Greetings Everyone,
Welcome to my very first blog. I hope this finds all of you doing well. I want to say that this class has already changed so many aspects of how I see my own health and well-being and I feel that this eye opener will help me to make some better choices for my emotional health.
Reflection:
I enjoyed the journey exercise and was actually able to relax and feel the sensation of my arms and hands being warm and heavy. This was surprising to me since I usually can only keep my mind quiet about 30 seconds when I try to meditate. I actually do allow myself to get pretty nervous and worked up about certain situations in my life and think this tool will be a great value to me when I need to calm my nerves. I've also decided to pass on this exercise to my mom who could also use a little bit of peace from time to time. Having the ability to control and cultivate your own thoughts is a gift that we can all have with some time and practice. I am looking forward to learning to better control what my "hamsters" are up to.
Lauren
* I will open up and confess something weird and silly to help explain the "hamsters". When I get to over-thinking something I picture little hamsters in my brain with a white board trying to figure out a big math equation or something of that nature. :-) It's ok to laugh....I usually do and that is a big help.
I am the same way about having my mind going ALL the time! I think a lot of people are like that and it's probably just kind of how we're "programmed" right now, thanks to our fast paced society. I have already marked the Journey On page as a favorite so I can go back and visit it when I need to get a little break from the fast pace of the world. :) I think I should follow your lead and send this to my mom too, as she is retired from 26 years in the military, but still works non stop just because she likes to keep busy I guess! Do you think you'll use this exercise again?
ReplyDeleteErin
(love the hamsters reference by the way! lol)
I love the hamster analogy! I also think it is so great that you want to share the Journey On exercise with your mom. It means that you found some value in being still. I think that it what is always the most challenging for some people and that is finding that quite space in your mind. I think you have to treat your thoughts with care when you are taking on these kind of exercises. Some like to judge how they will respond before they try it. I always tell people when I am teaching a meditation exercise to care for your thoughts like you would a little child. When they come in a wave while you are sitting quietly you can simply think to yourself, "Not now, I am trying to be still". If you can observe your thoughts like you would clouds passing over your head and not engage them, you will find some space in there for quiet and peace. I think also it takes patience. If 30 seconds is your maximum try to get to one minute and then five minutes without engaging your thoughts. Just like in our text the more you come to practice the better it gets. At least that is how it happened for me.
ReplyDeleteI too love the hamster analogy, it is nice to know people can find things to make themselves laugh about. We do live a fast paced life these days and I think we often overthink things and are too busy to relax and enjoy simple little things. I think we miss more things in life by not slowing down. We think we can conquer it all if we go as fast as possible but in reality we are missing out on the best parts.
ReplyDeleteI’m with you about having trouble keeping your mind quiet, cause I struggle with that too. I didn’t have the same success that many of the class had, I think because it is something new I wasn’t able to fully focus. I rarely take time out of my day to really relax or have a breather, seems like from them minute I wake up I’m constantly getting ready for the next thing I have to do. I also passed on this exercise for my wife to try, she is a Optometry student and is always kind of stressed with school work and exams so I thought this would be good for her to try. As for me like you said having and learning this ability to control your own thoughts and actions is something that takes practice and I am looking forward to accomplishing this.
ReplyDelete