Hello everyone,
I've completed the loving kindness and the subtle mind exercise, and I think they will fit nicely into my daily routine, if I can be more disciplined about it. The loving kindness exercise was a lesson in feelings of caring and compassion, and it gave you many choices to practice the concept on. On the other hand the subtle mind exercise was a lesson in the openness and vastness of the mind and how to quiet it's restlessness. The main idea was to focus on either the breath or the rising and falling of the abdomen, thus bringing the wayward mind back into focus. While loving kindness was based on gently expressing love to yourself and others, The subtle mind was more assertive-forcing the wandering mind to come back and focus, no matter how many times it took. This is definitely the style my wandering "monkey mind" needs. The loving kindness practice had short pauses to allow a thought process or concept to sink in but not to let your mind wander too far. The Subtle mind exercises had longer pauses that where so long that when the lady started to talk again I was startled! I think I might have dosed off, but it didn't feel like it. : )This exercise might not be good when you are exhausted. I love the quietness and stillness throughout both exercises and the flute added to the ambiance.
Stress often manifests itself in the mind first before progressing to the physical body and then to chronic ailments like heart disease, cancer and stroke. Spirituality can help calm these destructive thoughts and help an individual attain a better sense of overall wellness. These spiritual meditations will be able to help with my stressful, restless mind if only I would show a little more discipline and incorporate them into my daily life. I think that if I take it one step at a time I will succeed.
Take care,
Pen
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Hi Penny, you seem to have a good understanding of the connection between mind, body and spirit, and I'm sure that if you want to make spiritual meditation your goal, you will achieve it. I know what you're saying about the subtle mind exercise--lots of opportunities for the mind to wander! That's why I thought this week's exercise was harder than last week's. It's difficult for me to quiet my mind, but I guess that's true for anyone who isn't used to doing it, right? We live in such a high-paced world where sensory overload is the norm, so that when we attempt exercises like these, they're a little bit difficult. But that probably means these exercises are needed all the more. Great post!
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