For this week's blog assignment, we were asked to listen to two different exercises and discuss what we thought about them. During the introduction, I felt that Dacher's voice somewhat detracted from the experience. I felt that he spoke in a sort of monotone way and had this been what we were doing our assignment over only, I don't think it would have captured my attention. I then listened to the Mp3 segment entitled "Loving Kindness." Again, I found him somewhat hard to follow as he tended to ramble at the beginning and I did not feel a connection to his voice. I love the book we are reading, but did not like his voice. I was rather pleased when the woman's voice came in and began the actual exercise!
I loved this exercise overall! It was very calming and I felt a sense of peace, as I used my husband as the source of the visualization of someone we deeply love. I also especially liked the water flowing in the background and found it very soothing. Listening to the second portion and focusing on myself was a little more difficult. It is harder for me to "self-focus" sometimes than on someone else. My mind kept wandering to other things, but I was able to quickly re-direct myself back to the guided exercise. My favorite part was letting go and releasing myself to welcoming loving kindness and creating stillness in that moment. My least favorite part was when we had to focus on a loved one who was suffering. Many different people came to mind at once and I had a multidimensional feeling of their suffering. At first it felt overwhelming and I began to cry, but I was able to follow the guided visualization and give back joy through this experience. This was again a very cathartic experience.
Overall, I did find it beneficial and I would also recommend it to others, however, I would also invite them to read passages from our text in conjunction with this exercise or they might miss some important parts and not truly understand the contemplative aspect of living through loving kindness.
Kris,
ReplyDeleteI also found this exercise to be very helpful and soothing! I also found the audio in the background soothing because it reminded me of sitting on the beach with water splashing about against rocks :) It would be nice to just lay on a sunny beach and relax! I think I liked this exercise the best out of all of them because it was easier for me to follow. When she wanted me to think of the "love" of my life, I immediately thought of 2 people; my son and my husband. I couldnt really chose one person. I do think it is important to love yourself and respect yourself before you can love and show kindness to others. I am glad that this exercise helped you as well :)
Sara DeSanto
Kris,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the exercise as well. I really appreciated how you encourage further reading and exploration to understand specifically how to get the greatest benefit out of these exercises. Just like with physical exercise, if you don't do it in the most efficient manner then you're not getting the most out of it. Great point and great post!
I enjoy reading your blog. I too had difficulty listening to his voice. It was almost annoying to me. I was very distractable while I listened and my mind wandered all over the place. Like you, I liked the water sounds in the background. I think someone elses voice would have made this exercise much better.
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