Hello everyone!
The Subtle Mind exercise was intense. Like the loving-kindness exercise, I had a hard time with this one also; the Loving-Kindness practice was difficult because I was not able to picture and feel what the narrator was telling me to and Subtle Mind I was not able to get to a point of having no thoughts. I feel like I am doing something wrong with both of these practices. I know I will not pick it up the first time I try it; but I want to! During the beginning of the Subtle Mind practice, there were a couple of times where I didn't have any thoughts come up, but then I would think about the fact that I'm not having any thoughts, and then thoughts would arise. It was a vicious little cycle. Unfortunately, I was never able to come to calm-abiding. I am positive that with practice, I will be able to get both the Loving-Kindness and Subtle Mind practices down; it may take a while, but I am willing to practice it as much as possible. I will probably start off slow, like 5 minutes a day, and then gradually build the time up for each. I WILL GET THIS!
I think developing a spiritual awareness will allow one's mental and physical health to increase; it will allow a person to have holistic and integral health because all sides, mental, physical and spiritual, are being covered. I am very religious, so why does it seem that I am having a hard time finding my spiritual self? I am slowly learning that these two things are very different. I am also starting to realize that this connection, spiritual wellness connecting to mental and physical wellness, is important in order to have a holistic filled life! However, I am not yet sure how it is manifested in my life just yet; through practice, I am hoping to find out. :-D
-Natasja
Natasja,
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way when I took the subtle exercise. Except I fell asleep both time for about half of the exercise and jumped awake when she started talking again :P Oh well, Im just not used to concentrating that hard...or not concentrating at all. Did you find that when a thought came up it was easy to "accept it and move on"? I did that part okay. I liked the way you said that you will have to practice balancing all the three levels of fitness. I think no one will ever be on a perfect level, but we can always work on it. Good post this week :)
-Shanna
Natasja, how is your religious self and your spiritual self different? I guess I am just looking at this topic in a totally different sense than others. I am Christian and it has been very easy for me to find my inner stillness doing this exercise. I will tell you how I do it. I am leaning on God to help me with the random thoughts and problems that I am facing each day, and when I am finding the calm-abiding peace in my mind, I am thinking about all that God has done for me and how he has brought me through. When I say that I saw the colors like beautiful lightning, I was seeing inside myself. I have actually been at total peace this week, in total stillness, and been able to listen very clearly to what is happening around me. I love this feeling, it makes me feel whole. I ask you to try this activity again, and when you are listening to the narrator, think of all of your blessings, while you follow your breath, and when the thoughts stop and the quietness is what you hear, just listen.
ReplyDeleteDina
Hello Natasja,
ReplyDeleteI haven’t tried the exercise yet but after reading this blog I am not sure I want to. I usually follow your blog each week as I enjoy your writing and find it to be very honest and informative. I like how you are honest when you say you get nothing out of an exercise. It is quite often that I feel the same and that is frustrating to say the least. It seems like we should be able to successfully feel exactly what they say we should yet we don’t. Does that mean we are doing something wrong? I don’t know for sure and if I could help you I would. Maybe some people just can’t focus like others. I shouldn’t complain I know but at the same time I want to feel the same feelings others do.
I think one of the greatest things was the chance to relax the mind and not have any thoughts! For the first time, I did not have a single thought, which gave me the opportunity to have a subtle mind, but I really enjoyed reading this and love your enthusiasm!
ReplyDelete@Dina, I could be mistaken, but I view being religous as believing in a higher being, to me, this would be God. From all the readings, I view being spiritual as being able to clear one's mind, meditate on a specific issue, and gain wisdom and insight to it. I'm not sure if that makes sense or not...
ReplyDelete@Spence, I highly recommend you try the exercise; there is a possibility you will be able to understand, accomplish, and love what you have witnessed :-)
-Natasja