It is interesting that Loving Kindness is the first one of the contemplative practices. It totally makes sense that it would be first since it opens our hearts and replaces selfishness with love. I am struggling with this though because it also involves opening ourselves to the pain of those we love, which was an interesting thought. Americans do not like to be in pain and the thought of absorbing pain was difficult. It was even harder to inhale the pain of my enemies, which I had a hard time coming up with one. I am struggling with a relationship but I do not consider them an enemy, just a hurting person. This exercise was difficult for me because I am turning my life around and learning how to be healthy. There is the battle with the old mentalities that have kept me bound for so long. I feel that if all I have is kindness there is no protection against those things that hurt me for so long and I would be vulnerable.
I found the audio exercise difficult due to the fact that my children kept interrupting but there were so many things that I was supposed to do that I forgot what they all were once the narrator stopped talking. I could tell when the recorded waves restarted and it distracted me. I think my mind is racing due to all that I am going through and I need someone walking me through the exercise a little more. I will try it again when I go to bed and the kids are sleeping.
Training my mind is going to take a lot of work. It is going to be like training for a 5K, I have to run and strengthen my heart and body. If I want to make changes in my mentality I am going to need to do the mental exercises every day for at least 5 to 10 minutes a day. I know I want to be a healthy, balanced person so I must decide to do my "mental workout" daily. Dacher stated that in six weeks I would be well on my way to accomplishing love and kindness in my life. I am excited to start toward the goal. Christina
Reference: Dacher, E.S. (2006). Integral Health: The path to Human Flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications.
Chirstina,
ReplyDeleteI have found that a lot of people in our class have found the love-kindness exercise very difficult. I too found it difficult and just zoned out and stopped listening to the women all together. I also agree with you that training ones mind takes a lot of work and is beneficial in the long run.