Unit 8 Blog

During this course I have learned a great deal about exploring the inner mind. I have learned how to reframe my thoughts, take my time with things, and most importantly how to meditate. The two most effective exercises for me have to be the loving-kindness exercise and the subtle mind exercise. With the loving-kindness exercise I begin by thinking of my grandmother, who past away when I was only 13 years old. I remember how she would make me feel and the love she expressed for me. I envision going with her to the hair salon and afterwards her buying me a video game. Once this feeling consumes my entire body I start to envision parts of my body that would benefit from this feeling and I then try to send it there. I come out of this exercise feeling as if all is right with the world and that I am a very lucky person just to be here. The second exercise, which is my favorite, is the subtle mind exercise. I lay down in my bed and put my arms to my side. I make sure every muscle in my body is totally relaxed, I do this so nothing breaks my concentration during the exercise. I then begin to breathe deeply, then I begin to slow my breathing down. The entire time I am focused on my breathing. Then out of nowhere, sort of like those Magic Eye images that after staring at for some time turn into something else, time seems to slow down or freeze and all the outside noise fades into the background where it belongs and I have a chance to explore my essence. After this exercise I feel as if I have taken a journey through myself. I implement these exercise throughout the week at night and they allow me to heal my mind from the troubles of day to day life. My stress levels seem to lower and I am able to focus a lot more. Not to mention I feel much more motivated to exercise my physical.