Mystic Movement

Dance of Union Weekend - https://sanctuaryretreatshawaii.com/plan-your-visit/dance-of-union-kalani-weekender

Aloha fellow dancing souls!

I'm excited to announce this weekend deep dive where we will expand on our fundamentals of moving together in grace and unity. Learn how to embody your presence, light, passion and playfulness in your dance as well as your softness, receptivity, and flow. Both are necessary to create a movement ritual worth sharing with another. This workshop will be so fun!

I see you.

You’re beautiful and worthy just the way you are.

I see that you want others to value you. I see that you struggle to value yourself…

I see that you’re waiting in some way or another, to arrive at some fantastic destination where you can let down all your burdens and smile in relief knowing that …

You “won”… you completed the mission laid out before you… you “earned” the badge of honor for your good work. You beat the shadow, the sickness, the grief, the judgment… you’re free.

I see you because I am you. I want that too. There are things I wish I could let go of that will always be a part of me. I will never be done healing as long as I live. A “healed” person doesn’t exist. And if someone claims it, I wouldn’t follow them.

Interesting how the key to real beauty is in the flaws, the key to joy is in embracing our grief, and the key to freedom is realizing the things I cannot change and finding acceptance, forgiveness…surrender.

I cannot change the past, but I can change the story attached to it. We are meaning-making creatures. We make art and our range of feeling is our swath of colors. I prefer to play with the rainbow, the complete range.

Not one of us got everything we needed in childhood, but we can give ourselves what we need. It’s our duty as members of society to learn how to do this— know yourself.

2020-2021 has meant for me: befriending myself radically amidst the chorus of inner voices that doubt me. There is no arriving and leaving them in the dust completely. Rather, I choose to invite them along, like lost beggars, on my sacred pilgrimage. I give them each a job so they can stay busy working for the cause of love. Besides, when I banish them from the group, they find their way back to my path in the woods. There’s no way to break with your own shadows; I can only absorb them into my wholeness… the growing capacity of my Higher Self.

When the shadows act out, listen now with tenderness to the hurt that lives underneath. Do not shame them anymore because you know how scared they are. Do not justify them either. Just be with them, hear them for what they are beyond your likes or dislikes. Know how much they need your love.

Who’s deciding your future if not you?

How much do we argue for our limitations and choose to stay small and afraid when it’s our destiny to soar and be one with the infinite expansive sky, earth and sea.

The beauty of Libra season is that the crisis of choice becomes magnified. It’s not that libras are indecisive in the pejorative sense, but we see the immense power behind our choices. We see the value in both options. We see the truth does not discriminate due to politics, creed or sentiment. The truth is often “both, And”— a paradox.

The most important choice we make is where to put our attention. It’s modern science that shows us where your attention goes neural pathways grow and strengthen.

Where does your attention go? To your fear or to your gratitude? To your possibilities? Or to your limitations? Really look at yourself, examine your mind. This is the value of meditation. For we need to see the path we are on in order to have the power to shift.

Don’t get me wrong, I have fear too, just like every other creature on this planet with a reptilian and mammalian brain. But I’m less afraid of dying from a virus and more afraid of the collective consequences of not stepping into our possibilities to be the creators of a new tomorrow.

We can create a world of tolerance and compassion that is solution-oriented and holistically minded. We must focus our precious attention on the solutions to the deeper causes underlying our restlessness and worry.

The laser focus on one threat might have helped us in the Neolithic era to outwit the saber tooth tiger, but now a new intelligence is needed. A global awareness… an intelligence of the heart.

We cannot be in a vibration of fear and love at the same time. So tell me what would be the purpose of preserving life at the cost our hearts? Is there any drama worth that sacrifice?

I think the test set out before us is clear—to love each other in our humanity despite our differences of opinion regarding what is health, because that is health. Any body working cohesively is health. Dualism, fighting and othering are more toxic than any material you will find in the universe.

Let’s choose love and understanding.

We must demand more of ourselves. Spirituality is not a path for the faint of heart and those looking to avoid personal efforts. God/Goddess/Great Spirit moves through you, not for you. If you want to know how to hear the voice of the divine, you must learn to tap into the voice of your Higher Self. To be Self-realized does not have to mean leaving your body and quitting the world. Being Self-realized means you understand your true nature as connected to everything and everyone. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It's not a burden to be responsible for yourself: your health, your happiness, your sanity-- it is your human right to have the opportunity to determine your fate by following the alternating rhythms of will and grace. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Working with our fire center, our manipura chakra, we cultivate the willful aspect of our being so that we can act in the world as creators. We are by nature lions who have been bred to believe we are sheep. It's inconvenient for some if we should know this, so we must find that fight within us to maintain our sovereignty. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Responsibility means being capable of responding. It's not a burden; it is a privilege. The Hawaiian word "Kuleana" describes this essence and duality all in one. It means what is our honor and privilege is also our duty and responsibility. In other words, that which you take pride in is also your humble task.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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In the world of spiritual growth and personal development, cultivating strength is not optional; it's your kuleana.

“The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door, if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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'scircle

“What is a Wanderess? Bound by no boundaries, contained by no countries, tamed by no time, she is the force of nature’s course.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
― Roman Payne, The Wanderess

Every day we practice, we give ourselves the gift of our own attention and care. How often do we put this last on the list when it should be the very first thing we attend to-- to cultivate joy, health, resilience and peace. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We have been trained and conditioned by society that we can't be free until this or that gets done... but nothing is ever done. Life is a journey and not a destination. It's trite, because it's true. Are you looking out the window? Are you feeling the breeze on your skin? Are you taking the time to marvel at the stars or notice the rhythms of the Earth?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The irony is that the inner critic that lives within each of us is that part of us that, when harnessed and kept in check, guides us towards the choices and practices that allow us to flourish, but when allowed to rule, it bars us from our great potential and the self-love we deserve. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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What if you didn't have to do anything or be anyone to love yourself? What if you just made up your mind, right now, to be on your own side in life. You can either be your best friend or your own worst enemy. Like forgiveness, it's not something you "work on," it's something you decide to embrace once and for all, letting go of all the illusions that keep us from the truth. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Every day is a new opportunity to choose to befriend yourself. If you want to help others, the best thing you can do is to model loving yourself. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Most of us grew up with caregivers who couldn't model this and we pass this on and on. It takes courage to break the cycle of self-rejection. It takes a radical and wild leap into your own Intuitive guidance, to say-- that's enough, I am enough and I forgive myself for not being perfect, because no living, breathing thing is. And I am a lover of life. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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