Dr. Deb's Blog
Bearthday 2011 blog
APRIL 27TH, 2011
Every April, in honor of Earth Day and Bar Ostrand’s birthday (Bar is the ‘goddess in charge’ of my Daring Diva Dance Class) I create a special “Bearthday” class. Each year I wonder how I will create a playlist as wonderful as the last year’s. And each year, like magic, the perfect music comes to my awareness just in the nick of time.
Since many of you don’t live close enough to come dance with us I wanted to share the fabulous music we danced to this week. The theme of this year’s Bearthday class was LOVE. LOVE for ourselves, LOVE for our planet and LOVE for each other. The combination of lyrics, voices, rhythms and melodies created the perfect fuel for us to dance our prayers of LOVE. I dare you not to be moved by this music! Better yet, I dare you to put these tunes on your iPod, blast it loud and dance like there’s nobody watching. When you do, let me know how it was!
Bearthday 2011 Playlist
From Will Blunderfield’s heart-opening new CD, “Hallelujah”
Long Time Sun
Hallelujah
Gayatri Mantra
Guest House
Pull Through
From Wah!’s new CD “Maa”
Jagatambe
Love Holding Love
Parashakti
Shanti
Pahimam
From Wade Imre Morisette’s CD “Maha Moha: The Great Delusion”
Prayer
Inside
From the Goddess Alchemy Project CD “Frequencies of the Motherland”
Kundalini Manifest
From Bliss’s CD “ Hundred Thousand Angels”
Come Into the Light
A Hundred Thousand Angels
Grace
Farewell to Music
How to prepare for a pleasure and love-filled Valentine’s Day
FEBRUARY 10TH, 2011I don’t know about you, but somewhere between getting my work done, making dinner and checking homework my sensuality gets swept under the rug.
My desire is to be intentional and present in all areas of my life – including the part of me that is sexy. So in honor of Valentine’s Day I’m teaching a class called “Exotic Moves for Everyday Divas.” It’s designed for any woman of any size, any age or any fitness level to release her inner sexy, confident, powerful self.
If you live in the Austin area, click here and come play with us on Friday the 11th. But for those of you who live too far away to join us, here are some of my top tips for feeling sensual and creating your own exotic dance:
1. Create a temple space in your bathroom and bedroom with candles and music
2. Take a long hot bath with your favorite bath salts or oils
3. Use an exfoliating body scrub (my favorite is Rice Bran Polisher by Sense)
4. Shave
5. Put on a deep moisturizing lotion (my favorite is Firming Body Nourisher by Sense because its hydroxy complex, shea butter, Irish moss and mallow hydrate so deeply – while coneflower and gotu kola enhance elasticity…which means tighter skin!)
6. Candlelight – I know I already mentioned this, but everything looks better in candlelight….and my new favorite candles are actually battery-powered so they can burn for hours without leaving any smoky residue on the walls or ceiling.
7. Stretch slowly. I actually do this while putting on my Firming Body Nourisher.
8. As you begin to dance, slow EVERYTHING down as if you are moving through molasses
9. Don’t go with the beat of the music. I know that seems counter intuitive, but trust me on this one. Moving to your OWN rhythm is much sexier than moving to the beat of the music.
10. FEEL every move…notice your feet on the floor, the air touching the hairs on your arms, the feel of your own skin….
11. Let your hands trace your curves. If you are dancing for your beloved, there’s a saying I learned from a performer long ago when she was talking about how to get a man to notice something: “If you want them to notice it, you need to touch it or point to it.” So drag your hand across your favorite parts….arms, hips, collar bones….and his eyes will follow.
12. Set your hips free to sway or circle or undulate. This is the most important physical move because it is guaranteed to increase the flow of energy in your body and help you get in touch with your feminine essence and feminine power.
13. If you are dancing for your beloved, soften your gaze and give him eye contact. For many of us this is the hardest thing to do, but it is so important for a feeling of connection.
Okay, these are my BEST tips – and I’d also love to hear yours. How do you awaken your sensual side? Please share below as we all prepare for a pleasure and love-filled Valentine’s Day!
Winter Solstice 2010 plus Full Moon and Total Lunar Eclipse! Enjoy a Playlist, Poetry and Ritual
DECEMBER 20TH, 2010I adore creating rituals at special times of the year, so I absolutely love this time of year as we celebrate the season of light with Hanukkah and Christmas as well as experience the quiet reflection time of Winter Solstice. This year is even more special since we have the rare opportunity to experience a full moon AND a total lunar eclipse on Winter Solstice.
The Details:
According to NASA, the lunar eclipse begins on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am EST (Monday, Dec. 20th, at 10:33 pm PST). At that time, Earth’s shadow will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the lunar disk. It takes about an hour for the “bite” to expand and swallow the entire Moon. Totality commences at 02:41 am EST (11:41 pm PST) and lasts for 72 minutes.
If you’re planning to dash out for only one quick look - it is December, after all - choose this moment: 03:17 am EST (17 minutes past midnight PST). That’s when the Moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red.
How rare is this?
Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years. “Since Year 1, I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is 1638 DEC 21,” says Chester. “Fortunately we won’t have to wait 372 years for the next one…that will be on 2094 DEC 21.”
What is Winter Solstice?
Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year and metaphorically offers us an opportunity to reflect on our own darkness, our own shadow. If you lived in Austin I’d invite you to come celebrate this time of reflection with us as we dance, pray, reflect, release and transform. But since most of you don’t live here, I thought I’d share the playlist, poetry and ritual that I’ll be using tomorrow. (I want to thank Shiva Rea for sharing these Rumi poems with me through the course I am taking with her called “Living Yoga Sadhana Firekeepers”)
Playlist:
Sri Rudram by Anant Jesse
Amba Amba by Larisa Stow & Gathering Guru
Arianna by Paul Schwartz
Maha Deva Soulshine by Wah!
Be the Change by MC Yogi
Sanctuary by Donna De Lory
Secret Words of Ecstasy by Mantra of Joy
Dakini by Aram Ram
Sat Narayan by GuruGanesha Singh
Panjabi Beats by Dimitri from London
Om Namo Narayana by Manish Vyas
Bathe in These Waters by Donna De Lory
Om Namah Shivaya/Thy Will Be Done by Donna De Lory
Om gum Ganapatayei Namaha by Deva Premal
Poetry:
One, One, One
The lamps are different,
But the Light is the same.
So many garish lamps in the dying brain’s lamp shop,
Forget about them.
Concentrate on essence, concentrate on Light.
In lucid bliss, calmly smoking off its own holy fire,
The Light strains toward you from all things,
All people, all possible permutations of good, evil, thought, passion.
The lamps are different,
But the Light is the same.
One matter, one enerty, one Light, one Light-mind,
Endlessly emanating all things.
One turning and burning diamond,
One, one, one,
Ground yourself, strip yourself down,
To blind loving silence.
Stay there, until you see
You are gazing at the Light
With its own ageless eyes.
~Rumi
Wine of Divine Grace is Limitless
All limits come only from the faults of the cup
Moonlight floods the whole sky
From horizon to horizon
How much it can fill your room
Depends on its windows
Grant a great dignity my friend
To the cup of your life
Love has designed it to hold its eternal wine
~Rumi
Ritual: Observe your life with compassion. Ask yourself what shadows (self-limiting beliefs, behaviors that dim your light, negative thought patterns, energy leaks, unclear boundaries, etc..) you are ready to release and transform. Write them on a piece of paper and burn them to symbolically transform the dark into the light.
Prepare for the Full Moon on the Winter Solstice
DECEMBER 15TH, 2010As a wellness practitioner in the 70’s my main focus was the body. Then in the 80’s the scientific literature made it clear that the physical body could not be separated from the mind. So my focus became mind and body. In the 90’s we began to understand more fully the impact of emotions and spirit on physical and mental well being, so my focus expanded to include mind, body, spirit and emotions.
By 2000 it became quite apparent that our personal well-being could not be separated from the planet’s well-being, so my focus expanded to include the environment. We have known for a very long time that sun and moon have a direct impact on the planet and on us. And now my understanding of the environment is expanding to include the relationship between other planets in our solar system and us.
One of the ways we can begin to pay attention to the larger environment is to be aware of the cycles of the moon. On December 21st we will experience a Full Moon on the Winter Solstice (the longest night of the year.) This full moon is a special one because it is not only Winter Solstice, but also an eclipse.
I love preparing for this kind of occasion and enjoy creating meaningful rituals for my family to help us stay in tune with nature. Below is a beautiful and powerful process that I learned from Loy at www.loysra.com
I wanted to share it with you, too. Hope you enjoy it. If you find value in this process, share it with a friend. I love reading your comments! Please share if and how you will implement this information.
Moon Goddess’s Profound Full Moon December 2010
Expect the December Full Moon to be most profound this year. The Moon Goddess transmits her most illuminating broadcast just a few minutes after midnight at 12:13 am, PST on December 21. Don’t fret if you are not a night owl and will not be up to greet her. You will begin to receive her transmissions twelve hours prior or just a few minutes after high noon at 12:13 pm on December the 20. You might even like to create a ritual or attend a full moon ceremony on the night of the 20th leading up to the Moon Goddess’s exact full moon time. Like always, you will be able to bask in the Moon Goddess’s Full Moon energies for a full 24 hour period, only ending 12 hours after her most illuminating moment. That transpires at 12:13 pm, PST on December 21st.
Full Moon Occurs on Day of Winter Solstice
You will surely want to prepare for this Full Moon, permitting the Moon Goddess’s energies to lead you right into your sixth sense. Just three hours after the Moon Goddess finishes sending her transmissions to awaken your extra sensory perception, the Winter Solstice occurs at 3:38 pm, PST. You want your consciousness most receptive, welcoming the Winter Solstice energy to shine its light into the darkness part of you. It reveals the light within you that can transform even your deepest sense of inadequacy. If you’ve prepared, you will fully appreciate why this occasion is called the time of Rebirth.
How to Prepare for Both Full Moon and Winter Solstice
As December 21 is both the Full Moon time and the Winter Solstice, you can prepare for both of them at the same time in the same way. There are two predominant energies being transmitted to us always, one is Love which pulls you in. That is where we get the saying, fall in love. Love energy pulls you into the inner realms. Will is the other predominant energy which is better understood as strength. This Will energy pushes us outward, to manifest, to move into action.
Use Love Energy to Prepare
You want to utilize Love or the pull-in energy to prepare you three days prior to New or Full Moon as well as the Equinoxes or Solstices. With this preparation, the Moon Goddess transmissions move you in even deeper into your sixth sense, where you can just know, there’s no mind involved.
Three Days Prior – Prepare Your Physical Body – December 18
You do not use your strength to pound the ground. Gentleness is the key. Prepare your physical body through soothing, loving movements to be receptive to the upcoming energies. A nice soothing bath, massage, chiropractic adjustment, a gentle flowing walk or stretching exercise, sauna or steam are all most appreciated by your body. Eat much lighter today. Setting the table with beautiful place mats, using your good china just for you even, and candle light will definitely get you in the mood for the next days ahead. There is no set right or wrong way, be as creative as you like just keeping in mind, you are having a love affair with your body today, giving it extra special attention awakening its receptivity, transforming any resistance.
Two Days Prior – Prime Your Emotional Nature – December 19
Acceptance is always what is needed if you want your emotions to be receptive to anything new. As the Moon Goddess brings us new energies each and every month, you will get your feelings to allow in these energies, if you develop a relationship between your emotional nature and the Full Moon today. Take her, your emotional nature, outside and walk under the moonlight or if it’s too cold, look out through the window and look at her beauty. Then talk to your emotional nature, tell her what’s beautiful about her also. And forgive her for any uneven or out of control emotions during this last month. And let her have a good cry if she’s been overwhelmed, it is very cleansing today.
One Day Before – Inspire Your Mind – December 20
You are now looking to focus your mind, get yourself ready to move into action, into the outer world. You want to pull in your mind, not hold it steady but start the unfolding, receptive part. Inspiring music is usually the best conductor to unlock any rigidity, any negativity. Again there is no right or wrong method, music or sound might not be what inspires you. It could be finding inspirational quotes, watching an inspirational movie, it matters not, but you want your mind inspired to receive the Full Moon energies. Praising your mind for its problem solving abilities, its ability to come up with plans is always good today.
New Moon, Full Moon or Solstice
As much as you can, be in silence and just receive. Any transmission that you can translate into words, do so and definitely write them down. Or maybe you will just doodle, draw circles or arrows which are helpful to then translate the energy into words. Try to feel the pull-in energy being transmitted by the Moon Goddess, and if you cannot, then “fake” it. In other words, create a fantasy where you are feeling, receiving which can often connect you, allowing you to truly receive. “Prime the pump” as they say.
Will Energy Takes Over
Once you have received the Moon Goddess’s energies, and this year the Winter Solstice energy as well, you then use Will or your strength to integrate and implement these energies.
First Day Afterward – Focus Your Mind – December 22
Now you can meditate, focus your mind. It is time to make plans, get clear on what you received. If for some reason your mind is a blank, you do not know what you received, then you can never go wrong, coming up with a plan of how to be more successful in your life for the next two weeks in your profession, how you support yourself. And if you have relationship challenges, come up with a plan how to resolve it.
Two Days Later – Rev Up Your Passion – December 23
Your emotions do the selling; create the passion for your mind’s plans so people will be receptive and buy. So rev up your passion today which is your charisma and shine on the plans you made yesterday for implementing this energy into your life in a positive way.
And since emotions are also about people, passionately let those meaningful people in your life know they are special to you today by telling them what you truly appreciate about them.
Three Days After – Time for Physical Action – December 24
Alright, it is time to start implementing, and you very well may need to use the virtue of discipline to get you started and keep you going. Now you can pound the ground, be as physically strong as you want to be. You have until the next New Moon to implement what you received this month.
The Moon Goddess and the Winter Solstice don’t have such a close relationship often, so take full advantage of their energies by preparing, receiving and implementing. Then you’ll have a tailwind of energies propelling you toward being successful in all your endeavors.
| About the Author Loy is an accomplished astrology researcher and practitioner; relationship specialist and published author. Sign up for her FREE Zodiac signs and forecasts newsletter. Use the monthly energies to enhance your relationships and daily life. Visit Loy at www.loysrelationshipastrology.info/about/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Loy_Young |
Leave a comment below with your plans for celebrating the Winter Solstice this year.
The Daring Diva Does A Burlesque Workout
DECEMBER 10TH, 2010I am loving Burlesque The Movie! So much that I added some new dance moves at my Daring Diva Dance Workout. I dare you to grab your pearls, feather boas, lace tights and get moving your sexy self! Have you watched the movie yet? Leave a comment below about your thoughts after watching Burlesque The Movie.
