Blog for Unit 4

1. Describe your experience. (Did you find it beneficial? Difficult?) Why or Why not? Would you recommend this to others? Why or Why not?



At home, I have several meditation tapes that I can listen to at any time.  Most of them were tapes that my mother had gotten when she was actively a member of the Church of Religious Science and was working as a Practioner (an individual who has undergone two to three years of training in learning how to produce positive affirmations and "treatments" for people.)  Some of these tapes are on losing weight, others are on just simply relaxing. But none of them addressed this particular topic, "loving kindness." 

At first, I had a difficult time settling down and concentrating.  My husband was walking down the hallway, the cats were meowing and people were walking by the apartment.  So I had to stop the player until such time as things began to settle down and I could focus.  Once I was able to focus, the exercise was not difficult at all. In fact it was rather pleasant.

While I was listening to the tape, I saw myself at the beach with the ocean behind me and all of the people that I've ever come in contact with in my life in front of me on the sand.  I saw myself walking around shaking hands with people, giving or receiving hugs; or just simply touching someone on the shoulder, breathing in a "dark cloud" and releaseing a rainbow over the individual.  One of the things that I noted is that when I first started, my back felt like it was on fire - the pain was almost intolerable. As I walked along the beach, I noticed that my back no longer felt like it was on fire... I felt a soothing coolness start to come over it.   At the end of the session the people faded away and I was left alone on the beach... but I wasn't sorrowful or lonely - I was definitely at peace. 

This is an exercise that I would recommend to others at the start of their day and even as a way of closing out their day.  In religious communities, members start their day with morning prayer and end their day with evening prayer or compline (the last prayer of the hours just before bedtime).  I could easily see this as becoming part of my evening prayer routine or my compline routine.



2. What is the concept of “Mental Workout? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a Mental Work Out? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

The concept of a 'mental workout' is similar to an athlete who trains for a marathon or an individual who goes to the gym for a physical workout.  It is a series of exercises, learning how to relax, learning how to focus and learning how to turn the healing powers of our mind on.   Aw we were not born already knowing the language that we speak - we had to learn it... so too do we have to learn how to focus, and how to heal ourselves.  We also need to understand that by doing so, we come into a sacred space within ourselves - so we also learn how to treat ourselves as sacred vessels.

How can I implement mental workouts?  I do this type of meditation on a "quasi-regular" basis already... however I need to do it on a "regular" basis in order for it to become effective.  Exercising one's muscles once every three to four days does not provide the adequate opportunity for muscles to expand, to stretch or to grow.  It is only through regular exercise every other day or every day that muscles have the opportunity to stretch and to grow and to strength.   Likewise so with one's' brain and with their mind.  Daily or exercise through reading, prayer or contemplative prayer or meditation / visualization teaches us how to go down into the deeper levels of ourselves to the source of our energy and our power.   Both for ourselves and for the people that we will ultimately serve.