Beneficial Practices...

This week we were asked to decide which two practices that we have discussed over the weeks, that we think would be the most beneficial to us in our daily lives.  I have to say that Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind would probably work for me the most in my life.  The Subtle Mind involves the breath, with a direct connection between breath and mind.  The Loving Kindness practice expands the capacity for empathetic listening, seeing and caring for others.  This is supposed to expand the mind and heart and help to "cure anger and hatred".  I like these two practices because I believe that the breath is connected to relaxation, and ultimately the mind.  I also love the idea of seeing and caring for others, because I think that is just a great way to live life.  Throughout life we will all encounter people of many walks of life....the most important thing to remember is to love and respect each and every one of them. 

I think that there are many aspects to "Mental Fitness", that go beyond these practices, however, I do realize that these practices can be instrumental in helping to achieve mental fitness.  Personally, it will take some practice to achieve the benefits of these practices.  I think that finding a quiet, comfortable place where I can breathe and focus on positive feelings and emotions each day, will put me on the right track towards mental fitness.  If I am able to achieve this, I will better serve my clients, my family, my friends, and myself, because I will be in a much more positive place. 

Mindful Meditation...

This week our exercise was to listen to "Meeting Aesclepius", which is a guided meditation involving a Spirit Guide, so to speak.  We were to envision another person and focus our loving kindness on this person.  Eventually, we were asked to picture a white light radiating out of our forehead, into the forehead of this person, transferring and purifying our thoughts and feelings.  The beginning of the exercise likened our thoughts to a rushing stream, that would hopefully progress into a lazy river.  I really liked this analogy, and appreciated the sounds of waves and the relaxing music.  To me, this was more helpful than the image of the guide.  I found it distracting at first to try to visualize this person.  I was focusing too much on features and who this person might be to grasp the point of the visualization.  I can see how this would be helpful, but again this will take practice for me, and is probably something that I should do before bed, rather than right before I try to write a post. 

The saying, "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself" is to me a very wise, very true statement.  Basically it means that a person cannot guide another person in a direction or to a place that they have not been, because they would have no real experience or idea what they were guiding another towards.  It's pretty self-explanatory.  I also loved the saying that went along with it, "Having a map of Hawaii is not like actually being there."...It's so true.  If a person doesn't experience things first-hand, it would be very difficult to guide someone else there...whether that be physically, spiritually, emotionally, etc. 

This journey is teaching me that cherishing others, and treating them with loving kindness, will help in the healing process and also lead me towards my goal of integral health. 

Universal Loving Kindness....

So, this week we had to do another loving kindness exercise.  This time we were supposed expand our capacity for empathic listening seeing and caring for others, which will spread to all of our relationships.  This practice will supposedly expand the mind and the heart, and help cure anger and hatred.  In order to do this, we were supposed to repeat four different phrases for 10 minutes.  First of all, I couldn't remember the phrases, and I had trouble quieting my mind, trying to remember these phrases.  I was looking at the book with one eye open, and I realized that this defeated the purpose of the exercise.  Over the weeks I have become better at relaxing into myself and my breath, so that part was good.  I just felt pressure over remembering (or not) the phrases.  So finally just found myself saying general prayers for others to find health, happiness, wholeness, and peace...and this felt good. 

We were also asked to complete an integral assessment exercise.  I really did like that the exercise allowed for me to focus on the troubling areas in my life, because that is obviously what is usually ON my mind.  I have found that with other meditations, I feel like I am just supposed to be able to "breathe" and "imagine" my troubles away, and that is not realistic for me.  I was asked which area in my life is troubling....psycho spiritual, biological, interpersonal, or worldly?  and then what area in my life is ready for growth and development?  Is it the same area or a different one?  I thought that these were very good questions.  I learned to try to realize if I felt that I was taking on too much or too little, and to try to be mindful of how I handle situations.  Can I improve my attitude or my actions?  I need to do my best to be accurate and honest if I really want to progress toward integral healing. 

Subtle Mind...

The "Subtle Mind" is supposedly one of a timeless, silent space...to get to the place of the Subtle Mind, breath plays a key role.  For this week's exercise we were to take a journey to the "Subtle Mind".  We were supposed to compare this to last week's exercise of "Loving Kindness".  I really like the Subtle Mind exercise because it involves breath; there is a direct relationship between breath and mind with this practice.  Dacher claims that that "peaceful breathing patterns lead to a peaceful mind".  I often find myself holding my breath...that can't be good!  This exercise seemed like more of a mindful meditation to me.  I did appreciate that the "Loving Kindness" exercise had guiding help.  I have previously stated that I often have difficulty "shutting off" my mind; so to have guided imagery and meditation was helpful to me.  I feel like this is a natural progression from the "Loving Kindness" exercise, and I like that it's recommended to revisit the "Loving Kindness" exercise throughout the week, and it's not about substituting one for the other.  While I struggled with the "Loving Kindness" exercise at the time, I can definitely see the benefits of making it a regular life practice.  I also like how the "Subtle Mind" exercise is also a guided practice.  Ten deep breaths in, and ten deep breaths out...then settle into your body's natural rhythm....whatever comes to mind, focus on the breath.  "This is a highly intentional, mindful, and maybe even forceful practice", says Elliot Dacher.  I personally like that it is not made out to be "easy" to accomplish at first, because for most people I don't think that it would be.  I know that practice and patience are key, but it always comes back to the breath.  Eventually it should become less forceful and more natural, until hopefully I will be able to release my mind and "let it float free".  This is not something that I am able to do right now, but it is something that I need and will work on.