Loving-Kindness

Greetings to all of my lovely little squirrels out there!! (Yes, the craziness is still there. It's pitched a tent and it's determined to stay.) Here we are for yet another week in the adventures of physiological and spiritual healing. This week, we explored another exercise, listened to a couple of MP3 waves and were asked to determine what our opinions were. So, let's get started for this week, shall we? All those in favor, raise your hands. (Okay, seriously, if you just read that and actually raised your hand, at a computer screen no less, you're just as crazy as I am, so welcome to the Funny Farm, sit back, and enjoy your stay.)

Question #1 for the week:

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

Okay, I'm not usually one to complain when it comes to these exercises, but man, this one was not a good choice. The sound of the waves at the beginning were great and I was hoping that this exercise would have been as enjoyable as the previous ones. Boy, was I wrong. The previous two exercises had a man instructing the listener and his voice was very calm and had a soothing quality to it. This time around, a woman gave the instructions. Not a good choice. Her voice was so dull, like a computer generated voice, and it grated on my nerves. Seriously, it was like nails on a chalkboard. It was very hard to concentrate on what she was saying and it was not relaxing at all, especially not enough to get the exercise to work well for me. I've tried to work on practicing loving-kindness this past week. It's not as easy as it seems, but I think with some work, and perhaps a different exercise if I can find one, I should be able to eventually achieve this. It's not something that you can make happen overnight. It's something that takes time and practice, but if your heart is not in it, then it won't happen for you.

Question #2 for the week:

What is the concept of "mental workout"? What does the research indicate are the proven benefits of a mental workout? How can you implement mental workouts to foster your psychological health?

For me, a 'mental workout' is just that; a workout for my mind. As much as our bodies need physical exercise, our minds need mental exercises to stimulate and challenge them. Think of the phrase 'use it or lose it". That's extremely true for our minds. I found an interesting article from USA Today online that talks about the benefits of a mental workout and gives some ideas on how to keep your mind sharp. The article is here: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-06-10/mental-exercises-brain-health/55497440/1.

I've also found that taking visual trips helps a lot and gives me a great mental workout. I try to visualize a place like a cabin high in the mountains, surrounded by tons of snow, a cheery fire burning in the fireplace, and as quiet as can be. I've also done one where I'm on a beach at night, hearing the quiet rush of the waves, the feel of the water as it splashes over my feet, the feel of the wet sand between my toes, the moon and stars reflecting off of the ocean. If I do this right, I can actually smell the scent of the ocean or the wood from the fireplace. I let my mind drift and don't try to stop any image that comes into the visualization. Sometimes, if I'm having a problem, that's when I will find the answer I was looking for. I also get quite a mental workout from brain games, like hidden object games or speed games. My video games that I play are ones that make me find things, complete quests (and yes, I'm one of these that has to complete the entire game or I'm not happy), and are god for my hand/eye coordination. Plus, nothing relieves stress like incinerating the bad guy in a video game (at least for me it does).

As we come to the end of our adventure for the week, I encourage everyone to challenge themselves and give their minds a good workout. Remember, my dear squirrels, we are never too old to learn.

Until next time, may a smile be your umbrella and may your camels never run out of spit. (Yeah, thank Klinger on M*A*S*H for that line.)