Monthly Archives: September 2014

Artist In Residence

Adventures, Inspiration, , , ,

What is an artist in residence you ask?

Well, it’s my classy new job title. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it.

dani altiere inc

I’m so excited and honored to be working with the amazing, hilarious and inspiring Dani Altiere, at Dani Altiere Inc, providing performing arts residencies at Elementary schools around the city. We offer dance, drama and gymnastics residencies and my focus currently is on the gymnastics/acrobatics side of things. I started shadowing Dani this week and honestly, it was even more fun that I had imagined.

I’ve only worked with kids occasionally, so this is a whole new experience for me, but Dani is so gifted with them and they love her so much, I’m just trying to absorb all her wisdom and energy (as well as the rhymes and funny voices). I have a couple more weeks training with her and then I’ll be unleashed upon the children of Edmonton all on my own (teaching Dani’s fantastic curriculum, with her support, of course)

Movement arts like dance and gymnastics enriched my life so much as a kid, I’m beyond thrilled to be able to share that joy with the little people who appreciate it most. Seeing the looks on their faces when they managed to do a roll or a cartwheel for the first time, the hugs they gave me at the end of the week and their shouts that gymnastics is the best, and I should come back and be their gym teacher year round made getting up early and immersing myself into morning rush hour traffic totally, 100% worth it.

I’m so excited to be moving in this new direction professionally, sharing the joyful movement revolution with the beautiful crystal and rainbow kids that are here to show the world how to love. My heart is exploding with gratitude for this opportunity.

All I had to do was ask for it.

Seriously. I literally asked the universe for a new opportunity to share my gifts with the planet and two or three days later, this is what it came up with, when I ran in to Dani at the Art Walk. It’s amazing how gracefully it can all unfold when you open yourself up to receive all the awesome that is your birthright as a being of light, dancing through life.

Teacher friends, if you’re interested in bringing a dance, theatre or gymnastics residency at your school, take a peek at http://danialtiereartistatlarge.com/

 

Full Moon Musings (Pisces Supermoon)

Astrology, , , , ,
From glad.is.com
From glad.is.com

 

I seem to have fallen into the rhythm of writing on both the new moon and the full moon.

I’m OK with that.

The pattern reminds me that life is rhythmic and cyclical in nature, and that I’m subject to those rhythms the same way the tides are. That idea brings me peace somehow. I think I’ve mentioned how disconnected I used to feel from nature as a child. Tuning into the rhythms of the wheel of the year, and lunar cycle helps me feel more like a part of the world. It also really helps me to know what to focus on when.

I love doing all the things. I want all of the awesome in my life, but you can’t focus on all of the things, all of the time. Following the rhythms of the moon, the stars and the planet gives me the chance to focus on everything in turn.

Right now, for example, the full moon is in the sign of Pisces, and the sun is in Virgo. Knowing those three things, I have I have a bit of an idea both of what to focus on and what to expect.

As always, the lovely ladies at mysticmamma have compiled some amazing astral insight to give you a more in depth run down of what this Pisces supermoon is bringing us.

 On the days leading up to the full moon, I was more emotional than I am normally, and I did some major releasing (and by releasing, I mean sobbing uncontrollably for an hour). It was surprising and it seemed to come out of nowhere, although my husband was easily able to tell me all the unresolved emotions I had about things that had happened recently.  He’s so emotionally intelligent, and compassionate (at least when it comes to the people he loves) and I’m so very grateful for it. Seriously though, it was violently intense, I cried harder than I may have ever ried before… Afterwards I felt very empty. It was cathartic, and I had no idea how much tension and stress I had been carrying around for weeks/months..

When I read the words about this super moon from Divine Harmony (via Mystic Mamma), I felt both vindicated and comforted. She called this full moon “a waterworks full moon”.

 
“The Moon in any of the water signs is already very emotional, sensitive and receptive- but I would argue that Pisces is the most sensitive of all the signs…”
“With the Full Moon in Pisces we have a heightened sense of sensitivity– which could bring us to the point of bliss or to the point of pain and suffering.
“If you find yourself in tears leading up to this Full Moon- now you know why. (I think crying is good- it helps you to release all that you are holding onto.)

So… It’s not just me and I’m not crazy. Even though I knew that to be the case, there is something tremendously comforting about having that shared experience and having an explanation for it.

As I said, I felt a million times lighter after releasing so much. Did you know we actually release stress hormones in our tears? We are literally cleansing our bodies when we cry. There are tons of health benefits to tears, another reason not to try to keep it all in.

Anyway, I wasn’t quite done “releasing” and a few days later, when I was listening to a Songza bedtime playlist, a Mozart piece came on and I was instantly transported back in time to my Grandma’s last days in the hospital. I vividly saw her listening to one of her favorite Opera Arias. Then I started to remember so many other things, and I missed her terribly. I cried and cried again. This time, sobbing in the bathroom in the dark. I didn’t cry like this when she was dying, or after she passed, because I rationally knew how it was time, and that I would still be in contact with her energy, etc, etc. I cried, but not like this..

These were the tears of my inner child, who missed her terribly. I let myself cry and then, suddenly, as always seems to happen, I was finished and felt lighter again, and at peace.

I don’t think I could have cried like this all those months ago. The timing needed to be right, and the stars needed to align and then I really didn’t have a choice in the matter. The tears just came.

So, if you have anything you’ve been saving up, emotions you’ve been hoarding, or rationalizing away… This is the perfect time to let them out. Let yourself really feel them. You won’t drown in them, but once you really let yourself feel them, they’ll move through you and out of you. Opening up space for whatever happens next.

The full moon is always such an interesting ride.