Doing the Loving-Kindness exercise was fairly easy for me until I had to direct the same loving and accepting thoughts onto myself. This is a practice that I still need a lot of work on. However, I have come a long way in the past couple of years. I guess I would say that this practice was both beneficial and difficult. As I just mentioned, I am still learning to love and accept myself. It was beneficial in that it made me very grateful for my loved ones. I got a chance to sit in peace and quiet and think about all the things that I love about this person and all the way that I am blessed by them. It also made me think about how much I have changed as a person because of their love and acceptance of me, and I am truly a better person because of them. I would recommend this practice. I know that I am not the only one who struggles with loving themselves and this would be a good way for some people to learn how to do that.
The practices that we have been doing each week, for me, are a mental workout. It is very difficult for me to slow down and relax. To make myself sit in quiet and listen intently and try to follow the instructions while allowing the practice to actually work isn't an easy task. This is one way to get a mental workout. It is challenging me to do something that is difficult, but at the same time very beneficial to my health. And if I allow myself to relax and listen and focus my thoughts, I feel good afterwards. It is the same concept as pushing yourself beyond (what you think are) your physical limits. I workout regularly and sometimes I am able to push myself really hard, and other times I am content with just putting in a little effort. When I focus my thoughts and push my body to work hard, I get a mental workout and I feel SO much better afterward (mentally and physically)! Part of me is saying, "STOP! You're gonna die!", and the other part is saying, "Don't stop! You can do it! You are strong!". In order to keep going, I have to shut out the negative and focus all my energy on the positive. As I have practiced this it has gotten easier not only in challenging myself physically, but in other aspects of my life too.
Haddie
Hello Haddie,
ReplyDeleteI am the same way it was hard to turn this exercise onto myself. I know I have to love myself in order to really love another person, but I am more of a person that will put myself last and let everyone go ahead. Does that make sense? It is hard for me to accept that others will do the same for me, for example Saturday night my daughter and husband threw me a surprise birthday party and I was a little thrown back because of all the eyes were on me...I got a little nervous. I don't understand why I am like that.
Jennifer Johnson-Orchard
Haddie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your honesty! While I didn't get anything out of the exercise, I did like the fact that the exercise was directed at loving yourself and allowing the "good" and "bad" thoughts associated with each step come up and just be. I think creating and finding true balance in our lives is a never ending journey. I've found myself getting more anxious in the last 6 months. This is almost forcing me to quiet my mind in the morning so that I don't start to panic and worry about things that I don't have any control over. I really enjoyed the relaxation exercise in Unit 3 so starting Monday, I'm going to do it in the morning. I find that I'm more prone to do things if I'm guided by someone else.
Christine
Haddie,
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting how it was easy to send loving-kindness out to other people, but difficult to send it inward, to yourself. The same happened to me. I feel that I am always hardest on myself, and I make allowances for others that I do allow for myself. I wonder why that is! It's definitely something I have to work on.
Thanks for sharing!
Samantha
I too struggle with loving and accepting myself. I tend to outwardly portray that I am confident and comfortable in my own skin, many times I am not. I tend to feel like I have let myself down, because I get depressed and it consumes my whole self, to the effect that I accomplish nothing. These exercises are helping me to move past these points in my life, so that I may move forward.
ReplyDeleteAmanda Shipman