I can understand why the universal loving kindness exercise is used by many people, and helps them throughout the day. The passage had a great message, but I found myself not gaining much from it. Meditation and all other practices like it don't necessarily help me in many ways. Although I can completely understand how many people would benefit greatly from these exercises.
The Integral assessment was nearly the same as the loving-kindness exercise. I can sit and focus on these things and repeat them in my head over and over, but I just don't feel like I gain more spirituality or mental focus from performing them. Sometimes it is nice to sit and relax, but I think spirituality and mind/body connection is gained through interaction and other types of activity that can relate better to each different type of person.
I personally discovered that I am the type of person that is able to focus more and connect more with things by actually seeing or performing them, and not meditating to seek these things. Although I can say that I chose to focus on my fitness and how my body keeps constantly changing and getting stronger. Exercises that will be helpful to me are anything that I do now. I am proud of myself for the amount of time that I spend exercising and eating healthy. I will definitely continue to grow and develop in that part of my life. Maybe over time, I will be able to connect with my inner self more and see a whole new perspective on things.
Beth Bjorkgren
Beth,
ReplyDeleteMy blog post sounds very similar to yours! I didn't really feel like the universal loving kindness practice was especially beneficial for me either :/ I don't feel that repeating a sentence or sentences will do much for me in the long run. I do appreciate how the text points out there are other integral health practices that can be beneficial in multiple facets of our lives (like yoga & tai chi). I think I am going to focus more on these "full spectrum" activities then on just repeating phrases or chanting to myself!
Hannah