Unit 6 Loving Kindness & Integral Assessment

Hello Everyone

I really, really like the “loving-kindness” exercise. I am going to write that down and every time I am stressed out and feeling bad about myself and/or other people, I will repeat this mantra. It is a great mantra and makes me “come around” and reshape my thinking.

I did the Integral Assessment and as they said in the Dacher text, it is like “taking a personal inventory” of our life and to use it as a “tool to transform our life”. To do this exercise, we should be in the “contemplative state”. I should “envision” the four quadrants of of our lives (Psychospiritual, biological, interpersonal, and worldly) and decide where I need further development. I did do this and found that my fitness level was good, my nutrition level is good, and however, I just recently have had a lot of changes in my appetite. I need to address this by journaling my nutrition intake and figuring out my calorie expenditure. My psychospiritual life I feel is growing. I feel that I can continue to grow in this area by checking my understanding and growth from time to time. My interpersonal area is always in a sense of uncertainty. I feel that if I can find a sense of “stillness” or calming of the mind, that I can address this issue. Now I will focus on the worldly aspect. I do feel very good in this area. I tend to more easily contribute to this quadrant that the interpersonal. I think to work on my interpersonal area; I will try to use the “subtle mind” practice more often.

I found this personal assessment very difficult. I think it is hard sometimes for us to really “see” what is going on in our lives and address this honestly. Honesty is something that I take away from this exercise.

I think it is important to “re-assess” ourselves from time to time because we are always evolving and changing.

Take care,

Karin