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	<title>Contemplative Hiking</title>
	<link>http://contemplativehiking.com</link>
	<description>Engaging the Wild Soul in Colorado&#039;s Natural Beauty</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:11:40 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Contemplative Hiking With a Group</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Almost every person I met who has attended a hike said that they loved the required silence. Some have said that it’s like hiking alone, but they feel safer with a group. Some said they don’t like the chatter of other groups, because it detracts from their appreciation and awareness of the surroundings. Some have said the group is perfect for introverts who don’t want to talk too much or feel strange about being quiet. We spend so much of our day in chatter: e-mail, Facebook, text messages, television, radio, headlines and advertising. It's rare to experience relative silence, just the sounds of birds and animals and weather, especially with other people. That silence radiates out like a balm, soothing our minds and opening up our inner and outer awareness.]]></description>
		<link>http://contemplativehiking.com/2010/08/24/contemplative-hiking-with-a-group/</link>
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		<title>How to Raise Eco-Conscious Kids</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The idea that a 10 or 12 year old girl would want to advertise her eco-consciousness is saying something.]]></description>
		<link>http://contemplativehiking.com/2010/08/19/how-to-raise-eco-conscious-kids/</link>
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		<title>The Most Adorable Little Bird (Video)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve never seen a more adorable video of a baby bird and its mother. This one will make you believe in humanity, too, as the caretaker is a kind man who nursed the poor little hummingbird so it would survive: Peeps and Peter]]></description>
		<link>http://contemplativehiking.com/2010/08/13/the-most-adorable-little-bird-video/</link>
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		<title>Night Hike and Meteor Shower</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Our discussion of predatory animals persisted at least 20 minutes into our hike, which indicated to me that we were still a bit on edge and nervous about hiking around in the dark, despite being rather loud and in a group. There’s just something about how the trees and boulders became these black, one-dimensional shapes heightens my level of awareness and anxiety. ]]></description>
		<link>http://contemplativehiking.com/2010/08/13/night-hike-and-meteor-shower/</link>
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		<title>Why Yellowstone is Not a Good Place for &#8220;Contemplative&#8221; Hikes</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the &#8220;rules&#8221; that I have for contemplative hiking is that it should be done in silence. You don&#8217;t have to hike alone, although sometimes it&#8217;s good to get outside in nature with yourself, by yourself, and really unwind from the expectations of friends or loved ones. You can relax, go for a long [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://contemplativehiking.com/2010/08/11/why-yellowstone-is-not-a-good-place-for-contemplative-hikes/</link>
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		<title>Food from the Backyard</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Although we don’t have a perfect permaculture design in our backyard garden, we have incorporated some techniques to make gardening easier, because we’re allowing nature to do a lot of the work.]]></description>
		<link>http://contemplativehiking.com/2010/07/29/food-from-the-backyard/</link>
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		<title>Hiking and the New Cosmology</title>
		<description><![CDATA[If stars evolved into humans in order to be self-aware, what is our purpose as human beings in the Universe?]]></description>
		<link>http://contemplativehiking.com/2010/07/14/hiking-and-the-new-cosmology/</link>
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		<title>Twilight in Forks, Washington</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It was the culmination of months of anticipation for both of them. Forks, Washington! The setting for “Twilight”. My daughter proudly posed as my sister snapped a photo. Then they switched. Just then, a pickup truck drove by and a couple of teenaged girls stuck their head out the window and screamed, “Twilight whores!”]]></description>
		<link>http://contemplativehiking.com/2010/06/30/twilight-in-forks-washington/</link>
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		<title>The Value and Sacredness of Land</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The beauty of this place is in its unbroken, green landscape and sense of expansiveness. The sky here is as wide as the ground, and invites you to imagine a time when there were no houses, no power lines, no cows and no cars—only grass, bison and small clusters of tee-pees where Plains Indians went about their lives. ]]></description>
		<link>http://contemplativehiking.com/2010/06/22/the-value-and-sacredness-of-land/</link>
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		<title>The 11 Different Types of Hikers</title>
		<description><![CDATA[(From guest blogger Jeanette K.) Whether you're new to the outdoors, returning from a long sabbatical or just an average trail junkie, there's a good chance you'll run into the following hikers at some point. Some are friendly; some not so much.]]></description>
		<link>http://contemplativehiking.com/2010/06/18/the-11-different-types-of-hikers/</link>
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