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 When I lift and open my heart my spirits lift.
As I explore the wonderful benefits of a deeper yoga practice, I keep reflecting on how much of what I experience is mirrored in Belly Dance. My arms reach to the sky, my chest lifts in a back-bend, my feet are planted on the earth and my core is strong and engaged. Belly Dance has been healing women for thousands of years, re patterning our brain and healing disease as well as depression and trauma. Opening the hips as well as the heart prepares us for the challenges of being a woman. It can unlock a wellspring of emotions as it safely embraces us with a way to release. While the yogis were developing postures, women were celebrating many of the same benefits in this ancient dance. Like I said, the secret is out. But is it? We are living in a time where women are seeking ways to find their true expression out of not so distant times of repression still prevalent in many cultures. The media flashes sexuality. Pole dance classes and sensual dance classes are taking the country by storm. Yoga studios are prevalent on every corner and packed with women. We are stepping out in a variety of ways. What is it that we are seeking to find and create for ourselves as women in these times? I think it's been right in front and inside of us for a long time. Those of us who have been belly dancing for years know it like we know the beat of the drum. The power and joy of sensual (I didn't say sexual) expression. We are liberated when we dance. We are stepping in the footsteps of our sisters who have danced freely as well as hidden for over 2,000 years. We are celebrating the joy of being female. No offense to my beautiful belly dancing brothers out there that know this joy as well. Whatever our path to joy, it's time to shine!  None of us know how much time we will be gifted here on earth, or the quality of health we will carry through the years. I am fortunate to teach adaptive yoga to people who live inside of bodies that do not work with the ease that mine does.
The gift this brings to my life is a depth of appreciation and gratitude for the simple things my body can do. My hands unfold and grip and easily respond to the commands my mind gives them. My feet and legs move without much effort. I am not bound to or strapped in a chair with a lift to get my body to bed at night. I am not in need of assistance to bathe. I have a client that used to walk, who desires to walk again. In the past few months she broke her femur falling from her bed, and had her hip replaced. She is working with great effort to push herself up an inch or two in her chair with her arms. One hip lifts, while the other stays behind. Not everyone who spends their day in a chair has a desire to walk. Some simply wish for the words that they want to communicate to come out with the ease with which they think them. I have a client with Parkinson who seems to struggle in this way. His intellect shines through his green eyes. I cannot pretend to know what any of these wonderful people are hoping for. I try to imagine myself inside their bodies so that I have a better understanding of how yoga can benefit them individually. I try to meet them where they are, to build some strength, deepen their relaxation and to increase the depth of their breath. I take pleasure in the simple things in life every time I leave these clients. Each morning my breath comes without much effort and pain. My feet hit the ground to take me where I want to go through my day. I can lift my spoon to my mouth without assistance. My thoughts carry themselves from my mind to my mouth so that people can hopefully understand what I want to relay to them. Through this work I find I have a deeper sense of gratitude for the small things that I might otherwise take for granted. My mind, my heart and my eyes open wide as I receive more than I could possibly be giving. As I step into the room to teach yoga and dance, I take a moment to feel grateful for my body and the ability to dance and move through space with ease. I take a moment to feel gratitude toward my students, who are a constant inspiration to my art and my growth. My other annual birthday writings have been about becoming. I wrote about becoming 52, 53 and 54. This year I’m writing about being. Being in the present moment, fully, because as time revolves not so many days remain. Who can know the number of days left? If we live in the past, we are living as if in a dream, a fantasy of our own imagination and our own reality of what transpired. How many conversations have we all had where one of the participants said, “I don’t remember it that way.” There is a slide show in our mind of the past and future that is ours alone. It’s based entirely on the way our life has shaped us. As for being 55, I like the number. Two of the same, side by side. It reminds me of my oppositions. I feel as if my life is coming into alignment, like the shadow and the light embracing in the breeze that life sways them to meet in. It makes me think of choreography, once on one side and repeated on the other. Any dancer would recognize this sense of balance. One hand is stronger than the other, one side of the brain it is said, is dominant. I remember sitting on a teeter totter with my best friend in a park in Ojai, next to Natelles house. We were close to the same weight, yet one could hold on and keep the other lifted. A gentle push with the feet and the other goes up. I enjoy the thought of keeping some balance, even when it seems one side has the advantage. This year, I intend to bring all of what I AM in to play, to create a full bodied and ever changing ten. I hope to embrace all the aspects that life pulses in, to meet me in the days ahead. 
http://www.shaktiyogijournal.com/musical-missions-of-peace.html A musical dialogue can break down barriers and greet people as friends and equals, spreading love with a contagious and inspiring hope for establishing global community, unification. There are people in this world that shake things up and make a difference. Cameron Powers and Kristina Sophia are two of these people. They have traveled the world with a mission to meet people from other cultures, to develop connection and understanding. Arriving armed with nothing but their instruments and a few songs that resonate with the culture, they open their hearts and converse through music. Not just any music, not American songs, but songs unique to the lands they visit. This is what sets their mission apart. Cameron says “By learning one line from one song we can touch people across borders.” Imagine the change of the climate of the world if we approached every culture in this respectful way, seeing each other through commonality rather than condemning others because of their differences. Music connects people beyond borders, race, country, and religion. The human family is more alike than we are different. Cameron and Kristina’s desire for a deeper understanding of others includes studying linguistics and the different ways people process information. This creates another bridge in the gap between cultures. Semitic languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Amharic) differ from other languages in that they process meaning as a verb. Indo European languages process meaning as a noun. From the moment we begin listening to our mother language, we start conceptualizing accordingly. Semitic language does not label everything or define it; but acts it out, becoming it. For instance, in Semitic languages, the word Islam in itself is not a noun but an action meaning “to surrender.” Take a moment to let that settle. Absorb the importance. This information is crucial. Without it, we stumble along blindly thinking that people are processing information the same way that we are. Understanding and respecting that others have an entirely different experience of the world is fundamental in creating Universality. I never tire of the stories about how they got started. As a young man, Cameron traveled to Peru and was introduced to several Inca people in the Andes. This was a culture he had learned in school, were conquered. As many of us, this left him thinking there were no Inca people left! This rousing introduction inspired deeper studies in language as well as studies in linguistics and anthropology. He returned to Peru at 24 and backpacked for three days into a remote village. This lanky young man must have been a fearful sight to these isolated people because he arrived finding the streets completely empty. Cameron took out his guitar and sang, and within fifteen minutes he was surrounded by a village of people singing, playing instruments with him, and inviting him to stay on as long as he liked. In all, he spent eight years in Peru. His next adventures took him to Greece and Turkey. There, he began to uncover and eventually unravel his ingrained spiritual and political belief systems. It was this unraveling that gave rise to Cameron’s deep desire to continue his exploration of bridging cultural gaps with music. It’s no surprise that Cameron and Kristina’s first encounter was in song. They met in 2000 at a benefit for a cancer survivor. Kristina saw Cameron playing and singing while she was waiting to perform. When she took the stage, she invited him to sing the first of many songs together. It wasn’t long before their shared love of music and Cameron’s desire for travel took them on the road. To date, they have journeyed through Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, the West bank and Lebanon. They sang for sixty thousand people in the Cairo stadium as the only non- Arab performers. They traveled from Jordan into Baghdad in the days following the bombing in 2003. They did not have the official admissions to cross the border, so they sang a song, and that was passport enough. As they entered Baghdad, they were welcomed by the local people who were happy to see them. What is most striking is that even when people like these have endured so much devastation and hardship (brought on by fellow human beings) there is still such a resiliency of spirit. They have brought the Iraqi’s welcoming message home, performing “Singing in Baghdad” for thousands of US citizens. In a recent trip to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, Cameron and Kristina’s letters paint a picture of the scars of war. Men start and fight these battles, yet women and children are left with enormous suffering. The war in Iraq has left two million documented widows struggling a decade later. And these are the documented cases. The actual number is thought to be closer to four million. Within this vast poverty, children are born with deformities resulting from the poisonous weaponry used by the US military. Mothers are left with few options, often begging in the streets. This affects neighboring countries as well. With the generous admission of three million Iraqi refugees; Syria’s growth is unsustainable. Few other places welcome these refugees. In Kristina’s letters from Damascus in 2010 she writes about Zahara (meaning flower), a twenty year old woman eager to lead them around and introduce them to the local people. From Kristina’s letter, “I invite her to the hotel lobby and pull out a frame drum. I show her how to hold it. And I start a common Arabic rhythm. Pretty soon a smile breaks out on her face. She says somehow the rhythm which is inside her is just coming out. Everyone here has the rhythm inside of them. They just need the drums and the opportunity to let it out.“ On parting, Kristina gifts Zahara with frame drums for her village in Babylon. The heartache, poverty and sorrow is apparent in Kristina’s other entries. She says “the children are not like other children, they don’t smile.” These and other stories are numerous, traveling from town to town, often paying for supper with a song. Cameron and Kristina are musical ambassadors; carving a new way to represent Americans in the world and helping others do the same through their nonprofit, Musial Missions of Peace. Musical Missions has established drum circles in San Diego where there are 50,000 Iraqi refugees. They also channel funds to many lineage holders in Syria and Jordan. The hope is to pass on traditional music to women and children, in order to keep their rich musical heritage alive and thriving. Kristina writes “This is a very simple way to help lift them from despair into empowerment.” There is a current of hope for humanity, and the possibility of a world with less violence seems within reach in the presence of their inspiring work. From “The Role of Music and Art in Creating World Peace” Deepak Chopra states, “Music is not a system of thought but a language of the soul. It’s not of the intellect or the ego, but a creative process.” This is what separates musical ambassadors from political; there is an automatic connection that sparks trust and understanding. Cameron and Kristina’s rule number one when traveling is, “Everyone is always right from their own perspective.” This approach can only bring a more positive outcome and a sense of unity that vastly differs from our political approach of fear, polarity and dis ease. In simply approaching our fellow humans with regard, we find opportunities to break down barriers and cultivate more compassion. Bridging gaps must begin at home. Cameron and Kristina’s message carries forward not only across borders, but in our neighborhoods as well. It’s a message for all human kind, no matter the complexity of our differences. The brutality of war does not choose sides. Our compassion can extend toward our sons and daughters returning home from military duty, who struggle with difficulties of re entry, depression, and feeling displaced. It is important to remember that death from war is not limited to combat. Every day twenty two suicides are recorded by the IAVA, Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America. The number of deaths is not as staggering as those of the Iraqi people, yet there are thousands of Americans grieving here at home. Each and every one of us can use a little more acceptance and tolerance. As Cameron so eloquently stated, “It’s not about politics, it’s about people.” Borders are lines drawn to divide us. Reach across these fabricated boundaries and open your heart to your human family. Maybe we can be encouraged by Cameron’s simple words, “Show up and sing a love song.” ~Christine Moore www.christinemooreshimmyogini.com For more information visit, www.musicalmissionsof peace.org 
 This past weekend I had the honor of attending a workshop for yoga teachers on Adaptive yoga. I am grateful for the shared and passionate vulnerability. Being vulnerable is one of the most beautiful, wonderful and powerful things about being human. Taking a step forward is what I do after I fall. Some people don’t, some people cannot. The step they can take is the courage to come alive in a different body.
One of the beautiful people I met this weekend has stepped forward in a unique and valuable way. His journey after being hit by a car eventually brought him to creating a nonprofit for Adaptive yoga. Yoga has been a blessing in his recovery and driven him to take that step. When yoga was first suggested to him, he saw it as another obstacle. When he eventually tried yoga, he found it unraveling the opposite. He felt whole and accepted. He inspires me to try harder, to do more. He inspires me to be more fully myself. That is what I see him doing. I think it’s like a mirror reflecting our own true and deep nature when we are inspired by others. I gave a lot of thought to something that one of the women who came to share her practice shared. She was born with two fingers on each hand and three toes. She has since had a double amputation of her legs and lives with a lot of chronic pain. When someone said “you inspire me” her response was, “what does that mean?, what are you going to go out and do?” This made me wonder what I’m going to do with my own inspiration in hearing someone else’s story. Hopefully I will create something, maybe something wonderful. It might be art, or it might be giving energy to a worthy cause. It might simply be an enlivening of spirit that gets carried forward. The lead teacher Liza’s words that we “have the creative freedom to make ship up” really stuck with me. That’s fantastic, and no one ever got started without it. I get stuck in the rules and doing it right, don’t you? In dance and in yoga I have often felt tied to traditions and only fully myself when I allow myself the freedom to be creative. With all the respect for the foundations laid, I am liberated to make shit up. Thank goodness for all of those before me that did! My background and experience differ from those before me. My creative process and the outcome can really only grow with the full use of everything that I am.  There are days when I walk through the doors into building C at Boulder county jail and wonder how I’m ever going to settle in and create some calm in the midst of a storm.
The storm of people being transferred to other pods, packing up their beds, waiting anxiously to hear their name called. The storm of being inside cement walls when outdoors the birth of spring is exploding and singing in vibrant contrast. There is a storm of loud voices and endless television. All this blended with the scent of food (if you could call it that) and the screaming voice of uncertainty. My task sometimes feels daunting. Imagine losing your job and control over the very basic parts of life. Not seeing your children Possibly losing your home Maybe being rejected by your loved ones The voice of uncertainty is loud indeed. We can judge the people inside those walls. I prefer to embrace them and let them know in some way they are welcome back out here with us. After all, the line between us and them at times appears to be very thin. Sometimes that division is clearly financial. I gather my tools and sit quietly in the midst of it and breath. That is the task I see before me, bringing some calm into this storm, a brief offering of some inner peace through yoga. I leave this place with gratitude for the littlest things that I often take for granted. That is the gift I carry forward, the gift these people and this strange place give back to me. Namaste  When I lift my chest it opens my heart, and my spirits lift.
As I explore the wonderful benefits of a deeper yoga practice, I keep reflecting on how much of what I experience is mirrored in Belly Dance. My arms reach to the sky, my chest lifts in a back bend, my feet are planted on the earth and my core is strong and engaged. Belly Dance has been healing women for thousands of years, re-patterning our brain and healing disease as well as depression and trauma. Opening the hips as well as the heart prepares us for the challenges of being a woman. It can unlock a wellspring of emotions as it safely embraces us with a way to release. While the yogis were developing postures, women were celebrating many of the same benefits in this ancient dance. Like I said, the secret is out. But is it? We are living in a time where women are seeking ways to find their true expression out of not so distant times of repression still prevalent in many cultures. The media flashes sexuality. Pole dance classes and sensual dance classes are taking the country by storm. Yoga studios are prevalent on every corner and packed with women. We are stepping out in a variety of ways. What is it that we are seeking to find and create for ourselves as women in these times? I think it's been right in front and inside of us for a long time. Those of us who have been belly dancing for years know it like we know the beat of the drum. The power and joy of sensual (I didn't say sexual) expression. We are liberated when we dance. We are stepping in the footsteps of our sisters who have danced freely as well as hidden for over 2,000 years. We are celebrating the joy of being female. No offense to my beautiful belly dancing brothers out there that know this joy as well. Whatever our path to joy, it's time to shine! Published 2/16/2014 on boulderbodywear.comIf I could have one wish it would be that everyone would practice yoga. Yes, everyone. When I mention yoga to people I often hear “I’ve always wanted to try it, but I’m not flexible” or something along those lines. The average person perceives yoga as being twisted up like a pretzel, or maybe even as a woo woo spiritual practice. That’s a misconception and those thoughts can put up road blocks to a wealth of healthy living.
As far as bending into a pretzel goes, I practice yoga with veterans, inmates, people who are struggling with emotional as well as physical challenges beyond the average, people who don’t want to enter a yoga studio as a starting place. I’m deeply inspired by people challenged with paralysis, or with an ankle fused by a bullet, or anyone who has to take great effort to arrive on their mat. I think that if they can find a way to practice yoga, everyone can. It’s not about flexibility or having the perfect body. it’s a matter of finding a teacher who will start with the basic postures and technique while incorporating breath and storytelling to include many beneficial aspects of yoga. Like many people, when I started my practice, I was looking for more physical strength, flexibility and exercise, and to enhance my dancing. The beauty of yoga is that it has many benefits other than the physical that have a way of creeping in through the physical with the artistry of a good teacher. The postures alone are a just exercise without incorporation of breath regulation and proper technique. Why is that important? And why on earth would my wish be for everyone to take up yoga? Postures were recorded as part of the yoga Sutras in 200 AD, the very first records of yoga from the Indus valley date back to 3000 BCE. These postures were not just developed simply for fun and exercise; they are highly developed with specific intent. That they are ancient yet thriving is proof in the pudding. The breath is an active part, paired with highly developed postures practiced today by pop stars, in schools, yoga studios, health clubs, even prisons, just to mention a few places you’ll find yoga in modern time. There is good reason for this blooming interest in yoga. The combination of breath paired with yoga postures connects the body and mind promoting better physical health. Science has shown great value to our health in the mind body connection. Yoga is a wonderful way of creating this connection. Breathing exercises regulate the central nervous system, and stimulate the pre frontal cortex quieting the limbic (fight or flight) area of the brain. This is part of why yoga is beneficial for alleviating symptoms in people with PTSD. Yoga helps us chill out, mindfully, with intention and sustainability. Yoga can have the same effect on all of us. Our lives are full of distractions and stress. Imagine if we all learned to take a moment and take a breath before we spoke or acted. This is simply one of the many things that yoga can help us do, one of the ways it connects the mind and body. Imagine a world where everyone acted more mindfully. Think back to a moment in your life when you reacted without pause, a moment when you wish you had a “do over”. What if you had taken a moment to calm? What if someone had taught you to do that as a child? The outcome may have changed your life. This is why my one wish would be that everyone could have a yoga practice. It doesn’t matter what you look like or who you are, just try it! Who knows, it could be a small step toward changing the world, at the very least it might just change yours. Christine Moore can be found at Boulder Body Wear, or visit www.christinemooreshimmyogini.com I hear it now and then, gratitude has the highest vibration of energy. Stronger than love.
Some mornings I wake up and wonder what the purpose of all this is. I forget what I have in light of the stress of every day. Scrambling my way through day to day,month to month. It was pointed out to me yesterday that I have nothing to complain about. My posts often show my brightest light, sometimes they share my grief and losses. I cannot ALWAYS focus on the goodness but as a public figure I try to share the sparkle. People respond to it more enthusiastically. I appreciate it when my friends share the deep and dark, the nitty gritty. It might not feel as good, but it feels real. Ah, but today I'm writing about gratitude. I have the deepest gratitude for dance and yoga, without them I would be dust. It seems that simple. Gratitude for the folks that show up on the mat in the rooms I go to, and the dancers who dance with me and for me and that invite me to events. I am grateful for my son and the life experience of motherhood. Nothing really compares to that one. I am grateful that Weston came to walk with my son. I am glad for artists, and water and the food that I eat. Lucky that I get to shower and bathe and drink sacred water every day. Yes, the more I write it, the more I realize there is to be grateful for. I am grateful to you for reading my posts, I know you are a friend. I have much gratitude for my friends and my family who are too many to list individually. I hope I show them/you my love. I am grateful that I get to wake and see the light each day on the flatirons. The list goes on and might begin to bore the reader with endless stories of magic and breathtaking moments of nature and connect. So let me just say that there is much more to be grateful for than to complain about. Thanks Giving. Thank YOU! |
