Alay'nya Studio Blog

Recharging Our Eating Plan with Healthy Foods (And Welcoming in the New Year!)

2012-02-06T03:34:00.000-08:00

How to Kick-Start a Healthy Eating Plan for the New Year

Can I just say this straight?

Diets don't work.

Diets, or any sense of deprivation - any sense of "I can't have this" or "I can't have as much of this as I'd like" - just doesn't work as a way to live our lives.

May I also say: this is still early February. We are just coming out of hibernation. And like good old bears, we still want to "carb up."

To make things worse, we're being bombarded with magazines showing us images of barely post-pubescent young women; those who have the ultra-firm flat tummies, the carefully sculpted bottoms, and scarcely a half-ounce of extra body fat.

Nuts to that, I say! (In fact, nuts are a really good idea - protein, carbs, fiber ... but okay, that's a different post.)

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Pistachios; Bon Appetit, February, 2008. Recipe by Dan Barber. Photograph by Lisa Hubbard

Right now, we're barely getting out of our caves.

We're a few days post Imholc/Candlemas/Groundhog Day. (Pick your holiday of choice.) There's no question; we are starting to feel a bit better. There's more light in the sky now. The days are just a bit longer. And we're having an early spring. The daffodils are up; the trees show signs of early budding.

But it's still February.

So the big question is: How to recharge our diets and exercise patterns?

The answer is: Gravitate towards that which makes us feel good. So instead of forcing ourselves towards anything - especially anything that is a little stringent or unnatural - we instead invite ourselves - gently and lovingly and with the greatest nurturance and care possible - to do those things that will help us feel better.

This often means cooking our own food, from scratch. Using the best possible natural ingredients that we can find - especially healthy fresh vegetables.

But if you're like me, then breaking off whatever you're doing sometimes just seems like too much work. And cooking up anything when getting home from work seems like way too much effort.

So here's what I'm doing to get myself going; you might want to do the same:

Put up good-foods pictures where you'll see them. Right now, I'm looking at a picture of brussels sprouts. Yes, brussels sprouts - with pistachios and lemon. And I'm about to pull this picture out of the magazine, trim the edges neatly, put it into a plastic sleeve holder, and tape that to one of my kitchen cupboards. And I'll do the same with a picture of a fresh salad of mixed greens (when I find one). And similarly with one or two more really invigorating and inspiring recipes. Why? Because we're visual creatures. We respond to stimulation. And at this time of the year, in particular, we crave visual, tactile, and olfactory stimulus. So - we provide ourselves with stimulus and inspiration, and action follows.
Pre-process your raw veggies as soon as you get home What can you say to a raw cauliflower? Not much, really. So as I'm unpacking the bags of raw veggies, I try to do what I can to get them ready for later cooking. I take the leaves off the cauliflower, and core out the bottom end. And I try to do other things that make it possible to get meals together just a bit more easily later in the week. The biggest drawback to eating more healthily - that means, more veggies (both cooked and raw) - is that they take more prep time. A whole lot of washing and cutting and fussing. The other thing that seems to work is to take the veggies, a cutting board, and necessary knives and bowls in to watch some TV. This is a sort of "low-energy" task - something to do when a little too tired to do anything really energetic or creative, but not quite completely zoned out. It's a good way to prep veggies for salads, stir-fries, soups, and other uses.
Prioritize veggie-intensive food preps for early in the day, when there's still some energy. I try to plan and prep whatever my meals will be as early in the day as possible. At this time of year, this often means a soup or a slow-cooked meal. If I can get this started early - before getting into the other tasks and priorities - then the food is ready later on, when I'm hungry. I may even pre-prep a salad, and put it in the fridge with a cover over the dish. And also even make a little mustard/honey/olive-or-grapeseed oil/balsamic dressing. Always tastes better than the store-bought. I'll make this up and store in the fridge, and this minimizes reaching for the store-bought back-up dressing. (Think about this: You're more likely to purchase quality ingredients when you make your own dressing. And you're more likely to add in little extra heath-giving "extras" when you make it yourself.)

That's it, really. Focus on the feel-good foods; especially the veggies. And make the cream-cheese brownies when you need them; if you have enough in the way of brussels sprouts and salads, everything else takes care of itself.

One final thing: With warmer days, it's time to get outside once again. I'm looking forward to a lengthy walk today; a couple of miles at least. As soon as the sidewalks or streets are ice-free, and the wind is not so chill, it's time to get some fresh air and exercise. And being outside is so much more fun and invigorating than being on a treadmill in a gym!

To your health, happiness, and an overall glorious New Year! - yours - Alay'nya

The Most Important Thing ...

2012-01-19T03:09:00.000-08:00

Release the Sacrum to Release Personal Energy

The most important thing we can do - in our dance training, or in whatever body art that we practice - is to release our sacral area. This allows energy to flow. (It also allows our movements to be more natural and spontaneous.) By "sacrum," I really mean the entire sacral area - our sacro-ileac joints, the lumbar-sacral connection (and the lumbar area itself), and the sacral-coccyx area.

Yoga is probably the best way to start the release pattern, along with hip flexion stretches. Tai chi and chi kung-type moves also help to release this area, particularly if we pay attention to how we are using our natural intrinsic strength to hold ourselves upright. See Peter Ralston's work for more information and teaching on this.

"Circulating the Body of Light" - Works Best After Ch'i Development

2012-01-18T03:56:00.000-08:00

Cultivating Intrinsic Personal Energy (Ch'i) - Essential to "Circulating the Body of Light"

Circulating the body of light is an esoteric energy practice; sort of at the early-graduate-school ability-level. It is something that all of us who do energy work typically include as part of our practice.

All too often, those of us who do intentional and directed energy work (i.e., "magic") focus on visualization-style practices. This is important and good, but it leaves out two important components:

1) Actually creating and building up our internal energy - so that we have something "worth the play," and
2) Learning to move actual intrinsic energy, or ch'i, up our spines, and
3) Releasing tension blockages throughout our bodies that enable us to move energy effectively.

It's important to do ch'i-cultivation exercises as a part of our regular routine. I've recently included the classic Chinese silk-weaving exercises into my daily practice, along with some chi kung; together, these help ramp up my intrinsic energy level, giving me more "oomph" for the visualization and energy circulation (aka "body of light") work. This is a lot like adding a few more extra logs to the fire; if we really want to heat something up (such as manifesting an intention, or creating a shift in our lives), then it helps to have a bit more extra "oomph."

I gave several good resources for this in a previous blogpost Creating Personal Energy.

My friend and colleague, Donald Michael Kraig, has an excelleng understanding of these matters (and has written several books on this subject). See his excellent radio interview transcript on sex magic. Also, you might check out both his blogs and his books; see DM Kraig's website.

You might, of course, also read, study, and practice what I describe in Chapter 29: "Pragmatic Esoterics", of my own recent book, Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

And just as a gentle reminder: This is relatively advanced practice. Think of what is described in books such as The Secret as "undergraduate level." What DM Kraig describes in his (now in its third edition) "Modern MagicK Twelve Lessons in the High Magickal Arts" is equivalent to a thorough and demanding (although still very accessible) introductory graduate-level text. (It's not that the concepts are hard; it's simply the execution and practice that takes discipline.) Chapter 29 of my own book is essential a precis for a similarly-demanding course of study; mine emphasizes more the physical and internal-energy components. Taken together, along with the references described in a previous posting (see link above) will essentially comprise a very good initial graduate-level training in energy cultivation, circulation, and direction.

Morocco's "You Asked Aunt Rocky" - Fascinating Read, Significant Contribution!

2012-01-16T05:22:00.000-08:00

Morocco's You Asked Aunt Rocky - A Major Contribution to Dance Ethnography!

Morocco's You Asked Aunt Rocky - the culmination of years of study, travel, practice, ad writing - has just been released via Lulu. I've just submitted a review article to The Belly Dance Chronicles, for their April/May/June issue, and also published a five-star review on Lulu.com, where it already has three other five-star reviews.

Currently, you can order You Asked Aunt Rocky directly from Lulu.com, and it will be available from Amazon.com by March.

In the Shallow Waters - The "Real" Origins of Oriental Dance!

2012-01-08T02:42:00.000-08:00

We Learned to Dance as We Learned to Swim: The Real Origins of Oriental Dance

At the end of this month, Delilah will be hosting her famous wintertime dance retreat in Hawai'i. What a perfect escape from the mid-winter blues and blahs!

There's a special reason to join Delilah this year. In fact, there are TWO special reasons.

First, she's actually holding two back-to-back retreats. The first, from Jan 29th thru Feb. 3rd, features Special Guest Teacher Fahtiem, and gives participants to learn Fahtiem's exquisitely beautiful style. The second, from Feb. 4th through Feb. 9th, features Special Guest Teacher Jennifer Earle, and introduces the womenly self-defense art of Nia. What a fabulous way to combine both strength and beauty! And in the most luscious setting possible.

There's a second - really important - reason to get to one of Delilah's Hawai'i retreats. She actually gets her dancers out into the water! And there's something special - something almost magical - that happens when we do Oriental dance (belly dance) in the water. Our bodies return to - they viscerally re-member - how it is that our art came about.

While much can be said of how Oriental dance grew out of ancient folk dances from the Mid-East, and there can even be a claim for dances in earliest recorded human times, I'd like to suggest that we - as humans - learned to dance even earlier. Our dance is a natural response to spending time in the water.

In her groundbreaking book, The Descent of Women, author Elaine Morgan makes the significant claim that humans evolved through a series of two major progressions; one where we went into the water (in the heat of the Pliocene era. Essentially, she says, we "went to the beach." We spent a lot of time out in tidal bays and lagoons. In these soft, gentle, shallow water, we withstood the Pliocene heat waves.

Now, I'm going to suggest - based on my personal research in "unveiling" movement patterns intrinsic to our bodies - that our art form began when we were in the water, and our bodies naturally adapted to the gentle pull of tides and waves. When we went ashore in the evening, and built campfires, some of us made music on drums and other simple instruments. Others of us - danced! We did, on smooth beaches around a driftwood campfire, what our bodies had done all day in the water. We did undulations, figure eights, and snake arms.

And that, dear friends, is what I believe to be the true story of the origins of the dance. Various "courtship gestures" became incorporated later. We evolved other patterns as well. But the fundamentals? The ones that are deeply ingrained in our bodies - so that we really only have to remember them? They come from our origin as a species. From a time when we went to the beach, played in the water during the day, and danced on the beach in the evenings.

I've always wanted to recreate this experience, and last summer I had the chance - my dear friend Nicole Cutts, Founder of Vision Quest Retreats for women - invited me to teach a private group. We did "belly dance" in the pool! You can see the YouTube link on her Facebook page.

Some Insights from Elaine Morgan's Descent of Woman

The following are a few selected quotes from the Descent of Woman. I heartily recommend that you get the book and enjoy the read! It had a profound impact on me when it first came out in the 1970's, and will probably influence how you think also!

Long long ago, then, back in the mild Miocene, there was a generalized vegetarian prehomind hairy ape. She had not yet developed the high-powered brain which today distinguishes woman from all other species. (p. 16)

[Alay'nya's note: The Pliocene heat wave started, drying up the woods in which we had lived. Pre-humans were forced into grasslands.]

She also couldn’t digest grass; she also had a greedy and hectoring mate; she also lacked fighting canines; she also was hampered by a clinging infant; and she also was chased by a carnivore and found there was no tree she could run up to escape. However, in front of her there was a large sheet of water. With piercing squeals of terror she ran straight into the sea. The carnivore was a species of cat and didn’t like wetting his feet; and moreover, though he had twice her body weight, she was accustomed like most tree-dwellers to adopting an upright posture, even though she used four legs for locomotion. She was thus able to go farther into the water than he could without drowning. She went right in up to her neck and waited there clutching her baby until the cat got fed up with waiting and went back to the grasslands. (pp. 20-21)

She switched easily, almost without noticing it, from eating small scuttling insects to eating small scuttling shrimps and baby crabs. There were thousands of seabirds nesting on the cliffs, and as she had a firm handgrip and a good head for heights she filled another empty ecological niche as an egg collector. (p. 21)

Whenever anything alarming happened on the landward side – or sometimes just because it was getting so hot – she would go back into the water, up to her waist, or even up to her neck.” (pp. 21-22)

She spent so much time in the water that her fur became nothing but a nuisance to her. (p. 23) (Alay'nya's note: As a result, she lost her body fur and kept the long fur on her head – which grew even longer, so her infant could grab it and get back to Mommy.)

In short, we evolved. We went from tree-dwellers to grassland-dwellers to beach-dwellers. And we stayed on the beaches for a long, long time. In the water – in the safe, calm waters of gentle bays and lagoons – we became human. We learned to walk upright. We developed a new set of facial gestures and expressions. We learned to use speech. (Sound carries very well over water – even when sunlight is glinting off the waves and it is difficult to see someone who is further away.)

And guess what? It was most likely within this soft, gentle, safe environment that we developed the fine art of belly dance.

Our bodies swayed with the seaweed when we were in the water. We naturally – and instinctively – developed our “undulations.”

Our hands and arms rested naturally and gracefully on the water’s surface. And we naturally – and instinctively – developed our “snake arms.”

And then, when the sun went down, and we went ashore, and made fires from driftwood and cooked the shellfish and eggs that we’d collected during the day, we danced around the fire. Simply because it was fun, and we had nothing else to do. We did it to play!

The end effect? Our human intelligence, our playfulness, and our happiness are all tied up with that wonderful time in our evolutionary history when we all collectively took a beach vacation. A “vacation” that lasted several million years.

This year – let’s take a beach vacation again, and join Delilah with guest teachers Fahtiem (Jan 29 – Feb 3rd) and Jennifer Earle (Feb 4th – 9th). Visit Sign up today!

Priming Our "Fountain of Youth" - Raw Foods in Winter

2011-12-29T02:50:00.000-08:00

Cranberry Salad (A Wintertime Raw Food Energy Stimulator)

Winter is a time for meditation and reflection. Certainly, our bodies become quieter. Our need for sleep is natural at this time of year. But as we turn inwards, we need to cultivate a balance. We need a certain amount of liveliness in our bodies, even during this quieter time.

We know that raw fruits and veggies are good for us. Sometimes, though, a piece of raw food is not the first thing that crosses our mind when we want winter foods.

The trick is to work with raw food recipes that give us all the nutrients that we need, and which also feel satisfying.

Recently, I had some evening quiet time, after spending the day cleaning along with the Pick-Up-and-Put-Away (PUPA) steps so necessary to bring order, harmony, beauty and joy to life. At the end, I was bushed. Fortunately, I had quiet time alone, and so I petted my cats, gave them some treats, and sat down to watch TV with a chopping board on my lap and my favorite veggies-cutting knife in hand. I made the following recipe for a holiday cranberry salad – all raw – and very eatable on its own. And just super-full of healthy vitamins and such!

Alay’nya’s Christmas Cranberry Salad - Maximal Healthy Winter Raw Foods!

1 bag of fresh cranberries, washed. (You might do this with half the bag, save the rest to wash and use later.) As you go along, feeling through them, toss out the ones that are soft. Cut the ones that are firm – first into halves, then again into quarters. (If you have a food processor, you might do a very loose and light chop. But if you don’t, or just want to have something to do with your hands while watching TV, then hand-chop.)
Oranges or clementines - For every cup of cranberries, you’ll want between ½ cup to a full cup of freshly cut orange slices. Just peel the oranges, pull apart the segments, then chop these into smaller pieces. Guestimate proportions; you don’t need to be exact. For a half-bag of cranberries, this could be two large navel oranges, or 3 or 4 smaller ones. You can use clementines if those are what you have at hand.
Celery – about two large, fresh sticks – choose from the inner part of the celery heart where the celery is sweetest. Cut off any green leaves (use to put in your raw foods juicer, a stew or soup or stuffing). Cut the celery into small pieces. All these fruit & veggie pieces should be about the same size.
Walnuts – about a half-cup. Cut into small pieces.
Mix the chopped fruits, celery, & nuts in a large bowl. This is a lovely give-away present to health-conscious friends and family. You can eat this by the forkful as a snack.

This will last for a bit in the fridge, but should be eaten within 4-5 days. It's a great way to get a fabulous salad made while watching a bit of evening TV!

Remember the food-combining rules: Eat “like with like.” So it’s actually best NOT to put this raw fruit-based salad with other foods. Instead, eat it early in the day as a snack before other meals.

Remember also – your stomach uses different levels of pH and enzymes to digest different kinds of food. It digests protein differently from starches. So if you have a meal of meat, fish, or eggs, try to NOT have your starches (potatoes, rice, breads, etc.) at the same time – although you can eat as many veggies (cooked and/or raw) with your protein as you like. So choose whether you’re having a “protein-based” or “carbs/starches-based” meal.

And up your consumption of “healthy oils” during the winter – they help soften your skin, and they transport the fat-based vitamins throughout your body. Avocado is good. Make your own salad dressings with high-quality olive oil and/or grapeseed oil, with a nice balsamic vinegar or a splash of lime. Add some flaxseed oil as well. (Omega-3’s and other healthy things.)

Here's to your health, wellness, and overall well-being - as we bring the year to a close, and look forward to the year ahead!

"Where Are the Initiated Men of Power Today?" - An Answer to Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette

2011-12-13T05:15:00.000-08:00

To Find the "Initiated Men of Power" - Seek Out the Martial Arts Masters

Leaders of the men's movement today are addressing the question brought before them by young men:

"In a Bill Moyers interview with poet Robert Bly ... a young man asked the question, 'Where are the initiated men of power today?' We have written this book in order to answer this question, which is on the minds of both men and women. In the beginning of the twenty-first century, we face a crisis in the masculine identity of vast proportions. Increasingly, observers of the contemporary scene - sociologists, anthropologists, and depth psychologists - are discovering the devastating dimensions of this phenomenon, which affects each of us personally as much as it affects our society as a whole."

(See Robert Moore's website page for this quote and also for an introduction to the excellent book by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover, written to answer this question.

See also my review of Moore and Gillette's book on today's Unveiling webpage, Moore and Gillette; King, Warrior, Magician, Lover.

The question is a real one. In all of our mythic Heroic Quests, the young man is tutored by a sage, someone whom we'll call a Hierophant - a "wise older man" who can guide the young man towards full adulthood. In his excellent book, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Dan Millman describes his teacher Socrates.

In the movie Star Wars, Luke Skywalker is tutored first by Obi-wan Kenobi, then by Yoda. In The Karate Kid (1984 version), Dan is tutored by a martial arts master, Mr. Miyagi.

What is consistent here? Young men are taught by martial arts masters. This is the classic initial stage of the Hero's Journey.

Socrates, Obi-wan Kenobi and Yoda, and Mr. Miyagi - together with numerous similar characters in fiction and film - are idealizations. But the "real versions" exist!

In Unveiling: The Inner Journey, I credit two martial arts masters with whom it has been a great privilege to study. Robert Fusaro Sensei, 7th Dan, Founder of Midwest Karate Association, and Peter Ralston, founder of both the Cheng Hsin school and the martial arts discipline of that name, are masters who are substantial and very authentic. Further, diligent search of the martial arts schools and systems in most cities will reveal others who are competent teachers; not only of martial arts, but also of life.

Even those who prefer something other than martial arts can benefit by the pathway to becoming a "Superior Man," as described by author Davide Deida.

Deida states "The two ways to bring you right to your masculine edge of power are austerity and challenge." (The Way of the Superior Man, p. 191)

Women are aware of whether or not men are willing to do this. As we observe men, we note whether they are creatures of comfort, or if they are afraid to disrupt their own "status quo." In essence, we note their courage - their willingness to accept both discomfort ("austerity") and their willingness to step beyond their safety zone ("challenge").

So for all men who are looking for a pathway: Seek out austerity and challenge, as Deida suggests. Give up the TV and the video games, and spend time in a real dojo; study with a martial arts master. Push yourself into the wilderness and into your own wildness. Then see how your woman responds to you. (Or if you are not in a relationship, then observe what sorts of women begin to be attracted to you.)

Using Breathing to Heal

2011-12-12T04:22:00.000-08:00

Breathing, Belly Dance, and Breakthroughs - Part II

A week ago, I was enjoying a fabulous breakthrough. Something had shifted for me emotionally. (Still am not sure what.) My body released, some tension patterns had all but disappeared, I was happy, joyful, and confident. What's more, my energy surged. On Sunday of a week ago, I could barely get through the day, no matter how much B12 and ginseng I took in. The next day, all but forgetting about supplements, I breezed through the day and worked hard into the late evening, enjoying every moment.

And I had three more days just like that.

Until, Thursday evening, I felt this funny little warning "hotness" in my throat. I knew instinctively what it was, and recognized that my body was craving Vitamin C. I still went out to a meeting that night.

The next morning, my throat was red, raw, and painful. There was no longer any doubt or question. Whether strep throat or simply one of the worst colds of my life, it had landed!

So I stayed (more or less) calm throughout the weekend. I pulled back from all human contact, and let friends know that I wouldn't be at some events - even those which we'd been anticipating for months. I even minimized phone time.

By Sunday, my energy was low, and I spent most of the day in bed, alternating naps with listening to a book on CD.

So what caused this magnificent "fall from grace"? Was the breakthrough not real? (Well, actually, yes it was. I knew that the tension release, the freedom in movement, and the increased energy were all very real.)

What happened was simply a big "word from the Universe" that it was time to settle down. I had taken on too much. (Have STILL taken on too much.) I was behind on almost every promised task.

Setbacks such as these - whether flu or colds, or something more serious - are often the way that our Higher Self pulls us out of our nearly compulsive "to-do" list - where our entire cognitive focus, our identify, and most certainly our attention and time - are wrapped up in our "things to do."

So I'm doing all the expected and appropriate things. Fluids. Lots of rest. Vitamin C. More rest. Chicken soup. (And more rest.)

In short order, I'll find my paperwork, and go see a doctor. And I'll probably get a round of antibiotics. But healing doesn't come from the anti-biotics, per se. (Not saying that they can't be of great help.) Rather, the healing has to come from a shift from within, and it is to this that I'm giving my attention.

And oh yes - using "breathing to heal"? Yes, I'm doing that as well. Consciously circulating energy. Reaching out with my awareness, and catching little "energy waves"; bringing them in and moving this energy around my body. Doing the Silk-Weaving Exercises (a form of Chinese breathing and exercising exercises.

Breathing, Breakthroughs, and Belly Dance

2011-12-06T04:09:00.000-08:00

Emotional Breakthroughs Show in Our Breathing, Body Movement, and Dance

Just yesterday, I had a breakthrough.

Now my life consists of "breakthroughs." I have them intellectually. (This is what gives me ideas for everything from blogposts to patents. There are several "breakthroughs" in Unveiling alone.) And I'm used to having physical breakthroughs as well; these have made me an effective dancer.

But yesterday something happened that was a bit unexpected, and I want to share it with you while the memory is fresh.

For the previous few months - post-Unveiling-publication - I'd been having a lot of fatigue. Through being kind and gentle with myself, through rest and (not-too-strenuous) exercise, through better diet and supplements, I was slowly getting better. But this improvement was wobbly, and after almost three months, I still wasn't back to full strength and power. In fact, just the day-before-yesterday, I'd had one of those days in which all the supplements in the world - all the vitamin B-12 and ginseng - were getting me off the launch pad but not quite into stable orbit.

And then, yesterday, several little things happened. I can't quite put my finger on any single one. But somehow, in the midst of all these "little things" - a real breakthrough occured.

The "little things"? Working my daily exercise with the Course in Miracles, which I started about two months ago. (If there is anything that is life-changing, this is it. And I was in huge resistance about one of those exercises, but somehow, wound up adopting the premise that it offered - that may have been a "pivot point.")

The "pivot point" may have been when Nimeera, another dancer with whom I met the day before, looked at me and said, "Breathe." (I didn't even know that I was holding my breath.)

It may have been waking up, realizing that I was holding tension in one of my favorite tension-holding places in my back, and then starting to use undulations to release that tension, and also releasing the "emotional issue" that I felt was linked to the tension spot.

It could have been any of these; all of them, or none. What I do know is that somehow, sometime, yesterday I began to move again.

Now don't get me wrong. I'd been "moving" all these past few months. A fair bit of the daily yoga and core, stretch and resistance training. Renewed long walks. And lots and lots of housecleaning and other chores.

But I hadn't been doing much dance.

I'd attributed this to having put all my energy into the Unveiling-publication.

But there was something else, a sadness that had been a part of my life over the last three years. And somehow, it released, and my body began to naturally do the "belly dance movements" once again.

That's right, I started naturally and spontaneously moving - the undulations, the figure-eights (of all sorts). The stretches, the neck movements, everything.

And I realized, once again, that the beauty of Oriental dance as a body art (in comparision with other, equally good and very valid body arts such as yoga and T'ai Chi), is that the range of movements that it gives us are fabulously superb for releasing emotional tension. They are the best movements for real body/mind/psyche integration.

That's because an Oriental dance technique, such as an undulation, corresponds to releasing tension up and down our spine. When we release emotional tension, we can release the physical. And vice versa.

So if we have even a glimmering of how the two are connected - some attention and awareness of how our bodies and our "emotional selves" work together - then when we get the slightest little release in one area, we can use the dance techniques to help us release just a little more. We use our body/mind/psyche integration pathway to leverage this release.

So, for example, a little emotional release - leads to an undulation. An undulation leads to a figure-eight. A figure-eight leads to paying attention to what we have "stuck" in our lower backs and pelvic area. And then we bring our attention to the emotional aspect, process it, and get a bit more release again physically.

And this is why I love this dance form so much!

P.S. I write about this in Chapters 14-16 of Unveiling: The Inner Journey. And in those chapters, I credit Diane Richardson, who is a Co-Founder of Relational Energetics (see http://www.relationalenergetics.com). I also suggest chiropractic and massage, and other healing modalities - Reiki is good, as are others.

How to Use the "Fountain of Youth"

2011-12-02T03:49:00.000-08:00

The "Fountain of Youth" - The Beauty Secret That Costs Nothing (and Makes Us Look Years Younger)!

Would you like to get out of bed looking ten years younger? What if something made you look even better than having a good night's sleep, or a rousing round of early morning sex? Both sleep and sex are good; no question. But what if there was one more thing that would increase your beauty, your vigor, your vital energy, your zest, and your overall confidence and sex appeal? What if there was a single, ultimate, "anti-aging secret"?

And what if this anti-aging secret cost nothing but time?

It's just because this "costs nothing more than time" that you don't see articles about this in the major women's magazines.

We all know that today, more than ever, beauty is "big business." We know that "Baby Boomer women" in North America make up the world's demographic with the greatest disposable income. Manufacturers and marketers know this, also. That's why TV shows and women's magazines are a vehicle for advertising all manner of skin care, hair care, and beauty products. They also promote services - ranging from cosmetics customization to cosmetic surgery.

All of these are good. I have no problem with any of these, and am as interested as the next woman.

But there's one more thing - a "special something" which no one mentions. And they don't mention it simply because there's no profit margin. Your favorite plastic surgeons won't get you under the knife for this. Your favorite "medi-spa" won't book you for a bit of Botox. Revlon and Estee Lauder - and all the many other cosmetics companies - won't post greater profits to their stockholders.

The 2011 Summer-Fall issue of New Beauty magazine has articles such as "Botox Breakthroughs" and "The Secret Surgery: How to Look Years Younger in 60 Minutes or Less."

These are all good - please, I am not suggesting that we don't take advantage of each and every benefit that these advanced beauty methods offer. From spas to supplements, from hormones to yoga, from restylane to revitalizing face creams - I'm for all of them.

But let's think about a "one hour beauty treatment" that doesn't involve a surgical procedure - or even visiting your favorite masseuse.

What could we do so that, as Lord Byron said, our lips would be "roses over-washed with dew"?

This is not some arcane secret that requires a lifetime of questing, and years of esoteric study. Rather, it is practical, efficient, and learnable. Moreover, it gives us instant results. By accessing and using our very own Fountain of Youth, we increase our beauty - we actually do look years younger - without the time and cost (and potential downsides) of cosmetic surgery, injectables and lasers, and other means that are common in our current "beauty culture."

The Fountain of Youth: What It Is, What It Isn't

In Unveiling: The Inner Journey I write about the very real Fountain of Youth that any one of us can access and use. It's all in Chapter 29, "Pragmatic Esoterics." And I was practicing it this morning, just after waking up.

And yes, I did look ten years younger getting out of bed today!

P.S. Do you want instant access to this "secret"? Go to: The Fountain of Youth: It "Really Is" Real!

Lineage - in Martial Arts, Yoga, Zen - and Belly Dance!

2011-08-31T03:29:00.000-07:00

Our "Master Teachers" in Oriental Dance

Recently, I took a workshop with Anahid Sofian, where the day's classes were taught by her protege, the internationally-renowned Eva Cernik. Among the attendees was Nourhan Sharif, and others who were remarkable for their intelligence (one had her Ph.D. in biochemistry), devotion to the art (most were long-standing students), and overall high level of knowledge about dance, art, and life.

I overheard Nourhan and another dancer, where the question that one of them posed was: Which other leading dancers do you like - and respect - the most? (The context was with historical figures - the luminaries of films, etc.)

Somehow, the conversation swung around to how we - as students, practitioners, and often teachers - show how we respect our own teachers. And someone (here I'm airbrushing just a bit) commented on one dancer who left a well-known teacher to form her own studio. She had been a teacher in the master dance teacher's studio, and took the students - who were in class with her - when she left to set up her own "establishment."

This wasn't just a burst of ego. It was a show of disrespect, and - in simple business terms - an undercutting.

I had the same thing happen to me, and write about it in Unveiling: The Inner Journey. (see the opening for Chapter 15, "Softening: Beginning to Break Through," beginning page 199.

I recall a conversation with another leading dancer, one with whom I've studied and whom I respect a great deal. I asked her how I could honor her in my work. She said, "Simply recognize me in your bio. Say that you've studied with me."

That seems easy enough. Surprisingly, though, there are dancers - those who want to "establish" themselves - who think that the best way to do this is to disregard (and even disrespect) their connections with their teachers and - when they find them - their "master teachers."

We in the Oriental dance world seek to claim legitimacy for our art form. We want respect. We demand, and the rigor and beauty of our art form demands, a high level of respect.

But to get respect, we have to give it.

Look at the great traditions in the world; the ones where personal teaching is necessary. Martial artists, the world over, acknowledge their teachers. Lineage is exceptionally important.

Lineage is important in ballet, modern dance, and other dance forms. It is important in all branches of yoga.

In Zen meditation, one of the practices is that the disciples recite the names of their master teachers, going up through their entire lineage, and thanking and acknowledging them.

We have a profoundly beautiful, moving, and exquisite art form. We also have lineage. It's time for us to respect our "master teachers."

In Unveiling: The Inner Journey, I identify my "master teachers" - in dance, in martial arts, and in body/mind/psyche/energy integration. If I've studied with them, and if there is enough of a relationship so that they can pick me out of a lineup, they're mentioned. I tell stories about them - the kind of "student/teacher" stories that highlight their role as teachers.

Right now, more and more of us are writing. (Morocco's book is coming out soon, Nourhan Sharif has one underway.) We put together websites. We have videos. In addition to teaching classes and performing, we have numerous venues available to us - through the web, digital media, and print - in which we can honor our "master teachers."

We want respect? Let's start by giving it.

Getting "Inner Balance" with T'ai Chi, Chi Kung, and "Push Hands"

2011-08-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

Peter Ralston - Martial Arts Master - and an "Unveiling" Master Teacher

Yesterday morning, when the power came back on after Hurrican Irene passed through, I went down to my dance studio for my morning yoga practice. And after my body "woke up" a bit, the yoga became a bit of free-form T'ai Chi, then a bit of Chi Kung, with some of the Silk Weaving exercises mixed in. And within short order, I was back to basic - very elementary - dance movements. Really more the essentials - Anchoring and Grounding, and weight shifting. I began attending to Principles that Peter Ralston had elucidated very clearly when I was studying with him.

Peter Ralston, a martial arts Master Teacher, taught T'ai Chi and other "internal" martial arts. He was - and still is - a very effective fighter. He also based his teachings on certain core body-alignment and energetic Principles. He is one of the Master Teachers whom I reference frequently in Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

Peter has several books published, but one that got a very good review is Re-Thinking Cheng Hsin.

Peter's teachings have had a profound impact on my dance. I particularly credit him with helping me define my first Principles, beginning with Anchoring. I spent a fair bit of time yesterday, not only in physical practice, but re-thinking how to connect the Principles with how to teach, both for beginner and advanced students. Another element underlying all of Peter's teachings is that our practice, whether martial arts or any other area, should be "effortless." (Now I'll confess that my practice yesterday, during which I focused on releasing tension and having proper alignment, was pretty hard work!)

In Unveiling, I write:

This principle - that of being "effortless" - holds true for us as well. If we are seeking to cultivate our Hathor essence, then we need to create it in a way that is effortless, natural, and easy. Similarly, if we wish to access the deep wisdom of our inner High Priestess, this must especially come about in a soft and gentle manner! In part, because this is the characteristic of real power. And in part, also, this is the only way that things will work most effectively in our lives. (Unveiling: The Inner Journey, p. 165)

You can read more Unveiling excerpts at: Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

Belly Dancing in Water - The "Origins of the Dance!"

2011-07-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered how it all started? (Belly dance, that is.)

Have you ever wondered how we - as human beings - started? Apart from Creation myth(s), and God taking a rib from Adam, and that sort of thing.

How did we go from being fairly successful pre-hominids to beings with art and culture, with complex languages, and (even) complex thoughts - on topics that range from cosmology to cosmetics to cosmic knowledge.

There had to be a "transition point," didn't there?

And for us women, there had to be a point at which dancing evolved.

Specifically, there had to be a point at which belly dance began to evolve, because this dance form is the oldest one that there is!

Seven years ago, I travelled on business to Hawaii. After checking in and taking a short nap, I got up, put on a swimsuit and cover-up, and walked down to Waikiki beach. It was late evening; the beach was deserted. The stars were out, the weather was warm, and starlight and hotel lights sparkled off the gentle waves.

From where the waves slowly lapped the shore, I I walked out more than fifty feet from the water’s edge, until I was chest-high in the warm water. Seaweed softly stroked my skin. I relaxed, lengthened my back, and let the waves gently rock my spine.

This, I realized, is where belly dance was born.

Several millennia ago, we women took to the beaches in the blistering Pliocene-era heat waves.

Up until that time, we (or our earliest ancestral hominids) were fruit-loving forest dwellers. When the savage Pliocene-era heat and drought decimated our favored forest dwellings, we had to live in the plains. This was too hot, and much too dangerous. Being (even then), intelligent beings, we did the only intelligent thing possible. We went to the beach! (So, for that matter, did elephants and dophins, all mammals who’ve adapted to a watery environment. The dolphins stayed and adapted further, and we and the elephants eventually went back on land.) We lost much of our “fur” in the process, and gained a great deal of intelligence. (Elaine Morgan writes about how our “beach time” helped us evolve in The Descent of Women (1972); another really good smart woman’s “beach read.”)

So there I was, in the slowly, lapping waves, under a moonlit and starry night, with seaweed stroking my back and thighs. I relaxed, and “reconnected” with my ancestresses.

And guess what? My body naturally and instinctively began to do the most fundamental movement in Oriental dance (belly dance); an “undulation.” I “undulated” up and down my spine, in rhythm with the waves and the seaweed.

I floated my arms out to my sides, and let them “rest” on the soft swells of the water. Once again, naturally and instinctively, they moved on their own, in a pattern that we now call “snake arms.” It has nothing to do with snakes, not really. When we women first “evolved” this dance movement, it was because our arms naturally responded to the movements of the waves.

You can read an excerpt from Elaine Morgan's Descent of Woman here:

We (or our early pre-human ancestors) spent a lot of time in the water. Enough time to morph us into what we are today; mammals who stand on two legs instead of four; mammals who use speech (which carries beautifully over water); and mammals who have hair on our heads (to protect our heads from the sun’s rays), but who don’t need much hair on the rest of our bodies. We also became mammals who dance.

We have evolved so that standing in water, responding naturally and instinctively to a soft, gently lapping wave, is enormously soothing to us. This kind of movement releases tension. It gets us back to our “calm state.” Movements that “flow” and “undulate” our spine – whether done in water (ideal) or on land (since that’s where we now live) – help us feel good. And movements that open up our shoulders, and stretch out our pectoral muscles, and release our neck tension (especially when done in water) feel very good indeed.

Experiment on your own (if you must), or with a girlfriend or two or three, and even consider asking a belly dance teacher to come up with a "belly dance in the pool" class for you! No matter how it goe, you’ll learn (or discover) means for reducing neck and back tension, unwinding the tight spots in your clavicles and pectoral areas, and even ways for reducing the impact of carpal tunnel syndrome.

What better way to counter this summer's heat waves? Enjoy!

Yours in dance - Alay'nya

Rebuilding Personal Energy (Ch'i)

2011-06-26T23:12:00.000-07:00

Building Personal Energy (Ch'i)

Over the past few days, my personal energy levels had dropped down a bit. I was a bit more tired in the afternoons, and craving carbohydrates and sugars. These were tell-tale signs that my energy and balance were off.

To start rebuilding my personal energy, or ch'i, I prepared with a short and easy yoga session (mostly to stretch out the leg meridians; these help with sleep and relaxation), and took a nap. (Always a good choice.)

When I woke up, I found a good action movie on TV that was just getting started, and did a two-hour yoga/core/resistance/stretch session. Just the basics, nothing new and certainly nothing fancy. But I felt hugely better afterwards.

Then I did some juicing with the last of the "juicing greens and veggies" that I had stored in a special kitchenette where I keep the juicer (and a garbage disposal for handling waste, even though I compost most of it). A dedicated area helps, as a week's worth of juicing veggies and greens takes up a lot of room. Also, since this is "raw foods," it's best to keep it from meats and other food types. My ingredients were: a whole small beet, a whole large carrot and a whole Granny Smith apple, a small handful of parsley, a small handful of cress, and a few stalks of celery (including the leafy parts at the top, and the "celery root" area below the stalks). This was one of the best combos I'd ever made, it was great!

By this time, my energy was perking up. I wound up doing this in the middle of the night, so my goal now is to calm down and go back to bed. However, the combination of yoga and exercise, together with the nutrients from the freshly-squeezed greens and veggies, has my energy flowing again.

It is from this slightly more energized state that I started doing some basic T'ai Chi, and the silk-weaving exercises.

I've looked online for vids of the silk-weaving exercises as described in Michael Minik's book (referenced in a previous post), and couldn't find any good, "basic" ones. I'm sure that chi kung training is similar, but at some point I'll try to do a simple little silk-weaving vid, and post on YouTube. This is a great energizing practice, especially when used in conjunction with the basic things that get our bodies moving and our energy flowing.

P.S. - I'm still winding down and getting ready to go back to bed. Herbal tea - I use Celestial Seasoning's "Sleepytime Extra," the valerian helps induce sleep, and stir in a little GABA. Also have a chug of the Calcium/Magnesium components of the two-part liquid vitamins that I get from Dr. Sievers at Care Plus in Fairfax, VA.

It's only when I've done a good bit of yoga and stretching to warm up and get my lower back released, and core work to get my abdominal muscles engaged, that I feel ready to fully take advantage of T'ai Chi. And then, only after all of that do I feel that my body is really ready to work with dance. The elements of Oriental dance involve so much stretching and flexing of our spines, our pelvic girdle, and diaphragms - and so much core strength if we are to do it right - that we can have a really good dance workout if half our time (or even more) is spent with warm-ups and preps, getting our body ready to move in the right way. Then the dance techniques flow from internal strength and connection, rather than from being "imposed."

And we have a much better chance of doing energy circulation work in dance if we've prepared properly.

Unveiling "Archetypes" and Franklin-Covey "Roles" - A Practical Step in Personal Integration

2011-06-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

Personal Integration: The First Adult Life-Journey

I've just posted to the Unveiling blog about how I'm using the Unveiling archetypes to help me clarify and prioritize tasks for my different roles, using the Weekly Compass in the Franklin Covey Day Planner system.

The more complex our life gets, the more it helps us to organize ourselves in terms of roles.

Just in these past two weeks, I've been teaching myself to connect my different roles with the various archetypes from Unveiling.

We each have six core archetypes; three male, and three female. Our masculine ones are Magician (visionary, creating "something" from "nothing"), Emperor (building structures, systems, and social order), and Hierophant (teaching and mentoring, within a well-defined and structured system). Our three female roles are Isis (also known as Empress; nurturing and caring), Hathor (perfumes, pleasure, and play - the "sweet things" of life), and High Priestess (contemplative, intuitive, insightful). We also each have two "reserve" modes; our Hestia (our hearth-and-home goddess; very comforting) and our "Green Man of the Woods" (our inner wild-man or wild-woman, who connects with nature and instinct). (For women, we may think of our "Green Man" as our "Green Woman," or Artemis - the original goddess who "ran with the wolves.")

These eight modes, taken together, are the eight "cylinders" of our "power car engine." We need all eight. If we lose touch with any single one, it's like trying to run a Corvette when not all the cylinders are firing. Dysfuction.

But operating in society, we tend to over-emphasize our Amazon (which for women is a combination of all of our masculine modes), and our Isis - leaving little or no time for Hathor or High Priestess. (No wonder we not only feel stressed, but - from time-to-time - disassociated. We're missing at least two of our "power modes.")

So as we use time-management and life-organization systems such as the Franklin Covey Day Planner, we can consciously factor in and identify roles that incorporate each of our core archetypal modes. Sometimes, we'll blend two or more archetypes into a single role, but we can do this consciously and purposefully, so it will work.

Then, as we start allocating time, we can make sure that we identify Hathor-time, and factor pleasure and play into our daily lives. We can identify High Priestess time, and be certain that we step away from society, and from "digital distractions," and commune with our inner being. We can associate simple housekeeping chores with our Hestia, and know that we're nourishing an important part of our inner reserve by caring for our physical surround. ("Wax on, wax off." This can be very refreshing.) And we can group our various nurturing and caring activities into our Isis mode, where we consciously choose and know how much time we spend on caring for others - and the trade-off in terms of caring for ourselves.

This gives us the basis for wisdom and discernment, two superior life-skills.

Sexual Power - and the "Jade Egg"

2011-06-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Sexual Power, the "Jade Egg," and Oriental Dance (Belly Dance) - Yes, There Is a Connection!

Darlings -

A wonderful word - I'm getting my "review copy" of Unveiling either today or tomorrow; it shipped from CreateSpace yesterday. So of course I had to let everyone on my email lists know about this last night.

The first question that came back had nothing to do with archetypes, integration, or even the "Fountain of Youth" (ch'i cultivation). Instead, it was as direct, simple, and pragmatic as it could get - and it has to do with sex, and with giving and receving pleasure.

T., a dancer, asked:

... Have you ever herd of a Jade Egg and if so does it truly work? I'm in my thirties. My boyfriend told me I don't contract. I also don't get any pleasure from him so I feel kind of weird. I'm looking for a web site about the Jade Egg, but haven't found any useful information yet. Can you help me?

T., your question is very important. In fact, it is REALLY important – both for you and your partner. And your basic Oriental dance (belly dance) training can help you a LOT. You just need to emphasize working with your core as you do your movements, integrating “core work” into everything – I teach this, and will start to have workshops beginning this fall, including this topic.

Yes, I do know what you mean about the “Jade Egg.” The “Jade Egg” is an egg-shaped stone (various sizes) that a woman inserts into her vagina, and learns to move it up and down her vaginal area through muscular contractions.

You don’t have to use a “Jade Egg” (although there’s nothing wrong with it), but you CAN gain a strong core that will enhance your sexual pleasure, and your partner’s. I actually describe the best approach (an abdominal training exercise) in Unveiling, Chapter 25: Sex Secrets of Belly Dancers, and you should be able to order this either through Cleo’s Closet, or through CreateSpace (later today or tomorrow – if the “review copy” they shipped yesterday arrives in a timely manner, and I can approve and they set up their e-store – all this can happen VERY fast), or in a week or so from Amazon.

Your best resources for overall descriptions and training are:

Gerson Kuhr’s Core Training for Belly Dancers – (see link above). I make this part of the Registration Package for all of our Beginners (and even advanced students, joining in from another class), because core training is VERY important.

Unveiling: The Inner Journey, Chapter 25: Sex Secrets of Belly Dancers. Details on a type of abdominal crunch that will improve your interior and exterior oblique strength, which is what you need to induce strong pressure on your partner during love-making, and some very interesting (new!) information on how our dance movements can actually induce clitoral stimulation - indirect, but very nice!

Also, just as important as gaining core strength (and learning how to use this strength effectively), we also need to release our back tension, and tension in our pelvis and sacrum. Releasing (unnecessary) tension is as important as is using our strength. I write about this in Chapters 14-16 of Unveiling, and we can learn to use our dance movements for tension release as well as part of our dance training.

Healing Love Through Tao: Cultivating Female Sexual Energy, by Mantak Chia and Maneewan Chia, Chapter 7. Lots of detailed and fairly technical information. Rather dry and dull, but comprehensive.

Really, I suggest factoring core training into your dance moves as being the most fun and "juicy" way to get your core strength to enliven your sexual pleasure.

Best wishes in all, and let me know how this works out for you!

Yours in dance – Alay’nya

Redeveloping Personal Energy, or "Ch'i"

2011-05-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

"Ch'i," or Vital Energy - How to Get It; How to Use It

Like most of you, my sense of personal vital energy, or ch'i, is sometimes up, and sometimes down. About a month ago, after completing (yet another) huge proofing round for Unveiling (due out at the end of this month!), my ch'i was down - and so was I. Too many hours at the computer. Too many hours in a tight-focused mindset, driving myself to "accomplish," and over-ruling the needs of both my body and psyche.

But this is just part of being human.

All of us, at some point or other, push ourselves to extremes in order to accomplish something important - something that may even (temporarily!) override what we know is right for our overall well-being.

I'm not talking about indulging in negative behaviors, such as extreme overeating, or use of drugs, or even indulging in (protracted) negative thought-patterns. (But for a good blogpost on this subject, see the recent posting by Julie Marie Rahm (aka "America's Mindset Mechanic") on The "Shoulda" Virus.

But today, I'm talking about how we recover from - not so much a deep well - but from stumbling into a little ditch. Not horrendous, but we do need to get ourselves out of it.

Over the past month, I've made a lot of improvements, and both look a lot better, and feel much better also. ("Better" as in - friends telling me that I'm looking "great" and "fabulous" - without makeup! "Better" as in - my energy and mood are consistently a good notch improved from where they are a month ago, so that things might still upset me, or get to me a little bit, but my recovery - both physically and emotionally - is much, much faster.)

There are really just three things that kick this "recovery" off:

Exercise: Walking, together with yoga, Chinese "silk-weaving" exercises (for ch'i building, and a bit of free weights and core
Diet: Lots of raw foods, lots of freshly-juiced drinks of greens, veggies, and a bit of apple. Minimal carbs. (Yes, I still indulge in things that would be better less-indulged-in. That's the next step.)
Supplements: Liquid vitamins with ginseng. Recently added Co-Q10, Salmon oil, and acetyl-L-carnitine, for metabolism boosting.

The result? In the past month, I've increased my early-morning walk from a mile to three or four miles, and feel fabulous while so doing. While my productivity level feels the same, my feeling of flow and ease while working are both increased, and I'm happier.

All of this is just the precursor work -- just getting in shape, both physically and energetically, to really get in shape - which is my next major intention.

Part 2 of Esther's Story - Now Online (for this week only!)

2011-03-22T12:35:00.001-07:00

Part 2 of Esther's story continues our Purim weekend for just a few more days.

New Unveilng "Study Guide" Page on Website

2011-03-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Unveiling - Table of Contents and Study Guide

Just got a new webpage loaded - a Seasonal Study Guide.

People who have advance copies of Unveiling (really manuscript drafts) have been reading them slowly. Yes, Unveiling is a pretty meaty book. (In the latest proofs, its about 450 pages of text, then there are references. And I still need to produce the Index.)

But it's not really the length. And it's certainly not hard to read. The style is easy enough, and lots of stories.

The challenge is that it brings up stuff that we have to process. And when that happens, we each have to put the book down, and take a little time for the "processing."

This happened to one of my friends who was reviewing it. And then it happened to me, just the other day. The ("final-final") proofs came in; I started reading through from the beginning, once again.) And the thing about reading proofs is - there's enough time between reads so that I become emotionally "sensitized" once again. It's one thing to write the words; it's another to read them as a "reader."

And now that I'm reading them as a "reader," some of the stuff comes up and just punches me! And this is even though I've actually written the words down, and then read them many (many) times.

So yes, Unveiling takes time to read. It's really about the emotional processing involved.

So I had a lovely experience this last weekend. I was invited to participate in a Purim celebration at a local synagogue. I helped the children learn a little dance; I provided the girls with pretty dancer's veils to use, and the synogogue had lots of rhythm-making instruments for the boys. (What fun! Noisy, but fun!)

So we all had a good time. But this motivated me to put up Esther's story (from Unveiling, Chapter 8) onto the web - and I'll keep it there, just for a little bit. (For this coming weekend, I'll pull back on Esther, and put up the bit about Scheherezade - in honor of the Persian New Year, Nowruz.)

All this tied in with something that I'd been thinking - that we really needed a "Seasonal Study Guide." Something to correlate Unveiling with our dance practice, and with the energies of the different seasons.

So go visit
Seasonal Study Guide, and you'll see the Table of Contents, and a brief description of content, organized by season.

And do honor Esther by visiting her page - Esther and Purim.

Creating Personal Energy

2011-03-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

Personal Energy or Ch'i Training - How to Get It and Use It

This blog, and possibly several that I'll post after this, will address a topic brought up by Donald Michael Kraig (DM Kraig), author of Modern Magick: Twelve Lessons in the High Magickal Arts (see link below). Don, who writes on the Llewellyn website blog, recently posted a brief discussion on how we generate magickal energy. Don's post referenced one by a gentleman referred to as "Frater A.I.T.," on personal energy work. A little extreme, maybe, but to-the-point.

The essence of Frater's message is that if we are to be effective with "magickal" work (that is, using our intention and will to create reality as we desire), then we must be doing some form of "personal energy work." Frater A.I.T. references the "Middle Pillar," which is an energy-draw-down exercise well known in esoteric circles. In fact, Israel Regardie, one of the 20th century's leading esoteric masters, wrote a book on this subject, The Middle Pillar.

There are actually four things that we need to do, for effective magical (or "magickal") work:

Access personal energy, or ch'i,
Remove (or at least ease) the tension blocks in our bodies that keep us from accessing and circulating our personal energy, or ch'i,
Build and circulate our ch'i,
Direct our ch'i, or intrinsic vital energy, according to our will.

In The Middle Pillar, Regardie makes two very useful points supporting the above. First, he identifies the importance of clearing out the tensions (both physical and psychic) that would inhibit our free flow and use of personal vital energy. On p. 86 of The Middle Pillar, he states,

"... unless some method is devised for distributing [the awakened energy] and thus relieving the pressure, the center itself will in the course of time suffere derangement through over-stimulus, and there is bound to ensue some serious disturbance to the nervous and psychic system.

Freud, Jung, Reich, and others have all identified the association between emotional or "psychic" tension and tension in our bodies. Ida P. Rolf, founder of Structural Integration (Rolfing-TM)noted the same.

One of the clear goals of hatha yoga is to prepare our bodies for increased energy flow, and one means of doing this is to open up the various tight spots where we tend to store "stuck" psychic or emotional residue, along with physical tension and pain. Eckhart Tolle further describes the existence of our pain-bodies, in The New Earth. (While Tolle does not associate pain-body with our tendency to store aspects of it in our physical bodies, this is well-known to both practitioners of hands-on healing methods as well as practitioners of body arts, such as T'ai Chi Ch'uan.)

Regardie's second useful point has to do with circulating this vital energy, or ch'i. He quotes from the revered Chinese manual, The Secret of the Golden Flower (p. 88):

Therefore you only have to make the Light circulate; that is the deepest and most wonderful secret.

All this is to set a background for discussion.

The Middle Pillar brings energy down from higher consciousness. When a person is able to do this, he or she can then circulate the energy.

An alternative means of accessing personal energy - not necessarily igniting the various centers, but certainly a good way to bring in energy - is to use the Taoist method of the Microcosmic Orbit. This leads to the same kind of energy circulation as is described in Middle Pillar instructions as "Circulating the Body of Light."

After being reminded, by both D.M. Kraig and Frater A.I.T. (through their blogposts) of the importance of energy circulation, I added various energy-development and circulation exercises back to my daily routine. In particular, I began with the Chinese Silk-Weaving Exercises, which I initially learned many years ago from a book by Michael Minick (now sadly out of print).

In future posts, I'll describe some of the results of my practice. For the moment, let me add my encouragement to both D.M. Kraig and Frater A.I.T. with regard to energy practice. However, allow me to specifically recommend yoga together with basic T'ai Chi and Chi Kung. If you can find good YouTube vids on the Silk-Weaving exercises, please share. (I may have to make and post my own.) These practices, being more physically-based, will have a greater likelihood of energizing our physical bodies and clearing out stress points. Then, it should be easier to do the more cognitively-based exercises, such as the Middle Pillar.

Best wishes to all.

Flu-Colds - an Excellent Tiime for Pain-Body Checkout!

2011-03-01T07:01:00.000-08:00

Woke up early this AM with the flu-cold that had developed overnight in full control; all sorts of achy-painy things, it hurt just to move. And of course, in this kind of state, my energy is really way down.

So I lay there, not feeling as though I could get up, and not feeling as though I even particularly wanted to, and of course, all this pain-body stuff starts working its way through my head. (Pain-body, b/t/w, is a term coined by Eckhart Tolle, he describes it in his book, A New Earth, and I reference it - a fair bit - in Unveiling.)

So the best way to handle our pain-body stuff is to just love it, embrace it, accept it. And when we are really low-energy, we can't resist, we can't fight it, and it's hard even to get ourselves distracted. So I'm looking at this cold/flu, this whatever, as a really good pain-body processing time. And, oh yes, indexing.

Photo Shoot Yesterday - What Fun! (And Lessons Learned)

2011-02-27T03:10:00.000-08:00

I'm not saying it was impromptu - it was definately planned - but this was my first invitation to a photo shoot that I didn't set up and arrange. Karen W., marketing guru and genius, arranged with her dear friend Janice, of AutumnCat Studios, to do a shoot at our place.

Janice and her husband Jerry show up, full equipment; lights, reflectors, heavy-duty camera. We ID a great place in the house, they hang huge backdrop, we get fabulous natural light. Shoot commences. Karen and I alternate; mostly "professional" for her, and a different form of "professional" (dance costume) for me.

Three lessons learned:
1) Per Janice, lighting is everything. Most of her needing a photographer's assistant (aka husband Jerry as "Set Monkey") is that she needed someone to adjust background lighting precisely, and to hold the reflector precisely. Test shots are more about lighting than pose. I'm getting it. Photography is not so much about the camera, it's about the lighting. First lesson of the day: Understanding and working with photographers' lighting is why it's important to work with someone who's good. Thank you, Janice! Can't wait to see the proofs!

2) Costumes. Omigod, costumes. After two years of writing, all my costume stuff is in disarray. I barely pulled together two costumes for the shoot; much to do with cries of anguish as safety-pins exploded. Second lesson for the day: Get costumes altered & adjusted for fit, tested, organized, and "preopositioned." That means, everything that needs to come together for a specific costume "look" has to be stored together; not in separate places all over the house. One costume needs one dedicated set of jewelry & accessories, not to be shared with other costumes, unless I'm taking them out to play with creating different "looks." (This is not to be done fifteen minutes before the shoot, but rather on a calm at-home Saturday.)

3) False eyelashes are an enormous hassle and take huge amounts of time. But for shoots, they're worth it! Third lesson: Allow extra time for false eyelashes (or "falsies" of any sort), and more time thereafter to remove them, clean them, and store them. And more time to recover from the trauma of adrenaline from any kind of mini-performance (photo shoots count), making costume fixes, and putting on and putting-up-with weird things glued to the eyelash line. So the real third lesson is: Allow extra time for everything.

Spring Quarter - Season of Air - Spins, Turns, Movement Across the Floor

2011-02-25T01:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Ones -

I need your help.

Can you recommend good YouTube links and even DVDs for dancers who make good use of space in their dances?

If you would, please send me your suggestions, to alaynya (at) alaynya (dot) com. Also, I'll post your name (if you'll allow me to) as the person who recommended a link; and if you have a website, I'll post that also. So please give me the name that you'd like used when I post the link and reference you, and give me your website, and whatever title you have ("Professional Dancer," "Artistic Director of Troupe Whatever," "Dance Teacher," etc.)

Thank you, and I'm looking forward to getting your inputs!

The starter-webpage for the Spring Quarter is up, please visit at Spring Quarter Studies. Not done yet, but a "working draft."

I've got a starter set of "recommended resources" in terms of music and DVDs, and even books (for the academic part of the study). But I don't have a good set of YouTube links on the various themes for Spring.

The first theme I'd like to get going is that of "using space" intelligently in our choreographies. Do you have any favorite YouTubes of dancers whose choreographies make good use of the space in which they dance?

By this, I mean: Do they have a good opening sequence in which they define and claim the space? Do they have a variety of movements-in-space, such as big circles, diagonals, etc? Do they intelligently use the depth of the space, so that when they come forward, it has an emotional meaning, and when they withdraw, it also means something?

I'm interested in a variety, ranging from good artistry and technique, to good conceptualization, to good emotional understanding of how their movement in the space of the stage communicates to the audience.

I'm also interested in posting links to YouTubes that show different sizes of stage environments; from small and intimate to large, and even the open-air types of spaces.

Alay'nya with veil - photo courtesy E.J. O'Reilly

Spring, in our Judeo-Christian heritage, is the Season of Air. (Think, "the March winds.") It corresponds to the Suite of Swords, where swords represent our intellect and ego. And of course, being the Season of Air, it's time for us to move forward.

During winter, we practiced grounding. Over these next three weeks, as we transition to spring, we'll introduce movement patterns that help us "transition" between stationary dance techniques and those that take us across the floor. We'll also work with our veils; learning veil drapes, framing ourselves, and how to "unveil" ourselves as we move into a light and airy veil dance.

yours in dance - Alay'nya

"Princess Training"

2011-02-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

"Princess Training" - It's Not All Tinsel and Tiaras

Who among us hasn't fantasized about being a Princess? Why else would our favorite fairy tales, from Snow White to Cinderella, hold our interest? Why else would some of our favorite movies be the Princess Diaries, not to mention our classic favorite; Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Over the past few decades, Princess Diana held our imagination, as she became our social and fashion idol. Her sad personal history invoked both our sympathy and our fascination.

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck appeared in the 1953 movie, Roman Holiday.

This spring, we'll all become fascinated with the royal nuptials of Kate Middleton and Prince William. We'll have our royal wedding fantasies all over again - for the first time in decades! And won't we all wonder - and perhaps wish for - what it would be like to really be a Princess?

Well, the truth is - we might - each of us, individually - start becoming Princesses.

Think about it. What does being a Princess really mean?

It means inherent nobility, doesn't it? It means that a woman is sufficiently evolved so that others accord her the respect and the honor that acknowledges her as being of a different "quality" than most ("common") folk.

We can take this two different ways. Some of our Princess ideas involve someone who is so refined, so delicate, so sensitive, that her sleep is disturbed if there is so much as a pea hidden under layers of mattresses. That's one fairy tale.

But a more true-to-life fairy tale (yes, still a fairy tale, but one with a richer meaning) is the story of The Little Princess; about a girl who called on her inner Princess in order to get through times of hardship; of privation, of loss, and of both abuse and ridicule. She called upon and trained her inner Princess - and she was rewarded by having others ultimately honor and acknowledge her.

In A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgeson Burnett, Sara must cultivate her inner Princess in order to survive the harsh treatment when she is orphaned and left in a girls' school. Her fortunes finally change, but only after she has had to call upon every ounce of strength, courage, and compassion that she can muster. A wonderful read, especially when we're feeling lonely and sorry for ourselves!

Being a Princess is something that we develop from the inside, not something that we inherit.

Think about it. Being a Princess is not easy. Princesses are called "Your Serene Highness." There has to be a reason for this. As we cultivate our inner Princess, one of our first steps must be to develop our serenity.

In my forthcoming book, Unveiling, I write a lot about archetypes, and about cultivating a body/mind/psyche/energy integration pathway. Surprisingly, we do have a template for this integration pathway. The modern Tarot deck is drawn from the ancient Qabalah; the Judaic studies of how we can transition between states of consciousness, depicted as the "Tree of Life."

The Tarot devolved; the Minor Arcana became the playing cards that we use today in card games. Originally, though, these cards meant something. In fact, the various suites meant something.

The Suite of Spades used to be the Suite of Swords, and referred to the Element of Air. This is the suite that we associate with spring. So, starting in just three weeks, we begin our study of the Element of Air. In dance, this translates to spins, turns, movement across the floor, creating patterns in space with our veils, etc.

The different face cards meant something as well. The idea of "Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings" refers to levels of study and mastery. The "Pages" face cards can also be interpreted as the Princesses. Think of the face cards - for our purposes - as being "Princesses, Warrior Princesses, Queens, and Kings." Each is a level of mastery.

So we start our year with the transition from winter to spring; almost every old culture has its New Year beginning sometime between Imholc (Feb. 2nd) and the Vernal Equinox. (The Druids started their New Year at Imholc, the Chinese start sometime in February, between Imholc and the Vernal Equinox. The Persian New Year, Nowruz, starts on the first day of spring.)

Often, new students enter our Studio around this time of year. They're ready to shake off the winter doldrums and start moving their bodies!

What we will include in our curriculum this year, for the first time (in approximately 2,000 years) will be "Princess training."

Each of you enters as a Princess-in-Training. Your first year - whether you are physically part of our Studio, or studying with us from a distance - involves learning how to "be a Princess."

A lot more interesting, and a bit more complex, than one might think.

For more details, I'll shortly post a starting page on the Alay'nya website. Feel free to follow along with us, and you can post your comments and reflections, as you apply the "training" to your life, here on this blog!

Getting back to daily practice with "Master Teachers"

2011-02-22T03:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Ones -

We started our new round of classes this last Sunday (and will blog about that soon), following an absolutely delightful little Open House the previous Sunday (and will blog about that soon, also!).

I made a little "covenant" or pact with new intermediate student S., who has a great background in dance; strong set of basic techniques. And like many of us, she's ready to find her "true self" in dance. She's ready to open up her realm of technique, of choreography, of self-expression ... but I get ahead of myself.

One of her dance "idols" is Suhaila Salimpour. I agree, Suhaila is one of the "great ones." In fact, I took my VERY FIRST belly dance workshop with her, many years ago. She was eighteen at the time, and she taught the workshop in Philadelphia. It was such an adventure to go to my very first workshop! (She did a great job, by the way.)

So both S. and I would benefit by having practice sessions throughout the week, and I suggested that we each get one of Suhaila's DVDs and work out with it. (Suhaila has lots of DVDs out, and there are at least a few with the Fairfax Public Library.)

Yesterday, to make good on my promise - before I got so distracted with other things that it slipped off my list - I pulled Suhaila's Yoga Fusion DVD from my shelves, and fired it up in the very early morning hours. (What better way to get an official government "holiday" started than with a good workout?)

This really is a good workout; about 40 minutes. And it really is NOT for Beginners! The people who will benefit the most from this DVD will already have some dance training, and are in reasonably good shape, and who want to improve not only their flexibilty, but the smoothness, the "liquidity," of their undulations - and get better control over their core muscles.

What I particularly like about working with this DVD is how Suhaila takes us into undulations (both "normal" and "reverse") starting with the yoga cat/cow alternation. A great way to improve our sense of how the undulations come about naturally and organically in our bodies!

Opening Our Hearts - Sunday February 12th Open House

2011-02-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

Opening Our Hearts - With Movements from Oriental Dance

Dear One -

It's been a long winter. We've shoveled snow, we've huddled against the cold. We've spent our days and evenings at the computer desk, hunching over the keyboard.

Now, warmer weather beacons. (We're going to have a warm day this Sunday!) We're getting ready to get out and play.

Before we even think about things like "getting in shape," we have something to do first: Restore our body's natural alignment.

Loosen up a little.

Unkink.

Literally, this Valentine's Day (right on the heels of Imholc, the Druidic New Year, and also the Chinese New Year), it's time to open our hearts. Release all the tense and tight muscles in our diaphagms and our spines.

Earlier, I was going to use this first big Open House as a time for loosening up our pelvis. A lot of Shakira-shaking. (Think "Hips Don't Lie.") A lot of shimmy.

Well, that will have to wait for another month.

Right now, it's all about heart. And ribcage, and spine (especially right in our midback, where we carry some tension). And our diaphragms - which have gotten very tight and compressed over this winter.

So this Sunday, we'll do a whole lot of stretching and limbering up - and a lot of opening our heart - with movements taken directly from Oriental dance.

See you Sunday - 11AM! (Email me at alaynya (at) alaynya (dot) com if you need directions.)

yours in dance - Alay'nya

P.S. - One of my dear friends, Kathy Carroll, sent me a book - "I Come As a Brother," by Bartholomew. He talks about "opening our heart" as "radiant pink" energy field. What a lovely read!

Free Belly Dance Open House Sunday, Feb 13th, 11AM - 1:30 PM

2011-02-02T07:52:00.000-08:00

Free Open House at Alay'nya Studio Sunday, Feburary 13

Featuring Special Invited Guest, Anna Gordon, who will coach us on self-massage and (seated) partner massage, from 11-11:30 AM. (Come early! Doors open at 10:45AM. RSVP with Alay'nya at alaynya (at) alaynya (dot) com - in case of inclement weather.

Munchies, hot drinks.

Mini-class from 12:15-1:15PM.

See you there!

love - Alay'nya

New "Letter to My God(dess) Daughters" - Imholc (Feb 2nd)

2011-02-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

Darlings - read the latest celebrating our pivoting towards light, life, and movement at Letter to My God(dess) Daughters - Imholc (Feb 2nd).

"Passage Through LIght and Shadow"

2010-10-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

Children of Ararat

Produced and directed by

Anahid Sofian

I got back late last night from a trip to New York City exclusively to see Anahid Sofian's latest production, "Passage Through Light and Shadow: Children of Ararat". This extraordinary tour de force, the culmination of over fifteen years of research, is a masterpiece effort and should be seen by all serious students of Oriental dance who wish to broaden their horizons of dance as a production art. Without losing any of the intimacy inherent in the dance form (The Theatre at St. Clement's, in NYC, is a perfect venue for such a work), Mdm. Sofian's latest work is inspiring and informative to all of us who explore new directions for our dance.

In my Unveiling blog, I review the work as an artistic accomplishment: both a show and as a cultural landmark for the Armenian people.In this blogpost, I'll discuss how this current work is the capstone (to date) of Mdm. Sofian's continual evolution as a dance artist, a choreographer, and as a producer of every more complex, richly layered, evocative, and inspirational works.

This evolution is, in face, precisely what Mdm. Sofian has been doing in the last several years. Those of us who have been privileged to watch her unfolding into the full glory of her creative genius can take her path as an inspiration, and as a call to similar growth within our own endeavors.

Unveiling: The "Shared" Journey Has Begun!

2010-10-22T05:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Ones --

I began writing more to you, here in this blogpost, back last spring - during April and May. And many of you (wonderful, dear family and friends) responded by signing up as "Followers." Thank you so much! Each one of your warmed my heart with your interest in Unveiling, in what we were doing here in the Alay'nya Studio, and most of all - in the unfolding pathway as it exists for each of us.

Up until now, Unveiling has been largely a private journey. I began writing the book itself as far back as 1996 (and have chapter drafts in Archives that have that copyright date). But as I admit in the Unveiling Introduction, it took many efforts, over many years, to get to the point where I was really and truly ready to complete the book.

Now, after an arduous and extremely focused summer, Unveiling is complete, and has been uploaded to the Design Team. Just a few minutes ago, I started a new blog: The Unveiling Journey. This is the Unveiling-specific blog. It will contain everything from sharing the "meta-story" of how Unveiling came to be written (my own process for writing), to the strategy and tactics of book writing, publishing, and marketing, to the unfolding Unveiling story - the juicy, special details - who is who and what is what. I'll reveal my master teachers and their teachers (and perhaps include a few special stories), and share my special, "behind-the-scenes" stories of the real, live unveiling of Unveiling!

To stay on top of Unveiling, go to The Unveiling Journey and sign up as a Follower. (Just the same as you did to become a Follower at this site - and if you haven't done so already, start Following me here today!)

I'll be sending out occasional (don't worry, you won't be "spammed") emails to all my Unveiling Followers (at least, those of you who give me an email address) letting you know all the juicy details of what's coming up: The Video Book Trailer (and maybe even show some behind-the-scenes shots of it being produced). The parties, the book signings, and the interviews. The articles that are being written about Unveiling.

And if you're thinking now about Christmas presents (it's never to early to start), why not plan on getting autographed Unveiling copies - dated on the first week of Unveiling's release - for your smother, grandmother, favorite aunties, sisters, teachers, students, and girlfriends? My Design Team and my Production Team are working around the clock; we plan to have Unveiling ready direct through Amazon.com, and also through me (which will be the way that you can get an autographed copy - or as many autographed copies as you want) for Christmas.

More soon!

yours in dance -
Alay'nya
The "Fountain of Youth" Guru

Welcoming Our New Neighbor, Nourish Market Mclean

2010-06-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

Nourish Market McLean on Old Dominion

We're delighted to welcome in Nourish Market McLean, which opened in early June, 2010, on Old Dominion, heading from McLean to Great Falls, VA.

We've just discovered Nourish Market, and are thrilled that they are offering both vegetarian and non-vegetarian sandwich and soup options. They're easy for pick-ups on the way home to Great Falls.

I stopped by this morning, spoke with Aaron who had helped them since before their opening, and enjoyed learning about their green-friendly approach. They have bamboo floors, bamboo ceiling acoustic deflectors, and LCD lighting around the cool goods display containers. The decor is open, spacious, and VERY clean; it's a treat to walk in! They have a wide range of snacks, to-go items, and even some lovely wines.

Nourish Market is located at 8100 Old Dominion Drive, Suite E, McLean, VA 22102. They are open from Monday through Saturday, 7AM - 7PM, and on Sunday from 10Am 4PM.

P.S. - I tried their gRAWnola bar -- delicious!

What does 2012 Mean for Us?

2010-06-21T23:45:00.000-07:00

I stepped outside earlier this morning, and could feel it. It wasn't just the sense of the very longest of the very long early summer days. It wasn't just the heat, the humidity - promising that a lovely morning would turn into a sweltering afternoon. Rather, it was feeling, and sensing, that pivot point of the year.

Earlier today, for the briefest of moments, the sun stood still. At least, that is the sense that we have, here on Earth, in our experience of orbiting around the sun. And now, with a greater sense of acceleration, we start to whoosh towards the other side; towards the shortest days, and the longest nights.

And we will repeat this two more times, and on the third "whoosh" towards the longest night, we will be approaching Winter Solstice of 2012; the time that has been the focus of much attention over the past several years.

What exactly are we expecting? Will the world suddenly come to an end? Will the Apocalypse of John's story in Revelations start coming true, word for word? Will we wake up on the morning of January 1st, 2013, to a world that is remarkably different - if we wake up at all?

Or is there something else?

It's About Healing ...

2010-06-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

Inner Healing through Belly Dance

It's been a lovely day. I started with - if not reconnecting with some people - at least getting a few more of those names into my ACT! contact management database, AND my MS Outlook contact cards, so that - when the time comes - I CAN connect with them. Lovely feeling.

I've done a lot of preps for the very technical course I'll be teaching at one of the local universities this fall.

And, because my mind needed something "real" - not just the latest techno-story, but something with a bit of meat - I did some physics. At least identified some articles that were VERY interesting, and did the quickest of little write-ups on a few of them - more just annotating bookmarks than anything else.

And then I went for a walk.

Lovely, almost cool early summer evening. The birds had started singing before 5AM (I was up well before then), and here it was well after eight - and the sky was still light. How I love this season! And just a few days now until solstice - the maximal energy point of the year. I can feel it, and love this time.

But during the walk, something started happening. Actually, it had begun before I left the house.

I was beginning to feel things -- lots of emotional "churn" was coming up. Feelings of sadness, of loneliness, of needing to connect, and of loss. Of remembering people who had died, and with whom I could no longer connect - or not so easily. And feeling the "pain" factor that is the flip side of being highly creative, and needing intensely focused time in order to create. That is the loneliness of these moments.

And it just so happened that there was no one of "like mind" to whom I could turn.

And so, during the walk, it started to happen. Some music came into me -- I was "dancing" in my mind as I walked down the street. I came home, put the music on, and started some improv. Yes, there were some choreography fragments that I'd learned in a workshop - about a year ago at this time. But the music had a lot of "heart-swelling" types of movements embedded in it.

In fact, the music was very "heart-oriented," with a subdued "dub-dub," "dub-dub."

And it was that feeling that I started connecting with during dance.

I used the dance to open my diaphragm, to open my shoulders and pecs (which had become very constricted during all the computer work of the day), and to feel.

And tomorrow, I hope to again do the same.

Unveiling: Chapter 1 (Excerpt)

2010-06-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

Unveiling: An Inner Journey

Chapter 1: What Do Women Really Want?

Dear Ones - An excerpt from the first chapter:

"The Wife of Bath was a saucy lady. We find her interesting, even today, as we note her feisty and independent spirit. She held her own among fellow pilgrims when, enroute to Canterbury, they held a story-telling contest. Her story harkened back to the days of knights and dragons, of spells and sorcery, and of damsels in distress.

"In the days of King Arthur, a lusty young man came upon a beautiful maiden, and promptly raped her. There was a hue and cry at this misdeed, and King Arthur sentenced him to death. The ladies of the court, however, felt this sentence was too harsh. They pleaded for his life. Finally, King Arthur gave this young man over to the Queen. His life was completely in her hands. If she decided that he was to die, he would die. If she decided he could walk free, he would walk free.

"The Queen thanked King Arthur, and made her decision. 'I will grant you your life,' she said, 'if you can tell me what thing it is that women most desire.' She gave him a year and a day to find out, and to return to her with that answer."

For the rest of Chapter 1 -- Unveiling should be released by early Autumn. Until then, I'll be posting more tidbits and teasers -- enjoy!

It's all about doubling (Blogsite Followers)

2010-06-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

Connecting the "Best of the best"!

Dear Ones --

My goal has been to connect the "best-of-the-best," and build a strong resource community.

This is the 43rd day since I restarted my blog. After the first few days, I started asking for "Followers." My goal was to build an online community which connected the "best-of-the-best" - the best massage therapist (hooray, Anna Gordon! Glad you'll be back this coming weekend - starting June 11th!), the best raw foods specialists (see Raw with a Twist, the best breakthrough facilitator (see Julie Rahm as America's Mindset Mechanic), and so on.

I've been thrilled that Joe Williams, the world's leading proponent of the Delsarte Method, has also joined us.

Many of us are small business entrepreneurs.

One way to track how well we are reaching our community is to look at how we're growing our Followers.

In 43 days (and let's take off 3 days for initial blogging and getting some content going), I've doubled my Followers four times: From 1 to 2, from 2 to 4, from 4 to 8, and (just in the past hour) from 8 to 16. That's four "doublings." This took 40 days.

If my math is right - and if we're really dealing with doubling here (this is a geometric progression, not a linear one - for those of us who remember our high school math class) - it is taking 10 days per "doubling."

So now - I'm both making a prediction and asking for your help.

I'd like to "double" again over the next 10 days. That means, go from 16 Followers (the number as I write) to 32 Followers, by Thursday, June 17th.

Let's treat this as a game, and let's help each other "win." Anyone else want to play? Anyone else who wants to double their Followers in ten days? (I bet some of you will do much, much better than me!)

Let's all check in with our results on Thursday, the 17th!

Exciting News! Raw with a Twist opens in DC Area this July 4th Weekend!

2010-06-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

Fabulous good news for all of us who desire total life transformation: Raw With a Twist is open for business starting the July 4th weekend.

Fabulous Show last night - WAMEDA Members Showcase!

2010-06-07T05:17:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time at the WAMEDA (Washington Area Mid-Eastern Dance Association) Annual Member's Showcase last night! First, congrats to Verna and Jerry of Dancer: The Unusual Store, for hosting such a fine event. Verna did a beautiful job of creating an excellent stage; lovely backdrop and plenty of room - also room in front for dancers who wanted to get close to the audience or take more space for a larger-format dance. There was a cash bar, and WAMEDA provided us with an array of light refreshments.

Verna, I love that you organized a great combination of skilled sound techs and video crew - the two factors most important in making a show go smoothly, and helping it be memorable later! I'm SO looking forward to seeing the DVD!

As usual, Gerson Kuhr (the Fitness Pharaoh)was once again our gracious and impressive host - and a walking testament to his physical conditioning regime. You looked gorgeous, Gerson! And put many of us dancers to shame - we should all be getting coaching from you, or at least working out regularly with your DVD, Core Training for Belly Dancers!

Cleo's Closet was our vendor, and provided a lovely and intriguing array of scarves, hip belts, and jewelry, along with CDs and DVDs. Thank you, Carmen, for giving us such luscious shopping options! And it's good to know that we can shop online with you as well.

Dancers included Amustela, Jaka, and others from the WAMEDA community.

I had a chance to close the show with a Candle Dance, which is part of my summer curriculum.

Alay'nya performing Candle Dance this Sunday, June 6th, in Clinton, MD

2010-06-02T16:22:00.001-07:00

Candle Dancing by Alay'nya!

I'm thrilled to present a beautiful candle dance, set to "Mosaic" on Sandstorm by Farzad Farhangi, this coming Sunday at the annual Washington Area Mid-Eastern Dance - WAMEDA Members' Hafla in Clinton, MD. The event will be at the American Legion Hall in Clinton, and will start at 2PM. I'll kick off the second set - which is my favorite; this dance really is a "ritual invocation" of fire energy - and now is the time to bring this into our lives!

Photo by Kriss. Used with permission.

There will be many other wonderful area dancers, including Amustela, who first introduced me to Farzad's beautiful music. She's closed out our last several shows, and always gets rave reviews from the audience!

The Day Starts with Perfume and Lipstick

2010-05-28T02:01:00.000-07:00

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

The Number One Secret for Reality Creation

2010-05-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-24T09:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Ones -

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

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

2010-05-18T01:35:00.000-07:00

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!

More on the latest word!

2010-05-16T08:05:00.001-07:00

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!

2010-05-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

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

Putting the "Levels" into Practice: A Simple Example

2010-05-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

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 ...)

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

2010-05-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

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!"

Unveiling -- the Permissions

2010-05-07T01:20:00.000-07:00

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!

Did you feel the energy shift at Beltaine?

2010-05-04T23:03:00.000-07:00

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!

It's about transformation ...

2010-04-28T23:41:00.000-07:00

Years ago (many years), I was making the crucial transition from martial arts to Oriental (Mid-Eastern, or belly) dance. I knew that I had "come home." But after several moves, town to town, and several teachers, I found myself in a city with no Oriental dance teachers.

There really wasn't much choice. I "hung out my shingle," and started to teach.

You know the old saying, of course: "We teach that which we need to learn."

The process of teaching accelerated my own learning.

Beyond this, though, I found myself having a desire, an actual longing, to find a pathway for personal growth. I knew that the dance art could be - and would be - an essential component. Beyond that, I didn't have a clue.

With all my heart, I wished that there was a book to read that would explain all of this. How we - as women - could reconnect with what was our original sacred path; how we could find honest-to-God(dess) body/mind/psyche/spirit integration and healing.

What I was looking for was a path of personal transformation.

I looked high and low. I looked for teachers and books. (Remember, this was pre-internet days - no on-line search to pull up the world's resources!)

Finally, I found my first "clue" -- a book, Being a Woman, by Dr. Toni Grant. She wrote it back in 1988, in response to her own search, her own longing - which was much like mine.

And guess what? Even though she proposed four core feminine archetypes, she didn't invent them - for that, she gave credit to Toni Wolfe, who was both the mistress and protege of Carl Jung. However, she built on and elucidated the set of four "archetypes" that Toni Wolfe had intuited. She made that work not only available to women today, but relevant as well - a great starting point!

This was like finding the first "stepping stone" in a hidden path; it truly was like finding a guidepost hidden in the deep forest. From here, I began my journey - a journey that evolved into the book that I had wanted to read, and which I've now written: Unveiling: An Inner Journey.

And now, dear ones, back to the "detail work" of preparing this book for publication - so I can get it to you!

yours in dance - A.

Because it feels so good ...

2010-04-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Ones --

Teaching two back-to-back dance classes simply feels fantastic!

After several weeks where, for one reason or another, I taught only one class on Sundays, yesterday was a great chance to "amp-up" by teaching two back-to-back classes again.

I'd forgotten how good it feels.

One class is certainly good, but two (or more) is better. Even two (or more) classes in a week, if not on the same day. By the second class, my body is more warmed up. My body's "memory" for technique and even choreography is deeper.

As I move around after class, I notice that my body is "springier" - I feel as though there's more elasticity in my joints. It's easier to get up off the floor, or to bend and twist to pick things up.

Beginner's classes are - surprisingly - especially wonderful for toning and conditioning! Even though I've been studying and teaching for years, it is so great to be reminded of how fabulous that deep, core workout feels. My abs and butt, hips and thighs all simply feel more powerful after today's classes.

Wherever you are, darling, I hope you're enjoying your dance practice as much as I am!

yours in dance -- A.

It's been a long time - and worth the wait!

2010-04-25T03:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, darlings - I know.

Over a year is a long, very long, time to go between blogposts.

There is a reason.

It's the book that we all want to read.

Unveiling: An Inner Journey.

Why is this important, to you, to me, to all of us right now?

There are only three real questions in our lives:
1) What do we really want? (And can we figure this out?)
2) Once we figure out what we want, can we get it?
and - the wonderful, important question -
3) Is there a "fountain of youth," and - if so - can we get some of it?

The answers, dear ones, are yes, Yes, and oh-so-definately-and-resoundingly-YES! (Especially to the last one.)

But it has taken me years to get these answers, and even more to write them up for you.

In fact, after over fourteen years of work, as of a year ago, this book was still not done. And while I had much of the groundwork in place, the REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF - the answers to the questions that we all have - had not yet come together.

Now they have.

The book - Unveiling - is nearly ready.

I'm in final editing, copy-editing, and final-touches-and-rewording stages.

Three more weeks, and it goes to Amazon. (Actually, to Amazon's CreateSpace - my publisher. But for all of us, when we want to buy this, it will be listed on Amazon. And thanks to the wonders of marvelous technology, it will be listed as an "In stock, ships within 24 hours" option!

There will still be a little bit of a wait involved. (Once I get it to Amazon, because it really is a REAL book, and they have to do all the typesetting and layout and such, and I will proof designs and galleys, it will take an ADDITIONAL 10-12 weeks.) This means, we'll actually get this book - hard copy in our hands (or Kindle, if that's how you prefer it), sometime around the end of July or beginning of August. Certainly in time to make this a "beach read"!

And won't we all have one heck of a party when Amazon DOES release the book? Wow, what a fabulous time we'll all have - and the biggest hafla we've ever hosted!

But for now, darlings, it's back to work. Chapter 7 needs a little rewriting. (I found just the best stuff last night, to help make it clearer and more readily pulled into our heads -- now it's time to integrate this info so the chapter will make so much more sense, so easily!)

This book is full of insights and practical knowledge that will help us change our lives!

Plus, there are stories -- from my life, from some of yours (if you've been my students or teachers, or even co-workers and friends).

And even more - there are suggestions for very specific things that we can do to achieve breakthroughs; to create honest-to-God(dess) for-real transformations in our lives!

More soon, darlings -- as I get this book ready, and uploaded, and on its journey to you, I'll be telling you MUCH more about it!

Yours in dance -- Alay'nya

Candlemas Countdown - The "Real New Year" Starts Now!

2009-01-26T03:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Ones --

Early in the morning, with the light just turning tree branches into lacy silhouettes. We've resumed classes, just in time to have class schedules interrupted by the sleet/snow/ice that comes to Northern Virginia during late January and throughout February each year.

Officially, our "New Year" began January 1st -- following "twelve days of Solstice." (Count it -- Dec. 21st to the end of December is 12 days, then we start the new year!)

Energetically, our "New Year" begins right about now.

How do we know that it's new?

We start feeling it in our bodies.

If we were very internal over the Christmas holidays and early part of the new year, we find ourselves less internal now -- more energy, more extroversion, more desire to get out, no matter what the weather is doing.

Those of us that just wanted to cocoon during the "darkest days" of winter are now saying, "When does class start again? I've just GOT to get back to class!"

And my inbox starts filling up with new inquiries.

Even the nature of our workouts change.

During the Christmas holidays, I worked out -- but mostly mat work -- floor work of various sorts. Everything from pushups to Pilates, from oblique crunches to yoga. But now, my body is also aching for much more active and expressive movement. In fact, I'm heading into the studio in the next few minutes.

But that leaves us with the occasional quandary: We want to move, we're ready to move, and classes are fully started -- but weather gets in the way. The kind of weather where we are really and truly "snowed in," or sleeted in, or whatever have you.

So -- over the next few days, I'll share with you some extracts from what we're doing to build up a "study at home" core curriculum for dancers, both at Beginner and Early Intermediate levels.

Until then, happy dancing!

Home for the holidays -- with belly dance fitness DVDs

2008-12-20T03:56:00.000-08:00

Dear Ones --

Saturday morning, early -- Christmas week, 2008. For many of us, the holidays start now. Some of us will be on the road, some of us at home -- whether home is quiet or filled with guests. And perhaps you, like I, have realized -- no dance classes for at least two weeks! (Maybe even three or more!)

So what's a girl to do?

Perhaps we both rely on classes -- whether taking or teaching -- not only for choreography, but also for a regular schedule of practice drills and even fitness. So when our class schedule temporarily abates, we need to fill in the gap. It's either that, or get fat, out of shape, and lose both form and style! And since that is too harsh a future to contemplate, we may as well take on the alternative -- which is to practice on our own.

Sometimes, there is nothing like being by yourself, alone in your studio (or your living room, or the empty fitness room in the health club -- wherever!). Just you and your music, and an hour that you've blocked off. This can also be scary -- the "blank canvas" sort of thing.

So instead of making ourselves face an empty studio each day, let's mix it up. A little choreography time -- but also some basic workouts and drill.

I started my "official" holiday season this morning, at an hour too early to mention in public, with Rachel Brice's Tribal Fusion Belly Dance: Yoga, Isolations, and Drills: A Practice Companion with Rachel Brice. A great way to start the day! (DVD on loan from Sabira, thank you, Sabira!)

Note: You'll always be find out more suggestions for practicing at home, including links to Rachel's and other cool DVDs, along with neat collections of YouTubes and other support materials, at Alay'nya's Recommendations - Practicing at Home (Intermediate).

Rachel's DVD is really more suited for intermediate-to-advanced students than for pure beginners. She does give instruction, and she does break each technique down beautifully, and guide you through with pointers. She also repeats each move several times -- so there is not too much of a "cognitive" challenge in following her. Still, this is not really the place to learn the technique -- it is more like having Rachel in for a private coaching session.

Today, I selected the 45-minute option (Rachel presents 15-, 30-, and 45-minute sessions). We started with a basic yoga Salute to the Sun -- very basic, but well-grounded. This was followed by pelvic and rib cage isolations, and very structured body rolls (both going up and down). We followed with some final yoga stretches and relaxation in the "corpse" pose. (During the latter, there were beautiful shots of moving clouds in time-compressed video -- a lovely touch for a workout that started and ended before dawn on a cloudy and cold winter day!)

Practicing with Rachel lets us experience how she structures isolations -- and this is important if you're trying to replicate her style. Personally, I find her Tribal /Fusion/Goth/Trance style intriguing -- but not what I would do (favoring a bit more of a classic and lyrical approach). But still - practicing with her on her DVD makes it possible to incorporate little "snippets" of her movements into otherwise more traditional (read: predictable) dances. Kind of like wearing a bright red, patterned scarf with an otherwise traditional outfit - adds some interest and pizzazz!

(Rachel includes a short performance vid at the end of her practice session -- inspiring! A very similar-in-nature performance is shown on this YouTube video clip of a Rachel Brice's performance.)

Thank you, Rachel! We appreciate the hard work that went into making this DVD. You did a good job, this is very useful, and a real benefit to the dance community!

New Image Stylist -- Neat Discovery!

2008-11-23T14:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Ones --

Have just come back (w/in last 20 minutes) of Susan B. Hillson's wonderful first-ever one-woman jewelry show (fabulous job, Susan, and I'll post up your website as soon as you have it ready!). All her friends and co-workers came, and Sabira and I joined her as well. Beautiful jewelry, and she will custom-design to order. To connect w/ Susan (until her website goes live), use shillson7 (at) gmail (dot) com.

At her show, I met a fabulous young woman -- Janocye -- who has an image consulting business. (Visit Janocye's website to get a sense of what she can do for you.) Janocye is centered in the Gaithersburg area, and can easily visit clients in the Potomac, Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Great Falls, and McLean areas.

We had a wonderful chat -- and Janocye is truly a living testimony to her own business. Having lived and worked in New York for many years before moving to the DC area, she combines the "Big Apple" sense of pizzazz and style with the more structured and conservative look that many adopt here.

Many of my new students come to me because they've had a life-change of some sort, and - as they put it - "I was ready to do something just for me!"

For those ready to do something "just for me," you might check her out at Janocye's blog -- she promises to be updating it more often.

With the seasonal round of parties upon us, and an upcoming round of inaugaral balls, now is just the right time for a new look. Combine belly dance (for a fabulous presence), a new image (with Janocye ); and then get Janocye to guide you with custom-designed jewelry from Susan for your new look / new year!

Special Invited Guest Artist - Amustela

2008-11-13T18:22:00.001-08:00

Amustela is one of our area's favorite dancers -- always creative, always inspired, always fabulous! She has been with us in several MEDEA performances, and has always come up with something very new, different, interesting -- and captivating!

Special Invited Guest Artist - Katayoun

2008-11-13T18:21:00.001-08:00

Katayoun is a much beloved and favorite area dancer. She is graceful, elegant, and sensual at the same time. She switches seamlessly between classic Danse Orientale (cabaret) and her native Persian styles; beautiful and delightful performer!

Special Invited Guest Artist Caleena Janay

2008-11-13T18:18:00.000-08:00

Caleena Janay first joined us for an awesome, outstanding performanc in Viva la Diva; she is an area favorite and we are so looking forward to her dance!

Special Invited Guest Artist -- Urvashi

2008-11-13T18:17:00.000-08:00

Urvashi is new to us this season, and we are so looking forward to having her dance -- with her snake "Bhakti" -- in the upcoming MEDEA VI!

Special Invited Guest Artist - Nadira Maher

2008-11-13T18:15:00.001-08:00

I first saw Nadira Maher dance during an evening hafla that we had following a workshop that we hosted for Joe William, teaching the Delsarte Method. Beautiful, inspired improvisational dancing!

Returning Soloist -- Maha Najeeb

2008-11-13T18:11:00.000-08:00

Maha Najeeb, well known throughout the NOVA dance community, rejoins the Troupe for this year's MEDEA VI performance. You can see traces of her previous performances with us by going to http://www.alaynya.com.performances/ and clicking on prior shows such as Diamonds, or Unveiling.

Sabira - Tribal and classic Danse Orientale

2008-11-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

Sabira is now the most senior student within my dance studio, and has been performing for almost seven years in the NOVA and Greater DC area. While she does Tribal style as well as classic Danse Orientale, she specializes in very slow, graceful movements -- often emphasizing her beautiful hands. Certainly worth watching!

"Rising Star" dancer Sasheen

2008-11-13T18:04:00.000-08:00

Sasheen is another dancer in her group (of students who've just been studying for two years) who has rapidly evolved her dance ability. Sasheen's style tends towards the archetypal -- the mysterious, something other-worldly or very old within our world.

Sasheen loves both sword dancing and fire dancing -- this performance will herald a new sword dance from her; one very different from her first one in both tempo and style.

Sasheen was the first of her group to perform; she and dance friend Elizabeth (a modern dancer) put together a show in this very same place over a year ago -- we were impressed then, and anticipate a much more exciting work now!

"Rising Star" dancer Sitara

2008-11-13T18:00:00.000-08:00

Sitara -- who has been with me for just over two years -- personifies the kind of "rising star" dancer that we see here. Through her own hard work and dedication (much more than my brilliant coaching), she has developed a lovely and personal interpretation of classic Danse Orientale in the Egyptian cabaret style.

This year, she is refining a previous work -- adding extra dimensions and polish.

Those of you who saw Sitara perform just last May will get a treat to see how her dance has evolved so rapidly within such a short time. I'm particularly thrilled with how she has gained an ability to hold audience attention, and use a variety of moods and techniques to add interest to her dance!

Raw Foods, Real People, and Cold Weather

2008-10-31T05:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Ones --

I made a mistake last night -- ate homemade beef stroganoff w/ noodles for dinner. It tasted great, was filling on a cool autumn evening, and was SO not right for my body! Not that I felt "wrong" this morning -- just -- not so "right." There is a feeling that we get when we eat the right foods, at the right time -- we feel "lighter and brighter." And this wasn't it.

So I promised myself that today would be -- at least mostly -- a "raw foods" day.

Perhaps I'm inspired by finding the Raw Divas's website last night. That was a nice treat! A whole lot of advertising and promo-blather, but their hearts are in the right place, and if you read and click far enough / long enough, you do come across some useful (free!) information.

And before going further -- a brief pitch for my fave raw-food read; Raw Food, Real World. Co-authors and raw foods restauranteers Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis both motivate and inspire with their youthful and bouyant energy, and delightful recipes. (A word of warning: Their suggestions are rarely for those short on time, and some of the most interesting options require both a dehydrator and substantial advance preps. Barring that, the pictures and recipes are inspiring and might get some of us "over the hump" of having to devote extra time.)

As a sidebar, now that people are getting much smarter about intermet marketing "methods," it becomes progressively difficult to wade through sites that are mostly promo-pages, with a whole lot of fluff, and very little behind them. MOST of what you would desire to find can be obtained from your local library, for MUCH cheaper than the various e-books, e-zines, and other items hawked on the net.

For example, I recommend going to the library first for your raw-food reads. Take home a bunch of books, load up on the most attractive and vibrant fruits, greens, and veggies you can get from either a farmer's market or your most trusted food store, and find out what you REALLY do over the next week or so. A week or two in the "real world" of your own kitchen will let you connect ambition with reality. Then, and ONLY then, decide on what books you REALLY need for your long-term private libary, and what internet thing you REALLY must download, at the cost of pulling out your credit card.

That little diatrabe aside, back to raw foods -- something that we dancers all need, because they deliver high-quality energy, especially if done right.

I'll admit to being motivated -- at least in part -- by reading about fashion designer Donna Karan's experience Donna Karan's experience with a raw-foods diet. She both lost weight AND improved her energy level! Donna was mentored in her new approach by Jill Pettijohn, live-foods advocate and chef.

But, as the Karan article notes, not all of us can afford live-in chefs.

In the "real world" in which many of us live, we have two challenges when it comes to increasing the raw/live ratio of foods:

Finding the time in the first place -- the big challenge for all of us, and I'll address it in a minute, and
Now that it's cold, the LAST thing we want are a bunch of cold, raw veggies. Most of the time, we can scarcely get excited about them in the summer -- but who wants cold and raw when that's exactly what we face when we go outdoors?

The time challenge first -- because that is often the biggest stickler in our lives, and with holidays coming up, the last thing we need to do is to make our lives more complicated.

I have found, through sad experience, that going to the farmer's market is an uplifting and inspiring event -- so inspiring that I will often come home with MUCH more than I can use in the reasonable future. What is worse, I too often have not "connected the dots." Between the joyous and exuberant sensory stimulus of all these wonderful fresh market things and the actual act of eating these lovely items, there is some necessary preparation. And left to my own devices, such preparation gets postponed indefinately ... until I wind up chucking those once-lovely veggies that have gone well past their "use-by" date.

There are three steps that I've found that help me get on track, and stay on track, with the veggie-intensive approach to living. Because they work well for me, they might also work for you!

(1) Have something of an action plan before going to the food store / farmer's market. I'm not saying that you need to be rigid -- but put things together in your mind before you shop. For example, if you've checked the weather, and know it will be cold, windy, and rainy, you know that you will want something warm. Something that will SMELL good when you come into the house. Think about how you want to nourish yourself emotionally and sensually as well as physically.

Think also about your time-plan for the week ahead. Will you be coming home tired and late, and just want to eat and relax? Then you know you need at least one crockpot meal. Will you have an evening where you'll come home, have a half hour or so, leave for an hour and a half, and then come back for dinner? Then think about something that can do a slow-bake in the back of the oven.

As you form up your major strategies, think through how you're going to use your leftovers -- what you want to make in extra quantities so that you have plenty for lunch or dinner later in the week. Now -- the "raw" part: Around these time constraints, factor in where and how you'll add in the "raw foods" (or those given a bare-minimal saute). Sometimes this will happen, sometimes not.

Add this to your knowledge of what is seasonal, what feels good to you right now, make a mental list and/or jot down a few notes. If you're thinking about shopping at a Saturday morning farmer's market, take time Thursday or Friday evening to look through your recipe books to see what inspires you. Make note of any special ingredients, and try to pick them up on the way home from work -- so that you don't expend valuable weekend time on extra shopping.

Next -- and this is a big one -- plan on taking at least twice as much time for your "food shopping adventure" as usual. When you get home, and AS YOU UNPACK (except for getting the things that need to be cold into the fridge), prep your foods before you stash them.

For example: If you buy onions and mushrooms, with the intention of folding them into three or four different dishes over the week, cut up the onions right away, and start sauteing them in olive oil or butter. While they start to brown, cut up your mushrooms, throw them in. Then store your pre-cooked onion-mushroom mixture, not the "raw" raw ingredients. (Yes, I know this post is about raw foods. We draw the line at raw onions. Raw onions do not enhance intimacy later in the day.)

If you bring home a cauliflower, pull off the leaves, and cut out the core. If you know that you want cauliflower "florets," cut a bunch of them NOW, while the thing is in front of you.

This takes time. The benefit is that you increase your likelihood of actually using and eating these wonderful foods!

Third point -- all on the "time-challenge" end of things. In some areas, you'll be better off buying things that are at least semi-pre-prepped. For example, you might buy a package of cut-up butternut squash pieces. Saving yourself fifteen minutes is worth the extra expense. You be the judge.

Now, on to the REAL challenge. It's winter. We want warm, rich foods. Not cold salads.

Step 1: We can tolerate a fair bit of raw if it is cut up small and covered in a nice, rich sauce. This is NOT a time for fat-free! (Such an idea is an insult to our system, especially in cold weather.) Remember that fats carry flavor, and fats carry fat-soluble (not water-soluble) nutrients. And we need both; the first nourishes our psyche, the latter our body.

So invest in good salad dressings, cut your veggies up small, and take both with you to the office, along with some easily-added protein -- a can of fish, or a little left-over salmon, or some of those pre-cooked chicken pieces. Add guacamole or raw pine nuts for a little extra richness and flavor, and you have a totally acceptable year-round meal. Perhaps a little soup, maybe a few crackers or nuts, and you're ok. Allow your raw-veggie salad to come to room temperature before eating; that will also help on a cold day.

Space your foods out during mid-day; a lot of our cravings come from system-crash when we push too long without nutrients.

Second, make it easy for yourself -- spout some nuts (yes, get raw nuts, such as almonds, and let them sit in water overnight -- then drain, and store in the fridge). Use these as a snack. Year-round, they give you not only the "raw," but the "live" food experience. Add sprouts to your salads / sandwiches; another easy way to get "live."

Sometimes we just need cooked foods -- some foods might be too dense to be enjoyed raw; brussels sprouts come to mind. Also the heavier winter squashes, and the denser and darker greens.

Sometimes, a little saute is all that is needed. Sometimes, we must do more.

Right now, I'm learning how much I need to cook foods in order to bring out their flavor, and make them enjoyable as well as nutritious.

I'll share my findings, and please -- feel free to post a (useful) comment -- especially, link us in to good books and recipes!

Great exercise to help with knee strength

2008-10-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Ones --

This Sunday's (Oct. 19th, 2008) Parade magazine had a Special Report about Women's Health by Claudia Wallis. She opens with:

"When I ripped a ligament in my knee on a ski-slope last winter, I had no idea that I was joining a limping sisterhood. A torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) ranks among the most common sports-related knee injuries. But women are five to sevn times as likely as men to sustain this kind of athletic damage."

Ms. Wallis continues with an interview with Dr. Laura Tosi, director of the bone-health program at Children's Natioanl Medical Cneter in Washington, DC. Dr. Tosi, and studies that Ms. Wallis has read, point out that "girls tend to run, jump, and turn with straighter legs and less bending at the knees and hips than boys." This, and other factors, make us more susceptible to knee and other joint injuries.

Ms. Wallis is not alone in her experience of knee problems -- I have them myself, and so do some of my students. (The older we get, the more likely we are to have this as a problem area.)

In fact, one of my favorite dance teachers, Anahid Sofian in New York City, started learning belly dance on the recommendation of her physical therapist. In doing modern dance, she had overworked her knees, and was in pain. She sought help from her doctors, who then prescribed physical therapy. Her therapist recommended belly dance as a therapeutic exercise. She tried it, became entranced by the art form, and from there went on to become one of the world's leading choreographers and teachers in this area.

Fortunately for us, we can ALL use belly dance as a therapeutic exercise. The key ingredient that makes this work? We dance in a "bent-knee" posture. ALL of our movements involve keeping our knees just slightly bent. This means that:
1) We strengthen our thighs AND our abs (we need strong abs to make this work),
2) We lengthen our lower back, getting our pelvis to align straight with the floor -- this helps a LOT to release lower back tension!, and
3) We strengthen the muscles around our knees.

Belly dance is an ancient, beautiful, and sensual women's art form. It is very likely the oldest dance form on this planet, although other "native/folk" dances (e.g., Polynesian, African) could have started around the same time. Because belly dance is such an old art form, it is very aligned with how our bodies are naturally designed to move. (In contrast, more recent dance forms, such as ballet, are much more "artificial," and can actually produce joint damage.)

Our bodies were naturally designed to have - and work best when - we are in a posture where our pelvis is aligned with the floor, our knees are slightly bent (this helps with pelvic alignment), and our spine and neck are "lengthened" so that the top of our heads reaches towards the sky. This is the posture that we practise and use in belly dance.

This pelvic-aligned, bent-knee, spine-lengthened posture helps us be more naturally graceful and beautiful. (Not to mention, it gives the immediate impression of losing ten pounds!) With this as a framework, we create elegant and sensual movements -- all while being non-impact!

For those that would like to add a fun way to strengthen their bodies, and feel and look much better, belly dance would be a great exercise alternative!

2008-10-13T12:29:00.001-07:00

Darlings -- reinstating our blog. Test run!

Artemis and Tayyar's ME Music and Dance Camp

2005-06-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Fantastic Camp! Just getting this thread started - and inviting posts!

Bellydance Superstars

2004-11-24T15:43:00.000-08:00

Lindy from our Woodbridge group starts this thread after seeing the Bellydance Superstars perform last night at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA:

BELLYDANCING SUPERSTARS was beyond fantastic, beyond totally incredible, beyond anything creative I've ever seen or imagined. The artistry, choreography, costumes, music, drum solos, dance solos, tribal dances, and a Polynesian number were total perfection, so amazingly captivating, beguiling, beautiful, and sheer delight.

Thank you Aly for your passing the word about this, and sorry you got stuck at the office. Ani couldn't come, and never did find Brenda and Heather. However, arranged to meet up with Sharon (she was one of you private students), and sat with some Iranian ladies and a very interesting man. Saw Beth (she came with some friends) and the first dancer at the Sunday show, and Linda (she was in black sweater and pants last Sunday). Linda and I stuck around to get autographs from 3 of the dancers on back of their picture cards.....will bring this Sunday. Picked up Volume II of their CD series.

"Structured Curriculum Support"

2004-11-17T18:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Ones -

This dialogue supports Alay'nya Studio members who want to give inputs to one of our major goals for 2005: "Structured Curriculum Support." All of you in the Studio are invited to comment!

This theme got started during a post-workshop coffee-session on Sunday, Nov. 14th (2004) between Dancers Kriste and Linda and Alay'nya. The question was: What would support you (the dancers) most for this coming year? The answer, reduced to essentials, was: More focus, more "completion" (e.g., whole choreographies, start-to-end), and more "curriculum support."

As Dancer Kriste put it, "We have the discipline, we just need the structure."

Very well said, Kriste!

Many of us come to Mid-Eastern dance (belly dance, Danse Orientale, Raks Sharqi ...) to tap into an inner expressive core that we all have - one that lives in an entirely different world than that of our 9-5 (and occasionally 5-9) jobs. In dance, we cultivate our access to our "feeling-sense" mode, rather than our every-day "cognitive-thinking" mode.

Yet Kriste's and Linda's points are very well made. We do need technique mastery in order to excel in this art. For many of us, structured choreography is a "path of confidence" into the "structured improvisation" that underlies true expressive dancing. Being able to do an entire choreography - and building a repertoire of choreographies - is an important part of developing not just skill, but confidence.

Many of our Studio members can only make class once a week, but are very willing to practice at home. The challenge that they find lies in figuring out just what to do when they want to practice at home. (I do remember this stage in my dance development; it very much is part of the path.)

So the idea that I suggested to Kriste and to Linda - and which met with their enthusiastic support - was to select a dance for each quarter that was already choreographed and commercially available on DVD or analog video. We would also need to have the music available for this dance. I would prepare teaching materials for that dance and teach it in class. Studio members could then follow up with at-home practice, using both the instructional DVD/vid and the music. This would give them reinforcement for the dance choreography, plus a structure with which to work for home study.

Additionally, I am going to try to select a technique-oriented instructional DVD/vid for each quarter, and teach the material in class, and correlate the class instruction to the appropriate DVD/vid sections. This will be an alternative at-home practice. Studio members can do either or both at-home studies (choreography &/or technique); I'll do my best to make sources for the quarterly selections of DVD/vid and accompanying music available via my website (www.alaynya.com/Instruction.htm)

Any thoughts / comments?

Best to all - A.

P.S. - One of the other ideas that we came up with during the coffee-session was that we would get a blog going, and use it to build community and share thoughts on topics like this - so that we could each access the blog at our leisure, and read / comment on whatever interested us at the time. So starts our Studio Blog!

Viva la Diva!

2004-11-17T14:49:00.000-08:00

Our next Mid-Eastern Dance: Experimental Atelier (MEDEA III) will be held Sunday, November 20th, 2005, with the theme of "Viva la Diva" (or "Goddesses of the Silver Screen").