The loving kindness exercise was, I must admit, a little hard for me. It is so hard to find a quiet, uninterrupted space or time for me to seriously attempt the exercise. I have tried twice and could not get through all 15 minutes...which I am a bit ashamed to admit. I did manage to get in almost 10 minutes my second time around before my children wandered in with their gaggle of friends looking for drinks and snacks after basketball. Although they didn't walk into my bedroom, I couldn't help but hear the laughter, voices, cabinet and refrigerator doors opening and closing too many times to count along with the ever-present music playing.
I am determined to try, try again. I have even asked my oldest if he would like to join in. He seems very interested in the work that we have been doing in this course and a little inner reflection could do us all good. So, in that sense, I have recommended the exercise to someone else! Now if only there were 15 minutes of quiet that I didn't have to wake up at 3 a.m. to get....
The concept of a mental workout consists of exercises like the loving kindness exercise. We need to be wholly committed to working out our minds in order to attain the full benefits. The article published by Antoine Lutz from the University of Wisconsin reported significant differences in the levels of gamma waves in the brains of contemplatives as opposed to those of the control group...even without asking them to visualize anything. The differences only increased when they were asked to develop a "compassionate mental state". If I can eventually get the loving kindness exercise down pat and eventually move on to other exercises I am sure that I will see an increase in the amount of peace and joy I feel just being alive and a decrease in the amount of stress and negativity that intrudes upon my life far too often.
This really is very new to me. The concepts are not foreign, as I have done quite a bit of reading prior to this class, but as far as putting them to practice...I am a total novice and am finding it hard to shut out the chaos that swirls around me everyday. Between a house chocked full with kids, my job, my class load, housework, yard work etc. it is so hard for me to find those few precious moments of quiet. I would appreciate any helpful suggestions.
Julie,
ReplyDeleteI can certainly identify. Years ago when my kids were younger, I would make "deals" with them. We would do things together for a period of time, say 15 minutes, something fun like a craft or playing outside, and I gave them completely dedicated mindful attention. Then, the next 15 minutes were for me. We had a timer, and they knew that they were to play on their own. I would half-jokingly say that the only reason they were to interrupt me is if the house was on fire or someone was bleeding. And they were great about it. It was hard at first, and I worked up to the 15 minutes, but they not only understood it and respected it, they also began to want time for themselves, uninterrupted.
Today it is much easier, at 12 and 15. The noise level will always be there, or at least potentially be there, but tuning that out just comes with practice. In fact I had one group meditation class where we intentionally met in an area that had some foot traffic, just to practice maintaining our focus. While we were fully conscious and aware of people moving about, the practice was to keep focused inward.
Practice makes perfect, don't give up! Your efforts will pay off.
Julie-
ReplyDeleteThis may sound a little crazy but what about trying to do the meditation in the shower? You may not be able to get all 15 minutes in there either but you may be able to get a little piece in quiet and the music and water can drown out the caose outside the bathroom.
Hi Julie:
ReplyDeleteI truly do understand the time crunch and little interruptions. I would say that any time you can devote to the exercise would be beneficial, I believe mental exercise is like any other exercise. Start in small increments of time then gradually increase. I believe the key would be consistency rather than intensity to start. I am a newby at this too,but I find that I am benefitting from what little time I can devote to it.