The Wednesday Gathering is not just another dinner party, though it does include a good meal. This is a unique social gathering for people involved in Tantra, Radical Honesty, The Lord's Chapel, Beltane, Community for Spiritual Living, Shalom Mountain, polyamory, Paganism, BEST Events and other groups dedicated to openness, authenticity and integrity. It is an adult only event (18+).

In a magical environment full of great music, candles and in a truly sacred space, we chill out and relax and just see how much we can really show up.

Bring your joy, your sadness, whoever and whatever you are and just be in a place where love and acceptance reign. It's a great place to meet a new friend or see an old acquaintance in a new light.
 
More details on the Wednesday Gatherings at
http://www.abundantmichael.com/blog/page.cfm/SandboxGathering

DIRECTIONS
The gathering is at

This entry was posted on September 20, 2011 at 6:26 PM and has received 1634 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

Michael/Michelle here:
I love many Indian things - the country when I traveled there in the 80s, the food and spices, the music, some Bollywood movies and of course the dancing! I learned Bhangra dancing a few years ago and even if I was down or depressed 10 minutes of doing that dance and I was out of breath and happy again! Plus any minor sickness or stress and dancing just releases the stuck energy so I feel better and can easily rest fully. So this Wednesday Gathering on Indian Dance is great.

Here in Bolivia I visited the Salar de Uyuni in the south of the country - it is a vast salt flat from an ancient sea that dried up. Over 200 sq km it is like being on another planet - no animals, birds or plants. Just while salt on the ground and volcanic mountains on the horizon. I meditated on the salt - it is very cleaning of energies (I take salt baths at home to clean my aura). Away from anyone or any animal I heard a quiet humming in my head - to me it was the sound of god within each of us. A light that is always there but that I don't always notice unless I get very quiet. That night we stayed in a salt hotel - all the walls, floor, beds, tables, chairs are made of blocks of salt. Only the bathroom was not salt (it would melt with the water!). at I slept so deeply that night!

The next day we drove across the desert seeing wild gazelles and flamingos at icy lagoons. I thought flamingos were a tropical bird but here the temperature is -15 C at night and not so much warmer in the day! I explored lava fields and went for a dip in a hot spring. The hot water was great - the only problem was how to get in and out given that it was -10 C with a strong wind outside the pool!! On the final day we got up at 5am to drop off some fellow travelers at the Chilean border before heading back to Uyuni. Our driver, as many Bolivian workers do, was chewing coca leaves to stay alert. I guess it is a bit like drinking a coca-cola in the States. (In fact the original coca cola recipe in the 1890s included coca leaves...). Since president Evo came to power here a few years ago coca production has been liberalized and you can buy coca tea bags at the super market. Just don't try to bring them back to the USA as DHS will take them and may be fine you too because they are illegal in US (they think coca = cocaine which is a crazy as saying poppy seeds = heroin). I haven't tried coca tea but others say it is a mild pick me up.

Love
M/M

PS We have three talented healers living at my house: Randy, Rukmini and Sandra. Plus myself remotely. Learn more about what we can do and help support this Sandbox gathering place at http://abundantmichael.com/blog/page.cfm/Sandbox-Healers

This Wednesday gathering we learn how to do joyful Indian folk dances with Padma Foye. What would yo do with more joy and energy? How do you move stuck emotions (energy in motion) in your body? How would it help your life to express yourself fully in dance right now?

Indian folk dance (Garba and Raas) is mainly performed to express joy. All folk dances portray some expression of life and meaning. These dances are easy to learn and so much fun! And there is no need to be exact in the steps - these are dances for farmers and it is the intent you bring to your moves, not how well you do them that matters! 

Padma Foye is from the State of Gujarat in India. She enjoys performing and teaching Indian folk dances because this form of dance is spiritually uplifting to the dancers and the observers.  

- Michael/Michelle
http://www.abundantmichael.com/

This entry was posted on September 7, 2011 at 8:14 PM and has received 1507 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

The Wednesday Gathering is not just another dinner party, though it does include a good meal. This is a unique social gathering for people involved in Tantra, Radical Honesty, The Lord's Chapel, Beltane, Community for Spiritual Living, Shalom Mountain, polyamory, Paganism, BEST Events and other groups dedicated to openness, authenticity and integrity. It is an adult only event (18+).

In a magical environment full of great music, candles and in a truly sacred space, we chill out and relax and just see how much we can really show up.

Bring your joy, your sadness, whoever and whatever you are and just be in a place where love and acceptance reign. It's a great place to meet a new friend or see an old acquaintance in a new light.
 
More details on the Wednesday Gatherings at
http://www.abundantmichael.com/blog/page.cfm/SandboxGathering

DIRECTIONS
The gathering is at

614 E Lynfield Dr
Rockville MD 2085
202-380-6850

Please park at the parking lot at the end of the street - reach it by making 3 left turns and walking back 100 yards through the park.

Note that mapquest gets in wrong in the last 100 yards, see
http://www.abundantmichael.com/blog/page.cfm/directions
for detailed directions and parking info

This entry was posted on September 7, 2011 at 7:53 PM and has received 1431 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

Here are some of the Kundalini yoga chant music that I play on Wednesday night that helps create a peaceful and loving atmosphere. The links to SpiritVoyage's site let you listen to clips from the CDs.

• Blessings for a woman by Sat Kirin Kaur Skalsa
• Liberation's Door by Snatam Kaur
• Anand by Snatam Kaur
• Adhara by Nirinjan Kaur
• Aquarian by Nirinjan Kaur

This entry was posted on December 7, 2010 at 5:47 PM and has received 1192 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

This Wednesday Sandbox gathering we share making music together - jamming, playing, expressing. Do you want to get out of your head? Turn off your inner critic? Release some stress? Music is a great way to get out of our heads and relax into our hearts and bodies. When we improvise we let spirit play with us and through us.

I have a piano, drums, percussion. If you want bring a guitar, flute or other instrument. Or just bring your voice! You don't have to be musical to attend - just contribute how you chose. If you have some songs you have written this is the perfect time to share them. Or make up some chants to sing! Poetry on the fly fits in too. Dance and contact improv are good too. Let your inner spirit saw and share music with other spiritual beings in a human body.

The music begins after dinner at 8pm.  I invite you to join us, though as always what ever choice you make you will be honored in.

This entry was posted on August 10, 2010 at 1:18 PM and has received 1157 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

I just bought this from HayHouse (text and images below from their newsletter) - looks interesting if you are into chanting or India spirituality. I have several of his regular CDs and looking forward to listening to this more personal one.

Coined "the chant master of American yoga" by the New York Times, Krishna shares his heart through music and chanting—his way of serving the Divine within himself and others.

Chants of a Lifetime: Searching For A Heart Of Gold offers an intimate collection of stories, teachings, and insights from Krishna Das. Since 1994, the sound of his voice singing traditional Indian chants with a Western flavor has brought the spiritual experience of chanting to audiences all over the world. He has previously shared some of his spiritual journey through talks and workshops, but now he offers a unique book-and-CD combination that explores his fascinating path and creates an opportunity for just about anyone to experience chanting in a unique and special way.

Chants of a Lifetime is about Krishna's search for true meaning within. He details his struggle with seeking outside himself for love and acceptance and the connection he found through chanting.

My life has been spent searching. Even before I knew what I was looking for, everything that has happened to me has led me into the presence of love, whether it was the physical presence of my guru or the presence of love deep within my own heart. No matter what my life may look like from the outside, on the inside it is a constant process of turning toward that place, of trying to come face-to-face with love.

The more I chant and share my path with seekers from so many different countries and cultures, the more I am being transformed myself. The purpose of this book is to illuminate the part of my path that surrounds and gives life to the chanting. I hope that by sharing the way I see my life, some of my experiences and some of the things I've learned while waiting for the door of my heart to swing open may be of help to those of you who are trying to open that same door.

Chanting alone is not my path. It is my main practice, but my life—and everything in it—is my path. I had the opportunity to spend several years in the presence of my guru, and I've been able to meet many saints, yogis, lamas, and instructors from different spiritual traditions. Without the blessing of these wonderful teachers and my experiences with them, I wouldn't have been able to pass through the darkness and despair that have often filled my life, and finally begun to learn how to be good to myself.

When we do kirtan, the practice of what in India is called "chanting the Divine Name" over the course of a few hours, we are letting go of our "stories" and offering ourselves into the moment over and over again. Chanting is a way of deepening the moment, of deepening our connection with ourselves, the world around us, and other beings. The Sanskrit chants that we sing—recognized for millennia as the Names of God—come from a place deep within each of us, so they have the power to draw us back within. If we go deep enough, we will all arrive at the same place, our deepest Being.

When you hear my story, maybe it will resonate in your heart because, even though all of us walk our different paths and live our different lives, we are all headed to the same place: our One Heart of Gold.

Chants of a Lifetime includes photos from Krishna Das's years in India and also from his life as a kirtan leader—and the CD that is offered exclusively in the book consists of a number of "private" chanting sessions with the author. Instead of being performances of chants for listening, the recordings make it seem as if Krishna Das himself is present for a one-on-one chanting session. The idea is for the listener to explore his or her own practice of chanting and develop a deepening connection with the entire chanting experience.

This entry was posted on February 18, 2010 at 3:56 PM and has received 1367 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.