Pilgrimage Studio

Tag: Alternative Health

  • Today’s Shot 164

    Today’s Shot 164

    Throwback Thursday

    Growth

    Butterfly with wings open

    🦋 Cee’s Flower of the Day – FOTD 🦋

    Growth is a forward momentum. Like a caterpillar, we morph into new stages and spaces and spreading our wings, we learn to fly for the first time. Then we learn to fly farther and higher. Growth takes risk. Yet, the caterpillar does not worry about the next phase. Perhaps ignorance is its bliss. For us however, sometimes it is in facing challenges and moving away from our comfort zone that we learn that one of the strengths of growth, is courage.

    Can “knowing too much” hinder our growth? Can blind faith be more beneficial?

    I accept risk, even when I am afraid.

    I am proud of myself when I dare to risk.

    Accepting risk as a part of life, empowers me.

    First published on the 13 day of July, 2020

    Be well my friends!

    With Love, © Pilgrimage Studio
  • Music Therapy

    Music Therapy

    Rhythm and Movement

    It seems that many milestones in our lives include music. We pick songs for weddings and funerals, for meditations and worship. Music can reflect different cultures and eras. It can match our mood or pick it up off the floor. From birth to death, music is a memorable part of our life.

    Music, used as an alternative and complimentary health modality, is the systematic method of using music or sound to help with relaxation and encourage changes in behavior and emotions.

    Due to water crystal photography, music is not only heard, it can be seen as well. Studying the shapes and patterns made by sound vibrations is called Cymatics. Because of cymatics, we can see how strongly sound vibrations affect water, and since our bodies are mainly composed of water, we can also see how music can have a deep effect on our bodies.

    One use of music therapy is for rhythmic movement, which helps with agility, coordination, balance, joint mobility, strength, gait consistency, range of motion and breathing patterns. Not to mention, mood elevation and motivation along with the social aspect associated with dancing.

    The Maple Leaf Rag was one of Scott Joplin’s most famous ragtime pieces earning him the title, “King of Ragtime”.

    American Music Therapy Association (AMTA)

    Spirituality, Health, and Healing. An Integrative Approach, 2nd Edition. By Caroline Young and Cyndie Koopsen

    First published on the 12th day of January, 2021

    © Pilgrimage Studio

  • Ujjayi Breath

    Ujjayi Breath

    by Beth Haley

    “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”

    I always wanted to write this but George Lucas beat me to it.

    However, we can all breathe like Darth Vader which has its benefits. This type of breathing is called Ujjayi Pranayama (ooh-JAY-yee-prah-nah-YAH-mah), or ocean breath, and it is used in yoga and Taoist practices. The point of Ujjayi breathing is relaxation as it naturally lengthens and deepens the breath.

    To get a feel for how this is done, imagine you are standing in front of a mirror, and opening your mouth, breathe out like you are trying to fog up the glass. Do this a few times and note the constriction of your throat.

    Maintaining the constriction of your throat on both your inhale and exhale, begin now to breathe with your mouth closed. The sound this makes is soft, like gentle waves.

    Go at your own pace and always practice in a way that is safe and comfortable.

    LucasFilm LTD

    First published May 11th, 2019

  • Post-It Notes 1

    Post-It Notes 1

    May 11th, 2019

    “As I bless all I encounter,

    All I encounter blesses me.”

    -Julia Cameron

    Mindful Moments © Pilgrimage Studio

    Post-It Notes 2

    Pixabay

  • Mindful Eating

    Mindful Eating

    Thank you Elle and Bill for my Christmas present (meditation book) which I am working through. The Busy Restaurant Ambient Sounds background is from City Ambiance on YouTube. And, the chips and salsa shot was from my visit in McCalla, AL.

    I wish everyone nourishment and blessings – of body, soul and spirit!

    YouTube Version

    © Pilgrimage Studio

  • Walking Meditation

    Walking Meditation

    After a 4-mile hike,
    this was a nice spot to rest a while.

    YouTube Version

    I wish you a few quiet moments…

    © Pilgrimage Studio

  • Quick Breaks

    Quick Breaks

    Image by Gustavo Espindola

    I wish you a few quiet moments

    © Pilgrimage Studio

  • Tea Time

    Tea Time

    8.5 Minutes to Calm – Photo by Manki Kim – Written and Narrated by Thela Foxgood

    Bee 🐝 Calm

    © Pilgrimage Studio
  • Today’s Shot 236

    Today’s Shot 236

    by Beth Haley

    I have passed this site in Beaufort, SC many times during my travels for work. Today, instead of wishing that I had time to stop, I made time for a few quiet moments to investigate.

    The Church of Prince William’s Parish, known as Sheldon, was built in the 1740s. It has been burnt twice. First, by the British army in 1779, and again by the Federal army in 1865.

    What you notice first from the road are the pillars.

    They draw you in for a closer look.

    As I entered the grounds, I felt like I was stepping back in time, and that if something could be said at all, it should be done in a hushed tone.

    There is an intriguing play between light and shadow filtering through skeletal remains, ancient branches, and fluttering leaves.

    Graves dating back to the 1700s have survived the years despite being vandalized.

    Sheldon was built on the plantation of the royal governor of South Carolina (1737-38), Col. William Bull, and this altar still remains along with the marker for his grave.

    Sometimes, when you least expect it, a specific moment and space opens up and renders itself so well to an opening of the senses that it is undeniably the right time and right place to step away.

    What do you see?

    What do you feel?

    What do you hear?

    What do you taste?

    What do you smell?

    The Campbell Oak.

    I want to say I’m grounded in this moment.

    And I am. And yet…

    …if one can taste time and age, then I have also stepped into the past where what has been, and what is now, is like the dance between light and shadow: it tastes both bitter and sweet at the same time.

    To mindful moments…

    If a favorite moment in your day had a flavor, what would it taste like?

  • Color me Calm 5

    Color me Calm 5

    Art is a great way to take a time out. Whether I am making art or appreciating it, art can take me somewhere else. It’s a journey of color, space, and the creation of something blank into something more.

    I Can Flow

    Art is its own path. It can be a stilling of the mind while our souls travel to a specific location or flow and fly freely on currents of hue and shape.

    Cooling Waters

    Mixing colors and watching each slant and stroke of the brush, each pencil mark leading to the next, each tilt of a paint pour spread across the canvas, and seeing each space fill in with vibrant colors can flow into an act of mindfulness and meditation in and of itself.

    I See My Depths

    Inspiration, imagination, and creativity express themselves.

    BLUE: water, cleansing, flowing, cooling, emotions, sleep, peace, serenity, sky, zen…

    What does blue symbolize to you?

    © Pilgrimage Studio