Meditation

Reincarnation and Past Lives

Date: April 24, 2014 Author: admin Comments: Leave a reply

ReincarnationPastLives

Reincarnation and Learning From Past Lives

by Curt Remington

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Do we have past lives?

ReincarnationPastLives_clip_image002In performing psychic readings, I’ve viewed past lives from the caveman era, ancient civilizations, medievel Europe to 1970’s Boston. Looking at these lives has made it clear to me that we reincarnate countless times, working on many lessons. What would the alternative be? If we had only one life, we might spend it rich or poor, healthy or crippled, happy or miserable. Talk about the luck of the draw. With an eternity ahead of us, it makes far more sense that we’d experience and learn from all of these conditions. It also seems logical that we’d get lots of chances to “get it right.”

Last Saturday, there were hundreds of other people in Seattle that also believe in reincarnation. We all attended a fascinating past life regression workshop with Dr Brian Weiss, a psychiatrist, author and specialist in hypnotherapy. After the first group hypnosis exercise, 2/3 of the audience raised their hand to indicate they’d seen images from a previous lifetime. Along with more great exercises, Dr Weiss shared stories of people who’ve recalled visions of a prior life, then visited a place and found the details were just as they had seen them.

My clairvoyant training provided plenty of validating experiences. We looked at many lives for ourselves and each other. Occasionally, someone would give me specifics of a life that I had already seen for myself, with far too much detail to be coincidence. I’ve also seen boats or clothing, then gone to the internet and found that people really dressed like that in Morocco or used boats like that in Egypt around 2000 BC.

What can we learn from our past lives?

As a psychotherapist, Brian Weiss uses past-life regression to help people release health or emotional problems that are troubling them in this life. For instance, someone with severe claustrophobia may see themself buried alive in a tomb in ancient Egypt. Once they recognize where their fear originated, they can then quit worrying in this life.

For me, seeing many past lives, and how they fit together, has given me insight into the lessons I’m working on and why. At the workshop, I saw myself in buckskins with a muzzle loader, making my way home through woods, roughly 250 years ago. I came to my cabin and found my family killed by Indians. Full of anger and hate, I went too far in seeking revenge. Eventually, I found myself outnumbered and died from many arrows. In reviewing this life, I saw there were better alternatives. With less hate and anger, I might have done less violence and lived a longer life. With time and the support of friends living nearby, my grief would have lessened and I could have still found some happiness in that life.

In my next life, I was reincarnated as an indian and eventually became chief, seeing firsthand how terribly Indians were treated, lied to and forced onto poor reservations. I fought some in that life too, but soon realized the impossible odds. As chief, I worked on peace and on doing what I could for the tribe. Yes, I do believe in karma and that we learn from tough lessons.

Looking at these lives drove home messages about peace and about prejudice. We all are really one people, learning together, taking turns to experience different races and religions. If we could remember that, while we’re here, there would be a lot less fighting. By hating a group of people, you’re likely to come back as part of that group, in order to experience their point of view.

Learning the lessons you’re here to learn now will make your future lives easier and happier. If you don’t learn the lesson in this life, you may have to keep repeating it. My warrior lessons go back through many lifetimes. Apparently, I’m a slow learner, at least when it comes to being peaceful. You may have completely different lessons, like ones about generosity, bravery, compassion, love or countless others. The Michael Teachings website holds a wealth of information about life lessons and our spiritual progress through many lives. It also goes into soul age and characteristics that you carry with you from one lifetime to the next.

Have you already felt the effects of ancient memories?

Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy

Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy

You may already have subtle memories of earlier lifetimes. Are you especially drawn to mountains, oceans or desserts? You may have had a wonderful life near one of these. Maybe you’ve taken a trip and felt deja vu or a special connection with that place. I sure felt that visiting ancient Roman ruins.

You may even have felt an instant connection with certain people in your life. I truly felt love at first sight, when I met my wife. I have since found that we’ve been married in many lifetimes, going back thousands of years. We’ve also played other roles in each others lives, such as good friends, siblings, parents and children. You’ve undoubtedly spent many lifetimes with some of the key people in your life too.Along with sharing many lifetimes with key people, we may also spend our time in the spirit world with them, between lives and after we quit reincarnating. Like I mention in my “Science and Heaven” article, Dr Michael Newton does similar work to Dr Brian Weiss, but he focuses on our time between lives.

How can we remember our past lives?

Some people easily remember a past life, while others may find it a struggle. At the workshop, many people saw glimpses of a life immediately, during the group hypnosis. For others, it takes a lot of practice, especially for those of us that like to analyze everything. I’ve, at times, had the same problem, in performing psychic readings. It’s important to let images and information flow. Save the analyzing for later.

I included a meditation exercise for you to try. I also highly recommend Brian Weiss’s CDs, which you can find at Hay House or at Amazon. Seeing images on your own is a great way to experience your past, although it can take a good deal of meditation and practice. If you’re impatient or are having difficulty, a good psychic can tap into your past lives and give you key information. My wife and I have looked at past lives for a variety of people. I forgot to mention it on my psychic readings page, but there is general information on readings.

Past Life Meditation

Every time I sit down to meditate, I start bygrounding and running my energies. These two meditation exercises will help you relax and clear out other thoughts and interfering energies. Using these exercises every day will eventually make everything else easier, like staying calm, being nice, becoming psychic and lots of other wonderful stuff.
Anyway, once you’re in a calm, clear meditative state, with your eyes closed, have the intention of tuning into a past life. You can even specify a time period or a particular type of life, like a life with someone you’re close to or a life that you were rich, brave, poor or whatever. With that intention, wait and see what comes up. Maybe you’ll get a sense of something, like feeling great space and dry dessert air around you. Images might start taking shape, like woods or an ancient city, possibly a snowy tundra. Relax and try to explore. A good first step is to look down at your shoes or bare feet. They may give you a good clue as to the era. Can you see what else you’re wearing? Is someone with you? Do you sense that you also know them in this life? If all you’re seeing is the back of your eyelids, relax and enjoy your calm meditative state. This may take practice.
If you are getting good pictures, try moving forward in time and see what happens. What lessons did you learn in this life? If you feel up to it, you can even move to the end of that life. There can be important messages in how our lives ended and in any life review we may have done. Once you come out of your meditative state, more questions may come up, like how the lessons in that life may pertain to the life you are in now. Did you have a trauma in that life, that is causing you trouble in this life? Take the time to look at these, and try this technique again later. The more that you do it, the easier it will get.

Meditation for Returning Soldiers

Author: admin Comments: Leave a reply

ReturningSoldiers

Meditation and Healing: Returning Soldiersby Curt Remington

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

Thank You For Your Service

This article is for you soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. You’ve endured harsh and stressful conditions, risked your life and spent time away from your families. Some or you have seen the trauma of battle, experienced war related crime, come home seriously wounded or having lost friends. I’m sorry for any loss you’ve suffered, and I thank you for what you have done.
Along with saying thanks, I’d like to share some meditation exercises that may help in dealing with the stress and the transition back to life here. These techniques would benefit anyone and might be especially beneficial to those suffering from depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. This is not intended to be a replacement for professional counseling or therapy, so if you feel that you should have help, please do what you can to get it.

Inspiration for Writing This

ReturningSoldiers_clip_image002I’m a part-time psychic, having taken a clairvoyant training program, performed many readings and received ideas and suggestions from the spirit world. You may want to read my “Psychic Experiences” article. The idea to help returning soldiers first came through a dream. The suggestion to write this article, and some specific techniques, came through helpful spirits, including one of my guardian angels/guides. Why me? First off, because I’m psychic. It would be pretty hard for spirits to give these suggestions to someone that can’t hear them. Second, I have a warrior background, which I learned about performing psychic readings on past lives. Now I do believe in reincarnation. If you don’t, you can still get plenty of benefit out of this articles.

In this life, faulty eyesight resulted in a quick discharge from the navy’s pilot program and a basically peaceful life. In many past lives, I did experience the hardship and trauma of battle, ending my most recent life at Omaha Beach, during during the WW II Normandy Invasion. In other lives I fought in the Civil War, French Revolution, as an indian, three lives in the Roman army, at least one in the Greek, fighting the Mongols during the13th century invasion of Europe and in many others lives that I’m barely aware of. Most of you reading this have undoubtedly spent other lives in battle too. Like me, you’ve probably also spent many peaceful lives farming, baking, fishing, nursing, raising a family, running a business or in countless other occupations.

Broader Spiritual Perspective

By becoming aware of my past lives, I’ve adopted a different perspective that focuses on my whole spiritual existence, not just this one life. In the broader spiritual perspective, I’ve found that horrible experiences seem not quite so intense, when they are a small part of a much bigger picture. A great deal of what we learn on our spiritual path is through hardship, so virtually all souls that are reincarnating on earth have been through some horrible experiences.

In psychically speaking to a murder victim, I better came to understand this. The murder was a number of years earlier, but after hearing the violent details, I expected my encounter with the victim to be emotional and spooky. Upon asking how the murder affected her, she calmly reported that she was upset, just after it happened. Rejoining the spirit world, she came to realize that tragic things happen to everyone, in the course of their lives and learning. As far as I could tell, she had let go of her pain and anger.

Warrior’s Meditation

ReturningSoldiers_clip_image004Meditation can help release your pain, stress, anger or guilt. It can help you relax and can help clear blocks to your health and happiness. Some techniques I’ll describe may be especially beneficial to those that have been through traumatic experiences like combat or witnessing deaths, rape and torture.

Before you start meditating, I suggest reading my “Science and Heaven” article to help make sense of this spiritual and energy stuff. Then please read two articles on meditation. First, one on Grounding, followed by “Running Your Energies.” This may sound like a lot, but they’re all short and fascinating. Yes, I may be biased.

The meditations in those two articles would be beneficial to anyone. The more you practice them, the more sensitive you will become to feeling your own energy flow. While running your energies, try to be aware of any blocks, especially ones related to pain, sorrow or guilt. Imagine energy flow melting those blocks and carrying them down your grounding cord.

Those first exercises may be worth practicing regularly on their own for some time. I suggest doing that, until you get comfortable with reaching a relaxed meditative state, grounding and running your energies. This could take a few weeks or so.

As you feel up to it, you can try adding some more advanced “warrior meditation” techniques. One technique is to take one of your battle memories and see it as if it were in a picture frame in front of you. Connect a grounding cord to the picture, like when you grounded yourself. Let any negative energy drain off and go deep into the ground. This could be the energy from your own grief, fear, guilt or other people’s energy. As much as you comfortably can, look at your worst memories this way, draining the energy from the picture. With less energy, those painful memories won’t be so likely to haunt you.

Another technique you can try is to imagine creating an object in front of you. For some reason, psychics alway seem to use roses. You could probably just as well create a tree, garbage can, phone or you can use your imagination. Once the object’s there, imagine the energy from any negative emotions going from your aura into the object. Once all the energy is there, destroy it. You can just watch the item pop and disappear, you can erase it or you can even blow it up. By doing this, you are actually neutralizing the energy. This is intended as a gentle exercise for releasing negative energy. If you find yourself violently blowing up cars and buildings, please reground yourself, relax and start over.

Spiritual Questions Related to War

You may have spiritual questions related to the war, and things you did there. You may have killed. Maybe you feel that something you did cost a fellow soldier their life. My answers are based on what knowledge I have from books, intuition and my communication with spirits and other psychics. It may be skewed by my opinion, so only believe what rings true for you. You have a right to your opinion too.

Does God, and my spirit guides/angels, still love me?   Yes. They are very caring and forgiving, wanting you to learn from mistakes. Here, and in the spirit world, we tend to be our own harshest judges.

Is killing in war the same thing as murder?   I believe that the spirit world views it differently, depending on the circumstances and the intention. Looking at world history, there has been an enormous amount of killing in the name of war. Many of those warriors have gone on to do wonderful things in that life or in later lives.

Will there be consequences for what I did?   Maybe. There is such a thing as karma, which is viewed as an opportunity to learn from our behavior. If you have been extremely cruel in this life, you may be subjected to similar treatment in the next. Or, you might spend a life as a doctor, or helping people in other ways, to repay battlefield karma. This is part of the learning and growth process for all souls. Maybe writing this article is part of my karma.

Getting On With Life

It will no doubt be a difficult transition, going from the stress of war and active duty to civilian life, with a whole new set of issues. Routines at home have changed. Your children are older and at different place in life. Civilian conversations and situations may seem trivial, unorganized and frustrating. Spouses or partners may have had to move on in making household decisions or new realms of their lives. They may react to situations more independently, and it may be hard to “fit” in and feel like a natural part of your family and friends network and your community at large. Even if you didn’t face combat, the disruption to your life may be enormous. Here are some suggestions, that I hope will help.ReturningSoldiers_clip_image006

  • Talk to other soldiers. Work things out with your unit and buddies. Rely on each other
  • Forgive yourself, if you feel you did something wrong. Holding onto guilt does no one good, and it makes it difficult to move on.
  • Don’t expect to be perfect. No one is. So, if you need help with any problems, do your best to get it.
  • If you’re not in counseling, find someone to talk to, possibly a friend or family member. God and your spirit guides or guardian angels are always caring and ready to listen.
  • Use the meditation exercises to help let go of sorrow, guilt, anger, stress or whatever else you may be experiencing. They may also make you more psychic.
  • Get out and enjoy nature, skiing or snowboarding, hiking, kayaking, fishing or biking. Work on being in the moment, enjoying, and paying attention to, the sights and sounds around you.
  • Like you did in nature, try to stay in the moment at work and with family and friends.
  • Exercise will keep you in shape, release stress and get your energy flowing.
  • Avoid using drugs or alcohol to deal with the pain. They make matters worse in the long run.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading this article. Any comments or experiences you want to post here would be greatly appreciated. You have to sign in, so I can avoid getting spam, but your information is strictly confidential. You don’t even have to use your real name. Feel free to write me directly, if you prefer, at curtremington@comcast.net.

Basic Energy Healing

Author: admin Comments: Leave a reply

BasicEnergyHealing

by Curt Remington

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008

Healing With Energy

BasicEnergyHealing_clip_image002If you’ve read “Running Your Energies” and “Meditation & Grounding”, you’ve already learned powerful meditation techniques for healing yourself. Using a similar technique, you can help other people to move energy and release blocks, so they too can heal themselves.

Encourage Meditating

One option is to encourage that person read those articles and practice meditating themselves. I realize there may be a number of reasons this may not work. They may not want to bother. You may not know them very well, but know that they need healing. They may not be in any condition to meditate, or you may just be afraid that they’ll think you’re nuts and not listen anyway. Whatever the reason, sometimes it’s just easier to do it yourself. The technique I’m going to describe can be done with them sitting in front of you, or it can be done long distance. Energy doesn’t seem to mind the distance, and I’ve done many readings and healings for people 1800 miles away. I always first ask for permission from them or telepathically from their spiritual/higher self, which is usually much more enlightened and cooperative than their human persona. It is possible that even on a spiritual level, someone doesn’t want to be healed. They may have a karma issue or a lesson that it interferes with. If that’s the case, just leave well enough alone. Maybe you’re not that used to communicating telepathically. To do it, once you’ve meditated, imagine the person and try thinking your question, calmly listening for an answer. If you get a strong sense of “no,” find someone else to heal. The vast majority of people, at least on a spiritual level, are very appreciative of any help.

Performing the Healing

First, I would recommend grounding and running your own energies, as described in the previous articles. If the other person isn’t sitting in front of you, say “hi” telepathically. Tell them what you want to do, and ask for permission. Once you get a go-ahead, picture a mock-up of their body. Like you did for yourself, connect a grounding cord to their first chakra. From that point, you can run through the same steps for them that you followed in “Running Your Energies” or you can simply picture a big ball of healing energy (blue, gold or a color of their choice) over them. Watch it pour blobs of clean energy all over, melting away any blocks or sickness, which flushes down their grounding cord. Replacing that energy with fresh, healthy energy. Run this energy until all of their energy seems clean and healthy. Once you’re finished, you don’t have to shut the energy off. I even suggest to the healee’s higher self that they continue to keep the energy running as long as they want. You can then thank them for the opportunity to practice this. Doing this healing will get your energy flowing and be beneficial to you too. Maybe your healee with thank you at this point, or maybe they’ll just look at you strangely and head for the door. Either way, your healing with do them a great deal of good.

 

BasicEnergyHealing_clip_image004Summary

This technique can be very helpful, along with the medical attention someone may need. It may not cure everyone, but there are countless cases of people overcoming an illness through energy healing, willpower and faith. Just look at how great this swan feels now.

PS

The same day I finished this article, we got great news regarding a healing recipient. My wife Mary (a very proficient and well trained energy healer) and I got a call requesting a long-distance healing. The caller’s friend was in a coma and in critical condition, with a severe staph infection, pneumonia, on a ventilator and on full-time dialysis. His prospect for survival was not great. Mary and I performed a reading and healing together, working especially hard at releasing blocks in the damaged areas of his body. Later that day, Mary got a message from the spirit world (voice in her head) that she should keep doing healings every day for a week. She performed them daily, using a similar but more advanced technique. Today, one week later, we got a call saying he just came out of the coma and had his dialysis reduced to three hours a day. His medical treatment undoubtedly had a lot to do with his recovery, as did the prayers of friends and family. We’re confident that her healings also played a large part in his recovery. This was confirmed by one of Mary’s spirit guides.

Grounding Meditation

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