourself 'higher' numbers than you 'probably' deserved. However, I think that this is a good thing because if we think we are at a '2' or a '3', we may become discouraged and be unwilling to do the work. The work to get where we are now may have seemed unreachable and impossible. I did the same thing (scored myself higher than I was) but now that I see where I am...I might have been overly generous! I wonder what my '10' will REALLY look like!
Another point to this...at the beginning of the course, we didn't know our potential and what this course would teach us! So now even though I'm 'higher' than I was 6 weeks ago...in another 6 weeks I may see that I am only a 4 (or so)right now. Reaching conscious unity is the ultimate goal and I'm not sure how far away I am right now...I hope I'm at a 8, but it's more realistic to think that I'm about a 6...?? Only time will tell.
It was great reading your blog each week and getting to know you. Will you be maintaining your blog after class is finished? I will be keeping mine because I would like to stay connected and I think that a support group is a good thing. :-))
Hi Dina
ReplyDeleteYou may not have reached your goal yet concerning your physical exercise but given more time and keeping up the effort should get you there. Also, Dina remember the mental exercises that have been so vital to us this term. The “Subtle Mind” meditation should be able to help you with that because in the “witnessing mind” you should be able to get rid of the mental chatter and get the focus and concentration you need to get that extra time that you want for your exercises. If you can get to the “unity consciousness” level you may just find the wisdom you need to get it done including things that you might not have done already.
Dina, I am so glad that you have reached your goal in the spiritual aspect. If you can keep the meditations and prayer going as a daily routine you should do very well. It sounds to me like this aspect is really working out for you so keep up the great work. I guess we both had some really hard times at the beginning and now we are working our way out of that with our learning of how to deal with our issues through the mental practices. It doesn’t always happen right away sometimes but if we don’t give up we should be able to get there.
Dina, that is fantastic that you were able to reach your goal in the psychological aspect also. That is where I had my best improvement. I agree that the “Subtle Mind” practice helped you with having the still mind because it really has helped me out a lot. I am so proud of you for what you have been able to accomplish through this class and sharing it with others. It is like when someone hears the Gospel of Jesus Christ and accepts Him into their lives, they get so excited and want to share the good news with others.
It seems like you have things together for yourself and know what is going to help you. We both started out in a bad way in our lives when we came into this class but look how it has really helped us. Our families are really happy about that I would imagine. When you say that you are listening to yourself that means that you have found your “inner healer.” My Dear, this was definitely difficult at times but patience and perseverance seems to have paid off for us. I agree with what you have said in your last paragraph for sure, you make a lot of sense there. I appreciate this beautiful blog and the beautiful person who wrote it. Thanks Dina, for all of your kind words and prayers in my direction and I hope we can keep in touch somehow or another.
Take care Dina
Craig S Aronoff
It’s nice to see you have made improvements since week one. I have followed your blogs and enjoyed them thoroughly. Well your score in your physical wellbeing may not have improved much but in just a few weeks it went up. To me that’s a huge improvement so congrats on that. You seem quite motivated so I hope you are able to get that physical wellbeing up to a 9 or 10. Your spiritual wellbeing went up to and yours is way higher than mine. I wish to someday at least be an 8 and you are motivating me to get there. Great improvement on your psychological wellbeing too. You did a great job improving in all three areas so good luck in the future.
ReplyDelete