Hi all,
I have to say that the loving kindness exercise was quite an experience for me...it actually caused a stir within me. The past two exercises I did not have much success, but I have made it a point to take time out for myself to meditate at least 30 minutes each day...maybe that's why I felt something in this week's exercise. Visualizing a loved one actually helped me to feel the love, kindness and sense of ease during this exercise...changing those feelings toward myself took some time but I feel that I was able to do that to an extent. The part of the exercise I found difficult to do was the enemies and strangers...meaning I had a hard time "breathing in their suffering and allowing it to dissolve into my heart" Don't get me wrong...it's not that I didn't want to do it, I just didn't feel anything. Any advise?
Overall though, I found this experience to be very beneficial...it truly provided a great sense of ease and was able to feel a sense of connectedness (to a certain extent).
The concept of mental workout is to implement a daily practice on working out our minds to evolve psychospiritual life and access its capacities and resources. In the beginning, you may only be able to do 5 minutes but should eventually do an hour a day...whatever amount of time you're able to give, the key is to keep practicing. The aim of mental workout is for progressive development of an expanded consciousness...one of the practices is loving-kindness. This allows us to open our hearts and diminish our ego centered selves, which sets the ground work for our minds for further development. I personally have made it a point to meditate each day for 30 minutes to help me to develop inner calm and be able to take life's adversaries with a calm and clear mind...it also is the first step to psychological health.
Hi Manisha, I am glad that you were able to connect with this exercise. I did find myself more relaxed, but not as much as the other two exercises we have done. I think that it was because I found the concentrating on others difficult, as I have nobody that I really think needs that help. I guess I am more in the reality for them as apposed to understanding my own personal spiritual side. It is hard to understand and focus on someone else when I keep my personal life a small circle and try not to get involved in others business. I am in retail and have found that projecting positive vibes helps to change people. The mental workout is a tougher one for me to do, but I plan on keeping up the practice. Thanks for sharing. : }
ReplyDeleteHi Erika,
DeleteI absolutely agree with you that sending out positive vibes does help to change people...and the energy surrounding them. My thinking is...send out positive energy and you will receive positive energy :-)
Hello Manisha-
ReplyDeleteI also thought that Loving Kindness made a difference in me. I could feel emotions as it inhailed and exhailed. Enemies and stragers were hard for me also. I ended up thinking of aquaintances because I could not visualize strangers.
That is great that you take the time out to meditate each day. You are inspiring. Brandie
Hi Brandie,
DeleteYeah, the enemies and stranger portion of the exercise I truly struggled with. I just could not visualize or feel anything during that portion. Visualizing loved ones was much easier...and the feelings just flooded into me...it was quite intense. I'm so glad that you found this exercise beneficial also.
Mainish... I love your title..organizedchaos! Sounds exactly like my life. I like this exercise also even though the others were difficult for me. I fell asleep during those. I think meditating to the thoughts of loved ones is what helped me stay focused because I felt like I was doing it for them, so it made it more important. I did not really accept the part about my enemies either...have not got there yet, still working on that part of my life.
ReplyDeleteYep...my life is organized chaos, but love it!
DeleteI have to say this exercise was easier for me because of the fact that I focused on loved ones...as you state, it actually helped me to stay better focused. It really made a difference for me.
Hi Manisha,
ReplyDeleteGood for your that you are disciplining yourself to meditate for 30 minutes a day. I still have yet to get to that point. I know with practice you get better, once you get into the routine of it it becomes easier. Your post gave me more incentive to try :)
Hi Manisha... I think this meditation technique really allows for the person to be able to visually concentrate more and be able to understand what they are feeling. This was an interesting meditative practice and I found it a little easier for me to do as well. Good luck taking time out to meditate and I am sure it will give you so much more inner peace :)
ReplyDeleteManisha,
ReplyDeleteI believe me and you experienced the same things in this workout. Like you, I didn't get much out of the others but this one did bring about some emotions when it came to including our loved ones. The stranger and enemies were a little hard for me too. This whole meditating thing is very new to me. I always found that soft music or beach/ocean sounds calmed me very well but to incorporate the different levels such as loving kindness exercise, it was new but I feel can help me to better develop my psychological health. Good post. I enjoyed reading it ;-)
Hope you are having a great week.
~Ali
Hi Manisha,
ReplyDeleteI love the title of your blog-I can relate! I think it is great that you have been meditating-have you been doing it long, and do you schedule it for the same time every day? As far as not feeling anything for the friends and enemies portion of the exercise, if you didn't feel it-that's okay, I think we all respond differently, and that's okay too! Best of luck to you in class and beyond:)
~Alicia
Hi Alicia,
DeleteI've been meditating on and off for a while now, but since the start of this class, I've made it a point to take 30 minutes out of my day for myself. I either do it early in the morning before anyone is up or late at night when everyone is in bed. To tell you the truth, I love when I get a chance to do it first thing in the morning, it just really jump starts my day...and I tackle my day with such a positive energy that it lasts throughout the day. Thanks so much for responding to my post!!!