The Subtle Mind Exercise
The Loving Kindness exercise and Subtle Mind exercise both focus on shifting our focus. Both incorporate releasing certain thoughts, feelings, and images in and out from the body. The Loving Kindness exercise however suggest we diminish the self centeredness while quieting/easing our mind for reflection. The Subtle Mind exercise wants us to direct our focus towards a still mind. It suggest we focus on our breathing for a more relaxed, still, and undisturbed experience. My experience with the Subtle Mind exercise was a little more beneficial than that of the Loving Kindness exercise. I was more relaxed, more focused, and more likely to connect. There were a few times that my mind wandered, but that was in the beginning and it was easy enough to come back to my focus. However, similar to our body needing physical training, our minds do so as well. The practice of centering myself, finding that focus, and observing my mind will all become beneficial overtime. I will say that I was not frustrated but more so at ease. I almost fall asleep, actually. It was a better overall experience than the last.
The evolution towards a progressively higher level of development, complexity, and capacity is a movement from mind to body to spirit. It is a path in which one level of development needs to be met before continuing on. By acquiring one level, you are then able to conquer a deeper level of development. By focusing on our outer exterior (body) we can then shift our focus mentally (mind) which then gives us the ability to gain a deep connection within ourselves, (spiritually). This connection is manifested in my personal life through my growth as an individual. It is displayed in my actions, my thoughts, my love for myself/others, and through the choices I make on a daily basis.
"When you own your own breath, nobody can steal your peace." - Author Unknown
I felt less stressed during this exercise. Even though my mind wandered, I felt like that was alright because the exercise sort of teaches you how to rope the wandering mind back in and gave a specific focus point to "Anchor" to. I liked that. I liked that it was focused on the inner, on stillness, and on nothingness. It seems like this is something you are really getting the hang of, and I like to see that :) You're right about it being a process that alike of physical training. It's something we must work on, not something we just accomplish on the first listen.
ReplyDelete-Seven
Hello Felicia,
ReplyDeleteYes, once you begin to allow your mind to overcome all else you will be more able to follow the steps of the Integral Approach. I received many e-mails saying how hard it was for many to meditate, however upon my 3rd lesson I had gone into deep meditation and my blood pressure had fallen far too low. We all have and have seen some pretty surreal things in this life, well just imagine having the ability to laugh at them no matter how tragic one may feel they are. We can even laugh at death- the laughter would be "well at least they do not have to pay the rent next month, they have been blessed". The taste is not horrible in the peace that you have grown in with death. It is where others have not grown, the realiztion that life for the living keeps moving has yet to kick in. Wonderful post.
Everybody need and outlet to handle stress in their life. I think these exercises will help keep stress at bay in those times. It is amazing and powerful how we can block out chatter and remove thoughts and enter into a total place of peace. My level of development has deepened as a whole by learning how to feed the whole body (mind, body, and spirit). Great Post !!!
ReplyDeleteHello Felicia! I too felt that the Subtle Mind Exercise was alot more beneficial by allowing me to breathe and focus toward a still mind. Focusing on a still mind and trying to become more relaxed from by busy day is something that I am working towards. After completing the exercise, my body was more relaxed and I felt their was a lot of anxiety released. I will try to incorporate this exercise in my daily routine for maximum results of mental training.
ReplyDelete