The Smell of a Newborn Baby!

This is easy for me.....my favorite exercise was the this last one we did....the visualization exercise found on p.145, 146 of Dacher's Integral Health Book. I found most of the exercises we tried, helpful, but this one penetrated my heart and soul. I visualized the birth of my babies. Each- one by one- and was able to restore the exact smells of my newborn babies and their overwhelming warmth. This exercise brought tears to my eyes and a breath of fresh air to my lungs. I have actually been visualizing these special times at least once daily and am given a new burst of energy each time. I have also visualized dream that I had years back about the arms of God hugging me and making me feel so safe in a very uncertain time in my life. I can still feel His majestic embrace when I close my eyes and meditate on that remarkable dream. So, whether it is a dream or real life, find something that reminds you of the most amazing feeling or smell that you can remember and meditate on it. You are guaranteed a peaceful smile upon your face and in your heart!!

I didn't meet Asciepius!

Well....this was not my favorite exercise. First of all, I was in a bad mood when I started the meditation due to the fact that I spent an hour and a half on my discussion board post only to lose all my work when I tried to post it. The session timed out on me and I forgot to copy my post!! I was very bummed...to say the least. So instead of trying to re-do my post, I decided to try the meditation exercise and see if I could get in a better mind set. I started out ok...not great... then it got better when the person I picked to visualize was Jesus. Jesus was human and did walk this earth and He is by far the wisest man I will ever know. Well, everything was going well until the lady told me to become the person I was visualizing. I couldn't make that happen and I never will be able to make that happen. I didn't do exactly what the lady told me to do, instead I surrendered to Jesus and gave Him my burdens. When we surrender, our paths can only lead to a happy heart.

The second part of the blogging requirement wants me to reflect on developing my health psychologically, physically, and spiritually so that I can help others. I do believe in order to help others in these areas I should be equally if not more advanced than others but for now I will concentrate on developing these aspects of my life for me and what works for me. The meditation exercise did not help me meet "Asciepius" but did help me to connect even deeper with my spiritual side and that was well worth it! Follow the paths that lead you to your happy healthy heart!

Freedom from Suffering

I found this exercise on Universal Loving-Kindness inspiring, to say the least. When I first began, I was just repeating something I was reading and was not putting too much thought into it. But then I decided to repeat this phrase as a prayer. I started with "Lord, may all individuals gain freedom from suffering, etc." As I kept repeating this prayer for 10 minutes, the words came rushing to my mind and heart "may I assist all individuals in gaining freedom from suffering." I have a friend who within the last week lost her 23 year old son to an unexplained seizure. I attended the funeral yesterday and I have been so down for this beautiful family. Through this meditation today and I was reminded how this family will need so much support in the coming days, months, and years, and I would like to help "assist them in gaining freedom from their suffering" by being there for them, praying for them daily, and supporting when I can. This picture of the butterfly being released by hands in bondage is important to me because we can either choose to remain a caterpillar or flourish into a beautiful butterfly!

Comparing the Loving-Kindness to the Subtle Mind

As I compare the Loving Kindness exercise to the Subtle Mind exercise, I see similarities and differences. I liked visualizing someone I love that is genuine and pleasant but I did not like thinking or focusing on the unpleasant or disturbing people or things in my life. I think because I am trying so hard to replace negative thoughts with positive ones, so this exercise contradicted my pattern of thinking. I liked the subtle mind or witnessing exercise because it was more simple. I am going to practice this one again and again. I like the idea of keeping a journal of my thoughts after every exercise. I am going to really try to incorporate this into my daily life :)

The Subtle Mind......hmmmm........

As I participated in the "Subtle Mind" exercise, I immediately fight the breathing technique, but this time was different. After reading page 75 of Dacher's book, I found that I can focus on the rising and falling of my chest instead of the actual in and out breaths. I found this to be a better approach for me. I started with my hands on my chest so I could actually feel the rising and falling, and slowly my hands got very heavy and I needed to put them at my side. I felt this to be a really calm feeling and a peaceful place. As the exercise went on and on and on I began to loose interest for some reason. Maybe it was too long a period for me to maintain a peaceful state! haha. Either way, I did benefit from the "subtle mind" exercise. I like the reassurance that we may not get to that quiet place every time we practice but it is attainable. Life is that way too. When we strive for a goal in mind and we don't quite make it, it is never to late to try again! Keep pushing forward ..... our goals are all attainable!