The two practices that I found most beneficial in this class were the Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind. The Loving Kindness exercise helps me with people in my life whose actions annoy me. It is hard to stay annoyed when you are sending out loving kindness to the person. It makes me think about the fact that they have reasons or issues that lead them to act the way they do and that my being annoyed only damages myself. It also helps me to be led less by my ego in my life.
The Subtle Mind exercise has helped me be less reactive when it comes to my children. I used to yell at them when they would argue with each other. Not just a normal yell but a high pitched freak out yell. I let them drive me to madness. I now am able to calmly get them to stop without having to freak out on them which is so much better for my metal health. I do not have the guilt of having yelled at them and also do not have my blood pressure and cortisol levels raise from the episode. I also have a ton of mental chatter going on all the time. This exercise has allowed me to reduce the chatter. I am far from a subtle mind but I am at least working on a witnessing mind at this time. Wish me luck!
Good luck Merrel!
ReplyDeleteThe mental chatter is hard for me too. I am at the point right now that I can (sometimes) at will quiet things down in there for a short period of time. Congrates on learning to be less reactive. I hope the best for you and your family.
Cassy
Merrell,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are making a lot of head way and just being aware is helping tremendously it seems. I like both or these exercises myself and find when practicing on regular basis, I have a similar experience, it is hard to be annoyed when you are practicing loveing-kindness. Nice post and good luck.
Sandi
Merrell,
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to hear that you have improved in all the aspects of you life! Keep it up! The road to integral health is a long process; baby steps are ideal. I think, eventually, you will be able to incorporate these practices within your professional life. I believe peace of mind sometimes goes hand in hand with nutrition(at least for me it does). When I am happier, I seem to be healthier physically and make better food choices. Sometimes it's just mind over matter.