With
the Subtle Mind exercise, I still had some trouble focusing in the beginning. She was right when she says it takes hard
work to clear the mind. I did feel calmer and felt that as the exercise went on
I was able to focus more and had less wondering thoughts. This exercise helped
me clear my mind more than the loving kindness exercise. During that exercise I
was trying to focus on too many things and people that I wanted to give loving
and kind thoughts to. I think it is also because I am still working on having loving and kindness for myself. I love the background sound with waves crashing, it is
very calming. I think this exercise will
be beneficial to do daily or at least after a busy day to help clear my mind. I still have some work to do on taking control of my mind.
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteIt could be difficult to send love and kindness out to others when you struggle with giving it to yourself, for sure. These practices take commitment and patience but I think with practice you will do a great job and benefit a lot, I know I have over the years.
I'm right there with you on needing to work on taking control of my mind. I think it's really cool that you were able to relax and get benefits from this weeks exercise. I was able to relax last week, but this week it was more difficult.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the subtle mind exercise more than the loving-kindness but I think both are beneficial to our well-being. They just both have very different approaches. One we focus on love for ourselves and others and one we try to clear our minds of any thoughts or distractions. Both are different but both are needed for our development. I was thinking I'd like to do this exercise before I start writing out the grocery list each week lol. I usually just stare blankly at the paper and nothing comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteBecky,
DeleteYou are funny, I always have too much to write on the grocery list. I wonder if it will help me with that also. :) You are right, both the exercises will be beneficial to do again.
Loving-kindness is a difficult one for me as well. I like the subtle mind exercise, it is great to clear your head at least once a day. I like to do.exercises like this when I first wake up and if I run into any stress throughout my day.
ReplyDeleteI definitely had an easier time with the loving-kindness exercise, but I am reaping benefits from this exercise as well. It was difficult for me to not focus on my intruding thoughts too much, but I'm hoping that with practice it will be as easy for me as it was for you.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked the subtle mind one more. I can see where you're coming from in regards to the "unable to focus since there's so much to focus on" with the loving kindness practice. I personally couldn't listen to it all the way through as her voice irritated me but the reading, I can see where that would be difficult. I will admit that I had some issues with feeling calm afterwards; I felt more, burdened.
ReplyDelete