Articles tagged with: exercise

Fall Colors Visualization Meditation

Autumn- a bittersweet time of change

Fall can bring a sense of melancholy. The long warm days of summer are over, and it may feel like winter is just around the corner. On the other hand, autumn can hold spectacular days of sunshine, stunning colors, and crisp, fresh air. The best hiking near my home, high in the North Cascades, is in the fall when the snow has finally melted from the meadows, and the blueberry’s leaves have turned a vivid red.

Fall colors at Heather Meadows, North Cascades, Washington

Fall colors at Heather Meadows, North Cascades, Washington

If you can get out to a spectacular scene like a mountain panorama high in the Cascades, then by all means, hike to a high spot, find a comfortable log, and sit down to meditate. If that just doesn’t seem convenient, you can still enjoy some of that beauty, and the blissful peace that accompanies it, by using this visualization meditation. This works fine in other seasons too, and you don’t have to travel farther than the comfortable chair in your living room.

Trees reflected in Lake Whatcom, Washington

Trees reflected in Lake Whatcom, Washington

Autumn Visualization Meditation

Naturally the best autumn meditation would be one while you’re looking out over a beautiful scene. If you’re in such a place, try this meditation for connecting with nature. If you’re at home, and just wish you were out in nature, please continue reading.
I recommend finding a comfortable chair, but sit on the floor if you like. Close your eyes, and take a few deep clearing breaths, letting go of stress with each exhale. When you feel ready, visualize that you are in your comfortable chair, facing a scene with stunning fall colors. You might choose the reflection of colors in a lake, rolling alpine meadows covered with reds and golds, or a cascading creek.

Mt Baker in Autumn, Whatcom County, Washington

Mt Baker in Autumn, Whatcom County, Washington

Whatever scene you decide on, visualize it as clearly as you can. Imagine how fresh the air smells. Hear the breeze rustling the leaves. Feel the sun shining on your face. The colors are so intense that you can almost feel them. Enjoy these sensations for as long as feels comfortable. When you’re finished, take a few more clearing breaths and go about your day.

North Cascades National Park, Washington in the Fall

 

Love (Heart Chakra) Meditation

Focusing on the Heart Chakra

by Curt Remington

Feeling love, activating your heart chakra, is a wonderful way to improve relationships and experience more joy and happiness. This is very beneficial for the people around you too.

Heart Chakra Meditation

Curt & Mary Remington in Mountains

Once you’ve reached your quiet and comfortable place, take a few deep breaths and relax.  With your thoughts quieted, visualize a very important person in your life.  This could be a spouse or sweetheart, child, parent or close friend.  Holding their image, contemplate one or two traits that are unique and positive about them.  Maybe they’re very generous, creative, funny or loving.  If positive characteristics are not coming up, remember that person is only human and move through their traits until you find a positive one.  Everyone has some.  As you’re contemplating that trait, feel your fondness for that person.  The feeling is probably coming from the area of your heart or fourth chakra.  After feeling the warmth for that person, find someone else important in your life and do the same thing.

 

 As you move from person to person, sense a growing golden glow radiating from your heart, like sunshine.  Let the rays of this warmth shine for as long as you like, touching the important people in your life.  If you want, you can then expand it farther so it reaches others, that you don’t know, like everyone in your neighborhood, town or even expand it to the world.  If everyone did this, we could make the world a brighter, more loving place.  When you’re done, take a few more deep breaths and realize that you can continue to radiate some of that caring light as you go on about your day.

Flying Visualization Meditation

Pretending to Fly Can Be a Good Thing

by Curt Remington

 

You Can Fly!

Soaring Bald Eagle

Soar Like an Eagle

Have you ever wished that you could fly? Well, you can! Your spirit has known how to fly all along, and it probably does so at night, while you’re asleep. Have you ever had a vivid dream of flying, or you suddenly jerked awake from a dream of falling. You were probably having an out-of-body experience. If only we could remember all the exciting adventures our spirit has had. I believe that we will, once we permanently leave our current body behind. Until then, you can use this visualization meditation to spend some time away from your body, experiencing a wonderful spiritual state.

As a nature lover, I use this technique to fly to the mountains. You might decide to soar amongst clouds, skim cornfields or slalom through skyscrapers.

Flying Visualization Exercise

I recommend that you sit in a comfortable chair, in a quiet room. Laying down may sound appealing, but you risk falling asleep. If it works better for you, than go ahead. Once your situated, close your eyes, and take a few deep clearing breaths, releasing any tension as you exhale. Grounding and running your energies will help clear your energy system and get you into a meditative state. A simple breath meditation, or relaxation exercise may be all you need to warm up.At this point, I’ll share my own experiences. Please experiment and modify the technique to find what works for you, based on your own preferences and location.

Mt Baker, Washington

Top of Mt Baker in North Cascades, WA

Once in a meditative state, I visualize myself floating up out of my body and out through the window, which doesn’t have to be open. Stretching my spiritual arms to soar, I take a short flight over houses and treetops to Lake Whatcom, just a block away. From there, I’ll swoop down to the lake and fly low, skimming its surface. On a sunny day, I’ll feel warmth on my back and the cool of the lake below. At night, the surface sparkles and shimmers with moonlight. Reaching the end of the lake, I’ll ascend up over tree covered foothills, and quickly reaching snow-covered Mt Baker. Hovering over Coleman Glacier, I’ll drop into a crevasse and experience its cold silence, seeing the blue world of ice and snow as clearly as possible. From there, I soar home at cloud level, descend into my house and bring my consciousness back into my body. Then, I’ll either stretch and get up, or continue on to another meditation.

You undoubtedly have some interesting sights within a short flight from your house. If not, feel free to take a longer one. I’ve even used this technique to visit the moon. From the air, even a small town’s lights at night are a beautiful sight.

I’d love to hear of your exciting experiences with this. Please post them below. Thanks, Curt

Simple Breath Meditation

Focusing on the Breath

by Curt Remington

 

Reasons to Meditate

You are a spiritual being. There was a spiritual you before you were born, and there will be one still, after your body dies. Often, while we’re here on earth, we can get so caught up in our daily routines that we barely acknowledge that. We rush around from task to task, thinking and worrying about what we need to do next. Meditation can help us slow down, live more in the present, and reconnect with that wiser, eternal, spiritual part of ourselves. Some of the benefits of meditating are:

Woman meditating on a rock overlooking ocean.

Mary meditating at Larrabee State Park, WA

  • Improved energy, concentration and attention
  • Reduced stress, anger, anxiety and tension
  • Improved relationships
  • More forgiveness and gratitude
  • Less blocks to health and happiness
  • Access to intuition and psychic abilities

Meditation is Easy

Not only is meditating extremely beneficial, it is also easy. By the end of this article, you will have the basics you need to get started. To meditate, you don’t need to stop all the thoughts racing through your head. You just need to find something to gently focus on that slows down your other thoughts, so your mind and body can relax, and you can hear the whisperings of your spiritual self. In my Connect with Nature article, I mention a variety of focal points you can find in nature, but maybe it’s rainy or cold old out. Breathing is another very natural and simple focal point, or object of meditation. For at least 2500 years Buddhists and others, have used their breath as a focus in their meditation. Breathing draws in Prana, a vital life-sustaining force. Just follow the simple steps below and you’ll be meditating in no time.

 
 

Young Bald Eagles

Simple Breath Meditation Exercise

 

  1. If you’re tense, consider doing some stretching exercises before you start meditating. It’s also helpful to stand, let your arms hang and shake the tension out of your hands.
  2. For meditating, my recommendation is that you find a comfortable chair in a quiet room and sit with both feet on the ground. If you prefer to sit on the floor in a lotus position, go ahead.
  3. Close your eyes for the meditation. Start to become aware of your breathing. Take a deep breath, drawing from your abdomen, and hold it briefly, then exhale through your mouth. Relax and let your tension go out with your breath. Do this a few more times, and then return to a more relaxed, natural rate of breathing. At this point, I prefer to just breath through my nose.
  4. Gently focus on the sensations or some aspect of your breathing, such as the pause between breaths or the sensation of warmth as your breath leaves your nostrils. You might visualize the path of your breath as it is drawn down into your lungs.
  5. When a random thought pops in, and they will, take note of that, then let the thought go. To make this clear, I’ll  give you an example:
    1. a.      Normal Thoughts – I wonder what Cheryl meant by that remark earlier today? I’ll bet she was trying to make me look bad. You know I never did like her. Why do I even care? Nobody listens to her anyway…..
    2. b.      Trying to Meditate – I wonder what Cheryl meant by that remark? Oh yeah, I’m supposed to be meditating. Why does my mind keep wandering like this? Doesn’t everyone’s mind wander like this? I’ll bet Cheryl wouldn’t do any better. In fact Cheryl is probably the one that should be meditating….
    3. c.       Actually meditating – I wonder what Cheryl meant by that remark? Hmm… I had a thought. Let’s refocus on my breathing.
  6. Congratulations, you’re meditating. Do this as long as you like, but 15 minutes is a good goal. Ten minutes might be enough to start, then consider working up to 20 minutes a day.

Conclusion

The more that you practice meditating, the easier it will be to let go of distracting thoughts. Experiment with different techniques and find what works best for you. There are a number of great meditations on my web site, especially grounding and running your energies. They can be used to move quantum energy, releasing blocks to your health, emotional and spiritual well being. I use these everyday alone or before other meditation exercises or clairvoyant reading.

The benefits of meditating make it well worth your time and effort, so try to make it part of your daily routine.