Participating in this exercise was definitely interesting. I found that it really relaxed me and helped my mood to change in positive way..not to say that I'm moody or anything:-) I could see this as a stress relieving practice along with enhancing loving kindness. It helped me to feel a little less stressed and gave me a "loving" outlook on the world. I would recommend this to others because, let's face it, this world could use more loving kindness and exercises such as this one can promote that.
The concept of mental workout is exercising our mental abilities to achieve "an expanded consciousness and its healing capacities" (Dacher, p. 65, 2006). Just like physical training, we need to work at it often (recommended at least one hour daily) to achieve the optimal results. It is also important to go into the practicing fully understanding what you are getting into. Like, Dacher stated in his book, it is easy to perform the training not really understanding everything. That may get you a little further along but not to the results that you are aiming for. Implementing these practices in our lives requires dedication, effort and understanding.
References:
Dacher, E. (2006). Integral health: the path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.
Hi Natalie -
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. Do you think that with repeated use this type of meditation will make loving kindness an everyday experience?
Mary
Hi Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI also like what AK said about the ability of practice to make loving-kindness an everyday occurence. I still find myself thinking badly about the way some people behave and have to correct myself, or remind myself I should say. I mean, who are we to be critical of others in the first place? I really like this exercise because it does draw on the feelings and care of others.
Take care,
Karin
I agree with Karin, it does take a lot to refocus our loving kindness towards people, that well, we may just not like, for whatever reason. I need to learn how to love people in spite of the fact I may not like what they do. It's a tall order and a new goal.
ReplyDeleteHey Natalie,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your blog. I enjoyed reading it. I agree with you. These exercises really relaxed me as well. I also agree with you that everyone should use this exercise, especially the people that are always mad at the world. There are some people out there that are just mean and don't care about anything. I do need to start doing a mental workout on my mind every day. I think this will relieve and stress I have and get me ready for my day or night.
Jamie