Going back to Orissa

Dear Dancer,

On short notice I have decided to take a small group of students to Orissa India for two weeks this coming February 5 – 20, 2012. As you might know, my husband Cain was organizing a spiritual pilgrimage tour to Orissa during this time. The tour did not attract as much interest as they were hoping for, so we decided to use the opportunity to offer a special trip with Odissi Dance focus.

Since I have lived in Orissa and have many contacts there, I will take my students to all my favorite secret spots, as well as include extensive shopping trips with local artisans to find all the best items for our dance jewelry, costumes and hand-made Orissan art. I will be teaching daily Odissi classes at sacred sites, as well as Yoga and Temple Goddess Workout sessions, as we travel from one amazing place to another. We will also have the opportunity to watch Odissi performances and enjoy a cultural exchange with local dancers. Professional adventure guide, Phil Price, will take care of our transportation, meals, and other tour details.

Reduced price and special discount for dancers: We keep dropping the price down to accommodate more people! Initially, we have dropped the price by $500 to $3995, then we offered an additional 10% off. So, And now we dropped the price additional $500! So the trip cost is now $3095.00 (instead of the original $4495). A deposit of $500 is required to secure your space.

Would you join us this winter for this once-in-a-life-time opporunity to travel to Orissa, in style and ease that could not be matched? Contact us for more details and registration information

Shakti Yoga

 Our society is strongly slanted in favor of the masculine attributes of life over the feminine. We favor logic over intuition; intellectual smartness over emotional wisdom; Doing over Being; “I know” over “I don’t know”, organized structure over “going with the flow”, analysis over experience, profit and gain over richness of experience... and the list goes on.  

Most Yoga practices we are familiar with had been conceived of and developed over centuries by man, practiced by man, and in recent centuries been subject to further tempering by the surge of masculine ideals, over-shadowing the depth of feminine wisdom. The result is a rather goal driven, forceful, linear, and imagery derived alignment way-of-Yoga.   

 

After years of practicing Yoga daily, immersing myself fully in the path of Indian Yoga, following my alignments religiously, memorizing numerous Sanskrit mantras, mastering impressive asanas, checking off countless hours of sun salutations, meditating in perfect stillness, and arriving at the seemingly blissful plateau of emotional equanimity, I literally broke. My lower back gave in, and I hit the wall of injury and pain. My sacroiliac joint was too loose, my lumber vertebrae jammed, my muscles and ligaments too stretched, my sensitivity to moderate pain decreased, and I lost a huge part of my identity. I had to dive in, and embark on my own healing journey. This happened about a decade ago. Through the process of healing, I emerged empowered and inspired to share my discovery of a new way of practicing I titled “Shakti Yoga” – embracing the sacred feminine. I regained my integrity as human-women and developed a method to maintain and restore healthy body and flow of emotions.  

With Shakti Yoga we attempt to maintain our spiritual focus while allowing the richness of our imagination to inspire guidance from our creative impulse. Yielding, rounding, softening, and building the strength of our legs are some of the Highlights of honoring our feminine nature. Expanding to allow a fuller experience of being in our body, embracing who we are, and opening to our inner flow are some of the processes I work with. Shedding away judgments and self-looting allow us to tap into our vibrant and radiant nature. Shakti Yoga teaches you to soften your edge. Don't grow thorns. Stay soft. Open. Connect with the strength of your emotion, the invincibility of water and solidity of earth. Deep fluidity, arrive at your innate wisdom. Knowing when to stop, and when to close, when to dare and when to surrender to what is.   

Living in India taught me much about "goddess nature". The wide spectrum of facets of goddesses in Indian iconography and mythology is stunning and inspiring. The level of repression toward women in Indian society is also startling. India is the land of extremes, and there is no buffer zone. You can't hide in the comfort of your own over-sized home. Reality penetrates your dream, and your dreams swivel like smoke into your present moment. Trust it.

Orissa India: Spiritual Pilgrimage Tour

If you have ever dreamed of visiting sacred India, longed to touch the ancient roots of Yoga, Tantra, Buddhism and Indian Dance (before modern culture totally takes over), here is your chance...

Integrating spiritual cultivation, pilgrimage, and eco-wandering, we will immerse ourselves—body and soul—into Orissa, one of India’s most artistic regions and best kept secrets. With the thread of yoga, meditation and self-healing stringing the days together, we will visit Tantric temples, Buddhist caves, tribal villages, and elephant and tiger sanctuaries.

We will spend our precious time in India linking our personal spiritual practice with the timeless landscape that is Orissa.

There are two tours of two weeks each.

Tour One: Culture of Orissa (14 days)
Jan 29 - Feb 11, 2012

On Tour One, we dive into Orissan culture and the spiritual heritage sites of the region: With visits to the elaborate meditation caves of Udaygiri and Khandagiri; the 64 Yogini Temple of Hirapur (an open-roof Tantric temple with 64 different statues of the Goddess, one of only three of its kind in India); Sun Temple of Konark (with its breathtaking architecture and exquisit array of erotic sculptures); and the Dhabaleswar Temple (located on an island in the Mahanadi River, connected to the mainland by a pillar-less hanging bridge). Both tours include a visit to PK Mahanandi’s tribal village to experience authentic tribal life with all its colorful textures, sights, sounds and smells.

Cost $4,495 (does not include airfare)

Tour Two: Orissa's Wonders and Wildlife (14 days)
Feb 12 - 25, 2012

We explore Orissa’s landscape and wildlife, with visits to national parks, tribal hills, and coastal lands. Adventure to amazing sites such as: The Similipal National Park and Tiger Reserve; the ancient Buddhist Monastery of Ratnagiri; Gudgudia orchidarium; Bhitarkanika Park (home of the largest population of giant salt water crocodiles in India and home to more than 215 bird species); the Gahirmatha Coast (the world's largest nesting and breeding area of Olive Ridley Sea turtles); and Chilka Lake, where we will visit Swargadwar Beach, the bathing place of Sri Chaitanyadev, the renowned Vaishanava prophet.

Cost $3,995 (does not include airfare)

Participants of each tour have the option of extending their trip by adding either one or two weeks of the adjoining tour.

Both tours include a visit to the Athmallik tribal village home of PK Mahanandi, located on the shores of the great Mahanadi River, where we will stay at PK’s “eco-cottage.”

We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share time with PK Mahanandi, considered “the Martin Luther King of India” for his life-long commitment to social change, equality and sustainability. Appointed by Indira Gandhi, PK is the first "Untouchable" to serve as an Ambassador of India.

Our personal adventure guide and geologist, Philip Price, will attend to the details of the tour and provide us with fascinating historical and geological information on the sites we visit. The tour will be fun and informative as we immerse ourselves in the richness of the landscape, the local culture, and history.

We will also be joined by acclaimed documentary filmmaker, Stefan Quinth, who will capture some of the unforgettable moments of our trip in a personal DVD video for you to take home.

This is specialty small group tour and space is limited.

Call Cain at 602-717-2735 or email (yogicain@gmai.com) to reserve your space.

January in Californina

Back in California, in the woods again, quiet, clean, and a little lonely. The weather is just about the same as it was last July, but since it is mid January, it feels much better. I am enjoying the sun shine, and being able to sit out on my porch for meals and tea, and for writing my blog:), and because it is January, I do not feel guilty to have fire in my wood-burning stove, and get extra warm and cozy. I got it all, the Sunshine and the fire-place:)

While in India, I forgot how yummy and abundant the food is out here...and how quiet it can get, and clean, and organized. (Yesterday they reported in NPR a 'hazard' on the road, a cow wondering by freedom blvd....tell me about it:). Memory is such a wonderfully elusive thing (or sometimes not so wonderful when you are right about what happened, and who said what, and your partner is wrong...). Accepting my own failing memory and seeing how unreliable people's memory so often is, makes me wonder if memory is even truly 'remembering' or perhaps more of 'imagining', or 'making up', creating our own experience with out any existence other then in our own mind. The past, what we remember, is just as illusive and suggestive as the future, what we anticipate, and both a projection of our mind. It is humbling to realize that, and inspiring to pursue clarity and awareness of every moment as it arises. The thick clutter of my projections; what I want and do not want, my desires and aversions, layered and fused with what is not even 'mine', or 'me'; the default setting of my pre-deposition and predicaments, the long list of wishes and dislikes of my ancestors, mingled for further confusion with the fleeting values of my culture and communities - it becomes a mighty fog of concepts and ideas to cut through, and to be able to be and feel genuinely real.

And then of course, the natural continuation of this line of thinking is what is 'reality' or 'truth', and what are we without our vast web of connections. We are our ancestors, and we are a representation of our society, our family and community, and yet we are neither and nor. We equally create our 'reality' and are subject to the flow of time.

Talking about creating, I recently returned from Orissa, where I filmed 3 instructional DVDS. I am beyond excited to share all the info with you, and start selling them, but I have to muster some patience (which is hardly possible by me), since they are not yet fully ready. Cain stayed back in Orissa for a couple weeks longer to tie up the final touches, and to put it all together into a finished product. So...I hope you can join me in anticipation, and I will be sure to announce it all over my blog, web site, face book, twitter, you name it, once I have them in my hands and I am ready to pass them on to yours.

The Titles are:
- Temple Goddess Workout 
transformational practice combining the best of yoga and indian dance

- Odissi Volume I: Foundations

- Odissi Volume II: Spins & Mangala Charana

Wishing you abundantly creative 2011, and the humble pursue of embodying who you truly are,

With love,
Revital

Delhi - Dec 2010

Sitting at the ornate reception area of my favorite hotel in Pharaghanj, after a cup of chai in the local out-door chai stole across the street, at 6 am in the morning. Too hungry, excited, and bubbling with creative energy to do any more practice or sleep. We arrived yesterday at 3am. I crashed long before dinner, and woke up at 11pm, at 1pm, and again for good at 4am, to practice on the roof, greeting the Smokey morning. Waiting for restaurants to open after not having any substantial meal for about 20 hours… There is something about India, despite the smog, the dust, the dirtiness, the noise, the overt stimulation, or maybe because of that; I feel so happy to be here. Happy to be.

 Yesterday was a blare of little delights; eating sweet potato with over dose of kala namak and obscure masalas in the street, followed by Veg. Momos, and lime-masala drink. Surveying hundreds of natural fabrics, handloom, handspun, unimaginable designs, colors and textures, oh India, the kingdom of sensual inventions and prohibitions…My favorite textile discovery: Handspun mulberry pulp by-product made into gorgeous soft and royal shirt in natural color with unique neckline combining inner v shape inserted into round accent.

Today’s subjective are simple: flowing with the jetlag into balance, more fabrics, more masalas (with food), and maybe a visit to the art museum.

And tomorrow, Orissa my love, going back to the land of Odissi, where modernization is around the corner, pushing in against thick and ancient culture, threatening to completely swoop over and permeate between the threads, but not yet, just not yet.

Mudras of India

Dear Readers,

I'm excited to announce I just started a new blog titled: Mudras of India http://mudrasofindia.blogspot.com/

The Sanskrit word mudra means “attitude,” “gesture,” or “seal.” The Kularnava Tantra traces the word mudra to the root mud, meaning “to delight in,” and dru, meaning “to draw forth.” In Yoga, hand mudras are a subtle form of practice used to concentrate the mind, balance the body’s vital energy, and awaken the spirit of devotion. 

I am adding a new Mudra at least once a week or more. Posts include extensive information about the ways of usage for every Mudra, and detailed images.

I'm starting with covering the 28 single-hand mudras (Asamyutta Hasta) and the 24 joint-hand mudras (Samyutta Hasta) of Indian Dance, and will move on to introducing many more mudras of Dance, Yoga, and Meditation.

If you are a student of Indian Dance, a Yoga practitioner, or interested in the ways Mudras can contribute to your life as a healing tool, and to enhance your creative splendor, this blog could be of immense value to you. Check it out and follow!

 My husband, Cain Carroll and I  recently created two unique posters artistically presenting 118 traditional hand mudras of Yoga and Indian Dance. (58 Dance and 60 Yoga). As far as we know, these are the only posters of their kind available. We worked with long time friend and Yoga student, Reed Rahn, to capture the mudras in clear, beautiful photographs.

They are now available to purchase on my web site: shaktibhakti.com

Mudras of Indian Dance Poster

For the first time ever, the beautiful hand mudras of Indian Dance have been captured in poster form. Created by internationally acclaimed Odissi Dancer and Yogini, Revital Carroll, this unique poster is both a learning tool and a work of art. The poster documents the 52 fundamental hand mudras of the Abhinaya Darpana of Nandikeswara (one of the most important ancient Sanskrit texts on dance). Each of the 52 mudras is elegantly presented in its traditional practice order, with all the Sanskrit names transliterated into English including proper accent markings. This poster measures 24 x 36 inches, and is printed on high quality acid free 100lb stock. 

Hand Mudras of Yoga Poster

This beautifully designed poster presents 60 of the most powerful hand mudras traditionally used in Yoga practice. Created by senior Yoga teachers, Cain and Revital Carroll, this one of a kind poster is the product of over 20 years of research and in-depth yoga practice. Detailed photos of the hands make it easy to learn the mudras, and each Sanskrit name has been transliterated into English with proper accent markings by Sanskrit scholar Nicolai Bachman. This distinctive poster makes a gorgeous wall hanging, and is an invaluable resource for deepening your understanding of Yoga Mudras. 19 X 27 inches, printed on acid free 100lb stock.

Travel in your clothes

Being a world traveler, one of the biggest draw and fascination for me is the cultural aspect. I love immersing myself in a culture. It is in a way like being an actor on a movie set, and it makes me realize how in fact the manifest world, and more specifically, the filters and codes of behavior of a culture are a big game we are all playing. Culture and its richness and unique flavor is naturally a reflection of the common values and attention we give the various aspects of life as a group. It is the way we people relate. It harmonizes us into a cohesive community, so we can share common humane experiences, and the rhythms of life. Ritualized points of weight in our life, from the mundane to the celebratory are the structure of our existence. The people in power to control the masses sometime manipulate culture.

When I travel, I love to immerse myself in the culture by wearing what the locals do. Eating the local food, learning some of the local language and local habits and gestures are very useful too, but it seems like magic, when you were the clothes, you are instantly in.

I was looking at my wardrobe the other day, staring at my vast, unique, and colorful assortment of outfits, wandering why nothing seems right today...realizing my clothes are like my travel! Perhaps, if my stars where aligned slightly differently I would have become a fashion designer, or at least a high fashion model, but as it is, I'm on my own, designing my own private show. If I had it my way, I would have traditional garbs of all cultures, and wear a different one every day. (I could probably get by doing so in Santa Cruz). I have a collection reserved for when in India, and another set of clothes that only feel right while in Israel, I have some funky west coast creative garbs, and more and more, random pieces of history and travel in my closet. I love to travel in my clothes. You can time travel wearing something from a time period you wish to experience. I become a different person, and even a different personality, wearing the garbs of a different culture. I'm one of these people my friends always come to when it is Halloween (or Purim) to find some dress up clothing, since my day to day clothes would be a costume to others:)! If you aren't already dressing up just because you fell like it, try it! It is great fun.

As I reflect deeper into 'cultural and historical fashion', I realize American culture, as I experience it, is all about 'casual' and 'functional', and so clothing are casual and functional. At least where I've lived, you can dress casually going to the theater, fancy dinner, or even some wedding parties! There are hardly ever any opportunities to dress up. Japanese culture emphasizes simple beauty and exquisite aesthetic, attention to details. Traditional Japanese garbs are not only comfortable and functional, they are simple, beautiful, attentive to details, and just so, perfect. Indian culture is colorful, overly ornate and rich, and also spontaneous and fluid. The clothing - simple flowing fabrics with outrages colors and designs wrapped around in numerous creative ways, jewelry of every kind decorating the ladies from head to toe. The way we dress tells so much about our culture. About what is important for us, and were do we place our attention. Dressing up, and undressing... can be a ritual in and of itself, every day. In fact, every moment and act of our day if goes by unnoticed, as a means to an end, is wasted, and if executed with care and attention, 'ritualized', is an opportunity to feel alive, and a source of infinite joy. Drinking Tea. Making Breakfast. Washing Dishes. Hanging Laundry. This is our daily life.

One of the things I love most about traveling is the internal travel that occurs while being placed out of my comfort zone, being placed in a new environment that forces me to PAY ATTENTION. The opportunity to re-set my 'view' is precious and allows inner growth and open mindedness. The need to increase my level of awareness, understanding and patience (all qualities I've been spending a life time to develop and yet far from mastered) is unavoidable.

You might be guessing, I'm planning another trip this winter back to India for a month, and I'm looking forward for the various projects and events awaiting me there. I hope to blog again before my departure, and if not, I will be sure to blog from India, sharing some of the mind opening, heart expanding, lively adventure I'm about to behold in December.

The secret of Youthful Radiance

I feel inspired to share this ideas with you readers, (especially women), since I live in the US, and work with soooo many women of all ages - teens to elderly, who struggle with their self-image and self-worth (=self love). I feel so strongly about my idea of 'healthy beauty', that I want to shout it out load to the all world, so I do. (Thank you blogspot!)

Well, this great 'beauty image' lie that glares at us from every magazine stand, billboard commercial and street corner, persistently demanding our attention, energy and money, insisting to argue: "I am real, chase me, pursue me, you must have me!", is in fact, a huge great cheater. Why is it there then, this glossy one-size beauty, permeating ever deeper into modern culture of every nation, persuading you incessantly to follow it and only it? How did we all end up giving obscene amount of power and money to build this huge, fake, useless, wasteful, and harmful industry? The story of modern culture, a mixture of control, ignorance and fear (maybe?). For now, if you are willing to let go of the WHY and the injustice and follow me with focusing on what we can do, and is in our power, then let's go, and you can decide for yourself where you stand with it.

 We have a choice. There are layers of reality and non-reality we can subscribe to. We can subject ourselves to the horrifying terrors of surgeries, and the annoyance of medial appointment, that will equip us with balloon shaped boobs, and Barbie size noses, and many more variations of these questionable modification 'solutions', or we can take a deep breath, find out inner smile, look deeper, (maybe something meaningful we long forgot about is hiding deep down), and resist the default temptation to follow the lowest common denominator of our culture. Muster the courage to stand against that current, and develop healthy self-image and self-love. Live life empowered, with joy, inner glow, true beauty, and healthy radiance. Save your own sanity, and be an example of true grace and power to your children. Having talked with many who subjected themselves to these experiences, I'm certain all the surgeries and external modifications will make no difference. Apart from perhaps funneling you deeper into the subscription of chasing empty dreams. Nobody, including you, really cares about the size and shape of your boobs, hips or nose. However, if you radiate confidence, self-love and natural beauty, which are already yours to begin with, the all world is attracted to you, and you enjoy your own company too. The 'inner' approach is what does make a difference, infuses you with abundant energy, beauty, and joy that can be resurrected, maintained and developed at any time, and in turn radiates outwardly, naturally attracting love, magic, richness, and everything else you would want into your life.

 If you busy yourself chasing empty dreams when you are 20, you likely to be chasing the same empty dreams when you are 40 and beyond. The pattern of your early days will likely to intensify with age. (Especially the negative ones. Sorry.) The unconscious and careless 'wasteful' behavior of your youth that was forgiven by the 'greenness' of youth has long lost its charm. The desires of the past only multiply, unless, you decide one bright day to pause (today?), and embarked on a path of self-reflection and self-growth, and made, make, or will make the decision to not follow the lowest common denominator of our culture, but actually empower yourself to find out for yourself what is truly meaningful and worth chasing. Perhaps you will find chasing does not work, and being, feeling, and creating will fill in the spaces.

Along the way of inner cultivation, you will quickly find the source of your inner glow and youthful radiance. The basic premises is that you have to do something that makes you feel good every day, which usually distills into three areas: MIND CONTROL (through meditation / reflection / spiritual cultivation) so you could continuously choose the direction of your thoughts pattern, (positive? negative?) and develop calmness, clarity and focus. HEALTHY DIET, suitable to your body type and lifestyle requirements, to truly nourish you. Adequate EXERCISE regime, to suite your body type and personality needs, so you can 'charge your battery', detox, metabolize, and basically function according to nature design. Now, there is an extra special secret ingredient to the plan that will make a huge difference: SEX. Lots of positive sex. Inner cultivation, dual cultivation, meditation, internal massage and exercise, deep nourishment love, abundance of energy, radiant glow, all can be accomplished with sex. The 'good' kind that is free of negativity, abuse, or unconscious madness. All of the above align you into natural balance that harmonizes your emotions, nourish your body and spirit, and makes you glow like a star. 

If you feel like you are not tall enough (or too tall), not thin enough (or too...) you get the idea, or your breast size and shape is not 'perfect', then wake up from spiraling into negativity, wasting your life away. Get a good bra if you want to, and an admiring lover (!), and let it go baby. Focus on enjoying to its fullest what you do have, the magnificence of your nature. Nothing is wrong with beautifying yourself either. When you feel inspired, use as much make up as you like, fun clothing, accessorize, play the game, pamper yourself, enjoy the attention, but why suffer? Why beat yourself down with negativity and feed all of your power and money and energy to the system of control? Do not let some one else tell you what size and shape you ought to be! If you end up with criticizing lovers or other off-putting relations in your life, then chances it is one of two: you either convince yourself so fully of your inadequacy that you attract people who reflect your own beliefs to you, or you actually can use a little wake up call, and do something meaningful about reclaiming your life, power and inner radiance. (i.e. Healthy lifestyle - thought, food and exercise, and wholesome sex).

What's wrong with old age anyways? How about an old tree or your favorite old dress or old saree? An old (ancient) stone Temple? Do you hate them? Do you think they are ugly? well, eventually they will all die too. I think the time arrives in every one's life that one can say with confidence: 'I'm old and I feel old', and also 'I'm dying' same as 'I'm living' really. What we are afraid of has most control over us.

Your beauty becomes subtler, more refine, and less 'sexy' and out pouring with age. More fragile and delicate in away, nevertheless, magnificent. Let yourself transform. Surrender to the process of life, so you can enjoy and savor the subtle flavors. There is no remedy for aging really. We are all going to die. Face it. Live with it. There is no 'Ever lasting youth', even if Deepak Chopra says so.

As you grow older, you might have more money, name, fame, power. You also accumulate more wrinkles and white hairs. Se la vie. You have the potential of gaining wisdom, clarity, richness of relationships, unfathomed depth of joy, peace, and love, and refined skills. But sometimes all you end up with is more insecurities, more obsessions...deeper and stronger negativity. Do not let yourself run around trapped in the same old struggle, obsessing with trying to look what you are not, be who you never will. Letting un-needed worries and concerns eat away your original radiance, and hedge deeper lines into your face, hunch your back with defeat. Instead, stand upright, greet every day with wonder, curiosity, excitement, and commitment to fulfill yourself and live your truth in the face of declining cultural values, or modern foolishness. As Gandhi said and many repeated: Be the change you want to see in the world. Blaze your light, and begin accepting your self. As you are.

If you would like more guidance or support on embarking on a path of self-empowered and meaningful life, contact me in person for more information on how you can become the most radiant Goddess you truly are.

Community

I started blogging regularly this past winter, while I was in Orissa, surrounded by creative energy and inspiration to share my travel-life and dance process. I'm still inspired, motivated, living creative life...so what happened? Why am I not as industrious with my blog writing? Well, I'm in the USA now, and life is just different here. It moves in a faster pace. There are more bills, expenses, media interactions, cars, taxes, work...and in short, the productive and practical aspect of my life is in full swing, and creative expressions get pushed into the narrow spaces of productivity. I'm holding onto my dance practice time in the threatening face of my 'To Do' list (on my i-phone), and I'm spending way too much time trying to figure out how to spend less time managing the back-stage of my life, the money ground. The promising spaciousness every day starts with shrinks by the afternoons, and by dinner time, I'm left to wonder where did the day go again? Details, Details, piling up on my mind desk, nagging for my attention...and it is me who need to give myself a break, breath deep, do nothing for a moment, and reflect clear mind in clear schedule.
 
Cain and I recently returned from our teaching and performing trip in Alaska. We had an amazing time up north under the bright summer sun with Anchorage's Dance / Yoga / Qi Gong communities. The Alaskan weather Gods arranged for us the best weather possible in Alaska - about 70 degrees, and it was truly elating to experience sunset around midnight, and never fully dark nights - twilight to twilight. Alaska is so spacious and vast, and in the summer, the days are stretched-out long. In the midst of a very busy teaching schedule we enjoyed the delight of nature hikes, Moose sightings, and even climbed on a glacier. Our Alaskan hosts were so warm and welcoming. The attention, care, and interest we received every place we went was refreshing in light of the too-busy-to-notice-you attitude I often get in my professional interactions in the 'lower 48' (the Alaskan term for the rest of the US excluding Hawaii). In this way, Alaska reminded me of India.

I used to think that crowdedness breeds hatred and war, and in places with less population, people are friendlier and peace prevails. Simply due to the fact there are not that many interactions to overload our human nerve system and literally 'get on our nerves'. Alaska fits into this theory. India, however, is one the most crowded countries on earth, and yet, people are so open and tolerant. You feel noticed, cared for, acknowledged, loved even. It is also a relatively peaceful place, even though people are constantly adjusting for diminishing resources and living space. As I look deeper into it, I think loving attention emerges out of the spacious inside us. Keeping our heart open, our mind clear, and our breath deep is all we need to welcome intimate relations, and treat others with kindness and genuine care.

Practice Time

Hello Life-Dance Lovers,

It has been almost two months since I last connected with my blog...and so much have happened! It was travel time, inwardly and outwardly, as it always is...

At first, I made the journey from Orissa, on the east coast of India, where I lived and danced all winter, to Delhi, the lively capital. I love Delhi. I always have so much fun finding the most awesome cultural events of music, dance, and art. There was a festival of sacred art around the time I was there, and I saw incredible performances of ecstatic Sufi music and dance from Egypt (!) and a concert that wove together all of south India classical music traditions. What a journey! I also met some great people while I was there, and of course, shopped until I dropped.  Then I traveled across the planet back to the USA. Cain and I met in AZ where we basically said hello and goodbye to family and friends and drove off in a U-haul with all of our staff westward to Santa Cruz, CA.

 I've been landing, grounding, re-orienting, and feeling it out here ever since. We have a lovely nest in the form of a rustic cabin in the woods, a quiet spot in the Santa Cruz hills. The air is moist and we are surrounded by Oak, Madrone, California Bay, Pine, Redwoods, Manzanitas, lush ferns, and wild herbs, (a bit of poison oak...), and so many other plant-friends. We also have lots of deer running around, and I think some wild dog and cat-like creatures. Every time we leave and return, we travel through a winding narrow corridor of lush greenery, and the gentle rumble of flowing water as background music, so nourishing!

 Santa Cruz town is a funky place. One of the great things for me is the lively world-culture scene. There is so much music and dance from around the world, creative expression exploding in the streets, and in the concert halls, I'm really digging it here art-wise. It feels like arriving at the oasis after a long journey in the desert. I love Prescott - the crystal-clear sky, sparkly air, and small community of friends we made while living there. However, cowboy poetry and square dancing doesn't nourish me the same way as being able to watch, and dance to, world-class flamenco, Moroccan Music, Afro-Brazilian-Reggae, Middle-eastern band, and much more, all in the same week!

Travel didn't stop yet though...We have been to Oregon, going back to Arizona, and then the grand journey to Alaska. I have a dear community of Dance-Yoga-Qi friends in Anchorage Alaska, that Cain and I will return to this May. We will be teaching Odissi dance, Yoga, Qi Gong, and related knowledge. This upcoming Alaska journey has been a great incentive to dive deeply and wholly into practice. I'm fully immersed these days in Odissi dance & music, Yoga, and Qi-gong practice, and feeling the deepening of my experience moment by moment. Realizations, openings, and clarity bubbling from within and raining from above. What a gift! I'm writing articles, preparing performances, classes, intensive dance seminar - an elaborate program of events to unfold in Alaska. In this light - I feel moved to shift this blog greatly toward movement-practice related info, rather then my own personal life stories.

And so to begin with, below is some information about the preliminary steps a dancer takes preparing herself to dance.

Preparing to Dance Odissi  
 
 Sloka – Prayer 
 
Before we start dancing we initiate our practice reciting a sloka. Slokas are short
verses from the Vedas – the ancient scriptures. They usually attributed to specific
Gods or Goddesses and serve as an invocation prayer to attain steady and peaceful
state of being. Below are the two most common dance slokas from the Abhinaya
Darpana by Nandikeshvara, one of the ancient classical dance texts. 
 

Namaskriya Sloka:
Nama  -Salutation, 
Kriya  -Action
Sloka – spiritual poetry
 
 Lord Shiva is praised as the embodiment of the 4 types of abhinaya (Body & hand
movement, ornaments and costume, Song, Mood/emotional expression) in this
following sloka.
 
Angikam Bhuvanam Yasya (All our body parts are yours)
Vachikam Sarva Bhagmayam (Our words are your world)
Aharyam Chandra Taradi (The Sun and Moon are your ornaments)
Tum Namaa Satvikam Shivam (I salute you Shiva, the embodiment of truth, with my
body-mind-spirit) 
 
“We bow to Him the benevolent One
whose limbs are the world, 
whose song and poetry are the essence of all language,
whose costume is the moon and the stars..."
 
Guru Brhama (Birth, You are my teacher)
Guru Vishnu (Life, You are my teacher)
Guru Deva Maheshvara (Death, You are my teacher)
Guru Sakshat Param Bramha (Emptiness, You are certainly my teacher)
Tasmay shri Guruveh Namaha (To such respected teacher I offer my devotion)
 
 
Bumi Paranam - Salutation to the earth:
 
Odissi dancer offers Bumi Paranam - A Dance-Prayer sequence to initiate and to
conclude every dance session. Bumi is the earth Goddess. We salute the earth
before practice, asking permission to stump upon her and generate our creation, and
we thank her at the end of our practice, for allowing us to do so. 
 
Practice Time:
 
Odissi dance takes shape as a gradual progression: addressing all the elements of
the dance and then layering them together into a complete and intricate whole. We
begin every practice session with gentle exercises; joint opening sequences and light
stretches, followed by stronger exercises that strengthen the legs, open the hips, flex
the spine, and develop stamina and rhythm. We proceed with the distinct dance
postures in various dance steps, spins, walks and jumps, climaxing in practice of
choreography. A session usually concludes with unwinding and cooling down
stretches, as well as refining our mudra practice, developing eye, head, and neck
movements, emotional expressions, and other facets and elements of odissi. 
Before we begin moving  - The dancer always centers and grounds:
connecting with her breath, with the earth through the sole of her feet, with heaven
through the top of her head, and with space within and around. The dancer is seen
as the creator of the universe, creating her own universe with her dance and letting
creation happen through her while dancing.  As we prepare ourselves to dance, it is
important to view ourselves as the center axis between heaven and earth, and let all
manifestation revolve around us. The most profound role of the dancer is her ability to
transform her own reality and touch her audience deeply, offering the opportunity to
transcend ʻordinaryʼ life moments into ʻextra-ordinaryʼ spiritual ones.