Redeveloping Personal Energy, or "Ch'i"

"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!)

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

New Unveilng "Study Guide" Page on Website

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

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!

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)

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

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"

"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"

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

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

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)

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"

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!

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

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?

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 ...

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)

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)

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!

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.