I found the Loving Kindness exercise to be a bit more difficult than the Rainbow guided meditation. It wasn't so much that the exercise itself was difficult, but that I had a little trouble focusing. Even though I normally have no problem keeping my mind clear, I found myself thinking to much about those people that the exercise wanted me to think about. I started thinking about the problems my sister and friends are all going through and how I wish I could help, even though it's not my place with any of their problems. I'm the kind of person who feels responsible for other people's problems, even if it has nothing to do with me. I did, however, find myself instinctively sending Reiki out to all of those people. There are some people that I haven't spoken to in a long time and this exercise helped me to forgive them for whatever happened between us. I guess that when you're really close to some people for so long, no amount of petty fighting will make you stop loving them. I realized that with this exercise. I would recommend this exercise to others, but with my own changes. I found the pauses to be too long and it made the whole thing a little boring to get through. For other people, I can just see them having problems sitting still for so long in silence like that.
Our textbook states that mental workouts are essential to really build our psychospiritual self. Only through continuous practice can we really connect with that Loving Kindness. Even 5-15 minutes a day can have a profound impact. In order to love and accept others, we must first love and accept ourselves. Mental workouts can help with this by pushing out those negative thoughts that we let hinder us and our love for ourselves. For someone like me who has negative feelings toward his or her body, this is tough to get through. Yet a mental workout like this can help you to see the real person inside and not just what you think others see. This is important for spiritual acceptance. I think meditations and personal mantras are important for this. Waking up in the morning and repeat positive thoughts to yourself before the stress of the day begins can help you get through those negative feelings. I know that I need to focus on bringing loving kindness to myself so that I can learn how to accept, love, and forgive others.
Amber,
ReplyDeleteThe loving kindness exercise was a little more timely than the others we have done. I find myself having problems taking the time to relax. I am always finding or thinking of something I need to be doing or helping someone else do the things they are needing done. We should really take the time to work with our mental fitness to keep our health and wellness.