Hello all,
Well it is 3 a.m. and I just finished my
first practice with the loving-kindness exercise. At the beginning of the
exercise, I was able focus and follow along. I loved hearing the sounds of the
ocean, it made feel at peace and at home. However, moving forward during the
reflective time, I found my mind wandering to beach, and how much my son and I
both miss it. Then, I would try to rein myself back in and focus and visualize
what was being suggested. Overall, I did find this exercise a little difficult,
but as Dacher (2006) mentions; this is to be expected in the beginning. I am
going to try to do this exercise each day for the next five days and see if I can
improve my inner focus.
The concept of a mental workout is akin to
that of physically working out the body. You have to begin slowly and commit to
a lifestyle change whether you are working out the body or the mind. Like a
physical workout, overtime your body will get stronger, and you can increase
the duration and/or the intensity of workout routine. The same goes for the
mind, we have to commit to a training our minds and focusing on our inner
selves, in order to achieve integral health.Proven benefits of a mental workout is ability to transform the mind by reducing disturbing emotions that cause anger, hatred, fear, worry, confusion, and doubt, while enhancing positive emotions, such as happiness, openness, acceptance, loving-kindness, and patience (Dacher, 2006, p.63). This mental mind/body connection transformation provides enhanced resistance to mental distress and physical disease, expands healing capacity, and promotes well-being (Dacher 2006, p. 63).
We can implement mental workouts to foster our psychological health by setting aside time each day work on our inner selves, just as we do for our physical selves.
Thank you,
~Bridgett
Reference
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach,
CA:
Basic Health Publishers, Inc.
Hello Bridgett,
ReplyDeleteI read your last post as well and I hope you are feeling better! Pneumonia.. Yuck ;(
It is nice that you have your personal beach scenario to retreat to when your get stressed. Do you think this could be part of your mental workout?
Best to you,
Michelle
Hi Michele,
DeleteThank you so much for reading my blog post and for your response this week. You are so right, pneumonia – Yuck! I am still battling the pneumonia; my latest x-ray looked about the same, so at least it is not getting worse. I am trying to stay positive and I have been using what we are learning in this class, to get on my way to overall wellness. Perfect timing for this class ;0)
In answer to your question regarding incorporating the beach scene into my mental workout, Yes absolutely! I just posted to one of our classmates blogs today and I mentioned that I am going to get a CD with the sounds of the ocean; I can really see this being beneficial for me and possibly for my son. Thank you for the great question and observation.
All the best,
~Bridgett
Hi Bridgett, great post! You are so right about first having to commit to the mind in order for it to carry out spiritual desires rather than autopilot reactions by the brain. I think it is a great idea that you are going to practice this meditation technique for five days to see the way that your mind and body react naturally and the changes that can occur over time. The ocean is a beautiful sound of nature that can soothe and relax the human body with the inner focus of relaxation. Good luck on your meditations!
ReplyDelete-Shauna
Hello Bridgett,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post and i really have to agree with you on loving-kindness exercise. The ocean I really LOVE it i miss it so very much. Awesome Post!!!
Bridgett,
ReplyDeleteYour post was excellent! I think the most relaxing exercise would be to lay on the beach and listen to the waves crash rather than try to stay focused on this voice. My brain jumps around I have a hard time focusing on much of anything!
Jill
Bridgett, I appreciate your honesty in your post and am glad you are planning to stick with the practice. My mind also wandered and I felt restless at the beginning of the exercise. As you mentioned, just like exercising the body, it is not easy when you begin a new routine!
ReplyDeleteI agree you wrote a very nice blog for this unit. Seems like many people are sick this week not just locally but in class as well. I have been struggling the last few days with the stomach flu and for the first time ever I will have to turn in some assignments late... I want more than anything to have 100%'s but my health is also important and sometimes all you can do is the best you can with what you have to work with.
ReplyDeleteHi Bridgett,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog. I couldn't help but notice that you completed this at 3am and at that time it is difficult to do anything (lol).I found it a little difficult to complete as well- more so than the subtle mind exercise. I guess because there are more distractions this time of year.You will have to let us know if it became easier for you to do after 5 days or if there was still a struggle.
Healthy Regards,
Ann