Unit 5 Blog
- Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.
The Loving Kindness exercise is rather difficult to stick with. I found the Subtle Mind exercise easy to do. I think the more specific the thoughts are required for the exercise is what makes it difficult. My experience with the Loving Kindness was not a good one the first four times I actually wanted to turn it off. I pictured my wife for a minute and then lost all concentration. The exercise is far too long and specific for easy meditation. The Subtle mind exercise I found easy because when we are picking our breath as the focal point I thought of swimming. Swimming to me is a calming and focused exercise. The ease of redirecting the random thoughts back to my focal point (which was exhalation out my nose) was quick and easy. On another note my CD is messed up from day one. The first time I played The Subtle Mind it quit about half way through with a horrific nose. Thanks to the reading I know I didn’t miss anything.
I think the benefits to these exercises would be that we now know where to start with our mental exercises. We can modify them to meet our needs. Example would be to replace the last half of Loving kindness with just about anything else.
- Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.
Becoming comfortable with the thought of spiritual wellness isn’t easy for everyone. In the beginning I associated religion with spirituality. Discovering that an inner higher power and mental health is the spirit we are referring to. Praying can be directed to God or to yourself. Recognizing thoughts and emotions that are on your mind and going through them as a prayer can be empowering, relaxing, and even relieving. Mental health I think is the connection between your spirit and physical self. During meditation or exercise I get the same mental release. When the activity is all done I feel a weight has been lifted and I can go on with my life.
- Participate in the Blogs of at least two other students. Provide them with feedback on their experiences (Do you have any suggestions or support for them? How does their experience compare to your experience? What have you learned from their blog?)
I found that we had a split decision between a few of us. Some found the Loving Kindness exercise easier because it was more focused. I found much the opposite. All other aspects of the exercises and learning thus far is the same. Benefits to our personal and professional life are stress relief and clearer thinking. My suggestion to all is keep with it, this concept can only get better with time and practice.
Reference
Elliott, S., Dacher, M.D. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health
Elliott, S., Dacher, M.D. (2006). Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing. Basic Health
Publications, Inc.
Hello Monte,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that I have read your experiences with the exercises because I find that it helps me to see how everyone finds the purpose of the exercises in their lives. Sometimes it is one thing that one of my classmates say that make me think about it in a different light.
I do tend to like them both and for different reasons but I can understand why you like the subtle mind exercise better. It is nice to be able to find our own focal point and in actuality, it probably allows us to focus that much more on doing the exercise.
I truly enjoyed reading your thoughts because it helped me learn a bit more in regards to this week's learning! Thanks! :)
Hi Monte,
ReplyDeleteAs usual I enjoyed reading your blog entry and it seems that once again we have the same things in common. I also found this exercise so much easier than the loving kinddness exericse. Focusing on my breathing was much easier. I actually used this exercise in the gym and it helped me to increae the intensity of my workout one day and help me to stay focused on working out another day. I had no idea that the direct relationship between the breath and the mind was so strong!
Monte, Thanks for your post. I was hopping to find one for unit six here as your expressions are worth my time.
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