Sunday, August 5, 2012

Unit 5 Subtle Mind Exercise


  1. Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.
      To be honest it has been a while since I last did the Loving Kindness exercise.  I did not care for it.  That being said every single time someone has annoyed me to the point of my getting angry it literally pops into my mind.  I breathe in the angry and annoyed feelings and exhale the Loving Kindness I learned to help me be more pleasant to those who are bugging me.   For the Subtle Mind practice I really enjoyed the focus on me, and not having to think about others.   I was so relaxed that like usual I fell asleep. I try my best to stay awake but then thoughts do creep in and I have to start all over.  I wonder if I am really sleeping or if I am just so relaxed that my mind is so clear I cannot tell the difference?   I am hoping it is the later.
  1. Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.
      I think, for me at least, when I allow stress to get to a point that I cannot real it back in it does affect all areas of my being: spiritual, body, and mind.   It is always stress that throws me off kilter.  If I do not address it at the onset it will eat and eat and eat until I am a wreck. I have found for me that if I start doing a physical exercise that requires focus, breathe work, and personal space I will feel like a new person after I am done.   While I workout I do not think of each area of the mind, body, and spirit, they just seem to know it what part is for them.  I let go and let each do it’s thing.  It is sometimes hard when the stress is very bad, like today, to want to get up and start to exercise.  I know as soon as I do I feel better, my homework will show better results, and I will be less cranky.  That being said, it is time to get up and get moving.  I still have to get to the power point. 
Stay healthy my friends!
Smiles
Kristie

4 comments:

  1. Kristie, I felt that same way. I almost forgot what the previous exercise was until I heard that ocean sounds. It was nice not to focus on the suffering of family and friends this time and be able to focus on yourself. I'm glad that stress doesn't affect me in the same way it does you. I just work out or play video games to help relieve it.

    James Hornaday

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  2. Kristie,
    I have to say that I was actually able to stay awake through this one. Barely, but I did! I really felt great after I was done too.

    I agree with you about exercise reducing stress. When I start to feel super stressed, my one and only desire is to head out to my martial arts school and go work out. Even if I am just assisting with the lower belts, it's still relaxing. My mindset is improved and I am better able to focus on the task at hand such as my school work. My stress level lately has been bad since I haven't been able to go work out as often.
    Marlyn D

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  3. This sounds kind of bad, but I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who was frustrated with the loving kindness exercise. Solidarity is a hell of a thing. One of the things I felt about both of these exercises were that they were really personal in nature and, because of this, asked a lot from us in terms of performing them. On another note, I noticed you had difficulty differentiating between whether or not you were actually asleep or just relaxed beyond what you normally were. Even if you were asleep, you might want to look into lucid dreaming and what it does for us. Basically, it happens when we realize we are dreaming and have complete control of EVERYTHING. I've only experienced it once, but it was one of the most invigorating things I've ever had happen to me. I've since looked into ways of inducing it, but I haven't succeeded again. Anyways, hope the ankle is better. Shouldn't you be able to fix that a little easier with what we're learning?

    Cheers,
    Danny

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  4. Thanks for all the reply's!
    Danny, I am focusing every night on pushing all the blood there to get rid of the swelling and inflammation. It's working great so far my doctors are impressed with my progress. I just need to learn to stay off of it a little more.
    Everyone. Stay healthy and Smile.
    Kristie

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