HAVE YOU TRIED MINDFULNESS AND MEDITATION?

Wonderful concepts.

Being Mindful of the world around you.

Meditation has been around as an endeavor for years.

My daughter wrote a wonderful post on her blog about her journey. A great read.
House of Kerrs

I don't meditate per se.

I have activities that have meditative qualities.

For example, certain knitting patterns means counting the stitches in my head as I go. The counting and knitting are calming and reflective. I concentrate on the stitches.

When I exercise, I count the number of times I do the exercise. For my weight routine, the number is 25.

I find this to be calming and relaxing. I do not think about anything. I am not trying to solve a problem. Just being in the moment with the activity. Clears my mind. Gets rid of negative thinking.

I tend to like an activity. It is just me.

However, walking is a good reflective exercise for me. So what did I do. I bought myself a birthday present of hiking boots. Not for now but the Spring. Perhaps putting hiking in my life will be a help too.
#mindfulness#meditation#knittingandcountingasmeditation#clearingone'smindofclutter#gettingridofnegativethinking#hikingtouseasreflectivethinking#reflectivethoughtsbybarbara#barbaradimambro

LABYRINTHS-FROM ANCIENT TO MODERN TIMES

Sometimes a day trip for one reason allows an unique discovery. In June during an adventure to Cambridge, Ontario to visit the farmer's market for a photo journal story for Adolph's blog, I discovered this garden. Initially I thought it to be a maze.

With a little internet research about the garden in Cambridge, I discovered it was a labyrinth. Known in history from the palace of King Nestor in Pylos in southern Greece from c. 1200 BCE. they are known to us.  Even Pompeii had some fragments of a labyrinth. Found in many places in the world and even among the Hopi and Pima peoples they have been around for centuries. Sometimes associated with the journey of the soul or a metaphor for an individual's journey through life they are therapeutic. A labyrinth has a winding path that leads to the centre and will take you back out. A maze tries to confuse the person and he/she must solve the puzzle to reach the centre and get out again.

What is interesting is there is a whole network of labyrinths throughout Ontario- some private, some public, some by invitation. In downtown Toronto, there is one behind the Eaton Centre accessed by Bay Street and open 24/7. Why a resurgence? Self-awareness and spiritual growth said the author of the site I read. Some have 7 paths which is the classical or cretan and some have 11 paths like the Chartres Cathedral in France. 

Do you have labyrinths where you live? Churches can have them now. Some hospitals use them to aid in rehabilitation. Meditation, reflection and exercise can be achieved. I stopped to take a picture of this beautiful Anglican church. Sometimes a journey for one thing does reveal another wonderful discovery. So when I jump in and out of the car snapping pictures wherever I go, I find possibilities for growth. Or do they find me?