I can honestly
say that I am a huge skeptic when it comes to the powers of meditation on a
person’s life. I took part in the “Loving Kindness” exercise and I was very
surprised at the effect that it had over the way I felt while taking part. I
began to feel a lightness that I have now experienced in a long time. I do not
think that I have felt this freedom and burden free since I was a child. I was
able to forget all of the things that were weighing my heart and spirit down. I
swear that I actually felt like I was experiencing a beer buzz but without the
negative after effects. I think the reason that I do not put much stock into
these types of exercises is because of the difficulty that I experience when I
try to clear my mind and sit in the quietness. It is so hard for me to silence
my mind and the outside world and my to do list for the day. I have massive
problems sleeping nightly. I really do think that if I would take part in this
type of relaxation, mind clearing exercise each night before I go to bed I
would experience the kind of quiet needed to enjoy a worry free sleep. So yes I
did find the exercise very beneficial. I suppose that I would recommend
exercises similar to the one we took part in to others. You don’t have anything
to lose by trying something new. It doesn’t cost you anything and there isn’t a
great penalty that you have to pay if you are not successful in the endeavor.
That is the beautiful thing about this there isn’t any competition to be won
and lost. It is just you and your mind. Nobody is around to judge you or the
outcome of the practice.
The main goals
to me of the mental workouts is to help cultivate your mind into a fully functioning
mind that is connected to your soul and your body. The workouts are designed to
help you silence the world outside of your head and look inward to find
solutions to your problems. This will help you be the source of your own
happiness instead of having to rely on medications, food or other crutches that
we may use to fill the empty parts inside each of us. When we do the exercises
we are able to find happiness within in ourselves. We are able to accept things
that we may not have been willing to accept before we began the exercises. We begin
to be able to reduce the anger, doubt, confusion and depression that we once
felt and replace them with feelings of love, peace and calm. We can literally
transform the way we think and the way our minds work by completing exercises
like the one we were assigned. I think that I would benefit most by taking part
in mind clearing and soul calming exercises before I go to bed. Dacher suggests
that we take part in the exercise at the beginning of the day to enhance the
beginning of our day. I literally believe that I would probably have to shut
myself off from the rest of my apartment in order to benefit fully from the
exercises. I have the hardest time focusing on things that do not require
movement.
Hi Joanie,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you were able to find so much benefit from the meditation. My boyfriend also has serious issues with sleep. I read him the portion of your blog about how you thought there was benefit to meditation and sleep. I think it might have actually convinced him to try meditating! I'm going to have him start with the first guided meditation that we did and see how it works! Again, great job with your blog!
~ Sandra
Hello Joanie,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the title of your blog...I sort of felt the same way when starting this class. It's really interesting the different experiences that come with these exercises...I think that it is really worthwhile to at least try and see...
Take care.
-John