Hello Everyone!
Today I took just a portion of the loving kindness exercise and practiced it again. This morning I found myself at the hospital with my daughter who is 21. She needed outpatient surgery and we spent the better part of the day in an emotional and at times scary state of mind. When we first got her there and were waiting for her surgery, I just kept thinking about the classes I have taken on relaxation, breathing and calming my mind. I didn't allow any negative thoughts to enter my head, kept myself calm, and let the events unfold.
After the surgery when she was in the period of observation before going home, I really could feel all the love for her and drew that emotion into my heart. I concentrated on trying to draw in her pain, wanting to neutralize it in my heart, and then pushing back the warm, calming effect to ease her. Honestly, I don't know if it worked or not, but there definitely was a "quietness" that we felt. At one point she was able to nod off and just rest, and this was before any pain medication was administered (she was too sick to her stomach to add pain meds on top of it).
Just thought I would share. I am trying to keep an open mind about all we are learning in this class! Maybe the key for me is to take some of these harder exercises a little part at a time. More to come... and share... in future weeks I'm sure!
Sandy
Hi Sandy:
ReplyDeleteThat's a really stressful situation to be in! It sounds like you were able to benefit from this unit's exercise, though. In my experience, that quietness that you described is indicative of a shift. Instead of feeling the fear and stress, which in that situation could be very overwhelming, you felt a sense of calmness. Sounds like a success to me!