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1.I had a number of physical experiences while urge surfing. I was hungry and felt rolling sensations of hunger and envisioned a wave carry my hunger with it until if dissipated. I felt anxiety that I was having to sit with my hunger and not eat. Would I succeed? I felt heat and tingling and then as the waves grew smaller and smaller, I did let go of the uncomfortable sensations of being hungry. Then I felt peaceful. I experienced having the ability to ride out my urge to eat, to let go of the urge not only to eat but to eat a lot of sugar. I have an addiction to sugar and this exercise was effective in letting the feelings go. I will integrate this exercise in my practice with clients who have mental illnesses and issues with addiction to teach them that they have the energy to learn mindfulness when the energy is gently and empathically redirected away from urges, stress and thoughts that bog them down by using this urge surfing exercise.
2. I picked Loving kindness and Soft Belly, including the variations of this exercise that was presented. Soft Belly relaxed me and evoked feelings of warmth, contentment and self-acceptance. The sensations were smiling, soft compassion and empathy and release. I was able to set my negative thoughts beside the positive, peaceful thoughts and be aware that my energy could be shifted and changed. I liked Loving Kindness a lot. I was able to focus on being kind to myself and to share this loving kindness with the 2 people I held in my consciousness. The smiling the warmth, the peacefulness felt expansive and space to feel a higher presence. I can imagine being able to adapt these exercises quite easily and effectively by evaluating what the issues each person is having in the moment, whether the issues are addiction or other mental health issues and adapting each exercise to their address those needs.
3. There was a time in my life when I lived with mindfulness and a connection with a higher being, a higher sense of self. Over the years I gave in to feeling like life was a grind that had to be gotten through. I have enjoyed this course as it is of getting back on track. May I be safe, happy, healthy in all things and my I live with ease in my heart and in my daily life. I reconnect in small ways but want to give it greater value. I envision bring mindfulness practices into my practice through having more peace within myself and in helping my clients tune into their own sense of connection, well-being and love for themselves that may bring them hope that they can overcome their suffering.1. I felt wonderfully relaxed. I noticed feelings of tightness in my shoulder and tightness in my stomach. This meditation is perfect for its simplicity while allowing for gentle self-empathy and (sorry for this strong feeling) feelings of the lightness of being. I was able to get closer to acceptance while feeling at times resistance. It is a great exercise to use for myself and for my clients.
2. In addition to the physical feelings addressed in question 1, I felt my face and my mind soften considerable. I felt warmth and peace. At first I thought about being given permission to accept myself from you Patricia and then gently moved to not having this need. I felt some resistance but again was able to be gently with myself and move away for these thoughts and feelings. I found this exercise to be a soothing way to begin letting go of resistance and moving into being okay with myself. This is again a wonderful exercise to use with my clients.
3. After I can be closer to my own self-acceptance, I envision using both exercises to help clients in many ways: when clients are stuck, when they don’t understand their thoughts and feelings or where to begin searching for the “why’s of their choices and to address shame and self-loathing among a few of the experiences my clients suffer from. The art of meditation is a gentle way for clients to listen to themselves in peace and within the quiet they can experience in the moment.1, I found this exercise to be interesting. At first I had no sensations when focused on the top pf my head. When I was focused on my face I began to feel warmth, my lips felt heavy and stiff. Scanning though out my core I felt tingling sensations. At my hands I felt minor pain. I have osteoarthritis in my hands. The rest of my body tingled. I liked being able to make contact with areas of my body while being able to stay in the present. I will try to find time as often as i can to practice this ability to both concentrate and focus my attention at the same time.
2. I found this exercise more difficult. I couldn’t focus completely while looking at the object because of the nature of the object itself and thinking too much about what it represents. It is a clay figure of a man whose ethnicity is either Mexican or Mayan who is sitting with rope binding his 2 hands together. It was hard not to think about how humans were enslaved and/or persecuted. I could get past this after a while. I was able to gently bring my mind back to the exercise. I was able to focus my wandering mind to the clay of the object. I could see variations in the color of the clay, the roughness of it on the variations of textures. While I appreciated this exercise, it was harder to stay focused with mindful attention.
3. I have used the body scan in my office with mixed success. However I was able to work with the clients who could not sustain their entire attention on the sensations they felt and on what it was like to go through the process. Were they anxious, uncomfortable and other things that came up for them. When the client was able to go through the entire body scan, I was able to explore what came up for them throughout the process.During the counting meditation I became aware quickly of the silence and peace I felt. I felt gentle with myself. I felt a feeling of open space around me and was able to pay closer attention to these sensations. While my mind wandered I was surprised by how effortless I was able to re-focus and bring myself back to the place of openness and peace. An experience I felt as a result of the counting meditation was acceptance. In the basic meditation where I followed the female voice my experience s has similarities and differences. I felt peaceful and was able to give the exercise my attention. I could focus more on her voice and then focus on the feelings and sensations. I felt distracted by focusing on parts of my body because the feeling wasn’t always pleasant and I had to move my mind and attention gently away for these sensations. I found that by keeping my hands relaxed and apart, not touching I could concentrate better on the overall experience.
I work with counting meditation in my practice most often and find it helps me to focus on them better and for the clients to take a little time to feel sensations of peace and distract away form whatever is distressing for them.
