In a world where we are so often silenced and disconnected from our true essence, there exists a path back home — a path paved with the alchemy of voice and the medicine of movement. This fusion of sound and dance is not only healing but transformative, inviting you to embody your truth and reconnect with your soul’s deepest longing.

Music as Medicine: The Power of Voice Alchemy
You don’t need to be a professional singer to experience the magic of your own voice. By tuning into the song of the heart, you open a portal to raw, honest self-expression. As internationally acclaimed musician and vocal alchemist Nessi Gomes shares:

“When we sing from a place of vulnerability, it’s like we’re offering a prayer. We reveal parts of ourselves we’ve kept hidden, and in that process, something deeply transformative happens.” — Nessi Gomes

Your voice becomes a tool not just for communication, but for liberation. Each sound carries an intention that can heal old wounds, release stuck emotions, and help you step fully into who you are meant to be.

Movement as Medicine: Somatic Dance & Conscious Expression
Through somatic movement therapy and conscious dance, the body becomes an instrument of awakening. Movement unblocks stagnant energy and helps you chart a path to a life of exuberance, purpose, and soulful connection. Parashakti Skye, founder of Dance of Liberation®, guides participants into a state of deep embodiment where movement transcends steps or choreography — it becomes a spiritual act.

“When we’re really in alignment with what it is that we deeply desire, then we can voice it and dance it.” — Parashakti Skye

No prior experience with singing or dancing is necessary. By creating a ceremonial space that welcomes all, these practices invite fearless expression and help cultivate peace, vitality, joy, and confidence.

Ancient Roots of Sound & Movement as Healing
Cultures around the world have long recognized the power of sound and movement to heal and transform. Indigenous traditions on every continent have used drumming, chanting, and ecstatic dance in rituals designed to realign body, mind, and spirit.

In West African cultures, rhythmic drumming and dance are integral to community healing ceremonies. In Native American traditions, songs, rattles, and dance are used to restore harmony between individuals and the natural world. Ancient Greek physicians, such as Pythagoras, spoke of “musical medicine” as a tool to rebalance the soul. Meanwhile, in Eastern spiritual practices like Qigong or Sufi whirling, movement combined with breath and sound serves as a pathway to transcendence and deep peace.

These timeless practices remind us that sound and movement are not merely art forms but profound medicines that have guided humanity toward wholeness for millennia. Today, by reclaiming these traditions, we open doors to healing that modern life often leaves closed.

Experience the Fusion for Yourself
This September 7–12, 2025, you have the unique opportunity to immerse yourself in this profound fusion of music and movement at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. World-renowned musician Nessi Gomes and transformational healer Parashakti Skye are joining forces to offer a retreat where you can:

* Reclaim your voice and awaken your heart’s song
* Liberate your body through the Dance of Liberation®
* Embody your truth in a safe, sacred, and supportive environment

Whether you are an artist, healer, seeker, or simply curious, this retreat is designed to help you reconnect with your essence and chart your own path toward a more joyful, purposeful, and aligned life.

Join us — your journey begins here.
** Space is limited. ** Click here to reserve your spot today.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Music & Movement as Medicine: Awaken Your Voice, Liberate Your Body appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

On October 7, Israel witnessed one of the most devastating terrorist attacks in its history, leaving the world in shock. Innocent lives were tragically lost as Hamas terrorists invaded homes in Israel’s southern regions – including a nature party nearby. What was meant to be a celebration of love turned into a heart-wrenching tragedy, leaving thousands of individuals shattered, lost, and struggling to recover. 

The Secret Forest, a sanctuary for renewal nestled in the mountains of Cyprus, was deeply moved by these events. In response, they have decided to take action. To support the survivors of this tragic event, they have dedicated a portion of their village villas for the purpose of healing.

Working alongside numerous qualified Israeli therapists and counselors specializing in trauma and anxiety, they have developed a unique program set amidst the forest. This program offers a five-day journey immersed in nature, with a primary focus on nurturing the wounded soul.

“We’re not talking here about work that is post-trauma,” says Zohar Wilson, a psychotherapist and volunteer workshop facilitator at the Secret Forest. “This is work that’s actually in the trauma. The trauma is happening now. It is critical to provide support as close to the trauma itself.”

First Arrival at the Secret Forest

Within a remarkably short span after the attacks, the first group of 60 survivors arrived at this healing haven. 

“We decided to open our gates and welcome [survivors] at no cost,” shares Yoni Kahana, the owner and CEO of the Secret Forest. “I was sure that 50, 60, 70, maybe 100 people would respond. About 1,400 people registered within a day or two.” 

Each day was thoughtfully structured, featuring a wellness program that includes healing and touch therapies, guided breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, circle of listening, support groups, hydrotherapy, sound healing, meditative walks in nature, and more. Participants had the freedom to choose when and where they wished to engage, while therapists were always on hand to identify and offer support to those in need.

Psychotherapist and workshop facilitator, Zohar Wilson, leads a group session. Photo: Nir Davidzon

After a week in this healing environment, signs of progress and healing were evident among many participants. People came together, shared their stories, laughter filled the air, and hugs offered solace. As they bid farewell to the dedicated team, gratitude and tears flowed freely.

The demand for this transformative program at the Secret Forest is immense, with such a long waiting list of survivors eager to embark on their own healing journeys. For the initial three weeks, the Secret Forest covered all expenses and the therapists volunteered their time. However, to sustain this invaluable work, the center requires outside support.

“When trauma like this happens [to people], they wake up every single day on October 7,” Wilson states. “If it’s October 23 now, they’ll wake up on October 7 again the next day. We want to ‘now’ them, so that if they wake up on November 7, then yesterday was November 6.”

Wilson also shares the importance of having experienced clinical staff, such as an Israeli MD, on board. He emphasizes that the program is intended to gently support survivors by providing safe and comfortable accommodations, nourishing and enriching food, and a sense of structure through classes, workshops, group sessions, and more.

Supporting the Initiative

When one first enters the peaceful serenity of the Secret Forest, the space automatically forms a cocoon of comfort, distanced from the harshness of the rest of the world. Birds sing out, trees form a canopy above the property, and a sparkling river runs alongside. 

Still, for survivors, deeper spiritual and emotional work is needed to overcome their still-fresh trauma.

“All the trees around you give you a feeling of serenity,” shares Zohar Sharabi-Ayal, a survivor of the attack at the Nova Trance Music Festival. “The external serenity lets you relax inside, which is very hard to do in Israel.” 

For Sharabi-Ayal, one of the most valuable parts of the program was the group discussions that were held each day. For her, these intimate and heartfelt discussions allowed her to feel less alone in her grief and guilt, to see that many others were in the same place as her.

Zohar Sharabi-Ayal connects with a fellow survivor. Photo: Nir Davidzon

The subsidized cost for each participant in the five-day healing program is 1,000 euros. Fortunately, the IsraAID humanitarian organization has stepped in with financial support. This has allowed the Secret Forest to launch an additional ongoing retreat for the healing of parents who lost their children during the October 7 attack. The Secret Forest now hosts survivors of the Nova festival every Sunday through Thursday and bereaved parents every Thursday through Sunday. 

Now, the program for bereaved parents needs funding. My sacred jewelry line, The Winged Ones, is donating a portion of the proceeds from every sale towards the Secret Forest’s mission.

As an Israeli-American, the recent tragedies in my homeland have laid heavily on my heart. Those who know my story know that I spent many years married to an Arab man, with whom I continue to foster a meaningful friendship based on mutual respect and compassion. That is why I devote my message to one of harmony rather than alienation.

It was a privilege to be able to sit down with Wilson and Sharabi-Ayal for an interview to help shed light on this incredible initiative.

“For the first time, once we were there and were able to relax, I felt I could finally breathe, that I was above the turmoil,” says Sharabi-Ayal. 

The Path to Healing 

For most survivors, the healing process may take months or even years. However, what the Secret Forest provides is the ability to kickstart that process and work through the trauma in the present, before it cements into negative habits or practices.

Survivors participate in a group healing session in the mineral pool. Photo: Nir Davidzon

Furthermore, the goal is to provide a space where survivors feel seen and heard outside of the chaos of an active warzone. Though the goal is to help all 1,400 waiting and willing participants, the goal is to share the experience with as many people as possible, so that they may return to their homeland with an elevated sense of peace, an ability to work through the difficult memories and emotions that otherwise plagued them, and achieve newfound perspective surrounding the events of the fateful day the attack occurred.

“The main thing this place gave us, besides that moment of serenity, are the tools to return to ourselves,” Sharabi-Ayal expressed. “There are still ups and downs, there are rough days, and then days when everything is okay. The main thing I learned is that it’s okay to be okay.” 

To support this life-saving initiative, The Winged Ones is donating 5% of the proceeds from all sacred jewelry sales. Use code HEALINGWINGS for a 20% discount.

You can also donate directly here: https://charidy.com/recovering.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Secret Forest Trauma Therapy Center Helps Nova Trance Festival Survivors Heal appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Crystals hold a significant role in shamanic and spiritual healing practices, acting as conduits for energy and aiding in the alignment of mind, body, and Spirit. These vibrant gemstones are believed to possess unique vibrational frequencies that resonate with different aspects of the human experience, making them valuable tools for enhancing meditation, energy balancing, and emotional well-being.

Shamans and spiritual practitioners harness the innate properties of crystals to cleanse, amplify, and direct energy, facilitating the release of negative emotions and promoting a sense of harmony. Whether used individually or in combination, crystals are revered for their ability to amplify intention, heighten intuition, and promote healing on both physical and energetic levels, making them essential components of various holistic and metaphysical healing approaches.

That is why, upon the launch of my sacred jewelry brand, The Winged Ones™, I reached out to Jenny Deaveau to serve as our resident Stone Educator. In addition to her spiritual and scientific brilliance surrounding the world of gemstones, she is also one-half of the sound healing duo known as Dynasty Electrik with Seth Misterka. 

Using her combined knowledge of crystal healing and musical sound therapy, she is a master at carrying the human Soul to new planes of consciousness and Spiritual awareness. I had the pleasure of sitting down with her to discuss her work, background, and how her prowess for sound and crystals weaves together. 

PARASHAKTI:  How would you describe your work? 

JENNY: At its core, my work revolves around the belief that we are vibrational beings in a vibrational world. Everything vibrates. And it is the natural tendency of all beings to entrain to the most balanced and harmonious vibration. The pure vibration is always going to be the most dominant, because well-being is the natural condition of all beings on this Earth. The human body, mind, and spirit are intricately interconnected. By addressing imbalances on quantum energy levels, true healing and transformation can occur. 

PARASHAKTI: What does the intersection between sound healing and crystal healing look like for you? 

JENNY: I work predominantly with sound and crystals, as well as color, light, reiki, plants; anything powerful in the natural environment. I use quartz crystal singing bowls in my healing sessions. The vibrations they emit are a pure holographic template of radiant light, resonating strongly with the human body and its energetic fields. Crystals have one of the purest molecular structures in nature. When we are using crystals, we have a natural tendency to entrain or attune to their balanced harmonious vibration. This stable geometric pattern helps to harmonize our own vibrational frequency, which can become easily unbalanced when we experience stress. By placing or using crystals on or around the body, we can enhance our energy flow, promote relaxation, and encourage emotional healing. The combination of sound and crystal energies can lead to profound stress reduction, and a heightened sense of self-awareness. Ultimately, my work is about facilitating a holistic journey where individuals can tap into their own innate healing capacities. 

PARASHAKTI: Tell me a little bit more about how you got into this line of work. When did you first start to develop an interest in sound healing and crystals? 

JENNY: In 2012, I was initiated into the practice of “Svaha Yoga,” a Shamanic energy technique, under the guidance of Master Energy Medicine Practitioner Lisa Ishwari Murphy. When I first arrived at Lisa’s wooden yurt in Fairhaven, MA with my partner Seth Misterka, we discovered a circular room filled with massive planetary gongs, crystal and Tibetan singing bowls of all shapes and sizes, a variety of crystals, Native American flutes, drums and rain sticks, sage, incense, palo santo and an adornment of statues from a multitude of spiritual backgrounds. Our first task was to record a cacophony of instruments, in seemingly no particular order or structure, for a piece called Rhythmic Entrainment. We were given various instruments at different moments and asked to play them, guided by our intuition. The power of vibration was palpable as the sound ceremony commenced and the wind blew through the seaside wooden yurt. Soon after, we discovered this was the music that would be used in Lisa’s private energy sessions. Her clients consisted of people diagnosed with advanced-stage cancer, multiple sclerosis, rare diseases, severe emotional trauma, among other imbalances. All of these clients had one thing in common: they were symptom-free, or mostly symptom-free after working with Lisa for a period of time. It was clear that sound healing and energy medicine were very powerful healing modalities.

PARASHAKTI: What is Dynasty Electrik’s mission for the greater good?

JENNY: We believe that music is a tool for planetary healing. Our vision centers around nurturing a sense of togetherness, emotional wellness, and an elevated awareness of our interconnectedness. By engaging communities, leveraging accessible technology, and forging a profound bond with the natural world, a sound healing practice has the potential to enrich the global community, fostering resilience and harmony.  This is a time for the collective… for working and playing together… for collaboration… for cosmic unity. 

PARASHAKTI: What is your vision for Dynasty Electrik’s role in helping the collective? 

JENNY: Music is a universal language that can reach across cultural divides and bring people together for collective healing, harmonization, and celebration. Our mission is to bring this healing power of music to the world through live performances and the digital realm.

PARASHAKTI: You’ve played an integral role in stone and crystal education for my sacred jewelry brand, The Winged Ones™, and I’d love for our readers to hear from you personally about our collaboration. 

JENNY: I remember first hearing about Parashakti about 15 years ago when I was living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I wondered “Who is this ecstatic dance shaman goddess?” To my delight, she arrived at the Mystic Journey Crystal Gallery in 2019, where I had been hosting crystal sound baths and healing sessions. We immediately clicked and started collaborating to offer some sound healing journeys in the space with enormous crystals. As things moved online, I became the crystal educator for her Dream Council Tribe trainings and wrote an extensive crystal guide for her extraordinary Winged Ones jewelry collection. From the moment I saw these exquisite amulets, I was drawn to their magic and knew they would be a part of my soul’s journey. I received my pieces fully charged and blessed by Parashakti and her spirit community. We rise together in spirit medicine! Every time I have the opportunity and privilege to connect with Parashakti, I feel an amazing vibration of pure love, excitement, and adventure about where the moment will take us.

Jenny Deveau dons her Winged Ones™ Visionary and SunDancer pendants.

PARASHAKTI: You are too kind! It is a blessing and honor to have been able to work with you over the recent years. The gift of in-depth knowledge that you have about these ancient stones is always so impressive. What is your research process for crystal education? 

JENNY: My love of crystals began as a young child, when I would travel with my father to geological sites to search for volcanic rocks. We kept a huge metal barrel in our backyard, filled with stones and crystals we had found during our adventures. I always work with crystals I am naturally drawn to. Sometimes they just call to you. Usually, we are attracted to certain stones because they may be energetically helpful to us. If you are unclear about which stones to work with, you can always start with clear quartz. It is a universal crystal, with a harmonious, balanced pure energy and can be used for almost anything and programmed with intentions. I also love research and information, so I read as many crystal books as possible and watch documentaries on the subject. Over the past several years, I’ve attended the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. This has allowed me to have direct conversations with dealers, miners and crystal enthusiasts.

PARASHAKTI: You make a point to delve deep into the science behind each gemstone. How has your wisdom surrounding this subject evolved over the years? 

JENNY: It has surprised me to discover that even those who do not ascribe any metaphysical qualities to the stones, have a deep love, appreciation and understanding of these mineral beings. I prefer crystals that are completely natural and are not subjected to any man-made processes. I also love finding stones in deserts, forests and beaches. 

PARASHAKTI: What is your process like for developing new soundscapes/music? How do you find inspiration? 

JENNY: Dynasty Electrik is my music and sound healing project with my partner Seth Misterka. Initially formed as an electronic group in Brooklyn, we were initiated into a practice of shamanic sound healing, and subsequently combined this ancient wisdom with our knowledge of music to create a unique style of sound therapy—the Dynasty Electrik Crystal Sound Bath. This experience combines original electronic soundscapes intertwined with the celestial tones of crystal singing bowls, soothing nature sounds, and ethereal vocals, guiding the listener on an inner journey of profound exploration. 

SETH: Every time we start a new composition, I like to think of it as if it’s the first time, and to look for new approaches.  I also like to ask myself, “What sounds/music would I find to be most healing/relaxing/pleasing if I were the listener?” Then, once we begin creating, inspiration comes from many sources – nature, dreams, visions, meditation, and life itself. In our new album, Journey to Tranquility, we explore the worlds of cosmic frequencies, binaural beats, and channeled vocals. Soft synths, singing bowls, and atmospheric sounds create an ideal soundtrack for everything from chill time, light yoga, and study, to meditation, dream work and deep journeying. The creation of the album mirrored our personal and artistic journey, from Los Angeles to a remote beach town in Nova Scotia, to establish a sound healing retreat center on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. During this transition, we shared our compositions online through our YouTube channel, with many of the tracks on the album originally appearing in our weekly sound bath ceremony.

Jenny Deveau and Seth Misterka lead a Dynasty Electrik sound bath.

PARASHAKTI: Is there a message you’d like to leave our readers with today? Some wisdom they can take away from this interview?

JENNY: We’re always on a journey of self-discovery. And we never quite know where it will take us. No matter what we envision, there are always challenges to overcome. If we can rise to the occasion, our view expands and we become more of who we were meant to be. Infinite and free. I am thrilled to be returning to Los Angeles this fall and winter to host some crystal sound bath journeys with Dynasty Electrik. Check our site for the dates and venues. There are some exciting things in the works. Or you can join us any Friday evening on YouTube for our weekly premieres.

To learn more about Jenny and upcoming Dynasty Electrik events, visit https://www.dynastyelectrik.com/  for details.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Q&A with Jenny Deveau: Stone Educator & Sound Healer Extraordinaire appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Photo by Steffen Hoffman. Parashakti wears the Visionary & Dreamweaver designs by Kabartsy.

In the heart of the bustling jewelry district in Downtown Los Angeles, a passionate craftsman sits bent over his sander, polishing away at the wings of a silver Eagle pendant. This passionate self-taught jeweler is Varouj Khatchikian, CEO and Founder of Kabartsy Jewelry, as well as the creator and designer of my Winged Ones sacred jewelry collection.

Our paths crossed by pure happenstance, but there’s no doubt destiny had this partnership in mind from the very start. In alignment with my trademark practice of Eagle Medicine, Khatchikian’s first name, Varouj, directly translates to “Eagle flying above the clouds.”

And Khatchikian lives up to this name. Much like the Eagle, there is an essence of grace, humility, and serenity in his mannerisms. Soft-spoken and with a glimmering kindness in his eyes, he offers a refreshing reprieve from the occasional harshness of the urban Downtown district. 

Flanked by his two Visionary associates and self-proclaimed “it girls”, Nanar Joulhayan and Rita Najarian, he makes Kabartsy Jewelry a force to be reckoned with. 

“I feel like we all manifested each other at the same time,” says 19-year old Joulhayan, who is the younger cousin of Najarian. “When I was still in high school, I had this dream of joining Rita in the work she was doing with Varouj. He encourages expression, freedom, and creates such an amazing energy in the workspace.”

Bringing Consciousness to Creation 

Khatchikian’s arrival at creating spiritually-inclined jewelry seems to have been written in the stars for him since the very beginning. One doesn’t have to dig far into Kabartsy Jewelry’s website to discover the company’s history. Descended from a long line of jewelers, dating back as far as the 1800s in the Middle East and Europe, Khatchikian began this work in Beirut at the mere age of 14. 

“It took me about 7 years to learn the craft,” Khatchikian reflects. “About 17 years later, I finally felt like a jeweler. About 28 years later, I finally felt like a designer. And about 38 years later, I feel like I’ve finally realized myself and am ready to put all these ideas out into the world.”

It has been a winding journey for Khatchikian, indeed. In fact, what brought him to his current vision as a jeweler are his experiences at Burning Man and in the mindfulness community. 

“Before 2010, I was just a jeweler, I wasn’t even calling myself a designer,” Khatchikian says. “ I did wholesaling, retailing, manufacturing, and had contracts with many major companies. But then, once we got involved with this community, it was different. I remember going to Burning Man and my first memory is seeing this giant statue made out of screws and loose parts. It made me realize I had to think bigger.”

He was so inspired by the experience, he designed 67 jewelry pieces in two months. From there, the current state of Kabartsy Jewelry came to be. 

In fact, it was through these festivals, gatherings, and Conscious workshops that our paths crossed. Knowing Varouj was a talented jeweler, it was natural that he became my first point-of-contact for the launch of my sacred jewelry line based on the likeness of the Eagle. 

From left to right: Rita Najarian, Parashakti, and Varouj Khatchikian.

“For us, this connection with Parashakti is so special, because she brings a whirlwind of energy into the workshop with her,” says Najarian, the senior associate in the office and Khatchikian’s longest-standing employee. “She shows us what’s important and never shows up empty-handed, we love doing cacao ceremonies together.”

Najarian reminisces about our first meeting, which was undoubtedly a date created by fate. My initial visit to the Kabartsy Jewelry offices sent me into reflection about the numerology behind this chance encounter. Seeking deeper guidance, I decided to add up the numbers of their office address. Serendipitously, when calculated together, it broke down to the number “1” — which is also the token digit of the Eagle. 

I knew from this moment that I had found the perfect team to bring my visions to life. 

Infusing Designs with Divinity 

One look at The Winged Ones and Kabartsy’s own signature collection, and you can see the great care that goes into giving these pieces divine meaning for the wearer. This dedication to mindfulness is not only represented in the finished product, but in the process itself. 

Khatchikian describes the jewelry-making process as highly meditative, his opportunity to dial into introspection and lose himself in a world of his own. 

“When I design, I go to a different place,” Khatchikian says. “It’s like a movie plays in my head. Before I carve, design, and shape it, my hands already know the movements. It’s a similar state to when people chant, participate in ceremonies, and meditate. It’s like a ceremony in itself because you tune into what’s within, especially amid the craziness of Downtown.”

The workshop itself exudes a vibe of sacredness and devotion to integrity. Occasionally cleansed with sage and adorned with healing crystals, the team undoubtedly practices what they preach. 

This familiarity also ensures Kabartsy makes only the best decisions for their clients, especially when it comes to gemstone selection. When it came to choosing stones for my own jewelry line, Rita personally sat down with me while I analyzed various stones and the vibrations they put out.

The stone selection and sacred jewelry creation process is so individualized. Each piece is created around the stone that accompanies it and not the other way around. This can require reshaping, resetting, and resanding.  These are all testaments to the individual problem-solving process with each piece. Much like its wearer, each one goes through its own journey, struggle, and story.

“What’s beautiful about these gemstones is that they’re imperfect, and their beauty is the imperfection,” says Najarian. 

The handmade, customized process is why people come to Kabartsy, and why Kabartsy thrives among the spiritual community. 

Khatchikian likens the process to the custom computer his son recently built. It’s a smattering of parts coming together, and if even one component is off, the end result won’t function properly. 

“Those precious gemstones represent us and are going to represent the customer’s story,” says  Joulhayan. “They’re the essence of this company and how it started. Varouj’s ambition grew us into our Spirit potential.”

The type of sacred jewelry Kabartsy creates has evolved from diamonds, and the commitment to naturally acquired (as opposed to lab-grown) stones make it that much more personalized. 

“The end result is so satisfying, heartwarming, and fulfilling,” says Najarian. “You go through all this hardship and this imperfection that takes so long to fix and put together. When all that is done, you have something to appreciate for its beauty.”

From Colleagues to Family 

The energy the trio exude is unmatched. It’s familial, warm, and loving — and there’s no doubt the positive connection between these three is at the core of Kabartsy’s success. Khatchikian sets the tone with his welcoming and open-hearted demeanor. 

“What I wanted to create was a family,” he reflects. “That’s why I don’t hire individuals, I hire their hearts.”

When Khatchikian started the company, he was committed to independence and individual success. However, he realized eventually that success wasn’t possible without the support of others — advice he learned from many of the Conscious entrepreneurs he followed. 

In his search for someone to assist with day-to-day operations, he came across many people who weren’t the right fit, or with whom he couldn’t connect. One day, he was looking out the window of his Downtown office and extended a request to a Higher power, asking for someone who could handle his weak points. 

With the intention out in the universe, it was only a matter of time. Just a few weeks later, Najarian walked through the door.

From left to right: Varouj Khatchikian, Nanar Joulhayan, and Rita Najarian.

“I was looking for someone who would really trust me with their operations,” she recalls. “I knew I could handle that work and that was a manifestation on its own. So, I walked into this office and this feeling overtook me.” 

To date, Najarian approaches her job with the same sense of novelty and awe. 

“The benefit of being part of this team is that we can be ourselves to the fullest capacity. We hug our customers, we form friendships with them, we are authentic. We don’t dress a certain way, we don’t change the way we act. Varouj doesn’t tell you what to do, he just tells you the end goal and lets you achieve it in your own way. You’ll connect with that goal and a collaboration will form.”

Joulhayan is now the newest member of the team, but she emanates the energy of a veteran in the field. 

Between the three of them, there is a remarkably intuitive workflow. According to the team: the clients bring the magic, Khatchikian elevates it to conception, Najarian perfects it, and Joulhayan publicizes it.

Khatchikian lends the entire process an air of wisdom and significance, which is wholly absorbed by his team.

“The difference between the jeweler and the designer is the designer has to create his own tools,” he says. “Whatever you need, you make it as you go. And ask yourself: ‘Why do you want to make this piece? What’s the importance? What do you envision?’ It’s important to know the application of the jewelry before it goes out into the world, to meditate on its intention.”

An Advocate of Craftsmanship through Sacred Jewelry

Khatchikian’s entrepreneurial nature and self-taught abilities have inspired him to speak to the talents many are afraid to embrace. He’s a strong believer in the “Whatever Your Mind Can Conceive and Believe, It Can Achieve” mentality.

Not only is he consistently working on evolving his collection to feature more pieces that speak to him personally, but he is spreading wisdom to fellow skilled creators who are afraid to manifest their talents into livelihood.

He has created a podcast, audiobook, and various YouTube channels to help people realize their potential in the sphere. At the heart of his success and our partnership lies one important facet: the commitment to uniqueness and conscious craftsmanship.

“We’re in Downtown LA, so you have thousands of manufacturers,” Najarian says. “What makes our jewelry stand out is the presence of intention. There’s no 9-to-5, no constant routine, no monotony. The only type of jewelry we make is special stones, special cuts, special sizing. Everything is one-of-a-kind, like the people who wear them. The vibrations of the workspace — our love, our heart, our positivity — come through in the final product.”

To learn more about Kabartsy Jewelry, visit their website: https://kabartsy.com/.

You can also shop The Winged Ones collection, designed by Kabartsy.

Varouj runs a number of YouTube channels, including Develop Your Mindset, Bella Divina LA, Kabartsy Jewelry, and VJools, which focus on goal fulfillment and skill mastery. His book, “The 10 Stages to Skill Mastery” is available now.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Wear Your Intentions with Sacred Jewelry from Kabartsy appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

In the era of social distancing, there are so few ways to consciously gather as a community and experience collective healing. In recognizing this widespread need for holistic restoration, Modern OM has emerged as a shining guide for mindfulness seekers everywhere. 

With a conscious curation of spiritual teachers across the world, Modern OM has launched a forward-thinking online initiative to connect people to the countless mindfulness modalities that exist in an effort to find the one that’s best for them. Though the idea may seem simple, the execution requires a thorough, committed process that could only be done by someone like Myk Likhov. 

Modern OM is the brainchild of Likhov, who poured his Wharton MBA expertise into his personal passion for self actualization nearly 13 years ago and has since watched it take off into a global business. 

“It’s really brought me deeper into my personal path, into more of an alignment with my purpose and my mission,” Likhov says. “I left the yoga business a decade ago, and returned to the world of finance and startups, but then serendipitously ended back up in Miami and everything took off.” 

From Wharton to Wellness

Still, Likhov’s business-savvy has proven to be a major asset to his success in the wellness field. After graduating from world-renowned Wharton Business School, he made an unorthodox decision to move to Miami to start what became the city’s most successful chain of yoga studios, Green Monkey. 

It was that company that ultimately led him to the idea for Modern OM. 

“Modern OM inadvertently started as a family business,” Likhov explains. “We started off mostly selling products, such as malas and other intentional accessories.” 

These products are still very much of a fixture of Modern OM, yet it was the way they decided to publicize them that ultimately became the lifestyle brand’s flagship offering. 

“In order to build awareness around our product offering, I started offering meditation sessions in my loft,” Likhov says. “Those meditations eventually ended up taking on a life of their own and soon we became Miami’s most active mindfulness community.” 

Pre-COVID, Modern OM had an extensive offering of in-person mindful sessions and initiatives, partnering with Soho Houses and various other local venues to host conscious gatherings. In fact, Modern OM’s digital footprint was pretty small.

However, with the onset of the pandemic and stay-at-home orders, they found themselves relating to one of the most profound proverbs there is: Necessity is the mother of invention. 

So, observing the necessity for continued wellness practices amid the general public — perhaps even exacerbated by the looming pandemic — they invented a personally-curated meditation platform that could cater to distance learning. 

(Cushion) Crawl Out of Your Shell

Modern OM has coined their online mindfulness initiative Cushion Crawl — and it’s more than just an inviting and endearing name. They offer a different mindfulness session, hosted by a different facilitator, each day. At the time of our interview, Cushion Crawl was on their 307th consecutive day of this offering, closing in on the one-year mark. 

“Consistency really is key with this offering,” Likhov shares. “Our external world is so uncertain right now, so Cushion Crawl is giving people something they can rely on everyday in these otherwise unreliable times.” 

Cushion Crawl’s rolodex of teachers spans eight countries, consisting of 150 total mindfulness practitioners vetted by Likhov himself. 

“When I search for potential facilitators, the main thing I look for is integrity,” Likhov says. “We want to introduce teachers who are engaging and supportive of the community, who value building relationships with others over exclusivity.” 

What separates Modern OM and its sister initiative, Cushion Crawl, isn’t just the consistency of the daily offerings. The variety of methodologies they offer is what especially attracts beginners to the mindfulness journey, who are still trying to find which modality speaks to them. 

Cushion Crawl sessions vary from traditional Chinese medicine and astrology practices to more esoteric modalities like channeling and embodiment. This diversity, along with its continued product offering, is what makes it a self-proclaimed “one-stop Soul shop.” 

“It’s almost like Cushion Crawl and Modern OM are a discovery platform for all these facilitators as well,” Likhov says. “Even if you’re advanced, you’re not going to know of all these modalities and facets of mindfulness. Most people don’t have time to find these interesting facilitators on their own. That’s my job. People can use our platform to assess and find something they like.” 

A Little Bit of Everything

In addition to hosting 150 facilitators (so far) from eight different countries, the Cushion Crawl initiative has also reached nearly 4,000 participants from 15 different countries since the start of COVID. Since Cushion Crawl is a membership program, these are recurring participants, who use the platform as a way to find their mindfulness niche — or simply engage with a community. 

Modern OM’s overall efforts, however, have reached more than 10,000 participants worldwide. 

Cushion Crawl’s format is broken down into theme days, with each day of the week representing a different mindfulness modality. These include: Meditation Mondays, Practical Tools Tuesdays, Spiritual Wednesdays, Breathwork Thursdays, Expression Fridays, Movement Saturdays, and Wisdom Sundays.

“Most other groups and companies pick a style, they have a very narrow range of practices that they share, and we’re not that,” Likhov explains. “There are so many ways in and we want to share as many of them as we can find.” 

My own Dance of Liberation™ practice falls under Movement Saturdays, which in general are about the physical manifestation of mindfulness through some form of embodiment. Likhov has joined a few sessions himself, and is even a carrier of our notable SunDancer pendant from the sacred jewelry line, The Winged Ones. 

Likhov wearing his SunDancer from The Winged Ones collection.

“I love facilitators like Parashakti who have this smooth practice, rooted in ancient wisdom,” Likhov shares. “I love how the energy flows and what it is that she does. We’re really aligned in how we see community, how we want to support each other, how we want to grow. Getting into the body is one of the surest routes to get out of the mind.” 

In addition to the daily theme sessions, Modern OM offers an online book club, journaling club, and even a laughter group. 

When asked to discuss the nature of the laughing group, Likhov couldn’t help breaking into a chuckle himself. As a progressive business owner and mindful practitioner himself, he’s always ahead of the curve, and foreseeing the many health benefits of laughter is one of those trends he’s well ahead of. 

“Laughing has so many scientifically proven benefits, it releases so many hormones and chemicals that support mental and physical health,” he says. “In retrospect, it’s interesting that we rely on external things to make us laugh. What if nothing funny happens? Once a week, our community gets on to enjoy a practice based around laughter that comes from within.”

The Future of Cushion Crawl 

This is just the beginning for Modern OM and Cushion Crawl. The digital push brought on by the pandemic has reshaped the landscape for mindfulness practice everywhere, and this new level of accessibility only adds to Likhov’s visions for its future. 

Modern OM was already one of the most active and consistent mindfulness communities in Miami. Now, with their digital presence, this could easily expand to the entire online world. 

“Digital is a big deal in that we’re no longer limited,” Likhov says. “The curation process is worldwide now. We can choose from the best quality facilitators in Miami to the best quality in the world.”

Furthermore, the offering has expanded to offer full-blown Masterclasses, typically hosted by facilitators with particularly niche and intriguing specialities. They sign on to host 5-8 sessions live online, and some popular topics include past-life regression (from a second generation past-life regressionist), psychedelics and sacred medicine, and yoga philosophy (from a Rishikesh-based PhD Yogi). 

Likhov ensures the success by being hands-on with every aspect of the process, including the participation. At the time of this interview, he’s joined in on 300 of the 307 sessions hosted thus far — and this is in addition to his own personal mindfulness practice. 

With his guidance, Modern OM and Cushion Crawl are sure to spread awareness of Higher Vision.

“I would like what we do with Modern OM to inspire and empower as many people as possible to find their own path home, their own path inward, because there are so many different ways in. And the right one is the one that is right for you.” 

Join the Modern OM online community for daily mindfulness practices hosted by experts from across the world.

They will be hosting a 7-Day Reset Challenge from April 5-11, with a Dance Reset virtual workshop hosted by Parashakti on April 10. Enroll now! 

Or sign up here for their ongoing online membership and use the code CRAWLTRIAL at checkout to get your 7-day FREE trial.  

Membership is risk-free with no contract. 

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Modern OM Opens the Door to Online Mindfulness Exploration appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Mitra Politi (left) with his SunDancer pendant from The Winged Ones collection by Parashakti (right).

When one imagines the characteristics of a Healer, they typically envision a soothing voice, a balanced presence, and a tranquil demeanor. Mitra Politi is a force of nature who embodies all of these qualities, and they’re just as powerfully felt in the text of his new book, “Insights: Steps to Truth.”

In this book, Mitra covers lessons learned in his 20 years as a Spiritual Guide, Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Spiritual Director at Rythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica, where our paths crossed for the second time. Our first meeting took place 15 years ago, when I was co-leading a retreat at PachaMama in Costa Rica.

To truly hear the message of their Soul, one is invited to embark on a vision quest that can be guided in many different ways, such as Mitra and I have done together at Rythmia. It has been a great honor to learn, witness and recently step into assisting in Mitra’s powerful and transformative ceremonial teachings. At the retreat center, he leads thousands of Souls through life-changing experiences. 

“The name of the book captures the essence of the work, which is to provide glimpses of understanding into our mental, emotional, and spiritual side, to evoke an evolution and an awakening,” Mitra says. “It is to bring a person to a place where old energies are liberated. [Healing trauma] is about discerning how to remove that block gracefully. Not focusing on the problem, but the purpose. I want to guide people into their potential.”

Insights into “Insights”

Mitra’s profound ability to develop a deep, personal connection to one’s Spirit shines bright in “Insights: Steps to Truth.” The book is divided into 36 relatable, pertinent, and comprehensive chapters about various life circumstances, including Change, Pain, Happiness, Freedom, Healing, Relationships, Harmony, and even Death. It illuminates all aspects of the human condition, from innate fears to greatest pleasures. 

The front and back covers of Mitra’s first book “Insights: Steps to Truth”, published Sept. 26, 2020.

“Within the book, there are layers,” Mitra explains. There are a lot of hidden instructions for the spiritual path and how to help ourselves navigate this vast journey, otherwise known as the road back home.” 

Perhaps most prominent in the tone of Mitra’s book is his dedication to utmost integrity. He does not pander via the “motivational speaker” role, rather he humbly converses with the reader in a way that feels divinely personal. 

“I want people to know their own being and to have the courage to look from within, but beyond the story of the past and the future,” he says. “I want them to develop this specific intimacy with their own soul, their own being, to explore that gift creation gave us that we forget to have contact with. My wish is that people start to discover that phenomenon within themselves.”

Mitra believes that meditation plays an integral role in forging a connection to creation and to our inner being. In many ways, his book even acts as a roadmap for those seeking guidance on their meditation journey.

“An insight is an event that happens in our consciousness that changes us forever,” says Michael B. Beckwith, author and founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center. “Mitra, a gifted healer, not only facilitates insights in others, but continues to be available to his own inner revelations as well. This book is evidence of both. They are recorded insights that shifted him, put in a form that will shift others, including you. Now dive in and be transformed again and again.”

Embracing its versatility, the book is capable of serving as a touchstone for a beginner’s daily meditation practice or as a universal guide for experienced meditators who perhaps want to reacquaint themselves with the purpose for their practice.

For Mitra, the latter largely served as inspiration for his writings. 

“I was writing the book to myself actually, that’s how the idea started,” Mitra reflects. “It was supposed to be a notebook in which I could write different insights that would bring me to truth and understanding. I would open the book, read it, and meditate with it.” 

Mitra on Meditation & Mindfulness

Mitra’s journey as spiritual guide began as early as his 20s, when he took a trip to India with the hopes of finding meaning through introspection, immersion in ancient methodology, and cultural exposure.

“Many aspects of my personality fell apart from my interaction with reality there, but at the same time I saw my ego dissolve and something else appear,” Mitra remembers. “I didn’t know what was happening. I experienced it but couldn’t explain it, so I started to dive more into meditation, Chinese medicine, acupuncture.” 

And so began a 25-year-long (and counting) journey toward developing integrative mindfulness methods, discovering new truths, and disseminating these worldly teachings.

To date, Mitra’s mantra for how to differentiate the importance of meditation from that of other forms of conscious communication is as follows: “Prayer is talking to the creator. Meditation is listening to creation. In the deep sense of it, it creates a dialogue. The dialogue is a subtle layer inside of us.”

As a supporter of the Dance of Liberation™ movement therapy practice and carrier of our token SunDancer Winged Ones power object, he acknowledges the various forms of meditation available to us as well. 

“Dance is what we call ‘dynamic meditation,’ and it serves as a helpful transition for Western understanding,” Mitra says. “Parashakti is the Ultimate Dancer, because to me, the Ultimate Dancer is she who can lose herself completely within the dance. The Ego moves aside, making room for connection to creativity.”

Mitra maintains that meditation unravels layer after layer of our inner narrative, starting with our thinking process, personality, and emotional system. Underneath that is our light and our being, and from there we must shed light on the parts that require healing. Once that is achieved, we can open the dialogue with creation, thus allowing us to hone this divine relationship. 

“I wish for humanity to discover the divine particles that are within all of us,” Mitra says. “For each person to reach their divine potential, they must know it exists within them and change will come.” 

Life as the Ultimate Teacher

Though Mitra has decades of professional training in acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and spiritual healing, nothing has quite prepared his expertise like life itself. Mitra is surrounded by divine pursuits in all aspects of his life. In addition to his tenure at Rythmia, he has the privilege of belonging to an ecological and spiritual community called PachaMama. 

“Living in a spiritual community is to live in a garden that supports oneself to do spiritual work,” Mitra explains of its benefits. “Of course, we can do it anywhere, but sometimes the impact we get from the outside can make it harder. Living in a community, where everyone shares this same goal, there’s more support. We’re speaking the same language.” 

As a father to an 11-year-old daughter, he finds some of his greatest lessons come from parenthood itself.

“There are teachings in being a father, how to support the soul that is coming into the world, how to protect it, how not to protect it too much,” he reflects. “In Chinese medicine, they say being a parent is like growing a tree. If you trim the branches too much, the tree will not grow. If you don’t trim them at all, it will grow wild. You need the correct balance so the tree will be strong and fruitful. Being a parent is to walk on that thin line of understanding.”

This combination of life experience and professional practice are what inspire the various chapters of his book. Furthermore, they are what make him a valuable asset to the integrative teachings that define Rythmia. 

“Rythmia is on the cutting edge of transformation work,” he says. “It offers an ancient way of healing for Western understanding. It offers a very safe and stable approach to radical, potent healing.” 

It is truly such an honor to reconnect with such a kindred spirit and soul brother in my current residency at Rythmia. Mitra and I find flow in the ways our practices complement one another: from the music and movement of Dance of Liberation™ to the stillness and serenity of his own workshops. Much like the trademark teachings of Eagle medicine that my own practice is based around, Mitra finds the bird to be a poignant metaphor for achieving consciousness. 

“The bird represents ultimate freedom, an out-of-body experience,” he explains. “Eagle is the bird of the Heavens, there’s something even more celestial about it. As humans, we fixate on detail too often and too much. The bird reminds us of higher perspective.” 

Though his book was just released on Sept. 26, Mitra is already looking to the future for his prose.

“I would like to continue to bring more tools from within myself that can support humanity,” Mitra says. “And at the same time, I’d like to do the work I need to do with myself and let it grow parallel. As I tend to my part of the story, then I can see how it is unfolding just by me following the right steps, not by me demanding how it will unfold. This is the process that brought me to my book. It didn’t just happen, it evolved out of me following these steps.” 

Mitra’s book, “Insights: Steps to Truth”, is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple Books. 

You can read praise for the book on the website HERE.

Interested in familiarizing yourself more with Mitra’s teachings? Try out his FREE guided meditation, Resting Into Your Life Force.

He is also featured in the recent documentaries “Thrive II” and “The Medicine.”

Mitra offers transformational workshops, as well as private coaching for entrepreneurs and CEOs interested in bringing a holistic focus to their work in the world.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Creating a Meditation Roadmap with Mitra Politi’s “Insights: Steps to Truth” appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Glorka on the beach in Santa Monica wearing Glorka™ attire and Winged Ones pendants.

When Glorka enters her at-home showroom, a pandemic-inspired pursuit that has since become her most sacred space, she is immediately at-ease. Surrounded by her creations, she feels a sense of purpose. She is not just any ordinary clothing designer. Glorka is one of the few LA-based design visionaries that specializes in creating high-frequency ceremonial attire. 

For those outside the ceremonial space, the words may strike as somewhat of an enigma. They actually refer to a versatile style of clothing intended to support conscious lifestyles — from the spiritual practices of meditation and yoga to festival culture. 

Her brand, Glorka™ is not only characterized by the look and purpose of its designs. It’s also characterized by how they are created. Each crafting session begins with an uplifting ritual of prayer and intention-setting, and her brand’s vision is devoted to ethical production. This is why she strives to ensure each piece is either upcycled or made with natural fibers, and handcrafted by fair wage seamstresses. 

“My initial desire for this collection is to raise positive vibrations,” Glorka says. “When you know you have created something of pure energy, that energy can expand. The more people wear this clothing, the more we spread those vibrations for the collective.”

From Hobby to Higher Vision 

When you admire the expert stitching and unbelievable creativity of Glorka’s designs, you might be left with the impression that only a professionally-trained designer could achieve these results. For Glorka, however, it’s pure intuition and passion that brought her to success. 

In fact, Glorka’s introduction to clothing design came out of a desire to create festival attire for herself. 

“When I moved to the US from Russia 15 years ago, I was introduced to festival culture, yoga, meditation, and Buddhist practices,” Glorka reflects. “So what I really wanted was to create some freedom pants to support my lifestyle, something I could wear to yoga retreats and to events like Burning Man.” 

To this day, Glorka credits Burning Man as the experience that opened up her creativity channel. She started to gradually expand her personal collection, and it wasn’t long before her one-of-a-kind designs were being noticed by friends. 

“I started frequenting New York fabric stores and searching for unique fabrics and prints to make pants with,” she recalls. “I would give it to my friends for their birthdays because each piece was different. Eventually, all my friends were rocking these awesome pants. I genuinely wanted people to be comfortable, but also expressive.”

It wasn’t long until friends of friends began making requests too. 

Glorka in her at-home workshop showcasing some of her personal ceremonial attire creations.

During an excursion to Burning Man through the desert, Glorka came across a woman selling costumes on the roadside. She stopped off with her partner, who was sporting a pair of her custom-made pants, to peruse the designs. 

“She immediately started complimenting his pants and asking him where he got them, and he told her that I was the one that actually made them. I remember she turned to me and said: ‘If you ever want to make a business out of these designs, I’ll be your first client.’”

This remark came at a pivotal time in Glorka’s life, right as she was considering her future and her livelihood. Though she never considered clothing design her ultimate aspiration, she knew that helping others reach and retain their spiritual potential was. 

“I was searching for something more meaningful to do in life and then I thought to myself, ‘Five years from now, will I ever get bored of encouraging people to pursue a healthier lifestyle?’ And I realized, there’s no way I could ever get bored of that. I could achieve that through my designs.”

Made with Well-Being in Mind

As soon as Glorka returned from that trip to Burning Man, she got down to work. She created six pairs of pants and had a friend model them for her Facebook page. Then, she announced that she was officially launching her brand, Glorka™.  

Over time, her community kept growing. Her desire to expand her brand eventually led to her decision to move to Los Angeles. 

The California lifestyle influenced her designs for the better, as the laid-back West Coast vibe led to visions of flowy kaftans and airy kimonos. It also inspired her to dive deeper into her own spiritual work. Knowing that the fashion industry was one of the top polluters in the world and one of the primary exploiters of cheap labor, she vowed to change the course for her own brand. 

As a long time follower of Mata Amritanandamayi, also known as Amma (a Hindu spiritual leader and humanitarian), Glorka began to apply the principles of humanitarianism to her own work. 

“Amma was giving a talk where the premise was basically: ‘You don’t have to wait to start helping people.’ It was so simple but it inspired me. I became interested in efforts related to empowering women in India, teaching them how to sew and make clothes in exchange for a fair wage.” 

Glorka partnered with AMMACHI Labs, part of Amma’s non-profit organization Embracing the World, with a mission to provide educational skill-training to women in remote villages. She created some simple designs and made her way to India to teach the women in a rural village how to make them come to life. 

Glorka at the Mata Amritanandamayi Skill Training Center in India as part of her advocacy for fair-wage production.

While she taught them how to craft and create, they taught her how to infuse her work with intention. 

“Every crafting session would open with prayer, sitting in a circle, and lighting incense,” Glorka reminisces. “I noticed how different the energy becomes when all of us would sit before we began discussing stitches and the work. That beautiful energy cleanses and purifies the space. It creates a different vibration, a different frequency.” 

It was as a result of this experience that Glorka birthed the concept of high-frequency attire.

“When a garment is handmade, the energy that flows through the hands and into the garment is transferred,” Glorka explains. “And when the person making it feels pride and joy in their work, the wearer feels it. I always tell people, ‘If you have two people who are going to bake a pie with the same recipe, but one is made by someone who bakes it with love, that pie will taste better.’”

Glorka™ Meets Dance of Liberation™

A few years ago, Glorka had one of her first big commissions from the Conscious Dance community known as 5Rhythms, a movement therapy founded by Gabrielle Roth. As a member of the Conscious Dance community and facilitator of my own personal practice, Dance of Liberation™, I was a devotee and frequently engaged with the latest ventures from 5Rhythms. 

It was one day when I was scrolling their site that I came across the breathtaking harem pants Glorka had designed for them and thought to myself: “I need to meet her.”

Over the recent months, this dream has finally come true in a collaboration between Glorka™ and my own Dance of Liberation™ practice and lifestyle. With Glorka’s visionary designs, we have launched a line of all-white wraps and harem pants intended to accompany the Conscious Dance practice and associated teachings of my immersive ceremonial programs. 

“White is very purifying, which is why it’s the color of choice,” Glorka explains. “It provides clarity, and like with all my designs, I wanted to keep it simple, celestial, and ethereal.” 

Though most of Glorka’s designs are all-white, she also carefully selects her fabrics based on the uniqueness of the prints and their feel against the skin. She intentionally chooses ultra-soft fabrics that will provide comfort to their wearers on their spiritual journey. 

“That’s how I came up with the concept for my first kaftan. I kept thinking to myself how nice it would be to have something soft and elegant to wrap around myself while meditating.” 

The theme of clarity and purity in Glorka’s designs also translates to the specialized Winged Ones pendant she has chosen to offer alongside them. These sacred power objects are my own visionary creations, spawned as companions to my East Gate online program and Eagle Medicine teachings. Glorka has selected the Clear Quartz stone to offer in her own store, as a testament to the same motif of purity and clarity to all of her works. 

Left: Dance of Liberation™ ceremonial attire by Glorka™ / Right: Winged Ones pendants in Clear Quartz.

Upon embarking on this collaborative quest, Glorka and I approached it with the same ceremony we do all of our work. Though we both perform sacred rituals before sending out our individual products into the world — she with her attire and me with my jewelry line — we felt it critical to join forces with the introduction of this joint venture. 

In a ceremony complete with prayer, meditation, and my trademark cacao, we infused these new offerings with blessings of health, prosperity, and joy — all of which they intend to bring to their wearers. 

A Call to Conscious Living 

Nine months after the start of the pandemic, my and Glorka’s desires to create something that brings about positive collective change have cemented even further. From my station in Costa Rica and Glorka’s at-home workshop in Los Angeles, we have conceived something of higher vision. 

And we haven’t given up on the importance of ceremony. Even in her at-home workshop, Glorka continues to light sage, play medicine songs, and nurture a divine environment for her creations.

Her dedication to exclusive, always-evolving, one-of-a-kind designs also continues to shine through.

“My friend once pointed out that every piece is like an initiation piece. It’s a constant rebirth of new energy, a unique expression of our souls. We’re all one consciousness, but we’re also an individual representation of that consciousness, which is why it is so nice to create one-of-a-kind pieces to allow each of us to activate our unique expression.” 

Glorka’s commitment to helping people embrace their individuality is apparent in her creations for my Dance of Liberation™ line, with each piece featuring exceptional accents that introduce a different message of healing, hope, and happiness.

“Shipping these pieces around the world really makes it feel like we expand the reach of those vibrations,” Glorka says. “It’s like sending little sparks of love around the globe. That’s what truly gives me joy. It’s not just spreading love, it’s supporting the spiritual work people are doing on their own. It inspires the wearer to have the discipline to continue that spiritual work and healing. This is the only way we can get to a point of contentment, happiness, and peace.” 

To shop the Dance of Liberation™ ceremonial attire collection, designed by Glorka Wear™, visit our online shop. 

Looking for a unique gift? Our Winged Ones pendants in Clear Quartz are out now on https://glorka.com/. Available offerings include the Visionary, SunDancer, and the Sacred Set. 

Each Winged Ones pendant comes with online access to our East Gate activation program, as well as a journal companion called The Guidepost. This experience offers two guided meditations, lessons on altar creation, and a personalized stone education by Parashakti. 

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post High-Frequency Clothing by Glorka Inspires Higher Vision appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

When Lisbeth Mego stepped on the music scene more than a decade ago, little did she know she would become a celebrated Conscious Pop artist. Known by her stage name Sereza, the mother of two inspires with tunes that are an impressive balance of whimsical, divinely feminine, high-energy, and undoubtedly captivating. 

Incredibly self-assured yet also kind-hearted and open-minded, Sereza speaks uninhibitedly about her journey as an artist. Her story is a testament to the willpower of women and healing abilities of song. 

“I believe music has a big influence on us ever since we are formed in the womb,” Sereza says. “Our heartbeat is the beautiful melody we hear all the time. We are assembled under music in some form, and that’s why it’s been part of humanity since ancient times. That music power has so much influence in people. I have it in me and would like to use it for higher awareness and higher consciousness for the collective.”

From Rural Peru to America 

Sereza credits her upbringing on a small farm in Peru to her big dreams. Her earliest musical memories go back to her and her brother singing to the farm animals on their family’s property. They would gather the animals and perform a musical act for them, with Sereza leading on vocals and her brother supporting her on drums. 

“That was my way of delivering my love for the animals,” she reflects. “It was our amusement. Especially because, being in such a small town, my brother and I didn’t have many other kids to play with.” 

Although music was her main calling, Sereza also ventured into art, experimenting with drawing from a young age. Looking back, she says her parents always encouraged her desire for creative pursuits, being creatively-inclined themselves. She says growing up on a farm lent itself to enhancing these creative abilities. 

“When I was a little girl, I always felt this mystery and loving power when looking at the stars,” she reminisces. “I could see every single tiny star. That sparked a wonder for life in me. Very early on, I was exposed to that magic because of the environment I grew up in, connecting to animals and being so far away from city people.” 

That was why, when she and her brother were later enrolled in Catholic school in a neighboring city, she had a hard time fitting in. Though she felt she didn’t match with the structure of urban life, her dedication to artistry served as an escape. 

It wasn’t until Sereza was 19 years old that her first encounter with love — and opportunity to explore the world outside her home country — arose. It was completely unexpected. 

“I always imagined I would work as a local newscaster in Peru,” she recalls. “I was studying and working to enter that field. If you told me then that one day I’d be speaking English and living in Los Angeles, I never would have believed you.” 

First Loves & Last Chances

The town where Sereza resided at the time was highly touristic, catering to many American visitors who frequently fell victim to the inevitable fleeting summer romance with local residents. 

“Many of the visitors would come to find a girl for a temporary tryst and then break her heart,” Sereza recalls. “I would always avoid the tourists for this reason and never got involved, but there was one that persisted for an entire year who actually showed me heartfelt intentions.” 

That persistent student tourist even learned Spanish to communicate with her. He would come to be Sereza’s first husband. The son of a wealthy oil tycoon, he swept her off her feet and made promises of a new family life in the United States. 

Sure enough, he acted on that promise, proposing to her shortly thereafter. They were married in Barbados and then moved to Texas, where his family was from. Sereza bid farewell to the visions she had of her life in Peru — along with her friends and family — and decided to start a new life with her then-husband in the United States. 

The glory of that new life in the United States with her first love was short-lived, however. 

“I realized that, because of his privileged upbringing and other vast differences, we had to walk separate paths,” Sereza says. “Though we loved each other dearly, we weren’t equipped then to face such big challenges.”

Reunited with Sound & Spirituality

Sereza took solace in a community that fused music with spirituality. Her humble beginnings doing voiceover work, recording jingles, and modeling led her to rediscover her love for various art forms.

It was around this time she began assisting her friend’s band, Here II Here, a Conscious Electro-Acoustic group that roots their sound in spiritual awareness and exploration. Their slogan is “Mainstream Music that Supports a Peaceful Planet.” 

Sereza and I met for the first time at one of their shows, forging a lifelong friendship that would expand into numerous creative collaborations. 

“While touring with Here II Here, I was able to meet so many amazing people,” Sereza reflects. “It got me feeling so much inspiration and passion for a universal world culture.”

From there, Sereza continued her own journey. With the support of Edwin Itoh, the producer and guitarist for Here II Here, she started doing local shows in Florida.

Audiences resonated deeply with the songs she wrote and performed herself, encouraging her to expand her talents even further by deepening her guitar knowledge and connection with Itoh. They even found big investors and contacts within the music industry to help her get her career off the ground. 

Her big break had finally come.

“I was signing with a huge record label in New York for Spanish and English markets, getting ready to be launched as a major popstar,” Sereza recounts. “But my insecurity and limiting belief got to me. I feared that fame and money would lead people not to love me as a person. I didn’t want to be a product, I wanted to be a person and loved as such.” 

Sojourn to Self-Love

During this period, Sereza had fallen in love with a man whom she thought would love her for the person she was before fame hit. In the midst of being busy with rehearsals, performances, and touring, she came face-to-face with an unexpected pregnancy that changed everything. 

“I could always go back to music, but I had to answer my call to become a mother. I disappointed my team of so many wonderful people that invested and believed in me. It all broke my heart so deeply, but without a doubt, I had to embrace this new life growing inside of me.”  

Sereza knew she would never regret it. 

She had two beautiful boys with her then-partner. It turned out, however, that the path to familial harmony was laced with adversity. 

“[My boyfriend] and his immediate family started to reveal things I wasn’t okay with — to the point where we ended up in court and I was granted custody of my children, both of whom had been diagnosed with autism. I had to start my new life as a single mother from ground zero,” Sereza explains.

Though it was a slow and rocky start, she credits music, painting, her online community, and fashion design for her ability to transcend pain and trauma. 

“I found recovery in the reclaiming of my wholeness and empowerment, as well as in forgiveness and compassion.”

With the help of loyal friends like Itoh, she would get back on her feet and discover a newfound appreciation for her own strength that would be reflected in her music. 

A self-proclaimed “picante girl”, Sereza branched out into songs that were both subtly sensual yet infused with intention. 

“Right now, I’m in the position to give resolution to what I had to leave on the backburner to focus on motherhood,” Sereza shares. “I want to embrace my Latin culture, which is so colorful and spicy, and so I’ve decided to embody more of my ethnicity and roots in my own way.” 

With Itoh by her side as her producer, she is an unstoppable force.

Though many of Sereza’s songs continue to be inspired by her experiences growing up in rural Peru (even covering topics like the clashing of masculine and feminine energies between the roosters and cats on the farm), her newfound mindset also shines through in her songwriting. 

One of her upcoming songs, Apocalypse, is about a major apocalypse of falling in love with each other and embracing each other as a collective.

“In my album, I embody a lot of this consciousness, awakening, and experience. For example, my song Black Hole is about the concept that black holes transport you to another universe. My experiences have transported me into a universe where I am more loved and appreciated by myself.” 

In Harmony with the Universe

With a debut album around the corner, Sereza has finally found her nirvana. Though balancing single motherhood with her self-made artistry can pose its challenges, she finds undeniable influence in the brilliance of her two boys. 

“They’re true savants. They can hear a song on the radio in the car, come home, and immediately play the melody on the piano. Having been diagnosed with autism, they pick up on these patterns in the music that most people can’t. They’re so incredibly gifted with other things too.”

Sereza combines her artwork with music, creating an oil painting to accompany each song. Though an ambitious undertaking for most, Sereza makes it look like second-nature. 

Currently, Sereza is also one of the most notable Visionaries for my Winged Ones sacred jewelry line and its accompanying online activation program, The East Gate.

“When I saw the jewelry that [Parashakti] had on the internet, I knew now I could finally afford to invest in myself. I wanted it as an affirmation and reminder of the strength I have been able to recover in myself and a higher level of love awareness.”

Furthering her creative prowess, she also designed and handcrafted an incredible ceremonial dress for my spiritual practice. 

Right: Parashakti dancing in ceremonial wear designed by Sereza. Left: Sereza showing her Winged Ones pendant from Parashakti.

Fully immersed in her craft as an artist, songstress, and profound carrier of soulful articulation, Sereza is ready to take the Conscious Pop world by storm.

“For me, my music has been my form of communicating where I’m at. Music is not only my latest expression of consciousness, it’s part of my puzzle as a grown woman. I was supposed to release this music eight years ago and my mentality has changed so much since then, but there’s also a child within and that’s why it’s playful and spiritual, yet laced with fun innuendos. This debut album is not a full expression of what and who I am, but it is a big part of me that I love so much.”

To get more of Sereza’s music, you can listen to her hit singles on her website HERE.

You can also follow Sereza on Instagram for updates on the release date of her debut album, as well as to get an inside look at her artwork. 

Sereza is a proud Visionary and affiliate for The Winged Ones sacred jewelry line and its accompanying online activation program, The East Gate.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Music Meets Mindfulness: Sereza Conquers the World of Conscious Pop appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Parashakti on retreat in Bass Lake with Westwind Recovery staff. From left to right: Michael Shahin, Parashakti, Kai Zimmerman, and Zachary Ament.

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and for me, this proverb is never more present than when I’m working alongside people in recovery. Recovery requires a rebirth of the body, mind, and soul – and the key to this rebirth is connection to others, and to community. 

Seven years ago, I was fortunate to be the Spiritual Director of Breathe Life Healing Center in West Hollywood, a community-based treatment program for addiction recovery. I later collaborated with Recover Integrity in West LA to create Sanctuary in the City, a boutique recovery program based on the Seven Foundations. 

The Seven Foundations creates embodied ritual to help people transform the mundane into the sacred. Among those struggling to free themselves from addiction, the Foundations seemed to grow new roots and reach new depths. 

Parashakti leading a blindfolded Dance of Liberation experience out in nature.

Through these experiences, one of the things I have come to appreciate is just how fundamental it is to feel witnessed and supported by others in the process of self-exploration. My work is most often about helping people go on their own personal vision quests, and yet, the more I explore addiction recovery, the more I find that the experience of both feeling seen and heard – and to see and hear others – takes the vision quest to an entirely new level. In the ceremonies I facilitate, we call this finding your Spirit Buddy. 

I recently teamed up with Westwind Recovery, which offers substance use and mental health treatment for all levels of care in Los Angeles, on retreat in Bass Lake, California. Their mission is to combine traditional therapy with alternative therapies like yoga, breathwork, music therapy, and adventure therapy in order to create holistic and comprehensive treatment. 

Sober Living Through Spirit Buddies

As part of daily rituals and journeying on retreat, I invited participants to team up with a Spirit Buddy – someone who they might not have known or spoken to deeply before. At every moment we had group, I’d have them work with their Spirit Buddy, to emphasize coming back, processing in the discomfort, and holding each other.  

Being able to sit with someone, to deeply heart share, and to be witnessed and held creates both availability and accountability. There’s a point where I ask Spirit Buddies to stand back-to-back, and just to feel what it means to really trust and believe that this person has their back. 

Members of the Westwind team at Bass Lake: Briana Marhencke, David Naro, and Ivy Fase (bottom).

So often, people suffering with addiction have endured profound trauma in their lives – and often that trauma happened at the hands of a loved one. Connections become riddled with mistrust, as addiction isolates the person further.

Spirit Buddies watched each other in pain and growth – and by day five, the participants had opened up in places that had been very closed and resistant. People tracked discomfort and fear with each other – and tears and laughter and resistance and joy emerged. It took a tribe to be able to go to this next level of healing and really walk their truth.

I teamed up with some of my Spirit Buddies who help run Westwind’s program to ask them to share their stories with me.

Exterior of the Westwind Treatment Center in Los Angeles, CA.

The Westwind Team & Their Stories

Although I joined the Westwind team on their Bass Lake retreat, where I facilitated Conscious Dance workshops and Spirit Buddy activities, it wasn’t until later that I got to sit down with them and listen to their individual stories — their treatment experiences, personal connections with Westwind, and hopes for those in recovery at the moment. 

Zachary Ament, co-founder of Westwind, told me about how experiences of isolation fed addiction: 

I was always looking for a community, having recognized that I was a young, gay boy at 13. I always felt separate and apart from not only my family — who were super liberal — but from others. I still had that ‘other’ feeling. Once I found a crowd that was drinking and also doing some drugs, I kind of immediately felt a part of [it]. A lot of my story in using and recovery is based in community — either in lack of connection or feeling super connected. If I accidentally find myself not connected to my community, that’s when I do start to have the thoughts of ‘Oh, maybe I can drink again!’ Basically just alcoholic thoughts. 

I think for a lot of people, when they’re in their addiction, their lives become so small that they don’t see the world or even their backyard. They don’t experience what it’s like to be in relationships with others, let alone with themselves….I believe that a lot of our growth in recovery is taking a bunch of different principles from actual therapy — whether it’s a spiritual basis or 12-Step programs — and applying it to our lives. Because there is no one size fits all structure. My one solid foundation has always been the 12 Steps, but I fluctuate….We wanted to show people that life in recovery is not only fun, but we get to learn about ourselves through experience.

Michael Shahin, Westwind’s Housing and Alumni Officer, told me about a story that reminded me how one connection can make an enormous difference: 

The clients really build a strong community and fellowship, and they always come back stronger, come back leaders, and are able to get back on their feet…. The Spirit Buddy system got so much positive feedback because of that connection you create with somebody, face your fears, and find yourself.

Growing up, I was always very uncomfortable with myself. And I was always looking for something to comfort that discomfort, and so I learned to grasp onto certain addictions. It started with food and sugar, and my disease with addiction is definitely a progressive one. As I got older and more mature, it went from food and sugar to alcohol. That progressed even more from alcohol to party drugs, ecstasy, THC. Eventually, at the end of my addiction, I was using daily crystal meth, alcohol — you name it. Anything that’d get me out of my comfort zone and out of my head. 

It allowed me to push away anything that was important, anyone that cared for me — I pushed all of that away. Eventually, after so many bottoms and heartbreaks and tragedies, I had a moment of clarity. I realized this is not who I am. I was spiritually bankrupt, and for the first time ever I was absolutely miserable and nothing could make me happy, even the drugs and alcohol that fueled my addiction for so long. 

I reached out to somebody that I knew that had gotten sober, and asked for help. The first thing that person did was offer me to meet them at Shakey’s and accompany them to an AA meeting afterwards. I was terrified and frightened, but I knew something needed to change. From that very moment, I started to make conscious decisions to change my life. I started going to meetings, I realized how happy people were in the rooms, and I thought it was insane because I hadn’t seen people that happy in a long time….I started volunteering, I had commitments at several meetings, I did charity work, joined convention boards. 

Slowly but surely, the wreckage of my past started to clear up. I realized what was important in life, like physical fitness, mental clarity, financial stability, healthy relationships, creating a community. I started to do that one day at a time. Before you knew it, things just started to radically change. I left the entertainment industry and decided that I wanted to get into a line of work that was helping people, so I started working in treatment.

Rachel Corbett, Westwind’s Brand Officer, also shared a story where a “spirit buddy” of sorts emerged from an unlikely place and changed her life: 

Very similar to Mikey and Zach, I experienced always being uncomfortable, always feeling something was off. I started drinking when I was 15, doing drugs when I was 18. I got my first DUI when I was 17 and from there I continued to be arrested over and over and over again. I never got away with anything, but it never slowed me down no matter what kind of trouble I got into. 

I had to keep bashing my head against the wall and it wasn’t until I was arrested in 2003, the last time, that I realized I wasn’t going to get out of this one. I was facing 8-10 years in prison, and I kind of started to accept that I wasn’t going to see my son grow up, I wasn’t going to repair relationships with my family, and things got very dark for me. My father used to be a police officer, so when I would be arrested, I would go into solitary and it’s called K-10. That’s when you’re in your cell 23 hours a day and you only get out to shower. It affected me on a cellular level, it meant I couldn’t talk to people, know how to function. All my contact was with deputies bringing me food. 

The last time I was in K-10, I was there for a year. And there was an amazing District Attorney who finally noticed that I had never been offered treatment, and started to wonder why that is. I always thought ‘detox’ just meant you go to jail and detox, I didn’t know it was a place. Everyone agreed and I was sent to a behavior modification treatment center, all female. I was there for a year, I had to drug test multiple times every week, and if I failed at all, I had to serve that 8-10 year sentence. 

They would bring AA meetings in and that was the first time I could really HEAR what people were saying and how these women’s lives changed. I knew I wanted a better life, I just didn’t know how to get it. When we started being allowed to go OUT to meetings, I got a sponsor, and I clinged to that person. I told them, ‘Whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do it, because I don’t have the answers.’ I wasn’t even willing, I was just desperate.

This year marks 16 years of sobriety for Rachel.

Former House Manager, Briana Marhecke, expands upon the meaning of the trip to Bass Lake for her, as well as her appreciation for the Spirit Buddy system: 

I came into treatment at WestWind two years ago completely broken, both spiritually and emotionally. After trying for years to get sober, I realized the importance of strengthening my spiritual condition and putting it above everything else in my life. I went through treatment and started meditating regularly, as well as doing yoga almost every day and changing my lifestyle to take better care of my body, mind, and soul. 

 I went on the trip to Bass Lake as a sort of send-off because I was moving out of managing sober living, and the treatment center I was connected to hosted the trip. I had an indescribably wonderful experience with the ceremonies led by Parashakti, and it shifted my perspective on myself and those around me. I went into the first night very skeptical and self-conscious, but I became comfortable almost immediately, mainly due to Parashakti’s energy and the way she was so unapologetically who she is. 

The blindfolded dancing with our Spirit Buddies was by far my favorite part of the entire trip. Something about being in the dark but knowing I wasn’t alone helped me tap into the beautiful world we are all a part of and connected to. Watching the clients shed their skepticism and fears was also a beautiful thing to witness. I know my Spirit Buddy had a lot of doubts about the dances and the ceremonies, but by the end of it, I saw him completely come into his own space and dance without hesitation. The experiences I had on this camping trip were genuinely profound and I will cherish them forever. 

The Director of Housing at Westwind recounts similar sentiments about the Spirit Buddy process we engaged in at Bass Lake:

I came to LA 4 years ago in search of a new experience with recovery. I was trapped in the addiction cycle, in and out of homelessness, and empty inside. I looked for relief and solutions in many ways, most to no avail,  but I realized that if I was ever going to get and stay sober, I was going to have to start growing my spiritual life. 

I went to treatment, where I was first introduced to Westwind Recovery. Little did I know that the people I met there would become my second family. I began praying, meditating, and started a regular yoga practice. I have over three years sober now and my life has grown into something better than I could have ever imagined possible. I am truly happy and able to appreciate all the amazing opportunities and people placed in my path. 

When I heard that Parashakti would be joining us on our annual camping trip, I was eager to learn her approach to spirituality and try some new things. Most of the exercises I’d never done before, and I certainly had to work through some self-doubt and awkwardness to fully apply myself — especially when it came to the dancing. But, when I did step out of fear and dived into the dance, I was able to recapture these feelings of lightness and joy that made me feel like a little kid again. Luckily, from the beginning, everybody was paired with Spirit Buddies and I was able to feel supported through the trip knowing that someone else was walking through all the exercises with me. 

There was reluctance and nervousness from the clients at the opening ceremony… but by the end of the trip, I think every single client was participating and even excited to do the exercises. We see the clients in a more serious lens a lot of the time, and to see them all let loose and tap into this side of themselves was a beautiful experience, as well as a great reminder of how we are all just parts of a whole.

Final Thoughts

The retreat was a cherished experience for me – to watch the clients transform over the course of the week was like an energetic walk, like a journey up a mountain. Ultimately, being able to witness such awakening is a gift that helps me become more available and in tune with my own practice, and to recognize that self-exploration becomes safer – and often deeper – when it is witnessed with compassion. 

To learn more about the Westwind Recovery Treatment Center, their inspiring approach to sober living, and upcoming retreats they’re working on, visit their website: https://www.westwindrecovery.com/. 

Parashakti’s 7-week program, Birthing the Shaman Within, begins Oct. 5. This group-oriented experience will take place virtually, and is aimed at long-term healing solutions for those in recovery. SIGN UP HERE to save your spot. 

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Sober Living & Spirit Buddies: Westwind’s Modern Approach to Addiction Treatment appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Peter Oppermann, host of the Future Self Summit, pictured on an LA rooftop wearing The Visionary Winged One by Parashakti.

With the future seemingly uncertain due to a global pandemic, social unrest, upcoming elections, and threatening climate change, it is more important than ever to unite people and to catalyze global change.

This effort begins with the Future Self Summit, a free four-day virtual retreat hosted by Peter Oppermann. Taking place from Oct. 1-4, this online event will bring together over 30 pioneers of the future; including speakers, facilitators, artists, incubator graduates, and musicians from seven different countries. These thought leaders will come together to share their visions and solutions for a better future.

The call-to-action for Oppermann’s summit is simple yet poignant: Society is at a tipping point — a catalyst to engineer change is needed. 

An Invitation to the Future Self Summit 

When it comes to future self-actualization, there’s nobody to lead the journey like Peter Oppermann, a brilliant mechanical engineer turned meditation teacher and coach. Oppermann’s decades-long career in mindfulness meditation and spiritual teaching reached its peak when he developed the Future Self Method, a technique that allows individuals to access visions of their Future Selves, allowing them to manifest those visions in the now. 

The concept for Oppermann’s Future Self Summit was birthed from the vision that curating a better future for the collective begins with manifesting improvements in ourselves. Oppermann will facilitate this four-day virtual retreat with the help of more than 30 faculty members and speakers that are experts in their respective fields. 

“We are calling in all pioneers of the future to contribute in their unique ways to a better future we all know is possible,” Oppermann says. 

Notable faculty members will include co-founder of Cafe Gratitude and Kiss The Ground, Ryland Engelhart, composer and founder of MindTravel Music, Muray Hidary, Nicole Landers, co-founder of Community Healing Gardens, and wellness leader, Douglas Drummond. I’ll also be facilitating Conscious Dance workshops based on my Dance of Liberation™ modality to help participants step into their Present selves through the art of movement. 

To view the complete line-up of presenters, visit www.futureselfsummit.com.

This versatile line-up of speakers is part of Oppermann’s goal to explore the future of various societal components. 

“This summit serves as a collective dreamcatcher,” Oppermann says. “That’s why we’ve chosen voices to represent the future of medicine, movement, finance, and so on. Through a panel format, transformation leaders will share their visions and the audience participants will be able to share their idea of a better future, to together explore new opportunities for growth and innovation.” 

Each day of the retreat will follow a different theme, with relevant thought leaders and facilitators assigned to each day based on their corresponding focus. The first day will focus on the Present self, helping participants embrace the totality of their physical and expanded being. 

“Our itinerary begins with the Present self because it is the only state in which we have freedom of choice [as opposed to the Past or Future self],” says Oppermann. “This is where we determine whether we act habitually or respond with intention.” 

Day two of the summit will focus on the Past self, a practice which primarily involves “shadow work”, as Oppermann refers to it. This consists of deconstructing the self: past traumas, limited beliefs, and the concept of time as a linear entity. 

Finally, the third day of the summit will take the concepts learned on the first two days to introduce participants to their Future selves — the version of themselves that they aspire to be and can obtain through study of their Past and Present selves. 

Oppermann applies many scientific principles in his work, particularly when discussing the efficacy of the Future Self Method. He refers to the biology behind its effectiveness as a rewiring of neural pathways in helping individuals condition their coping mechanisms. 

Virtual Feast to Create Community 

The virtual retreat will conclude on its fourth day with a feast, where participants will be invited to prepare a meal and sit down to eat together. While the feast will take place over Zoom, Oppermann envisions it as one long communal table, where multiple dialogues ensue. 

He believes that bringing people together to engage in the simple, necessary act of nourishing themselves is one of the key ways to create connection. It is at this virtual feast that participants will be invited to share their idea of the world they want to live in, and begin the process of actualizing that change. 

“I strongly believe that creating a better, livable, functional future can only happen if everyone realizes their personal dream,” Oppermann says. “When we strive to create a better future for ourselves, we become better equipped to take collective action in our communities.” 

From Engineer to Transformational Leader

Looking at Oppermann’s history as a mechanical engineer in Germany, one might wonder how he ended up down the more spiritual path. However, even his entry into the world of science was driven by his desire to create technology for the betterment of humanity. Unfortunately, he soon realized it was not the most optimal path for him to achieve this goal. 

After discovering the benefits of mindfulness meditation in the late 90s, as well as touring attending meditation retreats all around the world, he decided to pursue a more gratifying practice. He left engineering and began woodworking Japanese furniture, specifically Shoji screens. Production expanded to the United States, allowing him to traverse from Berlin to New York City. 

While his time in woodworking ended shortly after due to his desire to work directly with people instead of materials, it was pivotal to his realization for his true calling. From there, he founded a non-profit called Karmabuilders in the Bronx with the aim of helping former prisoners reintegrate into society. 

“Around that time, I was in a surfing accident that rendered my right shoulder and arm immovable,” Oppermann recalls. “Looking back, I see that event as somewhat of a shamanic intervention, a call to pursue my true dharma and purpose.” 

After the incident, Peter moved to Los Angeles in 2013 and finally began making strides toward beginning a career as a healer. He started off leading large corporate meditations for firms like Netflix. 

“My background as an engineer allowed me to weave scientific knowledge into the world of spiritual practice,” Oppermann reflects. “I think that’s why it appeals to a large group of people.” 

It was shortly after he pioneered his coaching career that Oppermann was introduced to the concept of Future Self through the work of Arjuna Ardagh. Ardagh serendipitously discovered the concept while leading a patient through a past life regression, in which she uncovered her Future Self in the process. 

Oppermann has expanded the concept into a method, by providing the tools so that people can become their Future Selves and live in alignment with their visions of the future.

“To this day, people will come up to me in Whole Foods and say ‘Remember that workshop you led five years ago? Well, I am that person now,’” Oppermann recounts. 

Oppermann’s logical and scientific approach is what keeps people coming back to it. He finds that its measurable and scientific nature allows it to produce tangible and fathomable results. In fact, he’s approached his work with the Future Self Method much like he approached his work as an engineer: by developing a thesis, testing it extensively, and then collecting testimonials from individuals who underwent the process with him — all of which were overwhelmingly positive. 

Future Self Meets Dance of Liberation

For each day, a unique program has been created that reserves time for the introduction of new approaches to personal growth, mindfulness, and inner work — all while allowing enough space for a plethora of art, music, and dance practices.  

Attendees will be invited to embrace their Present selves through dance, riveting music, and vibrant, soul-opening festivities that serve as a celebration of life.  

“Dance is completely woven into the Summit,” Oppermann assures. “We’ll be hosting artists and musicians every evening. Embodiment is the key to transformation.”  

In addition to a powerful Dance of Liberation opening ceremony, there will be other immersive Conscious Dance experiences hosted by DJ Sabo, Nacho Arimnay, Murray Hidary of MindTravel Music, and more.

Peter Oppermann, host of the Future Self Summit, pictured on an LA rooftop wearing The Visionary Winged One by Parashakti.

The Summit will begin with a powerful Dance of Liberation™ experience hosted by myself, in which I will invite attendees to release their inhibitions, accept themselves as they are in the moment, and move mindfully without any qualms, fears, or expectations. 

With dance and music entwined so deeply into my own Dance of Liberation practice and accompanying Winged Ones jewelry line, Oppermann and I can certainly promise a collaboration that provides something for everyone. 

In fact, Oppermann has been a major proponent of my trademark Eagle Medicine practice and beautifully relates the experience to that of uncovering your Future self. 

“The Eagle as a symbol is a very powerful portal to the Future self state,” Oppermann says. “I imagine the journey to Future self discovery being like riding on the back of the Eagle heading toward the sun.” 

Oppermann’s extensive years of experience as a Future Self Method practitioner, Life Empowerment Coach, and overall spiritual healer all culminate to this upcoming Future Self Summit. As Oppermann sees it, it’s finally his opportunity to use this meaningful framework to generate a change that is bigger than all of us. 

“My dream is a future where everyone is found and embracing their full potential. That is what will elevate us as a species and ensure our collective survive. That’s why the goal of this Summit is to weave a new collective story where every voice counts and everybody brings something.” 

CLICK HERE to enroll in the Future Self Summit, Oct. 1-4. This four-day, virtual retreat will explore the concept of creating lasting societal change using the framework of Peter Oppermann’s Future Self Method. RSVP for free before Sept. 30 at 11:59 pm PDT. 

Join Parashakti in the Lineup of Pioneers as she concludes each day’s events with a Conscious Dance experience, based on her modality Dance of Liberation™ and The Winged Ones. She will be facilitating her workshops out of the Integral Yoga Institute in New York, where she acquired her teacher training. SPECIAL THANKS to IYINY for lending this sacred space. 

Starting on Oct. 18, Oppermann will also be hosting the Future Self Incubator, a deeper 8-week journey through the Future Self Method. 

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Future Self Summit: Free 4-Day Virtual Retreat to Create Collective Change appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Parashakti (left) and Jennifer Joy Jiménez (right) displaying their unique Conscious Dance styles.

Overwhelmed by pandemics and protests, people are looking for reassurance that life can be okay again. 

Typically, in the last few months, I’ve been on the other end of the Zoom call. I’ve been the guide, the teacher, and the healer. When I haven’t been offering virtual one-on-one SoulHealing sessions, I’ve been co-facilitating online retreats dedicated to Conscious Dance and the power of Eagle Medicine. 

However, not too long ago, I was given an opportunity to sit and witness as a participant, in a women’s only Full Moon gathering, thanks to an invitation from my good friend and Soul Sister, Jennifer Joy Jiménez. 

I stood in awe at how, even in this virtual Zoom world, she had managed to create a sanctuary for women to gather in sisterhood and just “be” — be heard, be seen, be supported, and be accepting of one another. 

“My ‘why’ I are the incredible women I serve, who come to me feeling over-worked, under-rested, depleted, sluggish and often carrying deep wounds regarding their relationships with their bodies,” Jennifer says. “They can’t be the ‘change agents’ they are meant to be in this world if they are struggling with their relationship with their body and are out of sync with their inner self, and life. I love helping them remember the truth of who they really are, come home in their body temple, connect mind-body and spirit, and fully reveal their inner confidence and divine radiance.”

Upon watching Jennifer provide a safe, cathartic space for these women, I knew that a special partnership could be based around our complementary talents. Jennifer’s prowess revolves around offering a release, by letting go of negative self-concepts, and empowering women to thrive in their body temple, inner confidence and aliveness. My work revolves around reintroduction and rebirth, helping craft a new self-concept that can lead to favorable changes in one’s life. 

A Likely Friendship

When I first met Jennifer Jiménez, founder of TranscenDance™, transformational life coach and international leader in personal development, I felt an immediate, other-worldly connection — the kind when your physical being first crosses paths with someone that your emotional and soulful being feels like it’s known a lifetime.

Our first encounter took place at a OneDanceTribe live retreat in Garrison, New York. At the event, Conscious Dance teachers from around the world are invited to host sessions for their various Conscious Dance modalities and weave all the workshops into one overall fabric of mindfulness. 

In a discussion of our signature Totem Animals (also referred to as ‘spirit animals’ colloquially), we found even deeper synergy. My Totem Animal of the Eagle — in alignment with my decades-long practice of Eagle Medicine — and Jennifer’s Totem Animal of the Dove were perfectly in line. These soaring, graceful creatures represented our respective adoration for movement, divine feminine energy, and intuition. 

Together in Garrison, just before the pandemic swept the state in early March, we danced, connected in sisterhood, and flew wing-to-wing for the first time.

Path to Prosperity

Bound at the hip in sisterly connection, Jennifer and I shared about our expeditions to the world of spiritual healing. It was in Garrison that I learned of her incredible journey from penniless professional dancer to thriving, abundant entrepreneur.

In addition to founding the Conscious Dance modality of TranscenDance™, Jennifer is also the founder of the highly successful Health & Well-Being Division at the Brave Thinking Institute. 

Jennifer (center) with TranscenDance™ students at a Facilitator Training in Costa Rica in February 2020.

“I feel like my Conscious Dance work has taken her throne, like I’ve helped her achieve her greatness… and now I can focus on strategy, innovation, and creation on a larger scale,” Jennifer reflects. 

Jennifer now resides in Orange County with her soulmate of 25 years and their three amazing kids. Perhaps what drew me most to Jennifer during our initial meeting is her ability to take universal spiritual principles — such as the science of well-being, and mind-body-spirit connection — and combine it all with transformational life coaching to help her clients, mostly women, create extraordinary results in their lives.

Jennifer (far right) with her husband and kids at their Orange County home.

During her workshops, she takes seemingly esoteric spiritual concepts and offers practical, tangible tools to easily shift the mental blocks and limiting beliefs that keep most people stuck for years.

In Jennifer’s Vibrant Healthy Woman coaching program, she hosts a monthly Full Moon Gathering. These events are intended to offer an escape from the business of life, while simultaneously providing a safe space geared toward sisterhood, connection, sacred ceremony, luscious conscious dance, and freedom of spirit.

The Red Tent

In the last decade, there’s been elevated interest from women surrounding the idea of gathering during the Full Moon. This idea was popularized after the release of The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, a first-person narrative loosely based on the story of Dinah from the Bible. 

The Red Tent refers to the tent in which women of Jacob’s tribe must, according to the ancient law, take refuge while menstruating or giving birth. During their time in the Red Tent, these women find mutual support and encouragement from their mothers, sisters, and aunts.

So, how does the concept of the Red Tent translate to today’s world? 

The Red Tent, or otherwise referred to as the Moon Lodge, is simply a gathering of women that occurs during the New Moon, when women are most in need of support, rest, and reflection. This is a timeless tradition observed by ancient cultures, which serves as a regular forum for empowering women’s sense of selfhood.

Author Vanessa Olorenshaw best summarized the purpose of the Red Tent Movement in an article for the Huffington Post: “The Red Tent movement is about creating regular feminine spaces for women to share their stories, rest and gain strength to meet the challenges of our time and their daily lives. This is work that we believe will make a difference not only to women themselves but also to all the people around them. In short, we ‘know’ that the simple act of creating safe and empowering feminine spaces is life and world changing work.”

Jennifer’s moon gathering, which I had the privilege to attend, lived up to these visions of the Red Tent. It provided a nurturing, sacred space to explore being vulnerable yet truly empowered and authentically expressed. 

Jennifer (center) on her annual women’s retreat in Tulum, MX.

Still, for some women, the idea of joining in a women’s gathering might bring up emotions of often feeling uncomfortable, judged, and criticized by other women. Though popular culture would paint such feminine gatherings as unavoidably toxic and venomous, they are undoubtedly life-affirming and mutually supportive.

With Jennifer so elegantly leading the way, I witnessed women letting their guard down, dropping into their inner wisdom, sharing and shedding tears, and joyously lifting each other up in celebration. They soaked their spirits in soothing and inspiring music, receiving a sound bath from a Mayan medicine healer, and dancing under the light of the Full Moon.

A Summer Solstice Invitation

In light of this weekend’s alignment of the New Moon and Summer Solstice, Jennifer and I have decided to partner up to offer an exclusive workshop for women on June 20 at 5 pm PT. Combining our forces as luminary healers and spiritual guides for women, we will host an incredibly powerful and complimentary Summer Solstice Gathering via Zoom.

“The New Moon represents this idea of going back to your roots, and that has always drawn me,” Jennifer shares. “The idea is to help women with this rebirth, and the Summer Solstice is all about honoring the love, light, and pleasure of earthly existence. The seasonal shift prompts a revolution from within; a spark that lights the possibility of new beginnings.”

Our aim is to create a sacred gathering space for women, in which we will take them on a soul-searching Vision Quest. The ultimate goal is to offer a free 90-minute mind-body-spirit experience with a movement portion that will evoke undeniable New Moon Energy. 

We will enter into a mystery school together — a Moon Lodge — designed to help us as women renew, restore, and relate. 

I’ll be bringing the qualities of renewal and restoration to our Summer Solstice gathering via my East Gate teachings, highlighting how women can seek new beginnings, even in turbulent times, and how we can do so through the use of a power object, like the ceremonially blessed Winged Ones that are offered as part of my East Gate initiation. 

Hand in hand, we invite any woman reading this now to take the leap and join us in ringing in the summer season. Whether your desire is to invoke your inner goddess, inspire body positivity, or shed toxic emotions, you’re invited to step into our metaphorical Moon Lodge. And yes, please feel free to invite your female friends; mothers, daughters, sisters, colleagues, or any woman in your life who could use the energy of new beginnings and rejuvenation. 

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Click here to sign up for the FREE Summer Solstice Gathering with Parashakti and Jennifer Jiménez on June 20 at 5pm PT. Space is limited!

One lucky participant will be selected to receive a COMPLIMENTARY power pendant — the SunDancer (pictured above) — from the Winged Ones jewelry line, along with access to the East Gate activation program (a $680 value). 

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Special thanks and WINGS OF GRATITUDE to Jennifer Jiménez for her time.

To learn more about Jennifer’s work with the Brave Thinking Institute, click here. 

To learn more about TranscenDance™, click here. 

Jennifer can be seen donning her very own Winged One in this photo (left), in the style of The Visionary with Labradorite stone.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Uniting Women for the Summer Solstice appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Rose Quartz Soars & Reunites: Self-Transformation Rituals for Change

“If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.” – Lao Tzu

Protesters march peacefully through my Hollywood neighborhood on a weekday afternoon, touting signs and posters that relay one main message: A cry for the end of racial injustice. We’ve heard the concept that change starts from within. Often, however, the urgency for change eliminates the process of self-reflection.

Demonstrators photo by Logan Bik

For me, these last three months have been fraught with self-reflection of the familial nature. My mother was visiting me from Israel when the COVID-19 pandemic. The subsequent stay-at-home orders made it difficult for her to return home. What ensued was three decades of tension condensed into three months of isolation together in my one bedroom apartment.

Despite her profession as a therapist and mine as a spiritual healer, we both experienced communication breakdowns. And at times, we experienced emotional instability. So, we each began to make compromises. After living without a television for 12 years, I finally decided to invest in one. I hoped it would behave as a bonding mechanism.

Sure enough, it did. We ended each day with our newfound favorite comedian, Sebastian Maniscalco, whose humorous anecdotes on the nuances of familial relationships lent an air of lightheartedness to our tension. Tears of laughter developed into tears of joy between mother and daughter. Two individuals who also dealt with conflicting lifestyles.

As those three months of sharing every meal together, and laughing and crying together, slowly formed into the end of our time together, my heart became filled with a gaping emptiness. Since seeing her off last week, I’ve recognized how deeply I miss my mom’s company. Our futile differences created a wall between us for so long. A wall that I wished we had torn down much sooner, especially now that I’ve witnessed the euphoria of our unity.

Parashakti and her mother photograph by Yair Golov.

My sense of loss was exacerbated further upon witnessing the unjust and unwillful death of George Floyd. A man with a family just like mine, one who wouldn’t see him smile or laugh again.

Focusing on the Present

If this year has taught us anything, it’s a lesson on the futility of planning. The Native American teachings of Eagle Medicine contain a strong focus on the future. The Eagle represents change and possibilities, all things rooted in what’s to come.

Even as an avid practitioner of this Eagle Medicine, I find myself asking some of the following questions. How do we dream forward, in the essence of the Eagle, when we’ve witnessed the unexpectedness of the Planet?

This makes it more important than ever to come into the present. Our rituals for change can include meditation, dance, journaling, or other introspective practices. Let us ask ourselves: What change should we inspire from within ourselves in order to improve the world around us?

Parashakti photo by Masayo Benoist

In addition to being a symbol of renewal, the Eagle also represents an invitation to see the bigger picture. Its overwhelming ability to soar to unfathomable heights allows it to canvas all the land that is below. It can thus review the totality of its landscape. In turn, Eagle asks us to review the totality of the landscape that is our lives, and determine what truly matters. Eagle asks us to investigate and view our own rituals for change.

Questioning What Truly Matters

For me, the realization of what truly matters comes in the form of family ties. Given and made, by blood and by choice. “Family” might be the conclusion many come to. And it could refer to a need for reconnection or perhaps a need to cut the cord and fly free.

I think on the time I spent trying to “fix” those around me. My family in Israel used to call me the “Missionary” for my Yogic lifestyle (which they related to living in an ashram) and staunch attempts to change the way they live. When I wasn’t preaching the healing powers of superfoods, I was — and this may sound mundane — aiming to convert them to the ways of the Vitamix. And, though my mom is a loyal Vitamix user today, the bigger picture is that I see the error in my actions.

I wanted to eliminate the differences between us, in lifestyle and in beliefs. I felt that contrasts were roadblocks instead of learning opportunities. These last three months under lockdown orders with my mom sent me into a sort of forced acceptance. And it’s one that I’m grateful for as I look back.

More than anything, the experience has allowed me to see that, in order to deepen relationships, we must really be willing to do the work. We must be willing to confront difficult emotions and dormant prejudices to achieve new beginnings.

This question of what truly matters not only exists on an individual level. It exists on a societal level as well. And currently, it can be answered with a resounding “Black Lives Matter.” Much like our individual responses to this query, we must be driven to listen.

Healing Ceremonies for Harmony

New beginnings and rituals for change have become something of a running theme in my life. The onset of COVID-19 turned all my professional opportunities upside down. In fact, I built an entire program with rituals for change around this concept of starting anew, which I refer to as The East Gate.

Through the use of energetically-charged and ceremonially blessed jewelry, I lead people into the discovery of the unknown in their own lives. Naturally, the aforementioned jewelry I use to conduct the journey comes in the shape of the Eagle, and features all kinds of stones.

Now that the beaches have reopened in Los Angeles, I pack up my traveling altar and head down to the ocean. The stone I find myself turning to and dancing with the most in recent days is Rose Quartz.

From left to right: Visionary Winged One Pendant designed by Parashakti & SunDancer Winged One Pendant designed by Kabartsy. Photo credit: Eric Allan.

This blush-colored rock represents universal love. It is often used in the healing of the heart, and in friendship and relationship mediation rituals, in which two wounded parties can re-establish harmony.

With so much tension and injustice plaguing our world right now, I’ve been bringing Rose Quartz into nearly every Zoom meeting and meditation session. I’ve even been wearing it proudly to the grocery store, around my apartment, and (especially) amid my loved ones.

Due to its ability to connect to the heart chakra, this powerful stone is known for fostering empathy, peace, and understanding — all values that desperately need to be applied to the current climate.

Dance as a Healing Art, part of Rituals for Change

When I wandered down to the beach yesterday, I decided to practice what I know best: Movement as Medicine. In my personal practice, known as Dance of Liberation, I lead workshops on mindful dance and encourage dancers to wear blindfolds while they let their bodies pave the way for healing through movement.

Parashakti with blindfold for Dance of Liberation. Photo by Masayo Benoist

The blindfold encourages self-reflection. When you’re not fixated on the movements of others, thus allowing you to let go of how others perceive your own movement, you channel a special kind of connection. This connection often contains a newfound self-love, while still allowing you to retain a sense of community, since you can feel the presence of your fellow blindfolded dancers.

As I donned my rose quartz and dipped my toes into the cool salt water, however, I decided to leave the blindfold behind. This time, I wanted to be presently aware of my surroundings, understanding how essential it is to mobilizing external change.

Parashakti Dancing by the Ocean Photo Credit: Eric Allan / Parashakti is wearing white leggings from

As the pandemic looms, so many people are wondering what they can do to support their brothers and sisters when protesting is not an option. Perhaps that solution is self-reflection. When we’re not signing petitions or donating to noble causes, we can sit with ourselves, educate ourselves, educate the people in our lives, and adjust small habits. We can eliminate hurtful language, check in on impacted friends, and continue to spread the word.

We can clutch our Rose Quartz in one hand as a prayer for peace and raise our fist with the other as a simple ritual for change. Introspection is not inactivity. Quite the contrary, it is an acknowledgement that systemic change starts with self-change. It’s no coincidence that the influential Eagle is the Spirit Animal of my practice. Native to North America, this magnificent creature has aptly become a symbol of freedom.

And as we fight for the freedoms of our black brothers and sisters to be restored, we should use the Eagle’s symbolism as a driving force for reform.

Rose Quartz as Part of a Ritual for Change

Parashakti has just launched the Rose Quartz stone in her Winged Ones line. These power objects are part of her East Gate program. This is a multi-faceted healing journey for those who are undergoing hardship and looking for positive rituals for change. She is currently donating 3% of each purchase to Color of Change, a racial justice organization committed to fighting racism in communities across America. Click here to purchase your Winged One & be part of the movement!

For a comprehensive resource on how you can support the Black Lives Matter movement and victims of police brutality, please click here. This page consists of links to memorial funds, petitions you can sign, ways you can help demonstrators, and more.

You can also see a complete breakdown below. A huge, soaring THANK YOU to all those who helped lay the groundwork for this list:

• Donate to the victims of police brutality
• Support the demonstrators
• Give directly to our dear friend Haile Supreme who is organizing on the ground in Minnesota
• Another comprehensive list of bail programs for demonstrators
• Other important places to donate
• Donate to Black owned businesses
• Donate to The Loveland Foundation to give therapy to Black women and girls
• Fight police brutality: Campaign Zero

Links for white folks who want to help:

• If you only look at one thing, start with this comprehensive resource
• Your opportunity + invitation to become an accomplice
• Read + take action: 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
• Sign up for Rachel Cargle’s #dothework 30 day course
• Learn how to be anti-racist at Monique Melton’s Shine Bright School
• RSVP for Daybreaker’s Study Hall on How To Be Anti-Racist

Educational resources on police brutality:

• Check out aworldwithoutpolice.org for a super comprehensive study guide on what you want to know about police + our society
• Watch Phillip Atiba Goff from the Center for Policing Equity in an actionable TED talk on the history of the US police force
• Watch “13th” by Ava DuVernay on Netflix on the history of slavery, jim crow, and mass incarceration

Resources for demonstrators:

• ACLU on knowing your rights while protesting
• VICE: Know Your Rights: Filming the Police
• How to navigate facial recognition technology

People & organizations to support/follow:

• Follow Rachel Cargle @rachel.cargle
• Follow Monique Melton @moemotivate
• Follow Layla Saad @laylafsaad
• Connect with the Movement for Black Lives
• Connect with Black Lives Matter

Winged Ones Photos

A SPECIAL Prayer of deep Gratitude to our in-house Winged Ones photographer, Eric Allen. His gift of creative energy, flow, and healing through photography captures a depth of truth, authenticity, and magic. View Eric Allen‘s brilliant work!

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Self-Transformation Rituals for Change appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

We can move to create connection in chaos

On a Sunday morning, I find myself quarantined in my West Hollywood apartment, itching to move and shake and find ways to create connection in chaos. My mom, who hasn’t been able to return to her home in Tel Aviv due to the stay-at-home orders, has converted my living room into a studio apartment.

Seeking serenity and a space of my own, I shut the door, throw open my bedroom window, blast my music, put on a blindfold, and let my body heal through dance. I am only one of many. By now, most of us have seen the stir-crazy balcony renditions of song and dance in various parts of the world, such as Italy, Spain, and my place of birth, Israel.

In an effort to form connections with neighbors amid isolation, people from all over the world are taking to their patios to put on an uninhibited show. The Conscious Dance movement and the concept of Movement as Medicine have been part of my life for nearly two decades now. And now, more than ever, my biggest breakthroughs come when I get up and dance. In these times of uncertainty, I come upon a bold realization: Dance often represents a desire to be free.

It’s pure kismet that my participation in OneDanceTribe’s global virtual retreat comes right at this time when people are stuck at home, yearning for a sense of movement and freedom.

A Virtual Healing Opportunity

In this time of separation and social distancing, OneDanceTribe saw an opportunity to heal. OneDanceTribe is a global community committed to furthering the Conscious Dance movement’s reach. As a diligent Shamanic practitioner and Conscious Dance facilitator , I am honored to be co hosting and co-facilitating in their upcoming four-day live online Conscious Dance retreat, OneDanceTribe Global 2020, from May 21-24.

This passionate and proactive response to crisis is typical of OneDanceTribe’s founders, Amara Pagano and Pier Paolo de Angelis. Every facet of this retreat has been carefully coordinated and thought-out by the husband-wife team, who have committed nearly 20 years to the advancement of the Conscious Dance movement.

Amara & Paolo, founders of OneDanceTribe. Photo Jan Frommel

“I think it all comes down to one word, which is ‘transformation,’” explains Paolo. “And when I speak about transformation, it’s not in the sense that there’s something wrong that we need to transform, but because ‘transformation’ in my language is the equivalent to evolution.”

Paolo pictured at last year’s live and in-person OneDanceTribe retreat. Photo Jan Frommel

This is precisely the theme of OneDanceTribe Global 2020: to unite teachers, dancers and healers around the theme of transformation. This transformation can refer to a personal evolution or an external manifestation of one’s deepest desires.

Megha Nancy Buttenheim, founder of Let Your Yoga Dance, hosts a OneDanceTribe workshop. Photo by Ed Fabry.

“I know that right now in the world there is cacophony going on, but here, the work, the dance, the movement of all of us together is really raising our consciousness to quite unknown heights,” reflects Megha Nancy Buttenheim, founder of Let Your Yoga Dance and a OneDanceTribe co-facilitator. “I hope to dance with OneDanceTribe forever and always.”

OneDanceTribe facilitators pictured together at last year’s retreat. Photo by Ed Fabry.

With round-the-clock sessions hosted by 25 international teachers, Amara and Paolo have managed to attract participants from every continent to this online retreat that covers 24 different time zones.

Vincent Martinez-Griego, founder of SoulMotion, hosts a OneDanceTribe workshop. Photo by Ed Fabry.

“Just being with colleagues, being able to enter into an equal space and sharing our triumphs, our terror, and the ways in which we approach movement… is a bonanza,” says Vincent Martinez-Grieco, founder of SoulMotion and also a OneDanceTribe co-facilitator. “It’s a richness I look forward to every year.”

Opening up to Change

Prior to the introduction of OneDanceTribe’s global virtual retreat, I had been reflecting extensively on the uncertainty and sudden changes that overwhelm us all right now. When COVID-19 arrived on the scene, I was in New York preparing to open up a Conscious Dance Movement Center under Integral Yoga, where I acquired my teacher training.

This dream was halted. Yet, in the wake of its pause, I’m discovering my own new beginnings. I’ve centered my focus on my East Gate program and its accompanying jewelry line, The Winged Ones. Ironically, this program dedicated to helping others discover their new beginnings has reached its peak potential during a new beginning of my own.

Furthermore, it’s allowed me to dive head-first into preparing sessions for OneDanceTribe’s upcoming retreat. In addition to dreaming soulful themes for the workshops I’ll offer, I’m preparing once again to offer one-on-one SoulHealing sessions based on the wisdom and teachings of the East Gate.

Though the virtual medium isn’t a new expression of my one-on-one sessions, the idea of connecting with and helping people from around the world thrills me. Since its inception, Amara and Paolo have envisioned OneDanceTribe as an outlet where all the forms of Conscious Dance (and its sister practices of yoga and meditation) come together. As someone whose life has encapsulated all of these components, I’m riveted by the journey that awaits me as a facilitator for their retreat during which we can collectively create connection in chaos.

The Story behind the Movement

Amara and Paolo didn’t simply stumble upon this shared purpose to create a Conscious Dance Movement that unites the community. In fact, the two have remarkably different backgrounds. For Amara, the journey to enlightenment began at a young age.

Amara and Paolo at OneDanceTribe

“I always loved movement,” Amara recalls. “As a child, I grew up dancing quite a bit… I delved deeply into the dance. I wanted to do choreography.”

At 15 years old, Amara was accepted into a prestigious performing arts high school in Philadelphia where she felt set to fulfill her destiny. Her parents, however, did not share her enthusiasm, and extinguished her hopes of enrolling.

This didn’t stop Amara from revisiting the idea in her adult years. At the age of 18, while attending Evergreen State College, she was able to design her own program for exploring movement as a healing art.

It was during her college years that Amara began to realize her purpose for Conscious Dance. At the age of 20, she began an apprenticeship with Gabrielle Roth, the founder of the 5Rhythms approach to movement and dance. Her apprenticeship with Roth took her around the world, honing her skills as a 5Rhythms teacher.

Amara Pagano dancing on the beach for Azul. Photo Yolanda Pelayo

She opened the first movement studio dedicated to conscious dance in Olympia, Washington, and eventually moved to Hawaii where she met Paolo. It is in Hawaii that her own body of work Azul began to form and eventually led to the creation of the School of Azul.

“I took a different route to [Conscious Dance],” Paolo says. “I came to the movement starting with yoga and meditation. I was living in New York City where I had an [event coordination] business, and I was very miserable. Very successful and very miserable.”

For Paolo, the introduction to mindfulness practice came from a consultant who invited him to the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health for a weekend. It turned out to be a weekend that would change the entire course of his personal and professional life. Six years after that experience, he found himself in a two-year stint as Chairman of Kripalu — a career move that defined his future endeavors.

Pier Paolo de Angelis at OneDanceTribe Europe

With his long-established business acumen and newfound knowledge of mindfulness-based education, he decided to open his own institute in Maui, where he met Amara and first experienced Conscious Dance as a mindfulness practice.

“Having come from an experience of yoga and meditation, I had some of the tools that I needed to find that movement was actually a very complete vehicle for self-exploration and healing,” Paolo adds.

From there, the two embarked on a journey that would lead them to the founding of OneDanceTribe. Parallel to the development of this community oriented work, Amara nurtured the birth of a new School of conscious dance called Path of Azul. Azul is a path of personal transformation that utilizes movement as a vehicle for awakening love. Amara and Paolo host a variety of Azul workshops, retreats and trainings, in addition to OneDanceTribe events, encompassing various modalities and forms of Conscious Dance, such as 5Rhythms, Open Floor, Soul Motion and Movement Medicine.

It is this mission of theirs that aligns with the teachings of Sri Swami Satchidananda, the founder of Integral Yoga, who stated: “Truth is one, paths are many.” With this goal to unite the various forms of Conscious Dance under one umbrella, Amara and Paolo encourage their students to embrace acceptance — of each other’s beliefs, healing processes, and experiences.

After several years of teaching this philosophy in their workshops and events, in November, 2019, Amara and Paolo gathered the global Conscious Dance community in an online Conference that reached 14,000 people in 124 countries. For those who can’t afford to take in-person classes or travel to retreats, they bring the practice to their homes — all in an effort to convert Conscious Dance to a mainstream mindfulness movement like yoga.

“It’s healing some of the separations in the [Conscious Dance] field and helping us to understand that we’re actually stronger when we come together,” Amara says. “It highlights and celebrates all our uniqueness, all our differences, all of what makes each branch special. The motion of coming together is very powerful for us to learn. We are one planet, we are one Earth, and we need to figure out how to work together.”

Dance in a way that Creates Connection in Chaos at OneDanceTribe Global

Join Parashakti at OneDanceTribe Global from May 21-24, where she will host virtual one-on-one healing sessions and facilitate online dance workshops. If you’re interested in learning more and signing up, click here.

In the Spirit of transformative experiences, she is also offering 50% off her East Gate program and accompanying Winged Ones pendants for those in need of emotional healing during COVID-19.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post OneDanceTribe Creates Connection in Chaos appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

You can Support Healing in Times of Quarantine and Radical Change

There’s a pandemic upon us. And I’m not just referring to the one everybody’s talking about. I’m referring to the quieter contagion that underscores it—one of anxiety, uncertainty, and transition. Whether you’re an essential worker who has had to transition into the chaos of high-demand services, an everyday employee who has had to transition to remote work, or an at-risk individual who has had to transition to complete and total isolation, you’re undergoing a change. When we go through times of change, we need to find ways to support healing.

In this period of more questions than answers, I turn to the East.

Understanding the East

As a Shamanic Practitioner and carrier of Eagle Medicine, the Native American Medicine Wheel plays a very meaningful place in my life. This Medicine Wheel consists of seven directions. These are: North, South, East, West, the Above, the Below, and the Self.

So, why have I chosen to focus on the East?

The sun rises in the East, bringing with it a new day and new possibilities. Thus, the East represents rebirth, new beginnings, and an invitation for personal growth. Opening our East Gate allows us to realize this potential and recognize our new beginnings. For me, this realization could not have come at a more transitionary time in my life.

Parashakti with Elder Wakia Un Manee (“Thunder He Walks”) after receiving Eagle feathers for completing East Gate teachings.

Moments of Sudden Changes in Direction

COVID-19 struck just as I was hitting a high in my career as a Movement Therapist and lifelong dancer. I was in New York, currently the country’s epicenter of infection, preparing to open the first-ever Conscious Dance Movement Division at Integral Yoga founded by Sri Swami Satchidananda.

And then, the music suddenly stopped.

In the midst of developing a program dedicated to connection, society forced self-isolation upon us all — with just cause, nonetheless.

Now, I find myself back in my Los Angeles home, quarantined with my Mom, whose flight back to her home in Tel Aviv was suspended in light of the pandemic. This situation alone has instilled new patience in me birthing an incredible new bond. Little did I know that after not living together for twenty-seven years my Mom has become my favorite flatmate. It is during this time fraught with forced acceptance, reacquaintance with familial ties, and self -reflection that an idea dawns on me.

New Beginnings in Times of Pause

I have been a facilitator of the Conscious Dance Movement for over 20 years, promoting the healing qualities of Dance for our mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Now, I understand that the times – and my own recent experience – have called upon me to host an offering that delves deeper into the foundations of Eagle Medicine.

The Symbolic Meaning of the Eagle

Eagle Medicine channels the wise and majestic Spirit of the Eagle in an effort to help us achieve introspection and connection to the bigger picture. The Eagle is one of the most honored creatures in Native American tradition, and it’s believed that its high-gliding power allows it to be closer to the Creator.

When not perched in thought, the Eagle soars higher than any other bird, uncovering uncharted territories inaccessible to the human eye. Therefore, the Eagle represents the limitless depths of our Soul that we can uncover through the quiet examination of the self.

It is with the use of these principles of Eagle Medicine that I uncover a new beginning, one that I call The East Gate.

“I opened my East Gate about six months ago and I found love, intimacy, work, clients and a new career path,” says Danielle Rose, founder of LightsUp. “And then COVID hit. Everything changed. And now all the same things are happening again. This time, I go into the depths of beginning again. Without rushing, without judgement.”

Danielle Rose, founder of LightsUp, with her Winged Ones pendant.

This new practice consists of two elements: a sacred jewelry power object made of energetically-charged Labradorite stone, and a ceremonial journey that includes various meditations and daily rituals. These power objects, also known as “Winged Ones,” activate our sense of clarity, allowing us to better envision our new beginning.

Photo by Eric Allen. Close-up of Winged Ones pendant, handcrafted with energetically-charged Labradorite stone.

The Medicine in Regular Practice

“Such medicine is exactly what the collective needs most right now,” says Dr. Kristy Vanacore, a holistic healer and empowerment coach based in New York who recently participated in The East Gate program. “As I shift my focus inward, as we are all being asked to do—a collective ‘time-in,’ I call upon my guides to help me navigate these unprecedented global shifts with ease and grace. As I connect with the Winged Ones, the Eagle reminds me that I can fly above the storm.”

Dr. Kristy Vanacore with her Winged Ones pendant.

My Conscious Dance and Movement as Medicine practice has allowed me to engage in physical and mental healing for decades. Yet now I’m able to experience something deeper. I’m able to explore the power of spiritual healing with Eagle Medicine as the world collectively ails.

“Connecting to Eagle Medicine is a calling for a shift of perspective”, says Kai Karrel, a fellow spiritual teacher and Shamanic facilitator. “Connecting to a sacred talisman, such as the Eagle of Winged Ones, in relation to the meditative practices… allows us to remain centered within this storm. To raise and elevate and bring about a transformative quality to the way we see ourselves and our path ahead.”

Spiritual teacher and Shamanic facilitator Kai Karrel with his Winged Ones pendant.

Virtual Connections and Looking to the East to Support Healing

The new beginning of my East Gate offering is also compounded by the new normal of this virtual connection we’re all encountering. I, like most, have surrendered my practice to the internet. Perhaps it’s not what comes to mind when we think of a sacred space, yet these virtual meditations have allowed me to heal remotely — another new endeavor reminiscent of the qualities of the East.

Stepping into the East Gate

I invite individuals from all walks of life to practice opening their East Gate. It all begins with a simple meditation, in which they are called to Surrender to the Unknown.

Sign up to receive the Surrender into the Unknown Meditation.

We are all surrounded by the unknown today and accepting this uncertainty is key to settling into this new normal.

Setting Up the Meditation Practice

A clean, calm, sacred space is encouraged for this practice to support healing. Create this environment by cleansing with sage, placing a glass of water on your altar (or wherever you choose to do your meditation), lighting a candle with an intention or prayer for your practice, and asking yourself: What is it you are surrendering to?

“During this time of expansive change comes infinite possibility for the world we want to see,” says Executive Coach Heather Hanson, who participated in the program with husband and business partner Colby Wickman. “The Winged Ones could not have come at a more synchronistic time in our lives. Our shared vision of a world completely healed and whole requires tremendous courage, fearlessness, and… solitary flight — all characteristics of the Eagle’s medicine.”

Heather Hanson and Colby Wickman of Untethered Consulting after completing the East Gate program.

I acknowledge that this “new normal” has left many vulnerable. Healthcare workers and essential employees at the frontlines of the fight are not the only ones suffering. Those battling addictions and mental illness have also been left vulnerable by the chaos that currently encircles us.

Brian Beckmann

“As a Bank Manager and as a Spiritual seeker, I live in both worlds,” says Brian Beckmann, a Wells Fargo branch manager. “There is always noise and pressure in daily work. My spiritual practice of many years is dedicated to connecting and providing a platform for self-discovery with the people in a corporate environment. The East Gate program supports me in stepping into the sacred.”

Coping with Unusual Conditions

Opening ourselves up to the fear and uncertainty — whether through Conscious Dance, meditation, or other healing hobbies and rituals — may be the best way to cope in these unusual conditions and support healing.

“Most of us just want to find our way home,” says Antonia Montalvo. Antonio is a former Dance of Liberation participant, a recovering addict, and founder of numerous women’s sober living homes. “I found my soul’s purpose. I’m in my creative genius; I can breathe, I have faith, I have trust, and I’m able to move on and let go much faster.”

Antonia Montolvo, founder of the Antonia Maria Foundation, with her Winged Ones pendant.

It’s difficult to absorb the concept of surrender in a time that’s all about fighting. The fight against COVID-19. The fight toward effective treatments and widespread recovery. And the fight for a return to normalcy. In the midst of all that, we forget that surrender sometimes plays an important role too. After all, it’s when we surrender to the things that we cannot change that we often discover new beginnings. For me, not a day passes where I don’t surrender to the dance floor in my West Hollywood apartment.

“A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the Eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.” – Crazy Horse

East Gate Program Offers

In light of the current pandemic, Parashakti is offering 50% off her East Gate Program and supplemental Winged Ones Power Object Pendant in order to support healing and make spiritual healing more accessible to those in need at this time. You can also join her at OneDanceTribe Global, an online Conscious Dance retreat, May 21 – 24. The online retreat consists of 25 live sessions hosted by a team of teachers from around the world.

A deep bow and wings of gratitude to Photographer Eric Allen for his incredible support and for capturing the divine essence of our latest Winged Ones design, “The Visionary.”

One Dance Tribe Global as a Source of Healing

Join Parashakti May 21 – 24 at OneDanceTribe Global 2020. This live online Conscious Dance Retreat features School Founders and Senior Teachers. Presenters will weave all sessions as one to explore transformation to support healing.

The Retreat will span over four days, cover all time zones and offer 25 sessions woven into one fabric. The format guides us through a deep transformational journey supporting what is happening in our inner and outer world at this moment in time.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to explore the new that is emerging from this global crisis and receive tools and inspiration for your life and work. Interact live with an amazing international team of senior teachers and connect with dancers from all over the world. All are welcome, no previous experience required. OneDanceTribeGlobal 2020.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Support Healing through Meditation and Practice appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Liberation and the Shamanic Journey are Processes of Learning

We are always being invited to shed unwanted habits and patterns. And to be empowered to identify our highest purpose and then to experience the freedom to pursue it. Liberation is, however, no easy task. It is not so much a state of being as a process of becoming. The shamanic journey takes us on the path of liberation.

As a leader and facilitator in the conscious dance movement, I have spent 20 years in my own “laboratory,” exploring the concepts and processes of freedom through movement, spiritual connectedness, and prayer. This has led me to hone a modality called Dance of Liberation. For me, the process of liberation is a shamanic journey. It is a journey that requires us to have a contract with our own souls, and to revisit that contract continuously, so that we are ever present to our deepest callings.

Kai Karrel and the Shamanic Journey

In my exploration, I have encountered, worked with, and relied upon wisdom teachers to help ferry me through the dark nights that are an essential, if deeply uncomfortable, part of the shamanic journey. One of my most treasured wisdom teachers is Kai Karrel. Kai is a spiritual teacher, writer, mystic, and practicing medium of profound knowledge and experience. In recent years, he’s narrowed his focus and attention to Afro-Brazilian Shamanic teachings. He works with the wisdom of the forest, its native inhabitants, and ancient traditions in order to heal and promote awakening. Kai leads hundreds in workshops and retreats around the world.

Kai has been instrumental in teaching me about my own Dance of Liberation – and the collective Dance we all participate in. I sat with him to explore his ideas about finding our way through the darkness to freedom, so that we can live lives of spiritual lightness and wonder.

Interview with Kai Karrel

Parashakti: What does Liberation mean to you? What is it we try to liberate ourselves from?

Kai: Liberation is having the ability to choose, the freedom, and the courage to allow our lives to turn from being a monologue with life into a dialogue, or a dance if you will. An expression of a flowing movement, rather than a monotonous repetitive choice-less action. We walk, act and behave ourselves into situations we have no awareness over. Nor do we understand how we got to where we are. We just “flow.” We let life pull us here and there. These choices are almost predetermined, and we just realize our role in this symphony we call life.

When we are confronted with a difficult situation, we tend to call it a “problem.” It is our approach, and our attitude which will determine if this is a mindless-response or a heart-born choice. When we are confronted with a positive situation, we tend to call it “pleasant, beautiful, beneficial.” It is our habits and our patterns which determine if we’ll be able to see through and judge truly, do I grow from this or not?

We are born open, trusting, we absorb what we see, what we encounter from our surroundings. We are born into a mode of “survival,”into learning we need to protect ourselves. And slowly but surely, we build walls around our hearts, making sure that we would not get hurt. We tend to evaluate situations more by judging if they are painful or pleasant, and less if we grow and expand, or grow further away from ourselves.

We live our life in constant conflict. In our endless effort to become something we believe will make us feel whole, happy, content. It’s like a dancer who cares for nothing more than the applause at the end of their performance. Or dancing with the intention to perfect each and every move, to dance in such rhythm, in such gusto that the dance will achieve its own life, it’s ultimate perfection. We live our lives in an endless attempt to ignore our flaws and humanity, and aspire to reach a heavenly, improbable divine. Reach a stature of saintly recognition, professional acknowledgement, or in other words, feel successful or at the very least, loved.

So, given all of these challenges, how do we find liberation? Is it possible?

Once we embrace this shamanic journey, and acknowledge the glimpses of freedom we touch within our own dance, we allow a deeper, more profound healing to take place. We recognize the only Liberation would be the Liberation from the confines we’ve agreed to put ourselves into. We take the responsibility, owning our own actions, choosing as we did while dancing what is our own authentic voice, how do we truly decide to move within our lives. Liberation means that our actions are an endless acceptance of who we are, a complete whole being, which is on its process and is forever walking the path of its becoming. An endless story which unfolds with our every move, with every breath we choose to take.

Liberation means choice. It means the ability to respond, the ability to offer our own voice.

In the Dance of Liberation™, on the dance floor, we incorporate blindfolds. This is an idea that is found in other shamanic traditions, to help people feel less self-conscious and to welcome the darkness. To both surrender to it, work with it, and use it. Can you speak about what we can remember when we are in the midst of darkness?

We need nothing, look for nothing, aspire to all that is already there. We dance with an open intent to discover our present moment, to hold our own space. It is there, in those moments we let go, that our own path is revealed. Our inner voice finds its self-expression. It is there, in the unknown, that the dialogue with life can really happen.

When we dance without caring if we are being seen, if we dance in the “right” way, if we dance gracefully or not, if we are in accordance with the music, not even if we look “good” to our fellow dancers.

When we can’t see, all that remains is a shared beat, a mutual harmony of fellow explorers, diving into their own discovery.

Can you share more about what that inner and shared discovery might look like? And how that truly connects us all?

Dancers are guided by a constant and binding thread. The constant beat of the drummers’ drum. The incessant flow of the all-enveloping music that surrounds and nurtures their each and every movement.  As they begin to move, the music, the beat, their breath and body all merge into one harmonious resonance. The music carries the dancer into deeper realms of letting go, allowing them to relax and open themselves to a spontaneous flow of movement, unknown to them, unplanned, and definitely not choreographed. As they sway and explore these new sensations, a new type of movement is allowed to be born. Since the music has no language, it becomes an extension of the dancers inner most soul. Wording its expression and surfacing with and through their body, their feet and their breath.

A deep sense of togetherness arises, a fellowship that forms between those who walk side by side on the same path. We feel connected, maybe for the first time, without the need to see and define each other. Without knowing or coming to conclusions about those around us, just letting them be, as they are, with the acceptance of our own process.

 Can you speak to the shamanic cycle of rebirth, and how it can be experienced through dance?

This cycle, danced and experienced in the Dance of Liberation™, is the cycle of growth, the timeless story of those who walk the hills and valleys of the spiritual path and the shamanic journey. It is our own story, of choosing a human form, allowing the divine experience to enter into darkness, choosing to cover its own eyes, and search and discover its own dance, its endless movement just to merge back into stillness at the end of this cycle, being whole, complete, and filled with our inner light.

Kai Karrel and the Shamanic Teachings

Kai Karrel is a writer, mystical travel, poet and student of shamanic teachings. kaikarrel.com.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Kai Karrel on the Shamanic Journey of Dance appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Lesley-Ann Brandt Photo by Leslie Alejandro.

Off the set, on the Mat with Lesley-Ann Brandt

Rising star Lesley-Ann Brandt plays a demon on Netflix’s Lucifer. In real life, she’s more of an angel – a committed activist, yogini, vegan, mother, and ambassador for Earthchild Project, a group teaching health and wellness and lifestyle skills to under-resourced children in her homeland of South Africa.

Born in apartheid Cape Town – “the original deep south”, as she’s called it – Lesley-Ann endured segregation and systemic racism before emigrating at the age of 17. Following her creative passions to Los Angeles, she appeared on the Starz Spartacus series, Chuck, CSI:NY, Gotham, and Single Ladies before gaining international fandom (and 1.8 million IG followers) on Lucifer , one of Netflix’s most streamed series. Los Angeles also brought her a spiritual awakening when she discovered yoga through her teacher, Joe K, co-founder of Urban 728 Yoga.

After completing a 21-day yoga challenge, I wanted to find out how yogic practice has awoken her to a new way of relating to herself, her career and relationships, and expanded her sense of service to humanity.

Parashakti: How have truly listened to the call of your soul? To that inner teacher, your inner higher power guidance that is running the show?

Lesley-Ann: I was born and raised in South Africa. I was born in ‘81 and into apartheid, a very tumultuous time in my country’s history. What I saw and dealt with a lot as a child was segregation. I had to grow up really quickly, instead of having these things explained to me. The South African way is very much just to keep going, keep pushing, just get things done, often not dealing with issues or, listening to our bodies or our minds or our soul, even when what we really should do is sit with it and sort of listen. It was outside of South Africa and outside of my normal cultural upbringing that I discovered yoga, and really built a sense of prioritizing of what was really, truly, genuinely important.

What I’ve learned from my yoga practice over the last 10 years with Joe is that nourishing your soul and your mind is equally as important as the physical part of taking care of your body and working out. I was the typical gym rat, never taking a moment to breathe. My career, my job, my industry is very busy. It’s very noisy, it’s very self-involved in a lot of ways. Yoga is the opposite of that. When you’re practicing with a room of people, you’re flowing together, you’re growing together, you’re feeding off of each other’s energies. I’m joining a community who already works daily towards uplifting their individual communities. Our space at Urban 728 is so sacred and beautiful and the thing that I take away from there, I apply to my daily life.

Parashakti: Ten years ago you took your first yoga class. Was that a “wake up” call?

Lesley-Ann: I was a typical out-of-work actress trying to make it. It is Hollywood, if that’s all your life is about, it’s a very shallow life. So I was on that hamster wheel and trying to survive and assimilate into a new culture. My parents were in New Zealand and I didn’t have my tribe of people and I was still in the process of building that chosen family, when you move to a new country. I discovered Joe, who was teaching at a yoga studio at the time, literally a block from my apartment. I had done a little bit of Bikram. I wasn’t a fan of that rigid practice generally. Every body is different, [and] I just preferred the messages I was getting from Joe, and I loved how he incorporated what was going on in the world into the classroom, coupled with the music and the breath. It was, I remember distinctly, the one time my mind shut off for an hour, which was such a gift to me at the time. Then I just fell in love with it. I felt lighter. I felt I unpacked a lot of luggage.

Through that, I met friends, and I became part of this community. What was incredibly important was to find connections outside of the business. It’s very easy to continually talk about the business or about shows and TV and film. Here I was connecting with people who had nothing to do with Hollywood. We were talking about life and we were connecting on so many other levels and deeper levels, which was really beautiful. And then I’ve never been able to not do yoga. Regardless of where I am working, the first thing on my list is to find the closest yoga school? What are the reviews and who are the teachers? I need to find my homing beacon, my reset button.

Lesley-Ann Brandt at Urban 728 Yoga

Parashakti: In your 21-day challenge at Urban 728 was there a challenge you brought to your mat, or an a-ha moment that you’re comfortable sharing?

Lesley-Ann: Yeah. I am your typical A type. I want to do everything yesterday, keep pushing, keep pushing, keep working through. I’m a working mother so I’m always being torn in 40 million directions. And there were days in this challenge when I cried, to be honest, because I was exhausted from work and I had my mother hat on. And there were days when I couldn’t make it to Urban so I practiced in my trailer on set and lit candles and played music and meditated. I think [I recognized] it’s it’s okay to not do it all in a day. You know, it doesn’t make you a bad mother. It doesn’t make you a bad wife. It doesn’t make you a bad person. So I distinctly remember having a moment in my trailer on set and my candles are lit and tears are just streaming down my face cause I was being kind to myself, for the first time in a long time. I gave myself a big hug and it was really special. I talked to my husband about it afterwards. It was very profound for me in that moment.

Lesley-Ann Brandt and Yoga Teacher Joe K

Parashakti: What have the deeper practices of yoga brought you and what you’re doing for the world with it. What is your soul now looking into wanting to create on a bigger level for humanity, for yourself, for your family, for your son?

Lesley-Ann:The first word that comes to mind is this philosophy we have in South Africa called Ubuntu, which roughly translated means humanity towards others. And it means that I cannot prosper unless everyone does. I just did this reading of a children’s book recently for the Calm App benefiting Red, which is an organization that provides lifesaving AIDS medication to people. And in the book there’s a story about this man coming to a village and having a bag of candy and saying, “The first person to race up to the tree will get the entire bag of candy.” So he says this to a bunch of kids and then to his surprise, all the kids join hands and they all run to the tree together. And the man goes, “Why did you do that?” And they said, “Well, how can one of us enjoy candy when everyone else is unhappy?” And I think the greater lesson for me is carrying that philosophy here. We are all are one. We are all one giant bowl of energy.

Lesley-Ann Brandt at Earthchild Project

Parashakti: That’s so, so beautiful. As you’re doing the Earthchild Project, what do you see in terms of being able to expand your vision?

Lesley-Ann: It is tough when I go home. In Los Angeles here we have, sadly a huge homeless community and we see it when we go down to Skid Row, but in South Africa it’s the small kids living on the streets or kids who are begging. And that’s always difficult when I go back.?I just was so humbled, because through the gift of yoga and meditation, [the Earthchild Project] teaches these kids who are living in and amongst crazy violence and poverty, and parents who are dealing with substance abuse, dealing with things that children should not ever in their lives ever have to go through.

And I just was so inspired by the teachers at the Earthchild project because they have dedicated themselves to gifting these children with a philosophy of humanity and kindness, and teaching them how to respect their bodies and the environment. Unless we all prosper as humanity, none of us will really truly be free to express and live our fullest lives. I just didn’t see how you see suffering around you and then go about your life as though it’s okay. These kids are so special. I spoke with the director [Janna Kretzmar] the other day and they just can’t believe that people in America care about them.

Learn more about Lesley-Ann Brandt and her work, follow her on IG at @lesleyannbrandt.

Learn more about Earthchild Project

Earthchild Project is a nonprofit operating in eight schools in two townships in Cape Town, supplementing school curriculum with free yoga, meditation, organic gardening, and environmental education. Their mission is to create meaningful and sustainable change by providing practical skills in how to live a holistic, balanced lifestyle with a focus on self-awareness, health and the environment.

“On behalf of the Urban 728 Yoga we would like to thank and appreciate everyone that connected with us during the 21-day challenge. We believe in the opportunity to wake up and create awareness on and off our mat through the practice of yoga. Our community expands across the world and our contributions are inspired directly through our instructors, staff and students. It has been a beautiful adventure while raising awareness with Lesley Ann Brandt to shine a light on Earth Child Project during our daily practice challenge. We look forward to building and visiting the safe space yoga studios in South Africa that will support our earth children for many years to come.” Joe K, Urban 728 Yoga.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Actor, activist, and yogini Lesley-Ann Brandt serves a higher purpose appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Joe K and Parashakti. Photo by Vanessa Viola.

Power Places offer us Space for Transition

Wherever we are, at any given moment, is a place of transition. Every millisecond, every nanosecond, an infinitude of infinitesimal, seemingly undetectable changes are occurring in our body minds and in the air and earth around us. To be alive is to be on a journey between the ever-disappearing past and the still-not-arrived-at future.  To be alive is to be moving, changing. And to be alive is to dance.

As we exist in a state of change, we can embrace the idea that a state of transition is no less relevant, important or “good” than the state of arrival. Sacredness also exists in the in-between. If we open our eyes, our ears, our hearts, psyches, and souls, we free ourselves to experience wherever we are as “a certain place.” We are free to experience a power place where the holy and the human are dancing together.  To paraphrase the visionary poet William Blake, “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it really is, infinite.”

Opening the Doors of Perception

That said – when your spirit-vision is muddied, when the “doors of perception” have gotten glued shut, when you find yourself thwarted in your Dance, how do you begin moving again? How do you return to the vibrant state in which we are meant to dwell?
One of the ways, as people from many different cultures around the world have believed since ancient times, is to go on a pilgrimage, to go to those “certain places” on our planet. These “certain places” or power places seem to have a potent magnetic field, a high vibration, a powerful mana, that helps to free us from the limitations of ordinary perception. In the process, these places can awaken us to radiant vision, awaken our bodies to the Dance.

Anthropologist Martin Gray describes the Hindu concept of tirtha, a Vedic word that originally meant “river ford, steps to a river, or place of pilgrimage.”  Tirtha evolved to mean more than physical locations.  Devout Hindus, says Gray, “believe them to be…the meeting place of heaven and earth.”

Find A Power Place on the Planet

The most intense of these power places are sometimes called “Earth’s Chakras.” These are sacred energetic vortexes like Australia’s Uluru, the Great Pyramids of Giza, Machu Picchu, Mt. Shasta, or the giant redwood groves of California. Power places foster a higher sense of connection with all life.

The California Redwoods

Among the California redwoods, the towering trees offer incredible examples of beauty, strength, wisdom, and resilience. Some of the trees have been growing for thousands of years. Predating much of the world of human society – the world as we know it. The redwoods have roots that can extend a hundred feet wide, which both help them withstand raging floods and powerful winds, and also literally feed the other trees around them. Their bark is built to withstand fires that obliterate everything else. They teach us to live where we are, to make the most of what we have and the conditions we face, to be generous, and to be magnificent.

As Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us, any tree can be a power place, as it contains the cosmos. It is the sunlight, the rain, the earth. It is all of these, and their coming together, that forms the tree. You can use the following meditation to connect to this energy of rootedness, strength, and growth.

Tree Meditation

Find a tree – and if one is not accessible to you, bring one to your mind’s eye.

Find your center with mountain pose/tadasana – planting your feet solidly beneath you, distributing your weight evenly between all four corners of each foot.

Notice the roots of the tree – how it holds onto the earth and how the earth holds onto it. Let your feet be your roots, both pushing down on the earth and pulling up the energy beneath you.

As the tree pulls up nutrients from the soil, allow the energy from your feet to travel upwards, elongating the spine, and lifting up through the crown of the head.

Notice the shape of the tree, its bark, its branches, its various textures. Observe the complexity of the tree, its solidity, its connections. Offer the tree gratitude, and then allow it to inspire internal questions. How can you feel more solid in your life? What area feels like it needs to be more planted?

The tree is rooted, deeply connected, to the earth – where are you feeling connected?

As the tree draws up energy through the roots – what is uplifting you? What causes your branches to expand and grow?

The tree provides shade to beings, homes for insects and animals, branches for bird nests. In what ways are you, or can you, show up in service of your fellow beings? How can your heart be uplifted in service?

The tree’s leaves draw in the sunlight – how do you draw in sunlight, joy, and radiance into your inner child?

Parashakti photo by Yair Golov.

Vision Quest in a Power Place

Spend a magically powerful weekend with Dance of Liberation™ founder Parashakti and master yoga instructor Joe K. Enjoy a soul-opening blend of yoga, dance, and shamanic exploration.

Dance of Liberation is based on a series of shamanic practices known as the Seven Foundations. The practice helps you shed inhibitions, heighten inner awareness, and awaken joy. This powerful soul work—blended with a unique and accessible twice daily yoga practice—is designed to ignite kindness, radiance, health, and a deep sense of renewal. At the retreat, you will experience the following.

Ride illuminating and metaphorical waves of energy while activating your flow state.
Integrate mindfulness, pranayama (breath), and yoga asanas (postures) with the deeply communal and powerfully individual experience of deliverance known as Dance of Liberation

Take advantage of one-on-one time in a power place with both Parashakti and Joe Komar. This is available throughout the retreat.

Discover the fiery lights of your most authentic self through the healing art of yoga and the freedom of dance. Return home connected with the vastness of your spiritual potential. Live a life of joy, vitality, and purpose.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post The Importance of Connecting with a Power Place appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Addiction Recovery and the Journey Home

How often throughout the day do you notice you’ve gone on autopilot? How often do you find yourself doing something that isn’t good for you, that you don’t want to do, and don’t have to do, and yet find it hard not to do – like scrolling IG, or checking Facebook for the millionth time, or mindlessly over-snacking? We all sometimes engage in addictive or compulsive behaviors of some kind. How could we not? We’re surrounded by messages that we “must have” things – along with the underlying message that we’re incomplete as we are. Who wouldn’t wanna check out? This is where a focus on addiction recovery comes in.

In recent years, I’ve thought a lot about addiction, and what some have called its opposite: connection. As the spiritual director of two addiction recovery programs, I’ve seen how substances and addictions can cut people off. I’ve also seen, and helped guide, people as they journey home – a journey that I believe is woven by connections to three elements in particular: one’s own embodied experience, heart-connection to others, and connection to Source, or an energetic force greater than oneself, however that is personally defined.

Anthropologists studying all kinds of rites of passage around the globe have described most of them as having three basic phases: the separation phase, when someone “cuts away” from their former self, deciding to leave life as they know it behind. Next is the liminal phase. This is a state in-between worlds, a place of rocky, unfamiliar terrain, of disorientation and despair, where nothing is what it used to be. Finally, people reach the reincorporation phase. This is when they come home to themselves and to the world, leaving their isolation behind and reintegrating into the world as a new, changed being.

Addiction Recovery and Spiritual Ritual

Recovery from drug and alcohol addiction can feel like this – the shedding of old skin, followed by the pain and rawness of exposure, and then a process of coming back home, learning how to get comfortable in one’s own skin. This process is not easy. Finding a pathway to faith, trust, and connection to something larger than one’s self and ego, is crucial to overcoming the confusion and anguish of the in-between stage.

Our busy, secular world often forgets or ignores the vital healing role that spiritual ritual has played for thousands of years, in grounding human beings and normalizing the chaos, pain, and uncertainty of life. Across the globe, spiritual rituals have been used to dramatize these processes to help people weather the storms of life by connecting to spirit, to community, and to their deepest voices of resilience.

Over 20 years of deep exploration of yogic, meditation, and Native American traditions, I’ve evolved certain practices that keep me rooted, whole, and connected to spirit. I live and breathe them on a daily basis – and they are indispensable to my spiritual and everyday life, especially in times of great disruption or pain. The 7 Foundations™ program is a distillation of those practices, inspired by my Native American elders and the Native American medicine wheel. The Medicine Wheel has become my soul map, bridging the spiritual realm and physical plane.

Each of the 7 Foundations is inspired by the symbolism and directions of the Native American Medicine Wheel. Medicine Wheels were physical monuments created by many Native tribes as sites for sacred ceremony, prayer, and vision quests, and meant as physical manifestations of spiritual energy. They represented the never-ending cycles of life – of birth, death, and rebirth, and were wheels of protection, enabling tribe members to gather surrounding energies into a focal point and to commune with spirit, self, and nature.

The wheel was meant a reflection of the togetherness of community, of symmetry, and balance – and also of an individual’s strengths and weaknesses. It gave people guidelines to follow for personal growth. It told people what they needed to learn and what they needed to teach. I share the 7 Foundations here in the spirit of that togetherness.

Foundation 1. Discover Your Ground: Creating Sacred Space

This tradition has been a rich guide in my work in addiction recovery. In the Native American Medicine Wheel, the first of the seven directions is the East, where the sun rises, representing new beginnings. The First Foundation represents this new beginning – a new beginning you can see, sense, and touch into. The East is also associated with the Spring, a time of planting and rebirth, and of second chances. The Medicine Wheel is itself sacred space, and so it only makes sense that we start with creating our space – because without the space, where would we start?

The essence of the spiritually-based journey of recovery is opening one’s life to the presence of spirit, to an experience of the sacred. This might seem sort of abstract – something one is supposed think about, or feel. In my experience, the first step to bringing home the sacred begins with creating physical space for sacredness in the places one inhabits, and in one’s body, beginning with grounding breathing practices.

For many people struggling with addiction or suffering from deep pain, growing up, home may not have been a safe place, emotionally or physically. Studies have shown that the more clutter there is in a space, the harder it is for people to concentrate, because the brain’s visual cortex gets overstimulated.

Creating sacred space is a process of letting go of things that no longer serve, and inviting safety, healing, and calm into one’s environment, in order to connect with spirit, and free oneself from the pressures and worries of everyday life. We return to this practice to remember that our souls are always here, ready to be reflected. Sacred space is meant to be an anchor you check in with on a daily basis, a means with which you can return home to your own soul.

Foundation 2. The Journey of Intention.

Once the clutter and distractions are gone and the space is cleared, one can begin anew, dream anew, set forth from a place of greater clarity and order.

The Second Foundation is about bringing one’s soul’s longing into conscious awareness, and establishing intention-setting as a regular practice. Learning to set intentions can turn life from an unconscious carpet ride to one in which we are steering the ship. We may not be able to control the waters, the weather, or the other people along for the ride, but we are able to make choices in the face of changing circumstances, whether those choices are things we do or ways of seeing the world and circumstances around us. The journey of intention is a journey that invites us into gratitude for what is, and mindfulness of our essential freedom.

The Second Foundation is inspired by the second direction in the Wheel – the South. The South is most often associated with the flowing of emotions. If the First Foundation and the first direction is about birth, the Second Foundation symbolizes our inner child, including the wounds that afflicted that child, and the rediscovery of child-like wonder.

In the 7 Foundations, intention setting is about pausing, getting quiet, and learning to listen to the call of the inner child. When we hear them, we hold space for and honor our deepest needs and longings.

Foundation 3. Awakening Insight: The Blindfold.

In the Native American Medicine Wheel, the third direction is the West, where the sun sets, and darkness falls.

In most shamanic traditions, the nighttime is both a setting and a metaphor for the spiritual journey. In the darkness of night, one literally can’t see the way forward, or make out the dangers lurking around. The mind, doing its best to protect us, fills in the blanks with potential terrors to keep us alert and ready to spring into action. Our senses heighten. We become extremely aware.

When we feel like we’re emotionally, spiritually, mentally “in the dark”, the discomfort of the unknown can be overwhelming, and what we often do is turn to habits that have us checking out or numbing – whether it’s alcohol or drugs, or the phone, or food, or shopping, or a desperate sense that we need other people to fill the void.

When we react this way, we forget that darkness has gifts to give.

Darkness offers a Gift of Freedom

The Third Foundation, the Blindfold, invites us into darkness, to help us free ourselves from the constraints of the ego, to face our fears, and learn to develop trust in our intuition.

The Blindfold compels us to face the unknown – and to find the anchors within ourselves. As we let go of control over how others think of us, we are invited to dance with those parts of ourselves that are uncomfortable or painful; parts that are shamed as wrong or unacceptable. These shadow parts become our dance partners. Our intuition becomes our guide. As our physical eyes are closed, our third eye can open, gifting us with visions of deep, innate wisdom, and a sense of the magic that is possible.

Foundation 4. Breathing Life.

The Fourth foundation is perhaps the one used most often: the breath. Our breath – its rhythm, its ease or difficulty, can give us a clear signal of the balance or imbalance within. Remarkably, we can also harness the breath to help regulate our inner world and find balance. Among many benefits, breathing exercises have been shown to improve the immune system, improve sleep, and reduce the symptoms of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and attention deficit disorder. As a profound tool for getting into one’s body, it’s also a profound way of connecting with Spirit.

Foundation 5. The Rhythms of Your Life.

The Fifth foundation is about harnessing the power of hearing, both for energetic healing and in order to listen deeply to the song of one’s soul. Humans have been using the power of vibrational sound to heal for tens of thousands of years. Sensitizing ourselves to the power of sound opens up new pathways of communication to our deepest intentions and dreams.

Psychologically, the mind itself can be full of “noise” – made even noisier when we’re in the presence of voices of despair, unworthiness, anxiety, or addiction. The fifth foundation is about quieting this noise and literally tuning into a higher vibration – and a more harmonic state of being.

In the Medicine Wheel, the fifth direction is Above – symbolized by Father Sky. The Sky represents infinite possibilities, allowing you to get in touch with an infinite space within you. When you tune into the song of your soul, you expand. You dream big.

Foundation 6. Dance of Liberation™

You could call the Medicine Wheel a divine dance floor. Traditionally, it’s sometimes referred to as the Sun Dance Circle – the Sun Dance being the most vital ceremony of the Great Plains Indians. The Sun Dance experience embodies a continuity between life and death – and a regeneration of spiritual oneness with the Great Spirit.

The 6th Foundation, the Dance of Liberation™, is also a prayer in motion.

Dance is movement – another word for change. Dancing free one to have a sense of the physical experience of living in a constant state of change – and of this change as an essential part of what it is to be alive.

The Benefits of Dance

Dance invites one to get grounded, to sense energy and emotion in the body, and to play with these energies in new and curious ways. In the Seven Foundations, dance serves as a way of expressing and honoring the spirit, while also becoming a means of communication with difficult and marginalized parts of the self – the shadows – in order to befriend them. Dance becomes a way of processing pain and trauma and releasing them through the body.

In the Medicine Wheel, the 6th Direction is Mother Earth. The Dance of Liberation™, is also a dance of unification – the marriage between the divine feminine and divine masculine inside of us. Dancing has a unique way of inviting these parts of us to speak to each other and to merge into one. We invite rounded curves and sharp lines, gentleness and force, flexibility and rigidity, to seamlessly coexist, calling us to a state of wholeness. The 6th Foundation prepares us to return home.

Foundation 7. Returning Home: Integration and Joyful Service.

The Seventh Foundation brings us to the final direction of the Medicine Wheel: the center, where the physical and spiritual you resides. We are striving to do more than find balance and connection between our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual selves. We are also building a connection between what was, what is, and what will be. Acts of compassion and service can become a way for us to connect with gratitude, and experience feelings of meaning, purpose, and our own direction.

This interdependence and interconnectedness is in many ways the cornerstone of spiritual practice.

The Seventh Foundation is about introducing acts of compassion and service into recovery and healing and integrating new awareness into daily life. Acts of service are crucial for many people struggling to flip the script in the story of their problems. The interdependence and interconnectedness of service is in many ways the cornerstone of spiritual practice.

Holistic Addiction Recovery Institute – Discovery Weekend

Led by Parashakti and Dr. Andrew Tatarsky

The Holistic Addiction Recovery Discovery Weekend is sponsored by the Center for Optimal Living, founded and directed by Dr. Andrew Tatarsky who will co-lead the program.

The Center for Optimal Living offers comprehensive treatment for problematic substance use, trauma and mental health issues. The center provides innovative, personalized treatment, based on Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy, for individuals and families with substance use issues, other risky or addictive behaviors, and a wide range of mental health issues. centerforoptimalliving.com

A Two-Day Workshop

Saturday – Sunday, June 22 & 23, 2019, 10:00 am – 5:30 pm
$425 (Members & Nonmembers)
 https://www.opencenter.org/holistic-addiction-recovery

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post The Medicine Wheel: 7 Foundations for Addiction Recovery appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Parashakti and Raw Chocolatier Daniel Sklaar at Fine + Raw

The Science and Spirit of Cacao with Raw Chocolatier Daniel Sklaar

As a shamanic practitioner, my work is often centered on touching into the energies of Mother Earth to connect with spirit in body and mind. One of my favorite and essential earth-based medicines is cacao. Cacao is a sacred heart-opener which brings forth a higher visionary state. I lead cacao ceremonies for others and also use cacao for myself as a way of tuning into my heart, supporting vibrant connection with others, and stepping into a space of collaborative vision.

My love of cacao isn’t new. When I was a child, I was only a little obsessed with peanut butter Twix! It brought me a sense of delight and specialness, as chocolate of all kinds does for many people. As an adult, nutrition has become one of the backbones of my spiritual practice and lifestyle. Some of the factors guiding my choices include the importance of sustainable nourishment that is good for other humans (sourced in a way that respects labor) and good for the planet (sustainably farmed). Based on these criteria, this means that’s out with many candy bars – and in with sacred cacao. Cacao, in its purest form, helps people connect with the inner truth of their hearts and initiates profound vision.

Cacao as a Sacred Ceremonial Plant

Sacred ceremonial cacao actually dates back thousands of years. The Maya and Aztec people revered it as a gift from the gods. They even used it as currency – and its benefits for the body are no secret. Rich in magnesium and calcium, raw organic cacao has more antioxidants than pomegranates, red wine, and goji berries combined, and is the highest plant-based source of iron. This powerful plant medicine lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol, increases blood flow to the brain, and releases feel-good neurotransmitters such as serotonin.

Fine + Raw Food for Thought

Few people I know understand both the science and spirit of this medicine like my dear soul brother, Daniel Sklaar. Some years ago, he had a vision. And the “food for thought” he saw was a cacao factory! Daniel went into the laboratory and his experiments created one of my favorite lines of raw chocolate, Fine + Raw. He agreed to sit down with me and tell me some of his secrets – also known as the vision behind the medicine. After all, in shamanic practice, the energy of cacao is all about sharing with others.

Daniel began his career journey as a financial analyst. The dream to create raw chocolate was, as he calls it, a “leap of faith.” His story speaks to the inspiring energy in chocolate itself. As he says, “That feeling of creativity is something that is so strong and alive in what I do. Even on a small level, looking towards creativity and belief that something could manifest from creativity. It’s about innovation and being able to work with people and all these things that connect us on a daily basis. Following your heart is so important to me – although it seems like madness so much of the time, it’s at the forefront of everything.”

Passion for Cacao

Daniel’s passion for cacao is molecular. It contains some of the same chemicals that the body makes when we fall in love and are happy, like PEA, or phenylethylamine, and anandamide, from the Sanskrit word ananda, meaning “bliss.” As he puts it, cacao is also a diuretic; it allows “messages to flow better.” He says cacao also “works on your cardiovascular system to open passages.”

Cacao also contains some mild MAO-inhibiting phytochemicals. It is as Daniel reflects, a “more merciful concoction” than the cathartic journey of another plant medicine containing MAOI-inhibitors, ayahuasca.

As Daniel and I have engaged in our collaborative vision, we have begun experimenting with an idea of combining his medicinal expertise and my shamanic work. Those who have followed my path and work know that eagle is the Native American symbol for highest vision. And it is the medicine guide and power animal I connect with most. Stay tuned, as eagle-inspired sacred cacao is coming soon!

Cacao Ceremonies in LA

Parashakti and Urban Exhale Founder Joe K practicing a Cacao Ceremony with Joe K. Photo by Vanessa Viola.

Cacao Ceremonies with Sacred Path Card readings are available with Parashakti at Urban Exhale Yoga Center. To book your individualized or group session please call the Center: 323-592-3209 or email: info@urbanexhaleyoga.com.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Parashakti, Cacao, and the Chocolate Factory appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Parashakti and Eagle Medicine Winged Ones Jewelry. Photo by Vanessa Viola

How Eagle Medicine Supports Vision in Shamanism

As a shamanic practitioner, my work is about supporting dreams and turning those dreams into reality. I work to help people release fears and blockages in order to connect them to their higher vision, offering them anchored, grounded tools to manifest that vision in the plane of action. For me, the process of envisioning, of connecting to that bigger picture, and expanding oneself to enact this vision, begins and ends with the Eagle medicine.

The Symbols of Eagle Medicine

The symbol of Eagle spans civilizations and traditions across the world and throughout time. Today, it is one of the most common national symbols. And thousands of years ago, humans also held Eagle with the same reverence – as a being of ultimate wisdom and strength.

The ancient Greeks and Persians consecrated Eagle to the sun, as a symbol of the supreme sky-god. And the ancient Assyrians prayed to an Eagle-headed winged spirit for magical protection. In Hindu legend, the Eagle-like Garuda is the vehicle of the god Vishnu, symbolizing courage. With wings said to stop the spinning of heaven, hell, and earth, Garuda brings the calming energy of settling and integration.

In indigenous American traditions – traditions closest to my own heart and spiritual practice – Eagle is strength, courage, balance, and wisdom. Eagle soars closest to the Creator, carrying our prayers on its wings, and facilitating back and forth communication with our highest selves and the energy of Source.

Eagle as the Keeper of the East

In the Native American Medicine Wheel, Eagle is the Keeper of the East, where the sun rises and new cycles are birthed, connecting to the sacred number 1.

Number 1 is “I am” energy – the sacred start. In the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, the word for Eagle also has a numerology of 550, which also adds up to 1. Every number has a vibration to it – a sacred meaning. This is the energy of self-declaration, leadership, newness, rawness, assertiveness, of pioneering, clear vision, instinct, and intuition.

Wakia Un Manee – Thunder He Walks With and Parashakti. Ceremonial attire by Bonnie Harter.

My Journey with Eagle Medicine

I began consciously dancing with Eagle medicine as a power animal, ally, and teacher two decades ago, when I first connected with indigenous American practices at the Naraya, a ceremonial dance of healing and renewal drawn from the traditions of the Native peoples of the Great Basin. There, I encountered Nancy Eagle Spirit Woman, a carrier of Eagle medicine and Shaman Charles Lawrence, a medicine man who carries the Vision for the people. The spirit of Eagle spoke to me, and as I began learning to dance with and invoke Eagle, I realized I had been dancing with Eagle my whole life – well before I knew how to name it.

Eagle showed itself in my life as a small child – as a fearlessness, expressiveness, expansiveness, and a desire to lead. I was a frequent ringleader of friends, always urging myself and those around me towards creative engagement and expression. Eagle had me leaping from the high dive platforms as a small child, trying out for countless school plays, dancing across stages and following my instincts into experiences I’d never tried before – and that wound up changing my life.

Like most people, however, there have been times of losing my vision, of feeling lost. After the dissolution of a long-term relationship some years ago, my mission felt obscured. I worked hard to move through grief and to find my wings of light once more. Once my vision began to emerge again, and I felt I’d come back to myself, I decided to mark the moment – and my body – with a recognition of the rite of passage. My elder, Wakia Un Manaee, Thunder He Walks With, drew me a picture of Eagle wings, which I brought to medicine man, firekeeper, and tattoo artist Ash Wood.  Ash completed the vision, a symbol of the Eagle that now walks and dances with me every day.

Dance of Liberation, Pitango, and Eagle Medicine

I use Eagle feathers to clear and cleanse; as the physical manifestation of the energy of the eagle, these feathers clear the way for vision and flight. My own modality, Dance of Liberation, begins with the invocation of Eagle, via a chant passed down to me by my elder Wakia Un Manee. In fact, during a fire ceremony at the retreat center Kripalu, I sang the invocation of the Eagle passed on to me by Wakia. Eagle then arrived in the physical plane. All of the retreat participants screamed in awe of this powerful soaring winged one blessing us from above. Recently, I have partnered with incomparable jewelry designer Pitango, to create a sacred jewelry line called the Winged Ones, based on Eagle medicine, and intended to facilitate connection with one’s inner visionary through wearable totems and power objects.

Parashakti and Pitango photographed by Yosef Funke. Turbans by Venius.

The synchronicities in my life around Eagle are too many to name here – though they have helped me understand that the gifts of the Eagle come forth when one is ready. Eagle medicine is a lifelong process, offering expansiveness and a doorway to envision one’s dreamed-of life.

Labradorite Eagle Power Object. Photo by Pitango

Winged Ones Jewelry

For more info on how to get your Winged Ones jewelry please email: Danceofliberation@gmail.com or visit: www.parashakti.org or Pitango.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Taking Flight with Eagle Medicine appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Sculptor Anthony Elman explores movement and the great mysteries.

It is Never Too Late: Learning and sculpting with the Great Mystery

For me, learning has taken nontraditional paths. I grew up with learning disabilities that no one seemed to understand or know how to treat. This invited all kinds of critical voices that tried to shut me down and send me into hiding. I’ve come to understand that, while the disabilities I’ve faced are not an expression of my Soul, without them, my connection to Spirit through the body might never have been so amplified or passionate.

We dance with both the gifts and limitations we are given. And if we dance with enough courage those limitations can be transformed. I have discovered this through birthing Dance of Liberation. Certain doors shut and others open. And when you are brave enough to learn from where you are, magic can unfold and your Soul can thrive and sculpt in ways that are “never too late.”

Sculptor Anthony Elman on Following the Heart

My uncle, Anthony Elman, has undergone several evolutions and passions in his life, from an entertainment lawyer to a social worker to a therapist to a rabbi. Exploring, casting and discovering new ways of passion, he follows his heart and the calling of his soul. At 70-something, he’s retired, and his most recent passion is artistic. He has begun to sculpt.

Anthony recently gifted me with a piece that, from afar, I had watched him make and evolve. Each time he got closer and closer to finishing it, I was filled with joy, creativity and awe. Through his work, I felt the me who never gave up despite severe learning disabilities, and physical dance injuries that propelled me to explore healing through dance. I was so deeply inspired and touched to receive this gift. Here I share his work with you, his embrace of learning, and how creative expression and intention move through him.

Below are excerpts from our interview in Anthony Elman’s words:

The Essence of Completion

I sometimes think of this work as problem-solving. There’s always a challenge to solve. It’s a kind of trial and error, and a kind of waiting and looking. At any given part there’s a moment where I might say – that’s it….

Maybe there are two kinds of rightness. Is it anatomically correct and the other is, does it convey something – is it beautiful? Is it what I want to express? I think I start off with some desire to be more or less accurate and finish off with a desire to express something. It’s not something I can describe or try to describe until I’m done. I’ve got to find the muscles, the bones – there are details to make it look correct enough.

One of the things I enjoy about Rodin is that all the muscles are there but they’re not in great detail. It conveys an emotion, movement – something is conveyed by it even if it’s not “accurate” – and that’s something I’d like to learn towards

[sic].

 

Dealing with Negativity–Leaning into Patience and Asking for Help

One of the challenges for me, maybe other people too – even if I’ve got photographs, to convey things into clay, things don’t always line up. I might struggle to capture reality and there’s the other kind of struggle. Which is the struggle to give it movement and beauty. And does it express something of itself or of me?

I can feel frustrated or I can feel excited, but in between those the actual work is like a meditation, because it’s so quietly focused. I might listen to something – a book or music – but often I’m just quietly focused, using the hands or tools to build and shape.

Maybe it’s relationship to materials. I am really very involved with what I’m doing, the actual process, it’s very present, exactly that. I don’t have any embarrassment in facing myself. The other side of feeling myself as an early stage student is that everything that comes out in the end I love…

With everything there’s still a lot to learn. I feel no hurry. I trust I will just slowly get better. There’s pride in the pieces I’m developing, but no shame for me in needing to ask my teacher for help.

Creativity in Meditation

About the figure in tree pose, I loved how everything goes up in that sculpture. It was really a kind of embracing the heavens. A reaching and embracing of the heavens. AND the foot is really solidly placed on the ground. Well-rooted, like a tree.

It reminds me of meditations I used to do, that involved differing energies. This figure is sending energy deep into the earth and at the same time upwards to the heavens (and perhaps taking sustenance from both), similar to those meditations.

Parashakti in Tree Pose

Parashakti and the Pose

Both in Yoga and in Dance, I stretch my arms as conduits of prayer to Father Sky. Rooted into the Earth, I stand in Vrksasana (tree pose). In ancient times, wandering sadhus (holy men) would meditate in this posture for long periods of time as a practice of self-discipline.

Kausthub Desikachar, son and student of the yoga master T.K.V. Desikachar says, “It’s supposed to motivate us to work toward our goal even if there are many obstacles in the way.” Finding this inner and outer balance is the invitation to stand in your power and believing it is “never too late” to plant new seeds of creativity in your life.

Giving and Receiving in the Pose

Jamie Sams, Author and Native American Elder shares, “The standing people teach us how to run our roots deep into the earth to receive spiritual nurturing as well as the reconnect of energy that keeps our bodies healthy. Without these routes we lose earth connection and can no longer walk in balance. In my tradition, we are taught that humankind is the bridge between earth and the sky nation and like the standing people, we are of both worlds.

To accomplish this balance, we must live in harmony with all our relations, be rooted in this world through our Mother Earth, and allow our spirits to fly through the other worlds and be at one with those realities as well. Be still and become the tree in order to observe what is growing in your forest. The root of every answer for physical life is found in the earth. Look to your family tree for the strand offered by your ancestors.

Lift your branches high, seeking the light of Grandfather Sun and you’ll see how your roots make you of the earth and yet a bridge to the sky world. Ask yourself if you were willing to give and receive. Count the root of every blessing with gratitude. Find any blockage that limits your root system or ability to go deeper. Then remove that feeling, go deeper once again for the answer you seek. Remember that we are also the root of the future and through our lives, future generations are nurtured.”

Visualize Your Tree, Be Aware of Your Breath

Whether you physically practice tree pose or visualize your tree, be aware of your breath. As Yoga Master B.K.S. Iyengar writes in his classic guide, Light on Yoga, “Regulate the breathing, and thereby control the mind.”

Direct Your Gaze

Also called drishti, a steady gaze helps focus your mind. In Tree pose, anchoring your gaze on the horizon or a fixed point directs energy forward to keep you upright with intention and vision.

Find Balance

Getting your balance is a way of tapping into presence. Being in the now is inherently never too late. It’s always now!

Imagine or stand tall as a tree, with your feet rooted firmly in the earth and your arms and head extending up toward the sun.

Take a moment to meditate on what “tree” means to you and find an image that suits your body and temperament. It could be a graceful willow, a solid oak, a flirty palm. Invite this to guide you toward stability, higher vision and inspiration that “it’s never too late”!

Join Parashakti for a SoulHealing Class

Sunday April 28, from 12-1:30pm
Detox + Reiki Moon + Soulhealing with Joe K, Parashakti & Vanessa
Urban Exhale Yoga Center

Private Shamanic SoulHealing sessions at Urban Exhale with Parashakti

Release old patterns, thoughts and addictions, and awaken the human Spirit. The process involves one-on-one spiritual counseling, hands-on healing, breath work, and a sacred path card reading.
To book a session please call: 323-592-3209
*1st time students to Urban Exhale receive a complimentary guest pass for Yoga class when booking a session with Parashakti

Retreats

Dance of Liberation Retreat June 9 – 14, 2019 at Omega Institute
Explore ancient mystic teachings of the Kabbalah to embody a physical understanding of the self in this workshop led by Parashakti and Karen Berg.

Kabbalah is an ancient wisdom that describes the physical and spiritual laws of the universe. In a world of fragmentation and separation, Kabbalah assists in removing the veils so that we can find unity. Discover these ancient mystic teachings through lecture, meditation, gentle yoga, breathwork, and more. Experience the Dance of Liberation™ to shed inhibitions and discover a home for your newly awakened consciousness.Through deep soul work and experiential practices, we allow our innermost creative sides to break free.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Sculpting Movement with the Great Mystery appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Connecting to Kabbalah

I was born in Jerusalem, and have at times struggled to connect with the spiritual tradition of my native land, including the Orthodox Judaism of my father. At times, Native American and yogic traditions have felt far more like “home” than the traditions of my bloodline.

Recently, though, I’ve been exploring the spiritual teachings of Kabbalah, the ancient mystical Jewish tradition that dives deep into questions about the essence of Yahweh – one of the many names for God or Source. The word kabbalah literally means “receiving.” It is connected to the basic idea at the heart of Kabbalistic teaching, that the whole of creation is a gift from the Giver, or Creator. While that might sound simple enough, according to this tradition, the meaning of reception is sacred, complex, and takes a lifetime to truly understand.

According to Kabbalah, the process of giving and receiving is the essence of life and of spiritual understanding. As Rabbi Nilton Bonder writes in The Kabbalah of Food, “Receiving means establishing a relationship with nature of the universe in which we lie. If we understand ‘receiving’ as a one-sided phenomenon – with the emphasis exclusively on what we are going to get out of this partnership – then we gradually draw away from this relationship of exchange, which ultimately represents life….

[T]he art of receiving…can only be fulfilled by letting go of what has been given.”

In other words, in order for life to flow, there must be a process of energetic receiving and letting go. Rabbi Bonder writes of a legend of two Biblical seas. One is the Sea of Galilee, which teems with life, and the other is Dead Sea, where nothing grows at all. The Sea of Galilee receives snowmelt from the mountains and then lets it flow through its body to the Jordan River. And the Dead Sea is an endpoint; it takes all that it receives and does not pass it through elsewhere. According to the Kabbalists, the Dead Sea is Dead because it does not truly know how to “receive.” While the Galilee flourishes because it literally allows for flow. According to Kabbalah, the process of living is a continuous exchange.

The Creator is understood as the giver of light. In modern Kabbalah, living beings are like energy vessels, receiving this light, which then becomes consciousness.

In the Kabbalistic creation myth, Divine Energy was poured into metaphysical “vessels.” These vessels could not take the intensity of what they were receiving. So they shattered in a kind of Big Bang, while showering divine sparks into the universe. It is our task as humans, according to Kabbalah, to retrieve these sparks and return them to their Source.

Our consciousness is like a vessel overflowing. And the flow of Divine Light is more than we can possibly contain. What insights we do have are sparks from that divine light. As Karen Berg, co-founder of the Kabbalah Center puts it, “It is our feeling that every individual put into the world is hewn from a spark which we call the soul. Within the confines of the soul is the creative Light, a substance each one of us needs to generate in order to fulfill our potential! You and I are, from a Kabbalistic perspective, vessels for the Light. Every being has an amount of energy that can be filled to its maximum, by doing the things in life that create or generate energy.”

We must focus our attention, energy, and consciousness to remove blockages and allow for flow. As a lifelong dancer and co-founder of healing modality Dance of Liberation, my work has been dedicated to the embodiment of this premise – that working with the body can help one locate and loosen these blockages of energetic flow, and that intentionality can be used to elevate consciousness and create sustained mindfulness.

Parashakti and Karen Berg

Karen Berg and I have teamed up to bring these messages in alignment and to facilitate spiritual, emotional, and physical flow with workshops around the world. Our upcoming retreat at Omega Institute is June 9-14. For more information, visit https://karenberg.com/expression-of-the-soul/

 

May you acknowledge and receive the Divine Light bestowed to you and may you give freely of yourself and the light you have been given.

Kabbalistic Meditation Practice

In light of giving here is a Kabbalistic meditation for you: Download Meditation. 

Meditation Steps

Relax your body and gently close your eyes, envisioning all the organs, muscles and bones in your body to be calm, relaxed and at peace.

Find a place in your life where you felt safe, a place that is comfortable for you to feel at one with yourself, a place where you can simply BE.

Visualize yourself in this safe place, imagine it’s a warm summer day, and you are walking and thinking and simply being.

Then, from a distance you see an image coming closer and closer to you.

It is the you of yesterday– you the child. As the child comes close, you welcomed this child and dance with it, looking it in the eyes and saying, “Thank you, you got me here, I am here because of you. I am sorry that I didn’t recognize that you are a part of me.”

Think of the things that happened to you as a child that hurt you, such as feeling alone, not being heard, or perhaps a feeling of being unwanted.

Look at these eyes that look at you and smile and tell those eyes, “Thank you, I will take care of you now, I will find the part of me that need to be matured, the places I need to appreciate more. You are the greatest gift, for you have given me my life and allow me to be who I am and I appreciate and love you for that. I will keep you inside me forever and I love you, I want you to stay inside of me forever, I am not taking care of you and will allow you presence.  I thank you my child for all the things that I had to go through for you got me to where I am and I appreciate the adult who I am. And anytime I feel the reactive childlike behaviors arise in me I will ask if it is coming from my child and if it is I will bless my child.”

Now give your child a great big hug and feel what is it like to recognize the child who didn’t receive all that it could have and all yourself to RECEIVE and be fulfilled by more then you and to appreciate and to becoming more of the mature, loving individual that the Creator designed you to be.

And now, lets go back to the place where you started, into your own private space. Remembering that you are just a child in the eyes of the creator and you may do all sorts of things that you feel like are mistakes but let yourself receive this guidance and healing now to be all that you can be.

Slowly come back to your body consciousness, breathing into your body and gently opening your eyes.

Watch the Dance of Liberation Film

I invite you to take a personal pilgrimage with me. We have completed a full feature film: Dance of Liberation We launch the film on April 26 & you can download it on iTunes, Google & Amazon.

Receive a free download of the Film Dance of Liberation

For our LA Yoga Magazine audience we are offering a free download of our film through the end of May. Email us to receive the link: DanceofLiberation@gmail.com

Here is the promo for DOL & when you have time you can watch the full feature:  https://vimeo.com/297190393 password:  dolryth

About the Dance of Liberation Documentary

Dance of Liberation follows the visually stunning, inspirational journey of a lost, broken young woman who transforms into a powerful soul healer – and bravely tries to mend her deepest childhood wound along the way.

As a girl, Jerusalem-born Sigalit Bat Haim suffers severe learning disabilities, inherited from a father who abandoned the family to start a new life as an Ultra Orthodox Jew in the desert of Palestine. Grappling with a deep sense of isolation and rejection, young Sigalit discovers her sole source of soul expression: dance. As a dancer she is nimble, unruly, and utterly free.

Weaving together sumptuous dance sequences in wild natural settings, tender family archives, and stirring interviews with heartfelt, sage spiritual visionaries, Dance of Liberation explores Sigalit’s unfolding identity in the wilderness of the soul. In adulthood, a series of devastating injuries draws Sigalit to the practice of yoga, where she begins uncovering her spiritual identity, taking refuge in an ashram and eventually receiving the name Parashakti – “goddess of life” – a reflection of her Hebrew given name, “daughter of life.”

Like father, like daughter, Parashakti finds herself driven to a life of spiritual seeking and healing. But very much unlike him, she weaves together a vibrant patchwork of traditions, finding a chosen elder in Native American traditions. Parashakti further clarifies her own voice as she develops a raucous, vibrant, medicinal ritual called Dance of Liberation, leading hundreds around the world in ecstatic ceremony and profound soul healing.

Surprise visits when Parashakti falls passionately in love with a Muslim seeker, only to discover that the cord to her Jewish past is pulling at her soul more ardently than she imagined. Ultimately Parashakti comes to the realization that she must integrate Parashakti and Sigalit, and mend things with the one man who has hurt her the most, and who may understand her the best: her father. The two set out on a climactic and visually jaw-dropping pilgrimage to the desert, to visit the deepest parts of their souls and meet one another as whole individuals.

The result is deeply moving, painful, and not at all easy. But it is a major step towards real healing. Dance of Liberation is about the journey to integrate past and present, our highest selves with our most wounded selves, and our born selves with our true selves. It is about the bravest journey of all: the journey to wholeness.

There is no coming to consciousness without pain. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. – C.G. Jung

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post The Ancient Art of Giving and Receiving: the Dance of Light and Kabbalah appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Joe K & Parashakti Photographed by Vanessa Viola. Parashakti Clothing by Onzie.

Sweat as Prayer, on the Dance Floor, in the Sweat Lodge, in the Yoga Studio

To Sweat is to pray, to make an offering of your innermost self. Sweat is holy water, prayer beads, pearls of liquid that release your past. Sweat is an ancient and universal form of self-healing, whether done in the gym, the sauna, or the sweat lodge. I do it on the dance floor. The more you dance, the more you sweat. The more you sweat, the more you pray. And the more you pray, the closer you come to ecstasy. ~ Gabrielle Roth

The Season of Rebirth and Renewal

I’ve been rediscovering my passion for “Sweating my Prayers,”which has been a soulful welcome at LA’s Urban 728 Hot Yoga. Urban 728 Hot Yoga is founded by masterful yoga teacher Joe K and his warm-hearted wife Stacey who create and nourish a home away from home. For me, hot yoga is grounding, inspiring, and sparks a visionary creative space and life force. It is a yogic practice of rebirth, in part because it takes me back to the womb-like experience of a Sweat Lodge.

Joe K from Urban Exhale & Parashakti Photographed by Vanessa Viola

Praying in the Sweat Lodge

I experienced my first Sweat Lodge with Nancy Eagle Spirit Woman at the Naraya – A Native American Ceremony. Even though the tradition was new to me, I felt I was home. After many dances around the medicine wheel, I began to co-facilitate at the Tree of Life in Patagonia, Arizona with Dr. Gabriel Cousens and Keith Starhorse Spirit Dances. As part of the eight day ceremonies, I co-led sunrise and sunset Sweat Lodges.

This was foundational to my Shamanic practice, helping me to find my voice and dance as a healer. In Lakota, the word for Sweat Lodge is Inipi, or “to live again.” The tradition was birthed by Native peoples on the Great Plains and many of those ancient traditions still survive–including ceremonial cleansing, chants, and prayers.

Traditionally, the bones of the Sweat Lodge are made from the branches of willow trees. Sometimes known as the Tree of Love, the willow’s branches are supple, as the willow tree bends without breaking. The lodge is sealed, so that it becomes a hot, damp, light-less, and womb-like experience.

Sweat Lodges traditionally include four rounds of prayer symbolizing the four directions of the Native American Medicine wheel. For each direction, a sacred prayer is chanted, calling in the energy of that direction, including the symbols and power animal associated with it, as more heated rocks are brought into the lodge and the temperature is raised.

Check Your Ego at the Door

I take my hot yoga practice as seriously as I would enter into a Sweat Lodge. Both practices invite you to check your ego at the door, as the ego can make the experience far more painful. In many ways, the yoga mat and going back into the “Mother’s womb” can be confronting.

In my experience, once I surrender and align with my intention and prayer, the sweat is what truly transcends the physical discomfort, connects me to Spirit, and takes me on an illuminated journey. The next layer of spiritual connection is the community around you, practicing alongside you. When we truly show up and commit to a practice that’s when “we become the change we want to see in the world.”

Joe K & Parashakti Photographed by Vanessa Viola. Parshakti is wearing bodysuit by Onzie.

Sweat as Prayers at Urban Exhale and 1440

 

Retreat: Vision Quest 2020 with Joe K and Parashakti from February 21-23, 2020 at 1440 MultiVersity

Discover the fiery lights of your most authentic self through the healing art of yoga and the freedom of dance. The energy of aliveness surrounds us, working to heal, serve, and guide us towards inhabiting our highest, most integrated selves. Tap into that divine energy and open pathways to embodied consciousness and wholeness with a graceful, heart and soul-opening blend of yoga, dance, and shamanic exploration. Ride these metaphorical waves of energy while activating our flow state by integrating mindfulness, pranayama (breath), yoga asanas (postures) with an experience that is both communal and deeply individual, known as Dance of Liberation™.

Dance of Liberation and Yoga

Dance of Liberation™ sheds inhibitions, heightens inner awareness and awakens joy. Founded by Parashakti, and based on a series of shamanic practices known as the Seven Foundations, this powerful soul work will be blended with the masterful instruction of Joe K, whose yoga practice encourages kindness, radiance, health, and an in-depth practice of renewal.

Parashakti is wearing clothing by Onzie in photos by Vanessa Viola.

Practices for Purification at Home

Prayers through Smudging

The power of smudging sage (from the Latin word salvia, to heal) has scientific backing. Scientists have observed that sage smoke can clear up to 94 percent of airborne bacteria.

Create an Intention: What are you releasing?

Make sure to open a window or door when you are smudging to allow negative energy to be released.

Begin your smudging ritual with yourself:

Starting at your head, use a cupped hand to guide the smoke from the top of your body all the way to your feet.

Relax, pay attention to your breath, breathing slowly and evenly as you do this.

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

The post Sweat as Prayer: My Urban Sweat Lodge appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Dance as an Art Form of Connection and Reaching Ecstasy

I have been dancing as long as I can remember. Before I could even name what sacred connection to Source was, before I knew what to call the presence of God or divinity – I felt that wordless, energetic channel to Spirit through dance. Many of us experience this relationship with dance, as human beings have throughout time.

Dance has always been a form of ritualized spiritual expression for individuals and communities. This art is recorded by ancient scribes all over the world. It was painted on cave walls 30,000 years ago, and dance as a form of ecstasy probably pre-dates recorded history.

Healing through Discipline and Community

In my own life, a dance injury in my twenties began a period of shamanic dismantling. I began to question my life’s purpose, setting me on a path to becoming a healer. My body and spirit healed over time. This was thanks to physical and spiritual discipline – and thanks to community.

Living in New York City and dancing through its clubs, I began to recognize the power of dance to build community and deepen connections to those around me. I also experimented with various club drugs. I found that, though those substances promised connection, what they delivered was something very opposite. Something that usually wound up detaching me from myself.

I began to realize a mission to help people reach ecstasy without taking it. Alongside other dreamers and manifesters, like Zohar Wilson and Mark Sklawar, in 2001 I helped launch, produce, and co-lead an ongoing holistic rave called Body Temple. This was alongside my practice of facilitating Dance of Liberation. Dance of Liberation is a ceremonial dance modality that uses the shamanic tradition of blindfolds to guide dancers into an experience that is both intensely personal and communal.

Now at home in LA since 2013, I’ve been grateful to witness and participate in the birth and expansion of dance community at Ecstatic Dance LA, part of a global Ecstatic Dance community developed over the past decade. EDLA Co-founders Robin Parrish and Atasiea Kenneth Ferguson have nurtured this community from a collective of 60 souls in 2014, to an event that now draws an average of 300 people on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of every month.

Ecstatic Dance LA

This freeform dance format has a few guidelines – no shoes, no talking, and no drugs or alcohol, bringing nonjudgmental intentionality into the dance space. As classically-trained dancer Atasiea puts it, “hold the dance with reverence” in a way that doesn’t make distinctions between “acceptable vs. non-acceptable” forms of dancing. For co-founder Parrish, the experience is about tapping into a sense of infinite “possibility,” and of gratitude: “With social media, there’s lots of distortion, and people try to be something other than they are.”

Parashakti

Parashakti’s shamanic healing work is born of more than two decades of experience facilitating workshops, trainings, and retreats around the world, in Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, Bali, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, and Greece.  As a lifelong dancer, her path as a healer followed a severe injury – a period of what is often called shamanic dismantling, after which her mission shifted towards healing. Over the last 20 years, Parashakti has developed the Seven Foundations and the Dance of Liberation™, as maps for her spiritual practice, living and breathing these foundations in daily ritual. Dance of Liberation™ has been practiced by over 10,000 dancers around the globe. It’s was born of a mission to help people experience ecstasy – without taking it.
Above all, Parashakti is dedicated to serving community and creating a sacred container where people feel safe enough to experience their deepest essences, honor their voices, and shine their brightest light. Join her on the Dance floor: www.parashakti.org

parashakti.org/

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