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Guest Article! | Our Upcoming Trips at a Glance
Dear Friends,
WHAT’S NEW? Happy Chinese New Year!
The Chinese New Year, better known as the Spring Festival, is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. As it happens, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, which is a divine beast full of vitality, enthusiasm, exhilaration, and good luck.
Normally folks will sweep their homes hoping to remove all the bad energy and ill-fortune in preparation for the New Year. They also will make sure all old debts are paid, hair is cut, and all the doors and windows are properly decorated with paper cut-outs.
It’s also the perfect time to heal old grudges, and find peace within ones self and for others. What a wonderful way to start out – with a clean slate!
In honor of this revered holiday go out for a dinner of noodles or dumplings, and set some incense burning on your altar. Don’t forget to buy those lovely red envelopes that the Chinese people put money into. Fill the envelope with two dollars and place it under your pillow for abundance. As a gift, put two dollars in all the rest and give them away – wishing abundance for all!
**Just a reminder – don’t miss our free video classes!
And if you missed a video or teleclass no worries – you can still sign up if you like on our library page.
Blessings and love, 
Connect with me: Email | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter
Need a special trip for you or your family? Let Ales in Custom Travel design something for you!
Picture of the Chinese New Year Dragon thanks to Esparta Palma
EVENTS, FREE VIDEO-CLASSES & NEW PROGRAMS!
The Perfect Gift for the New Year – A Personal Intensive!
You know you’re a good person and deserve the best in life.
And you know that life shouldn’t have to be so difficult.
But even though you know that deep in your heart, do you still…
- Wake up wondering whose life you’re living?
- Feel like you’re lacking clarity?
- Find yourself short-tempered, frustrated or unhappy?
- Wish your relationships were more supportive and loving?
- Want to forgive and move on, but can’t?
- Crave freedom from your own life and mind?
Are you ready to break out of the box you call reality and start the new year with a totally different point of view? If so – join me for a Personal Intensive in St Pete, FL.
It’s a powerful experience and is a great way to jump-start your life. In my experience, the root of most people’s issues is a belief system that is sabotaging their life – rather than supporting it.
Imagine what life could be like if you were calm and centered no matter what situation you faced in life, rather than emotional and unclear. What if you no longer took people’s actions personally? Or if forgiveness came easy to you? Or even if you never got in another argument for the rest of your life?! Believe me – it is possible.
Sheri, how will I benefit? You’ll learn to…
- Take positive action in life – regardless of anxiety or fear.
- No longer feel victimized by the people in your life.
- Deal with people openly, without taking their actions and words to heart.
- Let go of the burdens of the past, forgive and move on with gratitude and joy.
- Reclaim your self-esteem and greater life purpose.
- Replace anger with focused clarity.
- No longer fear confrontation, or be a doormat for others.
- Come to a place of self-acceptance, no matter what actions you took in the past.
- Clearly identify your limiting beliefs, their origin and true purpose – empowering you to make healthier life choices.
- Utilize specific tools to help you live courageously, boldly, and with your head held high.
Basically you can do one hour sessions once a month for a year (like in therapy), or you could invest ~12 hours over 3 days and have the time to deeply work through what you need to without the clock interrupting you. That is extremely significant. Who wants to take a year to resolve something that can be dealt with in one weekend?
Email me directly with several dates that you feel would work for you and your application. I’d be happy to chat with you for ~20 minutes about what you want to accomplish and how I can help!
GUEST ARTICLE
TRIBAL TRANCE DANCE – Ecstasy and Prayer in Motion!
I was surrounded by darkness, a darkness produced by wearing a bandanna blindfold. It created a sensation similar to having my fingers in my ears, but this time it was a visual “silence” with my eyes closed, instead of a silence produced by plugging my ears. The music was loud and tribal, with passionate rhythms that I could feel all over my body. It was as if all of the cells and neurons in my body were responding spontaneously to the music.
The darkness was so beautiful, supportive, and complete, and I wasn’t dancing with anyone and no one was dancing with me. I could not control my body. It was simply responding spontaneously to the music. Sweat was pouring down my whole body and at times I could not even feel my body – was alone dancing in this darkness. I was Trance Dancing!
As I expanded my awareness, I could feel the others dancing around me. I could not see them, but I could feel them and could feel well beyond my normal perception of reality. I started to hear sounds coming from the other dancers, sounds of ecstasy, and an occasional gentle touch of someone. If I wanted, I could feel as if my dancing was mimicking the movements of another.
Wow, what a rush! The music changed, turning wild and I found myself in the forest, running along beside a black panther. She was guiding me, taking me for a ride as the music disappeared into a background of explosive sounds, primitive sounds – I was feeling my primal self. I kept on going with the panther. We went over a river to a water hole where we stopped and I jumped in to swim. My body was all wet, and I was in total communion with nature and the elements of my experience.
The music changed again and again, going from wild to mild, and after an hour and forty-five minutes of dancing the music turned to be sublime. It elevated me to a space, a sacred space that I have felt before: a delicious space of completeness and reverence, of ecstasy and total elevation of the self.
What an experience! And to think that some people have to use drugs or substances to alter their consciousness to feel this way! We accomplished this with powerful evocative music, movement, and the Trance Dance breath.
So what is Tribal Trance Dance? Trance Dance, as we know it today, is a blend of ancient rituals with a modern techno-twist. Ultimately, it is a way of recognizing our ancient heritage and applying it to our modern lifestyle. We can go as far back as we can in time and we find evidence of it in the history of dance and movement.
Anyone can Trance Dance because there are no steps to follow and no external expectations. The Higher Self knows the steps, and once awakened, Spirit takes over. It is a journey out of your head and into your heart and body, something that we modern humans seem to need so much.
Dance is synonymous with prayer, a demonstration of reverence. Dance is a doorway to the soul or spirit within and if you dance into the state of ecstatic trance you will connect completely to the healing powers of Spirit. Trance Dance is pure ecstatic energy. Trance Dance is the vehicle by which you become that energy and that’s what makes it remarkable. At the level of Spirit, anything is possible.
Trance Dance is meditation in motion, the vehicle that takes you from outward to go deep within to explore and be an active participant in that exploration. We use the body as an instrument of the Divine, and we engage in the exploration of our feelings and emotions, aided by music and the breath.
So where do end up after a Trance Dance experience? Well, to me we end up in a state of very deep meditative and ecstatic bliss, a state of unlimited potential, and a sacred space where spontaneous healing occurs.
Blessings & love, Ernesto Ortiz
Ready to learn more about ecstatic dance? We invite you to join Ernesto March 3-10th in Chacala, Mexico for his Trance Dance – Opening the Chakras to the Energies of 2012 retreat at Mar de Jade.
Noted artist, author and healer, Ernesto Ortiz has devoted his life to exploring and communicating the language of the heart, primal movement and deep inner spaces. Over the past 25 years, Ernesto has taken thousands of people on a journey from physical and emotional inertia to the freedom of ecstasy, from the chaos of the chattering ego-mind to the blessed emptiness of stillness and inner silence.
OUR MENU OF UPCOMING FABULOUS ADVENTURES!
~MARCH VOYAGES~ |
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Trance Dance – Opening the Chakras to the Energies of 2012 |
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The Dalai Lama & Tibetan Buddhism in Exile |
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Remembrances: Exploring the Mysteries of the Stones |
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Soul*Full Sisters – Spirituality & Photography by the Sea |
~APRIL TRAVELS~ |
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Skanda Yoga Retreat – Portals of Power! |
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Goddess Healing Spiritual Retreat |
~MAY SOJOURNS~ |
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Shamanic Healing Techniques in the Heart of the Mayan Lands |
~JUNE JAUNTS~ |
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Soul*Full Women’s Photography Retreat |
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A Women’s Sacred Journey to Avalon |
~JULY JOURNEYS~ |
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Sisterhood, Sand & Sun! |
~AUGUST ADVENTURES~ |
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Raising Empowered, Radiant Daughters – A Mother/Daughter Retreat! |
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Akashic Records Intensive – Opening the Secrets of the Stones |
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Want to see our whole line-up for the upcoming year?
Visit our Trips at a Glance page.
