Ya know I prefer the loving kindness exercise so far hands down. My attempts to calm and quiet the mind seem in a word..hopeless. I have little success and I know that's to be expected but it seems the harder I try to only focus on my breathing the more images come rushing up.... then I notice that everything seems relaxed and my mind is "clear" then it starts moving around again.....uuggghh!!!
With the loving kindness exercise I at least got the warm fuzzy feelings and felt more relaxed afterward. Maybe I need to do them one right after the other!
Since attempting to do meditation starting with this class (and yoga and counseling) I have found that at times I do not get as stressed as normal.
The other day I was the only one in the office and opening it for a co-worker. The front desk staff and this other co-worker keep a key somewhere withing the office/desk area for the actual office. Well no one had told me they put the key in a new place. So I'm sitting there scratching my head thinking where this little key could have gone. I got stress/agitated only a little bit and not for very long at all.I kept my cool and hacked into the main office computer to get the phone numbers of the receptionist and asked where they moved the key (because my boss was not answering). I stayed pretty much as cool as a cucumber and felt like the office hero fro the rest of the day.
On the other hand some days just small things will set me off. (Typically it has to deal with my family or close friends). I think I may have a real problem here or possibly some sort of emotional disorder.
Cassy
Cassy
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post. You know I have the same issue when my mind finally gets clear and selttled all the sudden boom something distracts me. I can also be set off really easy. But then I think to myself is it really worth getting worked up over, and a lot of the times it really isn't. But then there are the times that I will hold onto a certain situation.
Cassy-
ReplyDeleteI’m pretty sure that it’s not an emotional disorder and just life you are learning to deal with when it comes to friends and family. Think that the majority of us feel those same emotions as well at times. I also preferred the loving-kindness exercise more and then it came to the subtle mind I found myself actually starting to literally think “what am I thinking about” thoughts. I don’t know if it was just simply because of the lady talking in my ear, but I just could not fully let go and relax my mind through my breathing like she was telling me to. I also did the exercises one after the other and still did not care for the subtle mind. Maybe I will stick with yoga and meditation!
Audra
Hi Cassy,
ReplyDeleteI think the witnessing mind is a great challenge to achieve especially for me. My mind seems to be full of mental chatter. This has made me realize just how much mental chatter I have. Many times I have a hard time focusing on someone talking to me because my mind starts going on to other thoughts. I need to be able to acknowledge these thoughts and then take my attention back to where it needs to be. I miss so much in life because of mental chatter. I need to slow down, breathe and find my witnessing mind. Great post!
Hi Cassy,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you have taken steps to better your self by adding the practices in your life that you felt were the most important.Sometimes all the little small stuff does start to effect our lives and it is most important to take that few seconds to understand you have all the control of your thoughts, feelings, and reactions. Thank you for sharing your experiences, you helped me understand that my house not being clean at the moment isn't the worst thing in the world. Jewel