Hello Followers!
While I enjoyed both the loving kindness and the subtle mind exercise, I would have to say that the sublte mind exercise actually worked a little better for me. I like the focus being on just the breathing. I found that keeping the focus on the breathing was much easier to accomplish than changing the focus throughout the exercise - as we did in the loving kindness exercise. Personally, I think that the subtle mind exercise is something that would make for a great starter exercise in order to get you to focus on one thing. Once that has been accomplished I think it would be easier to allow your mind to switch from one area of focus to the next without getting distracted. I like the focal points of the loving kindness exercise (yourself and others) but I think that reaching the goal of being focused and clearing your mind works best (subtle mind) to begin.
Spirituality is different things to different people. It can be religion, personal values, or inner characteristics or beliefs. I think that the reading for this week in "Consciousness and Healing" does a great job of connecting spiritual wellness with mental and physical wellness. The reading discusses love, forgiveness, gratefulness, and a desire for greater meaning and fulfillment. For myself, these characteristics foster a sense of spirituality that I find developed through my Christian beliefs and practices. Having a strong spiritual wellness gives me a positive mental state; thus, is encouraging to physical wellness. The connection of all three (spiritual, mental, and physical) areas of wellness are reliant upon each other. Physical wellness is not necessarily about what the scale says, it is about treating your body with respect nutritionally and physically. The motivation to accomplish physical wellness can be achieved through finding wellness in the spiritual and mental aspects of your life.
Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and taking the time to do something good for yourself!
Hi Stacey I agree the witnessing mind and the breathing exercise is what clears the mental chatter. After I did the exercise, I was curious as to how many thoughts are going on in my mind at a single moment. Therefore, I decided to relax, breath, and let my mind flow, but instead of clearing it, I counted the number of thoughts, most totally unrelated, and in 30 seconds counted 16 different mental thoughts. This allowed me to see just how preoccupied I am, and realize that I cannot possibly give my full attention to them. This proves how important the subtle mind exercise is.
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Humanness and Wonder
I enjoyed the Consciousness and Healing text this week as well. I think my favorite was the section on forgiveness. It is so misunderstood by so many people! Imagine the freedom that could be experienced by active forgiveness!
ReplyDeleteI liked what you said about these readings and exercises enhancing your Christian faith. They do for me, as well. The Bible has a lot to say about physical and mental wellness, not just the spiritual. And about the scale...I don't even own one. There are enough other indicators of a healthy body that I don't need to be a slave to a scale. Treating your body with respect--nicely said!
Erin
You are so right, physical wellness is not about what the scale says. There is so much more to it, it is about health, nutrition, and atttitude. You must not focus on just one area.
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