Unit 5: Loving Kindness vs. Subtle Mind

Well I enjoyed the loving kindness exercise when I finally was able to do that one. I think for me it was easy to get into and think of the love that I feel for my son and push that out into the world. The difficulty I had was thinking of someone who was suffering, and not think of my own, or to not think of people in say Africa that are suffering much worse then anyone I know. It was hard for me to know who to focus one and if I focused on one person instead of another did it matter. I almost felt as though I wanted to focus on all the beings in the world that are suffering and take it away and fill them with the love I feel for my son.

The subtle mind, well let's see; something was wrong with my cd that I recieved from the school. I tried it in my computer, on my radio, in my car and it only plays the first couple of minutes as the woman's voice is telling you to relax and focus on the breath, and don't worry if the outside noise bothers you it will happen, well then the cd made the most irritating noise I have ever heard, it was this loud screaching noise. What a relaxating technique, I was in the mood lol.

So I turned to the book and used my cell phone to record my voice saying the instructions from the text. After all of that I found that this exercise was easy to do. I think it was easier to do this whole exercise as opposed to the struggles I had with the loving kindness. I found it was simpler, didn't ask of too much, and was easier for me to relax, or maybe it was because I had tried so hard to listen to it that I was determined to get it done. Either way I like both of these activities and I can definitely include them in my daily life.

I think there is a deep connection between spiritual wellness, mental wellness, and physical wellness. If I didn't I would not have taken this class. I chose to take this class because I believe that there is a connection and that we must work on all three areas if we want to be truly healthy and happy. This has manifested in my life in many ways. When I think negatively it creates stress, and physical sickness so that right there goes to show that there is some connection. I pray on a daily basis for random stuff, and I always feel so much better afterwards and there must be a reason why. That is part of the reason I took this class. I wanted to learn about these reasons these types of practices are recognized here in the US as they are in other countries. I hope to be able to incorporate more of this into my life.