The Subtle Mind exercise was much more successful for me than the Loving-Kindness exercise. With loving-kindness, the visualization of someone in pain was difficult for me. Not necessarily because it was a negative idea, but because it lead my mind in too many directions and too many thoughts. Subtle mind was less complicated. The suggestion of focusing on breath, witnessing thoughts and the quiet wave sound made it easy to relax. I found myself still observing a lot of thoughts and outside sounds and feelings, including my cat laying near me, but I was not holding onto those distractions. I will definitely do this exercise again.
Spiritual, physical and mental wellness cannot be separated because they are all part of one person. One will affect the other. If I am feeling physically ill or out of shape, I do not feel well mentally. If I am not connected spiritually, I don't feel as good about myself. When I am stressed mentally, I feel tired physically. Those feelings cannot be independent of each other.
Hello Natalie, from looking at other peoples blogs the consensous seems to be just like you said that the subtle mind exercise was easier and liked by more people. I am one of the people who liked the subtle mind exercise more too. The subtle mind exercise had me in a trance like state for a little while until the womans voice pulled me back. I actually could not feel myself breathing for a few minutes. It is true that you can not seperate any part of who we are because our mind, body, spirit, and emotions are integral parts of the human experience. Keep up the good work and I have enjoyed having you in my different classes!
ReplyDeleteSincerely, Ryan West
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI have seen that a lot of us seem to like this week's relaxation exercise more and I would have to agree. When I think of relaxation I basically see it as you are letting go over everything for that moment to think about nothing. So when the loving kindness clip I was not as relaxed as I was with subtle mind because I had to keep up with what the clip was having you think about. I just want to listen to the waves or music and just escape this crazy life for just a moment so that I can come back in a better frame of mind.
Glad you could enjoy your relaxation time.
Suzanne