Unit
5 Blog universal Loving-Kindness exercise and the Integral Assessment
May I assist all individuals in gaining freedom from suffering.
In
this week’s blog, I was asked to practice the universal Loving-Kindness
exercise, complete the Integral Assessment, and describe the process for
each. Also, questions were asked
including the following: What did you
discover about yourself? What area have you chosen to be a focus of growth and
development? Why? What are some specific exercises or activities that you can
implement to foster greater wellness in this area?
In the universal
Loving-Kindness exercise from Dacher (2006), I was asked to first close my eyes
for a minute or two to relax my mind and body. Immediately after, I was asked
to repeat four phrases for 10 minutes, which are the following:
May all individuals gain freedom from suffering.
May all individuals find sustained health,
happiness, and wholeness.May I assist all individuals in gaining freedom from suffering.
May I assist all individuals in finding health,
happiness, and wholeness.
This process can be worked on at any time whenever needed.
I found the universal
Loving-Kindness exercise to be quite boring in a sense because I am not one to want
to sit and repeat phrases like that for 10 minutes. I did much better listening to the mp3
instead from other exercises. I
discovered that I can be a very impatient person and someone that does better
listening to an exercise than reading about it.
According to Dacher
(2006), the integral assessment is the tool we need to choose to transform our
health and life from conventional to integral, from ordinary to precious. It focuses on six principles of integral
assessment to help guide us, which are the following: 1) The goal of integral health is to alleviate
needless suffering and promote human flourishing, 2) Integral health recognizes
the distinction between short-term relief of needless suffering and permanent
relief, 3) Integral health recognizes the distinction between immediate
pleasure and long-term flourishing, 4) Psychospiritual development is an
essential component of integral health, 5) Integral assessment relies on deep listening and
guidance, and 6) Integral assessment addresses the aspects, levels, and lines of
development that are relevant to our current circumstance. In the assessment, one is asked to close his
or her eyes and relax the mind and body where the mental activity is released. From Dacher’s first area of assessment
(2006), the first question asked is “what aspect is the source of difficulty
and suffering in my life out of psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, or
worldly.” This area of healing is to be
focused on. The next questions asked are
“what line of development at this time is most essential for me, what is my
current level of development, and what can I aim for? This area can be explored over several days
to weeks. The second part of Dacher’s
assessment (2006) focuses on promoting integral development. Questions asked are “what area is ready for growth
and development in my life, is this area the same area that also needs healing
or is it another area, and what is the next level of development look like.” My area of difficulty and suffering in my
life is from the biological aspect. The
line of development that is most essential for me is self-regulation. My current level of development is not up to
par as what I would like it to be. I would
like to aim for progress from homeostasis to subtle mind/body practices to
highly refined spiritual/mind/body abilities (Dacher, 2006). In the assessment process, I found that it
was hard to narrow down to one specific area that I need to work on. I also
discovered about myself that I need to work on all four aspects of the human
experience along with the lines of development that are part of each one. I have chosen the biological area to work on
first for my focus of growth and development.
This area I chose was because it includes the three lines of development
of fitness, nutrition, and self-regulation, which are essential to me in my overall
wellness. Specific exercises that I can
do in improve this area are in strength-training, flexibility, endurance,
agility along with meditation and yoga.
I can also incorporate the Loving-Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind
exercise.
References
Dacher, E. (2006).
Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic
Health Publications, Inc.
DanielleBis2
Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI also found the Universal loving kindness exercise difficult at first. Do not worry it will get easier once you get the words memorized. I think it is great that you want to take of three lines of development at once but it might be a little much at once. I was wondering if you have ever tried qi gong it is a lot like thai chi I think you will like it because you are meditating and exercising at the same time. I find it to be very helpful. I also do my meditation seperately if I am just looking for a workout and trust me it is a workout. It really does improve strength, flexibility and agility. Nutrition is another area where I struggle but am getting better. I struggle because I have to cook to separate meals one for me and one for the rest of the family. I think both the loving-kindness and the subtle mind exercises are great. I really think you are headed down the right path. I wish you all the best on your journey to health and wellness. I look forward to working with you in the future.
Holly
Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteWow! you surely did a good job on your blog. I did the four phases too for ten minutes but as I heard it, I said to myself, "How can we get we not have stress? How can we not suffer being the time of our times? It is very hard to do so, especially when we don't have a job, not knowing where our next meal is coming from or how we going to maintain a roof over our head. I pray to God for help and guidance and I tell myself that thing are going to be fine and there will be a brighter tomorrow. One can hope for the best but with true determinations, we can go over the hill and be on top. Great post!
Althenia Morris
Hello Danielle,
ReplyDeleteLove your blog!! Your honesty made me giggle " I am not one to want to sit and repeat phrases like that for 10 minutes" I can inderstand that, I have that problem as well at times. However, for medtiation I find sitting still easier than listening to mp3, I guess that means I need to learn how to be patient and listen to someone else or others while you learn how to sit still and be patient with yourself. I guess we all have something to learn:-) I learned something just from reading your post. Thanks:-)