Articles tagged with: meditation

Grounding Meditation

Date: April 24, 2014 Author: admin Comments: 2 Replies

Grounding

by Curt Remington

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008

Benefits of Grounding

GroundingMeditation_clip_image002Meditation and grounding are great techniques for improving your life, helping you to relax, sharpen your focus, improve your health and spiritual connection and to let go of negative energies. If you’re well grounded, you’ll be less likely to be troubled by life’s bumps in the road, and less susceptible to other people’s hysterics, grouchiness or anger. This snowboarder looked very ungrounded, and look what happened to him.

Easy Way to Meditate

There are many ways to meditate, but these exercises are a great starting point. Not only will they help you obtain a more calm, focused state, but they’ll also introduce you to some basic energy work, using your thoughts to control the energy described in my “Science & Heaven” article.

You may be wondering what grounding is, or at least what it has to do with meditating. The grounding I’m talking about is similar to your house’s electrical grounding, a connection to the earth to release stray current. Your personal grounding gives you a strong connection to the earth and an effective way to release negative energies, like anxiety, stress, pain and anger. You can also form a metaphysical grounding for your house, room or office to release such energies.

Releasing Energy

As I mentioned in “Science & Heaven,” energy does respond to thought, and energy in a non-solid form, responds immediately to thought. So, when you imagine a grounding cord, you are actually creating one. The more clearly you can picture it, the better it will work. Your grounding cord could take any of many shapes, like a rope, tree, chain, column of light or maybe a fiber-optic cable. The cord should extend from your first chakra, at the base or your spine, all the way down to the center of the Earth. It will pass through buildings, air, water or whatever, but grounding seems to be strongest when you’re outdoors. Don’t worry about that though, it works anywhere.

GroundingMeditation_clip_image004You can use this simple exercise to put grounding into practice, and it is a form of meditation. Initially, it’s easiest on a chair, in a quiet room, where you won’t be disturbed. Make sure your feet reach the ground, or are on a pillow that does. Close your eyes and relax. Take a few deep breaths, exhaling slowly. Now imagine the grounding cord of your choice, such as a thick fiber-optic cable, extending from the base of your spine straight down to the center of the planet. Imagine what the cable looks like and what the connection feels like. Gravity is drawing any negative energies out of you, clearing your aura, and drawing them down your cord.

If annoying thoughts are popping into your head, they may be part of the energy that you’re releasing. With a fiber-optic cable, as your cord, you can watch the darker energy on its way down, otherwise just sense the energy as it makes its way down. Decide what you want to release, and encourage it to go. If it seems difficult, because you’re trying too hard, let your effort go down the cord too.

The molten heat, at the center of the earth, will change any negative energy back to pure energy, then it can return to its source. So if you’re releasing negative energy from a fight with a friend, don’t feel guilty. The energy will return to them in a neutral form.

Once you’re used to this technique, you can use it anywhere, like work, while walking, at the computer and while driving, to let go of what you’re thinking about that tailgater. Just make sure you’re careful, and don’t go into a trance.

Grounding Your Environment

Notice how content and at peace this well-grounded bighorn sheep looks. Her environment is very well grounded too. Grounding your own environment makes it a safer place to meditate and releases any negative energy out of your room or house. To ground your room, imagine a grounding cord extending from the floor to the center of the earth. Imagine a ball of gold energy expanding from the center of the GroundingMeditation_clip_image006room. Let it grow until it fills the whole room, house or property. The higher vibration gold energy will help move out anything negative.

Not only does this move out negative energy, but bringing up the vibration in the house can have a positive effect on everyone in the house. I use these techniques every night and have found them to be greatly beneficial. I’m almost always cheerful, haven’t had a cold in ages, and I actually get along with my teenage daughters. The gold energy must be effecting them too.

I encourage you to use these techniques. Some people may notice results immediately, while others may take weeks of daily practice. Whether you immediately notice it or not, they will be helping to clear your energy and improve your spiritual connection, so stick with it. If you live in the vicinity of Bellingham, Washington, taking a class through Jill Miller is a great experience, and keeps you practicing. She is great at teaching, managing energy and psychically reading. All of her classes start with basic meditation techniques.I plan to keep writing, so please check back for additional articles covering more advanced techniques, like “running your energies.” Feel free to write with any questions or comments.

 

Tree Meditation

Date: April 15, 2014 Author: admin Comments: Leave a reply

Tree Meditation

Meditation and Healing: Tree Meditation

by Curt Remington

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Not long after writing an article with a tree meditation, I spent a day backcountry skiing, between Nooksack Ridge and Mt Shuksan, in a drizzling rain. After a number of miles of gradual climbing, I found myself in a remote stand of fir trees, miles from anyone, fully enjoying the solitude. As I rested, I tuned into the patter of rain on my hood, the wind gently blowing through the trees and the damp, fresh smell of the woods.

Inspired to meditate, my plan was to try the tree meditation described in my article, “Meditation to Connect with Nature”. Before starting on that meditation, I got to thinking about the trees surrounding me. My first thought was that it would be awfully boring be to be stuck in one place, as a tree, in such a remote forest.

As the focal point for my meditation, I decided to imagine myself as one of the straight and strong fir trees that stood above me. This was similar to my earlier tree meditation, but with a different focus. Rather than imagining myself on a stump and running the energy of the tree, I simply imagined being a tree and all the details that go with it. From that perspective, I realized that a tree might look at life completely differently, perfectly content to stand firmly, deeply rooted to the Earth. Rocking gently with a light breeze. A tree wouldn’t be bored. It would always be in the now, just experiencing.

I also became aware that if you really paid attention, there is a lot to experience, even in a remote section of woods.  As a tree, you’d notice the changes in weather, with a rain soaking your branches on a day like this one. On some days you might relish the morning sun, as it warms your branches, steaming off the morning dew. On other days, strong winds might howl and cause you to sway and bend. Constantly outdoors, you’d never miss a spectacular sunset or a moonlit night.

TreeMeditation_clip_image006For company, there are countless neighboring trees swaying alongside, along with birds, squirrels and insects that make a home in your branches. Deer would come to nibble on your new growth, and an occasional bear may come to sharpen its claws.
Those claws are probably what brought me out of my meditation, momentarily forgetting that the bears were still peacefully hibernating.

I finished feeling refreshed and with a new perspective on trees. Even with a greater appreciation for their life, I still appreciated my own mobility, so I pushed off with my poles and skied down the hill, towards the dry comfort of my car.

While I wrung out my gloves and loaded my gear, I decided this experience was worthy of a new blog article. I hope you agree. You don’t have to be standing in the woods to try this form of meditation. In fact, you could try a variation, imagining life as a wolf, an eagle, or even a rock, a creek or whatever.

As you may have noticed, the picture of Nooksack Ridge was taken on a different, sunny day. It’s a few miles from where I was skiing, and it does have lots of trees. The picture at the top of my blog is Mt Shuksan, also just a few miles from my life as a tree experience.

Connect With Nature

Author: admin Comments: 1 Reply

ConnectWithNature

Meditation to Connect With Nature

by Curt Remington

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

Many outdoor activities can also be a great form of meditation. What? you may think. Activity and meditating are opposites and certainly not related. Doesn’t meditating mean sitting still and blanking your mind? Maybe you don’t think that, but I used too. Actually, meditating means finding a single focus for your mind, to slow down all the other racing thoughts that may otherwise be there. That way you can attain relaxation and a deeper awareness. In other words, meditating makes you feel good. As I’m sure you’ve heard, there are lots of other health benefits too.

ConnectWithNature_clip_image002Okay, so what kind of outdoor activities could we consider a meditation? Falling into a rhythmic motion, and staying in the present, while you kayak, hike or climb can all be moving meditations, similar to walking a labyrinth. Sitting, or moving slowly through a forest, watching intently for wildlife can really make you feel a part of the habitat. I do this with my camera regularly.
Relaxing in a lounge chair, listening to ocean waves and letting go of other thoughts, is incredibly relaxing. There’s good reason people save for their beach vacations. Sitting on a mountaintop, looking out in awe at the scene before you is also a wonderful meditation. I realize that some of these activities aren’t very active, but it probably took some real activity to get to the mountaintop.
By practicing a few techniques, you can combine nature with meditation to make your time outdoors even better. On days that you can’t get out, visualization along with some of these same techniques, can help bring nature indoors and make your meditating even better. If you don’t already meditate, these techniques could be a great way to get started.

Natural Focal Points

As I mentioned earlier, meditating means finding a single focus for your mind, which allows your mind and body to relax, stay in the present and get more in touch with your surroundings. By paying close attention to your environment, you can find many things to focus on, like the examples below:

  • A beautiful scene – Mountains and beaches are great, but it could be a gently waving cornfield.
  • Water sounds, like a gurgling creek, rain or waves lapping at a boat or shore
    Wind through the trees and the fresh air that it carries
  • The dancing flames of a fire
  • Bird sounds and their activity – Maybe consider a feeder or bath outside your window
  • A rising or setting sun and its rapidly changing lighting
  • Clouds, as they move across the sky in ever-changing shapes

If you live in the middle of a large city, you may even find man-made focal points that work well for you, like the hum of machinery, looking over a cityscape or the sounds of a busy park. Unfortunately, some city noises just aren’t as soothing as the sounds you would find in a remote wilderness. If you find the sounds distracting, take note of them, then let them go and tune-in to something else.
For those of you that are indoors today, you can relax and enjoy a similar state by tuning into a CD of waves, a gurgling creek or birds. You could even gaze at the flame in your fireplace, imagining an outdoor campfire, or at a scenic photograph, putting yourself in that environment.

Tune Into Nature Exercise

To put this into practice. Find a park, garden, forest or whatever, and make your way to a comfortable place to sit. For the first time, a quiet place without lots of passerbys would be good. If you can’t do this now, feel free to print this page, put it in your pocket and come back to this exercise later.
As you make your way to your place in nature, pay close attention to your surroundings. Are there unusual sounds or smells? What is the lighting like? Is it warm or cold? What kind of breeze? Are there interesting people or animals around you? What about patterns or interesting details?
Have you reached your destination? Okay, sit down and relax. Did you find something on the way to tune into? Is there a beautiful scene? Whatever it is, take note of it, and use it to gently focus on. If it’s a sound, you can close your eyes if you want. If you find that you’re thinking again, don’t be hard on yourself, but remember to come back to your original focus. Get a sense that you are indeed connected to all that is around you: the ground, trees, air, animals and any people too. Feel this connection, without giving it much thought. Do this for as long as seems comfortable.
On your way home, try to retain your calm state and stay alert to your surroundings, watching for whatever might catch your attention. It’s a great world we live in, but much of the time we are just too busy to notice.

 

Tree Meditation

ConnectWithNature_clip_image004Tuning into nature has all the usual benefits of meditation and helps you connect with your surroundings. For even greater benefit, you can intentionally take in and run the quantum energy in your surroundings, releasing blocks to your health, emotional and spiritual well being. My articles on grounding and running your energies cover specific meditations for moving quantum energy. This “tree meditation” is a simpler exercise for obtaining some of those same benefits.
If you have the chance, you can do this exercise in a park, woods or at the side of a hiking trail. Otherwise, it works fine in a comfortable chair at home, using your imagination to visualize the serene outdoor surroundings.

 

  • Imagine a small creek, at the edge of a woods. You’re on a tree stump, sitting comfortably, listening to the creek and birds. The sun is on your face, warming and relaxing you.
  • As you listen, you feel more a part of the natural scene, as you become almost a part of the stump. You can feel the energy of the tree that was once there. Your body feels connected, as if you’ve replaced the tree. Any tension and negative emotions sinks from your body, down through the trunk and into a very deep root extending towards the center of the Earth.
  • Your feet and legs feel connected to the ground, and energy runs up through your feet, like the shallower roots that fed the tree.
  • Golden sunlight, and the energy of the air, soak and pour in through your head, the way a tree absorbs sun through its leaves. Your arms and body are warmed by this light, like the branches of the tree.
  • Feel the energy from the earth and the sky filling and moving through your body, rejuvenating and releasing blocks along the way. Any excess energy continues down through the stump and down the deep root where it’s released into the ground.
  • Relax, and let the energy of the sky and earth continue to run.
  • When you feel ready, take a few deep breaths and stretch, making your separation from the tree. As you get up, you will take some of this new energy with you, feeling more invigorated.

Summary

These techniques are a great way to start meditating or a great way to make your outdoor activities even better. When hiking or kayaking, my wife and I look forward to finding a secluded, scenic spot and practicing some of our meditation techniques, really taking in the energy of the place. I think you’ll find this to be a wonderful experience too.

Video of Bagley Lakes Trail, North Cascades, Washington

Sierra Trading Post

Eight Simple Steps to Improve Your Public Speaking

Date: November 25, 2013 Author: admin Comments: 1 Reply

I Dreaded Public Speaking!

For years, I dreaded public speaking. Like I mentioned in “Toastmasters and Public Speaking,” having a book to promote (Simple Meditation) is what finally convinced me to develop my skills. I joined Toastmasters and worked hard to get over my fears. Now, I’ve done countless Toastmasters speeches, worked my way up to area governor, held meditation workshops and been the guest speaker at a variety of events for different organizations.

Reasons to Improve Your Speaking Skills

Somewhere along the way, I really came to enjoy public speaking, and I’ve gotten quite a bit better too. If you follow some of the same steps that I have, you can improve your public speaking too, and you might even come to enjoy it.
There are some good reasons to improve your speaking skills. An obvious one is that it could help advance your career. Through public speaking, you can teach, persuade, sell, or entertain. For these same reasons, public speaking can help you promote a book, a business, or a cause that you believe in.
Speaking helps you connect with others, so it can be a path to new friendships. Improving and developing as a speaker also provides a great sense of accomplishment, especially because this requires facing and overcoming a fear so many people have.

Steps to Improve Your Public Speaking

The best way to get to be a great public speaker is to do lots of speeches. Don’t worry if your speeches aren’t perfect. No one’s speeches are. In the meantime, here are eight simple tips to improve your public speaking now:
1. Pick a topic you’re interested in. The closer to your heart the subject is, the easier it is to deliver a speech with enthusiasm and sincerity.
2. The best speech is a story with a message. If your topic doesn’t allow for delivering it as a story, at least try to incorporate a story or two into your talk.
3. Practice more than you think you need to. You will deliver your speech with more confidence. Instead of staring at your notes, you can work on connecting with your audience.
4. As the author of a book on meditation, I use a variety of visualization and meditation techniques. A great one for public speaking is to sit down, close your eyes and visualize yourself delivering your talk. See it going well, even see the audience applauding and congratulating you on your fine job.
5. Use a very brief grounding exercise, shortly before you do your speech. This gives you a way to release nervous energy and allows your body to feel more secure and connected.
6. When you get up to deliver your talk, don’t think about how you’re doing. That’s an almost surefire recipe for nervousness. Instead, focus on your audience and your message, as if you were talking to a small group of friends.
7. Don’t be afraid to use vocal variety and gestures. They’ll help keep your audience awake, and they’ll make your talk much more interesting.
8. I mentioned that the best speech is a story with a message. You can really bring a story to life if you add direct dialogue, acting out the roles.
You may have many opportunities to deliver speeches or presentation. There are the ones someone requires you to do and those that you volunteer for. By taking a few simple steps, you can enjoy these opportunities, instead of dreading them like so many people do. You can also learn to do a much better job of getting your message across.
My two final recommendations, for significantly improving your speaking, are to speak every chance you get, and consider join a Toastmasters club.
Below, you can find a talk I delivered as the guest speaker for Unity Church of Bellingham. There were a few distractions at first, but once I got past those, the talk went well.

 

Fall Colors Visualization Meditation

Date: October 20, 2013 Author: admin Comments: 2 Replies

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

 

Serenity in Stehekin

Date: October 11, 2013 Author: admin Comments: 1 Reply

Stehekin: Destination for Vacation and Relaxation

by Curt Remington

How would you like to visit a place that is truly beautiful, secluded and unique, a place where you can find serenity and really relax. Stehekin, Washington is such a place, and it’s affordable too. You can even camp there, if you like. It takes a little work to reach, but getting there is well worth the effort and half the fun. There are no roads to Stehekin, so you have to hike, boat or fly. Fortunately, the boating option includes a couple of passenger ferries that regularly make the trip up Lake Chelan, a 55 mile long fjord-like lake that’s the third deepest in the United States. Its gorge is the deepest in North America, if you measure to the bottom of the lake, 1486 feet below the surface.

Chelan Sunset

Lake Chelan Sunset

So, what is Stehekin? The Native American word means “the way through,” since the Cascade Pass and Stehekin valley served as a trade route for many, many years. Now,Stehekin Landing and the valley are a small, rustic community, with 75+ year-round residents, surrounded by the rugged beauty of Washington’s North Cascades mountains. Stehekin Landing contains a resort with lodge buildings, docks, some picnic areas, a restaurant, some gift shops, a National Park Service visitor center and a small campground.

What to Do

It’s a wonderful place for hikers, climbers and boaters to do their thing, but anyone can come and relish the seclusion of sitting on one of the lodge’s decks, overlooking the lake. From there, you can feel the gentle breezes, smell the Ponderosa pine and watch the activity on the docks. There’s just enough activity to be interesting, but not so much that it actually distracts from your relaxing. To me, meditating is one of the best things to do in the valley.

Lady of the Lake

Lady of the Lake

If you decide to leave the deck to explore the area, there are 15 or so miles of roads in the Stehekin Valley, along with countless miles of trails. Nearby trails range from a short nature path behind the visitor center to the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,650 mile trail that extends from Mexico to Canada. We met a group of “thru-hikers” that were fascinating but a bit ripe smelling. Upon reaching civilization, a shower would rank high on my priority list, and they are available in Stehekin. Regular phone service is not available, however there is a satellite phone for emergencies.

The National Park Service operates busses that run up and down the valley, or you can rent bikes, providing access to places like the Stehekin Pastry Company, the Stehekin Valley Ranch and many of the trails.

On our recent trip, two of my daughters took the bus to the ranch for a horseback ride, where they spotted a cinnamon-colored black bear.

I rode the same bus with my daughters as far as the Rainbow Loop Trailhead. From there, I set out on a five-mile hike which turned into nine miles, after a side-trip and an extension on the end, to take-in more of the beautiful scenery. One of my stops put me at the top of a cliff with panoramic views up the valley into North Cascades National Park, extending down the valley and all the way to Lake Chelan’s turquoise waters. The extension at the end of my hike brought me to Rainbow Falls, a spectacular 312 foot cascade, and to Harlequin Bridge over the Stehekin River, where I waited for the bus.

Rainbow Falls

Rainbow Falls

That evening, we had a delicious dinner in the restaurant. Our bus driver stopped in, immediately recognizing my daughters and I. She introduced herself to my wife, saying “Oh, you must be the mom.”

People are very friendly. The last time we visited, the woman running the craft store was also our waitress that night and the teacher during the school year. Even with all those jobs, I’ll bet she still finds time to enjoy the serenity of the area. For those of you that aren’t in Stehekin, you can try this visualization meditation for connecting with the wonderful serenity and energy of the place.

Meditation for Connecting with Stehekin

Find a comfortable chair in a quiet place, and take a seat. It doesn’t have to be in Stehekin. Take a long look at the picture of the Adirondack chair with the view up to the end of Lake Chelan. This chair is for your use and sits alongside a public gazebo near the lodge. As you can see, it overlooks the tranquil waters of the lake, with distant views into North Cascades National Park. Now close your eyes and imagine yourself in that chair. You can feel a slight breeze on your cheek and smell the fresh mountain air with a hint of lake smell. Feel the soothing energy of the lake and the mountains that surround you. Let the earth energy soak in through your feet, while blue energy from the sky runs down through the top of your head. Occasionally, a bird chirps and the pine needles rustle. Imagine these details as clearly as you can, and feel the energy of the place renewing you. When you feel ready, open your eyes and let the Adirondack chair turn back into whatever you’re sitting on.

Holden Village

Holden Village is another secluded, unique and beautiful place. To reach Holden, it’s eight miles “down lake” from Stehekin, then 12 miles up a remote road. Holden is on the border of the Glacier Peaks Wilderness and is deep in the mountains. Since 1960, Holden has been owned and operated by the Lutheran Church and is used as a “center for renewal.” You don’t have to be Lutheran to go there, however I believe they expect you to take part in their programs. Nightly rates are very reasonable and include lodging, food and the programs.

The village is an old mining community (closed in 1957), where $66,500,000 worth of copper, gold and zinc were removed. At one time the remote village had a movie theater, bowling alley and ice cream parlor, in order to keep morale up among the miners.

Reaching Stehekin or Holden Village

Although there are no roads to either location, there are rugged trails through the wilderness from places like Cascade Pass or Rainy Pass. The shorter routes to Stehekin are approximately 18 miles of hiking (one way) plus catching the park service bus. For most of us, this is a multi-day backpacking trip. Of course you can take the Pacific Crest Trail in, starting as far away as the Mexican border.

View of Lake Chelan

View of Lake Chelan

From Chelan, Washington, at the other end of the lake, you can get on a floatplane or one of the ferries, Lady of the Lake II and Lady Express. Round-trip ferry tickets start at $39, much cheaper than a round trip flight to the Seychelles. Of course you need to reach Chelan first, possibly via a flight into Seattle and a scenic drive over the North Cascades. You might even consider the full Cascade Loop. According to National Geographic traveler, it’s “one of America’s grandest, most spectacular drives.” The route includes stops like Leavenworth, Washington’s version of a Bavarian village and Winthrop, fashioned after the American old west.

Whatever route you take, Stehekin is a beautiful, secluded and unique place where you can find some real serenity.

This article was written by Curt Remington