Loving-Kindness

The exercise “Love Kindness” is very powerful. To me, is like a prayer for end of suffering, for love and compassion, for freedom, health, happiness and wholeness. As this prayer I am pretty sure everyone wishes for themselves and their loved ones, I expand it to people that I don’t necessarily like or know. This is experiencing Loving-Kindness. For me, it helps to relieve anger and hard feelings, find resolution and release myself from a circle of pain.

The self-assessment was intense and enlightening. As I walked myself through my life and its problems, I reflected on all aspects and pinpointed the ones that bring me much pain, anxiety, difficulty or dilemma. At this point, I know that I am doing well physically and I take care of my body though there is always room for improvement. Spiritually, I am in a good place of growth. My approach to identify my areas that need work was to identify what brings me most distress and concern. I need to work on my interpersonal aspect of my life and this is all I can say at this point.

Through meditation and prayer, I am able to bring body, mind and spirit together to harmony. Reflection and  focus help me clear my mind and think of what matters, what needs my attention at that particular time. Relaxation exercises are being done at least once a day, mandatory at night, before bedtime.

The subtle mind

The “loving kindness” exercise was challenging and it needs repeating daily to learn the practice of being kind and loving unconditionally. As it is easy to love a person you already love, it is much harder to love “your enemy”. This is the culmination of loving kindness.

The “subtle mind” is a very pleasurable exercise. Learning breathing techniques to ease the mind is very pleasurable and I have been doing it for many years now. I have found this exercise very familiar and easy to follow. I usually feel refreshed after this exercise or any exercise that involves clearing the mind and doing breathing exercises.

Practicing these exercises for this week was very beneficial to me and I was able to face the very troubled times I am going through. With these exercises in combination with meditation and prayer, I am able to keep my head held high and my mind clear and focused. As I have mentioned, I am traversing a personal difficult time and I have noticed that physical changes started to happen, such a more frequent headache, feeling sluggish and maybe coming down with a cold, sometimes feverish, etc. With these techniques, I am able to keep my mind focused and my physical health in check as well. It is all in the power of the mind and spirit. I have also going through a water fast that will last 7 days. The water fast helps me detox my body but it also gives me tremendous mind clarity.

                       

Loving Kindness

       This week’s exercise was not very appealing to me as Mr. Dacher has a considerably irritating voice. The woman in the “Love-kindness” audio does not have a voice that lacks any passion nor it soothing. I felt it was just blank. However, I enjoyed the sounds of the waves, as I love the sea. I was almost able to feel the smell of seaweed and salty water.

       My little kitten, Mitzu, was also part of the experiment. As I listened to the audio file several times in the evening, he always curled up next to me and purred to his heart’s content. He was calm at the sound of the waves but jump each time, the woman would start talking. I jumped too. I found it hard to focus on relaxation as she startled me each time. However, after the audio was over, I used a recording of waves and seagulls and I relaxed while thinking of what she said to do. It worked like magic. 

       Mental workout is important to be done daily to improve our mental strength. Just like an athlete, training every day, we must develop consciousness and expand healing abilities. As this contemplative practice does not aim to relax, I found this exercise somewhat compelling me to think of people and myself with love and compassion. 

Unit 3-Crime of the Century

Rainbows, prism, colors, breathing......fantastic exercise. I really enjoyed using each color for a different part of my body. Relaxing is very important to me as I am a pretty wired person and I tend to stress a lot. Practicing these new exercises has been fun. This exercise was beneficial because it took me to a happy, cheerful place with bright, vivid  colors. I think that this type of exercise can be easily used by anyone that has a creative visualization ability. People with limited imagination will have a hard time doing this exercise not because it is not efficient but because they need to train their mind to let go and let the colors shine brightly.

My physical well being is in on a 7 scale. Am I being generous? Maybe. I have been in very bad shape for a long time but loosing a tremendous amount of weight, toning my body and eating healthy took me to a new level of youth and rejuvenation that makes me feel very good with myself. My main goal is to stay healthy to the highest point possible. Staying healthy with a strong immune system will help me maintain a healthy body that will age gracefully. Or at least, any woman hopes for that.....

My psychological well being, what is that? Just kidding. I am actually going through a difficult time in my personal life but I still consider to be at a 7 on the scale from 1 to 10, ten being optimal. I pray, meditate and choose soothing activities and quiet times that help me gather myself. My goal is to train my mind towards positivity and happiness by making the right choices and than putting them into action.

My spiritual well being is at a 9 on the scale of 1 to ten. Why is it this high? Because of my personal problems, I reflected on my spiritual life and my connection with God, therefore I  came closer to my God and dedicated myself to a better and deeper connection with my spirituality. My goal is to deepen my relationship with God learn to live a happy life in complete faith without fear and doubt.

Unit 2-Relaxation

As the evening comes, my little kitten Mitzu becomes very restless and playful. After wearing off the other three cats, he plays with my headphones, any cord he can find hanging. He is even chasing his own tail, like a dog. I play with him for a little bit and I feel he is just very hyper and he will not let anyone sleep as he will be jumping around all night. I also feel a bit restless after a hectic day. I took him with me to bed and after several attempts to keep him next to me, he finally gave in and started to relax as I was focusing on keeping calm and transferring my energy to him. Listening to the "Journey to relaxation" sounds, we both started to feel more relaxed and soon, I was deep in a modd that transported me into a serene place. Feeling that my breathing was slowing down and my mind was clearing of all the day's hassle, I noticed Mitzu starting to purr and lay down calmly until he fell asleep under my touch. Ever since, this is relaxation for both of us. Feeling the softness of his fur and his delicate purr, his breath on my arm, we both relax preparing for a good night's sleep.We have listened to the relaxation audio several nights and it works like a charm for cat and human.

About Me

My name is Shirley A. Yirmeyahu. I was born in communist Romania and since my childhood, my biggest passion was food. To eat and to cook. Apparently, it works since I am a personal chef and I enjoy every bit of my work. I am in my final year to earn my B.S in Nutrition Science and my goal is to implement good nutrition with my cooking skills.
I live in the enchanting land of New Mexico, in a small town, Bernalillo, next to Albuquerque.