Chapter Four/ Mindfulness through Meditation

                Chapter four in the Corey & Corey (2008) text is one that kind of struck a nerve with me. It felt as if the chapter very much was a self-help book. Beyond just a self-help book though it felt like one that beats down the clientele/readers in order to build them back up. It makes it seem as if in order to have a quality standard of living one has to be able to properly balance mindfulness, sleep, physical exercise, proper diet and spirituality. My issue is I feel that although the text is fairly modern being written in 2008 it doesn’t take into context the modern life of the average American in today’s society.

                While I know that I am not the average American I struggle with incorporating all of these things into my everyday life. From conversations with other graduate students I know that they struggle with this as well. I am currently a full-time graduate student as well as a full-time employee at my BHRS agency. I found that in conjunction with these two things being mindful, exercising physically and maintaining spirituality have become tasks whereas at this point last year when I was solely a full-time employee (that had lots of free time) and they were recreational and fun. I now find that I have to force myself to wake up early on Weekdays in order to work out or that it is a chore to go to Church. It has gotten to the point where seemingly spiritual activities like visiting family and friends seems like daunting tasks and draining at times. While not every American is unique to my situation I’d imagine that having children certainly would be supplemental to attending grad school full time if not more time-consuming. Because of this I liked Schafer’s philosophy to wellness as it was something I naturally do and it does not require a fully holistic stance to achieve health and wellness.

                Additionally, I agreed with the chapter’s stance on that the average American now looks for the quick and easy way out but I am also somewhat combative to this. It highlighted cures through medication which later is found to have devastating side effects. However, I think that this same need for immediacy has also lead to some positive ways to help Americans achieve the holistic stance in health. I know that for me technology was and is a major part in attempting to manage time and achieve all those aspects of holistic health. I measure my caloric intake and miles ran with my cell phone and other electronic devices. I manage my time with an electronic calendar filled with early audible reminders in order to try and put myself at ease so I can attempt mindfulness and not over-exert myself.

                In regards to that Khong (2007) article I accidentally read it last week and it resonated more with last week’s readings than it did with this week’s chapter to me. However, I did notice that there was a small section in the chapter about “Experiencing Your Body” which is very congruent with the concept of mindfulness. In that section it mentioned “singing and dancing” as an aspect of mindfulness that gets you further in touch with your mind and body. I loved this because this is something I do on a near daily basis. Even my kids notice this and always ask me why I am dancing and singing and I always reply “because it makes me happy.” I could not really differentiate R.E.B.T. from Mindfulness (in the Buddhist context) despite the article trying to explain how they differentiate but in combining these two aspects it did help to elaborate further. I’ve been trying mindfulness recently but it’s a lot easier said than done; and I’ve found that trying to distance myself from it thought-wise usually just makes me think about it more… the opposite of mindfulness.

Corey, G. & Corey, M.S. (2008). I never knew I had a choice: Exploration in personal growth (9th

                   Edition). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole

Khong, B. S. L. (2007). The Buddha’s influence in the therapy room. Hakomi Forum, 18, 11-18.