Subtle Mind Practice

1. Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc. 

While I had a little bit of a difficult time with the loving kindness exercise, I found it beneficial so self reflect, especially at this point in my life. The subtle mind exercise was more difficult for me since I found the reflective time a bit long. I am also fighting a cold, so concentrating on my breathing is particularly difficult when you cannot breathe well LOL. From that and the congested feeling I have in my head, getting to the next level-deeper level of the mind was not easy. I do however, think that I will benefit much better at a time that I am feeling better so I am going to hold on to the exercise and try it again in the future.

2.     Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness.             Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

The connection of our spiritual and mental wellness to our physical wellness is unbelievable and  I think many people underestimate it. This can be easily visualized or experienced when you feel stressed or overwhelmed. Physical mannerisms and facial expressions change according to our mental wellness. Personally, I know my physical wellness changes according when my mental wellness is not in check. Living in Chicago (especially with the winter we've had) the weather greatly affects my mood and mentality, and unfortunately that mentality usually affects me physically. For example, on days that it is snowing a lot causing cloudy and gloomy skies, I physically have a hard time engaging and staying positive vs days that are sunny and warm.

      

Mental Workout

-Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?
This experience was difficult for me even though I enjoyed the idea it had of focusing on a loved one. I felt the time gaps when the speaker was talking were sometimes a little too long which led to me thinking of other unrelated thoughts. The loving kindness exercise was a little bit easier since it is typically easier for me to self-reflect, especially lately. I am torn between recommending this exercise to others or not simply because I had a difficult time but maybe others will connect easier than I do.

-What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?
A mental workout is to help expand your thoughts and mind to benefit yourself. In order for a mental workout to be truly beneficial, we need to do it regularly just as if we were physically working out. The biggest benefit of a mental workout is the ability to successfully train the brain to reduce negative emotions that can decrease productivity.

Oh boy..reflections

I will be the first to openly admit that I am awful at reflecting on my life no matter if it is the physical, psychological or spiritual aspect. With that being said, I had a very difficult time coming up with the conclusion that all three aspects are at an average level for me with a grade of 'C." I think all areas can use some work and have some room for improvement. My physical well-being could be better since I do not go to the gym as much as I would like to, and I have a goal to increase my weekly visits either by going another day or staying longer and performing more exercise. Psychologically, my boyfriend and I joke that I am a little on the crazy side-and its totally true-sometimes ;). I can definitely improve in this aspect by not allowing small things to affect me the way they do by causing inexplicable anxiety over something stupid. Lastly, my spiritual well-being can use some work as well since that is something I do not address regularly. Since I am not the most religious person, I look at spirituality as being connected with yourself and your beliefs not only mentally, but in how you act. While the relaxation exercise was-ehem-relaxing, I had a difficult time pushing outside thoughts from affecting me from fully engaging as well as being physically interrupted half way through making it quite frustrating. I think with some practice though, this could ultimately help me connect with my inner-self as well as others at a much better level. Also, using these techniques will better by abilities in my career since I will be helping others achieve just the same after an accident, surgery or chronic problem.  

Welcome!

Hello everyone and welcome!!  I am a pre-physical therapy student that is ready to embrace the challenge of properly educating the public on activities of daily living. A lot of us do not realize the little changes we can make to feel better about ourselves everyday. The first activity I want to discuss is glute walking. This a super easy tool to keep in your pocket to strengthen muscles and help posture while also preventing that troublesome low back pain!

To properly glute walk, you want to isolate the activation of each glute while you are walking. What this means, is to squeeze your butt cheek one at a time as you are walking. An example: if you are stepping onto your right foot, you want to activate, or squeeze your right glute until you place your left foot down where you would switch to activating your left glute then.

When I first started glute walking, I found myself incorporating it the most when I was in the grocery store for some reason, but maybe it will be different for you! No one will be able to notice what you are doing, but will simply see the newly found confidence you will have while walking since you will be standing up straighter. So, get yourself walking out there and give it a try! 

Deziree