Hello everyone,
The universal loving kindness exercise was a bit easier for me to follow than the previous exercise where we were told to breathe in strangers pain. This exercise is very pertinent in my current career and I think it can turn my defiance against the other exercise around to something I can actually work with and succeed in.
The aspect of my life that throbbed out to me is both biological and interpersonal. Interpersonal because my family has lost 3 members within the last six months. My Grandmother means the world to me and she just lost both her oldest and youngest sons to cancer. My 24 year old cousin was shot down in a jealous rage from his bandmate. The whole family is grieving and all at different levels of sadness, anger and frustration. It is a stressful time, some of the family look to me for support and their sounding board, in which I can do, but need to learn how to release it. When a friend vents it is not always personal. When family vents, it usually is about other family members and that makes it personal, leading me to hold on to my feelings as well as theirs. I have added biological because aspects are suffering due to the large issues I am feeling with the family. People have been visiting, so there are a lot of restaurants, ice cream shops and wine... ohhh the wine. My body is beginning to tell me to back off, which is exactly what I need to do. Specific exercises that I need to do are to continue with this universal loving kindness meditation maybe put focus on my family and drop a little love for myself especially in the area of gaining momentum for getting back on track of healthy eating and exercise.
Hi Jen,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts on both the exercise and your personal struggles with grief right now. My thoughts go out to you as dealing with death and family is never easy. I also thought this exercise was much easier than the last one. It seemed to have a much more relaxing and overall outcome for me, too. I can certainly empathize with your interpersonal struggles right now. My emotional and mental state is a trainwreck right now as my wife and I are struggling. My biological state and fitness are the only things that have kept me sane through the last few months :). I know time is always an issue especially when you work and have kids (I have 2 also), but make sure to take time out for yourself to exercise or simply relax.
Thanks again for sharing!
- Randy