Shifting gears, the term mental workout means
to stimulate and train the mind in order to progress its ability to further the
health of the body, mind, and spirit. Training the mind to feel loving-kindness
and compassion for oneself, for loved ones, and for strangers can help the mind
to expand on its abilities, leading to the path of human flourishing. In order
to implement this exercise and others like it, I must set a specific time during
the day and be diligent and persistent. It may seem challenging to find the
time to incorporate these activities, but I must keep in mind that with
practice, mastering these exercises will become easier over time, which will
prepare me for implementing these practices into everyday life.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Unit 4 Exercise: Loving-kindness
After listening to the guided exercise, I found
it to be beneficial. Afterwards, I was relaxed, though also energized. As I
imagined love and compassion pouring from my heart, I felt my chest warm up,
which spread throughout my core. Directing health, happiness and wholeness
towards others seemed a bit more challenging, though I felt comfortable doing
so, especially after I had focused these towards someone whom I love and care
for. I would recommend this to others, though I feel that for this exercise to
take full effect, it must be performed on a frequent and routine basis. The reason
I say this is because I found it a bit challenging to show the thoughts and
feelings I was experiencing with the same loving-kindness, only because I was
unsure of how to go about the process.
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Meghan, I know how you feel about directing health, happiness, etc., toward others. I had a bit of trouble with that part (more than likely because I kept getting interrupted by my 4 year old stepdaughter........lol). With this exercise, I feel it can be beneficial for some people, but not necessarily for everyone.
ReplyDeleteHi Meghan, I had a somewhat similar experience with the loving-kindness exercise as well. I was successful while envisioning my love for someone close and also letting those feelings pour into my heart as well. I was even successful in focusing on a dear friend who is going through a hard time and directing my kindness towards them. The part where I got disconnected was when I was guided to direct my thoughts and kindness toward more generalized groups of people like you had mentioned experiencing difficulty with as well. I certainly agree that this is something that takes practice...I have spent time on it the past three days and to be honest do not feel like I am getting very far.
ReplyDeleteHi Meghan,
ReplyDeleteI felt just as you did warm inside when imagining the love I have for my close family members then using that love to refer to myself. I think this is a great exercise because weather people know it or not there are many people out there who don’t love themselves at all. Using a exercise like this one could assist them with branching out the love that they have and giving some of it to themselves. I also agree with your statement for this exercise to be taken and used fully to its potential it has to be done frequently. Great post!!!!
Telah
Meghan You have restored my hope! It is refreshing to hear how you have really absorbed this activity and proven how these activities may be beneficial when you follow through and build one mental workout routine. As you stated it is better to have more occurrences with these activities daily to get the maximum benefit. Dacher also supports your statement by mentioning fully understanding what we are doing and doing it more frequently will strengthen ones mental workout
ReplyDelete