I found most parts of the loving kindness exercise to be fairly simple. There was one part that was difficult for me, it was where you were supposed to turn the "faucet" on yourself. I did find this exercise to be very beneficial and I will definitely use it again. Part of this exercise reminded me of a conversation that I had with my Great Aunt. She had told me about one of her friends that would heal her friends by "breathing in their illness". I wonder if this was the practice that she used? I would definitely recommend this exercise to others. It was fairly simple and I did not drift off.
The concept of a mental workout is to stretch the brain as we do our physical muscles. It has been shown to reduce disturbing emotions and enhance positive ones. A recent study shows an increase of gamma waves when individuals develop a compassionate mental state (Dacher, 2006). I am going to try to implement these mental workouts in the 20 minutes in the morning after my daughter leaves for school and before I have to leave for work.
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Heather,
ReplyDeleteWhen we are in the health field, we tend to love helping other by nature,but, when it comes to taking a look at our own health we tend to sometimes ignore the signs. I can remember what my mom told us " Well, you might feel worse tomorrow". I find it very interesting about your aunts friend and what she was capable of doing. When we train our minds to go beyond what we think they can do, anything is possible.
Liz
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteI thought this exercise was easier than the others as well, although I do think I’m getting better at these things and that may attribute to its getting easier. The part that instructed me to turn the love back on myself did sneak up on me; it kind of surprised me and broke my concentration a little bit. It’s funny how much easier it is for me to give to others than it is to give to myself. I think I have actually learned a classic lesson from this assignment “to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man” Shakespeare. It’s something that I’ve always felt but now that I am learning how to do it, it has meaning and relevance. Thanks for a great blog.
Jay
Hello, I also liked this week exercise because it was something completely new for me. I think that mental work out helps the brain to be more productive and performed better. I have never heard about "breathing in the illness" and I would like to know more about it. Thank you and have a great week.
ReplyDeleteI have to do my mental exercises in my car after dropping the children off at the bus stop. However, when it comes to the weekend it is going to be harder for me. Mental exercise is just like physical exercise you have to make the time which is the hardest thing to do. Time becomes even more precious when you are a parent.
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteI also found the loving-kindness exercise to be simple. Doing mental exercises is hard for me. Currently my drive to work is with my daughter and same with the drive home. Her daycare is my work. When we are home I have her, my boyfriend, and 3 animals and one of them seems to always need my attention. Sometimes it is hard to get homework done because either my daughter or boyfriend is trying to talk to me, they don't seem to understand when I say I am doing homework. So these exercises are sometimes hard to accomplish. When we move into our new house I plan on having a workout room. It is my goal to do 20 mintues of yoga a day. I will shut the door and luck it and keep to myself just to have this time. LOL.
Jessica