I am a Unique, Precious, Expression of Life...

Describe your experience. Did you find it beneficial? Difficult? Why or why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or why not?

 

Ok, so the Loving-Kindness exercise wasn't my favorite. I can say that the beginning of it was a breeze. Imagining a loved one close to my heart was easy. All of my children give me that warm, fuzzy, feeling of love when I think of them. Of course, as of late, I've had a miniature human being attached to me 90% of the time and this time was no different. Coralyn was asleep on my chest, wrapped snuggly in my Moby wrap. Next, I had to turn the feelings of love inward towards myself. That was a bit difficult, but okay, I tried it. For some strange reason I had thoughts of being sexually abused as a child and I realized it is much more difficult to feel those feelings for myself. I accepted this as a benefit of the exercise and thought, okay, this is what the exercise is about. Then I was instructed to visualize a loved one's pain and suffering, but I did not agree with the notion to inhale their pain and suffering. I understand that we are not literally doing this, but as a massage therapist I was always taught to maintain a certain boundary in order to keep other people's negative energy at bay. I do not agree with taking in negativity, even if it is for someone else's benefit. So honestly, after that, I kind of drifted off. I did tune into the "Unique, Precious, Expression of Life" though. That really stuck with me. ;) I plan on using that phrase, especially when my husband shows a bit of frustration with my lack of organizational skills....Ha!

 

I probably wouldn't recommend this exercise to others because it seemed a bit "out there" for most people. I am familiar with these types of exercises and am very open minded to them, but I don't think most people would be. Another reason is because I felt there was too much time in between. I kept opening my eyes to check my computer and my mind kept drifting off to the fact that my butt was falling asleep, and I was getting hungry again. These are things you don't want to think about while doing a Loving-Kindness type of exercise. ;)

 

What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

 

The concept of a "mental workout" is similar to that of a physical workout. In order to start having loving, positive things happen in your life, you need to start with loving, positive thoughts. That does not happen without conscious effort to create space in your mind for positive things. Human flourishing cannot happen without contemplative practice. Just as an athlete cannot achieve Olympian level of fitness without daily exercise, one cannot live a psychospiritual life with all its benefits without daily practice. Health, happiness, and wholeness are the proven benefits of a daily mental workout.

 

I actually do practice mental workouts on a daily basis and I didn't realize it until very recently. Every morning (well, almost) my children and I have a small devotion or bible study and we each say something positive that we can each take with us from it. And every study ends with a talk of love and different ways we can show love in our day to day life.  We talk about the importance of loving ourselves. I push this on my children because they are rapidly approaching a time in their life where peer pressure is stronger than ever, insecurities rise, and self confidence drops. I am always worried that I will not have talked to them enough and that my mistakes in life will follow through into my children's lives. I didn't realize until recently that these things are important for me too. I need to be an example to my children because they learn most from example. I think that our morning talks have helped me as much as I hope that they help them. :)