This weeks exercise was The Subtle Mind. In this exercise the goal is to experience the witnessing mind. The witnessing mind is when you are able to observe the mind and how it works. You observe your thoughts and try to come to a stillness. This was a fun exercise to do. I enjoyed this exercise because you are focusing on your thoughts (which flood my mind) and you learn to let them go. I was able to actually do this exercise even though towards the end I started to get restless and was ready for it to be over. It will definitely take some practice to be able to make it all the way through. I did find that listening to the exercise instead of just reading it (as I did with the Loving Kindness exercise) is better and allows you to concentrate more on the exercise. In the Loving Kindness exercise you are given specific things to concentrate on and in the Subtle Mind exercise you are free to concentrate on your thoughts and letting them go. I can see how both are important exercises to master when working on training the mind and your path to integral health. Learning to recognize your thoughts and being able to let them go and still the mind is a very valuable tool and can help to free the mind up for focusing on the things that matter most. This can help organize your life and let you be more productive. I was actually able to see my thoughts like movie scenes on a reel and see them flash by and then disappear.
The Mind-Body-Spirit Connection
We are learning through research that the mind, body, and spirit are all connected and work together to create overall wellness (or lack of in some cases). Whenever we work to strengthen our body we in turn strengthen our mind. When we work to strengthen our mind we in turn strengthen our spirit, and the circle continues. We may not realize that when working on one aspect we are helping the others but it happens. When we realize the importance of strengthening all aspects we notice that we are capable of doing this easily. By this I mean, we can do little things to work on all aspects at the same time and not have to focus on them individually. Example: when working out physically you can visualize the increase in strength, flexibility, and endurance you are gaining from your workout. Now you are strengthening multiple aspects. You will gain more through exercises like this.
This is something that I have to start focusing on myself. I need strengthening in all aspects of my life (physical, mental, and spiritual). I just have to make the time to devote to my strengthening. As a massage therapist this concept is one that is important for me to teach my clients as well.
Happy Strengthening!
Hi Leslie, good post! I do see the benefits of the subtle mind exercise, but I found it difficult to do. My mind always has several thoughts going on at once, so they are kind of hard to reign in! The loving-kindness exercise was easier, because like you said the exercise gave us specific things to focus on, like our loved ones. I am finding out just how mentally out of shape I am with this class. I hope to learn how to become mentally fit by the time it is over!
ReplyDeleteKamala
Hi Leslie, I preferred the subtle mind exercise. I think it is more beneficial, well at least for me. I too got restless for it to be over. I think 5-10 minutes is plenty for meditating. I found that I did not feel like I was going to dose off for this one. Did you?
ReplyDeleteI am going to try to do the meditation this week before I start my study session to see if it helps me to focus on my school work faster.
Do you do deep breathing as you massage? I did that when I was in Introduction to Massage. I took it because I thought it would help me when I did hands on with yoga students modifying their poses.
Good post. Be well,
Sarajane
Leslie,
ReplyDeleteGreat post about the topics for this week. I really enjoyed reading it. :) Good tip with practicing visualization techniques during a workout. I will have to try that, never thought about it before.