roger ingraham

TO THE
MOUNTAINTOP
4-STEP PRACTICE FOR EXCAVATING & ELEVATING

Re-grooving the neural networks &

generating habits of happiness.

Gain conviction in your personal

power to shift states positively &
naturally without substances.

Recognize the difference between

resourceful states to act from, and
blind-unclear states to work with / shift.

Cultivate emotional climates with a

sustainable sense of possibility, well-
being, safety, and abundance.
 This is one of my favorite keys & distinctions to
elevating our baseline feeling quality. For
anyone who wants to start weight-training their
mind to no longer have habits of easily
harboring suffering states, read on:

When in doubt, go to the mountaintop. When in a

downward spiral, go to the mountaintop. When crisis or a
problem is overwhelming us, don't wait a moment or
worry or rationalize or do anything else - go to the
mountaintop.

ALWAYS, AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE go to the

mountaintop - and make your home there.

What is the mountaintop? It is the higher end of the

emotional/mental/vibrational spectrum.

It's very simple. In heavy, dark, or fearful emotions, your mind

is completely clouded and you perceive lack, limitation, and
negativity in your situations. The feelings feed thoughts and
the thoughts feed the feelings: a vicious cycle. Perceptions
and actions from these states result in cloudy, reactive, and
very limited choices. And the longer you stay there, the more
it becomes a mental habit & groove. It completely limits your
view like a dark cloudy storm or like blinders on a horse.

In lighter holistic expansive feelings like gratitude, joy, love,

excitement, your view of any situation, even challenges,
opens up. And if you haven't noticed when you are in those
states, you naturally perceive possibility, abundance, safety
and many options everywhere. It’s a resourceful place to act
from. This is the mountaintop. You've been there in your life.
You can train your mind to think thoughts and move in
grooves that will raise your baseline & habituate higher
feelings! And from there, your view sees across the land to
things you would never dream of in the pits, or in a
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 When shit hits the fan or if you are suffering, don't worry,
think, or talk about the shit or the fan. Don't make any
decisions.

Step 1. Just get away from everything for 10-20

minutes (that's all it takes), and sit in a room, and use ALL
your intention, intensity, and focus to get to the
mountaintop. Even if it feels weird or false, throw ALL your
intensity into positivity. Mountaintop first & fast!
REMEMBER: This is about prioritizing & seeing the value
of a visceral state shift BEFORE rational mind, analysis or
other elements. The higher the better, because through a
bigger contrast of well-being & positivity it’s easier to
fathom the ephemeral nature of the low state.

Step 2. How do you do this? SAY & DO ANYTHING to

your mind to shift yourself up the vibrational scale. Get
creative: MOVE YOUR BODY in new ways. Get outside.
Breath deeply. Boom lifting music. Dance. Anything to
BREAK & INTERRUPT your vicious cycle of feeling and
thinking. It’s important to also go on a rampage of good-
feeling thoughts and gratitudes and considerations
ESPECIALLY around the situation the mind is brooding on.
Suppression is when you avoid facing the task of
redefining the causing situation and simply pretend
positive whilst avoiding the causal feeling-belief. Tackle it
directly and redefine it in the most positive perspective
possible! Then boost your conviction of positivity with a
mental emphasis on all the extra-ordinary things in life. 

The suffering mind, whilst we still have so much to be

thankful for, will habitually focus on the one small dark
stain on the carpet whenever we walk in the room instead
of the majority of beautiful clean carpet. And this fixation
gives us the heavier feelings that assert vibrationally that
“everything is stained.” In fact, any sustained feelings of
negativity are a massive distortion (always) due to a mind
overly fixated on the stain. When you STRONGLY direct
your mind to the rest of the carpet - you will help yourself
reach the mountaintop and feel better. Then from this
state, you can appropriately respond. Oftentimes we must
first deal with this fixation on the stains.

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Step 3. Charge headfirst into RE-
DEFINING the situation that caused the
downward spiral, and summon as much
positivity as you can, even if it doesn't
yet feel true. Ask yourself and get real
answers: In how many ways am I not
seeing that this is a gift in disguise?
What are the best things about this?
Even if you don't believe it at first, repeat
with intensity how this WILL turn out to
be one of those hidden extra-ordinary
gifts, in ways you don't even know yet.
This directly addresses the triggering
negative view on the circumstances.

Then, if you want some more juice, go

on a rampage of telling yourself "How
amazing you are" or list all the things to
be grateful for and just LOVE on
yourself in real ways, and do it
INTENSELY, more than you’re used to.
This is shifting the focus away from the
stain in the carpet.
REMEMBER: The mind will initially
resist, rebel, and tell you anything to try
to cling to its negative view. Expect
that and forge past it with willpower
and positive intensity.  power to take you away for too long
We begin to recognize the difference between RESOURCEFUL states & BLIND / UNCLEAR states. This allows us to
navigate more based on state vs. thought. Our state is a feeling-climate that gives rise to corresponding thinking.
Just say/do ANYTHING in that 10-20 much. The negativity will feel and look
minutes until, until, until YOU GET TO more distant. Even if big chunks of
the mountaintop. For that period of time, negative emotional debris are still there in
you, huge amounts of new resources &
just make your sole mission: the
perspectives will be available to clearly
mountaintop. A state of feeling more in address the situation.
the higher end of the emotional/
vibrational spectrum.  Don't give anything in this world the
From there, you can use your rational mind
from the mountaintop... unless you
again (but not before!! Remember "analysis
is paralysis" when in negative states). Look somehow want that - but it's your
back on the situation, and you will see so choice. 

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The great news is that every time you do this, you are
investing in strengthening your conscious control over mind
and state - and so it becomes easier and easier!

Step 4. From the higher state, there may still be a partial

residue of the painful feeling or negative emotional impacts
(which still may try to magnetize lower thoughts) This is
normal! More may resurge throughout the day, But now,
with access to a portion of a much higher state, you now can
bring a much more resourceful perspective to any
remaining lower feelings & thoughts. You can bring the
clarity & functional thoughts & feelings & choices that are
tapped from the higher state. You can also intuitively love,
support, speak to, nourish, process, parent & integrate the
lessons of the lower feelings & thoughts in ways that weren’t
available prior. 



It’s often a two-leg process. The first leg is the 10-20minute
period to pull a portion of the consciousness up to a much
higher state. In the process, this often reveals instant
insights that resolve alot if not all of the actual issue. The
second leg is to use the resources & contrast from that
much higher feeling to more easily meet remaining
situational elements or feeling elements.

With practice, your mind experientially gains conviction in its
power to dramatically shift states upward naturally &
positively in the face of life’s challenges (without
substances). You'll see yourself getting better and better at
changing your state faster and faster to higher and higher
views. Using that high energy to not avoid or suppress but to
then directly resolve perspectives, situations & downward
emotional spirals much more effectively. And it will
eventually become automatic - a new habit.
The mountaintop states also gradually become habits and ROGER INGRAHAM is a writer, meditator, LIVE WIRE,
second-nature as well - they create new positive grooves in
the body’s emotions, hormonal habits, and mind-habits. You
& DARKNESS EXCAVATOR LIVING out of Brooklyn, NY. 

literally are repaving your inner landscape. In time, you 

create a highway to authentic happiness, and dirt roads to
misery. FOR THOSE TO READY TO DIG INTO ACCELERATED GROWTH, APPLY
A problem can seem so DIRE and REAL until we go to the
FOR COACHING | rogeringraham@gmail.com
mountaintops, and look again. ; )
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Key Distinctions, Context
& Troubleshooting:
QUESTION: What makes this different
from fake positivity or emotional
bypassing?



This is an important distinction. This
technique employs interrupting
patterns (negativity is hypnotic),
generating high levels of positivity when
it feels unnatural, and generating
intensity & willpower. So why is it
different from bypassing?



First, interruptions can be powerful as
alot of negativity is patterned & habitual,
devoid of nutrition, like a repeating
record. But there are also lessons in
some shadow material, and so there is
more to this technique.
This technique is all about accessing We learn to embrace the peaks AND the valleys as a natural part of growth. Each valley “trigger" is a gift, another layer
the resources & contrast of MUCH of unactualized spiritual lessons. If we make growth into a beloved lifestyle, the lowest baseline experience truly raises.
higher mountaintop feeling-states. It
naturally solves many problems just by perceive, expose, and process the true the natural ebb and flow of growth. But
going so high! And if anything remains, it nature of shadowy material. the baseline of valleys and the peaks
can be much more effective than rises in elevation! And this is pure gold!
excavating a downward spiral from near You can never reach the same low for
its own low state. Once you’ve tried the QUESTION: What is the goal of this the same length of time again.
mountaintop, you can intuitively process practice?
emotions in whatever way works best in As we rise to new heights, it gets easier
each situation. This practice’s goal is not to live a life as we go, but we also naturally choose
Higher frequencies also expose lower avoiding valleys and riding high. The to take on bigger challenges - and more
frequencies, by contrast. We much practice’s goal is to fall in love with the is learned. This technique supports the
more clearly see & experience our process, to expect and appreciate wisdom & accelerating of that
current beliefs & limitations through valleys and their lessons, and to see the necessary & natural growth process.
contrast with a higher state. So by going whole process in a higher light. In my
to the mountaintops, we more easily experience, the peaks and valleys are

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