This week we covered the loving kindness exercise. We started by thinking of someone close to us that we think of when it comes to loving someone. For me, I thought of my older son. He was my first born and I have cherished having him in my life. After reminiscing about my son and thinking about the love I have for him, I begin to move onto the next step. By this time, I am calm, happy, and relaxed. Next, I am feeling my own love for myself and trying to just enjoy the sensations I have, but letting go of them as well. Just relaxing.
The next stage in the exercise is to think of someone I love and their struggles. For me, this was my older son again. He has been facing some struggles and has been in a dark place lately. He has been reaching out for help. I feel his pain and want to help. During this part of the exercise I have the opportunity to remove some of his pain, or the pain that I can feel he has been experiencing. I breath deeply in, hold it in for a moment, and I can feel my heart, my love, dissolving his pain. I breath out as if I just let go of his pain and replaced it with my warm love, with my support, and with my kindness. I feel that he will know I am there helping to ease his sorrows.
Next in the exercise, we are asked to branch out to those suffering outside my immediate circle. I can see those suffering like my son who need my help. I repeat the exercise by breathing in their sorrows. I exhale and give them back my loving kindness. When this is completed for all of them, I can feel they know I have helped them...even if they don't realize it just yet.
The following step branches out to others. I begin to do the same for anyone that comes to mind. I am feeling relaxed because I feel like I am at more peace because others will be more at peace. I feel loved and I feel like I have shared my love for others. This makes me feel good. I feel stresses being removed from my life. My heart feels less strain and less heavy than it did when I just ached for others sorrows if that makes sense.
Even if these feelings are not quite what was intended, I feel like the exercise was a success because I feel relief from overwhelming stress. I feel like the remaining sorrows can be resolved much easier than before. I do not feel doom like I have in the last week. I feel free and uplifted.
Hi Elicia,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a profound experience that you've had.... beautiful. If you can, practice this every day and see how you feel, and how things are in your life.
Prof Betty
I am hoping to be able to do this often. I am hoping that things improve overall; however, I am a realist too and I understand I can't make decisions for others. I can only hope they make good decisions. If nothing else, I will feel better though.
DeleteElicia
Elicia,
ReplyDeleteI think it's amazing how well this exercise worked for you. It sounds like you have a lot on your plate and it's always good to find an outlet for the stress so that it doesn't weigh you down.I struggled with making a full connection with this exercise, but after reading your post it makes me want to try this again. I second the idea of you attempting this exercise on a regular basis, because I really think it would help strengthen your psychological wellbeing.
Allison,
ReplyDeleteI think some of it is my want and need to de-stress. I am glad though that it is working for me. I am not sure I am getting the results I should be getting, but I am optimistic that it seems to relieve my stress and make me feel better. I am looking forward to continuing for sure.
I wish you luck in pursuit of obtaining results from this exercise. It might be the deep breathing and just trying to focus on the steps as best as we can. Deep breathing can go along way to reducing stress too.
Elicia
Elicia,
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that the " Loving Kindness" exercise helped to make you feel less overwhelmed. This is the first step to reaching a higher level of consciousness. The difference in how we feel about ourselves will help us in the way we perceive the events around us and how we interact with others. By changing our interactions with others will help facilitate the choices they make, hopefully for the better.
Anne Marie
Anne Marie,
ReplyDeleteI believe you are right on! By changing the way I felt about my son and others - by providing them loving kindness - things have been looking up!!! I have been facing some stressful situations, but I must say that the last week or so has been looking up in regards to my son. Some of it was my grasping the way I was feeling and really keeping an open mind - by not reacting negatively all the time. It seems to be helping by giving my son the support he was needing from me. I do have to give him some credit because he has been making some better choices too. It has helped to keep me looking up.
Thanks for your insight...I think it was/is right on!
Elicia