away for the weekend: 52 photos - meditation in vermont

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

52 photos - meditation in vermont

I do think that it's nearly impossible to pass by a river or waterfall (or even a road construction site) 
in Vermont without spotting these -


I found these little stone structures last weekend while exploring South Londonderry.
For some reason, in my mind, I've always pictured yogi meditating near them -
which I never quite understood.
My curiosity finally got the better of me,
and after looking it up - I learned that the meditation is in the act of stacking the rocks -


- which I still really didn't get, because, you know -
this actually looked kind of easy to me.
Soooo, I quickly gave it a try.
Mine toppled within seconds - okay, so I guess maybe not so easy.

Then -
last night Greg stumbled upon a blog post called "A Monument to Love" about a young man who has devoted the last few month building these "cairns" in memory of his beloved dog.
When I took this photo last month (this is a different location from the photos above) -


I wondered if there was a story to go with it.
The updated photo is amazing!

Someday, I think I'm going to give this a real try.
I have a feeling the meditation would do me a world of good.
How about you - do you have an activity that you find meditative?

I am joining 52 Photos Project - the topic this week is "Layered or Stacked"






31 comments:

  1. When hiking at the Red River Gorge back in January, I saw similar structures. I had wonderred what they were!

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  2. oh my goodness what a story that was, Grant and General!!!! Cairns are all over the woods and by some rivers here as well but nothing as SPECTACULAR as Grant's site. We find a lot of them after a solstice-lovely photo.

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  3. I have never stacked rocks for meditation, but perhaps I should give it a try. We have added rocks to cairns on top of rock outcrops though.
    Have a wonderful week and thank you for stopping by my blog this week.

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  4. I have never heard of these before but what a wonderful idea. I can't wait to go to the mountains and try this on our stream....I do like to play making borders with rocks but never thought of stacking them.....Great post....

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  5. oh now you've got me crying...those are amazing

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  6. so very sweet.

    (i thought for sure the dog would have been a cairn terrier.) bad, but i did actually wonder until i read the story.

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  7. WoW, what great pictures!! i love the places you visit!!

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  8. So glad you shared the story behind the rock cairns. Looks like a fun thing to do, but I suspect it is a lot harder than it looks.

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  9. See now those look like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Maybe I will have to give one a try when we pass through there on Friday and Saturday. Or at least some point in our trip. I do yoga and I do find it relaxing. Great photos.

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  10. I can definitely see how building these stone cairns would be meditative. They're beautiful—and thanks for the link to that touching story.

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  11. Woah, that is so cool! I love your photos. I've never tried stacking stones before, but I bet it is harder than one might think!

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  12. It's even peaceful just looking at them!

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  13. What an interesting post. I did click on the photo link you provided - wow!

    When I was younger, counted cross stitch was very relaxing to me.

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  14. Hello! I believe you stopped by my blog recently. Thanks for leaving a comment. I came by to visit that day and have been visiting whenever I can. I love Vermont! So I will most likely enjoy visiting your blog. Great photography! I have added you to my blog list.

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  15. I think it would take terrific concentration- something I don't seem to have a lot of. I've not heard of this- thanks for sharing!

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  16. Every year when we return to Aruba, we go to the beach where we leave our rock formations! Most of the time, they are still there...something called RESPECT!...:)JP

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  17. For the Inuit, these were called inukshuks. I always thought they wee used as markers for various things. Meditation? I'll buy that.

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  18. Those are great cairns! I can see why it would take concentration to build them. I guess I could say I meditate when I am gardening. So peaceful. Hope your week is going well and you are staying cool. xo

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  19. I have never seen stacks like these, but they're beautiful! I love the idea behind them, and I think it would be very meditative to stack the rocks because you'd have to concentrate and focus. I practice mindful meditation, where I focus usually on the sounds around me. I also find that drawing and coloring mandalas is very meditative for me.

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  20. Wow! Amazing how the stones balance, withstand to wind or any other hindrance. The link let to more such marvels... I too think it’s not an easy task but yet bring peace of mind. Thanks for these fabulous photos :)

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  21. I would think this would be a very relaxing experience. It would put me in my "happy place" for sure:)

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  22. Beautiful photos! And what a perfect choice for the theme. I love seeing these cairns along the river (and sometimes in the middle of the river, when the sandbar is exposed). They're beautiful and calming...

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  23. Wow, how many rocks! made by balance of the stones. amazing work.

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  24. Stacking stones would be difficult where we live as there are not so many compared to other areas. I can see where the folks who stacked these would find it meditative in having to decide on the stacking order. My relaxation is watching birds and butterflies, usually with a camera nearby, but sometimes not.

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  25. We saw many of these in Maine while hiking. I was told they are there to help mark the way through the wilderness. I will have to try this one day too!

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  26. These stacked river stones could be a good source for a conspiracy theory. I haven't seen them in my part of the world but you have inspired me to start exploring the locale rivers.

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  27. hmmm, stacking stones would probably not be a meditative venture for me, more of a frustration venture, but I do admire those that do...and their results are quite stunning. Happy stacking!!

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  28. I love all your photographs! There is actually a Bible reference to stacking of rocks by the Jordan River as a memorial which can be found in Joshua 4. If go to the following page in biblegateway.com you can read it:

    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+4&version=NIV

    Blessings!

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  29. Fabulous captures and I love the story behind these rock stacks. I have recently started a meditation practice called Centering Prayer. I plan to blog a little more about it in the next week or so but it has been a pretty powerful practice to engage. I'm still really, really new but I look forward to seeing what comes of my intention with meditation. Thanks for sharing these gorgeous pics. Like someone else has said, your pictures truly are amazing.

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  30. A beautiful story of connectivity; human mind with nature. A stronger base is all we need for our mental and emotional stability, and meditation really helps in achieving that.

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  31. Beautiful story and what an amazing tribute to quiet and meditation. Will have to try this out on the river by my cabin. I can imagine that this would be very relaxing

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