Unit 7 – "One cannot lead another where one has not gone before.”

“One cannot lead another where one has not gone before.”

I believe this statement points out to the reality that in order for a person to have an impact on another’s life, that person needs to have experienced that same state or pathway. This is something that is perceived by others when one merely “talks the talk”. That type of leading comes infected with a hollowness that is unconsciously perceived by the second person. When one has walked a pathway before, there is integrity in the voice; a calm confidence that radiates from the heart . . . and this causes the other person to open up and trust.

Unit 7 – Meeting Asciepius

In practicing the exercise associated with this unit, I visualized a very dear friend who went out of his way to mentor me. He was a Catholic Priest; an Oblate of Mary Immaculate. It was not difficult to visualize him because we shared many experiences in Yosemite and the John Muyr Woods . . . I did not need to visualize the light emanating from him at all because I could feel his tremendous love for people. I was 21 then, a Mexican kid from the Projects just starting in what would become my faith for the rest of my life.


I visualized him, just as I once experienced, sitting on a rock on the banks of a river as we conversed and shared a bottle of California wine and French bread; communion. I remember thinking then, and still believe he was one of the most beautiful persons I have ever met; full of love and radiating peace and the joy of discovery to everyone he came in contact with.


As I reflected on how he had taken the time to reach out to a confused young man as I, and realized how important he was to me during that time. I asked myself why did he take that time with me? It was because he was a Healer . . . and then, suddenly, it dawned on me that now I can serve others by giving of my time and my full intention to help them find themselves and their healing. My time has come, and I have started now.

Unit 6 - Integral Assessment exercise

I followed the steps recommended by Dacher (2006) in follow through to my own Integral Assessment. This involves cultivating a still and silent mind and then focusing on the four quadrants of the Integral Model that relate to the capacity of human experience: The Psychospiritual, the Biological, the Interpersonal, and the Worldly; and then taking inventory of myself to discover what areas in my current state need my attention. I then made use of the question, “What area of my life is ready for growth and development?” (Dacher, 2006), and discovered that I need to address each of life’s quadrants.


I saw my Biology - specifically in terms of my own self-regulation and health promotion. I then tried to visualize what practices this will require and saw that I need to receive a medical assessment of my current health, and saw that I need is to see a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine in pursuit of a holistic overview and approach to promoting my optimum health; and that this would be a beginning of practice that can include TCM diagnosis, acupuncture and herbal treatment. I saw that I need to go to bed earlier so that I get sufficient sleep, as well as engage in deep breathing, bodily exercise and practicing a still mind and saw myself as learning Tai Chi or Qi-gong.

In the Psychospiritual domain of my life, I recognized that I need to return to my practice of reading the Bible every night and every morning, that I need to address myself to my Creator as a friend to friend more frequently; and that I need to daily practice a still mind as a means of relieving the sources of stress in my life.

In the Interpersonal area, I saw that I need to make myself available to ministry in my Church by arriving an hour early and properly prepared so that I can be seen by others as someone ready to serve. I also saw that I need to practice loving kindness by reaching out to others in more than simply a greeting; something that can also serve so that I can become more engaged in the life of other persons, thereby reducing my feeling of aloneness.

In term of my Worldly capacity, I need to recognize my calling as a Mentor to other, younger persons who reach out to me (including my Son-in-Law), as well as those requesting my recommendations for their health and wellness. I also saw the need for my Social Activism in the simple form of collaborating with my Daughter and my Grandchildren’s zest for recycling.


Dacher, Elliott. (2006). Integral health. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Pubns.

Addendum: Unit 6 - Universal Loving Kindness exercise

July 20, 2010 . . .


After writing my answers to our Unit 6 Exercises, I have had a second thought about my unwillingness to do the Universal Loving Kindness exercise, which includes mention of the willful (intentional) desire that "all individuals" gain freedom from suffering; sustained health, happiness, and wholeness . . . I am now willing to do this exercise just as it is prescribed . . . The reason I have changed my heart about this is because after reviewing the eight principle of Integral Practice, I see that this exercise is not just an isolated activity, but rather a part of a program through which I can develop as wholly as I possibly can become.


Ever since I wrote my earlier post on the exercise; my mind (and heart) have tugged at my Self pointing out that my tethering myself to that refusal was simply my own pride and anger against those who abuse and hurt others, but that in the end the one affected would be myself in limiting me in my own Integral Development . . . I also have come to see that my clinging to that refusal was also based on my own reactivity, thereby keeping me bound from walking the talk of loving kindness. This doesn't mean that I am less inclined to disapprove of those who abuse those weaker than themselves, but that in my freeing myself, I also open the possibility of a day when even they can be healed of their sickness. "May I assist all individuals in finding health, happiness and wholeness."

Unit 6 - Universal Loving Kindness Exercise

July 18, 2010

The Universal Loving Kindness exercises calls the closing of our eyes for a couple of minutes, and then repeating the following phrases for about ten minutes:


"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"

I could not bring myself to do it. The whole notion rubs against my grain because it would be hypocritical for me (or at best naive) . . . I cannot wish such goodness to "all individuals". There are those who don't deserve my repeating the above mentioned phrases: Child Molesters, Rapists and Murderers.

The closest I could come was to mentally sing:  "Jesus loves the little children, all the lovely children of the world; Yellow, Red and Black and White; they are precious in His sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world."   As I mentally sang these words, I recalled a Lakota Prayer Warrior friend of mine who intercedes for the children of the world every day. This I can do: pray for all the children; and in saying "children" I am referring to those who are innocent whether by age, or by their incapacity for learning evil. Children get in free; all others must pay.

Creating Mental Fitness

Creating Mental Fitness
            by
   Moises Medina


Why Pursue Mental Fitness?
   - Reduce stress
   - Gain emotional balance
   - Gain access to inner resources
   - Improve biological health

Studies Have Shown that Practice of Mental Fitness can:
    - Reduce high blood pressure
    - Improve immunity level
    - Reduce the physical symptoms of stress, such as
            - Dizziness
            - Stomach pain
            - Bach ache
            - Muscle tension


STANAFORD FORGIVENESS PROJECT
The Stanford Forgiveness Project showed that Forgiveness training exercises can help participants achieve:
   - a reduction of their state of hurt and anger
   - an increase in forgiveness, hope, self-efficacy and spiritual connection
   - a decrease in depression and an increase in optimism
   -an improved appetite, sleep pattern, energy and general well-being
   - a decrease in arterial blood pressure
             (Schlitz, Amarok & Micozzi, 2005)


THE LIFESTYLE HEART TRIAL
The Lifestyle Heart Trial showed that heart patients who received “lifestyle” treatment that included modern medical treatment, as well as mental exercises over a one-year period, gained
   - Improved blood flow to the heart
   - An overall reversal of the build-up of coronary artery blockages

In contrast, the control group, which received only modern medical treatment, and was not engaged in the mental exercises, showed:
  - an increase of 165% in chest pain
  - a decrease of blood flow to the heart
  - a worsening in coronary artery blockages
           (Schlitz et all, 2005)



AMERICAN EXPRESS TRIAL  
American Express  Financial Advisors who faced daily stress were provided forgiveness training; the   Financial Advisors were facing daily stress from:
   - An uncertain financial market
   - Client complaints
   - Uncooperative business associates
   - Co-worker errors

One year later, that same group of American Express Financial Advisors advisors showed:
   - an 18% increase in sales
   - a 24% reduction in stress
   - a 20% increase in their ability to experience positive mental states including rest, productivity,  
     attention, caretaking and pleasure
               (Schlitz et all, 2005)



FINDING YOUR CENTER
Centering is a concept central to the practice of mind-body work that is easily learned. 
It involves finding one’s perfectly centered posture; in which the skeleton is so perfectly aligned that one feels balanced; nearly weightless.

Learning centering has many benefits including bringing you to a state of awareness in the “here and now”; from where you can experience being fully “present”.

To find your center through this exercise, you will need a partner:

    1.  Stand facing your partner, your feet planted about shoulder-width apart

    2.  Your partner places his or her hand on your upper chest, then slowly, and gently pushes as you try to discover your center

   3.  You will discover your center when you feel perfectly in balance; you will recognize it as a feeling in your heart of being perfectly at ease.   You will find yourself passing your center as you go slightly off balance.

   4.  Finding your center takes practice

   5.  You will need to experiment, and take turns so that both you and your partner can learn to recognize when you are centered.

   6.  Recognizing your center can be likened to a moment on a playground swing: like the moment when you are at the top of the swing’s motion, and you feel weightless for an instant.

   7.  With practice, you will learn to find your center without a partner; you will also learn to remain centered.

   8.  When centered, you will feel perfectly at ease, focused, buoyant

   9.  You will be able to fully engage your inner intention in mental work. It is like meditating while fully awake to your surroundings

   10.  You will be able to observe, think , and interact with others from a place of perfect poise.

   11.  With time you will learn to walk and move in a centered manner and it will open possibilities that may not have been accessible to you before
                                 (Olalla, Echeverria. 1994)


CHUMASH CENTERING EXERCISE
Chumash Centering is an exercise I designed for my own use, and which I wish to share with you. 
I call it “Chumash Centering” in honor of the a Native American people group whose cosmology resonates with my own worldview . . .

   1.  Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart; eyes open (be sure to practice deep, calm, breathing   throughout the entire Chumash Centering exercise)

   2.  Bring your hands together at the middle of your chest as you simultaneously find and then hold your center; one hand covering the other (as if in prayer)

   3.  Experience your center; savor the moment

   4.  Mentally state your purpose for entering this centered moment

   5.  Now separate your hands, and with open palms extend them to your sides; as if on a cross

   6.  Then raise your hands upward as in praise; close your eyes and be thankful

   7.  Eyes still closed, now bring your hands back to the middle of your chest; one hand over the other, as in prayer

   8.  Remain centered, one hand clasped over the other as you meditate (eyes still closed)

   9.  From this “place” you can reflect, strategize, plan, pray or meditate

   10.  When finished, release your hands and allow your arms to rest; open your eyes

   11.  Remain centered for a moment, then slowly re-enter your normal activities


CONCLUSION:

The benefits of practicing mental fitness, when done on a regular basis are cumulative:
  - Mental clarity
  - Emotional balance
  - Improved biological health
  - Improved spiritual awareness

There are many ways to practice mental fitness
Find one or more ways that work for you
Practice mental fitness often; daily if possible

Whenever you need to regain your mental, emotional or spiritual balance practice mental fitness
It is like riding a bike; your never forget how to do it



REFERENCES:

Dacher, Elliott. (2006). Integral health. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Pubns.

Olalla, J., Echeverria, R. (1994). Mastering the art of professional coaching. San Francisco, CA: Newfield Group

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. (2005). Consciousness & healing. St. Luis, MO: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B4fQeabisRpKYzE3YTVlN2QtODY0NC00ZWIwLWJjMTMtNWRiZTIwOTk2Njkw&hl=en

Unit 5 - The Connection Between Spiritual Wellness and Mental and Physical Health

In my own life, the connection between spiritual wellness and mental and physical wellness is very clear. As I go on in life, I see more and more how I receive blessing upon blessing when I am living in a spiritual wakefulness to harmony with God and goodness. I experience this as a resourcefulness to meet the challenges of life and find healing and solutions to even the greatest obstacles. In contrast, when I slip into arrogance, insincerity and sin I find myself hopelessly tossed by circumstances in my relationships, my health and my own sense of connectedness. As an example of this, I point out to how I was the one who initiated my own fall into clinical depression for seven years when I became angry with God for the loss of my wife and knowingly walked away from Him and His teachings and embarked rudderless to drift in the sea of worldliness. I did not reach safe harbor until seven years later, when I was at the end of all my mental, emotional, and spiritual resources; and discovered a deeper relationship with God than that which I had before.

Unit 5 - The Subtle Mind

This week, after doing my reading Dacher's book, Integral Health, I realized that there is a logic behind the exercises he prescribes as necessary stages for opening the possibility of our becoming able to move from the inner chatter and images of our mind, to a state where we can experience our mind's being as a quality rather than a barrage of appearingly random thoughts and images. I then resolved to give the Loving Kindness exercise another try, and found its discipline and steps not difficult to follow at all. In order to do this, I had to stop my own inclination to judge (or prejudge) and allow myself to simply experience it as guided through the track for the exercise.



I had read the Subtle Mind exercise in Dacher's book, and then did the exercise with the help of the track for it. I was able to follow it without any difficulty, wanting to move on to experiencing my own mind in its quiet state, but felt that the audio was anchoring me to thinking and my mind's echoing its words. The experience was not positive, nor negative, but it seemed limiting.


I then moved on to doing the exercise without listening to the track and was surprised how my mind, produced images that seemed to stem from a root thought or another, but there was no inner chatter of my own in my mind. During the first part of the exercise, I began to recall the involuntary images and thoughts I have experienced in the past (some during clinical depression, which were painfully intense), and realized how free I am that today. As I led myself to further, I was able to experience my mind in its quiet state, and was surprised to sense how normal the experience appeared; there was no apprehension, but then again, there was no great revelation . . . Just another step in the training of my mind.

Unit 3 Seminar – Guided Imagery Exercise

I was amazed at the rapidity with which the images formed in my mind. There was a freedom in Kristin’s guidance. I felt totally at ease in that the images were mine, and was amazed at how my cloud was zooming from California, across the blue-green Arizona sky; passing above the Grand Canyon and then to New Mexico . . . (What was very interesting was that I have not lived in California for ten years, and had I been able to project where I’d like to go in my journey, it would have been Atitlan, Guatemala -- A pristine lake surrounded by seven volcanoes; awesome place where indigenous culture still reigns).


Wonderful . . . I arrive twenty years older; a wizened old man with a joyful beam in his eyes; I arrive in Albuquerque, New Mexico. My adobe home seems to be part of the Earth, bougainvillea, yellow daffodils; hundreds of them. The man I meet at the door is my mirror image, dressed in indigenous clothes, long white hair (no beard), and a confident smile. Inside, the house’s furniture and furnishings seem to be made of the same material as the house: adobe; smooth; with Southwest woodwork and indigenous textiles everywhere. I turn and look into the eyes of the me of twenty years from now by the light of the fireplace; he is sinewy, tanned, strong; smelling of burning firewood and fresh Earth. My question: Do you live alone? “No,” he smiles as a beautiful curvaceous indigenous woman walks into the living room. She smiles peaceably; radiant. The old man who is me puts a Pearl in my hand, then shows me a half-gourd in the shape of a ladle with which he motions as if gathering liquid from a container, then pouring it out . . . His advice, “Pour of the essence of the moment into your patient’s hands; be it vapor, smoke, midst, or water . . . They will be healed.”

Unit 4 - Our Mental Workout

Dacher (2006), in his book Integral Health, puts forth the concept of a Mental Workout as a time set aside each day for exercising the mind through meditative contemplation with the purpose of learning to use more of our mind's capacity.  He proposes that if we devote one hour daily to meditative contemplation, we can arrive to the equivalent of the Olympian level of mental fitness. In his chapter on Psychospiritual Flourishing, he lays out two practices: Loving Kindness, and The Subtle Mind. He states that when one stabilizes his or her mind, that person “naturally evolves into the highest level of consciousness, unity consciousness” (Dacher, 2006)


I am sure that Dacher's sincere purpose in presenting this model for his readers to move toward human flourishing and integra health, but I do not believe that his is the only model.  His statement about how a person “naturally evolves” is an interpretation of his own experience and may not be the experience of everyone who attempts to follow his model. Never the less, I find it fascinating that he has set on paper, and in an academic manner, an interpretation based on Eastern traditions. However, even Lao Tze, in the first two lines of his ancient book, Tao Teh Ching (“The Classic Book of the Way and its Power”), states: “The way that can be spoken is not the real Way. The name that can be named is not the real Name”. Hence, Dacher’s model is just that, a model. It can serve us; but we must make the model our own.


Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications

Reid, D. . (1989). The Tao of health, sex, and longevity. New York, New York: Fireside.

Unir 4 Exercise - Loving Kindness

I had posted my first reflection on the Loving Kindness exercise in a prior entry in my blog, but I am also including it here (For those who read the first one, you can skip down to "Reflection Two" below) . . .

Reflection One:

I found myself on the beach in Northern California, I was 21 again, and with the most Christ-like person I had ever known up to then. His name was Father Bernard Menard, a Quebecois, and an Oblate of Mary Immaculate.

We had communion on the beach; a loaf of bread and a bottle of California Merlot. I could hear someone playing the flute somewhere; unseen. I recalled his soothing voice, and how he held is open palms just a few inches from my ears, as I looked within and realized that Christ was mine; my Lord. I was now in love with God, and realized how worthy the experience of life is and that I would never be the same again. We made candles in the sand, adorned with seashells and driftwood. The sun was setting in the sea, and he said, "Look inside; it is just as beautiful in there". And it was. Eyes closed, the waves of the ocean's sound, the flute in the distance; like a Native Flute. Yes, I was discovering who I was in God, and yet I was not being called to abandon neither my people nor my culture. I experienced the awe and greatness of being a Human Being.

And now, back in my study, lying on a mattress, I realize that the same feelings and thoughts I experienced when I was 21 that summer, are still with me after all these years; with one difference . . . That difference is in my capacity to hold and have so much love to give to those around me. I wish I had known that then; life would have been so much different. But now, the me I was is here and I am able to dedicate my thoughts, my actions, my intentions to be a greater blessing to others. Now, I hear not only the Native Flute; but also a Symphony! It is Wonderful to be alive.


Reflection Two:

My second experience with the Loving Kindness exercise was not as fruitful as the first one (recorded above as “Reflection One”). I began the exercise with the image of each of my Grandchildren, each of whom I love dearly, but as the exercise progressed to holding the image of someone near to me who is suffering from disease the whole spell was broken. First of all, because to my knowledge all of the persons I love are in very good health; second because I don’t feel that my love for my family is an adequate source of energy for projecting healing for others. I practice a different type of meditation just about every night, which I wish to share with you. It began during the most chaotic time in my life, when I experienced seven years of clinical depression along with nearly hourly impulses to suicide . . . I would lie in my bed, and recall to my mind all of the Bible verses that I could remember, one by one, until I would finally be able to sleep a very few hours.

Today, as I continue on a winning streak of blessings of every kind, I still practice this type of meditation, paraphrasing Ancient Scriptures according to my memory and stringing them together as I worship (exercise my love for) God. Now, in keeping with the purpose of the Loving Kindness exercise, I will use my meditation as a springboard for interceding for the healing of others, whether it is for healing from disease, or for healing from other types of suffering.

Here is a gathering of some Ancient Scriptures I am very fond of; they are direct quotes from the Old King James Version of the Bible:

Here’s one written six-hundred years before Christ: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:3-5)

This one was written after the death and resurrection of Jesus: “God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)

This one is a quote from Jesus himself: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

This one was written by a disciple who was very special to Jesus: “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:3-4)

Here is one that Jesus quoted: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” (Matthew 22:37)


Cheers!

Unit 3 Exercise - Crime of the Century

I did not feel that I could trust the voice behind the Crime of the Century exercise; perhaps it was the title of the exercise me that was a damper . . . But as I began the exercise, the voice of the young man seemed superficial and I found the imagery a bit contrived. I felt this from the beginning and as he suggested the first few colors, I found myself changing them, and thinking the leading of the imagery unnecessarily complicated. After a while, my body simply rebelled against his leading . . .

As I listed to the rest of the meditation (eyes closed), I reflected on a body exercise I learned while taking a course in Ontological Coaching many years ago. This is a centering/grounding exercise that involves standing, and finding your "center". The way you learn find your center is to by stand with your feet apart, about shoulder-width; face-to-face with a partner who pushes on you lightly; until you discover your center. When centered, one experiences a sense of wellness, confidence; quiet strength. When you practice centering frequently, you can also learn to walk in a centered manner. The experience of being able to walk in a centered manner can help transform not only your posture, but the way that you feel about yourself and the world around you. I learned to find my center in a workshop led by Julio Olalla, founder of the Newfield Network: Here is a link to his website: http://www.newfieldnetwork.com/New/AboutNewfield/FounderJulioOlalla/index.cfm


Another experience in being grounded and centered (and one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever had) was a moving meditation in a Sufi workshop led by the co-founder of the Threshold Society (a Sufi group devoted to the teachings of a 13th Century mystic poet Rumi), Kabir Helmiski (he also is one of the best known translator of Rumi’s poetry). This was a moving meditation we did in the outdoors; there were about 20 of us; under Kabir’s guided imagery as he played an ancient Persian stringed instrument. We moved in unison, nearly as if in dance. Through his spoken imagery I experienced my uniqueness in the Universe; my unity with those present; the world; the Universe. It was an awe-inspiring experience. Here is a link to Kabir Helminski’s books: http://www.sufism.org/books/helm.html.