Heart Vote 2016: Our Revolution

History is a story of revolutions. What will this one be called? The Digital Revolution? The Conscious Revolution? I don’t know its name but I know it has begun. People are more awake than ever. The curtain was yanked open and the wizard of USA has been spotted. People aren’t asleep to the lies, the manipulation, or the corruptness that existed on this planet for far too long. A revolution is happening and even if you don’t understand it completely remember all those revolutions in the history books, they started with real, live, confused characters, like you and me. It ends well for us, because despite our confusion, we took a stand, used our voices, our means and our resources to work for a dream that works for everyone.

We can all feel the pull of it but don’t know with whom to stand with or where to stand. Our elders didn’t tell us anything about this time and most of our peers have no idea what we’re trying to accomplish. There’s no road map for us. No laid out plan for how to shift this coming election to favor the people. Families. Communities. But we know it is possible. We believe. We have faith. We trust. That our people matter, the earth and Her resources are sacred and that love is the most powerful energy to exist.

Everyone’s asking questions like how did we get here? Some are wanting to go back. So many are staying in their comfort zones afraid to take a stand. Afraid of being heard and being seen and yet on the inside dying for it. But we are here, there’s no going back and our comfort zones are about to be ripped away from us if we continue feeding a system that does not support the best interests of its people. So we must step into our greatest desire and face our greatest fear by taking a stand. Standing anywhere we can. With our presence, our voice, our silence, our dollar, our vote, our signature, and most importantly with each other.

It was the agricultural, industrial and cultural revolutions, it was the Civil Revolutionary War, the Bolshevik Revolution, and the Paris Commune. It was groups of people standing up to the powers that were, seeking a new form of happiness, a new way of living. It was out of line. Against the grain. Those participating were called rebels as if it was a bad thing to want something other than, to dream something new. But they stood anyways. They rallied with their peers. They came together and they fought like hell for what they knew they deserved. Even discovered a “New World” and made it a reality. However confused they were, they did it. They broke free from tyranny. Together.

This is our time to take a stand. To get out of our comfort zones and use whatever means we have to do things differently for the good of the whole. In whatever way you deem necessary because this is a time of being in the heart and moving from there and what is in your heart may be different than mine and that’s what we need. Diversity. The more love, the more heart we move with, the more beauty we witness. The more array of colors, shades and backgrounds, the more beautiful the image we can create.

It’s time to create the world we want to live in. A world that reflects our values, our ethics, and moral compasses and not those of a few. A world that works for us, those living working, breathing and existing within in it. All of us. Because we are all here together. Now. Living. I invite us to live in harmony. To find unity in every way. Allow inclusion to be your governance and give more of yourself than you ever have to those around you. Be kind. Be gentle with one another and hold each other close.

And on November 8, 2016, if not before, please do take a stand. Stand with your vote. Stand with the majority of people who do not support the current “electable” candidates. Don’t vote for them based on previous logic of “throwaway” votes or votes “not mattering” or voting “the lesser of two evils.” Or any other fear tactic presented to your logic based on traditions to scare you away from voting with your heart.

Vote whomever you choose. Write a vote in. Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein, or Justin Timberlake. Just don’t waste your vote. Don’t make a fear based vote. Vote with integrity. Use your voice right now, because even if it’s not listened to, you will be heard. And the more that we are heard, the more they have to listen. And the more they listen, the more we get what we know we deserve. We agree to a system only with our silence about its methods. And for those that don’t vote or don’t think your vote counts, and it might not, have the courage to step up and vote anyway to spite those that would tell you not to.This time it could make the difference.

This is a heart vote. A self-love vote. A vote for what truly matters. We need you! We need the unique expression your heart has for the whole. Express yourself by showing up and allowing the world to hear us. They are listening. They are dependent on what we do. Us. Not them. We are that powerful. We can shift the world. We can if we choose to.

Choose love. Be a part of this revolution. Listen to your heart and be the change you wish to see. Not what everyone else wants you to do but vote for the candidate that resonates most with your truth. Let your means to influence this change to be a reflection of who you really are. Love. Peace. Truth. And then Let it Be.

Play time is divine time

My inner child is ecstatic! I played so hard over the last couple of months and in particularly the last week at Burning Man, my favorite adult playground! Play is so essential to our well-being. My body’s soreness today a reminder of the hardcore dancing, climbing, bike riding across the playa every day that took me to my depths physically. A reminder of the exploring, adventures and back to back dance parties with my tribe that it endured. Every day was an ecstatic opportunity to let her out to play, do things that bring me joy, laugh, cry, connect and be as silly as possible.

I am blessed to know Burning Man as my home. A place my heart has always known and is happy to return to each year. A place where freedom rings loud and clear. Where each person's uniqueness shines through and each soul reflects back your own unique beauty through their eyes. Their highest self revealed by the last day so completely that you can see illuminated beings everywhere, making everyone appear beautiful.

It is a time when you can burn away that which no longer serves you. Burn through any negative patterns, programs, or beliefs that are holding you back. A week to look at yourself in the most beautiful ways through art, experience and connection. It is a place to celebrate all that is right with humanity and the world we live in. It brings me to the heights of awe at what humans are capable of even when money isn’t the motivating factor.

People spend not only their time, money and resources to go to the desert, be covered in dust, and go through all that it takes to prepare for such an experience but they also create the most extravagant costumes, art, moving art cars, and camps for you to experience, and then burn it down! Lessons of impermanence run deep.

It is a 24 hour city that never sleeps, ever! From the hip hop camp next to us this year that never stopped with their playlists, to our own camp that played house music non-stop the whole burn, the vibrations and the pulsating energy is always present.

I am so free to be me there. I can dance how I want to dance, laugh obnoxiously, talk loudly and it’s accepted! People say hello when they see you or tell you they love you. Sometimes total strangers will give you the most beautiful gifts, like jewelry and others the lessons or words we needed. The playa always provides exactly what is needed. Whatever you want it’s there.

Trying to explain to someone that you followed behind a 2 story Octopus art car made out of junk metal parts of all kinds that was rolling through the playa shooting fire out of it’s moving tentacles, it’s fireball eyes and bumping loud house music, while crying in disbelief is no easy task and often people look at you like your nuts. You can’t really explain the hilarity that exists only there. The quirky and awkward moments of gazing into the eyes of another wandering soul dressed in a penis costume.

Life is peculiar. It’s in interesting. If you let it be. If you step out of your comfort zone and meet people where they truly occupy space, you can witness, connect, and enjoy people and your life more. Let it surprise you, wow you, take over your senses and consume your efforts to control what happens to and around you. Life is so magical, mysterious, and more amazing to me having gone there and experienced the richness of Black Rock City and what it has to offer.  

This burn and what it opened up in me was so special. There were several firsts for me which is so invited at this point in my life. I manifested almost everything that I wanted and more that I hadn’t even considered. I broke through old barriers, did things in new and empowering ways, and got see some of the most beautiful parts of myself shine through when I would have ran away in the past before seeing.

Thank you Burning Man, Black Rock City, the 60,000+ people who showed up, the tribe, the friends, the camp and the playa for being everything my soul needed. Thank you Leslie, my sister that encouraged me to go, was so solid and graceful throughout, and made the adventure something I could never forget. 

I will always value this journey and all that it was.

Can't buy me love

The greatest lesson I learned in my spiritual life was overpaying for spiritual teachings. The authentic, embodied guru or teacher charges what they need to to cover their expenses both business and personal, not to become rich. Over paying and being ripped off by a "teacher," made me an incredibly skeptic from that moment forward, more discerning in who I invested my resources with, and might have actually saved my life.

I was at the time in 2007, in the desert on the spiritual path, literally, I was living in Las Vegas. I was desperate for the truth and a teacher who could share it with me. I had read "The Secret," believed in the law of attraction and had watched the authors speak on Oprah. 

I heard one was offering a free talk not too far from my house so I went. The whole time he spoke I could feel I was being sold. Coming from a sales career I recognized all marketing lingo, the motivators to buy and one liners to close the deal. And yet, because I was vulnerable and ready to take the next step towards enlightenment, I went to the back of the room and paid $1300 for a two day seminar. Food and housing were not included, only the privilege to be one of the few who got to work with him personally and have access to an online community of support to follow.

A few weeks before the retreat was to begin, it was rescheduled. It was then rescheduled 3 more times before it was indefinitely cancelled. I never got my money back. I was told I could go to a sweat lodge retreat instead as he was no longer offering the retreat I had been sold.

Two years later, he was convicted of negligent homicide for the deaths of two of his students in a sweat lodge in Arizona because he wouldn't let them leave the overly hot conditions. He wasn't a real shaman or guru, he was nothing more than a self serving, manipulative sales man who had taken the lives of those in search of something more. 

This was a very extreme case of "spiritual teachers" bamboozling students and it happened to me. When I went home to see my spiritual guide devastated, wondering who and if I could ever trust again, she pointed out the beautiful gift I had been given. That I could be grateful it happened early on the path before I became too involved with unscrupulous people and would also be more discerning about teachers in the future.

I prayed that I would be guided to an embodied teacher. Adyashanti showed up. After reading a few of his books and listening to his talks, I received a list of his upcoming retreats. He was charging $895 for a 5 day retreat with room and board. Underneath the prices for the retreats was a scholarship link. At the time I was unemployed and applied. Several months later I was granted a full scholarship. I paid only for my train ride to Northern California for a 5 day silent, all inclusive retreat with him. This lesson in authenticity was priceless.

Since then I have learned that most teachers in India do not charge their students at all to live in an Ashram with them, but live and support their teachings solely on donations from those who benefit and see the guru for who they are. To this day you can go to a 10 day Vippasana retreat at no cost, paid for or in part by previous students who valued their experience. This keeps the teachings authentic and free from commercialism. 

Overcharging for a group retreat, seminar, workshop etc is a reflection of a self-serving mindset that the teachers individual worth and reward is greater than the teachings and the students who seek them. It keeps the poor out. Asking for a scholarship, or a work exchange is seen as undercutting them and their value. If one looks more deeply into it, they find a selfish need to be successful, rich, seen,"their best self" over and above the teachings and/or their students.  

This event was embarrassing. No real guru will make you pay what you don't have to "get in" nor are they attached to wealth. If you hear someone speaking about being successful, rich and ask you to "get in before they hike up the price" take another look and see whats really behind those clever motivating words. There is no amount of money that can buy you love or awaken your truth; and stillness is free.

Namaste

The game

There is always going to be a game being played. You must play one to be alive. Lets call the current leading game being played on planet earth basketball. The issue is that only a small few are any good. The tall ones, athletic, and those with quick reflexes will be those most requested to play leaving out those who aren't any of those things chilling on the sidelines. They simpy aren't enough.

What's happening now is that those that have been sitting the sidelines supporting the game have become restless. We want to play too. Our only choices are keep "paying" attention to the basketball game or begin playing a new one. So that's what we are doing with our energy. Creating a new game.

Lets call it the love game. It allows for many more participants because height isnt a barrier to entry. You don't have to be athletic or any of the things basketball requires. You can be you. Play many positions and even change your position if you decide to.

At first when we started playing, people looked  over at us from the basketball game like we were crazy. Judged us, said we were "way out there" even wrong for choosing not to play a game not designed for US to play, let alone win. But we kept playing this new game, experimenting with the rules, getting good at our love game that includes everybody and continuing to create it as we go because it serves us, the planet and our souls. Slowly over time many more people have stopped giving their energy to basketball, have begun looking away, noticed this other game and are even considering teaming up with us to play.

And I mean why not? They are automatically chosen to play, as they are, as they choose to show up. They like the way it feels, how it's been set up for their success and rejoice in being able to actively play this one. And they keep joining in on the fun. Participating in their own joy. Its happening now. There is more than one game being played now.

What game are you playing? Are you even playing or just going through the motions in your mind? Are you accepted into your chosen game, acknowledged, seen, heard and felt?

Choose the game YOU want to play. Choose one that serves you or create even a better one but make sure you know what game it is that your playing. Thats the key to unlocking your new (game) world.

Strength for you in choosing the game closest to your heart, dreams and aspirations.

Love is the game I choose. It serves us all as we are; perfect images of the divine. I've never been great at basketball. I'm not tall enough, I don't have the best aim. It was never meant for me. So why keep playing?

I can't wait to see all the new games being created everywhere that are in benefit to the greatest good, as people become more clear about their own inherent power to choose for themselves.  Let the games begin!! Power to the people!!

Heaven or Hell

Each day that we wake up, in every moment, we are choosing. We are choosing what to do, where to go, but ultimately we are choosing how to be, how we show up in the world. We are either grateful for our breath, our body, our life, grateful for everything we already have. Or are we choosing to complain, argue, blame, and cause ourselves a living hell? Where is the fun in that? No child ever said I want to grow up and work at a job that I don't enjoy and ignore all of my dreams. Heaven is one choice away. Come thee to the kingdom of heaven, childlike. Don't "grow up" in this sense that you would be willing to sell out your souls dreams, your inner child's natural instincts, in favor of others. Be innocent again. Be reborn. Choose Heaven. Live each day full of wonder, exploration, discovery and joy. Be childlike as you soar and be more than you ever thought you could be.

Dirty Sacred Dancing

I am a dancer. I dance because it is fun. I dance to disappear into something bigger, a nothingness and everything at the same time. When I dance, a deep intimacy arises within. I am no longer afraid. My soul, my deepest most loving self is alive and pulsating with scintillating pleasure. Dirty, ecstatic and sacred dancing held in the same regard. Dance is a form of prayer for me. A form of communication with the deepest parts of myself, creator, others, and life. I dance to feel Her. To allow Her to be seen. Dancing is freedom for me.

When I dance I am a catalyst to change. Gritty, dirty, sultry dancing. Shaking off old patterns and shimming my way into a new way of being. My dancer is pure truth in form taking action. I dance to fly! To allow my soul freedom to be as it is. An uncontained expression of the divine and as I twist my hips or roll my chest I release myself into this great space. At the speed of light, a bullet train surges through me, the ultimate force, when I am surrendered to this that I am. Finding solace in my own unique originality and ability to take refuge in Her, as she takes Her course.

In the physical sense I move my body to and with music showing my appreciation for it's rhythmic and compelling nature. The beat is my master, my lover, my friend. I can count on it, despite it's need to control me. It's extended time way from a song leaves me begging for it to drop and reclaim myself. The melody and my body's longing to tell it's story leave me at times in a trance, lost without recollection of time. I love to dance lyrically and with strength, a sense of silly absurdness connected with an authentic core and essence of being. I find the physical affects to be tremendous. The breakdown of what was comfortable. A release from the exhaustion of holding tension and stress that was carried too long. A shattering of built up inertia. I love the burn in my lungs, the tears in my muscles, and the tug of nausea when I know I have danced too hard, too fast, too long. 

Mentally it can be an experience of deep contemplation. A processing and a sifting through the thoughts that no longer serve. A meditative experience that envelopes me in peace. I can easily release the past, ignore the anxiety of the future, and find myself home, in the here and now.  In the spiritual sense, dancing gives me space to be as I am, to unfold, giving form to my own divine self. When I lose my center completely, unable to find a point of reference and allow the great mystery to flow through in expression, I feel the most free and connected.  

Dance allows us to merge, integrate and unify our hearts. It crosses all borders, boundaries and lines of separation. Dancing creates flow, synchronicity and aligns us with the highest. Each of us dancers,  pieces, to the whole of the collaboration, a part of the choreography of life. It brings us together. As we have faith in the ultimate choreographer, creator, and partner, and dance with all of our heart, we demonstrate the holist of work, surrender.

Once we learn to dance alone we can begin to move in alignment with another being that promises to listen to the music that guides and will hold us in the essence of our truth. Our aloneness serving as a bond of silence that we will never hold against each other. That we may feel free to dance when we are moved to and be in faith in the space between dances. It creates a bond, an understanding that if I step on your toe it's simply apart of our dance and we'll keep dancing. We can begin to experience and feel this non-verbal communication of our souls moving in continuity to the melody the mystery has created for us, our very own song.

This is the dance I want to dance together whenever we are near so that even apart I will be with you and you with me, a place called home, what our souls long for. As we dance, step to step, from moment to moment, our movement permeates everything. I will feel the vibration of your breath as it touches your face and the penetration of your exhale as it enters my lungs. Dance with me when I grieve, and when I sleep, and when I have had an incredible day. In the rain while we play as if almost in liquid fluidity. In the silence, or the time between steps, you can easily find me. Our loving, sweet nature allowing us to experience each other as we do ourselves. As one. It is the dance of love, truth, bliss, and intimacy.

Will you dance with me? And be the guardian of my solitude?

Revealing My Inner Yogi

Yoga teacher training here I come! This last week I made the decision to embark on the journey to becoming a certified yoga teacher. An intense 200 hours in 16 days on a desert retreat. I have been taking yoga classes for almost 20 years and have often considered teaching it as a way to earn income. However the decision to participate this time comes from somewhere much deeper. It comes from a need to test myself. I'm ready to take a journey deep into my body and into a deeper understanding of my soul.

This is the largest investment I have made in myself in long time. I have been researching the vast array of yoga schools and traditions available here in LA for the last year but somehow the timing, the teachers, the school hasn't been quite right until now. At first I almost allowed a scheduling conflict to deter me until I heard a little voice that said "there's a way." Putting the deposit down as a first step was actually quite easy as most things are when it is time.

It's very precarious to me that I have never attended a class at this particular school, met any of the teachers or heard anything from anyone ever about it. Yet, there it was, a small ad that caught my soul's attention and after reading everything on the school's website I knew it felt right. After some dialogue through email with the office manager and a conversation to ask for the assistance with scheduling I would need to make it possible, I made the choice.

A choice to know more about myself.  I have spent the majority of my time in the spiritual arena almost avoiding the body and as a dancer it's kind of mysterious. Focusing more on meditation and the mind than the body has allowed me to spiritually bypass for awhile now. However my soul has made it's needs know to be completely embodied in this way and I want to support this movement as much as possible. Self-mastery, Innate harmony, a release into the Truth, a devotion to Unconditioned Love are the themes of this new beginning.

I plan on sharing my journey with all of you through this blog as a testament to the process. I welcome you to join me!

Namaste, Sat Nam, Om Tat Sat!