The Work That Re-Connects

Everything is connected. If I ever doubted that, the few experiences I have had with Joanna Macy's "Work That Re-Connects", has left no doubt in my mind. You can check out Joanna's work at http://www.joannamacy.net/. She is an amazing teacher, now in her 80th year, who continues to travel and teach intensive workshops.

On Sat. Dec. 19, 2009, I attended a full day workshop based on The Work That Re-Connects, facilitated by Jeannette McCullough (http://www.shamansong.ca/). I was deeply touched and amazed by some of the unexpected gifts and the sense of "knowing" that I received throughout the day. For me, the most remarkable and the most profound exercise that we did involved Jeannette first offering us a prayer of gratitude towards various beings and then we, in partners, each had a chance to speak our own memories, feelings and offer gratitude towards the various beings that were mentioned. First was a prayer and then our offerings of gratitude towards Mother Earth. Then we offered prayers and gratitude towards the trees, and then the animals and the birds and the flowers and the fish. With each sharing with my partner, I found memories of my growing up days just flooding back to me, but I found those memories coming back in a very different way than they ever had before. Instead of seeing the "difficulties" or the challenges of my growing up years, I suddenly began to recognize all of the incredible gifts that I had been given throughout my childhood and teenage years. I was very fortunate to grow up in a little village (Port McNicoll) near the shores of Georgian Bay. I was surrounded by the abundance and beauty of nature. I grew up with clean, fresh air to breathe, water that was ideal for swimming, birds of all kinds. I grew up surrounded by "tree friends" who welcomed me into their arms. How I loved climbing trees. When I wasn't "up a tree" I was swimming. Or riding my bicycle through quiet, safe streets. Or riding horses at my friend's farm. Or I was rescuing stray animals. Or I was feeding the birds. At times our backyard would be a mass of big white fluttering wings as I threw bread (day old from my father's grocery store) out to the seagulls. And of course we had many beautiful birds of every colour enjoying the birdbath and bird feeder that my mother kept well filled for our feathered friends. There were so many gifts in my growing up years, I can't even begin to name them all here. Through that exercise of sharing my memories, I totally re-connected with my past in beautiful, positive, happy way. I felt the beauty and the power and the strength of my foundation, my upbringing, in a way I never had before.

It is amazing how connected everything is. Just a couple of days before that workshop, I had "re-connected"with all of my photographs, from my infancy up to 1994. When I left to live in Mexico in 1994, I had stored my photos in my cousins dark, dusty basement in my hometown. For almost 16 years I had not seen any of these treasures. In "rescuing" these treasured photos from the basement of my cousins house, I felt like I had rescued a part of myself from the dark and dusty basement! After the workshop, I knew that the only thing that I really wanted to do on Christmas Day was to go through all of these photos and to remember and to receive fully, all of the gifts that I was given through each stage of my life. With my Beloved Spirit Guide (Sweet Wisdom) at my side, I explored those photos one by one, remembering the gifts and showering my young self and all of those around me in those precious pictures, with Love.

Just one final thought on the work of re-connecting -- I see now how, even though I haven't experienced very much of Joanna's work (this was only my second exposure to it), re-connecting has been a theme in many of my recent endeavors. In my ongoing work with the Chakras, the whole focus is on re-connecting the various aspects of ourselves as we re-connect with SOURCE. In my current vocal training, the entire focus right now is re-connecting my deep rich chest voice with my head voice and learning to transition smoothly through my full vocal range.

It is very exciting to see and experience many aspects of myself and my life and my voice coming together, re-connecting at the deepest levels.

Thank you Jeannette for this enlightening work that you are offering us. It is a gift.

And thank you to all of the Beings -- Human, Animal, Plant, Rock .... and of course to all of the Beloved Spirits who guide our way.

I wish you all a Wondrous New Year. Thank You for allowing me to share my story.

Barbara

The Power of the Human Voice to Transform

This post is inspired by an amazing event I attended on Dec. 13, 2009 called "Sounding for Wisdom at Copenhagen" facilitated by Wende Bartley, Composer and Sound Healer here in Toronto.

First a little background note: Those of you who know me are likely aware of my growing excitment and passion for anything to do with vocalizing, singing or sounding. After about 57 years of feeling like my voice was trapped deep inside of me, my voice now refuses to remain silent any longer! And with that vocal energy guiding me, I am now finding incredible opportunities to work with and use my voice in ways that are fun, energizing, healing and transformative.

My own vocal journey and wxploration began a little over a year ago when I found myself in a group where people began to spontaneously offer and share songs. I could feel my voice retreat deep inside of me in terror that someone might expect me to sing. I couldn't do it. And that was also the turning point when I knew that i also couldn't live with my voice trapped inside any longer. My search for "vocal help" led me to a remarkable teacher and a remarkable method (see speech level singing link at the left of my blog) of training the voice. While this method is aimed largely at training the voice to sing (which I now really want to do!!) its effects on me have been much more far reaching (but that's another story to come!!). But thanks to my weekly lessons and my dedication to my daily vocal practice, I now have the courage and the vocal strength to begin using my voice in many transformative ways.

I was really excited to receive Wende's invitation to her vocal event "Sounding for Wisdom at Copenhagen". This was based on a Worldwide event called Sounds of 350 (www.350.org) It sounded like a wonderful way to explore my own newly developing vocal power in a way that could also help to support the planet in these crucial times. i can only say -- that sounding event was awesome. We met in the Sanctuary of Trinity St. Paul's Church on Bloor St. so we had a great, huge space with wonderful acoustics. Wende led us through a lovely series of vocal exercises to warm up our voices and spoke to us about connecting with the Earth's song. Because of all the damage that is being done to Mother Earth, Wende explained that her (Mother Earth's) song is being silenced. By connecting with Mother Earth and allowing her song to be sung and sounded through us, we can help to revive the song. Through our voices we can connect with the vibration of the Earth and strengthen it. Wende also referred to this as "subtle activism" (www.gaiafield.net)-- a concept that really resonates with me. Led by Wende and the vocal group HATHORA, we were led into a prolonged time of sounding our own sounds as they wanted to come through us. It was a very large group of people, everybody sounding the songs and the sounds that wanted to come through them. With everyone sounding differently, the result was incredible harmony and connectedness.

As I continued to connect more deeply with the Earth, I found sounds coming through me that I had never sounded before. At one point, I could feel deep, wild animal sounds coming through me and then I realized, from somewhere across the room, another animal had emerged and was sounding back to me. In this midst of all the sounding that everyone was doing, I found myself carrying on a back and forth "animal conversation" with someone -- I have no idea who -- across that huge room. It was an amazing feeling, not only to be channeling that sound from who knows where, but to find someone who was speaking exactly that same language. This was definitely one of the most fascinating and powerful "conversations" I have ever had.

I need to end by saying thank you Wende for offering me this opportunity to experience the newfound power of my own voice and for giving me this opportunity to be of service to the Earth through my Voice.

This was a profound event and I am really excited about the discovery that I can use my voice in this Transformative way.

Thank you to all of those (and there have been a few!) wonderful people who have helped me to unleash the Power in My Voice.

And may we all continue to sing and to sound Ourselves and the Earth back to Vibrant Health!

Peace and Love to all of you.

Barbara

The Crown Chakra

On Wed. Nov. 25, we donned our Crowns and journeyed to the top of the mountain!

The Crown Chakra, also known as Sahasrara, is the seventh and highest Chakra that is still directly connected with the physical body. It rules the brain and the nervous system. Energetically if offers us a more direct connection with our SOURCE, our CREATOR, THE DIVINE POWER THAT GUIDES US, or whatever image or word resonates for you.

The question we opened with was: When you think of Our Source, what word, name or image comes to you?

Another name that resonates with me is Rob Brezsny's (http://www.freewillastrology.com/) "The Divine Wow! I would also highly recommend his book PRONOIA -- How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings. According to this book, there is a unique spiritual path for every person on this planet. That idea certainly opens up possibilities for exploration and creative inspiration.

Through music, dance and sounding, we then journeyed from the ROOT CHAKRA which connects us with all of life (humanity, animal, plant, mineral kingdoms), to the CROWN CHAKRA which connects us with the SOURCE of All Life.

Then we entered into deep meditation on the Crown Chakra and allowed that energy of the Thousand Petaled Lotus to connect us more deeply with our Source. After some time of enjoying our Divine Connection, during which time the peacefulness in the room was profound, we began to channel Divine Light from our source through ourselves. By this time our Chakras were open and receptive. Light flowed from Source through each of our Seven Chakras, cleansing and energizing, until it moved down through our feet and into the Earth. We ended our meditation by visualizing that every step we take on Earth will be guided by Divine Light and Wisdom. We stretched and moved our bodies to the sound of gentle drumming to bring us fully back and to ground ourselves in this new place.

We didn't have time for journal writing this week but I would highly recommend writing a Conversation or Dialogue with the "Divine Wow!"

We ended our Seven Week Journey Through the Chakras by singing together,

Go in beauty

Peace be with You

Til we meet again in the Light.

Barbara

PS For some unknown (to me) reason, there is a big gap of empty space between the Third Eye and the Throat Chakra entry. Keep scrolling down through the emptiness after the Third Eye and you will find the remaining November entries.

Namaste

Thrid Eye Chakra

Welcome to the Third Eye Centre -- Ajna Chakra

This is the centre for Intuition, Inspiration, Development of Psychic Abilities and Higer Wisdom. Through this "Eye" we can see the true purpose or meaning of events in our lives. We can develop a greater degree of discrimination and, centered in the high vibration of this energy centre, we will come to live a truly inspired life.

On Wed. Nov. 18, we explored our Third Eye Centre in our ongoing Journey Through the Chakras at Britten Memorial Church. We began the class by creating an intention to attune more deeply with the messages of our inner world. To begin that process of listening more deeply, we tuned into our bodies and reflected on the question:Where, in my body or being, do I experience intuition or inner knowing? We discovered that inner knowing doesn't always present itself only in the area of the Third Eye. For some people, the sensations of inner knowing were experienced in the belly, in the Solar Plexus, in the Heart, in the Throat.

To review and energize the previous Chakras, we moved and danced to various rhythms -- Earthy Drumming for the Root; sexy, sensual, flowing Belly Dance rhythms for the Sacral Chakra; Dynamic horms of Mexican Mariachi rhythms for the Solar Plexus and for the Heart, we chanted "Listen Listen Listen to My Heart Song. The chanting helped us to transition up to the Thraot Chakra which we activated through sounding and a vocal siren exercise. (Note: I highly recommend the Book and CD by Wayne Perry -- Sound Medicine)

Then we moved into the Third Eye Centre and we began by massaging that place between the eyebrows, the forehead and the temples. Because it is necessay to relax and soften the physical eyes in order for the Third Eye to see more clearly, we did some relaxation exercies for the physical eyes. Then we entered into a guided meditation to meet that Wise Being part of ourselves.

Aside -- A few years back, I did lose my physical eyesight for a period of several months and during that time, my Third Eye opened to the extent that I was able to "see" and draw on paper (despite not being able to physically see what I was drawing) many amazing images and beings. This is one that came out of that inner seeing and it is called An Infusion of Wisdom.

We ended our Third Eye meditation by journaling our insights and/or dialoguing with tha Wise Being part of ourselves.

After a brief sharing, we closed by drawing all that newly awakened energy back into ourselves. We reconnected with the Earth energy and from that Earthy place, we chanted the healing sound of Om to more fully ground ourselves and our experience.

Stay tuned as we journey up to the Crown Chakra this coming Wednesday.

In the meantime, may the messages of your inner world shine through to inspire and excite you!

Barbara

Exploring The Throat Chakra

On Wed. Nov. 11, we continued our weekly Journey Through the Chakras by focusing on the Throat Chakra. This energy centre relates to Communication and Creativity. It is through the Throat Chakra that the Soul can express and manifest its deepest desires and longings.

I found it fascinating to discover that the Sanskrit word for Throat Chakra is VISHUDDHA and that translates into PURIFICATION. This centre purifies and harmonizes all opposites.

To allow our creative spirit to come forward, we began by imagining or remembering ourselves as playful, creative children. We reflected on the question, "What is one thing your child self would love to be creating or making right now?" Many wonderful and happy childhood memories emerged as people re-connected with that playful child within.

We reviewed the previous Chakras through music and people were offered the option of moving and dancing to the music or to simply relax and allow tne music to move through them. Everybody opted for moving and dancing.

We energized the ROOT CHAKRA through sounds of nature and drumming.

The SACRAL CHAKRA was explored through the sensual music and movements of BellyDance.

For the SOLAR PLEXUS, we danced to the very energizing Mexican Hat Dance. The dynamic sound of horns in this wonderful Mariachi music are very stimulating to the Solar Plexus.

As we arrived at the HEART, (with our physical hearts beating more strongly after our energetic Mexican Dance), we slowed things down as we explored movement and dance that would express sending out Gratitude and receiving Divine Love. We danced to Luciano's Heart Chakra music in his Dance of the Chakras CD. As the music gradually became livelier, we imagined dancing with the beloved child part of ourselves. The dancing here became very playful and joyful.

Then we arrived at the THROAT CHAKRA. We warmed up and stimulated our vocal cords with breath and a variety of vocal exercises and sounds. Then, through meditation, we connected with the Soul and we asked the very important quesstion, "What is the deepest longing or desire of my Soul?" We then allowed the energy of that desire to emerge from the depths of the Soul and to be expressed through the voice as sounding. There was, for me, a definite feeling that I was singing with the angels during the sounding of our Souls' desires.

When the sounding was complete, we went back inside to ask of our Souls, "What is one step I can take towards fulfilling or manifesting my Soul's deepest longing?"

After some reflection on that question, we picked up our journals and we began with the sentence,"The deepest longing or desire of my Soul is......"

Then we wrote "One step I can take towards manifesting the deepest longing ore desire of my Soul is .........

By this time, the energy in the room felt extremely peaceful, centered and pure.

We ended by placing our hands on each Chakra, starting at the Crown and ending with the Root in order to draw in and contain the energy within ourselves as we began to prepare to go back out into the world. We ended by chanting the Universal Sound of OM three times, focusing primarily on our Root Chakra for grounding the energy.

The journey continues next Wed. Nov. 18 when we explore the Centre of Higher Wisdom -- the Third Eye Chakra.

Stay tuned as the adventure continues!

Barbara chakradancer@hotmail.com

The Freeing Power of Dance

Freeing Ourselves Through Dance

By Barbara Sauvé



Yes I believe we can free ourselves through dance and movement. And here’s why!

A Profound Story of Dancing Towards Freedom

There is a beautiful and powerful martial art dance known as Capoeira that is gaining popularity worldwide. This dance has come to us from Brazil although its origins appear to be African. There is some vagueness and uncertainty in the history books about its exact origin and whether the dance was actually practiced in Africa or was developed in Brazil based on dance and movements that originated in Africa. For many years Capoeira had to be practiced in the strictest secrecy so some of the information about it may have been lost.
Capoeira is a martial art dance that freed many people from the most deplorable conditions of slavery in Brazil. According to When the African people were brought to Brazil as slaves starting in 1500, they gradually began to develop and practice a deadly martial art known as Capoeira. The movements were created and disguised as a dance so that no one would suspect that the slaves were actually learning a deadly martial art. The main instrument used in this dance is the berimbau, a bow like instrument with a single string, which can be played in a variety of ways to accompany the dance. This instrument could also be created to be a deadly weapon disguised as a musical instrument. Through dance and music, many of these African people in Brazil fought their way to freedom. For many years after that, Capoeira was banned, made illegal in Brazil. People who were caught learning and practicing Capoeira were incarcerated and subjected to horrible beatings. Fortunately this beautiful Dance did survive underground and by the 1930’s it was legalized as a legitimate sport and dance. In fact it is now Brazil’s official national sport. Its’ popularity is quickly spreading worldwide these days. There are many schools of Capoeira right here in Toronto. It remains today as a beautiful and graceful dance and a deadly martial art. This is a truly literal example of how dance can free people from the worst possible conditions.

Are We in Bondage?

None of us are obviously in that kind of desperate situation.
But we may feel trapped in other ways. Perhaps we feel trapped in old emotional baggage. We may be imprisoned in old dysfunctional patterns and behaviours. Perhaps we are trapped by ego concerns or by minds that love to obsess and worry and create anxiety.
Our Souls crave freedom of expression. Our Spirits crave freedom. And yet here we are in this physical realm perhaps feeling limited by the duties and obligations and stresses of our lives here on this planet. We might be feeling limited by our physical bodies that need special care and treatment.
Many of us have been repressed, or had our creative spirits suppressed or denied in some way through maybe strict upbringing, various institutions, society, schools, workplaces. These institutions have all imposed their own “rules of living or being” onto us. Very few people have true emotional, spiritual and creative freedom. There have been many restrictions placed on what we should or shouldn’t feel and experience. There are religious traditions that attempt to deny the body’s needs. Desires of the flesh are sometimes treated as sinful and the goal is complete denial and repression of the physical needs and desires.
The “problem” (as I see it) with that kind of belief is that the physical body is the temple of the Soul. As a Temple, the body needs to be cared for, to be cherished and to be honored in its divine task of housing the Soul.
One of the most wonderful ways to care for the body is to allow it to move and dance.
There is an old Sufi saying “God respects us when we work, but loves us when we dance”.

To dance is to celebrate the body that we have been blessed with.
To dance is to connect with the Soul.
To dance is to free the Spirit.
To dance is to enter fully into our physicalness, into the pleasures and joys of being alive and in the body.
To dance is to say Thank You to the Creator who made it possible for us to experience ourselves as physical beings.

Now when I speak about Dance, I am talking about the movement that comes from the depths of our Being. I’m talking about the movement that is created by our own inner pulsing rhythms and fueled by the deepest desires and longings of the Soul to be freed from its bondage. I am talking about the Dance that lives deep within each one of us, just waiting to be freed.


There are many kinds of dance – we can go to many schools of dance – we can learn Samba or Ballroom dance. We can learn the very sensual isolations and movements of belly dance. We can learn tap dance or ballet or line dance. There is no end to the type of dancing we can learn. We can study many forms of dance. And it is all fun and wonderful. All of these dances will likely help us feel better in one way or another. We become more fit; it’s fun to socialize with others through dance. We would probably feel more coordinated by learning these steps and movements. This is the type of dance where somebody else teaches us and guides us to do it correctly, when we follow external clues as to how to move, when we “train” the body in certain ways. All of these ways of dancing can certainly strengthen us and prepare us to move into a deeper kind of dance.

The Dance that I want to refer to here has no “correct” way of being done, has no prescribed steps or movements. It is the Dance that emerges from the depths of the Heart and Soul. It is the Dance that expresses the pain and joy and longings and love that emerge from the deepest, most profound place in our own individual being. Just as none of us look alike or talk alike or have the same fingerprint, so to is the Dance that occurs through our bodies and expresses who we are, different in every being.
This true concept of Dance (capital D) is the Dance that takes us right out of our heads, right out of our thoughts and worries and anxieties. This Dance brings us totally into the moment and this present moment is the only place where the physical body can exist.
When we are trapped in the regrets of the past or the anxieties of the future we are in bondage. Only by being fully present in the moment can we be free. It is in the moment, beyond the obsessing of the mind, that Body and Spirit unite as one.

When we allow our own unique rhythm to emerge, when we move to the pulse of our own Heartbeat, then we free ourselves from bondage. We create the opening and the space for the Earth and the Divine to meet in us, to merge through us, to move us, to dance us. Then we are free.

So how do we get there? How do we allow the Dance to move through us, to move us?

For me the most logical “map” to follow in the Dance towards freedom is through the Seven Major Chakras – the energy centres of the body.

The Dance begins by getting out of our heads and into our feet.

As we begin to move our feet and connect with the pulsating energy of Mother Earth, we can draw that energy up into our legs and Root Chakra (tailbone and genitals). The more in touch we are with Mother Earth the more we can experience and embrace our own physicalness. In this place of connecting deeply with our own humanness, we enter into deeper communion with all beings including the animal kingdom. Dancing and moving through the Root Chakra re-connects us with our own animal, instinctual nature. Animals know instinctively if danger (such as earthquakes or tsunamis) is approaching and they know to move onto safer ground. As we connect more with our own animal nature, we will regain our own instinctual abilities. Once our own animal nature is freed, we become literally unable to cage any animal. We become unable to tolerate any kind of cruelty to animals.

As we draw the energy up into our Sacral Chakra, the emotional centre and the centre of sexuality and sensuality, and allow the Dance to begin to flow from the pelvis, the movement will begin to clear out those old trapped emotions. The more we allow the Dance to emerge from the pelvis, we free our sexual energy which is our life force. Ultimately that is the energy that rises up through the spine, through the Crown Chakra and invites the Divine to enter and move through us.

As we allow that Dance to move up into the Solar Plexus, our personal power centre, we free our own warrior spirit. We free ourselves to take our rightful place in this world. And the real bonus is that allowing the Dance and energy to move through here, we may find that digestive disorders begin to clear up.
And we need have no fear that we may misuse all this Power because we are going to allow our dance to continue its sacred journey up into the Heart and our power will be tempered by Love.

By allowing our movement and Dance to move up into the Heart, we can open the Heart and free it of pain and grief. When the Heart is open and free, then we can open up to the Divine Love that is always there for us. That Divine Source of Love never abandons us, but we may abandon it when our Hearts are closed in pain or grief and nothing can get in. When we dance from our Heart centre, everything we do is tempered by Love and Compassion.

Sometimes our Throat and our Jaw get tight and rigid with unexpressed words or creativity that is trapped inside. We need to remember that the Throat Chakra is the energy centre where the Soul expresses itself through words, through creativity. We need to allow a gentle dance to move through the neck and throat and jaw to free all of those tight muscles. And to remember ourselves as Creative Beings.

As we allow the Dance to move gently and quietly up into the Third Eye, centre of intuition and Higher Wisdom we get to Remember and Dance with the Wise Being part of ourselves.

By the time we allow the Dance to move up into the Crown Chakra we are opening up to allow the Divine to Dance through us.

As we allow the Divine to fully enter through the Crown Chakra, it will move through us and move us in ways we hadn’t even considered. All we need to do at that point is Surrender to the Dance of the Divine.
And once we have Danced ourselves into Union with the Divine, we will have freed our bodies and our minds so that we can be open channels for the Divine.
Then we allow the Divine to move through us down through our feet and back into the Earth.

We become Channels of light, expressions of the Divine. And that is where we find our freedom.

And Dance can do all that!!

The Heart Chakra

Greetings,

On Wed. Nov. 4, we explored the Heart Chakra, the centre of unconditional love, compassion and forgiveness. This centre is the Bridge between the physical or material world (represented by the lower three Chakras) and the Spiritual world (represented by the upper three Chakras). The element is AIR.

Our overall focus was How can we love all apsects of ourselves more deeply and more profoundly? Most of us tend to be very good at giving to others and extending love and compassion and forgiveness to others. Giving to ourselves, feeling love and compassion and forgiveness towards ourselves is not always as easy. And yet, if take our example from the physical heart, it has to fill itself with blood before it can pump that life giving blood to all parts of the body. Likewise, on an energetic level, we have to fill ourselves with love and compassion and forgiveness before we can offer the same to the world around us.

After we introduced ourselves to each other, we each answered the question, "What makes your heart sing?" All of the beautiful answers created a lovely, positive vibration.

As a review of the previous Chakras, we used music and dance to awaken and energize those centres. For the Root Chakra, we connected with Mother Earth and the animal kingdom as we danced and shook our rattles to a drumming piece called "Tribal Gathering". As we moved up to the Sacral Chakra we connected with our Goddess energy and allowed her sensuality to emerge through some beautiful Belly Dance music and movement. Then we moved up to the Solar Plexus and allowed the strength and power of our Warrior Spirit to come forward through some wonderful Capoeira music and dance.

We then drew the energy back up to the Heart Chakra. and entered into a loving, healing meditation. Through breath and visualization we dove deeply into the Heart centre, allowing love, compassion and forgiveness to flow from its depths. As we filled our entire beings with Love, we remembered (or imagined) ourselves as the infanys that we were. We filled our infant selves with unconditional love. Then we did the same for ourselves as children, as teen-agers, as young adults, as the adults that we are now and we sent that love forward to our future selves.

And then we danced to the beautiful Heart Chakra music performed and recorded by Luciano Porto (our Dance of the Chakras musician). First we enetered into a Dance of Gratitude and Joy, and then we imagined ourselves dancing with our Beloved.

We ended with some journal writing followed by some very dynamic and inspiring sharing and discussion. In our journals, we explored, more fully, the question, What makes your heart sing? And then we completed the following sentence What I truly and deeply love about myself is....

Next week, Wed. Nov. 11 we will be focusing on the Throat Chakra and we will be exploring the healing power of the human voice. Should be a fascinating evening ... so stay tuned!

And I encourage you -- whether you are in a group or at home in your own living room, just allow your body to move and dance whenever you can.

If you want any info on Luciano's Dance of the Chakras CD -- which is wonderful for "Dancing your Chakras", contact him at 416-658-8980 or check http://www.baviaarts.com/

Until next time,

Barbara

Exploring the Solar Plexus Chakra

Our Journey Through the Chakras continued on Wed. Oct. 28 as we moved up to the Solar Plexus. The Sanskrit word for this energy centre is Manipura, which, according to the book Exploring Chakras by Susan Shumsky, means City of Jewels. Nice to think that we have a City of Jewels right inside of us!

The Solar Plexus is also known as the centre of Vital Energy. It is the centre of personal power, self esteem, confidence, intellect and it is through this centre that we express ourselves as individuals. Although we know that we are all part of the same Source, we also can appreciate our individual uniqueness, knowing that we are each an individual spark from the Divine Flame and we have come here to explore, to create and to express ourselves as only we, as an individual, can do.

Because this centre does relate to the motivation fo gain wealth, , power, status, prestige and recognition, we began the evening by first introducing ourselves and then answering the question, "If you suddenly became very wealthy, what is the first thing you would do for yourself?"

In the discussion that followed, we acknowledged that many (or most) people who are on a healing journey or a spiritual path, or who are simply trying to be good human beings, would immediately think about who they could help with that money as opposed to thinking about how they could take care of themselves first. We explored the possibility that, energetically, wealth and power are like love. You can't give love if you don't first have it for yourself. To try to give what we don't have, no matter how well intentioned we are, depletes us. Once we take care of ourselves, then we can share with the world.

Then we explored the question, "Who do you know that is wealthy, powerful, confident, materially successful and is a good, compassionate, conscious human being?" I think we would do well to be inspired by these people (there seem to be only a few of these kinds of role models at the moment). After all, wouldn't it be better if the wealth came into the hamds of people that are good and caring?

For the Dance protion of the class we explored some Martial Arts energy and movement. Specifically we were inspired by Capoeira, a Brazilian Martial Art and Dance which helped many enslaved people fight their way to freedom.

For our journal writing exercise we began by completing the following statement: "What I really appreciate about myself is:"

Then we connected with the element of FIRE by lighting a candle and allowing ouselves to connect deeply with the flame. In our journals we then did a dialogue between ourselves and the fire. We asked the fire if it had anything to tells us. Not surprisingly, a lot of powerful insights were had!!

After some wonderful sharing of experiences and thoughts, we drew our Solar Plexus Class to a close by chanting three continuous OMs from our Solar Plexus.

On Wed. Nov. 4 we will be exploring the Heart Chakra, centre of Compassion, Unconditional Love and Healing.

In the meantime, Let Your Light Shine Out Into the World.

Barbara

PS I'd be happy to hear any responses or thoughts about the questions that were posed.

Journey Through the Chakras

Hello All Chakra/Dance/Sound Enthusiasts (and Welcome to Anyone Else Who May Be Tuning In)

This is a reminder (or it might be "new" news) that I am presently facilitating a Seven Week Journey Through the Chakras every Wednesday evening from 7pm--9pm up to (and including) Wed. Nov. 25, 2009. This is a drop in class. Each class will offer a full review of the preceeding Chakras that we have worked with and then there will be a focus on one particular Chakra, working from the Root up to the Crown.. This blog will cover the essence of what we did and what we experienced in preceeding classes.

On Wed. Oct. 14, we explored the Root Chakra at the Base of the Spine. We became like Trees with roots nestled deep in Mother Earth. Through our deep and sacred connection with the Earth we explored the qualities of stability and groundedness. Then we visualized a Sacred Jungle and met our current Power Animal. We allowed the Animal to dance and make sound through us. In our journals, we explored the qualities of that Animal and how those qualities might support us in our Sacred Journey on this planet. Then we dialogued, again through journal writing, with our Animal friend. The Animals had some surprising and wonderful things to share with us. It was a blessing to meet and dance with all of the Animals that came through us and it was very beautiful to re-connect with our own Animal Nature. It was a powerful reminder that we humans also have instincts that need to be listened to.

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On Wed. Oct. 21, we explored the Sacral Chakra. We began by exploring ways of pampering ourselves. We explored physical sensation through exotic and sensual movements and dance. We connected deeply with the element of Water. By visualizing the healing of the Earth's waters we brought healing imagery and energy into the waters and fluids of our own bodies. In our journals, we wrote about those things that give us physical pleasure and that opened up a beautiful discussion around sexuality. Calling upon the energy of the Goddess or the Divine Feminine, we asked her the question, "How Can I Experience My Own Inner Beauty More Fully?" We allowed her to answer through a dialogue in our jounals. The sharing here was powerful and dynamic. SHE brought us insight and a deeper appreciation and love for ourselves.

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On Wed. Oct. 28, we will explore the Solar Plexus and the element of FIRE! It could be a passionate and firey experience!! Stay tuned for the next chapter in our ongoing Journey Through the Chakras. Or better yet, come and join us at:

Britten Memorial Chuch

657 Lansdowne Ave (S of Bloor)

Wed. 7pm--9pm (doors are locked at 7:30)

Cost is $15.00 per class

If you want more info, e-mail me at chakradancer@hotmail.com

I am happy to receive any responses, comments, questions...

Whether you join us at the Church or you journey and explore on your own, remember to "Dance Like Nobody's Watching!"

Enjoy,

Barbara

Coming Attractions

Oct. 14, 2009

Hello,

This is my first experience with blogging and as soon as I get it figured out, I will be posting the following Articles:

The Freeing Power of Dance

Speech Level Singing -- Taking Our Practice to a Deeper Level

Relflections on the Life, Music and Death of Michael Jackson

Romancing the Python (An Exploration of Kundalini)

So -- stay tuned.

In the meantime if you would like a copy of any of these articles please send me an e-mail request and I will be happy to forward it to you. chakradancer@hotmail.com