Meeting Aesclepius Meditation

What I’ve noticed these past few weeks is a very unevolved, not terribly spiritual, not-present urge to be done with my final term and graduate! Worse, I’ve been feeling lousy about not being able to stay in the present moment and attend to my studies mindfully. I am finding the sheer volume of work overwhelming, and the concern (due to the overwhelming workload) I may lose my 4.0 in my final term, after fighting for so long to strive for excellence, is causing me some anxiety and disappointment. Perhaps the message in this course for me is not to attach so much importance to external labels of “perfection” since it doesn’t exist anyway and it’s only another kind of competitiveness - and even a kind of materialism, and pride. I normally reject materialism as antithetical to my values, and yet what is stressing over whether I get a 4.0 (or something very close to it if I don’t get an A in this course) but caring about external symbols of success – in other words, materialism – and pride? These are not values I think I hold, and yet, here I am fretting over symbols of success. Yet perhaps this is another lesson I was not prepared to learn, but am learning anyway. My anxiety level is receding even as I am writing these words – I think I’ve had an epiphany! :-)

I knew I wanted to take this course to help me make the transition from school to living more fully, and to continue developing my inner life, since I will have time to devote to it. I am a firm believer that the continued pursuit of mindfulness and meditation will help me sustain calmness, peacefulness and happiness, whereas I now experience them as fleeting. 

The Meeting Aesclepius meditation was – to be completely honest – not a complete success. For some reason, my husband interrupted me every time I tried to do it, and although I completed the meditation (albeit in fits and starts), and got some brief moments of blissful feelings (along with very strong visualizations and sensations of the directed light), I know the constant interruptions meant I did not get the full benefit from it. I definitely intend to work on this meditation and come back to it and the others we’ve learned in this course many times. 

The question of why "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" (Amorok, Micozzi & Schlitz, 2005, p. 477) I think relates very well to the idea of finding a mentor who has spent years mastering spiritual practice. I know that, although I have a powerful spiritual inclination, and am able to experience blissful spiritual moments, I am still a novice and need time and practice to get to the point where I no longer react to emotional triggers, but am able to sustain calmness, peace and connectedness at all times. Finding a mentor who is constantly calm, nonreactive, full of lovingkindness and wisdom – because they have been where they are leading me to – would greatly help me get there. Likewise, if I were a health and wellness professional, I could not expect to demonstrate to others the benefits of integral practice if I did not practice it myself, because it is not about simply telling a patient what medicine to take or what exercise to perform. Integral health means sharing more than information or instruction; it is about sharing spiritual energy. Since most people in our culture have never seen someone who is integrally healthy, it would be a powerful and eloquent means of sharing its value by embodying it, mind, body and spirit.

References:

Amorok, T., Micozzi, M.S., Schlitz, M. (2005). Consciousness and healing: Integral approaches

to mind-body medicine. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier, Inc.

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing.
                Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.