Mental Fitness

“Mental Fitness & Flourishing”

Review the exercises and practice sessions you have completed in this course. (Loving Kindness, Subtle mind, Visualization, meditation etc.) Choose two practices that you have determined to be most beneficial. How can you implement these practices in your personal life to foster “mental fitness”?

As everybody knows I have being in the martial arts for some time now. I have used visualization as well as subtle mind to help me throughout my life in trying to flourish, grow and benefit both physically and mentally. Many metaphors can help us understand the mind (Dacher, 2006). A still and clear mind is usually obscured by the moving mind the mental activity of feeling, thought, and images (Dacher, 2006). The practice of not allowing other thought in while trying to meditate and clear you mind takes practice and years to master. I am not a master yet but I also know that my practice of clearing my mind has helped me throughout the years. The health benefits are many because we all know what stress can do to our health. Having a subtle mind is one of the best ways I know in how to keep myself stress free and healthy in many ways. To achieving a subtle mind you need to practice the witnessing mind, calm- abiding, and unity consciousness as well as they are important aspects of flourishing in wholeness.

The martial art also introduced me to breathing techniques that has helped me in relaxing as well as calming in times of stress. By learning to use rhythmic breathing I have learned to subtle the mind. Breathing as well as meditation takes practice to master and get the benefits that they have to offer. When meditating before class we try to empty the mind and visualize our training for the day. When we train with the focus pads we’ll take a technique as we use the breathing as our focal point. In many studios they have belt as promotion not out of achievement but to make money. In my studio to get promoted you have to earn it and each belt has a story as we develop the mind, body and spirit. The first bet is white (the seed) then comes yellow (the seed seeing the sun), then orange (the sun allowing growth) then green (the leaves in the begging of the tree) the red (the tree giving fruit), then black belt (the fruits falling to make new seeds for new tree growth) making it full circle. Inner peace comes with knowing and loving yourself as you love others.

I can remember when working in the casino in a dead game (game not opened for business) because business was slow I would visualize myself doing my forms (Katas) some consisting of 52 movements almost like Tia Chi movements. When I would go to the studio to practice the forms I would do better with them. When it came time for tournaments I would do the same thing and in most cases I would place in the medial podium. When fighting I would see myself fighting different types of opponents and when fighting it was like I had fought them before. In most cases I won first place in all the tournaments I entered. To be able to flourish spiritually you have to believe visualize the higher power and feel the loving kindness he has to offer as Jesus did while walking the earth. Know we believe in him as he left a legacy of loving kindness that most have forgotten.

Some of the things I do in the practice of subtle mind are meditation at least 5 days per week as well as going to church on Sunday. I give back to my community by offering exercise classes for $2.00 per class trying to keep seniors active and healthier. I have karate students that only pay me what they can but without my training sessions they would be out in the community starting problems. Teaching them that there are other choices we can do to release stress or our inner pain than to go out and hurt others. Giving back is hard to explain if you’re selfish because you have to be able to give without expecting back regardless of the outcome of the receiving your generosity.

Exercising is part of my lifestyle and has been for many years. I know that the benefits will create human flourishing in combination with the rest of my training. I do weight training, cardiovascular training, calisthenics, judo, Jiu jit su, kickboxing, and that’s just scratching the surface. The mental part of my training I’ll meditate, pray, walk, go to the beach and sit at the jetty and listen to the waves hit the rocks as the wind sprays the ocean water into your face. Waking up early to see a sun rise as the sky as the multi colors of blues, purples, oranges, and the ocean meet. As well as the sun sets seeing the sun melt into the ocean yet the colors get richer and deeper.

I live in the area I do by choice because of the beauty and how close the beach is to my house. When I walk the dogs I go right to the bay that’s 4 blocks from the house where are can see out the skyline all the Atlantic City casinos. Mental health is something we need to learn as it helps us flourish.

Artemio

Reference:

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