I have done other exercises like this one in the past. I did, however, find this exercise to be very long, and the sounds and voice almost put me to sleep. Halfway through, I started to lose focus and think about the things going on in my house, my schedule for the day, etc, which was frustrating. I tend to be a person that thrives on "doing" and being actively engaged, and I find relaxation in that manner. It is hard for me to "shut" out the world for periods longer then 10 minutes, unless I am going to sleep. This left me tired, a bit frazzled for time, and not feeling very peaceful due to that fact. The MP3 suggested, at the end, that one do this twice a day. If I spent an hour on this daily, I would surely not find peace, but simply lose an hour of my schedule. I have definitely found peace, and loving-kindness in shorter exercises. And, those left me feeling more awake and positive.
Mental workouts are important to one's overall well being. They give our mind time to move away from noise and into a feeling of contemplation and thoughtfulness.
Hi Sami! I can relate to your thoughts and feelings and laughed (in a good way) when you said "If I spent an hour on this daily, I would surely not find peace". Although I really love to practice loving-kindness, I was not too fond of the exercise either. I like to practice a meditation of loving-kindess in my own way. Can you think of another way you can practice a loving-kindness meditation? Maybe there are other free guided ones on the Internet (like here http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22). Anyway, I think part of meditation is allowing the mind to drift, and acknowledging that, but not to let it get to you, and just so long as you bring yourself back when ready it's okay. It's all perfectly natural. Anyway, I didn't have as much problem with the length as I did with their guidance of what to think/do/feel. I believe mental workouts are important too, and we should practice daily. If there's a time issue, try one before bed. I do that, I'm laying down anyway. I also like to do some in the sauna after I workout at the gym. I'm in there for 10 minutes and am helping my muscles after workout, so it's knocking two things out at once! :-) Best of luck on your meditation endeavors!
ReplyDeleteHi Sami,
ReplyDeleteI also found this exercise to be a bit long the sounds were nice to me very relaxing but the voice didn’t assist me with concentrating at all. I felt like all the talking should have been done in the beginning and then let the relaxing sounds play in the background to soothe the mind to contemplate on what was said. I have to agree with you being that I work with pre-kindergarten and have children at home 10, 3, and 1 I can’t shut down for 5mins or more or something is going to happen unless they are watching a really good movie or sleep because if I do I am in for a rude awaking once I get up. Great post!!!!
Telah
Hey Sami,
ReplyDeleteI to found the exercise to be pretty long. I actually started zoning out into my own little world and just went blank. I didn't understand the whole finding love and pushing it out into the world as the MP3 suggested. I just felt kinda centered.
Sami-
ReplyDeleteThis exercise was long, but believe it or not I actually was able to follow this one which is a first for me. I am usually unable to concentrate on these meditation exercises but this one worked for me. I think it was becasue I was able to concentrate on something that was familiar to me. I enjoyed this post and your previous post by the way