Inspirations: Ritual & Celebration

I began this year writing of Wizards and magical mastery.  Oddly, I close the year in similar fashion. This time, the magic was not intended, but random…or fated if you consider its birthing.  Perhaps the fated aspect came from having grown Wizard roots these past months in order to appreciate and connect to haphazard mysteries? This mundane moment was born unexpectedly, and became more…well, magical,    as it was unexpected, an unlikely confluence opening bodies to the numinous. During Saturday’s Yoga class, with a Full Moon guiding its structure, we began by circling the torso, inhaling through the nose and whistling out the exhale.  I played an exquisite piece of music, The Magic Hour, by the Ahn Trio, and within two to three circles we had a whistling choir.  Amazing harmonies emerged as though rehearsed.  The sound filled the room, rising and falling to the lyrical waltz. It was as if the moon’s light, its joy and expanded vision had entered bodies. What began as an exercise in Pranayama became a magical gift, an alchemical transformation of holding hands to cross the street, a memory to be savored through the cold, dark months ahead.  It reminded me of ‘Wizard-Mastery,’ so I returned to the opening salvo of 2014 Breaths to pull up the training paper, In case you have forgotten. January 2014 ~What do wizards’ in training require for alchemical transformation? Silence Time alone in the crystal cave Trust that wisdom unfolds in every moment. Awareness- everything in the Wizard’s world is a reflection of Self. Perception to see ‘what is.’ Courage to call the next adventure. To stand un-defended~ the only way we meet spirit. Truth has infinite versions. Try them all on. All time is now.  We are a web of mortality and immortality.  We are a web of… Read more »

Preparing for the equinox, like designing a tablescape, offers an opportunity to re-set the imagination. When we set a table to celebrate, we lay out the best, designing alignments from highest vibrational desires. We hope to integrate and navigate the celebration with judicious use of memories from past experience, a creative intellect, and good gut intuition.

Any garden is a source of light because gardeners work soul-mulch, digging their passion into the earth. They grow unique spaces of beauty and retreat needed in dark cycles. In preparing new ground, it’s amazing what appears to fertilize the soil.  What that soil produces is often surprising, sometimes extraordinary.  The original seeds tossed out to create Shakti Yoga Dances were from my garden of linking Yoga and dance, spirit and body, creativity and emotion.  My students’ response formed its strong and pliable roots.  They are the ones who have grown and fertilized the seed, expanding this remarkable plot.  Their light has opened new seedlings, unfurled luminous leaves of translation. With fortune and muscle, the harvest is shared, nurturing many.  Shakti Yoga Dances is expanding to larger workshops, and ritual celebrations, producing plants with exotic fruit and sweet scent. The second harvest has grown the first Shakti Yoga Dance teacher training, alive with talent and full-hearted instructors.  We close out 2013  in launching the new website  http://shaktidances.com/   which shares this magical garden, acknowledging it is time for the next seeding, and a larger garden.  The radiant vegetation, expanded far beyond its first imagined seeds, now links into layers made marvelous by the Yoga Tribe. This Breath is in deep gratitude to each and every one of you who has grown this garden, especially my students.  I thank you for your guidance, for sharing your hearts and enormous talents.  You may not be among the bodies on the website, but you are part of Shaktis’ roots, having fertilized her soil in un-imagined ways.  You know what that makes you….very special.  Samantha Cameron as Chauncey.