Loving Kindness and Integral Assessment

Good afternoon,

I once again went and did the Loving Kindness practice. This time I knew what to expect in terms of where the exercise was going. I did however note that I either thought of other subjects or found myself zoning out. I am discovering that what I thought of as meditation actually involves some active mental training on the part of the practicioneer. For myself I find that I really need to focus on what I am supposed to be accomplishing. For this exercise I thought of the person that brings high levels of love for myself and as I moved through the exercise I kept having to re-think of this person as the feelings that I felt were to be going out to others. I strongly believe that what we put out into the world each day does come back to us and that like minded people are attracted to each other. If making others the focus of  your life is a goal than you will run into people that also have a serving mindset in giving to others.

The second part of this exercise was to look at areas within ourselves that we may need to spend time on healing or giving extra loving attention. For myself the areas that have been a struggle have been in finding time to exercise and to follow a well balanced diet. This weekend I started on this path by doing a cleanse - fast type structure. I limited my protein and did not ingest any processed foods. Friday was mostly focused on fruits and veggies with Saturday more on soups and broths. Today I am including protein. Yet on all three days there has not been any processed carbs. This is to help cut down on my cravings for sweets that we seem to be bombarded with during this time of year. Once this weekend is over then I will continue in limiting my carbs to complex and get back to some type of daily activity. I plan on walking at work during my breaks and doing yoga at home.

Jonathan.