Unit 4 Loving-Kindness Exercise

Welcome all my health enthusiasts,

I enjoyed reading about practice 1: Loving-Kindness.  The first night (Wednesday) I started to do the loving-Kindness exercise I followed the book and did not do the recording.  I have to say that it was a little more difficult to just go by the text.  I would focus on one step at a time but after each step I would have to break my concentration to look at the book to see the next step.  This broke up the focus that I was striving to achieve.  From Thursday on I have used the recording and it works so much better I find myself following along and focused.  I do not lose this focus and there are no interruptions between the steps of the exercise.  This is an exercise that I have done every day since this week started for Unit 4, and have found this very beneficial.  I would recommend this recording exercise for anyone who wants to focus on the inward a little deeper. 

The other aspect to the success of this exercise for me was finding a quiet place.  Which is hard in a house of two young boys (one is going to turn 5 in nine days and the other one is turning 2 in Feb.) and not to mention my loving husband.  By the time I get the children to bed, my husband gets home and eats, gets his lunch ready for the next day, shower and then he sits down to relax in front of the TV.  Over the course of the evening he is in the kitchen, then master bathroom and in the living room.  There are not many places that I could go, that are quiet.  So I wait till he is relaxing in the living room and I go to the master bath, draw a bath and relax.  A great end to the day, it helps to relax me and then listening to the Loving-Kindness exercise causes me to relax my mind before bed.  I have to say focusing on the steps cause my mind to quiet and relax from all the jumbled thoughts that race. 

This exercise is working for me and I have to say I slept very well last night.  What works for all of you to relax and focus better?  Let me know if the exercise worked for you and/or your technique to relax.

Thanks, Emily