The Subtle Mind

This week’s exercise is meditating on the subtle mind. This teaches us to be an observer in our own mind so that we might learn about ourselves and be able to come to an abiding calm.

1.            Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.

2.            Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.

The loving kindness exercise was all about how I perceive the world. This exercise was about self-perception. It is to help me understand my inner workings. With this knowledge of my inner workings I will eventually be able to calm my inner self and truly be in control of my thoughts. The loving-kindness exercise opened my inner door to peace. Peace must be first attained before an inner calm can be possible. This exercise was much easier for me than the loving-kindness because of the focus of the exercise. It is much easier for me to become an un biased observer than is it to open up to strong emotions. I also find it more enjoyable because I can see the results right away where the loving-kindness results are almost secondary to the exercise.

Physical wellness is the health and happiness of the body. This is the easiest to measure and perceive. This has been the focus of western medicine for centuries. Mental wellness is the fitness and health of the mind. In the last few decades mental health has been becoming more prominent. This area is much more difficult to measure and perceive. Spiritual wellness is they fitness and health of the spirit. Where the mind and body are basically tools, the spirit is the driving force to use those tools. Where the spirit is strong the rest will follow. Olympians are amazing physically but to get there each and every on them needs a driving force. While some are pushed by outside forces, most are driven from within. This indefatigable spirit is who really make them who they are and pushes them to greatness. The opposite is also true. Those with weak spirits rarely ever move forward in life. Their life is stagnant and undefined.