Accelerated mind – Peaceful mind – AND – All things are connected

Racing Mind – Mind at peace

I struggle with a racing mind; Thoughts, worries, questions, images, stress, sadness and fears run rampant in my head, during the day, but especially at night, when sleep is impossible because my brain is in overdrive.

At such times, you might seek the comfort of a good book. The transcendent splendor of music. The tranquility that is obtained when walking in the nature; Walking through the countryside and the nearby hills. Walking a leaf strewn trail in Yosemite Valley. Lightly treading the bubbling waves on the ocean shore on a beach at sunset.

But these options are not always feasible. And sometimes they don’t appease my troubled reasoning. So I seek liberation by using a combination (a hybrid) of meditation and self-hypnosis (which are very similar, in my opinion) to shift to a better way of thinking. Employing breathing, relaxation, and visualization techniques that I learned while listening to self-hypnosis tapes and before, while undergoing sessions with a hypnotherapist. For me, I learn better on my own.

It works best if I am lying down, comfortable and without distractions. Then I start the steps to relax and become aware of my body from head to toe. First, I tense my toes and feet, then I relax my muscles. I move up to my calves, tensing and relaxing. To my thighs, my buttocks, my stomach, my chest, my fingers and hands, my forearms and arms, my neck, my face and my head – tensing and relaxing; and all the time I recite to myself in silence “relax, relax, relax …”

Any undesirable thought that enters my mind, I acknowledge it and let it go. I don’t grab them, I release them. I do this with any harmful idea that comes to mind. I grant their presence, but I don’t dwell on them, I let them walk away, keeping my thoughts clear and open.

While doing the above exercise, I also control my breathing; I breathe deep and steady through my nose and exhale through my mouth. Feeling the flow of each breath as it begins to free my body and mind from barriers and negative energies. Visualizing, as I do this, a warm golden light enters through my feet, rises and fills my torso, runs through my arms and shoots through my fingertips, moving higher, towards my face. and head as golden energy pours through the top of my head. This living, healthy, golden energy is cleansing and healing me from the inside out. My body and mind have been reawakened and revitalized.

Now, while floating in that peaceful place, I imagine the most peaceful, magical and mystical place to go. To me it is a sun-drenched meadow, surrounded by high, old, thick stone walls. Everything is surrounded by a forest covered with pine and redwood, which stretches as far as the eye can see. Tea pasture it is full of flowers of all colors and the ryegrass bends gently in the wind that moves through the meadow, over the stony walls and through the surrounding forest.

In this place I am protected. All the negativity and obstacles that imprisoned me have been thrown to the other side of the high rock walls and no matter how hard they try, they cannot enter my paradise, my refuge. They are carried away by the wind that cleans, then moves; in the darkening woods.

I am safe. I can slow down. My mind is at peace. And I can relax.

~ * Kathy Pippig

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All things are connected

And tied to nature

People forget that all things are connected. Our relationship and kinship with the earth is rooted in us. However, we have forgotten how deep those ties are; although much of how we see ourselves; express ourselves; and live our lives, reflect those same ties.

Take, for example, how we describe our moods, personalities, and feelings: stormy; sunny; realistic; hot and burning; The salt of the earth; warm; cold and icy; stormy; airy; and many more …

His expression reflected his fiery personality; she trembled with fear; his voice thundered over the din of the room; the boy’s eyes were clouded with pain; she stormed out of the meeting; that task was very simple; it was as fast as greased lightning; my mind is cloudy today; embers from the fire rained down on the carpet of dried pine needles in the endangered forest; his storm-colored eyes

it shone mischievously; the earth is angry; the earth is at peace.

Do you see my meaning?

And, above our planet; our land, above the clouds and the atmosphere; the sun is shining, the space is clear. Beyond this plane of our existence, it is no different. ALL THINGS ARE CONNECTED; big and small ones.

Our contribution is measured by our actions, not our size. And the importance of our actions is limitless, both here and beyond. Let’s not forget how important it is that everything we do is part of the whole. Our contribution can heal or destroy. The way we live affects everything … everything tiny and immeasurable, everywhere.

~ * Kathy Pippig