Optimal Wellbeing for Unit 8

Hello everyone,

My first choice is Loving-Kindness. I believe that this meditation exercise is helping me find a calmer outlook on life and to not allow things to eat away at me as I have done in the past. This meditation gives me the time I need to reflect on finding that loving-kindness within myself and pushing it forth to those that are involved in my life, whether it be loved ones, friends, or even strangers. I have truly never felt something as profound as I have since I started incorporating this exercise into my daily life. Well, as I have stated, I have begun incorporating this into my daily life at least once a day, I usually spend a good 15 minutes or more involved in listening to the meditation. Sometimes I have enough time to finish it and other times, I get almost completely done, but nevertheless, I still feel so much more centered and able to give it to people I readily pass on the street, in the store, or wherever life may catch me.

I honestly cannot say that my life is all peaches and cream because there are moments that I would just rather not have to experience or go through, but it is truly all part of our individual journeys and therefore must be faced, regardless of being good or bad. By using this exercise and ultimately practicing the thoughts and feelings within it in my everyday life, I know that I am fostering my mental fitness.

My second choice would be this last exercise that I spoke about on the discussion board, the Visualization exercise. It is hard for me to express just how much this exercise touched me when I did it. I truly felt amazed and so warm and loved from the inside and out. I cannot honestly tell you when the last time that I felt that way was….which I guess can be seen as a sad thing but it can also help you to realize how truly exhilarating this experience was for me.

There are times in your lives when you feel like you are simply living for everyone else, and sometimes I feel that way and underappreciated for all I try to do for those around me, especially my family members. I did this exercise when no one else was around, so that I could truly experience it without any interruptions whatsoever, and I have to say, I actually had to wonder if I did not really travel back to time in those moments of remembrance.

I believe that the best way for me to utilize this exercise is to allow myself to use it when I am feeling down on my rope and I need that “push” to get away from the negative thoughts and feelings and to keep pushing forward throughout my day. I do not have these often but I am sure that we all have them at some point in our lives, whether it is days, weeks, months, etc. Utilizing this exercise in order to find that place again and being able to fulfill the need to feel those feelings again, will definitely keep me focused on continuing my journey through all the good, bad, and the ugly.