I really en-joyed Chapel on Sunday with the talk on forgiveness.

I did a meditation that morning before Chapel where I talked to
different parts of my personality (like voice dialog for those of you
who do that but in my head rather than out loud). I invited my higher
self to be there and my need for approval, my shame, my guilt, my
procrastination, my avoidance, my not good enough, my chorus of
judgments and my fear all to be there. Some of these characters were
pretty dirty - they have been working hard for over 40 years! For each
one in turn I accepted, approved, loved and forgave and they did the
same for me. I felt grateful for all the hard work each of them did for
me - and I know that they only had my best intentions at heart - it is
just that now I don't need them to work in that way - they can retire -
or only be available to give me messages when I need them. So when the
talk was on forgiveness at Chapel I felt the Universe was giving me a
message on forgiving myself more often. Thank you everyone!

Then I drew a Louise Hay You Can Heal Yourself card Monday morning and
it talked about forgiveness too! Ok I get the message!

This entry was posted on March 5, 2008 at 12:36 AM and has received 507 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Do you want to open new pathways for our relationship with sex? Do you want to be freed from constraints, misunderstandings and wounds? Do you want to let go of feelings we have about sex that limit, constrict, and oppress us? Then come to this workshop! We will look deeply at who we are and how the highest aspirations of our soul can be supported and nurtured by sex, rather than subverted by the constant anxiety and quest for sex that is the product of our culture. Looking closely at our own sexual "story" and the ways our beliefs have limited and constricted us in our relationship with sex, we empower ourselves to use sex as an expression of our highest values and aspirations. Plus any sex that you have after this workshop you will enjoy so much more!

This event will be on 3/26/08. More on Wednesday Sandbox Gatherings

This entry was posted on March 5, 2008 at 12:34 AM and has received 624 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Ostara (The Spring Equinox) brings a time of balance. The Sun God has overtaken the darkness and day and night are of equal lengths. The Goddess, our Earth Mother, awakens from Her long slumber to replenish the Earth. We see new Life rising from the cold ground. While the actual equinox is on Thursday 20th we will celebrate it at Sandbox on Wednesday.

The Horned God has grown weak from the Winter and at this time dies in order to return to the healing Earth. From His "death", He is reborn as the Green Man. He has shed his antlers and fur for green leaves and vines. He is young still, but as the days grow longer he gains strength. He is a God of fertility, to aid our Goddess in the growing of our fields and livestock.

Many Pagan customs from this Sabbat continue to this day. For instance, the Easter Egg is a common Pagan custom. Eggs have always been a symbol of fertility and thus used as a symbol for this holiday. They were traditionally painted red or scarlet to symbolize the Suns rays in hopes that the rays of the Sun would warm the Egg and from it would spring Life. Easter is celebrated around this time because it has always been, in older traditional religions, the time of the willing sacrifice and rebirth of the God. Therefore it was only logical to place the sacrifice and rebirth of Jesus around this time.

At this ritual we will look at the parts of us that we are ready to let die and the parts that are ready to be reborn a new. If you have been reading Marianne Williamson's new book The Age of Miracles: Embracing the New Midlife then this might be a time to let your new midlife be born!

More on Wednesday Sandbox Gatherings

This entry was posted on March 1, 2008 at 4:52 PM and has received 637 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

PRONOIA, IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA, is a delightful
book by Rob Brezsny. On the cover it further
adds..."How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower
you with Blessings".In many New Age practices, the
idea that everything is perfect comes up. If you're
like me, I often find myself thinking, "Yeah, right!"

 
Brezsny dares to challenge you with the idea that we
are in charge of making a new world, so what stories
do you want at the heart of our experiment? What
questions will be our oracles? There's an exciting
chapter entitled "Your Inalienable Right to Fresh
Omens". There's an interesting exercise where you
compose and cast a love spell on yourself. Nancy says
there's a LOT of really cool exercises in this book,
so it will be an ongoing theme at her gatherings for
several months to come. Come join in the fun as we
play in our hearts and in our minds.

For more details on Nancy's events specifics here

This entry was posted on March 1, 2008 at 4:47 PM and has received 650 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Sometime for me words get in the way of my connecting with others. They can form a barrier to really getting to see the divine in others. Eye gazing and just being with others can be more intimate at times. So as an experiment this Wednesday Gathering will be a Silent Retreat. There will be no spoken words (gestures and non-verbal sounds are ok). Sound scary? Impossible to not speak for 4 hours in the company of others? What about all those thoughts that come up in my head - how will I keep them in the background if I am not talking a mile to the minute? Then may I suggest then that there is all the more reason to come and experience silence together. See and feel what kind of connection can be made without words.

Those familiar with the silent eye gazing a chapel will have some ideas for what to do. And of course hugs and snuggling don't require any words either. And for those who like games there are many silent games that can be played without words. I suggest that you bring a journal but don't writing in it until the end of the evening. That way you can experience more fully the non-verbal world. Or if you must jot down a brief note then use your non-dominant hand!

As babies we don't speak and yet there is an innocence and divinity of young children that perhaps as adults we miss out on. Come explore your silent divinity at Sandbox this week.

This event will be on 2/6/08. More on Wednesday Sandbox Gatherings

This entry was posted on March 1, 2008 at 4:08 PM and has received 641 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Warm Up Playlist:

1. Krishna Das - Nina Chalisa (7:32)
2. Madonna - Candy Perfume Girl (4:36)
3. UpSurge! JazzPoetry Ensemble - Chromatology (5:48)
4. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (3:56)
5. Phil Thornton - Chant Of Souls (8:37)
6. Saqi/Ewc - Akian (4:54)
7. Joy Division - She's Lost Control (3:57)
8. Madonna - Like A Virgin (3:11)
9. Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper (4:41)
10. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - The Power Of Love (5:32)
11. C.I.D. (Commercial Indian Dance) - AaG (4:37)

Trance Dance Playlist files:

1. Flowing (0:04)
2. Deva Premal - Om Tare Tuttare (7:19)
3. Kate Bush - Sunset (5:58)
4. Madonna - Erotica (5:18)
5. Staccato (0:05)
6. INXS - New Sensation (3:40)
7. Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood (6:27)
8. Chaos (0:04)
9. Telesma - Chapel Perilous (5:34)
10. Marilyn Manson - I Don't Like The Drugs (5:03)
11. Lyrical (0:04)
12. Madonna - To Have And Not To Hold (5:22)
13. Brian Eno - Kurt's Rejoinder (2:54)
14. Stillness (0:08)
15. Miten & Deva Premal - Hari Om Shiva Om (6:15)
16. Krishna Das - Nina Chalisa (7:32)

This entry was posted on February 15, 2008 at 9:25 PM and has received 1240 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Dancers save the date for March 14th - 16th, 2008  for the Body Wave 5Rhythms Journey  
 

Introductory Workshop - Saturday Evening
Intensive Workshop - Friday Night thru Sunday Afternoon

Whether you've danced the 5Rhythms® for years, meant to for years, or just found out about this dynamic, cathartic, joyful, insightful, wild Movement Meditation Practice of Gabrielle Roth's this workshop will ground us all in the basics, open us to the possibilities, and challenge us to take our practice deeper and further from wherever we start.

The 5Rhythms® is a living, breathing, evolving practice; one that we revisit over and over to expand our understanding of the basics and to integrate the changes that both the practice and we are experiencing as we transform into ever more expansive and compassionate beings.  It is a wonderful way to experience a deep and loving connection to self, to the other, and to the many communities to which we each belong.  Moving with attention to the 5Rhythms® of Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness leads each of us into a greater awareness of the vastness of soul - all through the action of our many unique and heart-full dances.

The key to unlocking our soul's door is the body. Each of us is blessed with the ultimate meditation tool, our body. This amazing teacher provides constant enlightenment with every breath and every step. In Body Wave we give ourselves the time to pay attention to our bodies, to the parts where we release and the parts where we resist, where we revolt and where we remove, where we reveal and where we revel. In this workshop we'll shake loose the building blocks our bodies and rebuild and reinvent ourselves from the feet up.

Over the course of the weekend we will dance and be danced - surrendering to wave after wave of our body's wisdom. Facilitated by Tammy Burstein, we will be led by the 5Rhythms® in waking up the body and waking up to the soul.  We will deepen and strengthen our understanding of the 5Rhythms® as we explore five physical gateways (feet, hips, head, hands, and breath) that inform and illuminate our practice.

We hope you will join us, newcomer, old-timer, beginner mind or devoted practitioner, to move a little further into the mystery.

Introductory Workshop: Saturday, March 15, 2008,   8:00 - 10:30 PM
Price: $50.00   Early Bird Special through February 8th - $35.00
Intensive Workshop: Friday night thru Sunday afternoon, March 14-16, 2008
Friday: 8:00 - 10:30 PM, Saturday: 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Sunday: 12:00 Noon - 5:00 PM
Price: $220:00   Early Bird Special through February 8th - $185.00

Venue: Carderock Springs Swim and Tennis Club (Huge hardwood dance floor!!!)
8200 Hamilton Spring Court, Bethesda, Maryland 20817
Approx. 1.7 miles from I-495 & River Road

To register now, Click: http://www.aphroditephoto.com/Workshops_Frame.htm

Questions or Additional Information:
Contact: Jim Guzel - Tel: 202.627.9903
or Email: [email protected]

This entry was posted on January 30, 2008 at 2:21 AM and has received 1167 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Could radical acceptance of the many things, events, and people that we find unacceptable invite us into a space of deep loving where healing can take place?  Tom Goddard and Roger Telschow are leading a session to find out!


On the Frontier of Loving:  Radical Acceptance

Saturday, 4pm to 6pm, February 2

-- Falls Church, VA --

Potluck Gathering, 6:00 pm


What's on your list:  a child's attitude, a spouse's habits, a job, a neighbor's junky driveway, air pollution, foreign policy, or any number of the injustices plaguing our world?   Our coping mechanisms for these unacceptable things range from rage to gritting our teeth to turning our heads and much in between.
 
We won't be practicing shoulder-shrugging or capitulation.  Rather, through a series of experiential processes, we'll explore what it might be to accept what is, completely and radically.  Some suggest that it is only with this foundation that we can be effective agents of loving change in the world.  Come join us in the experiment!
 
BRING A DISH FOR 8 PEOPLE (main dish, salad, side dish, bread & beverage, or dessert).
 
Invite along a friend if you like.  Can't make it at 4pm? - then just stop in at 6pm for the potluck! 

 DIRECTIONS
to this month's meeting place (the home of Barra Kahn in Falls Church, VA):
 
 
From the beltway (I-495), take Arlington Blvd. (U.S. 50) eastbound toward Falls Church/Arlington.  In about 3 miles you will pass a McDonald's (it's off on the right on the service road).  Turn right at the next light, Annandale Rd.  Go 7/10 mile & turn left at the second light (Kerns Road).  Take Kerns through the light at Sleepy Hollow.  In a couple of blocks Kerns becomes Lily Dhu Lane.  Continue past the "Dead End" sign.  The house, 6438 Lily Dhu Lane, is a few houses past that sign on your left.  Barra's phone # is 703-941-8849.

This entry was posted on January 30, 2008 at 12:40 AM and has received 1538 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

On the 20th I will host a discussion of the spiritual aspects of the book "Eat, Pray, Love" - a spiritual journey

I heard about this book from the Sandbox list and I immediately bought a copy and read it. I really enjoyed it. What a spiritual journey! Liz Gilbert writing in a revealing and humorous way about her struggles with negative thoughts, if praying is a good idea or  not and difficulties with mediation. For me there are many wonderful  quotes in the book. And so many magical moments. Like when she is  resisting 4am meditation, decides to commit to it and then her roommate  accidentially locks her into her room and she "decides" to jump out of   the (2nd story) window to make it to the mediation that she previously hated.

If you haven't read this book check out this summary and discussion group questions.
    http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/eat_pray_love.html

Some questions are

1. In what ways is spiritual success similar to other forms of success? How is it different? Can they be so fundamentally different that they’re not comparable?
   

    

2. Do you think people are more open to new experiences when they travel? And why?

  And if you have read this this FAQ from the author is a good follow up.
    http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/faq.htm

Here is a quote from the book on

                      Diligent Joy
“…people universally tend to think that happiness is a
stroke of luck, something that will descend upon you
like fine weather if you’re fortunate enough. But
that’s not how happiness works. Happiness is the
consequence of personal effort. You fight for it,
strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even
travel around the world looking for it. You have to
participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your
own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of
happiness, you must never be lax about maintaining it,
you must take a mighty effort to keep swimming upward
into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of
it. If you don’t, you will leak away your innate
contentment. It’s easy enough to pray when you’re in
distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis
has passed is like a sealing process, helping your
soul hold tight to its good attainments.
p. 260

 This event will be on 2/20/08. More on Wednesday Sandbox Gatherings

This entry was posted on January 30, 2008 at 12:28 AM and has received 597 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

On 27th we can learn how to take Erotic photography with Jim Guzel. How do you capture the essence of someone in photo? And even more how can you show their inner erotic spark? Come learn how to take erotic photos or be photographed. Bring your own digital cameras.

Here is what Jim has to say about it:

"I believe that what we perceive as human beauty is comprised of about 50% emotional honesty and openness.  Nowhere is this truer than in the photographing of erotica.  I find that it can be wonderful fun to hold the camera or be in front of it.  In this special Sandbox event, I plan to share tips and techniques  that I have learned in my career as a fine art nude and boudoir photographer in how to assist the subject(s) in locking their emotional best and how the photographer may make the best of his/her equipment.  That's photographic equipment, you silly thing!

I encourage everyone to come dressed for fantasy fun.  Even if you don't intend to get in front of the camera, it will help set the festive mood.  And who knows, you may change your mind.  Bring whatever camera equipment you own, digital would be by far the best since it would allow sharing the images while it happens.  I don't see any way that issues of privacy can really be assured.  So if you want to keep your identity a secret, wear a mask.  It will add to the erotic nature of the event as well as providing a disguise."

Try this web listing to find places in the area that sell masks.

May I suggest that those who plan to attend begin to form groups through Sandbox discussions of two to four people with complimentary interests and make some plans in how you might interact at this event?

Imagination is invaluable.  And bear in mind that the camera loves exaggeration.

This event will be on 2/27/08. More on Wednesday Sandbox Gatherings

This entry was posted on January 30, 2008 at 12:28 AM and has received 622 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.