I
found the loving-kindness experience to be very beneficial to relaxing my
mental state but somewhat challenging because some portions of the exercise
required forgiveness and to deal with certain emotions that may have been
forgotten about due to the pain it caused. The loving-kindness exercise diminished
self-centeredness and helped to achieve human flourishing by opening my heart
to others; the exercise also included a progressive experience that involved
three levels to the mind such as the witnessing of the mind, unity
consciousness which cultivates the mind and love and kindness. The love and
kindness was a mental workout that enhances the passion of others and the water
sound was very soothing and rejuvenating which allowed me to calm and open my
mind to become more affectionate with my loved ones. I was able to eliminate
any negative sensations in order to be at peace within my body, mind and
spirit. I was able to shift my thoughts from unpleasant feelings to positive
feelings by giving them energy in order to change my level of thinking. I was
able to get with my inner being by loving myself more by eliminating negative
thoughts and energies that hindered me from achieving human flourishing. It was
challenging at one point of the exercise to think of one of my loved ones
suffering but then taking deep breaths allowed me to see hope and helped me not
to become overwhelmed with negative thoughts and sadness; I did like the part
of the exercise where I was able to send out peace and wellness to my loved ones
after having to think about them suffering that was relief mentally and
physically. I was then able to embrace all individuals regardless if they were
good or bad and it helped me to forgive them for any hurt or pain they may have
caused me. I enjoyed the natural peace of my mind and heart in order to connect
with inner self to maintain stability of the mind, body and spirit.
Reference
Loving-Kindness Practice (n. d.).
Retrieved from mp3 audio
I enjoyed the meditation practice as well. The visualization of breathing out peace and wellness was very helpful. It is comforting to know that it was challenging for others to take in loved one's pain as well, but I do think that it created an amazing sense of compassion. I hope to ease the pain of others and love myself through this process.
ReplyDeleteNice post, Zaconia. I know what you mean about the difficulty during some parts of the exercise, including forgiveness, because when I was trying to picture certain people, and ones that have hurt me came to mind, there was that "taken aback" feeling where it was very hard. This is something I need to work on and will. :) Laura
ReplyDeleteZaconia,
ReplyDeleteForgiveness is something I feel that we all have a hard time implementing. We carry feelings like hurt, frustration, pain, and sadness with us.These feelings can slowly eat away at us. Though forgiveness is not necessary, but then again it is. It is important for our own personal healing. It may not change the outcome, but we feel better inside. Meditation is a great exercise for self healing. I try and implement as much as I can everyday. I am glad the exercise worked for you. It is important overall to make sure we heal ourselves as well as others around us.
Hi Zaconia, I enjoyed reading your post, it was very deep and heartfelt. I really was able to relate to the part where it said to take on the pain that any of your family members may be experiencing and breath it out, because my grandmother (who raised me) was just in a car accident last week. She is doing alright, but this mp3 track came just in time. I haven't done it twice daily as recommended but I did enjoy it when I listened to it a couple of days ago. I can say that the hardest part of forgiveness for me is learning to "unlearn" if that makes any sense. When we forgive and move on from something and it happens again (even if its with a different person) it still causes scarring. A personal example is about how I was hurt in a relationship in the past and I moved past it and became a stronger person. I thrived in my work life, my financial life and put all my hurt and frustration into working out and taking classes and a year later it got me in a much better place. I was able to let a new person into my life, who said they had experienced the same hurt I had in the past, and after 5 months of dating; they recreated the same hurt I experienced in the past. Ofcourse this hurt me much more than I had ever been hurt. It honestly took me a little over a year to completely bounce back from that. I once again put all my focus into work, fitness and school and came out on top with a brand new house at 25, a phlebotomy certificate and an acceptance letter from a school I want to go to in New York when I get out of the military. I said all that to say, that healing is a process sometimes. I am with someone who is wonderful, but if it had not been for the hurt I experienced in the past I may not be so grateful for what I have now and I am taking things day by day. Don't get me wrong, I still look back on that past situation and it hurts sometimes but the past is the past and there's no point in dwelling on it.
ReplyDelete