Paulette Rees-Denis's Blog, page 47

and now…meet Gina Lee!

You may already know Gina, as she has danced with me in Gypsy C. for many years in Portland and on the road with me. She is one of the quiet ones!

Seriously, she is an incredibly thoughtful, patient, hard-working woman and dancer, and a joy to have in the troupe. She has a heart so full of love for this dance and all the folks that she meets. And to hear how the dance journey is for her, well, it warms my heart, brings a little tear to my eye, and fills me with joy! This dance does powerful stuff, doesn’t it?

Enjoy reading a little of Gina’s thoughts about our Tribal Style Bellydance…

[image error]

[image error]

[image error]

 

My journey in tribal bellydance literally changed my life. Like all experiences of falling in love… I fell deep and hard. Giddy about my newly discovered passion, it colored my world brighter and richer. While all dance and movement-based art is beautiful, I don’t know that I would have found the sense of beauty and empowerment I discovered within me without tribal bellydance. Not only did I love this dance and the wonderful music I was dancing to but also learning to love the power of being a woman full of the earthy magic that happens when you let go and let your hips and the music move you. One of the most important aspects of Tribal is the sisterhood that forms when you dance together, whether for the first time or the umpteenth. It’s truly remarkable.

 Being in Gypsy Caravan Dance Company was an amazing privilege and joy and I will always treasure those memories. With the new Gypsy Caravan Dance Company, International, Paulette has taken it to the next level. We can truly dance and perform with our sister dancers anywhere in the world! Being able to connect online and dance for each other to a new piece of music or demonstrate a new dance move makes this concept so much easier. While we wish we could all travel the world with Paulette and dance with each other much more often, it makes the times we are able to re-connect in person all the more wonderful.

[image error]  (above photos by Pete Giovale)

While being a member of Gypsy Caravan is amazing, being able to teach Paulette’s Gypsy Caravan Tribal style formatted dance is even more wonderful. As I live in Portland, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have been trained weekly by her for many years, both as a dancer and a teacher. Being certified in Teacher Training and Collective Soul, I’ve learned not just the technique of the moves but also how to teach it so that the dance student can comprehend the move but also do it physically. Working with students who want to learn to dance or to improve their dance is such an enlightening privilege. To see that spark that happens and to share that wonder and joy about this dance is a great delight and privilege; to teach it is even more rewarding.

I love this dance and the incredible community, local and worldwide, of wonderful dancers, artists and musicians, whom I’ve come to know, admire and learn from. I look forward to this journey and am eager to dance, create, teach and perform with my beautiful dance sisters from all over the world.

 Thank you, Paulette, for creating this dance, this concept, and  the community.

[image error]

[image error]

 

photo by: KaizenNW.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks Gina for sharing your words and your dance with us. Love it…

and also, all you out there in dance land and beyond, I just wanted to mention to start watching these pages and my website for a fantastic new project I’m working on for us all! Hoping to launch this in September -ish! I”m just giving you a tease now, so you will be ready for it… with lots of dance, writing, fitness, nutrition, yoga, meditation, and more fun stuff! Can’t wait…

….did I pique your curiosity?!!

more to come…:)

 

Double Dog Dare- Sunday Dance to Word

Good Sunday to you, and Happy Solstice, Full Moon, shorter days are coming…

On these summer (for some of us!) days, now with the light starting its gradual shift back to darkness…Oh I’m not ready for that yet…are you? but we have no control and must just go with that flow…

Is that easy for you? to allow what is happening to happen, without control? To be spontaneous? To feel the vibe and go with it? Not always easy for me, but so good when it does happen…I am trying to live my days like that now, with intention, with flow, and more simply… to not clutter my life, my home, and my brain, no multi-tasking allowed!

And I love that…

Why does it always take losing a loved one for us to re-look at our lives? Or a major health issue? Or a drama of sorts?

Why can’t we take better care of ourselves to feel better, look better, thrive, do the work we love, do the things we want to do, be who we really are? Why must we feel power over other creatures, and take their lives for sport? Or hurt others to feel our own glory? ha…not quite glory, you know? Or hurt ourselves? and the planet?

We are not invinceable…even though I thought I was when I was in my twenties…and I am glad I am still breathing and here to live my life.

So many big questions, and usually with simple answers, and just a little time to sit and really think about it, and about our own beliefs, and what our heart really feels, and our soul really says. But so many of us don’t listen to ourselves. Or trust in our intuitions and what our body and soul says to us.

Here is a thoughtful, scary, poignant TED talk…that may give you something more to think about, and write about…

Dee Williams, Dream Big, Live Small

http://youtu.be/A47JaOMDH4c

Sooooo, what do you think? Can you spend a few and write down some thoughts? What can you do to make a difference, a change, for yourself, for the better of the planet, for peace, love… you?

Double dog dare…

Share your thoughts, your words, share here, and with your friends, pass it around!

Thanks for being here…

loves…

 

Paulette

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meet Hilary! another Master Teacher for Gypsy Caravan’s Collective Soul!

Last week you met Nina Martinez, an amazing woman, gorgeous dancer, and member of my troupe, Gypsy Caravan Dance Company, Int. She lives outside of Cairns Australia, and travels the globe, exploring, and teaching dance… also a new Master Teacher in my amazing Collective Soul Experience!

Today I want you to meet Hilary Giovale, from Arizona. These women just amaze me, and I am so honored to have them be a part of my growing Team! The Tribal spirit spread its wings, empowering woman and making them soar through life, with dance as the catalyst… and whole healthy being and loving, and so much more!

Ever since I became a student of Tribal Style bellydance in 2003 it’s been waking something up in me that was wanting to come alive.  I discovered an earthy, connected, passionate, joy-seeking goddess who knows her own worth, beauty and passion.  This dance helped me channel the serpentine life force to awaken, energize, move through me.  I’ve remembered the ancient circle that’s been there since the beginning of time but is now evolving and expanding to connect a web of women throughout the world.

As Paulette’s student, I have opened myself to evolution – the evolution of knowing that I don’t know it all, (and never will) but that I can make the most of my dance through my unique skills, perseverance, and dedication.  The movements of Gypsy Caravan style feel good on my body – they are made to work with the body and not against it.  I feel so healthy, energized, inspired and alive when I dance it.

I have an incredible toolbox of skills I’ve gathered from my experience learning and teaching Gypsy Caravan Style since 2007.  I love to work with students on body mechanics and technique but also expression, intention, and knowing their own beauty.  I love seeing women come alive through this dance, and waking up their own treasures, skills, power, and self-expression.  I love how this dance is a catalyst for exactly the sort of transformation each student needs.  What an honor and a privilege it is to witness that!

 

Hilary’s Tribal Manifesto, June 2013

(The intentions I strive for on my Tribal Path)

In Body

Eat real food, mostly plants (an idea borrowed from Michael Pollan).  Prepare and eat delicious foods that are grown sustainably, locally, and fairly.  Listen carefully to discover which foods do or don’t work for your body.  Food is a gift from Mother Earth, and eating is a sacred exchange of energy.  Honor the intuition of your body, knowing that its daily needs for food, water, movement, and rest change.  This body is your temple for full self-expression.  Be grateful for it every day.

In Mind

Study the words of those who light your path: Paulette Rees-Denis, Lynne Twist, Don Miguel Ruiz, Nina Simons, Arkan Lushwala, Illarion Merculieff, Thich Nhat Hanh.  In them, find inspiration to create your own story.  Remember, review, and rehearse what you’ve learned in your dance training and when the mood strikes, create.  Write from the heart about the ideas that captivate your mind: dance, body, connection, community, health, food, spirituality, beauty, interconnectedness, finding our way back to Earth and each other.  Don’t believe everything you think.

In Spirit

Meditate, read, journal, walk.  Laugh and cry it out.  When the story isn’t working, change it.  Sit in stillness in the mountain forests, on rocks in the desert, next to clear streams, and by the vast ocean to feel the pulse of the universe.  Feel gratitude for the extraordinary physical experience your spirit is having in this lifetime.  With your dancing sisters, transcend the mundane.  Become one, leaving thoughts, egos, and worries outside the circle.  Dream a new dream.

As a Student

Never stop learning.  Seek the experiences that will perpetuate your evolution.  When you learn to dance, discover how to communicate from your heart and be in your power.  When you learn to teach, remember how to be a student again.  Have the humility to realize that you will never stop growing.  As a student, everything is interconnected.  Every lesson opens a new door.

As a Teacher

Your passion is to share this dance, and to be a catalyst for the magic it weaves differently for each student.  Remember that each student comes into the studio with her own stories, loves, traumas, losses, joys, secrets, fears.  Helping each student unlock her own magic is a sacred process and you must be so, so gentle and perceptive, to create the safe container for her unfolding.  At the same time you must also challenge her to find her passion, the authenticity of her own movement, the aesthetic expression of herself.  Help your students refine their movement so that we can all be one in the Tribal flow and create the hypnotic beauty of women moving in unison.  Be a clear channel for the intuitive voice that shows you how to give each student what she needs.  Learn from your students as much as you teach.

As a Troupe Director

Be authentic and be vulnerable.  From this stand everything else flows.  Listen and watch, protect the vibe.  You don’t have all the answers but you have a vision that you invite others to share.  Be open to unconventional methods.  Sometimes you step up with the skills in your toolbox and sometimes you step back and watch as others bring their skills and inspiration to the table.  Hold the space in your heart and your life so this troupe can weave its beautiful web.

As a Performer

Feel the fear and do it anyway.  Performance is a pressure cooker that makes the seeds of potential creativity, expression, and energy explode into real time.  Express your joy, pride, connection and reverence through performance.  Hold it as a space for us, as women, to share what we’re all about, whatever it is in that moment.  We are complex, beautiful, expressive creatures.

As a Dancer, Living Life

Know when to say yes to a new possibility or opportunity.  Know when to say goodbye and how to let go with as much grace and authenticity as possible.  Cross-pollinate ideas: the work of Tribal Dance is the work of healing ourselves and the Earth.  Let your failures be the compost for a new garden of surprises.  Watch for the quickening pulse, the spark of interest, the fire in the belly.  These are indications of the right path to take.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am a lucky gal to have such vibrant women like Hilary to dance with me, study with me, carry my lineage of the Tribal Style that I started back in 1991….honored, enlightened, and so full of love this makes me… thank you Hilary!

If you are interested in having Hilary come to you to teach the Gypsy Caravan format and Collective Soul, please contact us at

dance@gypsycaravan.us

you can read more here,

http://paulettereesdenis.com/soul.php

and you can join us in Portland this October. Also visit our Talking Tribal Vlogs at

Paulette And Gypsy Caravan-Talking Tribal Vlog #6-Moving With Intention

and more juicy tribal bits

with Carol Vance and Hilary Giovale

Flagstaff Arizona, July 2012

https://vimeo.com/52958107

~~

Leave a comment and please share this with your friends… we like to share with all the tribes out there…

Thanks for being here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nina’s Mystery

Nina Martinez has been a long time dancer, and a follower of my Tribal Style Bellydance….Living outside of Cairns Australia, she teaches classes and workshops in the Gypsy Caravan format, as well as being a newly certified Master Teacher of my Collective Soul Intensive series.

She joined Gypsy Caravan Dance Company a few years back and has only been moving forward with grace, dignity, and passion….She shares a little of what’s inside her with us!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

[image error]Nina’s mystery

I am fascinated by the mysterious energy that connects me to Tribal Bellydance.  I am moved by the ancient ritualistic feeling of being in a circle of women, feet stepping to mesmerising repetitive movements and the flow of grace between us as we dance.

As we learn this tribal dance language we connect as Tribal Sisters. Whether it’s in our local community or from around the world the dance feels timeless yet in the moment. I love being able to transition into a group that I have never danced with before and feel at home.

Filling my body with music, dance, and knowledge makes me joyful, strong, and beautiful. And I want to be able to share this. As a teacher I want to give my students technique and dance skills but I also want them to feel the passion. To let these emotions resonate into all parts of their lives.

Being part of the Gypsy Caravan format, the CS Intensives and Master/Teacher Training with Paulette Rees- Denis, has been a life changing experience. The format educates and empowers, it connects you to the world and a world of tribal sisters. It is about healthy living and keeping fit, longevity. Its about body awareness and feeling beautiful. Beautiful as a woman and dancer.

The mystery is, how can you not want to dance?

 The dance

Is like the warp in a tapestry

Thru which we weave our

Love, laughter and dreams

A tapestry

Interwoven with

The weft of lives and visions of

People before

And yet to come

This fabric

Of dance

Flowing wrapping winding

Its way around your heart

Let it weave its mystery

[image error]You can reach Nina at

nina@gypsycaravan.us

~~~~~~~~~~~And you can join in the next series of Collective Soul and Teacher Training in Portland, OR, this October!

NEW DATES

Join Paulette and  Amanda Richardson  for the outstanding Gypsy Caravan Tribal Intensives:

Collective Soul and Teacher Training Level One in Portland…

this Fall will be October 4th- 8th, 2013

More info coming at you soon about registration…

In the meantime you can read more about these courses and what they will do for you, on this site, here…

http://www.paulettereesdenis.com/soul.php

~~~~~~~~

 

after the pause! another…

So, home, after the tour, after the workshops, the intensives, the travels, the performances, the planning and scheduling, the packing and unpacking…I wrote about taking a pause. To get home, to reorganize, to just breath and be.

Now the new plans kick in! But what does that mean? It means a hiatus from this blog, it means a step inward, it means time to rekindle the flames… some flames that got doused and dampened, and some flames that have been just sparks. All good… but time to go in and listen and reorganize the inner voices and  creative juices, while the reorganzing on the outside takes place too.

There are new developments happening, for me, and for you, my dancing artistic friends. All coming at you this summer and fall. With the Tribal Bliss classes about to kick in, some new filming for more online classes, some new writing, the new Master Teachers and their offerings, the new Collective Soul Experience, new website stuff, new Tshirts (coming at you tomorrow!), all the while dancing and journaling and laughing and loving and glamping and honky-tonkin’. Doesn’t that all sound fabulous? Freakin’ fabulous!

So don’t go away my audacious souls. You too, follow your inner and outer roads, keep the pen to the paper, the hips in motion, the heart open and loving, and I’ll be keeping you updated as we get closer and closer.

**In the meantime, get your Tribal Bliss on, registration starts June 2nd, right here…

http://paulettereesdenis.com/item_description.php?IID=158

Dance to word…time for a pause…

[image error]

What do you do when you’ve reached the end? Not the end of life, but the end of a time, or a project? A time that you foresaw in your future?  Maybe a small  thing, like finishing up a letter, or something bigger, like a year-end finale… something you had projected into the future for…a time when it would be finished.

What do you do?

I have finished off several rounds of winter and spring teaching and touring, something I had projected to be done by now, and it is, for now! And dang….I feel great! I feel awesome, relieved, released, free, and freakin’ exhausted too…but in a very good way. I feel rewarded and proud. I accomplished what I wanted. I ventured into new ground for my business, while continuing on with the tried and true. I’ve had amazing opportunities, both new and familiar. I traveled to new places as well as old ones. I taught young new inquisitive dancers as well as my amazing dancers who have continued to study with me, relentlessly.  With lots of studying, writing, and dreaming on the way.

But I have made sure to stay connected, to myself, and really enjoy each moment. To be grateful, and present, and mindful, and healthy. To do what I needed to do to maintain this crazy ass schedule, with the incessant travels and workshops and intensives and performances. One thing I might say is, never let me do this again, like this! Way too much stuff, even for a crazy obsessed gal like me….but I did it, and now it is time for a pause.

I also feel really energized in a different way now too, just knowing that my time coming up will be different, for me. My time. So what do I do?

Take that time to reflect, but also to just be…know what I mean? I get to enjoy my man, and my home, and my corgi dogs. Get to go glamping with my gal pals as well as my man friends too. Get to befriend my guitar again, and get ready for some honky tonk shows and gigs, and sing my little heart out. Give my workin’ hips just a short rest! And write, about my journeys, my dreams, and my projected visions to come. To be shared at a later time…

When you are done with something, what do you do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and coming up soon! Don’t forget to get registered starting June 2nd!

Tribal Bliss — Dance and Vision
Registration starts June 2nd…
Course Starts Sunday June 16th!

 … a movement journey …With Paulette Rees-Denis and Lynea Gillen…

The next session of this incredibly fun and refreshing and liberating four week e-course, starting June 16th, 2013!

http://paulettereesdenis.com/item_description.php?IID=158

Hello and welcome to our E-course…Oh yeah! We are so excited to share this, finally able to take it out of our dance studio and pass it on through the internet to you.

This is a course for you if you want to dance, write, sparkle, move, stretch, shake it out, write again, shine, dig in, breathe, create, and move some more…

We want you to feel delicious in your body, to be vibrant and healthy and full of vitality. To have some time for yourself, to lavish yourself with empowerment, to experiment with your dance, to feel blissful in your body and to release your mind, soul, and body! By combining our backgrounds of Tribal Bellydance, African Dance, writing, yoga, healing, therapy, trance and meditation, we bring you this new course, first time online, to play with and enjoy over the next four weeks, and to continue on your journey, wherever that leads you.

http://paulettereesdenis.com/item_description.php?IID=158

Talking Tribal – and the Intensives continue…

Hello my friends, and greetings from sunny San Francisco, where I am conducting Collective Soul Level Six and my new Master Teacher Training series… after 9 days of Gypsy Caravan Collective Soul Levels One and Two and Teacher Training Level One Intensives finished up in Portland! Wowza…my trainings are almost finished up now for the spring, with some much needed down time coming up after my return from Tribal Fest in Sepastopol. Looking forward to dancing with Gypsy Caravan Dance Co, Int, and my gals have flown in from around the states and Australia too. Seven of us will meet for our yearly Tribal Summit to dance, brainstorm, video tape a documentary, work on my new projects, and dance some more…

And the dancers that have just finished up, wow, what a week to have with them. Amazing, inquisitive hard working dancer, with the tribal spirit, the love, and the desire to dive in deep and come up shimmying.

I am proud of my new teachers… and all of my certified dancers and teachers around the globe… to spread the love of Tribal, and all that goes with that- health, wellness, fitness, and much glory and happiness! Dance is a celebration of life, oh yea…

Thanks to Marianne and Faina for dancing and doing the work. Here is to your progress and furthering your  dance dreams. Congrats to Ginger Van Divier, Joyce Walters, and Antigone Cook, all CS2 and TT1 certified, along with Martha Rosas too!

[image error] [image error]We we got to have a chat with my TT! and CS2 dancers for our Talking Tribal Vlog… and you can watch that here!

https://vimeo.com/65917434

While they were in town studying, we were also able to perform together at a small club here in Portland, along with Gypsy Caravan and Gypsy Heart Tribal… you can watch that footage on Vimeo, here

https://vimeo.com/album/2174468/video/65834016

To bring together dancers who had never met, to enjoy the dance together and share it with an audience, was a lot of quick improvised work and fun, and with musicians too. Showing how true the concepts of Tribal work, understanding basic moves, and knowing how to move as a dancer, how to be in the moment, to watch, feel, listen, trust, and dance with grace. It was exhilarating.

Thanks all for the commitment to furthering yourself and your dance dreams, for doing the work for yourself so that you can also pass it on, for making the world a better place, for your smiles and desires, and for opening up your heart.

And thanks for being here…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the next round of Collective Soul and Teacher Training coming up in Portland in October…

NEW DATES For Fall 2013!

Join Paulette and  Amanda Richardson  for the outstanding Gypsy Caravan Tribal Intensives:

Collective Soul and Teacher Training Level One, and Collective Soul Level Two in Portland…

this Fall will be CS1- October 4th-5th,

TT1–Oct. 6,7, 8th, 2013

CS2 — Oct. 9,10, 2013

More info coming at you soon about registration…

In the meantime you can read more about these courses and what they will do for you, on this site, here…

http://www.paulettereesdenis.com/soul.php

 

Dance To Word, and start your gathering….

In the midst of another amazing round of Teacher Training Level One, and Collective Soul Levels One and Two here in Portland, not only am I on my own home turf this time, but I get to share the beautiful city of Portland with these traveling dancers! And it has been an immaculately gorgeous spring here, with everything blooming and unfashionably hot and sunny!

I wrote the other day a bit about our Breitenbush Dancing Retreat, and asked you about how to have that kind of experience at home… you know, the self care, relaxing, slumber party kind of feeling when you hang out with your gal pals for a weekend. Read that here….

http://paulettereesdenis.com/blog/tribal-global/?p=2221

[image error]

It is about the connection, all about the connection, between all parts of the self, and with your community…because we crave it and need it as humans, right?

So how do you get that at home?

What if you started a gathering? A group of like-minded folks, to meet once a month or so, and it could be anything that has your interests…like a master-mind group, or an accountability group, or…. what would you like? a book club, a dance club, a soup night, a pampering group, an art hop, a meditation group, a fitness night,  a volunteer activity group, something that feeds your soul, your body, and your mind… to share with others and learn about too…

I belong to a Mastermind Group for my business ventures, I play guitar weekly with some friends, and I belong to a girl group for my glamping escapades…. all great stuff for  me….

How does that sound for you? Can you do it? Take action and go get what you need and want. Make a list of the things you would like to have more of in your life, and prioritize and talk to  you peeps to see who would like to  join in. Don’t overwhelm and pick too many things. Just try one or two and see how it feels…

Let me know! Share this blog, and comment back to me…

 

Breitenbush Tribal Bellydance retreat, and Connection!

Did you think that I have forgotten about you? I miss my writing and my blog posting. This dancing life does tend to take up more time than I would like, but I”m not sure that I would change that!

Sometimes it is hard to be me, crazy and with ideas spilling out of my heart for you. Ever get that feeling, that you love what you do, and you just want to do more and are so thrilled with your life and your work and your loves, and it is hard to stop because you have to do all the other things that are required, like work, and eating, and cleaning the house. Well, that is where I am right now….whew… full on, in the middle of many projects that are so exciting and I can’t wait to finish them up to share them with you, and I could just keep going with this run on sentence and spill it all, but…. Stop!

If I just slow down and focus, I can tell you about our dancing weekend at Breitenbush Hot Springs, outside of Portand last weekend with thirty plus dancers and some great teachers and, and, and…. So I will!

This was my 20th year to teach the Tribal Bellydance Weekend Retreat. Yes, 20 years I’ve been doing this amazing retreat. And that’s why, because every year it is just amazing, life changing, and so full of love and camaraderie.  It has gone through several changes over the years, with an array of different teachers- including Patrice Hawkwood Schanck, Amel Tafsout, Suzee Greely, Samantha Riggs, Lynea Gillen, Zizi Zabaneh, Carol Vance, Sharon Moore and Renee Drellishak, and me, of course! We have had longer weekends with a more intense dance focus for more advanced dancers. We combine many dances and cultures, such as Bhangra, Flamenco Fusion, Yoga, Modern, tried and true tribal with its innovations, along with stories of Mythology, some amazing trance and healing dancing, thoughtful journaling, and emotional and lively conversations. The dancers have opportunities to network, to share and listen to each other’s journeys, to walk in the woods or the labyrinth, to have 3 huge veggies meals a day, with time for hottubbing and sauna, massages, and maybe even a nap.

And every year the dancers say they can’t wait for next year, let’s do it again! And many of them do return, and have been joining me at this retreat for almost the whole 20 years. And there are always new women who join in too, and become hooked on our dance in all of its shapes.

What is it about this type of weekend that we all crave, we NEED, in our lives? The ability to get away from our home lives, our loved ones, our jobs. The time to spend with our gal friends, like a big slumber party. The connections.

It always comes down to the connections…

That is the big buzz word these days… and so important. That we are here to be connected. To each other, to ourselves. That is the reason. What do you think?

Tribal bellydance is all about the connection, isn’t it? As it is a group, or community-based dance, not to be done solo. Although dancing by yourself can be powerful, healing, fun, and a good workout. But in Tribal, it is through the connection with each other that we create art, we make magic, with our bodies, hearts, and souls.

Is that why everyone really wants to return to Breitenbush for our retreat? Yes it is a weekend of connections, magic, time for ourselves and each other. And how can  we create that in our everyday lives?

Ok, you tell me how you can or do make make this kind of space in your lives… how can you have this experience of magic and connection in your work-a-day world? I know it can be done….

As I carry on with my life and my projects, just finishing up many ideas that will tie up into one big offering to you this summer,  I am going to share some photos from the weekend….

Enjoy and think about that connection thing, and why you dance, and why you do what you do!

Thanks for being here, and don’t forget to pass this post on….

also…. remember …coming at you this June…

Tribal Bliss — Dance and Vision

   … a movement journey

A four week e-course, starts June 16th!

 With Paulette Rees-Denis and Lynea Gillen…

 A four week e-course, starting June 16th, 2013! Registration starts June 2nd…

 Every Sunday for four weeks, you get us in your inbox!

http://paulettereesdenis.com/item_des...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Heart’s Desire- guest Blog with Allison Carr!

Today I get to introduce you to Allison Carr, a Portland acupuncturist, but she is oh so much more than that! A wise healer and visionary, and a glowingly pregnant entrepreneur! I am delighted to know her, and now you do to! Don’t forget to check out her fabulous class offering coming up end of May…enjoy this post…

Are you blocking the most valuable tool you have for creating magic in your life?

I used to play this game with things that I wanted, and maybe you can relate to this.  When I wanted something, I would pretend like crazy that I didn’t want it.  I’d create a whole list in my head about why it wasn’t that great, or how I’d be better off with something else.  I would even go as far as denying it to other people, even when they offered it, or asked directly.  Why did I do this?  Because somewhere deep down, I believed that if you admitted you wanted something, you would never get it.  That to desire something was wrong, so the best way to get it was to pretend you didn’t, and then wait until it was close enough to grab, and snatch it up.  Sounds crazy when I write it down, but I know I’m not alone.

When I played this game I often missed out on getting what I wanted, and when I did get it, I felt kinda guilty.  Talk about a recipe for misery.  I’m going to share with you today the one thing that helped me unlearn this pattern of guilt and denial, and what I discovered was the best tool I had for creating magic in my life.

I wasn’t even aware that I had this pattern until I learned that the most important magical tool I had was my own heart.  By magic I mean the ability to create and affect change in the world around me.  Why the heart?  Because our heart is the one organ in our body that feels that magical thing we call desire.  Desire is absolutely necessary if we are going to create happiness.  Here’s the key:  the first step to getting what we want, is knowing that we want it!  When we get real with what it is that we truly want, we become more powerful at making that truth a reality.

It sounds so simple, and it is, but it’s not always that easy.  We are shouldered with so much baggage about desire that it’s hard to see past it sometimes.  It’s wrong to want things, desire paves the road to hell, if you just do what you want everything will fall apart. Sound familiar?  Think about it:  What unspoken beliefs do you have about desire?

Whatever they are, and where ever they came from I’m here to tell you that most of them are just plain wrong, and they are keeping you locked in misery.  Here are some thoughts about Heart’s Desire to counter all that cultural baggage that we carry around with us.

Our heart connects us to the Divine. In Chinese Medicine, which I practice, the heart is understood as the seat of consciousness.  It is often referred to as the emperor of the body.  I like to think of it as the queen.  The implication behind this is that the heart is the part of us that is closest to the divine:  The part of us that has direct access to our own higher calling.  The part of us that is most capable of knowing why we are here, and what we are here to do.  Why would you mistrust that part of yourself?

Our heart keeps us grounded in the present:  I like to think of the heart as being the only part of us that is truly capable of being in the present moment.  Our brain likes to dwell in the past or the future.  Thinking ‘if only’ or ‘what if’, but the heart knows the truth of every single present moment.  Have you ever made a wrong decision and just known in your heart that it was wrong?  Your brain couldn’t explain why, but your heart just knew.  Why? Because your heart perceived the present moment in its full truth.

The Heart is undeniable.  I think this is why it scares people so much.  We can learn to change our thoughts, we can learn to change our habits, but when we try and change our desires we make ourselves sick.  The longing of the heart always finds a way.

The heart always seeks the highest good.  When I hear people argue that following desire creates pain and misery I think of this:  Whenever I’ve done something directly hurtful to someone else my heart did not feel good about it.  The heart does not take joy in misery.  But it also doesn’t sit well when I sacrifice my own desire’s for someone else’s’.  Our heart challenges us to be true to ourselves, but also to serve a greater good.  Sounds a lot like a queen right?

How do you know when it’s not heart’s desire?

Heart’s desire is hardly ever a physical object, a material good, a specific person or even a particular situation.  Those things can all be good indicators of what lies in our hearts, but they are rarely the thing itself.  There is a certain line of spiritual thinking that states that material objects are somehow lesser than spiritual riches.  I disagree, but I do think we need to recognize the limited nature of material things to really satisfy our hearts.  Usually the object of our desire is just a clue, a doorway into what we really truly want.  So as long as it doesn’t hurt someone else,  it is never wrong to want that new piece of jewelry, that fancy computer, or that vacation to Hawaii, but we must ask ourselves what lies underneath that desire or we will be missing the point.  Do we want to feel beautiful? Do we need re-charge? Do we need to feel the power of being capable and having more access to the world around us?  Those qualities all strike closer to our heart’s desire than the objects themselves.  And by all means, go for the jewelry, take that vacation, get the computer, but also take the time to recognize the deeper desire the fuels that want, and give it some attention too.

Here is the divine paradox of the heart:  If we cannot find that which we seek inside ourselves, we will never find it without.  The path of the heart is a circular one, always leading us back to ourselves.  So while we see manifestations of our heart’s desire all around us, eventually we realize that what we seek is inside us all along.  The desire to feel beautiful? It is ours to give ourselves, and while jewelry, a lover great clothes, or a new haircut can help us awaken to our own beauty, if we never realize that we are already are beautiful, those external things will never be enough.   In this way, our heart leads us in a dance of divine union with ourselves.

Discovering these truths about the heart, and getting real with my own desires was the single most important step I took towards creating a fulfilling life for myself.  When you open to desire, always means you open yourself to disappointment too, that’s just part of life.  But getting and enjoying the things you truly want, and creating a more satisfying and fulfilling life is so worth it.

Want to get real with your own desires?  Do a little journaling or writing about what your own baggage around desire is.  What do you want?  What deeper desires lie underneath the physical objects you crave?

Want to learn more about using your own heart’s desire to tap into a better life, and greater happiness.  Join me for a workshop at Merry Meet, a magical gathering of witches, healers and other mystical beings in Portland, OR May 25-26.

Go to http://merrymeetportland.com/ for more information and registration.

Allison Carr is a witch, priestess, licensed acupuncturist, and board certified herbalist, trained in both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Classical Five Element acupuncture.  She uses Chinese Medicine to help her patients regain a sense of empowerment in their lives, and works to provide accessible and affordable care to everyone.  Her treatments are based on the beliefs that emotional health and physical health are inseparable, that everyone has different needs and motivations, and each person’s path to wellness is unique.

~~~~~~~~~~~~And many thanks to Allison for joining us today! Woo hoo… love my guest bloggers… like this post? Leave us a message here, or shoot over to Facebook…

Sign up for more….Thanks for being here…

~~~~~~~~~