Again with this exercise, I was very distracted by my personal life and troublesome thoughts.  I could not fully immerse myself in the exercise.  The experience I had was here and there as far as unity consciousness style concentration.  I felt it while I was picturing the image of my person, but I could not concentrate.  With continued practice, I will feel a deepening development of my spiritual life.  Since beginning these exercises, I have had an improvement in the spiritual aspect of my life.  I felt strong enough to make a sudden and life-changing decision that impacted my life dramatically, hopefully for the better.  Furthermore, I was able to stand strong in my decision as I hope for the best.  I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I hadn’t reconnected to my spiritual life.  I think it’s funny how life pulls you back to a clear view after you’ve lost meaning of everything. 

I absolutely believe in the quote on page 477 of Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine.  As a patient, we place a lot of trust in our doctors and health care professionals.  In the case of Western doctors, we trust they have obtained a license and studied the necessary knowledge to treat our physical symptoms.  We place trust in holistic and Eastern doctors that they also are licensed and have studied thoroughly or experienced developing the mind to treat the mind, body, and spirit.  Knowing they have witnessed it allows patients to remove bias and barriers, allowing the doctor to take them on the journey to complete wellness.  I do believe that holistic doctors are obligated to have experienced states like witnessing mind and unity consciousness before they can treat patients of the same practice.  Otherwise, the doctor would not fully believe in the practice and it would almost be lying. 

Reference:

Schlitz, M., Amorok, T., & Micozzi, M. S. (2005). Consciousness and Healing: Integral approches to mind-body medicine . St. Louis, Missouri : Elsevier Inc.

Integral Assessment

With continuing practice of the relaxation techniques from this course, I feel I have gained strength in integral health and I am ready to begin my assessment for my life.  From this, I will be more prepared and able to decide the next step in my personal development.

First Stage of Assessment
"What aspect of my life-- psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, or worldy-- is the source of difficulty and suffering?"
Honestly, I do not believe I am fully developed in any of these areas.  This is because I am young and still have much to learn and experience from the world.  Right now, the biggest deficit is probably the interpersonal aspect of my life because I am going through turmoil in my relationship with my daughter's father.  We both need to develop into the responsibile adults we need to be individually, while simultaneously fixng the problems from the past and learning appropriate ways to deal with current problems.  It's very tough for us right now, and I hope this class helps me become the person I need to be to bring this family back together.

Second Stage of Assessment
"What area of my life is ready for development?  What does this look like?" 
This one is a little easier to answer because I am experiencing different emotions since the beginning of this class.  My spiritual life is ready for development so it can return to the state it once was.  I feel less dependent on others and ready to become a better person.  I am now aware of a void I am feeling because I have let my spiritual life die.  The next step for me would to start participating in activies that improve my spirit and make me feel connected to the world.  For me, this activity would be taking a walk and enjoying nature and everything that I have in my life. 

After I have more experience, I will be able to automatically assess myself during or after an event.  I will be able to ask myself: "How did I handle that situation?"  "Could I have improved my actions or thoughts?"