Temescal~Tayrona~Abuelitas~Yoga

As we enter the days of the Eagle in the Mayan Calendar, The Celebration of Light (Chanukah), following the day of grace (Thanksgiving), I’m feeling even more connected with the earth, the mother, the abuelitas (the grandmothers). I made it to the Carribean, where the Mountains are documented as the highest mountains closest to the ocean. The Indigenous believe it to be “el Corazon del Mundo”- the Heart of the World, (and Machu Pichhu, the belly button).

Lulu Cordoba, who hosts Yoga Tayrona Retreats, showed me around her house which is one of the few houses still allowed to remain inside the park, as it was a fisherman’s house before the park became property of Colombia. To arrive, you enter the park, drive about 15 minutes on a dirt road to the ocean, and then either find a fisherman to bring you in his boat, or climb through the jungle, over a small mountain to one of the most stunning and secluded coves, I have ever witnessed. I finally met the sacred Palo Santo tree and practiced acrobatics in the warm and tranquil water, embracing the contrast of the bluest blues, and greenest greens of the jungle and the ocean. Lulu also organized an AcroYoga workshop in Santa Marta, in the new Hotel Casa Verde, inside a small garden next to a pool, fountain, and open to the ocean sky.

A sweet couple, Ios and Claudia, invited us to spend a few days at their retreat center, on the beach past Tayrona. They have committed to protecting much of the surrounding land as nature reserve. Their cabins, reminded me of Yurts, with the showers, outside and open to fresh air. There’s no electricity, only candles, and all the buildings are built on top of white sand in between palm and coconut trees. We stayed in the cabin that was originally the yoga studio, with a colorful tile mandala in the middle of the floor, and sacred vibrations of practice and prayers.

The food, Divina (Divine, an expression commonly used to describe people, places, most everything), fresh, local, and made with lots of love. We walked up the river to Quebrada Valencia, a series of waterfalls, also in warm water. I felt so at home with the vegetation, as it reminded me of the tropical forest in Costa Rica and in Bali, where I have farmed and trekked with students. As I took of my sandals, and finally connected with the earth of Colombia, after teaching and living in cities for the last month, I was reminded of the power and importance of this connection.

We continued barefoot the following day on a trek through Tayrona National Park from 11am to 6pm en route to the beaches where many people camp, and the most famous beach, La Piscina. The rain was pretty continuous on the way in and the muddy trail went up to my knees at times. There were leaf-cutter ants, monkeys, frogs, horses, mules and lots of mud.

We met up with a group of Chilenos who were also staying at Ios and Claudias’. And rocked the trail like Avatars. On the return, during the golden hour, the rain stopped, the light made the jungle into a fairyland, the air was warm, and we ran and jumped and swung from the trees.

I flew back to Bogotá, ate in the airport at Crepes and Waffles, a chain restaurant with one of the best and cheapest salad bars I have ever experienced (with quinoa and lots of yummies, for under $4). I love the Bogotá airport, for this and because there is free internet. It was rainy and cold in Bogotá, so I dropped my bag off at a sweet sister’s house, grabbed a few changes of clothes and my harmonium and took off on the last flight of the day to Cali.

I arrived at Carlitos house, where I stayed previous to going to the beach, and where Justin and I taught our workshops. In the morning, a group of us, jumped in his jeep and headed off to the countryside for a Temescal~Sweat Lodge. On the way, we stopped on the side of the road for Arrepas, traditional corn tortillas, that Colombias eat (apparently) everyday. Finally arriving, to the house of Chichan and Catalina. There was more mud, as it has been raining in Colombia for the last 3 months, so barefoot again, I approached the bonfire and the temescal.

I’ve been in contact with a friend, Claudia Yasmin, of Catalina and Chichan for about 3.5 years now, with the intention of getting to her EcoAldea (eco-village), La Atlantida. Many of my brothers and sisters have participated in ceremony with her, and have recommended a visit. She was Just in Mexico with Catalina and Chichan, and on the day of the Temescal, in Medellin.

It felt so in the flow, and so right, to finally arrive to the home of friends connected with dear friends, to sit, sweat, sing, and rebirth. The songs the same as those I have encountered in the Temescales and ceremonies, in Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Hawaii, Thailand, and Bali. The earth is becoming even more connected and there are people honoring it, and coming together to send out these sacred vibrations.

I also was blessed to be able to offer prayers for my Boubeh,-Abuelita-Grandmother. At the age of 102.5 she had been staying in independent living until a fall last week, and is now recovering in a hospital in Portland, Maine. She is now being asked to move to assisted living and out of her apartment where she’s been for over ten years. I feel this as a big shift in her life, and in ours, as her family.

This connection and care for our grandparents is so important, as they are those who hold the knowledge, the history, the wisdom. Even if they are not able to empathize completely with where we are (especially as a travelling teacher of massage and flying), I know my abuelita understands so much that I can’t even imagine.

With the temescal, and time at the beach, these last two weeks have given me lots of space to meditate over what I want and what my purpose is on this planet… My intention for the temescal, was one of rebirth, of connection not only to the earth, but to the people of this planet, my grandmother, and to the divine in gratitude. As a woman of strong and grounded intuition.

On the coast, a friend of mine, asked me about where I feel the yoga is in AcroYoga. I love this question because it really made me think about why for me, AcroYoga is completely sacred, an offering. Why when I teach, communities receive the practice and take care of us, with food, housing, company and love. It brought me back to my intention with the practice, which is to share this love, connection, communication, touch, presence, union. That AcroYoga is a medium for bringing this intention and that the AY teachers, share this intention of creating conscious loving community. That is why it is so powerful. We bring the Yoga to AcroYoga.

In love,

Sam

Bogotá~Medellin~ Storms, Salsa and Torrentes

We arrived last night to our friend Alejandro's mother's house in the suburbs of Medellin. This city's nickname is the "city of eternal spring," where the weather is always the beautiful and we're usually told this in the same sentence as- "it's a shame that you arrived during the winter."

For the first time in two weeks we have sun and a huge lawn to play on. I am so grateful for my own room, comfy bed, hot shower, laundry, quiet space, internet. It is definitely a luxury for us as traveling yoga teachers who are hosted by friends of friends, owners of studios, new friends and old friends. It's been an incredible journey so far, meeting wonderful, open hearted souls who have been excited to host us, cook for us, chat with us.

We've been on a futon in a room that was Homer Simpson themed, in a comfy bed on the top floor of a high rise apartment building, with a view of Bogotá and a window screen that makes "black-out." In Medellin we arrived to another stunning high rise, overlooking the fairyland/mayan mountain green luscious jungle valley cityscape, with a blow up mattress and a terrace where we chanted to Lakshmi and did our favorite ab workout "Ab Ripper X." Later an Ecology profesor, Estela, hosted us in her parent's house for a night, and took us out salsa dancing in the center of Medellin. We met up with friends from the local, organic veggie restaurant, Verdeo and Marcelo who owns an oasis of a hostal (Buddha Hostal) and danced salsa all night. A couple, Eva and Alvero, who's house is full of handmade puppets, nude circus-indian dance photos/artwork, tapestries, instruments and creative energy hosted us for a few nights. They have a 4month newborn who they sing and tell stories to. Justin and I arrived one night at 3am de rumba and witnessed Alvero holding his precious morena baby outstretched in front of him, telling her a story about elephants- one black and one white- who fall in love and begin the grey race of elephants. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced.

We've been fortunate to have been invited to attend yoga classes and fly people in the spaces where we are teaching. It's such a blessing to be able to feel out the new and expanding yoga scene and meet the teachers. When we first arrived to Medellin, after an hour long car ride from the airport, lots of pollution, and new to the city, we stepped into Andrea's studio, 108 Yoga. I was hit with the familiar positive vibration and breathed in the ample light and golden floors. I realized the importance and power of holding space for transformation and relaxation in the midst of city life. In a city once known as the most dangerous city in the world it grounded me to feel the pulse of Yoga.

We head to Cali tomorrow morning and feel we'd like to come back to Medellin and share more with the kula here. Our friends from Torrente de Vida, where we taught 9 hours of workshops, have been super sweet and even gifted us massages at the end of our teaching.

Reiki is becoming popular, and Torrente de Vida is a center for healing, massage and yoga. It was beautiful to see many of the students impromptu giving each other bodywork after a rockin acrobatic session. It's inspiring to see communities organically sprouting- sharing the healing power of touch, play and caring for one another.

When I think of Colombia, so far, I think of these beautiful angels who share so openly with us-random yoga classes, taxis (where it's common for the passenger to know more than the driver, or maybe that's just Justin), sushi (our new favorite meal) along with brownies with ice cream, salsa dancing, and rain...

I'm a little tired from switching houses 4 times in a week yet recognize the importance of the storm (aguacero) to help us appreciate the calm that follows. Constantly in the fast moving spanda ebb and flow, surrendering and manifesting what is to come- light, love, calmness, chocolate y cama.

Blessings,

Sam and Justin*

Puerto Riquisimo~ The Yoga House

Laura Valazquez, the local rockin' acroyoga profe in San Juan, blew my mind with her ability to manifest greatness and beauty. We taught a full weekend of workshops at her new studio The Yoga House which is the first studio in Puerto Rico that overlooks the ocean. It has a warm vibe to it that makes everyone want to stay for hours and during lunch break we were able to stroll downstairs and be on one of the most exquisite beaches I've ever enjoyed. Warm water, enough waves, blue sky, white sand, acroyogis and copoeristas.

I really see The Yoga House as becoming a center, not only for acroyogis, but for beings to come together to build conscious loving community.

I'll be returning in April to co-teach a 5 day AcroYoga and Anusara Beach Retreat with Laura, Justin, and one of my favorite brothers and teachers on this planet, Andrew Rivin. He also is the co-founder of the non-profit Global Routes who I've been blessed to collaborate with for the last 5 years. We organize programs for high school and college students from the USA to live in homestays and work side by side with locals while serving in rural communities around the world. Check out www.globalroutes.org for more info...

Justin and me soaking in some sun on the playa in front of The Yoga House...

~Too cute, Us with Laura= so much love!~

Blessings from Bogotá,

Sam

The Journey begins...

Sitting crosslegged by the only outlet I've found in the Fort Lauderdale Airport, halfway between California and Puerto Rico, catching up on emails and the amazingness of the last few weeks. Preparing by opening space and intention for the upcoming 6 months of sharing AcroYoga in Latin America with my co-teacher Justin...

I'm feeling the blessings pouring in and the realization of a dream I didn't know looked like this, but always knew it felt like this. All the years of working in rural communities in Latin America, volunteering, teaching, bringing in students, building schools, community centers, health clinics... eating plates of white rice and plantains. Teaching English to illegal and legal immigrants and yoga to mexican farmers in the United States... It's all coming to a point right now. I've done the work and it continues to change shape and form.

It's time to bring this practice that feels so light and so free, of building conscious loving community, to the pachamama (the earth mother), bless the soil and heal the earth that has been so tormented. Las Venas Abiertas de America Latina.

I am so liberated by this medium.

I bow to the lotus feet of Jenny and Jason, the humble founders and seed planters of this practice. Always stepping into their highest and sharing their journey with those who approach them with the same openness.

The moment that stood out for me at the First Annual AcroYoga Festival (www.acroyoga.org/festival) was the final event, as 200+ acroyogis created a vinyasa yoga mandala, breathing and moving together in pulsating connection. I felt a chill run through me with an awareness that this is the manifestation of a dream being completed, and the door opening for what this practice and festival will expand into, in the next year, 5 years, 10, 20... And the realization hit, of the auspiciousness of me being a part of this highly vibrational community, in this moment, of being invited to teach at this first festival, the begining of so much. Of constantly being invited to go deeper and higher and more fully into my true being, so others can feel this liberation and relief...

This does exist. True intentional, global community, it does exist. It is being practiced, it is happening, and it is dancing around this planet, because the beings here are thirsty for this.

Just until recently, I thought that what I truly desired wasn't possible, that I could get close to the feeling of manifesting exactly what I wanted, but would have to settle for less. Feeling less would still be really awesome...

My time in California, at the AcroYoga festival, in fairyland with the tall grandmother redwood trees, the stunning coast, Orr hotsprings, an AY General Immersion and adventuring with friends who treat each other as sweetly as they want to be treated...

It is clear that:

There is no settling for less than the dream.

There is a perfect fit with me and others.

There is a community that feels like my community in all of it's aspects.

There are teachers who are role models embodied.

~Let's clarify our dreams and play together to co-create manifestations of the one~

It has begun.

Love,

S

Autumn Equinox

I have learned the value of a 'breakfast taco." It's something like the smell of the perfect taco. (Jitterbug Perfume) They even put avocado in them if you ask. Justin and I had our despedida (going away party) at Torchy's on South 1st street in lovely and sweet Austin, TX. Beautiful divine goddess Miranda, her daughter Ocean, Tall (who's very tall) and soul level energy from California, Mateo spontaneous love dancing up-for -anything, has magic hands and knew how to spin me around everywhere we went, and Todd from Houston. I love seeing who two people can attract. Justin and I sure know how to pull together some eclectic family vibes.

2 hours later we arrive to our 12 story high rise apartment in Houston with pool epic views and close to all the shopping centers and the yoga studio we're teaching at this weekend. We're driving around a Lincoln Continental rented and already made our pit stop at the "local" Whole Foods for some stone fruit and kale.

Today we demoed and flew people at Lululemon. It's always amazing to feel and see people fly for the first time especially when at first they're hesitant. Justin and I met a few spanish speakers (which always makes us happy) and ended up with some new flashy yoga wear for our upcoming tour.

We met a friend of a friend in a park with a meditation center and two large trees that are said to be magical. The usual mix of harmonium, flying, massaging, love...occurred and a soft jazz band began sharing their tunes from a museum nearby. The sky was so blue, the clouds so white, and the sun poked through the green leaves of the huge momma-magic tree.

A man showed up, James, looking for and needing a dose of magic. He took of his black shoes and brief case, touched the earth, flew and felt magic. James ended up skipping away in his business suit, laughing...knowing that there is HOpe for happiness, community, perfect days in the park, and at least 3 beautiful things about Houston today.

Happy Equinox and

sweet transitions into the discovery of now!~

September 22 is Autumn Equinox, the moment the Sun enters Libra. Libra loves a mystery. Its passion is to decipher the chemistry of what makes life and love flourish. The depths of Libra, like the wilds of New England autumn, contain secret corridors, subterranean windings similar to the route that tree nutrients travel between their hidden roots and fully exposed branches. Libra's difficulties are compounded out of the discord that results when life and love languish in trapped, withheld stages, rather than blossoming into their full colors. When couples settle for diminished rather than passionate versions of partnership, when daily existence fritters away to boring routine, Libra shrinks to a fraction of its full power. How do you stay in touch with that inner core of inspiration that transforms existence to something magical and profound? Since giant Saturn entered Libra this summer, this question hangs in the air even before Equinox, and will become instrumental during the next two and a half years as this outer planet passes through this enigmatic sign. Like fall foliage, there's more to Libra than meets the eye. Under casual scrutiny it appears as if New England leaves change color in the fall, but this is not the real story, because the colors were there all along, hidden beneath a shiny layer of green painted on by chlorophyll. During the crisp September chill nights and mornings in Vermont, the chlorophyll wears off revealing the brilliant hues that were waiting in the wings during the earlier acts of spring and summer. To produce the world-famous explosions of golds, oranges, tans, pinks, reds and especially the rich saturated rust color that marks the special peak years when the forest bouquet is at its fullest, requires only a slight scratching away of the green by the lowering temperatures of autumn. New England Autumn is not just a visual spectacle though, but a multi-sensory excursion. The air becomes pungent with a certain scent that leaves only seem to acquire in New England. The crispness of the leaves seems to extend into the spirit of the people, awakening creativity even as the strong northwestern gusts and storms send the first batches of maple, oak, dogwood, hickory, beech, ash, aspen, and birch twirling through the sky. And at the end of August, the first tiny outbreaks of color only erupt from the most stressed-out trees, who lose their chlorophyll before the others. So too with human beings. The inner composition of a single human being or a love partnership is at hard to fathom at first. And those who burn brightly tend to get stressed out before the others, and so, perhaps reveal more of what we're made of. The Libra in me (I was born October 2) is crazy about decoding the underlying themes and patterns of a single human being, a relationship, or a period such as the current moment of cosmic weather here on earth. With Saturn in Libra, as we approach Equinox, we're all being invited to find out what we're made of. What dream of life and love burns brightest within you? Bits and pieces, and cues and random inklings are being flushed out from under the green now. Libra asks us to learn the give-and-take of life. Who you run with, where your soul-sisters hang out, what greater awareness is possible when you band up with your own brand of spiritual outlaws and push the limits of the commonplace-in such ways you can learn where you're able to bend and compromise versus what's non-negotiable, what you have to stand strong within and claim as your own. Libra's weak point is playing to the crowd, giving others what they seem to want at the expense of your own truth. It takes many back-and-forths of the balance scale to identify the true ground you stand on and learn when the path of inflexibility is truer than compromise, which is why Libra's been called the iron hand in the velvet glove. This balancing act during the next two years will accompany one of the greatest turning points in world history. Civilization has run its course. Two thousand years of Pisces is ending. The Age that began with Christ is finalizing. We stand poised on a new era of human consciousness and are being asked to become more flexible in some areas while uncompromising in others. More than anything, as the old stories lose their power, we need new stories to navigate by. The single most powerful way to change the world is to get people to transform the stories they tell themselves. The things we tell ourselves are more instrumental than any other single thing, especially the things we tell ourselves down below the surface, where we don't usually realize we're telling ourselves anything. Stories about my god is better than yours, stories based upon fear and lack and scarcity must give way now to tales of the hidden magic of life, stories of regeneration and hope and healing and love and miracle. Especially in our relationships with others now and in the coming years we need to open our dreams as to what's possible, and not settle for less; instead of getting caught in superficial Libra, playing to the crowd, we need to practice pushing ourselves, honing our edge, developing life and love as transformative arts. The world is morphing. Our DNA is being rewoven. The way things work can no longer be based on old stories taken for granted. Under the complacent green leaves of summer, personal myths, childhood biases and mass assumptions are being wrenched back and forth in the universal balance to release the very way we look at the world. This summer I've spoken with people in different parts of the world who became relieved to learn of the current global transformation within which their personal disruptions can be seen. No, you're not crazy. Yes, things are changing fundamentally. No, you can't count on the old methods producing the same results. We're each being summoned to locate the places we cling to worn-out tales and try something new. The day after Equinox is this year's Harvest Moon, which happens to fall in the first degree of Aries and packs an unstoppable blast of willpower. In primal bursts, at the end of September, the full moon will beam into us the imperative to work out key differences between self and other, get clear in love and relationship, band up with your tribe, group, or circle, and aim your creativity toward the stars. In such ways we help the world change. Who are you really? What are you here to do? How much longer are you going to wait? Forward! Mark Borax Soul Level Astrologer

Don't mess...

It's been a bliss-filled busy whirlwind adventure returning to the us of a.

A trip to love up my parents in Pennsylvania, visit my 102 year old grandma in Maine. Tought a weekend of workshops with the lovely AcroYoga community in and around Portland, ME with co-teacher Kara Seymour. Then I arrived to Austin, Texas to visit a few dear sister goddesses and begin my co-teaching partnership with Justin Caruso that will take us for 6 months through Latin America.

We just finished 12 hours of juicy therapeutic acroyoga and acrobatic flying within 3 days. The community here has welcomed us so warmly, with many offers of places to stay, a car to drive around, and people to dance, play, explore and eat with. We're eating lots of Tex-Mex. and trying not to make daily visits to the biggest (i think) Whole Foods in the WORLD. ...to TRY is a lie though and we definitely have bought all their varieties of stone fruits (peaches, plums, nectarines...) my favorite fruits along with the momma mango.

I'm hoping to find the farmer's markets and load up on some local organic goodness too. :)

A few days left here in Austin with hopes for some Salsa dancing, natural springs, and a visit to Sarah Graham's house which she built with strawbales. So inspiring.~

In love, light and Metta..

Inevitable Buddha~Buda Inevitable

Argentina, you are so beautiful!~

Inevitable Buddha by *Jada

English y Español

http://vimeo.com/13103066

Libertad Indestructible by *Jada

Español

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsdYD_mf9HU&feature=player_embedded

Watercolor by arami~ Love

http://www.violetavariable.com.ar/

Self-Care

*Advise from Jenny and Jason the founders of AcroYoga...

• Study with teachers who inspire you on a regular basis.
• Be as consistent as possible with your self-practice.
• Maintain a balance between teaching, playing, resting, studying, vacationing and working
• Spend as much quality time by yourself as you need to balance the quality time you spend with others.
• Allow people you trust to hold space for you in the way that you hold space for others, and allow yourself to ask for help when you need it.
• Always put your own life balance and happiness first. Everything else will follow.
• Focus on your quality of being and the doing will flow effortlessly.
• Do your best to follow through on your commitments, and, be willing to change your plans if your instincts or life circumstances guide you in that direction.
• Leave enough time between teaching engagements to integrate your experience. At least 1-2 days minimum. Too many good things back-to-back can become a dizzying blur without enough space to reflect on the past and prepare for the future.

"I have so much to do, I have to meditate more today"~ Ghandi

Mudita* Miraflores*Ankorythms*

Metta~Karuna~Mudita~Upeksa

The sublime attitudes or The Four Immeasurables (brahmavihāra) are a series of four virtues and Buddhist meditation practices designed to cultivate those virtues. The meditator is instructed to radiate out to all beings in all directions the mental states of:

1) loving-kindness or benevolence

2) compassion

3) sympathetic joy

4) equanimity.

Loving-kindness (Pāli: metta, Sanskrit: maitri) towards all: the hope that a person will be well; "the wish that all sentient beings, without any exception, be happy."

Compassion (Pāli and Sanskrit: karuṇā): the hope that a person's sufferings will diminish; "the wish for all sentient beings to be free from suffering."

Joy (Pāli and Sanskrit: mudita): joy in the accomplishments of a person — oneself or another; sympathetic joy; "the wholesome attitude of rejoicing in the happiness and virtues of all sentient beings."

Equanimity (Pāli: upekkhā, Sanskrit: upekṣā): learning to accept loss and gain, praise and blame, and success and failure, all with detachment, equally, for oneself and for others. Equanimity is "not to distinguish between friend, enemy or stranger, but regard every sentient being as equal. It is a clear-minded tranquil state of mind - not being overpowered by delusions, mental dullness or agitation."

I just arrived into NYC after leaving Buenos Aires a day and a half ago with a 12hour layover in Lima, Peru. It’s summer here in the city and I am feeling so blessed with all the goodness that surrounds me, the amazing people, food, activities that support me in my growth and journey.

My despidida (going away party) in Buenos Aires was full of a weekend of AcroYoga workshops, a fun contact dance Jam (sham), friends stopping by to play in the park, sit in meditation, give massages, receive massages, playing harmonium and m’bira, making our favorite meals, drinking tea, and giving and receiving gifts and appreciations. Also lots of smiles, laughter, and feelings of home and community.

Juan Pa and I had a late night sharing about what our time co-teaching and co-living together taught us since we had been living together and teaching between 2-4 classes a week. Plus workshops. We also spoke to the possibility co-teaching again in Buenos Aires for a longer period of time, focusing on our evolution as AcroYoga teachers (and human beings) and our inspired vision for the AY community in Buenos Aires as a starting point for the continued growth and ethics of the AcroYoga community throughout Latin America.

Although sad to leave my life in Buenos Aires, where I felt so welcomed and at home, with so many deep spiritual connections, with so many beings, I knew that I had a few dear friends waiting me along the way, and a loving family excited for me to be at “home.” Feeling I was sitting in the flow, since there was so much love along the way. I was in the right place.

I had a twelve hour layover in Lima, Peru and headed over to my friends house in Miraflores. Andrés’ apartment is on the 8^th floor and overlooks the ocean and the sunset. We listened to the Gayatri Mantra as the sun was setting. Such a beautiful contrast from sitting in the airport waiting for a flight. Thank you thank you thank you!

तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं ।

भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि ।

धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥

tát savitúr váreṇyaṃ

bhárgo devásya dhīmahi

dhíyo yó naḥ pracodáyāt

"We meditate on the adorable glory of the radiant sun;

may he inspire our intelligence."

Andres is an amazing Buddhist Teacher and Psychologist who works at the University of Lima. Many people come to him for spiritual life advice. I asked him advice for relationships, for acting out of love and compassion as much as possible. He said “treat everyone like your best friend. Meditate on the Four Immeasurables- Metta~Karuna~Mudita~Upeksa. That is a great place to start.”

A half an hour taxi to the airport and 7 hours of red-eye sleepy flight, 24hours after leaving Buenos Aires, I landed in NYC at JFK to the shock of summer after 2.5 months of South American winter. Quickly I felt a lot lighter and began to crave coconut water. The memories of quinoa and pumpkin soup from Argentina seemed ridiculous. Feeling held through the transition, from my love for the other beings that support and love me. I call up Ankur who has 4 hours free in NYC, coming from his life with his partner now living in Liberia, Africa, and heading home to Washington State for a brief visit.

This has been happening more and more lately with Ankur. We’re on separate sides of the planet and our paths will cross for a few hours. Then we find the closest park and play music and fly and laugh and stare into each other’s eyes as we speak and don’t speak about all that has happened in our time apart.

This time he meets me on the street in between the subway and our friend’s apartment. There’s always the moment where I’m not sure if I’ll recognize him if he’s walking towards me, like I’ll mistake someone else for him… of course when I see him, I realize my ridiculousness. He’s a skinny Indian man with white African pants and a wildly designed African shirt with an energy that radiates w-i-d-e-l-y. I feel him getting closer and see his white teeth and his white pants first.

What a gift to feel someone on the same team on this planet. Someone who I know so well, who knows me, who has traveled multiple realities with me, beside me, far away, who I love and who loves me. We know this and we are unafraid to be there.

He leads me to our friend Cholmes’ apartment and makes me a gourmet salad as I shower. Ankur in the past opened up a donation only vegetarian restaurant on an island (locals are mainly meat-eaters) in southern Brazil. Then he wrote a book about the experience with delicious recipes and life lessons. http://somethingconstructive.net/jamanta/index.php

He put amazingness into that salad, things I hadn’t tasted in forever, and with the Ankur personal touch, where everything always tastes the best. In the fridge he took the liberty to chill some mangos. MANGOS! Needless to say, Ankur and I have spent a lot of time not only playing in parks, but also playing everywhere and eating mangos. That’s how we first met. Mangos, stars, summer…

I can’t believe that I get to arrive to random cities on this planet, and there are some of my favorite beings, feeding my soul.

We play music together. I’m rockin out the harmonium, he’s on an Indian flute. We’ve gotten a lot better at playing music together. Now we can just sit down and share and it happens. A few years ago we were trying to learn to sing and lead our friends in heart song around the woodstove. Both our voices cracking, and both yearning yearning to just be doing it. The miracle of playing music every day and our commitment to it…

We sing:

May the long time sun shine upon you.

All love surround you.

And the pure love with in you.

Guide your way home.

He gifts me a sarong from Liberia. I had just given Juan Pa in Argentina my only sarong that I had since Bali. Replaced so quickly.

He tells me a story where a friend was visiting and hadn’t caught on yet to having her own water bottle, and when she almost bought her 3^rd bottle of water during their visit, he just gave her his bottle. I had an extra bottle that I needed for hiking during the Peru program but wasn’t necessary for my life ~now~. Gifted!

Universe, just because you give us exactly what we need, you think we’re going to love you even more?....

Well…

You’re right.

One love,

Sam

Dance When You're Perfectly Free

Circle of Mana Overflowing Inspirations...

Dance when you're broken open.
Dance when you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance when you're perfectly free.

Struck, the dancer hears a tambourine inside her,
like a wave that crests into foam at the very top,
Begins.

Maybe you don't hear that tambourine,
or the tree leaves clapping time.
Close the ears on your head,
that listen mostly to lies and cynical jokes.

There are other things to see, and hear.
Music. Dance.
A brilliant city inside your soul!
--Rumi

Samantha Keller's questions:

Are there any areas of your life where you are refusing to bring more joy?

Where would you like to bring more joy into your life?

More joy by really doing what feels good. By choosing what is Life-giving! More baths, reading in bed, dancing...

Prana-fied food, touching the earth.

That is life giving.

Alignments that allow my body to feel joy and freedom. Clothing that feels soft and spacious.

Friends who laugh, flow and sparkle.

MUSIC~~~

LOVE~~~

Making food for friends. Listening

to stories.

That is life-affirming!

Tonight we had our first guests stay with us. I'm feeling the JOY of being able to provide a warm loving space with the comforts of home and healthy yummy food for those traveling. I am so grateful for my gifted house here and for all the people on this planet who have opened their homes to me and took care of me with so much love. I'm feeling the call to reciprocate and invite into a loving space...

Ellen- "I was reminded of an image I have been carrying with me for a few years. One of my friends gave me this postcard that I am attaching. It reminds me of being strong within ourselves and having the support of all of the different versions of ourselves. We do not have to be at battle with ourselves, but rather cultivate all of these different pieces that make us truly unique, honest, and beautiful."

Army of Me, 2003
Artist: Amy Cutler
with love
Ellen
Woman of Intuitive Action

Cosmic Weather Report

My favorite Astrologer (thanks to Samantha Keller~)...

Cosmic Weather Report

August 2010: Spiritual Outlaws

Throughout August the Dark God Pluto dances with five other planets in a series of aspects designed to get you through your hurdles to something golden. Whatever secrets you’ve been stuffing become unstuffed to expose skeletons in your closet. Whatever truths you’ve been running from it’s time to turn and face. Whatever lies you’ve been telling yourself are being battered by twin forces of inner and outer evolution.

Dealing with the Duchess of Death is rarely fun and easy because Pluto’s midnight realm descends several layers beneath surface awareness. It always requires a death of sorts to get down deep enough, death of your fond illusions, death of who you wanted to be, death of some love that’s run its course.

It’s not so much the truths you’re aware of, but demons churning in the karmic gumbo, the soup of the soul down below, who must be faced. It’s not so much the ideas you hold but their hidden roots that spawn your whole world view that must be slain by the unstoppable hand of Kali the Destroyer.

When Pluto engages this many planets in such a short time it’s because the collective contract to hold ourselves back has been strained to the breaking point and it’s time to die to the nightmare and get to the other side. The Dark God summons our vital force out of mass delusion into building a new world in the most crucial part of us—the primal depths within. In that dark hollow we must muster the courage to believe in something beyond the dead stories of the past. If you delve beneath those boneyards you can release your buried love for existence. You can spring your hidden core of love for the heart of the world with resurrective force.

Primal darkness, distortion and delusion are bending this way and that to snap you out of biases of the blood, free you from old karmic stories you’ve been following, feuding tales of loss and lack that have to give up the ghost.

To help you do this for a long time now I’ve been ending each monthly Cosmic Weather Report with three taglines:

Who are you really?

Are you the one waiting with infinite patience for the world to change? Are you the one who vowed to stay true to your love in the time before time? Are you sick to death at pretending to be something you’re not? Who are you?

What are you here to do?

Are you here to ignite the light within you as a beacon to throw off the darkness? Are you here to claim a path of creative transformation through the end time of a false civilization? Are you here to rise above meager intellects who say it can’t be done? What are you here for?

How much longer are you going to wait?

Have you run out of excuses to not be yourself or are you gonna try a few more? Are you going to let the smug lies of false experts and leaders run your life? What about the children? What further incentive do you need to soar through the rigors of incarnation as a free being?

This Plutonian sweep of the dungeons in August clears the way for the Saturn in Libra years, which began at the end of July when Saturn left Virgo. After three years stirring up the body of the Virgin, Saturn, Lord of Karma has entered the sign of Balance, where he remains until the end of 2012.

Virgo is the Get Real sign of the zodiac. Saturn in Virgo produced a necessary cleansing and purging, a self-scouring wake-up call to get us to realize how far our lives had gotten off the track of the soul. We’ve been summoned to get virginal by disentangling from false compromises and self-betrayals. We’ve been asked to gain the innocence of the child who always knew there was a simpler and purer way.

For three years Saturn’s demanded we get real. Life itself has sent message after message that there are better things to do than sell your dreams for false security. Destiny has been trying to get it through our thick heads that there’s a realer way to live than by lubricating the gears of a broken system. Life lessons have come thick and fast to jerk us out of mass delusion. True to Virgo, the most finely-calibrated sign, the degree of difficulty this presents to you is the precise degree your life has strayed from your inner truth and needs to be put back on track.

Now that Saturn has entered the airy Libra domain of Balance, a new phase of soul purpose is beginning and will grow stronger for the next two-and-a-half years. We’re emerging out of years of self-criticism into a calling of kindred spirits to band together. We’re accelerating out of Virgo’s heavy earth realm of judgment toward Libra’s airy realm of creative breakthrough. Having raised our awareness of what wasn’t working, we’re moving on to see how that too was a passing phase in the greater give and take of Universal Balance. So when imps and demons continue to poke their heads out of the woodwork now it’s mostly for artistic purposes. When your awareness is drawn to how out of balance everything is, it’s to ignite your creative hunger to bring something new to the world.

Between now and the end of 2012 you’re invited to the great unmasking at the World Masquerade Ball. You unmask by challenging the boundaries of your imagination, pushing into open territory that transforms life into art. Let each difficulty dare you to redefine what’s possible. Follow the examples of John Coltrane, the Grateful Dead at their best, and Stevie Winwood and Traffic, who blew beyond former boundaries of what music was.

Traffic created songs by living together and dropping acid and jamming for days on end with tape recorders rolling, then coming down and reviewing what they’d played, and polishing the best bits and pieces into songs they took into the studio. Each time they came out of the studio they created whole new genres, not just songs.

The Saturn in Libra years are asking you to orchestrate jagged pieces of the past into new music. The ringing gong is calling you find your tribe, claim the life you were born to live, make your life an art that’s never been done before.

When a band of visionaries unites to push the boundaries of the known universe, they throw open the stuck doors of evolution for everyone. They reconfigure existence along new lines. They harness passionate devotion to the Muse into a morphic field of resonance others can enter into and there transform. In such a way we become spiritual outlaws stealing boredom and complacency from the stuck world.

Forward!

Mark Borax

Soul Level Astrologer

Please share this information as far as possible.

Anyone wishing to sign up, please do so through my website: www.markborax.com. This is a private list -- I do not share it. For personal readings email me at mborax@gmail.com My new book, 2012: Crossing the Bridge to the Future can be ordered on my website or at your local bookstore. It was published by Frog Books, in conjunction with Random House.

Lessons On Humility

The best offerings of gratitude to a teacher in ascending order:

1. Gift them offerings, smiles, flowers, incense, etc...

2. Do something for them with your body, i.e. make them food, drive them places, clean for them.

3. Practice what they taught you.

Jayendra, profe de Anusara arrived on thursday from Amsterdam and it has been as if a joya (jewel) fell into my lap. I was craving a teacher and an opening inspiring yoga "practice." A reminder of the light, and the magic in it all. Teachings to spark my passion again.

I was unaware until yesterday that he was not only going to teach a weekend of workshops but also a week long teacher training.

Tonight I was blessed to be able to make him a dinner of Quinoa with broccoli and carrots (from the local farmers market where you can bring your compost twice a week too!) and steamed kale with ginger and soy sauce. Raw chocolate bliss-balls for dessert!

To sit with such a teacher so experienced in THE PRACTICE and be able to provide food made with love, and sit in his company and hear his stories- such an honor. He lived at Gurumayi's ashram for 7 years and began practicing yoga about 30 years ago! humble humble, like standing in front of a grandfather red wood tree and trying not to try to figure out what to say or ask.

So, I continue to flow, with the gifts that arrive.

Learning to teach all the elements of the heart-connecting thematic practice of anusara yoga along with all the priciples of the postures, in spanish. Totally humbling learning exactly how to say smoothly, rhythmically, and with a yogic intonation, "raise your arms to shoulder hight, turn your right foot forward 90*, exhale bend your RIGHT knee, etc etc..." And then to connect it all to how we are ultimately the universal, always in pulsation between one-ness and duality. PLUS add at least two heart qualities such as, "with the extension of organic energy, celebrate the JOY of connecting to something greater."

For those who know anusara, there are lots of subtle instructions that put us in therapeutic alignment and that open us up to a feeling of "ananda" or bliss. I'm figuring out the tricks of how they make their classes so yummy and inspirational.

I'm immensely enjoying painting the picture of my life, and taking the steps of practicing what I soon will just- be doing. To remember this time of discomfort, and all the other times of discomfort when I chose to challenge myself because I had faith that I could do something as long as I wanted it badly enough to practice it and prioritize it. So much possibility!

These days, when I arrive to a new location where I will be staying for at least a few days, I make an alter with my favorite inspiring cards, letters, artwork, yantras, leaves, feathers, found/gifted treasures...Lately on my alter I've blindly chosen a quote from a pocket-sized pile that my friend Abigail bought for me on an adventure in Northampton, MA. My Argentina quote is, "It's ok to do it wrong." This sit's next to a heart shaped note that says, "Every moment is magic mango land~Abundance ~Love."

and

"Could you imagine growing up as a duckbill platypus? Probably not. Nothing is as it seems. Could you imagine all you truly love being the simple manifestation of what you call, 'your life.'"

One love~