Well, I have to say this has been the most difficult and the least enjoyable exercise , so far. The reason is that I have a hard time folloing the directions of the speaker. I have trouble visualizing what she is instructing me to do. They seem so abstract. The most helpful part of the mp3 is the ocean sounds, which really relax me and take me to my "happy place". I did enoy the part about breathing in the suffering and breathing out joy and health. I could visualize that, and actually found myself praying for the person I was thinking of. I also found myself whispering "joy and health" as I exhaled, as if I were creating that reality for her. I am not sure I would recommend this particular recording to anyone, because I had some trouble "getting it". However, I believe if I changed the words to something I could understand, it would be beneficial to others.
Mental workouts are these types of exercises and can reverse and change the course of our mental trails...where our thoughts takes us. Just like an athlete has to train, which includes basic things such as stretching, our minds can benefit from something as simple as retraining our inner thought patterns. Mental workouts can keep our stress level reduced and help us respond to life instead of reacting all the time. It keeps us from living in crisis mode, which is what alot of us probably do.
I felt the same way about the audio exercise. I did relook at it and reread the Practice 1 and decided some of it was the verbiage. Maybe it is my generation (I was a teen in the 60’s) but I kept thinking about the Age of Aquarius. This brings to mind the chanting, psychedelic drugs etc... It is just too much to think of the universe or as Mr. Dacher puts it to include “all living beings” and “circle of strangers”. There is too much pain in the world to try and embrace it all. Loving-Kindness can spread if we start with those closest to us and increase it seven fold to strangers. If everyone did that action, then the world would be a better place and embracing the illness of the world would be more manageable.
ReplyDeleteDeb C
Pam,
ReplyDeleteI too felt myself praying for a particular person. I took in his dark cloud and exhaled light, warmth and peace. Funny thing is he called me and we spoke for about an hour. I want to do it again for people I know are suffering to see if it works on them. Sometimes praying for people isn't enough. I hope these exercises are really helping and it wasn't a fluke.
I also felt overwhelmed when she instructed us to take in the troubles of people we didn't know. I think that part of the exercise was pushing it for us students since we are still green on this type of mental relaxation.
Hopefully with more practice we will become stronger and better at putting positive energy out into the universe. I hope you continue to do these exercises after we finish this class. I think it would be extremely beneficial. Good luck in the coming weeks!
I felt the same way, not very specific instructions and had trouble getting it as well but relaxing nonetheless... which I'll take any day :)If you can't BE on the beach, pretending to be on one is the next best thing! Hope your week is going well lovie! Take care, talk to you soon :)
ReplyDeleteJanessa
Hello Pam!
ReplyDeleteI too had difficulty with this exercise. First off, the sounds of the ocean completely threw me off from what was supposed to occur as my mind couldn't make out why any of this was occuring. "Why are there ocean sounds for this?" How much more random can you get, right! Though they are calm and soothing to many, to me the sound of the ocean simply makes me want to go fishing, at which then I would be relaxed! But to do the activity, that was a whole other ball game; I had to get my wife to act as the "narrator" in turn instead in order for me to do the exercise, which I was able to simply place it as another Meditative healing exercise! I wonder what the next one will be like!