I found this exercise beneficial, I have done something similar in the past. A friend and I when we are feeling stressed or overwhelmed close our eye and imagine what is causing us stress then we breath our imagining that the stressful feeling is leaving us then breath in imagining our favorite calming color coming into us. It is a very useful tool. The only difficulty I had with this exercises is that it takes a while. i do not usually have more then about 5 minutes of quiet time at my house so when I need to do something to relieve stress or to feel more calm it needs to be quick. I did find picturing all the different situations beneficial and I felt really relaxed and peaceful when i was done.
Mental workouts are needed for us to use our minds to the full extent. It is something we need to do daily for it to truly work however. I love the example of Olympic athletes, athletes need to train everyday and challenge themselves for them to perform at their best and our minds are no different, they need to be challenged and worked so that it can be a truly strong muscle.
Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteI agree when you initially begin working with this type of exercise it does take a while to get into the hand of it. Like you, I have particpated in similar exercises. For me, I also meditate more then two times a day for about 15 to 30 minutes depending on the type of day I had. However, I did agree with the instuctions that the more we practice, the better we get and the more we will get out of each exercise.
My mother is currently ill, and this exercise allowed for me to channel all of the worries and ills of her health inside my body, but gave me a way to release a healthy breath of love and good thoughts in her honor.
Anyway, I really enjoyed reading about your experience. All I can say is that you will begin to get extended periods of quiet time before you know it.
Good thoughts and loving prayers your way!
Later,
Naomi
Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteOooh, you do a breathing with colors relaxation! I like this, because I can really focus on the particular chakra that needs the healing, and I find that it works remarkably well. I also have done "chakra baths", where you lay in the tub filled with water, and you place the colored stone appropriate to each chakra, on the chakra itself (like a sodalite or lapis lazuli - blue - for the throat, etc)...you breathe regularly, and you meditate on the water and the stones working together to re-balance you and your chakras. It's no big deal if the stones won't stay on you, you can lay them in the tub next to the chakra they are supposed to be on. You stay like this for however long it takes for you to feel relaxed and rejuvenated, and then, with you still in the tub, let it drain. This part is important, because you are symbolically washing away your imbalances and negativities both from yourself and your stones, as the water leaves the tub.
Finally, I love that you, as well as many others in this course, are doing things that help them, and are sharing that knowledge with the class - you never know when someone else will have an answer to a question you are having. Cheers!
Chris
Hi Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteI am one that has never really been into doing meditation. I did try this exercise and enjoyed the first part of it. It took me a while to get into a comfortable and quite space. I enjoyed your version of meditation. It seems more simple than the actual loving-kindness exercise for this unit. I do plan to try this out and will post my findings after I am comfortable with the process. I think this process is great for people that deal with lots of stress. This would be a great exercise to help them get centered and back into a calm state.
MzOpulent