Upon my reflection about the previous
mediations and guided exercises I practiced throughout this course, I found the
Loving-kindness exercise and the Subtle Mind exercise to be personally
beneficial. The Loving-kindness exercise helped me to experience
loving-kindness for my family and friends, for acquaintances, for those I shall
never lay eyes upon, and for myself, most importantly. The Subtle Mind practice
is helping me to gradually cultivate my witnessing consciousness, achieve a
calm-abiding mind and progress into pure awareness. Both exercises have helped
me to focus my intention on promoting health within all aspects of the human
experience. In order to implement the first exercise, I plan to promote
loving-kindness within myself and for myself, and by doing so, I am able to
progress and develop these behaviors within all aspects, most importantly,
worldly. I can express my gratitude, compassion, and forgiveness, show empathy,
and promote positive thought processes with myself and others. In regards to
the second exercise, I plan to observe and witness my natural thought processes
and gain access to the calm-abiding and still and subtle mind. Instead of
reacting to normally distressing situations, I have the ability to observe how,
what, and why that particular situation is making me feel certain emotions. I
have the ability to choose, so why not choose to eliminate needless suffering
and promote human flourishing?
Great post! You write very well and I enjoyed reading it. I think it is great that you realize how important it is to practice loving kindness within yourself first. And yes why not flourish? I see so many people suffer for no apparent reason and I have been there myself. We beat ourselves up over things we can not change or haven't even happened yet. By observing our thoughts, we can begin to quiet them. But it sounds like you already know that. Thanks for your post!
ReplyDeleteHi Meghan, it is great to hear everyone's different opinions on which practices are most beneficial to them. We've talked about this time and time again throughout the course, but it truly is individualized. You chose different exercises than I did, but I can still understand where you are coming from with your ideas. It sounds like you have a really good plan for how you will use them in the future, with some very impressive goals in mind. Best of luck on your journey!
ReplyDeleteHi Meghan,
ReplyDeleteI can’t agree with you anymore than I have so many times before. I felt as if the loving-kindness and subtle mind exercises were my most beneficial practices also. I needed to be able to experience that full loving-kindness for myself and people around me. I think this specific one was for me to have a better relationship with myself and about myself. I pretty much can show it for others it’s me I need to work on. Then the subtle mind gaining a this state of mind is beneficial for me because of the line of work I am in and the many people in my house hold yes 5 doesn’t sound like many but with those age gaps 10, 3, 1, my husband and myself it can get pretty rowdy in here. That subtle mind helps ease the stress of the day and winds me on down. Great post!!!!
Telah