The loving kindness exercise focused on our love for others as well as ourselves. We focused on the feeling of love, learning how the feeling “feels”, and try to extend this feeling to others and everything. In the subtle mind exercise we are focusing more on our thoughts and mind, relaxing, and trying to focus. The benefit of this exercise (subtle mind) is that we learn how to calm the mind by focusing on our breath; this in turn slows down all the random thoughts going on. This worked for me for a little while after breathing and listening to the calming ocean affects. However as time went by I started to think about all the things that I have to do and the stress and random thoughts came flooding back. I know these exercises take a lot of practice so I was not expecting for me to grasp it right away. It is very hard for me to calm my mind with the amount of things that I have to accomplish in one day.
The connection between spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness can be many things however in my opinion it all comes down to stress. Stress can affect the body in many ways including physical and mental illnesses. Spiritual wellness decreases negative thoughts, calms the mind, and allows us to focus and think clearly; all of which decrease stress. In my personal life I have yet to master or even begin to become spiritually well. I live a very fast paced, high stress life which I deal with pretty well due to my okay time management skills. It can get overwhelming sometimes but I manage to do it. I would like to work on calming my mind a bit and if I practice the subtle mind exercise it may just help (if I can find time! J)
Hi Sophia!
ReplyDeleteI wish your life wasn't so stressful and I do hope that your find your inner self, yes as you know learning these deep consciousness practices does evidently take practice to fully grasp and retain what they are all about. You seem like a smart girl with a head on your shoulders, I am sure you understand that these things do take time, but with maybe 5 minutes of meditation a day just focusing on your breathing will eventually bring you closer to a still mind. Your mind is craving for some peace, when you mind is at peace your physical body is at peace. Keep it up Sophia, you'll get there!!
Sophia, you got it completely right when you said that these things take practice, especially if you're accustomed to (and like!) a go-go-go kind of life. I prefer to stay busy, too, and I find that taking time to recenter with an activity like either of the exercises we've done so far actually facilitates better "juggling" when necessary, because I don't get bogged down by details that are ultimately unimportant or little annoyances that seem to build up. Then, when I am finally able to slow down at the end of the day, it's easier to relax and leave all the craziness at the front door because I'm able to mentally and emotionally let go without having to really try. Of course, everyone is different, but I hope that if you stick to it, you'll get something similar out of your time and effort, too. :)
ReplyDelete-Rheyn