Loving Kindness

We have become such a selfish society sometimes it seems like we have slipped so far away from loving kindness it is hard to get to that state of mind. It was easy to picture someone I love and care for and the ocean waves were a nice background sound. I was flooded with good memories and happiness when I thought of my loved one. Turning the feelings toward myself were a little more difficult. I think it is always difficult to not hold onto physical sensations. The suffering part was much more strenuous because we try to block out the bad thoughts of anyone we hold dear although we know that things cannot always be good and perfect we still wish to think of them that way. The exercise was a good way to connect with our feelings and take time out to really experience sensations we would not normally on our own without the exercise.

Getting a mental workout is like mental olympics.  I think mental workouts can be different for each person.  Everyone has something they are good at and other things that need practice.  If I am already good at multi-tasking than maybe it would be a mental workout for me to get control of myself and set aside time to meditate or be patient.  It is important we focus on all facets of life and our minds to try to challenge and excell instead of concentrating on certain areas and leaving others lacking.

Optimal Wellbeing

It is always difficult to rate yourself and this exercise is not different.  I think my physical well being is a 7.5 because I try to workout throughout the week and take care of myself and am considered healthy.  I could always work out more often, harder, and lose a little bit of weight while really cracking down on my diet to improve my physical wellbeing.  My spiritual wellbeing would probably be a 5...right now I am just kind of confused as to where to go and what to do because as I get older I realize there are so many beliefs that have changed since I was a child and I cannot seem to group myself into one certain religion or organization until I know as much as I possibly can to make the right choice for myself.  I would say my psychological wellbeing is a 7.  I am generally happy and do not have too many mixed emotions, but I need to improve on how to express my anger and frustration.

My physical goal is to workout 6 times a week at least an hour each time and not eat as many sweets throughout the day. 
My spiritual goal is to find a religion or organization I can understand and relate to.
My psychological goal is to figure out the best way for me to express my anger and frustration.

For my physical goal I just need to go to the gym and find new classes or different exercises to really keep me excited about staying in shape.  During the day at work I need to make sure no bad snacks are around so I do not munch mindlessly.
For my spiritual goal I want to read books on all different religions and talk to people who belong to each and find which one suits me.
For my psychological goal I need to find out what really angers and frustrates me and try to avoid these things if possible, or try techniques like yoga, meditation, and exercise to deal with anger and frustration.

I have taken a few stress and relaxation classes where we listen to exercises.  The Crime of the Century was one I would not use again.  I tend to have a problem sitting still and not doing 5 things at a time so these exercises make me tense before I even get started.  The vizualizations and lights wee very odd and did not help me relax, going from one body part to another did not work either.  I did understand the goal creation portion and affirmations to go along with the goals, but overall the exercise was definitely not for me.

How I Am Following Everyone!

Well I used option 2 to follow my fellow classmates using the Reading List.  I have the hardest time with relaxation so any exercise I am just ready to run away from as fast as possible.  I think really calming myself might come better as I get older but right now I am very antsy and find it extremely difficult to relax...instead of using cd's or other instruments working out usually works the best for my relaxation.

Introduction to HW420

Hello Professor and fellow students in Creating Wellness.  Welcome to my blog...which previously has been just a little bit about what has happened in school and in life.  I am so excited to know that 2011 will be my graduation year and it could not come soon enough!  This degree sure has been a long time coming because I just could not decide what I really wanted to do in life (but then again some of us never really figure that out I guess).  I hope everyone does well in class and enjoys their time in school.  You can read more about me in my About Me section =)

AAAAaahhhhh!!!

It seems we can all breathe a sigh of relief now since the semester is coming to a close and papers are turned in.  I love that feeling.  I am a check off the list kind of person and once the semester is done I know all my boxes have been checked!  To anyone writing a research paper for the first time I would tell them it takes time and they need to make sure they plan ahead and by doing a little at a time most of your paper will just come together over time.  Leaving research papers until the last minute leaves little or no time to correct mistakes.  I think I have become better with APA, I pretty much don't even have to look at the book or cheatsheets now.  I am continuing to put together better transitions throughout my paper, but that is something I can always improve upon.  It is definitely true with papers the more you do the better you become, practice makes perfect (or at least better).  I hope everyone has a wonderful next semester, Good luck

Almost Done

Well it looks as though we are almost done with class and our papers.  I am currently doing my final edits and revisions on my paper and can't wait to go to the dropbox, submit it, and then be done.  It is always so nice to see the little box that pops up telling you your assignment has now been submitted, yeah!  This class has been a great refresher into the writing techniques to use and things that are important to include in papers. As always the more information we can get on APA formatting the better.  I have senioritis quite bad so right now I am just so ready to have all my classes complete and have that costly piece of paper in hand.  Good luck on your papers everyone.

Whew, almost there!

I hope everyone is doing well in class.  I do wish there would have been a few more peer review posts with lots of ideas on changes to spice up my paper, but I am sure I will figure something out.  Only 2 weeks left, Yeah.  This semester was actually pretty good--but I am definitely not looking forward to next term.  What about you guys?  I don't think I will continue my posts because not too many people read them--and I understand because we all have soooo much to do anyway and I am not a "live life out loud and let everyone know what I am thinking and feeling" type of person anyway.  Have a great week everyone, see ya in discussion.