Unit 4 Blog

The loving practice exercise was interesting. I found it easy to relax with the ocean sounds in the background and the soothing, monotone voices. I found it very easy to think about my loved one and experienced "waves" of those emotions profoundly. Those feelings about myself were harder to experience and found myself resisting those feelings at first. Thinking about someone suffering was easy and very moving. It was easy to empathasize with those feelings and emit positive feelings and thoughts in place of the ones of suffering and pain. It was harder thinking about people I did not know, as I found myself wanting to place the feelings in a particular location that needed it. Visualizing everyone needing their suffering and pain replaced with loving kindness was easier as I wasn't focused on a particular group. I would recommend this exercise to others as I found it helpful to be mindful of loving kindness for others including ourselves.

The concept of "mental workout" is preparing our minds through contemplative practice. This is done by pracitcing loving kindness and opening our minds to the wisdom that can lead to human flourishing. Research suggests that mental workouts are similar to working muscles and can lead to structural changes in the brain. These mental workouts can be implemented by practicing the exercises that are mentioned in our book. These exercises are easy to do and with continued practice can become a positive habit like brushing our teeth!