Unit 8 –
Loving Kindness
Picking two practices from the many
that we have been learning about this semester is not an easy task. They all have such ideal benefits but for
this exercise I am choosing loving kindness and meditation.
I now
know that loving kindness can only be given away to others effectively if we
love ourselves. In preparation for this,
I am now deliberately keeping this in the forefront of my mind as I go through
my day with an open heart trying to be less self-centered by analyzing my
reactions to people and situations that are going on with them. I watch what I say and try to put loving
kindness into the inflection of the words I speak and the way I treat others,
now knowing that this is the groundwork to being able to be loving and kind. I
watch my own internal reactions to things that I am doing and insist on being both
patient and kind to myself when I don’t get something right, or something
doesn’t go as planned. I am not beating
myself up any longer for things out of my control. The more I do this, the more
I believe that I can continue to do this, which in turn will ultimately give me
more inner peace and less stress, which of course will give me better health.
Meditation is a great tool, and
where meditating for an hour or more at one time may be difficult to
incorporate in my day, certainly deliberately scheduling a few minutes a few
times a day can be a successful practice for me. Just taking those minutes to break my normal
routine, and concentrate for three to four minutes on my breath will clear my
mind and give me a fresh start to the rest of my day. Those few minutes recharge me as if I have
taken a nap in the middle of the day. It brings me back to a center point where
I feel loving, strong, with a new hope and vibrancy.
I think that I can easily
incorporate these two practices in my career as a nutritionist. Overeating or not eating correctly can be
just as much a psychological problem as it is one of not knowing the proper and
healthy foods to eat, therefore, incorporating one or both of these practices
while I am treating a client should not be difficult at all. In educating them to the easy availability of
these practices would just be part of the solution to their problem.
Jen
I am glad you have incorporated the mediation into your lifestyle, I have as well. I like it, it relaxes me. I am wound pretty tight, I have a boyfriend who acts like a 15 year old sometimes, a 6 year old who never stops, and a 14 year old son that has been in constant battle with me since the day he was born. When they see me with my headphones on they leave me alone. Not that I want them to leave me alone, but I need it sometimes. I used to be a pretty mellow person,always laughing and having fun, until I became a mom, now I'm more serious. I still laugh a lot, my kids are hilarious when they are not arguing with each other or me. We as a society need to slow down and breath.
ReplyDeleteHi Jen,
ReplyDeleteI agree, overeating and not eating correctly can be just as much psychological as it is not knowing the right way to eat. When I was younger I used to do both: overeat and not eat for emotional reasons. Now that I'm an adult some of the poor eating habits have stayed with me (not eating much) despite the lack of an emotional connection--essentially it has become a part of who I am.
What I've learned is that not eating can be just as detrimental to an overweight individual because you're not supplying your body with fuel to burn those excess calories off. The body ends up putting itself into starvation mode and holding onto the fat.