Unit 7 Blog

1.  This Aesclepius fella, or inner healer, was a tough one for me to summon to me.  I have found that it's a bit more difficult for me to practice these mental exercises when my moods and emotions are less than good.  The past 30 days or so have been very stressful and painful for me and when I get real quiet with these exercises these emotions seem to come out and concentrating on the speaker becomes near impossible for me.  My best friend has been battling small cell carcinoma pulmonary type, cancer, for the past four months and her battle is coming to an end.  Up until March of this year she was an extremely healthy and active 33 year old full of life and cancer has been brutal and fast with her.  With all that said these slow mental exercises sometimes are challenging to say the least for me.  I know that I'm getting something out this one as I was trying to send her loving care during this one which I believe will always help but I am not able to, yet, fully concentrate on contacting my inner healer.
2.  "Do as I say not as I do" was one of those little sayings that drove me nuts as a kid when my parents might use it.  I believe that most of us would prefer to hear or receive advice or guidance from a person that has been through or has experience with whatever it might be.  Albert Schweitzer is credited with saying, "Example is not the main thin in influencing others, it is the on thing."  What a great quote and couldn't be more true and I believe this is what is meant by the idea that one cannot lead another where on has not gone himself.  The bible is full of versus that discuss leading by example and showing others only after you have done it yourself.  As that pertains to the work place or my current job it's vital, dare I say mandatory.  Being involved in health and wellness and not practicing it yourself is like asking me to trust a blind person to drive me around, just won't work.  I'm assuming some people aren't like me and they might listen and take advice from somebody who could have gained a great deal of knowledge from books and the such but I personally would and do prefer the real world education called experience. 

Mike Scales

Unit 6 Blog

1.  First of all some ideas that they call meditation feel an awful lot like prayer or affirmations to me.  I guess the title doesn't matter to me all that much but I wonder if I'm missing something if I feel they are all basically the same thing.  I found the exercises to be great things to practice.  The "meditation" in which we are to hope and ask for others to have health and wholeness is fantastic and a tremendous way to get out of my own selfish ways and to think of others, which I need to do more often.  The assessment in chapter 11 is another great idea as I feel that taking stock of ourselves and our lives is very important and helpful.  How can I fix my life, or at least try and improve it, if I don't know what areas I feel are not helping me make a happy and whole life.  Some ideas that work for me and help me with me make sure I'm thinking of others and trying to help others is to make a gratitude list when I'm feeling down or "off" for any reason.  Gratitude usually goes a long way in helping my moods improve, along with doses of humility.  I'm currently working on improving my interpersonal aspects of my life and making sure the people I do care about know I actually care about them.  Not by words but by my actions, I feel this is the way to show people I love them.  Words, in my experience, are said to much and there isn't enough action, which I intend to change. 

Mike Scales

Unit 5 Blog

1.  I found the loving kindness exercise very difficult for myself to follow the instructions and honestly wasn't able to keep my mind on the speaker nor follow the instructions.  The subtle mind exercise I was able to find the focus with my breathing and felt that, for the first time, I was able to complete the first mental exercise of the course.  Maintaining my breathing and using that as a tool to monitor and witness my mind appears to work for me as I found the exercise easy and dare I say enjoyable.  I think due to my small mental capacity up to this point I'll continue this exercise for a bit and go from here. 
2.  As I get a bit older and actually experience life I am feeling in my own life that I must have physical health, mental health, and spiritual health and I can't ignore any of them if I want to live a modestly happy and healthy life.  I'm seeing how a lack of even one can manifest itself in not so great ways in our lives.  I love that we can practice multiple things in life that we can work on all three at the same time as well.  Being in the gym, the beach, the golf course, and the ocean I am taking care of myself physically, mentally, and spiritually all at the same time.  I wasn't sure what I thought this class was going to be all about but the overall view of taking care of myself physically, mentally, and spiritually resonates with me and if I can help others view just how important they are in our lives we can all be better for it. 


Mike Scales

Unit 4 Blog

1.  Beneficial is something I'm not sure I find these mental exercises.  I find them more difficult, which annoys me, and I don't believe that is what is supposed to be happening.  I would never not recommend these sort of mental exercises as I do think, I do hope, people get something out of these.  I'm trying and the honest to God truth is I have a hard time with them.  I do recognize the analogy of working out in the gym is a learned behavior and I must apply the same sort of principles with these exercises.  I'm making an attempt to try to set aside at least 30 minutes a day to sit in quiet silence to think about being more loving and kind to my fellow humans. 


2.  The concept of Mental workouts is such that we all should be doing mental activites and exercises to strengthen our minds.  Research has shown, with proper work and training, we can actually change the chemistry and construction of our brains.  What a cool thing to be able to do.  I don't think it's as easy as they make it sound.  I don't think everyone can play professional sports and I don't believe that everyone is going to be able to have the same mental focus this sort of growth might call for.  I hope I'm wrong.


Mike Scales