Unit 5 Post: The Subtle Mind

1.Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc. For me Loving Kindness was more relaxing then Subtle Mind, Loving Kindness was hard to do the things the man asked but his voice and the sounds for me were very relaxing. I found myself thinking a lot in Subtle Mind, I was relaxed but I couldn't just release my thoughts. At the end I sort of did, when she talked about disolving the images in your mind. I visualized the thoughts disolving into a blank room. To my surprise I was able to hold that for a few minutes. I have never been able to completely let my mind go with out any thoughts. I more try to focus on one thing, so in this exericse it was the sounds in the background. I think they are the same or very similar to Loving Kindness' sounds. I do not get frustrated at these exercises because I believe that mind has to work to get to this point, I do not expect my body to be physically fit without putting the work into it and maintaining that work. The mind will take just as much work but in a very different way. I am in my last term at school and believe that once I am done and have time to focus on me again I will start to do these types of exercises many times a week. Right now I just do 5-10 minutes of breathing/stretching meditation. To really "disolve" my thoughts will take many more practices. 2.Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life. For me out of the three I am physically well and believe to a degree I am mental well, spiritual wellness I do not have much of a connection to. I would love to get to the wholness that we are discussing. To get to be whole however you need to be physically, mentally, and spiratually well. I am trying to at least perfect two out of three and then really figure out the spiritual side and how I will incorporate this into my life.