I do practice the Loving Kindness exercises everyday through prayer by giving thanks for the many blessings that I have, not only in my life but in the lives of friends, family and those individuals I work with. I have found that a person cannot be helped from being touched by even a stranger. When you go out you see many different situations like a mother struggling with her children, or a car accident and you may send up a silent prayer to give the mother patience and hope for the person or family that the individual in the accident will be okay. This is sending out good feelings through Loving Kindness.
As health and wellness professionals we try to practice and pass on the knowledge we gain to not only to ourselves but to those our life touches. By doing this we are able to open our mind and heart to the endless possibilities of healing. When I open my mind and heart to helping and sharing with others and myself my life becomes brighter the days are no longer there to dread but to look forward to and enjoy.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Subtle Mind Exercise
The subtle mind exercise would be excellent for me when I am trying to go to sleep after getting off at 8:30 in the morning and driving an hour from work. I would be afraid to do this any other time as just breathing in and out caused me to relax enough to start yawning and the muscles in my body started to relax with each breath I took. I really enjoyed this exercise.
Compared to the Loving kindness exercise I found this one more relaxing. I tried the loving kindness again and aimed it toward myself and was still frustrated as I began feeling guilty and selfish for I live with two other loved ones that really need the benefits of the loving kindness more than I do. Yet, even knowing this I still had a hard time concentrating on one person.
For me spiritual wellness is having faith in the unknown, turning over my frustrations, heartaches and trails along with my thanks to a higher power. Being able to walk outside and pray or just give thanks allows me to become focused on the things in my life taking away the sense of being overwhelmed. I have found that on the days I do not do this mentally and physically I feel drained. By taking a few minutes out of my day to turn my face toward the warmth of the sun or to gaze at the stars overhead in wonder allows me to feel regenerated and renewed. If I am mentally and physically drained I cannot focus on what needs to be taken care of or what needs to be accomplished daily.
Without a sense of spiritual wellness I believe that the mental and physical aspects of a person are thrown out of balance. In order to reap the benefits of mind, body and soul all the aspects of spirituality, mental and physical need to be in harmony with one another. A person can be mentally fit and physically fit but if they are lacking in spirituality they will feel that there is something missing in their life.
Compared to the Loving kindness exercise I found this one more relaxing. I tried the loving kindness again and aimed it toward myself and was still frustrated as I began feeling guilty and selfish for I live with two other loved ones that really need the benefits of the loving kindness more than I do. Yet, even knowing this I still had a hard time concentrating on one person.
For me spiritual wellness is having faith in the unknown, turning over my frustrations, heartaches and trails along with my thanks to a higher power. Being able to walk outside and pray or just give thanks allows me to become focused on the things in my life taking away the sense of being overwhelmed. I have found that on the days I do not do this mentally and physically I feel drained. By taking a few minutes out of my day to turn my face toward the warmth of the sun or to gaze at the stars overhead in wonder allows me to feel regenerated and renewed. If I am mentally and physically drained I cannot focus on what needs to be taken care of or what needs to be accomplished daily.
Without a sense of spiritual wellness I believe that the mental and physical aspects of a person are thrown out of balance. In order to reap the benefits of mind, body and soul all the aspects of spirituality, mental and physical need to be in harmony with one another. A person can be mentally fit and physically fit but if they are lacking in spirituality they will feel that there is something missing in their life.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Mental Workout
The concept of "Mental Workout" is to train the mind to think differently, change the perception of situations to help benefit the body and spirit. By practicing different forms of mediatition and relaxation or other centering techniques on a regular basis we can effect our state of health and wellness. Much like an athlete has to focus their whole being and train regularly, we as individuals need to learn to focus and practice these techniques daily to help relieve the harm that we experience through daily stressors.
Studies as to the benefits of a mental workout have shown that by performing a mental workout allows for changes to the physiology of the inner workings of the body, better control of emotions, offers more mental clarity, helps to allow the mind/body to cope better with daily distress, helps the body to become more resistant to illness, aids in resisitng illness, and also helps to acheive higher states of well-being.
With the many benefits that a mental workout offers, I need to start practicing the exercises that we have done on a daily basis and learn more. As I get older, my body and mind are going through chemical and hormonal changes. These mental techniques will help me psychologically deal with my daily stressors and possibly keep me from going done the route of so many other individuals that have to depend on medications to help them make it through the day.
Studies as to the benefits of a mental workout have shown that by performing a mental workout allows for changes to the physiology of the inner workings of the body, better control of emotions, offers more mental clarity, helps to allow the mind/body to cope better with daily distress, helps the body to become more resistant to illness, aids in resisitng illness, and also helps to acheive higher states of well-being.
With the many benefits that a mental workout offers, I need to start practicing the exercises that we have done on a daily basis and learn more. As I get older, my body and mind are going through chemical and hormonal changes. These mental techniques will help me psychologically deal with my daily stressors and possibly keep me from going done the route of so many other individuals that have to depend on medications to help them make it through the day.
Loving Kindness
Hi All,
I tried the relaxation practice this morning and was a little frustrated with myself and the exercise. The frustration at myself came from selecting one person that I wanted to "take their pain in", as the reading material suggested, yet as I proceeded on with the exercise when asked to think about that person, other people came to mind and I had a hard time isolating that one individual. The frustration with the exercise came from feeling like I had to jump directly into the exercise without any preparation. The other exercises that we have done the first part seems to help with centering prior to actually beginning the exercise. I will definetly have to try this again.
One thing I have learned about myself over the last several years is I have the ability to pick-up on the vibrations from individuals who are in turmoil and can sometimes calm them with direct contact. This is to some a type of healing by laying on of hands. Yet to me it is more of absorbing some of their pain and trying to give them loving-kindness back. Maybe for this exercise I need direct contact with the individual, what do you think?
I tried the relaxation practice this morning and was a little frustrated with myself and the exercise. The frustration at myself came from selecting one person that I wanted to "take their pain in", as the reading material suggested, yet as I proceeded on with the exercise when asked to think about that person, other people came to mind and I had a hard time isolating that one individual. The frustration with the exercise came from feeling like I had to jump directly into the exercise without any preparation. The other exercises that we have done the first part seems to help with centering prior to actually beginning the exercise. I will definetly have to try this again.
One thing I have learned about myself over the last several years is I have the ability to pick-up on the vibrations from individuals who are in turmoil and can sometimes calm them with direct contact. This is to some a type of healing by laying on of hands. Yet to me it is more of absorbing some of their pain and trying to give them loving-kindness back. Maybe for this exercise I need direct contact with the individual, what do you think?
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