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Friday, May 28, 2010

The Day Starts with Perfume and Lipstick

No kidding. It does, really.

As I write to you, my day is just beginning - a couple of hours earlier than usual (it's 4:30 local time, and the time that you see for blogposts is Pacific - VERY misleading!).

Early, early morning - right about now - is my favorite time for writing to you. The "air" is quiet, so to speak. The hubbub and churn and people-density of the day has not yet started.

I love this quiet time. Because I'm an early-morning person, my mind is awake and clear - perhaps at its best in terms of insight coupled with intuition. (And a little bit of caffeine helps!)

At various times this year, I wasn't even "playing by my own rules." I'd wake up, and immerse myself in a project - still wrapped in a warm, fuzzy bathrobe. Yes to a cup of tea and feeding the cats. No to everything else. And then, I'd come out of "project immersion" to find that it was late morning - sometimes even early afternoon - and I was far from either looking or feeling my best for the day. And a very late recovery would ensue.

Now, one of my "secrets" to happiness (and even fame and prosperity!) is to "get gorgeous first."

This means everything. I'm not kidding; I really do mean EVERYTHING. The full, all-out, pull-out-all-the-stops gorgeousness. Do everything you might do for a big date, or a great night out on the town. (OK, sometimes, even now, I skip setting my hair -- but I'm even becoming more diligent about that!)

As an example, right now I'm not only showered and "dressed," I'm taking "dressed" to its highest level. I'm wearing a long, coral-peach silk negligee - trimmed with lace that has just a tiny bit of sparkle. (And although I've had this gorgeous piece for a couple of years, today is the first day that I'm wearing it. I had been saving it for something "special." Well, today is "special"! I'm writing to you, and that's "special" enough, isn't it?

I'm wearing my silky Chinese-brocade robe, best Manolo Blahnik mules, full cosmetics and jewelry, and whooshed all over with my very best perfume! And there's no one in the house who is awake to enjoy this. Except that I'm writing to you - and for a private moment, between us right now, isn't that reason enough to make this time very "extra-special"!

We've got a lovely Memorial Day weekend coming up. Why not take time - MAKE the time - for yourself? Whatever it is that you've got planned, look (and feel) as gorgeous as possible while doing your "whatever."

Take a look at your to-do list, and see if there isn't a way to simplify, or get some things off your list entirely. Add a little time for making yourself beautiful, and giving yourself a little pleasure. Allow your inner Goddess to emerge, and allow others the privilege of serving the Goddess - by serving you!

Remember, there is a world of difference between approaching others when you are stressed, harried, and groomed just enough for social civility - versus being a "Goddess;" someone who is so beautifully put together, and so calm and simply enjoying being in the present moment, that others simply want to be with you - because they'd like a little of what you have to rub off on them!

Live joyfully, my darling!

yours in dance - Alay'nya

Monday, May 24, 2010

The Number One Secret for Reality Creation

Dear Ones --

By now, I trust, you are pretty good at reality-creating. Sometimes we call this "co-creation." And if you haven't done so already, please run (not walk) to your nearest Amazon website and order Jerry and Esther Hicks' The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intention: The Art of Allowing.



Another very fabulous read is Machaelle' Wright's Behaving as if the God in All Life Mattered.



These are basics. And if you haven't already read them, applied what they have on a regular basis, and experienced the positive results in your life, then you will be DELIGHTED when you actually "try these on!"

But now, I'd like to introduce you to a more refined and subtle aspect of reality-creation. This is tremendously important, and yet often overlooked - as our culture pushes us into such a "push-forward" mentality. As a result, we often find ourselves striving (and underneath that, a bit too anxious) when we do whatever it is that we are doing in our lives.

This is a particularly pernicious pitfall when we start doing reality creations - most of all on the "important stuff."

We often feel that we need to push to get things done.

Instead, often the most important thing that we can do is to pull back a bit, and get ourselves in the right state as we create whatever it is that we are creating.

I write about this extensively in Unveiling. In fact, I devote several chapters to just this art!

Yet right now, let's not pull from Unveiling - let's look at an earlier work that describes reality-creating, and has come from one of the most widely-read authors of our time: Napoleon Hill.

You may already know - and be very familiar with - his famous classic, Think and Grow Rich.


But Napoleon wrote several books. One of his most important, and perhaps less-well-known, is Grow Rich! With Peace of Mind. He wrote this in his later years, after he had not only learned and taught the lessons that he received by observing the wealthiest men of the century, but also after reflecting on how his own psyche (and that of many others, such as you and I) interacted with the basic "Grow Rich" principles.

He gained a sort of meta-knowledge; a higher level of understanding.

And he shared his late-life wisdom with us.



So now, let me share a secret with you. This is one that Napoleon used, and one that I've used, and so have many others.

It is simply this: When you create something, you have to be in the "same state" as that which you desire to create in order to create the instance of it.

Sounds cumbersome. Maybe sounds a little weird. But let me try to explain.

If you're desiring to create wealth, you have to create wealth from the experience of already being wealthy!

If you're desiring to create relationship success, you have to create it fromt he perspective of already being in fabulous relationships!

Napoleon himself gives a practical example. In Chapter 8, "How to Transmute Sex Energy Into Achievement Power," he writes:

"When I reread the manuscript I saw that it lacked something."

He knew, from his previous studies - because every single book that he has ever written has contained a whole chapter on transmuting sex energy - that the quality of transmuted sex energy was exactly what his first drafts were lacking.

He got into "state." That is, he accessed his core, vital, raw sexual energy - and poured it into a second draft. As he put it, "I rewrote it from start to finish" and the result was "electrifying."

As he summed it up, "Anything you do can be electrifying and positive and profitable when it is infused with sex emotion." (Italics his.)

He makes it clear that this is not the same as the act of physical sex. (With or without a partner.) It is the sexual energy, the emotion of that energy, that he is drawing upon and pouring into his creation.

We do this, of course, when we dance. And we certainly know when a dancer is pouring her "sex juice" into a dance, and when she is not!

I've used this teaching many times when writing Unveiling.

In fact, I used it today.

I started the day off in normal, rational-cognitive mode. It began with brewing a cup of tea, and having a good, solid exercise session before I sat down with my Day Planner and my "to-do" lists. (Which were, as they are for most of us, way too long!)

And I knew that something was "off."

It was the "sex juice" factor.

I was starting a new work-week, and I was starting it dry. Dull, Dreary. Totally and completely lacking in "oomph."

The only solution was to "reboot."

I changed from exercise gear into a silky robe. Instead of pulling my hair back in a clip, I fluffed it a bit and pulled it into a nice, neat coiffure. I added jewelry, perfume, sexy shoes. I put on some more lipstick. (Yes, I do wear lipstick - even at home, and even for a morning workout. Practice makes perfect!)

I was feeling a little silly by the time I got this far, but I continued. Instead of using my "normal" coffee cup, I found and washed out my fanciest of fancy china, and served myself coffee in china on a silver tray. I found and polished my favorite silver spoon. I made a breakfast treat of fresh fruit in yogurt, and instead of grabbing a bowl from the cupboard, I sought out a pretty little oversized brandy snifter that I knew was around here someplace.

In short, I made everything, including myself, extra-special. I added oomph!

And yes, I was feeling a bit silly - although I had a big, silly grin on my face by this time as well! And I was enjoying myself so much more - and almost laughing at myself and everything around me.

My mood began to lighten up. Instead of feeling tight-wired and focused and intense, I began to loosen up and find the lightness and humor in things.

And from this state - one much more positive and juicy - I began to re-experiment with some contacts database software, and to follow-up on connections with people that I'd just met, and NOW - still feeling fun and juicy - and having had a lovely lunch that a fellow household member just made - I'm ready to take on Unveiling!

Try this - or your own version of the same thing - and post a comment on your results!

Much joy to you, dear sisters -- yours in dance - A.

Check out great posting on Julie's blog!

Dear Ones -

I've found Julie Rahm's "America's Mindset Mechanic" blog to be very useful - LOVE the "plumb bob" analogy!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The Four "Levels" - A Simple Example (Continued)

Dear Ones --

Picking up with the discussion about our Levels, which I introduced a few days ago -- we return to a simple and practical example: How do we keep current with our "connections," especially the new ones? Most especially, how do we handle the piles and stacks of business cards that so many of us have?

I left this topic with you three blog-posts ago, as a bit of a "cliffhanger." I meant to share with you, in the next post, the insight that I received that "pivoted" how I treated the whole matter of business cards and people-connects. One reason for the little time-delay was that I wanted to first put the insight into action. (And yes, I DID spend the next two days on just that - putting the insight into practice.)

I still wanted some input from a "coach," though - someone who was much better in this area than I was. And as good fortune (or active co-creation) would have it - this is exactly what I got, just last night, from my dear friend Debra. (And I hope to introduce you to her soon!)

Debra is an expert at people-relations. More than that, she is very much "on top of her game." So I simply couldn't find a better person to not only coach me, but to provide an excellent real-life example of how to handle her growing volume of "people-relations." So, let me share with you both what I learned as "insight." Then, in the next blog-post, I'll pass on what I learned last night from Debra as "practical guidance."

THe "insight" is simple. (And this is where we have the conversation about Levels.) We all have "papers" in our lives. These may be letters that need response, papers to file, receipts to enter into spreadsheets and then file, or - that most infamous collection of "papers" - business cards. Very often, for many of us, these pile up. These piles quickly become intimidating, because each little piece of paper can require a great deal of attention, energy, and plain, simple work.

Business cards are the toughest - because we KNOW what it is that we REALLY want to do with them: We want to get the data into both our smart phone AND our main computer database (the one that we use for managing our distribution lists and "big" data storage). Then, we want to get a nice "connection" note off to the person that we just met, and file the card into some sort of paper back-up file. One little-tiny card can require a big gob of time.

So here it is: If we're just thinking about that business card (or that handful, or stack of business cards) on the simple, physical level, then the effort involved in "processing" that card seems disproportionately large. I - and maybe you - have all too often looked at the little cards and said, "Important - but I'll get to them tomorrow." And tomorrow becomes the next day, and the next.

The challenge is that the little piece of paper is so very small. And the effort involved is really kind of BIG.

But this is at the simple, physical level - Level 1.

The insight that I received is to treat handling business cards as a multi-level process, just as with dance.

Level 1 is handling the simple mechanics of the card. Do the data base entry (and the duplicate into the smart phone, or the synch-up - if you are so technically savvy.) Write the follow up note, and file the card away - with a notation on the card that both data entry and follow-up were done.

Level 2 is getting over my resistance about putting the time into this (when there are so many other things to be done!).

Level 3 is where the insight begins.

I realized that each business card was a token for a new, potential relationship. (This is using an artificial intelligence / cognitive science term.) The card wasn't the relationship itself - but it could stand in for the new connection.

I realized that while I was processing the card physically, I could also build the relationship energetically. While doing all the details of data entry, I could bring mindful attention and awareness to the new person, and create the intention of building a new relationship. I could, in fact, create the energy-link between us as I was filling in the remembered details from our conversation, and wrote a little email follow-up.

Being mindful and attending to our energy-connection is Level 3 work. Creating the intention, and charging it through our action of annotating and writing, is Level 4.

Thus, we can transform something that might be a time-consuming "chore" into an energy-process that builds a closer connection on many levels.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I met several wonderful new people at an event last night - and it's time to enter in those new business cards!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

More on the latest word!

Darlings -

Still learning how this blog works -- with regard to most recent post (just a few minutes ago) - you'll note that I talked up Anna G., a fab massage therapist who is re-opening her Northern Virginia practice.

I suggested that you contact Anna through my comments, or by sending me an email to forward to her.

Connecting with Anna - or with ANY of my Blog Followers - is MUCH FASTER and EASIER than that! You see Anna listed as a Follower (no picture, but find her). Click on her icon in the Followers section. A window comes up which you can use to send her a message. To do this, you have to be a Follower yourself. But it works, it's EASY - and this is a great way to check out the many people whom I'll be "talking up" as bringing great value to those of us who are transforming our lives.

Isn't technology just a wonderful thing? Great way to connect with each other!

Latest word - Anna G. - the BEST massage therapist - back in town!

Dear All --

Can't wait to share the exciting news!

Anna G. (see her comment on blog just prior to this) is coming back to the Northern Virginia area on a regular basis - every two to three weeks - to take care of her existing and new clients.

Anna is absolutely one of the VERY BEST healing, intuitive massage therapists that I have EVER known! It is a privilege and joy to work with her.

Connect with Anna via posting on this blog, and she can respond to your posting - and/or - send me an email at alaynya at alayna dot com - and I will forward to her!

Have a lovely, joyous, and blessed day!

yours in dance - Alay'nya

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Putting the "Levels" into Practice: A Simple Example

Dear One --

I love meeting new people. (And old favorites, as well!) I love exchanging business cards. I love the buzz, the excitement, of creating that in-the-moment connection with someone. (Does this describe you, so far? If so, read on!)

I also love creating new ideas, new dreams and visions, and bringing them into being.

Where I am so regrettably weak is in the "little details." Tracking expenses, keeping up my travel autolog, and - you guessed it - following up with these wonderful, esciting people once I've met them.

As all busiess consultants and "relationship gurus" will tell us, following up is the most important thing once we've met someone. We all know this. I know it. But putting this into practice is the hard part.

The "gotcha" for me is the tedium factor of processing little bits of paper; something that I'll put off when I'm in high-creative mode (such as writing a book, coming up with a new invention, or developing a business plan.) The tedium-factor is also because one single little business card - properly done - really is a LOT of work. It's even more work than the initial meeting with someone!

As a result, I have stacks of business cards. They're all over. I have cards from the last two weeks clipped together. The ones from a few weeks prior are clipped together, and pushed back to an "in-box" which, I tell myself, will be a high priority. (Very soon now. Any day.) And the ones from even further back are in baggies, somewhat organized by event or general interest area, and further stored in bags or baskets. Not a pretty sight on an energetic or emotional level, not to mention keeping the office well-organized.

Does this sound familiar to you?

Most of us - unless we are VERY self-disciplined, and have great focus and intention - let this little matter of business cards and follow-ups simply slide. And then we lose those valuable, delicate new relationship-beginnings.

I love the insight provided to us by Machaelle Wright, whose work in Perelandra has put her in touch with the various Nature Devas. In her communications with them, they share that a garden is something that is a joint creation between human and nature. Also - most significantly - a garden need not be grown in soil. There are such things as "soilless gardens" - companies, or organizations of any kind. Anything that we create with intention and purpose.

This is a bit of a digression, but with a reason.

If we envision building our relationships as akin to creating a garden, then each new relationship - represented by each "business card" - is like a tender, delicate seedling. We can either plant it carefully and nourish it. Or we can take the effort that we've already made - in obtaining the seedling-beginning - and let it wither and die through lack of attention.

So much for analogy. And truly, we know this already.

The challenge that I've faced, lately, is that as I come out of being intensively focused on the creative process (writing, rewriting, and now editing and refining) of Unveiling, it's time to start connecting with people once again.

These stacks and piles and bags of business cards demand attention.

And yet - I've cringed at the thought of going through all the work - the "tedium" of the data entry, all the little emails to generate, etc. It just seemed like too much work.

So last week, facing these stacks of cards, I felt that it was simply too much. And did the only thing reasonable. I turned this over to my "Higher Power" (God, however you would describe this One.) And took a nap. And when I got up, I had the insight - the guidance - that I needed in order to handle these business cards - and the "seedling relationships" - the right way.

(To be continued ...)

Monday, May 10, 2010

Tune Up Your Life - With Help from America's "Mindset Mechanic"!

Dear Ones --

Our entire process is about transformation. This is not just "reinventing" ourselves at a superficial level - this is more than a makeover! Rather, it is going deep into the core of our beings for a "whole life transformation."

Right now, I'm developing curriculum (Levels 1 - 4) that will help us use dance as a powerful vehicle - as a body/mind/psyche/spirit integration pathway - that will help us do just that!

At the same time, we can all use some practical, helpful "tools" in our lives. So let me introduce my dear friend, Julie Rahm, America's Mindset Mechanic. Julie can help you "Tune into your dreams, tune up your energy, and tune out the 'white noise' in your life!"

I've known Julie for years. When we were both following "corporate" pathways, she was consistently excellent. Now, she's consistently fabulous - and can help us all achieve our dreams!

You may want to follow Julie on America's Mindset Mechanic Blog site - I've found some great ideas there! While I've known the principles for a while, Julie's got a great way of helping us "tune up" our application of these same principles. It's like taking our car (our high-performance minds) into the shop for a little - really - "tuning up!"

Friday, May 07, 2010

Unveiling -- the Permissions

Dear Ones --

Today, as I get up to write to you, it is early morning - a little after 4AM. The sky is still dark, the birds are still quiet, even the tree frogs ceased their chorus several hours ago. It is in these very quiet moments that I share with you, because one of the things that I (and many other creative persons) most like to hear is: What is the creative process like? What is it like to actually write a book; to go from concept to many rough drafts to final form to the final polish?

The creative process in others fascinates us, because we hope to learn something that we can use and apply to our own endeavors.

As soon as the sun rises, and the spell of quiet-time breaks, daylight energy starts surging in and I'm part of the "practical world" once again. And now that I am so close, so very close, to getting Unveiling to you, much of what I've put off over the past year is now on my desk. My daily "to-do" list crawls off the page, and - just as with you - even as I write down all the "to-do's" and attempt prioritizing, I know that I'll only do a small fraction of what's on the list.

And the reason, of course, that I only get a fraction of the "other stuff" done is that I'm still massively allocating time to Unveiling.

A while ago - this is about a month or so back - I could sense the energetic "completeness" of Unveiling. At some level, it was already in final form. All the chapters were in place, all the necessary concepts and thoughts were there - even though I've continued to get guidance and inputs, and little things that make such a difference to the final outcome still come to me. (This is much like adding the final fresh, most tender, ingredients to a long-simmered stew, just before serving.)

As I said, energetically, Unveiling was complete.

Pragmatically - now that's an entirely different story.

I spent most of yesterday, and will spend much time over the next few days, writing the Permissions letters. These are the ones in which the author contacts the publishers of other author's works, asking for permission to include extracts of the others' works in their own.

In my case, I have many, MANY extracts from other author's works. About three dozen in all.

Why so many, you might ask? After all, isn't Unveiling supposed to be my work - not just a compilation of ideas and insights from others?

And yes, truly, it is.

But the story goes back to the origin of Unveiling.

Many years ago, I began my own quest. I realized that I had stumbled, more or less, on a "path." In fact, I had found the "path" that I was looking for - a body/mind/psyche/energy integration pathway for women. I had spent many years prior studying martial arts, and finally (and somewhat reluctantly) concluded that they were not right for me. All that block-kick-punch-strike -- too masculine. While I loved the energy, the intensity, the total awareness and physical discipline of the martial arts, they were essentially masculine. Fundamentally, they were all about fighting. As a woman, I was less and less interested in fighting; less and less interested in the masculine path. I wanted one that was, at its core, intrinsically feminine.

When I found Oriental (belly) dance, I knew that I had "come home." And for years, I was able to find extraordinary teachers in the dance arts, much as I'd earlier found extraordinary teachers in the martial arts. (I write about them in Unveiling, and in the Unveiling website - when it is itself "unveiled" - I'll link to their sites.)

But even though I was getting fabulous dance training, crucial aspects - the "life-path-integration" aspects - were still missing.

I craved some sort of guidance. Specifically, I craved a book.

I looked high and low, and couldn't find one. (This was some fifteen years ago.)

In response to my own need, I began writing. And of course, books - written by others - began to emerge. They played a crucial role in what I'll be sharing with you.

So - right now, my job is to get those Permissions letters out, day by day, until all the publishers and authors have been contacted. Then, Unveiling can rightfully give you tiny little "snippets" of insights that others have provided, and you'll be able to follow up on your own.

This is a long job - I've been at it for days, and more will come. But what is exciting is that years ago - when I first started writing to you - these materials (by and large) did not exist. Or I was unaware of them. Or even - if aware - I didn't understand the role that they would play in the final manuscript. (Again, think of cooking -- and being in a well-stocked kitchen. Sometimes, we don't realize that we need a certain ingredient - like a bit of tomato paste as well as the fresh tomatoes - until we're well underway with the cooking!)

Now, new and relevant books, articles, webzines and blogs are producing relevant insights, every single day. This means that many of us are holding the same thoughts, and asking the same questions.

Darlings, it is time to unveil Unveiling, and I can't wait to share it with you!

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Did you feel the energy shift at Beltaine?

Dear Ones --

Here it is, Tuesday, May 4th. About a week ago - Thursday, April 29th - a sort of "energy shift" started. Do you remember, for those of us on the East Coast, that we had a relatively dry few days, and that it got very warm from Friday the 30th to Saturday, May 1st?

It wasn't just the physical warmth though; there was a distinctive "quickening" or "enlivening" that happened. Nothing on a grand cosmological scale; I'm not talking about something millennial (or even centennnial). Rather, the simple, annual cycling of energies. In this case, an intensification of the emerging "spring" energy and a transition into "summer" energy.

Most of us - very naturally - get caught up in the energy patterns themselves, and don't really notice the energy-feeling as something distinctive. I was caught up, myself! (You'll note that I haven't blogged in over a week.) And even when two days of rain followed that lovely Saturday, the energy-feeling continued, and continued further as the beginning of this warm, dry week emerged.

The thing for us to notice - as dancers and as energy workers - is when there is a transition.

One of my household members had a May 1st birthday, and threw a great big party. And - appropriately enough for Beltaine - there was a wonderful "bonfire" in our fire cauldron!

I celebrated Beltaine by being drawn into re-developing a fire dance.

This is the same fire dance that I had done several years prior; using Mosaic (the first cut) on Sandstorm.



This is one of the first works by Farzad Farhangi. So fortunately, I already had a detailed set of notes on the musical structure, and some previously-developed base choreography.

What is different now, is that I'm seeking to work with the fire energy itself, not just to do a dance. And this means - yes - doing more than just a "candle dance," which is how I interpreted this dance earlier.

In short, it's not enough to just do an impressive choreography and even to work with candle flames. For energy work, there are two whole extra dimensions.

The first dimension has simply to do with feeling the "energy" of the element with which we're working. For a fire dance, I want to feel that zingy, enlivening fire energy. (This is Level 3 in our practice.) And Level 4 (the second new dimension) is what we create with the fire energy - how we hold it, shape it, and purpose it - at an energetic level, while we are doing the dance on the physical level.

Kind of like walking and chewing gum at the same time, although a good deal more complex.

And I'll admit - I'm a beginner at this sort of thing. Doing this is as complex, and as challenging, as it was many years ago, when I tried to do a veil dance with zills for the first time. It is REALLY a new experience to seek to get the physical movements so down-pat (even if they are improv), so that my conscious attention is on the energy-experience, and I'm not focused on the details of technique and choreography.

But this is where the art is becoming brand-new, all over again - and this is enormously exciting.

And back to the energy-shift of Beltaine - the transition. What happened at Beltaine was an introduction of fire energy - very different from the quickening of life-energy that brought us all out to our gardens around Vernal Equinox; this had a qualitatively different feel.

So if you would care to take on an exercise, start to notice (perhaps even record your impressions) of the energy shifts, especially as we come to the cross-quarter days as well as the seasonal quarters. (This means: the Summer and Winter Solstices, the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes, and the cross-quarter days of Beltaine, Lammas, Samhaine, and Imholc.) Feel the energy, and observe how your natural instincts respond. Then see how you can transition that into your dance!

Also, Waverly Fitzgerald has a lovely and inspiring website, schooloftheseasons, and an associated blog; livinginseason. I've been following her site for years, and reference it within my own web - and am delighted with her sensitive, insightful blog postings!