We have been practicing various exercises throughout this course and some I have found beneficial and some I have not. It seems like these exercises take practice because for some of us just simply sitting down and trying then the first time they don’t always work. I read so much about the benefits of these practices so I hope that I can one day use them all. There are two that I feel worked well for me and they are meditation and loving-kindness.
I found meditation to be an excellent exercise even though at first I was skeptical it would work for me. I have not had much luck with these practices but meditation indeed worked. I used it successfully for the first time last week when I was tasked to think of someone who we have great respect for. During the meditation I was able to picture my father clearly and it made me realize that I can do this with many things in my life. I can use meditation to think of positive thoughts and then channel that to a relaxed state which will help relieve stress. The second exercise I found beneficial was loving-kindness. This exercise was great because I simply had to memorize four lines and repeat them over and over again. It was a short exercise that allowed me to just relax in a quiet place and close my eyes for a few minutes. I didn’t think the loving-kindness exercise would be that powerful but it sure was. Any feelings of anger were quickly erased and replaced with happy thoughts. I can use this exercise at times when I am feeling angry for whatever the reason and get those thoughts out of my mind. Sometimes I have angry thoughts at people for cutting me off in traffic for instance but by using this exercise I can learn to control those emotions.
I also think that meditation can be utilized to improve different aspects of life. As health care professionals, we can pass on our experiences to patients in an effort to guide them to the same goal that we are after. Even though we may have not reached the state of integral health that we are after, we can still pass on the information to our patients. Maybe it will spark a fire in them that will ultimately lead to an integral state of health. Stopping for a few minutes a day to meditate has also been very helpful to me, as I can now relieve stess at work before it even builds up. For instance, when we start getting really busy and I foresee a hectic atmosphere, I can meditate and think about how I am going to handle the situation in a positive manner and accomplish the task.
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