Unit 6
I had a REALLY bad day at work today, so when I opened up the book, I had to remind myself to keep my patience. I saw that we had to close our eyes and then repeat the phrases, asked myself how I was supposed to know the phrases when I had my eyes closed, and then brought myself to a calmer reality and decided to begin again.
Once I put my bad day behind me, it was easier to practice the exercise. It definitely helped to repeat these phrases over and over; it helped me to want to help people. I wanted everyone that I came in contact with to be happy in their thoughts and to feel accomplishment when they overcame the struggles in their lives.
What I learned about myself was that it takes me awhile to wind down when I get home from work. Besides relaxing for a few minutes because I am exhausted, I realize that it really does take my mind awhile to wind down, also. I was never really aware of this because I never put a conscious efford into it.
The area that I need to focus on for my own growth and development is my spiritual self. Being spiritual means more than just an hour at church. It means knowing yourself, and being happy with yourself. It means to be positive and less negative both with inner and outer balance. It means being able to clear your mind and focus only on what is good is life.
In order to obtain this, I think I need to further study other spiritual beliefs, such as Buddhism, and other Asian cultures. Practicing Qi Gong, Tai Chi, and meditation on a more frequent basis will help me to obtain this knowledge and further my spiritual growth. I believe in Yin/Yang and need to further incorporate this into my life - balance and positive energy!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Unit 5
The differences between the subtle mind and the loving-kindness meditations was with what we needed to focus on in one. The subtle mind helped us to focus on relaxing ourselves a little at a time until we felt nothing but calm, in every inch of every part of our being, both our inner and outer selves.
The loving-kindness guide helped us to focus on feeling and showing loving kindness toward others.
The subtle mind exercise that we used this week reminded me of Qi Gong, using breath in everything. It shows how these eastern practices are all intertwined with overall health and how each aspect overflows into the other. Couldn't you just visualize yourself on a mountain in Tibet? It is an awesome feeling and mental experience.
I find that outside of the practice session, I am beginning to use my breath during the day to calm myself when getting even slightly edgy. It has been helpful both in and out of practice sessions.
By relaxing our thoughts, emotions, and bodies, we find it easier to take smaller things in stride in our daily lives. I know that I do. By maintaining positive attitudes, by being in a more calm state of mind, stressors become less, and our ways of handling them become greater. By being more spiritually healthy, by having more positive thoughts, our physical "selves" become healthier, drastically lowering our risks of disease. I would much rather becoming healthy this way than with the aid of chemicals.
I can't wait to grow further in my spiritual journey.
The differences between the subtle mind and the loving-kindness meditations was with what we needed to focus on in one. The subtle mind helped us to focus on relaxing ourselves a little at a time until we felt nothing but calm, in every inch of every part of our being, both our inner and outer selves.
The loving-kindness guide helped us to focus on feeling and showing loving kindness toward others.
The subtle mind exercise that we used this week reminded me of Qi Gong, using breath in everything. It shows how these eastern practices are all intertwined with overall health and how each aspect overflows into the other. Couldn't you just visualize yourself on a mountain in Tibet? It is an awesome feeling and mental experience.
I find that outside of the practice session, I am beginning to use my breath during the day to calm myself when getting even slightly edgy. It has been helpful both in and out of practice sessions.
By relaxing our thoughts, emotions, and bodies, we find it easier to take smaller things in stride in our daily lives. I know that I do. By maintaining positive attitudes, by being in a more calm state of mind, stressors become less, and our ways of handling them become greater. By being more spiritually healthy, by having more positive thoughts, our physical "selves" become healthier, drastically lowering our risks of disease. I would much rather becoming healthy this way than with the aid of chemicals.
I can't wait to grow further in my spiritual journey.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Unit 4 post:
The best part of this blog exercise was the loving-kindness segment. I found it extremely useful in feeling love and nurturing. I envisioned myself holding my boys when they were infants, wanting to love them and shield them from all of the bad in the world.
It was extremely beneficial as it opened up my mind to my emotions and totally loving someone. When it got to the part where we have to love ourselves before being able to love another, it made some sense, but how much easier is it for us, really, to love others before ourselves?
I would recommend this mp3 exercise to others, as I feel it helps to bring us to open-mindedness easier when we have a guide - especially one that relaxes us in our journey to self-enlightenment.
The mental workout part of the exercise was just that - a mental workout. It is at this point, especially in the beginning, where I had to muster up patience to sit and actually relax for that long. With this being only one of my days off, I had sooooo much to do, and so little time to do it in, that I found it especially frustrating to sit and concentrate on relaxing. Imagine that - sitting and having to concentrate on relaxing. Who does that?
It actually was a mental workout. First having the waves and the flute made it easier to focus, but then when they took it out of the equation, I wanted it back. I would definitely implement these in my daily life, but sadly, I still need to find the patience within myself to sit and pay attention to nothing.
The best part of this blog exercise was the loving-kindness segment. I found it extremely useful in feeling love and nurturing. I envisioned myself holding my boys when they were infants, wanting to love them and shield them from all of the bad in the world.
It was extremely beneficial as it opened up my mind to my emotions and totally loving someone. When it got to the part where we have to love ourselves before being able to love another, it made some sense, but how much easier is it for us, really, to love others before ourselves?
I would recommend this mp3 exercise to others, as I feel it helps to bring us to open-mindedness easier when we have a guide - especially one that relaxes us in our journey to self-enlightenment.
The mental workout part of the exercise was just that - a mental workout. It is at this point, especially in the beginning, where I had to muster up patience to sit and actually relax for that long. With this being only one of my days off, I had sooooo much to do, and so little time to do it in, that I found it especially frustrating to sit and concentrate on relaxing. Imagine that - sitting and having to concentrate on relaxing. Who does that?
It actually was a mental workout. First having the waves and the flute made it easier to focus, but then when they took it out of the equation, I wanted it back. I would definitely implement these in my daily life, but sadly, I still need to find the patience within myself to sit and pay attention to nothing.
Unit 3 blog
I didn't like A Crime of the Century nearly as much as our exercise in Unit 2. The music was very calming, but then to have to almost calm down and then have to visualize bright, vibrant colors, it really took away from the relaxing moment. In my mind, I visualize calm colors with relaxing; this was opposite of what I would expect, and really did nothing for me. Were I given a choice to use this in my practice in the future, I would opt out and use something else for relaxation with my clients.
I didn't like A Crime of the Century nearly as much as our exercise in Unit 2. The music was very calming, but then to have to almost calm down and then have to visualize bright, vibrant colors, it really took away from the relaxing moment. In my mind, I visualize calm colors with relaxing; this was opposite of what I would expect, and really did nothing for me. Were I given a choice to use this in my practice in the future, I would opt out and use something else for relaxation with my clients.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Unit 2 post
Since I messed up my original blog so badly, I had to start a new one. Here's hoping this one makes it!
The Journey On exercise was awesome. I can understand why we would need to listen to this while at home in a quiet corner with no one around. Given enough time, I'm sure I could've fallen asleep. The voice being so monotone and quiet made it easy to relax. I could picture being in a meditative state with my yoga music in the background. I will return to this exercise on more than one occasion I'm sure, as it really made it easy to calm down after a stressful day.
The Journey On exercise was awesome. I can understand why we would need to listen to this while at home in a quiet corner with no one around. Given enough time, I'm sure I could've fallen asleep. The voice being so monotone and quiet made it easy to relax. I could picture being in a meditative state with my yoga music in the background. I will return to this exercise on more than one occasion I'm sure, as it really made it easy to calm down after a stressful day.
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