The Subtle Mind Practice
I liked how Dacher talked about our
breathing, how when our breath is calm our mind follows. I find this to be true
for myself. I liked this exercise better than the Loving-Kindness exercise
because I felt more relaxed and calm right away. I could easily start deep
breathing, feel relaxed, and stay focused on my breath and not my thoughts. The
Loving-Kindness exercise I felt was harder to practice because my thoughts
would wonder when I was trying to think of certain loved ones or myself and
then my mind would continue in a different direction. While the Subtle Mind
practice you can just relax and not think about anything other than your
breathing. I also thought it was hard to relax with the Loving-Kindness
exercise when we were to think of a loved one suffering. I again liked the
waves and flute noises in this exercise. The waves helped me to focus on my
breathing and I breathed with the sounds of the waves.
Spiritual wellness is important to our
mental and physical wellness as they are all connected. As we are able to
connect with our spiritual side we can mentally and physically feel relaxed and
calm. As our mind, body, spirit, and emotions are slowly progressing toward the
positive side of life we will improve our mental health, our immune systems,
and our connection with ourselves and the world around us. The connection of my
spiritual, mental, and physical wellness has let me become a more positive
person and I feel better about myself.
Thanks for the post Jennifer. I actually found this exercise to be more of a challenge. To me, when I am told to "clear my mind" suddenly there are a bunch of thoughts that won't leave my head! It is kind of like telling someone to not look to the right and that is exactly what they want to do. I had to really focus on my breathing the majority of the time which ended up making me tired. I think the more I practice though the easier it will become. It sounds like these exercises are going really well for you and I am so glad you're confidence is improving! I look forward to your next post!
ReplyDeleteUlani
I had a harder time with this one then I did the Love-Kindness one. I did like the breathing better, I need to learn to breath more, relax my mind. I look forward for later post.
ReplyDeleteSally
I'm glad that this exercise was able to go more smoothly for you. One of the best things that meditation does besides helping us develop loving kindness, compassion, and a sense of unity is the fact that it helps with attention. I find that my mind is always wondering and I get caught up in random thoughts. Exercises like these help us discern which thoughts to acknowledge and which to let pass by. In the short time that I have done meditation I think that this is the biggest improvement that I have seen in myself. My attention span is much better than it was.
ReplyDeleteHello Jennifer:
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you I too found the exercise better than the Love-Kindness exercise. I is very hard for me to relax when I had to do a lot thinking in the Love-Kindness exercise. I will continue to use this exercise. What about you?
~Thanks Roxanne
It seems like it is really a mixed crowd, as far as who liked each exercise more. Everyone's minds work differently I guess. I have been reading up on visualization techniques, and a helpful tip that I learned, was to not only visualize the visual part of a thought or memory, but also the smells and sounds. The way things feel in your visualizations can make things more real as well. Some people are more visual than others, as this makes more sense as to why some people prefer certain techniques.
ReplyDelete