I'm not sure why but this particular exercise had no effect on me, positive or negative. It reminds me of what the professor said, that we would either love it or hate it. I didn't like it, the voice wasn't familiar to me, it wasn't soothing, I had a very difficult time relaxing and following the instructions. I wonder if my brain was used to the other guy and will only respond to his voice maybe. I don't know why this exercise had no success at all, the instructions were even very different than what we had been used to up until this point. I'm disappointed in the results but I hope the next ones go better than this one did.
I would not recommend this exercise to anyone else, but I would recommend the previous two as they were successful for me.
I think the concept of a mental workout is similar to a physical work out, in that we are exercising the brain, which like a muscle, only gets stronger with use. I think that is why they make games specifically designed to exercise the brain such as Memory and other games. I mentioned before that I used to enjoy word finds as a young girl and I believe that exercises your brain as well, teaching it to look for things that are not out in the open and obvious.
I think the way I can use mental workouts to foster my psychological health is by practicing meditation, forcing myself to be still for that long and just listening to instructions is training my brain to stop all the mental chatter for a period of time each day and just relax. Some would call that praying, I think it can be both once you learn how to balance the two and if that is something you choose to do. For some simply praying would be more beneficial, while for others simply relaxing would work best. I would like to be able to balance both.
Hey Jada, I totally agree with you on that loving & kindness mp3. It didn't do anything for me either. Neither voice really "grabbed me." I found myself thinking about other things.
ReplyDeleteI think meditation is an excellent thing to exercise your brain. I personally like Yoga. It takes my mind off of everything because I am so focused on holding my position. Which is weird, that my mind does that. But, it works.
Well, good luck with your mental work outs. :)
I am with you guys I did not like the Loving Kindness exercise either. I thought there was too much time in between each instruction which made it hard to stay focused. I also really do not like the thought of “breathing in” other people’s suffering. That’s just a little too weird for me. -Rachel Harris
ReplyDeleteI am with you all, this particular exercise did not have no effect on me either, to me the sound of the woman sounded more robotic than an actual voice. Like the prior two was more soothing to hear, I would not recommend it to any no either.
ReplyDeleteHeather
Through the classes I am taking I am learning the importance of mind exercise. One thing I am learning from it is that we need to fill our mind with positive thoughts and to think of positive outcomes. I am finding that when a negative thought enters my mind I change it to a positive thought and I find that it makes me feel less stress, anxiety, and I feel happier.
ReplyDeleteHello Jada,
ReplyDeleteI sorry you did not benefit for the exercise this week. Maybe you just had to much on your mind and could not get into it. Dont be sad you did not do well in this exercise. We all have you ups an down. Just come back next week with an open mind and get those negivitly thought out so you can be focused next week. Take a deep breathe and just breathe. I know for me if I cant get into my relaxtion I just practice braething claming. If that does not work you can try praying instead. Good luck on finding a balance in both areas. I know you will it may just take some time.
Take care
Leena
Jada,
ReplyDeleteI personally congratulate you because you know what works for you and what doesn’t. The great thing is that you don’t have to do another exercise like this since it did not work for you. The beauty is that we have choices and we do what works for each one of us because it may very well not be the same. I find all of these exercises difficult because I am such a fast paced type person. I am always wondering what I have to do, what I forgot to do, and what I might need to do that it makes it hard to focus. Thanks for your input and have a wonderful week!!!
Are we somehow related??? LOL You sound identical to me, thanks for the feedback....twin
DeleteHi Jada!
ReplyDeleteI didn't do well with this exercise either. I felt that it was probably just to advanced for me maybe. This is all very new to me and I just felt very lost as to what I was supposed to be doing during the exercise. I am a very technical and literal type person so I struggle with directions like the ones given in this exercise, because I can't literally do the things it was saying and so I get frustrated in the process. I know that it is not guiding me to do those things literally but what am I to do?? It seems simple to some but when you aren't familiar with it, it's not. That's why I didn't recommend it to beginners as I am sure more advanced individuals could do better with it, if it's their type of thing. Thank you for sharing your insight this week!
Mrs. Rogers-
Hello Jada,
ReplyDeleteI agree, I couldn't get into this exercise either. I couldn't focus whatsoever and kept finding myself drifting in thoughts in regards to what is going on in the world. I enjoyed the other exercises we had done better than this one as well. I found that the soft male voice was more soothing and the background noise that was used in the other exercises were more relaxing.
Hey Jada,
ReplyDeleteI think you are absolutely right, I too did not gain anything from this exercise, I just cannot train my mind to shut off like that and go into meditation stage so quickly. Another thing that I found a little distracting was the 20 second loop of fake ocean they were playing in the background. I think that was more distracting than soothing. But I can see how it would be beneficial to those who are able to relax their brains totally. Great blog!
Jada,
ReplyDeleteI too found this exercise to be difficult but I think it was because I couldn't focus no matter how hard I tried. i agree with what you said about a mental workout being the same as a physical workout. I think the more we use our minds the stronger our minds will become. I however felt that others may benefit from this exercise because I think each person will have a different experience. Good post!