The Sacred Sound Orgasm

Listening to this type of music can open your capacity to experience multiple dimensions and connect with both the Earth's energy and Source consciousness. I am currently writing a book about it. Enjoy!

Writing from the Future : Awakening Your Imaginal Cells

Date: February 4, 2012 Time: 9:30am - 6:30pm
Cost: $125, includes an organic lunch
Location: The Sanctuary at Sedona in Cornville
To Register contact Kelley at (928) 639-1300 or
Email info@sanctuary.net

“2012 is the year to manifest your dreams and write that book that is out there in your future.”

Imagine if you could journey and meet your future-self, the one who has completed her book, article or other creative project. She could then show you what she wrote and how she completed it. All you have to do is follow through and write what she has already been written. Open to anyone who desires to be more open, connected and creative. Bring water bottle, notebook, eye cover, pillow and blanket.

This workshop will give you the tools to:
• Connect with your imaginal-cells
• Meet your future-self
• Experience Shamanic BreathworkTM
• Write and create your heart’s desire

Workshop facilitated by Crystal Dawn Morris and Kelley Alexander, Certified Shamanic Breathwork Facilitators, Shamanic Ministers and visionary writers.

Freda's Memorial a Celebration of Love

Memorial for Freda Morris Belden Dec. 8, 2011

Thursday night December 8th we gathered in Sedona to honor my mother, Freda Morris Belden. I kept the event casual and simple because that is how she would have wanted it to be. Twelve people came and shared their stories, songs and poems about Freda. Many people who could not attend sent emails to share their thoughts and memories. This is a picture of her with my sons in June, 2011.

Here are some of the comments about her.
Freda was playful, fearless, flexible, integral, active, unconventional, multifaceted, ask for what she wanted, made herself at home, a teacher of love and one of the happiest people I have ever known. She loved to garden and had a green thumb. There were also many comments about how much she loved her body and being in it. She liked to do chin-ups, somersaults, crawling around on the floor, sitting in the lotus position, she never sat on a chair in the normal way, and she wasn't afraid to ask to be massaged. She also loved to inspire others to stretch, grow and expand beyond what was comfortable.

"I was Freda's second best friend. Marion Pastor was her first best friend. She met her first. She reminded me of that frequently. I considered being her friend, in any position, a privilege. She taught me hypnosis and encouraged me to launch the career that made me so very happy. She took a hick from New York City and introduced me to a world I had never known: psychic phenomenon, hallucinatory drugs that very much widened my perspective, Ericksonian hypnosis. We sneaked into places like nudist camps together and she taught me how to break silly rules. She was a heretic, the most unique human being I have ever known. When we talked about death, she told me she was looking forward to it as a new adventure and wondered what her next life would be like. I intend remebering that when I am dying. You will always be in my heart, beloved friend. I know you have created a momentous happening wherever you are." Elaine Chernoff

Dear Cystal, As you know, I can't come to Freda's Memorial, because of my physical condition, but my heart will be with you. Freda wrote highly of my autobiography, which contained many references to her, particularly a description of her when we first met, when we were both employed at the Neurophychiatic Department of UCLA about 1969:

Wanting therapy ,"I went to Freda Morris, a new psychologist on staff. She was a puckish, startlingly uninhibited young woman who attracted me immmediately. She wore no makeup and her light brown hair was casually short and straight in an era when most women wore makeup and had perrmanents. She took off her her shoes and tucked her fet under her at meetings. She expressed unconventional flashes of wisdom in her intrermittant Oklahoma twang, offten enough to make me respect her intelligence. She specialized in hypnosis and her Ph.D dissertaion had been in psychic phenomena.

"She looked me over with wide, sleepy-looking bliueeyes and accepted me as a psychotherapy patient. . . I soon found out just how unconventional she was, at the end of our first meeting that she suggested.that we do hypnotherapy on each other, switching roles each time."

It was the beginning of more than forty years of friendship. We both quit UCLA eventually and met again quite by chance a few years later in San Francisisco. We shared an apartment, then not. We have been in and out of each other's lives ever since. I can't say I'll miss her, because I am now past ninety years of age. Bon Voyage, Freda. See you again, soon!.
Blessings, Marion Pastor

"I was friends with Freda for 16 years after meeting her in a math class at UCSC. Some of my best memories of her are sharing time with her in the beautiful and tasty garden at Garfield Park and preparing and eating meals with her and many people over the years. If one story conveys her unique approach to life it was one of her tactics for meeting new, interesting people: She would take post it notes and write her phone number and "call me if you are interested in discussing this book" and put them in the back of books she liked at Bookshop Santa Cruz. I will miss her and remember her always for enriching my life in many, many ways. Goodbye Freda." Jean-Paul Cane

I Love You, Freda
By Larry Rosenberg, December 8, 2011

Remember when she walked into a room
Our vitality, joy and love levels went up
She had a glowing presence all her own
You’d feel that your life had a fuller cup.

Her youthful energy belied her long age
With a mind as sharp as a razor’s edge
And a heart so eager to connect and grow
You knew where she stood, firmly with no hedge.

Her eyes had a leprechaun’s playful gleam
Her body more warmth than her small frame
Your time with her was an authentic encounter
If she rode a unicorn, she’d have no greater fame.

What was so magical about her every sharing?
She sure put the fun in life’s fundamentals
With her blending of wit, wonder and wisdom
She’d tap into a source of cosmic elementals.

All that she did made you a lifelong friend
Her aura embraced you as a cherished pal
You were with the high priestess of delight
From beret to toes, what an extraordinary gal.

Do you miss her bright communication style
And her opinions numbering more than a few?
What about her zest for life’s sweet nectar?
With all my being, I admit to you that I do.

You know for sure that she was one of a kind
Her vivid life produced a unique woman of arts
With gratitude to have shared our journeys
Precious memories of dear Freda fill our hearts.

The Vesica Piscis the Root of Sacred Geometry

Memorial for Freda Belden Dec.8 in Sedona

Freda Morris Belden was my mother. She died Sept.8, 2011. She moved in with me when she was diagnosed with brain cancer in May, 2011. She was committed to dying consciously. Caring for her during her last few months on Earth was a precious gift. I introduced her to the Phowa practice of the Amitabha Buddha as well as other practices for conscious dying.

Freda was a unique woman. She was a hynotherapist, writer and explorer of consciousness.

Thursday, Dec 8, 2011 at 6:30-8:30
Sedona School of Temple Arts, 2945 Southwest Dr. Sedona, AZ 86336

Please bring your favorite stories about Freda, poems or songs to share.
Potluck to follow ceremony, bring a dish you think Freda would have enjoyed eating with you.

If you can’t come in person and want to share some words with those gathered please send what you want to share and I will read it to the group. Please take a moment that evening to hold her in your heart and join us as we celebrate her life and passing. Share this email with her friends.

Directions- The School of Temple Arts located at the corner of Southwest Dr and Sinagua Dr. The directions: take 89 A to the Giant Gas Station, (2 blks east of Dry Creek Rd,) turn north onto Tortilla Dr, go 1 block to Southwest Dr. turn left, go 2 blocks and turn left and park. It is the building on the southeast corner behind the White House Inn. Call 928-282-5483 if you have questions.

Meditation to Raise Your Vibration

I am in a process of writing a new book. While doing research for it I found this cool video on YouTube. I hope you enjoy it too.

Visionary Shamanism Events in Sedona Dec.9-16

I am very excited that Linda Star Wolf and Brad Collins, co-directors of Venus Rising and creators of Shamanic Breathwork, will be coming back to Sedona in December to speak at the Golden Word Bookstore and teach a weekend Visionary Shamanism Workshop at The Sanctuary at Sedona!
To register go to www.shamanicbreathwork.org
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
The workshop will start on Friday evening, December 9 at 7:30 pm, continue on Saturday, December 10 from 10 am - 6 pm, and finish on Sunday, December 11, from 10 am - 4 pm.

You can meet them at the Golden Word Bookstore 1575 west Hwy89A Suite D, Sedona. Friday, Dec.16 from 6-8 pm

Linda Star Wolf will be sharing her wisdom and experience from her latest best selling book Visionary Shamanism. The workshop will be based on the principles of Visionary Shamanism. You will explore how to:
• Heal the past, learn from the future and activate the imaginal cells - which are encoded with information from the future
• Manifest your most creative ideas and newest incarnations more quickly
• Speed up your evolutionary potential in this lifetime and reach our highest human potential as quickly as possible.

Sedona Event Changes Lives

Here is a note one participant posted after the workshop. Keith wrote: "Since I went to an all day Shamanic Breathwork class with John Livingston and Crystal Dawn I can now breathe so much amazingly more - so amazing!"

On Saturday, October 29,2011, ten people showed up in Sedona for a day of Shamanic Breathwork with Crystal Dawn Morris and John Livingston, Shamanic Breathwork Facilitators. It was a powerful day of healing, transformation and empowerment. The morning began with an introduction to the Shamanic breathwork process. SBW is a journey through the energy centers of the body, which are called chakras. It uses circular breathing to activate and move energy through the body until" you are surprised." Once you enter into an experience the breathing is no longer focused on. The circular breathing is returned to whenever it is needed.

The benefits are SBW are numerous including: clearing blocked energy, physical healing, life review, soul return, increased vitality, insight into your life purpose, healing of family legacy issues, re-birthing, increased self-acceptance and compassion for others.

We most commonly work in dyads with one person journeying while the other person is present to witness and support their process. Shamanic Breathwork is done to powerful music that takes you on a journey through the chakras and activates each person's "inner shaman."

After the first round is complete, those who journeyed have an opportunity to create a mandala that reflects their experience in some way. Images are a wonderful way to record what happened without activating the rational mind. Journalling may also be done alone or in dyads.We then took a lunch break.

After lunch, the dyads reversed roles and the process was repeated using different music. Following the afternoon art process we took a break. We then broke up into two process groups. Processing a SBW journey is much like processing a dream. Information may come to us in a variety of ways- literally, metaphorically, physically, via the senses and spiritually. Processing allows each person time to share their experience and their mandala with the group. If they want it feedback is given. This is when we "mine the gold" of our process. Often, ah-ha moments occur that clarify what occurred and help to integrate the information received. This can be a bonding experience.

We close the day by coming back together as a circle. We share from our hearts and offer gratitude for the gifts we have received, for our life breath.

Blessings on all my relations.

Shamanic Breathwork in Sedona 1/21/2012

The Shamanic Breathwork Experience
Date – Saturday, January 21, 2012
Time - 9:30 am -6 pm Cost - $120 per person
Location – West Sedona (address given with registration)

Shamanic BreathworkTM is a powerful healing process that takes you on a journey through the chakras, activating your “Inner Shaman”. In the process you release what no longer serves you and are aligned with your True Self. When we breathe with clarity, consciousness and clear intention we recognize that all life is sacred. Birthing us into a new paradigm of love and freedom! No previous experience necessary. Please bring an open heart, a water bottle, lunch, a pillow and a blanket. Wear comfortable clothes you can move in.

To register contact John at 928-203-4096 or email johnL111 at commspeed dot net

This workshop facilitated by Crystal Dawn Morris and John Livingston,
Certified Shamanic Breathwork Facilitators and Shamanic Ministers.
Learn more about them at their websites.
www.TantraForAwakening.org
www.john-livingston.com

The Full Body Orgasm Class Nov.12-13, Sedona

Awakening the Ecstatic Body: The Full Body Orgasm and Beyond
Saturday 9:30am-9:30pm and Sunday 10am-6pm
November 12-13, 2011
Sedona, AZ

In this experiential weekend you will:
Open Your "Inner Channel of Bliss"
Learn the 3 Steps to the Ecstasy
Explore Sexual Magic as a Tool for Abundance
Experience a Juicy Ritual

In this experiential weekend workshop you will learn how to awaken bliss in every cell of your being and you will experience a full body orgasm outside a sexual context. You will leave this weekend feeling more alive and with a tool kit for creating bliss in your life and relationships. This event is open to individuals and couples. There is no nudity in this class.

$275 per person, $500 per couple / Email crystal at TantraforAwakening dot org

This workshop is facilitated by Crystal Dawn Morris, a Certified SkyDancing Tantra Teacher and assisted by Jim Miller. Crystal is known for her ability to create a safe space where magic unfolds. Her workshops and coaching sessions give people practical tools for ecstatic living.

Tantra Wedding and FUNdraiser in Sedona

Dear friends,
I would like to invite you to participate in this unique event next Saturday, Nov.5, 2011 beginning at 2:30pm-9pm at 185 Roadrunner Dr in Sedona. I will be officiating at the nuptials of Lark and dennis. These two met at my Sedona Tantra for Awakening Meetup group. This Meetup group has been meeting at the Sedona School of Temple Arts for the past few years. This event is open to the public. Lark and Dennis are excited to use their wedding as an opportunity to share Tantra with their community. Their wedding will be done as a Tantric ritual. This event is also a FUNdraiser to collect donations for the International School of Temple Arts and the Sedona Temple to offset recent legal expenses. Your presence, donations and support are encouraged and appreciated. Volunteers are needed see list near the bottom of this email! More information is below, please share this with your like-minded friends.
Thanks,
Crystal Dawn Morris, Minister
Certified SkyDancing Tantra Teacher
928-282-5483 cell 928-862-0762
www.TantraforAwakening.org

A Most Unique Expression of Love
Sedona couple speaks out through a Tantra Wedding FUNdraiser

SEDONA AZ - Sedona area residents Lark Tucker and Dennis Clegg will wed Tantra-style at 3pm on November 5, 2011 at the Sedona Temple near City Hall. Reverend Crystal Dawn Morris, facilitator of the Sedona Tantra Meetup where Lark and Dennis met, will officiate.

In response to recent negative press about the practice of Tantra associated with alleged criminal acts, this couple chooses to take a stand for universal love through Tantra. The couple has planned their own unique ceremony that will demonstrate Tantric practices. "Tantra practices are a way of life that we use to experience new levels of connection we have never known before," share Lark and Dennis.

The ceremony will be a unique representation of love through ritual and blessings for family, friends, and the community-at-large. The couple is down-sizing two households into one and requests that instead of gifts, donations be made to the International School of Temple Arts (ISTA), a nonprofit educational organization.

Following the wedding ceremony, the FUNdraiser will include a potluck dinner, music, dance, games, auction and raffles from 4:30pm-9pm. Live broadcast will be available for those who wish to observe, support and/or donate without attending. Schedules and details are listed on the website http://LarkandDennis.com.

Media Contact:

928.282.8511
http://nativeamericanchurch.org/legalfund
mail@schooloftemplearts.com

Sedona Temple
ISTA- International School of Temple Arts
Madonna Ministry International
Oklevueha Native American Church
ONAC of ISTA

------------------------
Volunteer duties needed:

Anytime Tue - Sat am Partial cord of wood donated/delivered for heating (2 fireplaces)
Anytime Tue - Sat am Weeding
Anytime Tue - Sat am Scrub Fountains
Anytime Tue - Sat am Table and Chair setup
Anytime Tue - Sat am Decorating and backdrop for filming
Anytime Tue - Sat am Kitchen setup and equipped, supervised for reception, for potluck
Anytime Tue - Sat am Trash and Recycle setup
Friday Port-a-John setup
Sat am Signage at Cardinal and 89A
Fri -Sat am Camera, Lighting, Film, Cords, Batteries, Cassettes, Microphones
Fri - Sat am Sound systems front and back house
Tue reheasal & Sat am/3pm-4:30pm Live Broadcast setup, recording and maintenance
Tue - Sat am setup, 4:30pm Sat and 7-9pm SatStore/Auction setup, items priced, spreadsheet, cashbox, change
Tue - Sat scheduling, Sat 2:30pm-6:30pm and/or 6:30pm - 9pm Entertainment supervision, schedules
Sat 2pm-5pm Parking and People movers, 5pm-9pm Runner
Sat 7pm-10pm and Sun leftovers Clean up
Sat 9pm or Sunday Break down

In gratitude for your willingness to help a beautiful cause!


Schedule:

Tantra Wedding, Education, Entertainment and Auction.

WHO: We are inviting all family, friends and supporters of the Tantra
Temples to come join us for this FUN celebration of love and support

WHAT: You are about to embark on a journey of new possibilities.
2:30pm ARRIVALS
3pm SACRED TANTRA WEDDING RITUAL
4:30pm CELEBRATION DANCE AND DRUMMING
5pm RECEPTION, MUSIC, DISCUSSION/SUPPORT AND GIFTINGS (note: due to the downsizing of two homes to one, we ask that gifts or cash be donated to the Temples)
6pm MUSIC, COMMUNITY POTLUCK (Please bring a dish to share.)
7pm Party, Auctions, Pledges

WHEN: 2:30pm-9pm

WHERE:
The address is 185 Roadrunner Drive
Sedona, AZ 86336
Onsite parking is limited to special needs, excess parking is located 1 block away at City Hall, Cardinal Lane and Sinagua (please do not park on Roadrunner)

WHY: Support our Sacred Temple Arts. Proceeds from the auction
and fundraiser will go to the Legal defense for the AZ Tantra temples.
Free Goddess based beliefs and practices!

HOSTED BY --- Sedona Temple, ISTA - International School of Temple Arts, Oklevueha Native American Church of ISTA, Madonna Ministry International

Breathe Sedona a Huge Success

Friday, September 16th, was a special day in Sedona. Over 50 people came to the Sedona Creative Life Center and experienced a free day of Shamanic Breathwork TM facilitated by Linda Star Wolf and Brad Collins, founders of the Venus Rising Association for Transformation. They were assisted by a team of Certified Shamanic Breathwork Facilitators and Shamanic Ministers who have been studying with them for the past year.

Star Wolf began the day with an inspiring talk about the importance of stepping into our power and transforming ourselves by connecting to our future-selves. Her new book called, Visionary Shamanism will be released in November and can be pre-ordered on Amazon. She then shared an overview of the day- which consisted of Shamanic Breathwork in the morning, followed by the Shakti Art Process. Then a healthy lunch donated by Pita Fresh, Dahl and DiLucca and Simply Dahlicious Catering.

We gathered in the afternoon and honored the sponsors of the event: John of God Casa, Peace Place, John Livingston, Kristin McGary, Inner Space, Nutrition with Jane, Christine Ryan-Schmierer, Sedona Intuitive Astrology, W. Interiors and Your Heart's Home Retreat.

We then proceeded with the afternoon SBW followed by the Shakti Art Process. After completing the second round we broke into 12 small process groups. Each group was led by an experienced facilitator who supported each person as they shared their SBW experience and art with the group.

Before closing we came together in as a large group and people shared. They described their process as powerful, healing, transformational, life-changing, safe, loving and awesome. There were several comments about how much gratitude people felt for this free event and for all who made it possible.

The planning committee, who are all Shamanic Breathwork Facilitators, were acknowledged for their hard work. They include: Crystal Dawn Morris,John Livingston, Meredith Davis, John Berry Deakyne, Tracy Roman, Dean Taraborelli and Kelley Alexander.

We ended the day by holding hands and singing a song. What a wonderful day of healing and celebration!

Find a Shamanic Breathwork Facilitator

Love, Heart Break and Dealing with Cancer

About my Mother

At the moment I am immersed in caring for my mother, Freda. She is dying of primary brain cancer. I took her to the ER in May for confusion and lethargy and she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She had surgery a few days later and we learned it was a very aggressive form of cancer. She was discharge from the hospital to my house and I have been caring for her ever since.

My mother improved after surgery. She made the choice to not to have radiation or chemo. Treatment would only give her a few months and would have a negative effect on her quality of life. She declared she had lived a good life and wanted to die consciously. She has been interested in Consciousness since the 1960’s.

I introduced her to the Buddhist practice of Phowa , which I was initiated into in May 2006. It is the practice of learning how to live and die consciously. Phowa was created by the Amitabha Buddha. The Buddhist Stupa near my house is dedicated to the Amitabha Buddha and I have developed a deep connection to him since moving to Sedona. I t makes sense now that part of my reason for moving here was to prepare myself for helping my mother cross over.

Almost immediately after getting out of the hospital, my mother began saying her goodbyes to her friends and family. She meditated twice daily. She had a couple of presentations she wanted to do for the local Ken Wilber group she was in. She arranged to do the presentations and they were well received. She kept a journal and considered writing her third book.

In July, about a month after her surgery, I took my to Washington state to visit her oldest-best friend. She spent a week with her. I then took her on a trip around the Olympic Peninsula. We had a great time. She was able to enjoy the sights and even hike a bit. She said it was the first time she took a trip just for fun. The last vacation I had taken with her was more than 40 years ago. I am so grateful I took the time to be with her while she still was relatively healthy.

After we returned to Sedona my sons came to visit. My younger son, Josh was the last person on her list of people she needed to tell goodbye. Eli, my older son, had come to see her with his family shortly after she came home from the hospital. Within days, after they left that she began a gradual decline. In August, my brother and his wife came to visit and care for Mom. I took the opportunity to go back east for 2 weeks to visit my grandson, Zev, in Atlanta and attend a conference in North Carolina. During the time I was gone, I realized how much of my energy was being used to support my mother’s process. It was good for me to have some time on my own.

While I was away, she had a drastic decline, becoming more confused and unable to get out of bed on her own. Since my return August 16th she continues to slip away. She is now bedridden and incontinent. She converses very little but responds occasionally. The good news is she is without pain and is mostly at peace. She likes to listen to relaxing music and talks by Adyashanti, Gangaji and Ekhart Tolle.

This experience has been incredibly humbling for me. It is much harder than I imagined it would be. Watching my mother slowly pass into the formless realm is at times heart breaking. What I know as her, is dissolving a little bit each day. Still, her body still eats, sleeps and breathes. Love and sadness dance in my heart as I sit by her bed and send her blessings.

Shamanic Breathwork TM / SHIP in Sedona

SHIP stands for Shamanic Healing Initiatory Process. Join me September 9 – 15, 2011 at The Sanctuary at Sedona,in Cornville, Arizona. This week will be focused on the Inner Beloved and Life Purpose. An application is required. To apply for this accelerated transformation and training program contact Venus Rising at: venusrising@shamanicbreathwork.org or call 828-631-2305. For lodging information contact Dean or Kelly at (928)639-1300 or (928)639-1300.

I just returned from a week at Isis Cove in North Carolina where Venus Rising is headquartered. I attended the first Shamanic Ministers Conference and a 5-day advanced training in Shamanic Breathwork™. As some of you know my mother has been living with me since she was diagnosed with brain cancer in May 2011. She is now getting close to crossing over. The Shamanic Breathwork I did while I was there and the powerful processing afterwards has helped me heal issues that needed to be resolved so I could come home and be fully open, present and unconditionally loving to my mother in her final few weeks on Earth.

I am truly grateful to Star Wolf and Brad Collins for bringing this accelerated program to Sedona. Each time we have gathered I have been blown away by the magic of the work and the wisdom of these two teachers. I became certified in facilitating the Shamanic Breathwork process in March and love watching how this process helps people to heal and transform so quickly.

Whether you are interested in becoming a Shamanic Breathwork ™ Facilitator, being ordained as a Shamanic Minister or for your own healing and awakening I hope you will consider joining me in Sedona for this powerful week. The Venus Rising Shamanic Breathwork™ Accelerated Transformation and Training Program is designed to meet the needs of students who know they are on the fast track of transformation and change.

Cracking Open My Heart

My mother’s brain cancer seems to be progressing rapidly since we returned from our trip to Washington State. I took her to Washington to see her oldest friend. They had a wonderful visit. I then picked her up and took her on a trip around the Olympic Peninsula for a few days. I hadn’t been on a vacation with my mother since I was 14 and we backpacked into Big Sur on the California Coast. We had a great time being in nature and seeing the incredible beauty of the mountains, lakes, rain forest, lavender farms and beaches there. My mom was in good spirits and enjoyed herself.

Since returning to Sedona she has begun to decline. She is less engaged with the world and rarely wants to leave her room. She has developed a great love for Coffee Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream and potato chips which she eats while listen to CDs of Ekhart Tolle and Adyashanti. She still has a good appetite and for the most part eats healthfully.

I find myself walking the line between giving her what she wants and encouraging her to do what I think is good for her. My good friend, Jim, mentioned to her a few days ago that he has an electric key board and that he could bring it over and teach her to play the piano. She was excited by the idea. So yesterday, we took her up to his place in Oak Creek Canyon and got the key board. Last night, she began her first lesson. It was great to see her interested in learning something new.

Lately, I have become aware of the amount of stress I am dealing with in this situation. Watching her life force energy stating to wane has been a challenge. This morning I was listening to Adyashanti talk about the difference between courage and fearlessness. Courage is doing something in the face of fear. I have been practicing courage and it is exhausting work. Now, I am ready to face my fear and surrender fully into each moment. Fearlessness is just allowing everything to be as it is without wanting or needing to change it.

I feel deep gratitude for this opportunity to be with my mother as she approaches her transformation from being in form to being formless. It is allowing me to see where I hold on, where I contract and where I resist. She is at peace and enjoying each moment. Watching her, caring for her and loving her is a wonderful gift that is cracking open my heart in a new way.
Copyright 2011 Crystal Dawn Morris

Breathe America, Breathe Sedona, September 16

A FREE day of Shamanic Breathwork™ with Linda Star Wolf, Brad Collins and a host of other certified SBW facilitators including myself.

Sedona Creative Life Center
333 Schnebly Hill Road Sedona, AZ 86336-4227
Friday, September 16 ~ 9:45am – 6 pm

Shamanic Breathwork™ is safe, yet powerful tool that uses the
transformative power of the breath and trance music to:

• Deepen your SPIRITUAL CONNECTION
• Awaken your PASSION
• Unleash your LIFE FORCE ENERGY
• Reclaim your POWER
• Get clarity about your SACRED PURPOSE

This free event is a full day of Shamanic Breathwork™ for the purpose of personal and global healing and transformation. The day will be facilitated by author Linda Star Wolf who developed the Shamanic BreathworkTM process- a synthesis of ancient shamanic healing modalities and modern psychological principles. Star Wolf has written several books, including Shamanic Breathwork – Journeying Beyond the Limits of the Self and her soon to be released book Visionary Shamanism: Activating the Imaginal Cells of Human Energy Field, which is being released December 2011. She and husband Brad Collins are the co-founders of the Venus Rising Association for Transformation, which is located in the mountains of western North Carolina at the Isis Cove Retreat Center. Here, a variety of workshops, trainings and healing services are offered.

The Breathe America, Breathe Sedona event is a unique opportunity to explore this unique breathwork process and experience a variety of healing practices offered by experienced shamanic practitioners. This event is open to the public. While free, donations to cover costs are appreciated. Those interested can pre-register by sending a request to breathesedona@gmail.com. You will receive a registration form and follow-up information on what to bring.

“I am really excited about offering Breathe America at the Sedona Creative Life Center. I have been a shamanic practitioner since 1995. The first time I experienced Shamanic Breathwork™, I was blown away by the power of this process to support deep transformation. I believe events like this can help people heal themselves and the world.”

Space is LIMITED. You MUST pre-register to attend.

To Register: email: breathesedona@gmail.com or call 928-282-5483

Workshop hours: 9:45 am – 6 pm. You must commit to the full day.
Location: Sedona Creative Life Center, 333 Schnebly Hill Road Sedona, AZ 86336
Bring: a comforter, light blanket, pillow, lunch, snack and a bottle of water.

To learn more please visit: www.shamanicbreathwork.org

Conscious Dying

A few days ago I was meditating with my mother. She was seating with her back to me. I sat and focused on my breath. All thoughts disappeared and deep peace filled me. I dissolved into Emptiness. “Emptiness,” with no up or down, no forward or back, no left or right, empty of form and yet full of Consciousness.

I opened my eyes and looked at my mother’s back. i felt incredible gratitude and appreciation for her being in my life at this powerful time. I closed my eyes and once again there was only Emptiness. I recognized that Emptiness doesn’t feel emotions. Only a human form can feel the love of a daughter for her mother. I became aware of my body’s desire to move, then thoughts came and went. I recognized that Emptiness and form are One, co-existing as this apparent me, called Crystal Dawn. I saw that life is a meditation. Every inhalation is an opportunity to awaken to the now. Every exhalation is an opportunity to surrender the past. As both Emptiness and form I was free.

My mother, Freda, was diagnosed with brain cancer on May 12th while having during brain surgery. The brain tumor had only been discovered two days earlier when I took her to the ER because she was confused and lethargic. During her week in the hospital, I spent many hours on the internet researching primary brain cancer and glioblastoma multiforma, which is the type of cancer she has. Friends and family helped in learning about possible treatments, both medical and non-medical. There is no cure for this type of cancer and the prognosis is poor.

On May 18th Freda was discharged from the hospital and moved in with me. It was the first time we had lived together in 40 years. Post surgery she became clear-headed once again. Our family came together and talked about the various treatments. Mom was clear that she did not want radiation or chemo. She wanted to die consciously and really be present throughout the experience. She felt all she needed was to eat healthy, meditate several times a day and avoid unnecessary stress.

At 78, she trusts life. She has been amazingly healthy. On entering the hospital I had to explain that she was taking no medications and her last hospitalization was in 1958 when she gave birth to my brother. It is an inspiration the grace that natural surrounds her as she goes about her life. She is surprisingly relaxed and happy. She reads and is creating a journal about her experiences. She is writing a novel based on a short story she wrote several years ago. Friends and family come to visit.
The first couple of weeks after she moved in I felt called to prepare myself to support my mother in dying consciously. I reread the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying and reviewed the Buddhist practice of Phowa , Conscious Dying, that I was initiated into in May 2006.

Knowing that she may be only a few months left to live has made it easy to set aside the business I often get lost in. I have a new appreciation for each moment we share. Being with her at this time of transition is teaching me to slow down and revaluate my life.

The past few weeks are teaching me that birth, death and rebirth are always unfolding. I commonly call it “change.” Change may appear exciting, like a trip to Hawaii or scary, such as being laid off from work. When it is exciting I am attracted to it and want more. When it is scary, I contract. I want to deny, blame or resist what is happening. I find myself saying, “This is not my life.” Resistance causes me to suffering. Another word for resistance is control. Most of my life, I have believed that if I take charge and stay in control, I’ll be safe and keep my loved one’s safe as well. Of course this is just a belief. Control is an illusion.

Over the past few days I’ve been noticing when I resist what is. I can clearly see how my ego wants to be in control, to get “my way.” The ego, the ‘’I,” is the cause of the suffering. When I stop and let go of “I’ and recognize the Emptiness that is my true nature, there is no resistance, no fear, no need to change what is. There is peace, joy and love. My intention is to just stay present and empty and let everything be as it is.

Copyright 2011 Crystal Dawn Morris

The I AM Meditation

The words “I AM” are often used to express who or what we really are. Many teachers including; Osho, Gurdjieff and Ouspensky have suggested using these words in meditation to explore Truth.

Try this: Focus your attention in the body. Say aloud the words “I AM.” Notice if you feel a vibration/sensation in the body as you say these words. Where in the body do you feel the vibrations/sensations, in the solar plexus, the head, the chest, or the belly? As you repeat these two words what arises? Try saying them with full awareness for 3-5 minutes and see what you discover. Do this practice 3 times/daily for a week. After a week write down your discoveries. What does “I AM” really mean? How does it relate to Truth? Let me know what you discover.

Shamanic Breathwork™ Accelerated Program in Sedona

I met Star Wolf and Brad Collins in May of 2009. After my first Shamanic Breathwork™ I recognized that it was a process that combined shamanism and tantra to awaken and consciously create a better world. I invited them to teach an accelerated version of their SHIP program in Sedona. This program began last September and each time we have gathered I have been blown away by the magic of the work and the wisdom of these two teachers. I am looking forward to Friday June 3, 2011 as we meet for the 4th time. Our final gathering will be in September of 2011. Whether you are interested in becoming a Shamanic Breathwork ™ Facilitator, being ordinated as a Shamanic Minister or for your own healing and awakening I hope you will consider joining us here in Sedona or at one of their other trainings at Isis Cove or elsewhere.

The Venus Rising Shamanic Breathwork™ Accelerated Transformation and Training Program is designed to meet the needs of students who know they are on the fast track of transformation and change. This program serves several functions: certification as a Shamanic Breathwork ™ Facilitator, ordination as a Shamanic Minister thru the Shamanic Ministers’ Global Network, and deep personal healing and transformation. The next trainings in Sedona are:

* June 3 – 9, 2011
* September 9 – 15, 2011

Students who attend all five 7-day training sessions will be certified as Shamanic Breathwork™ Facilitators and ordained as Shamanic Ministers. If you cannot attend all sessions we will work with you to complete your training either with future training sessions in Sedona or by attending programs at Isis Cove in North Carolina.

An application is required. To apply for this accelerated transformation and training program contact Venus Rising at: venusrising@shamanicbreathwork.org or call 828-631-2305.

The Sedona Shamanic Breathwork™ Facilitator Certification will be held at The Sanctuary at Sedona, Sedona, Arizona. For lodging information contact Dean or Kelly at (928)639-1300 or (928)639-1300.

The Shamanic Breathwork Experience in Sedona

The Shamanic Breathwork™ Experience
July 9, 2011 10AM – 6 PM
Cost $120 per person
Peace Place-Reiki Center of Sedona, 355 Jordan Road, Sedona, AZ 86336

Register by Phone Lisa at 928-204-1216, or email Laurelle at infinitelight dot com

Shamanic Breathwork™is a powerful healing process that takes you on a journey through the chakras, activating your Inner Shaman. In the process you release what no longer serves you and are aligned with your True Self. When we breathe with clarity, consciousness and clear intention we recognize that Life is Sacred, rebirthing ourselves and our planet into a new paradigm of Love and Freedom!

Bring an open heart, a journal, a water bottle, your lunch, and a pillow and blanket. Wear comfortable clothes that you can move in.

Crystal Dawn Morris is a Certified Shamanic Breathwork™ Facilitator.

Crystal Dawn Morris has had a shamanic healing practice since 1995. She trained with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies and with numerous indigenous teachers. She draws on a diverse background - as an ordained minister, Certified Nurse-Midwife, Reiki Master, and Tantra Teacher. Contact: call 928-282-5483, www.TantraforAwakening.org

John Livingston, M.A., is a trained therapist and shamanic healer and teacher with advanced training from core and indigenous shamans since the mid-1990s. His MA degree is in psychological counseling from Chapman University. Contact: 928-203-4096 or www.john-livingston.com

The Full Body Orgasm and Beyond Workshop

Saturday, May 21 – Sunday May 22, 2011
Discover the Magic of SkyDancing Tantra
Awakening the Ecstatic Body: The Full Body Orgasm and Beyond
Sedona, AZ

◦Open Your “Inner Channel of Love”
◦Learn the 3 Steps for the Ecstatic Response
◦Explore Sexual Magic as a Tool for Abundance
◦Experience a Juicy Transformative Tantric Ritual

In this experiential weekend workshop you will learn how to awaken bliss in every cell of your being and you will experience a full body orgasm outside a sexual context. You will leave this weekend feeling more alive and with a tool kit for creating bliss in your life and relationships. This event is open to individuals and couples. There is no nudity in this class.

$275 per person / $500 per couple Pre-registration required, please include your phone number.

To Register email Crystal at TantraforAwakening.com or call 928-282-5483
www.TantraforAwakening.com

Tantra Teacher Training in Sedona May 20-26, 2011

THE ART AND BUSINESS OF TEACHING TANTRA

Certifying the Next Generation of Tantra Teachers

This comprehensive training offers a unique blend of knowledge from a number of Tantra and wisdom traditions. It has a flexible structure- join at any time, complete in any order, take all 3 modules to be certified.

Creating successful Tantra teachers and coaches by providing:
◦ A unique “Mentoring for Success” program
◦Skills to sensitively navigate private coaching sessions
◦Actual workshop experience as both student and teacher
◦The skills to create your own Tantra workshops and events
◦A healthy working relationship with your Inner Master Teacher
◦Guidance for creating the vision, look and feel of your business
◦Marketing ideas to generate income as a Tantra teacher

Taught in three one-week modules this comprehensive training includes training materials, 9 conferences calls and the Awakening the Ecstatic Body weekends. The course is limited to 16 people, insuring individual attention. Between modules, you will be required to teach and implement the information covered.

After completing this training you will:
1. Be able to teach evening, one-day and two-day Tantra events.
2. Coach individuals and couples.
3. Know 4 ways to grow your Tantra community.
4. Begin writing a blog that can attract new students and clients.
5. Learn 3 ways your website can generate income.
6. Receive phone and email support to help you succeed as a Tantra Teacher.
7. Have a vision of how you will successfully teach Tantra in your community.

Cost $4500 or $1500 per module. Payment plans are available.

Email Crystal@tantraforawakening.com
Call: 928-282-5483 Cell: 928-862-0762

” If you want to master something, teach it.” Yogi Bhajan

Friday, May 20 – Thursday May 26
The Art and Business of Teaching Tantra
Sedona, AZ

Module 2- Building Skills and Community

• Attend Awakening the Ecstatic Body: Full Body Orgasm and Beyond
• Teach the practices covered in the weekend workshop.
• Do a self assessment using a Life Wheel.
• Begin to define your niche and create your brand.
• Create your WordPress blog or continue to build your online presence.
• Build your email list and growing your Tantra community.
• Learn the importance of audio and video in your marketing

Following the weekend, we will examine the content, dynamics and flow of the workshop. Informed by this knowledge, you will teach your peers the material covered in the weekend. Within a supportive environment you will evaluate your presentation skills. Between modules you will be required to teach and implement the information covered.Certification will be granted to those who have completed all modules and requirements successfully.

Pre-registration required, please include your phone number. To Register Click Here Cost $1500

Tantra and Ultimate Unification

ULTIMATE UNIFICATION
Article by Ma Ananda Sarita PhD, published in Kindred Spirit, Issue 93, July/Aug 2008. Sarita is author of two books, Divine Sexuality and Tantric Love, translated into many languages throughout the world.

In her work as a teacher of Tantra, Mahasatvaa Ma Ananda Sarita PhD is often asked, ‘What is Tantra?’ The mass media and subsequently the collective mind imagines this life approach to be all about six-hour sex, better orgasms, orgies, and more. In fact, it is a refined path to enlightenment which uses all facets of the human being as springboards into the vast sea of consciousness.

Perhaps the Western mind has become fixated on the sexual dimension of Tantra simply because we have undergone 2,000 years of sexual repression. Certain influential individuals created a spiritual world view which repressed women and consequently diminished our potential of having direct access to the divine through sexual ecstasy.

Tertullian, one of the founding fathers of orthodox Christianity, said: ‘Women are the gate by which the demon enters.’ Tantra is not fixated on sex but simply accepts and honors it as our primordial energy.

My beloved Master Osho wrote a book called From Sex to Superconsciousness. That title sums up in a nutshell the Tantra approach to life. Tantra methods offer a milieu in which an alchemical process is instigated through the union of opposite polarities. When the alchemy of union reaches a certain exquisite refinement, there is a sudden awakening into oneness with the whole. The fragrance of such experience is innocence and playfulness.

Abundance of Unity
Practitioners of the Tantric arts have been described as walking on air, because they tread so lightly and joyously through life, with hearts, minds and consciousness wide open to all that is. In Tantra, there is true choice-less awareness. Sex and spirit are considered as one. Light and dark are equally revered. Life and death are both fuel for Samadhi.

The path of love and devotion (primarily a feminine approach) and the path of witnessing and meditation (primarily a male approach) are embraced equally, with sensitive intelligence. Volumes have been written on Tantra, but it can truly be understood only by those who are willing to dive into the practice of Tantra techniques.

Each Tantra meditation method opens a door into enlightened consciousness, using many different facets of human experience. The methods are traditionally passed on as a living transmission from teacher to student. The teacher creates a potent atmosphere for a student to be able to extract the nectar from a meditation technique through the deeply lived experience of it.

Divine Spark
It is said in Tantra scriptures that each cell of the body contains the whole universe; the microcosm is the macrocosm. If we penetrate even deeper into this analogy, we can observe that our whole phenomenal world is created through opposite polarities in a constant dance together. As a song from the radio of my childhood says, ‘let me tell you bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees, and the stars up above, and a thing called love.’ Seduction, sex and love as well as cognitive manifestations are all ‘God in action’.

By studying our own bodies and reproductive actions as the microcosm, we may surmise that the ‘big bang’ was not so much a ‘bang’ as a great orgasm! (Perhaps scientists are aware of this but just don’t have the courage to say it). In order to play with the alchemical union of opposites, it is helpful to become fully empowered in our opposite polarities. When a polarity is fully charged in its unique qualities, there is magnetic attraction towards its opposite. Women need to understand and resonate in the polarity of the feminine, and men need to understand and resonate in the polarity of the masculine. When these two elements meet, it’s electric!

Lingam and Yoni: Sacred Symbols of Cosmic Unity
In Shiva temples throughout India, which is the place where Tantra developed many thousands of years ago, we find beautifully sculpted images of the male phallus sitting within the female vagina. The male phallus is called lingam, meaning ‘wand of light’ and the female genitalia is referred to as yoni, meaning, ‘sacred place’.
The ancient sages from pre-Aryan history discovered a great secret: God is to be found in the harmonious union of our male and female genitals. ‘Universal energy, the substance of the world, is represented by the Yoni which grasps the Lingam. It is only when the phallus, the giver of semen, is surrounded by the yoni that God can manifest and the universe appear.’ (from Karpatri, a Sanskrit scripture, translated by Alain Danielou)

Some people may find this shocking, since as a culture we still carry a hangover from Catholic and Victorian anti-sexual morality in our mental and physical conditioning. But just imagine for a moment a whole society which envisions sex as bringing us into oneness with God. Such a society would naturally regard all of life as sacred. Rape of people or the environment would be impossible for such people.

Restoring Balance
Now, let us consider the immense phallic symbols which are present in many cities of developed countries, large pillars, proclaiming the masculine as the dominant force throughout the world. These edifices are sadly lacking a feminine yoni of equal proportions to sit within.

Even if we just change this one highly visible outward symbol of imbalance, transforming it into a lingam within a yoni rather than a large phallus standing alone, our society will change dramatically. Symbols, particularly sculpted ones, contain potent messages which affect our subconscious orientation.
The masculine principle is charged with testosterone, a hormone which gives rise to the urge for action, adventure, aggression, creativity, competition, hierarchy, clear structures, protection of the feminine and goal-oriented sexuality.
If the male attributes are not balanced with the female progesterone dominant qualities of love, devotion, nurturing, nesting and compassion, then we will have a world of testosterone running amok, which is the case.

To bring these two polarities together we need to find intelligent ways of accepting and honoring both. Let us start by understanding something very basic – how woman’s and man’s temperaments and sexuality function.

Feminine Abundance
The nature of woman is yin, receptive, cool, resting, flowing, yielding, soft, dark, and mysterious. She is in essence the womb of the universe, from which all emerges and to which everything returns. She is loving, compassionate, nurturing. She is tremendously powerful in the same way a river or an ocean is powerful. Water yields, and yet it can wear away rock. She is juicy, like a ripe fruit.
Her sexuality is triggered through love and sensual play which she may like to continue for hours. In general, a woman takes 20 minutes to reach full sexual arousal. Once aroused, she can have multiple and full body orgasms. After orgasm, she remains at peak arousal for another 20 minutes. When she is satiated, her love and devotion knows no boundaries.

Many women are not aware of their beautiful, powerful qualities and try to emulate the masculine, thinking this will fulfill them. However, it only makes them confused and resentful.

The places in a woman’s body which can best serve her in getting in touch with feminine power are: belly (second chakra) representing emotional fluidity, sensuality, birth and death; breasts, (fourth chakra) representing love, nurturing, compassion; and forehead (sixth chakra) representing clairvoyance and intuition.
In sexual union, in meditation and in daily life, if the woman can be touched in these areas, or can focus on these areas, her capacity for orgasm, for abundance and for feeling at home within herself will be greatly enhanced.

Male Reverence
The nature of man is yang, hot, active, hard, strong, outgoing and target oriented. He is in essence the ‘protector’ of the feminine. He is so powerful that in one ejaculation he offers enough sperm to populate half the planet! When he gives of his essence he gives his very life and is therefore also quite vulnerable.
Balancing power and vulnerability is the lesson each man needs to learn. In biological terms, which also affects his psyche, his role is to plant the seed (not a genetically modified one!) and to then protect the delicate seedling carried within the vessel of the woman till it reaches maturity.

His sexuality is triggered through visual and cognitive stimulation which creates an immediate response in his sex centre. A man can arrive to full arousal in a matter of three minutes (though some men have discovered how to prolong their pleasure for hours). Once he is at peak arousal and ejaculates, he experiences a great loss of vital energy and needs to rest and recuperate before further arousal.
When a man feels truly honoured and received by his beloved, he connects with his deep instinctual desire to revere and protect her as well as to reveal his vulnerability and tenderness with her.

His full potential is realized when he is able to become the custodian and protector not only of his woman but of the family, the community and ultimately, our mother earth. Many men are not aware of how to contact and live their full vibrant potential. Men of our days tend to vacillate between being over-dominant and emotionally cut off , or being timid and unsure of their role.

The Key of Being a Real Man
Chintan Norbert Bila, my co-teacher in Tantra, says, “The patriarchal foundation of our society for the last few thousand years has given rise to male supremacy. However, with the recent rise in women’s liberation man is now in mutation, and even in the process of losing his sense of identity.
Men get into stress, trying to juggle power and vulnerability. His contradictory nature has a tendency to nurture frustration and destructiveness. He reaches a point of no return, where he needs a catharsis as an outlet for the steam of his internal pressure cooker.

This masculine tendency is what gives rise to war, power politics, highly competitive forms of business, or competitive sports. Luckily, nature offers a rainbow bridge between his contradictory qualities.
The bridge of transformation for men is a sense of humour and playfulness, leading to detachment and relaxation. These qualities engulf and transcend the social and rational games of society.

In the Indian tradition, this playful approach to life is called Leela, the ‘divine play’ or ‘God’s play’. Testosterone needs to be expressed, but it can have other outlets besides conflictual competition. If a man orientates himself around the worldview of a society based on conqueror and conquered then he will live within the law of the jungle, the struggle for the survival of the fittest in a competitive environment.

If he integrates a vision of himself and the world which is larger and more fluid, the possibility for expression becomes multidimensional. He can be a clown, a lover, a practitioner of martial arts, an artist, a child, a king, and a sage all at once. The multifaceted aspects of his nature can come together in a spiral dance, making him vast enough to contain all the contradictions of life.
In Tantra, women function as the initiatress of the man. He surrenders himself before the power and grace of the maternal feminine. He lets go of his ego which was built around a jungle based mentality. This permits him to be reborn with the joyful innocence of his inner child intact.

He discovers renewal of life with a strength which bubbles up naturally, without effort. This time, he is deeper and more authentic. His heart shines forth, his consciousness is vaster, his eyes are open to both seen and unseen worlds, and his creative masculine role is radiantly apparent.”

Secrets for Masculine Fulfillment
The places in a man’s body which can best serve him to get in touch with his fulfillment in sexuality, creativity and spirituality are: the sex centre (first chakra) representing survival, sexuality, animal instinct; the solar plexus (third chakra) representing the meeting of all contradictions and the expression of one’s individual soul calling; and the throat (fifth chakra) representing creative expression, becoming the master of your own destiny.

If a man can be touched and honored in these areas, can accept his animal nature and apply the creativity of the fifth chakra to it, and can unlock the koan of the meeting of power and vulnerability posed by the third chakra, he is well on his way to becoming a god.

Yin and Yang Sex
The male and female chakra systems fit together like lock and key. The chakras where the male energy is empowered, are where the woman is receptive, and the chakras where the woman is empowered, the man is receptive. We can become adept at making love through the whole chakra system, realizing a full spectrum of ecstatic potential.

In such union, we are catapulted into a space beyond duality, expressed through the crown chakra. When we apply the refined intelligence of Tantra methods to opposite polarities in life, learning to surf the waves of yin and yang inherent in our bodies and all of nature, we are gifted with illimitable bliss. A woman who is flowing in her yin power will become an initiatress on the Tantra path.
A man who is comfortable in his yang energy will become a master lover who carries the power of god in his magic ‘wand of light’. Each one regenerates the other in an infinite circle of conscious love. A simple secret for ultimate sexual fulfillment is to give equal space to yin and yang energies during love union.

The Mud and the Lotus
In Tantra, there is a potent symbolism which is used to illustrate the spiritual path. A beautiful lotus floats on the surface of the water.
Its roots arise from the rich mud at the bottom of the lake. The lotus represents spirit and the mud represents sexuality. It is said, ‘no mud, no lotus’. By accepting these polarities and really exploring them (not just thinking about it!), we are transformed.

In my Tantra groups, I have found that the deeper we can go into conscious and loving exploration of our instinctual sexuality, the higher we fly into spiritual awakening. And the more we can enhance the polarities of male and female aspects, the deeper the ecstasy which arises from such a union.

Men and women learn how to truly honor, accept, love and balance each other. By embracing and exploring the ‘mud’ of our beings, we discover the lotus of love, and in the meeting of the opposite polarities of male and female, sex and spirit, we discover innocence. We come home.

The long pilgrimage away from ourselves towards an unknown god ceases, and we find a new dawn within ourselves. We are plugged into the infinity loop of the union of opposites. In Sanskrit, this is called Ardhanareshvara, the representation of God who is half male, half female.

Reprinted from the Osho World Online Newsletter May 2011
www.oshoworld.com

Conference on Sexuality and Consciousness

Conference on Sexuality and Consciousness
Planetary Synthesis: Ethics of Freedom and Love

10th Anniversary ISTA Conference of Sexuality & Consciousness
Sedona Apr 29 – May 1, 2011
At the Lodge at Cliff Castle

I hope you will join me at the Conference and attend my presentation called, Sexual Ethics and Community – Embracing Diversity. In it we will use the recent Facebook thread “Sacred Union: Ethics, Blocks and Boundaries,” posted on Baba Dez’s page, as a jumping off point to look at how sexual ethics can help us to embrace diversity as we create unity. We will engage in awareness, tools, and techniques that delve into key issues and new possibilities. We will explore how to hold a passionate viewpoint within a larger community and remain conscious of Oneness. This presentation is an opportunity to deepen presence, as you improve your ability to listen and communicate while holding multiple diverse perspectives. The Ethics Wisdom Circle will follow.

The Sedona Spring Conference is a gathering place for like-minded individuals, who know in their belly that an energetic shift is occurring on this planet. Join experts in their fields as they share their knowledge, learn new tools and synthesize the energies of sacred mind, sacred body, sacred spirit, sacred heart and sacred emotion. Synthesis goes beyond polarity and creates new opportunities to love and be free. Meet your next mate, seed your next project. You do not want to miss this special gathering bringing 10 years of sexuality consciousness to a new level.

Join ISTA Keynote Speaker Grand Master Mantak Chia, Lee Holden, Pamela Madsen, Baba Dez Nichols and over 30 speakers in a 3-day extravaganza that promises to awaken sexuality consciousness in a unique way.

Shamanic Breathwork Sessions in Sedona

Here I am posing with Brad Collins, Star Wolf and Sara Claire as I receive my Certificate as a Shamanic Breathwork Facilitator on March 23, 2011.

Shamanic Breathwork TM beautifully enhances and augments the Core Shamanic Healing work I have been offering since 1995. It also is a great compliment the practice of SkyDancing Tantra. I am excited to be offering this powerful healing process in Sedona. I also plan to offer it around the United states and Canada in the near future. If you are interested in bringing Shamanic Breathwork to your community please contact me for more information at 928-282-5483 or email crystal at tantraforawakening dot com Read more at www.TantraforAwakening.org

Shamanic Breathwork™ is a powerful healing process that reconnects participants with their own inner Shaman healer. Old wounds and dysfunctional patterns are released and transformed, individuals begin to reclaim lost soul parts and remember their true nature. They reclaim their wholeness as they heal themselves, their loved ones and the world at large from a quantum perspective.

This experiential process is guided by the wisdom of each individual's Inner Shamanic Healer. Each person's breath-journey is a unique and highly individual. People report shifts in consciousness ranging from states of bliss to releasing negativity and blocks from their psyche. An experience of being reborn is a common occurrence, as well as a life review. Old patterns of dysfunction may be brought to the surface and healed. Feelings such as grief, fear, rage and anxiety are often released. New insights and solutions to life challenges may occur.

As the Shamanic Breathwork Facilitator I hold a loving and supportive space and may offer healing support in the form of bodywork, energy work and Shamanic healing.

After the journey participants have an opportunity to express their experience through the "Shakti Art Process." Which involves creating a mandala or other piece of visual art to capture the essence of their experience on paper. They also may journal about their experience and also process it verbally.

Crystal Dawn Morris, began her shamanic healing practice in 1995. She trained with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies for 8 years and numerous indigenous teachers as well as her own spirit guides. She is now a Certified Shamanic Breathwork Practitioner, trained by Star Wolf and Brad Collins, the founders of The Venus Rising Institute. Crystal Dawn is also a Certified SkyDancing Tantra teacher and the founder of Tantra for Awakening. She draws on a diverse background of experience- as an ordained minister, Certified Nurse-Midwife, Reiki Master, and Spiritual Sexual Shamanic Practitioner. She has over 20 years experience as a healer and a teacher. Individual healing sessions can be booked with Crystal Dawn. Contact her at 928-282-5483, cell 928-862-0762. Learn more at www.TantraforAwakening.org

Erotic Poetry Night a Big Success

A Night of Ecstatic and Erotic Poetry
Honoring the Beloved
Saturday, April 2, 2011 7-9 pm
Hosted by ChocolaTree Organic Eatery
& Marketplace ~ in the Garden
1595 West Hwy 89A Sedona, AZ 86336 - (928) 282-2997

April is National Poetry month. In honor of it I was inspired to organize my first poetry event. I invited people to come and share their poems about love, pleasure and bliss. Poetry has the ability to impact people by touching their heart and soul. My desire was to create an intimate evening of ecstatic and erotic poetry where people could open, connect and celebrate.

Over 35 people attended and nine people shared their original poems about human love, spiritual love or the joys of sex. I was deeply touched by all the poetry I heard. Each poet shared something deep, unique and heartfelt. Some honored the Earth, others the complications and joys of love, the depth of spiritual awakening and a few the humor of being alive. It was powerful for me to read my own poems to the crowd and feel just how intimate it is to reveal your heart's longings and intimate moments of conscious connection. This event was also an opportunity to share with locals information about the upcoming 10th Anniversary Conference on Sexuality and Consciousness. Next time I hope to video the event and have it on YouTube. I also will take pictures next time as well.

The evening ended with a drawing for a Free Pass to the 10th Anniversary Conference on Sexuality and Consciousness, a $450 value. Learn more http://schooloftemplearts.org/2011sedonaconferenceofsexualityandconsciousness

I hope to offer this event again please contact me at 928-282-5483 or
Email Crystal at TantraForAwakening dot com if want to be a part of the next event.

Parenting for Social Change

This book was written by a woman I met at a Christmas Eve Brunch for Unschooling Mom's that I attended with my daughter-in-law. It contains a powerful message. If we want to live in a world that supports authenticity we have to begin parenting consciously.

Transform Childhood, Transform the World

Parenting for Social Change is about creating new paradigms for parenting that affirm the dignity and respect the rights of all children.

The parent-child relationship is the foundation from which we learn how to interact in the world. As children many of us had our experiences invalidated, our voices silenced, and our needs and wants trivialized by parents or other adults. We learned that the world was controlled by those who had more power. Though we may have experienced glimpses or moments of a different way of being in the world, often those were few and far between. The paradigm of control and domination by those who had power was our primary experience.

A commitment to social justice parenting asks that we examine the biases and prejudices we have been taught about children and childhood. Through honest self-examination of our internalized beliefs and beginning the process of unlearning adultism, we can create deeper, more respectful, authentic, and joyful relationships with the children who share our lives.

We can create a world in which children's voices and lived experiences have value and meaning in what has been adult-dominated world. Rather than seeing childhood as the training ground for a productive adult life, childhood and children can be valued in the here and now.

Social change parenting starts from within. Each of us with the willingness to move beyond the paradigms we were taught can create an amazing place for children (and adults!)in this world. There is not an end-point that results in perfect parenting or a perfect life, but rather an exciting process and journey of learning and growth! Please visit Teresa at her website http://www.parentingforsocialchange.com/
for more reviews, information, articles, ideas, etc.!!

Here is a review by an unschooling mom. See her full post at http://www.wanderwonderdiscover.com/

Parenting for Social Change by Teresa Graham Brett is a wonderful, thoughtful, and honest book for any parent who wants to change and transform their parenting from a place of control, to a place of respect and dignity. Teresa offers her experience, her insight, and her authentic self from her own journey from parental control to parental partnership. Her writing is informative, clear, and cites valuable research on how dominance damages children. She challenges us to question our own social views and how we may treat children as "adults-in-training", rather than human beings with their own right to expression, opinion, and choice. I see so much of myself in her stories and examples as a former authoritarian parent. But, I must say, societal messages are so pervasive, as are our messages from childhood, that even the most peaceful of parents would benefit from reading this book to re-examine the subtleties of conditional love. Here is one of my favorite paragraphs from her book, pg. 96:

"Let's be clear: our work as parents isn't about doing things differently so our children will change. It's not about finding the magic words or methods that will ensure compliance and eliminate disagreements. Instead, it's about examining ourselves so that we can see how our ways of being with children have been constrained by our previously held beliefs, values, and attitudes. We do this so that we can experience authentic relationships with the children we love so that they can live their own lives, free of our baggage."

5 Keys to Eye Gazing for Soulful Sex

Art at Mandalas.com
The eyes are the "windows to the soul." When we gaze deeply into the eyes of another person, we can see beyond their physical body and personality into their essence. The practice of eye gazing is an ancient practice found in both Hindu and Buddhist Tantra as well as in the Sufi tradition. This practice is considered to be a path to enlightenment. It is a wonderful way to connect at the soul level. It can to done with your beloved before and during sex.

Eye gazing is something you have probably done naturally, while gazing into the eyes of a newborn baby or when you first fell in love. Even when you are in a conversation and maintain eye contact, you are doing a less focused form of eye gazing. Eye gazing can be done as a one-on-one meditation with a friend or beloved. It can also be done solo by gazing into a mirror. You can integrate it into daily life by engaging people briefly, in passing, with the intent that when you meet their eyes you will see beyond their form, into their essence. Some of the benefits of this practice include: becoming more present, opening your heart and expanding your awareness of the Divine in all beings.

1) The Heart Salutation

You begin this practice by acknowledging the Divine in each other with a Heart Salutation. Sit across from your partner and look into their eyes. Maintaining eye contact throughout the rest of the process, begin by extending your arms towards the earth, palms together. Then, inhale and keeping your hands in prayer position, bring them to your heart. Exhale, as you bow forward and acknowledge the Divine in each other with the Sanskrit salutation "Namaste," which means "I honor the Divine in you as a reflection of the Divine within me." Inhale, as you straighten back up. Finally, exhale as you allow your hands to return to the starting position, pointed towards the earth.

2) The Bubble

Now, create a bubble around you and your partner. Do this by waving your arms around both of you defining the shape of the bubble that surrounds you. Then gesture, as if removing an object from your bubble and verbally say out loud what you are removing from the bubble. These are things that won't serve you in this practice (the past, distractions, anger, worry, etc.) Next, gesture and state what things you want to bring into the bubble. These are things that will enhance your connection (love, willingness, presence, trust etc.) At this point, you may want to offer an appreciation or blessing to the other person ("I honor your heart, which gives so much love to the world.") Creating the bubble helps to call you into present moment awareness and creates a safe space in which to practice the eye gazing meditation.

3) Share Your Desires, Fears and Boundaries

Once the bubble is created, share your intentions/desires, fears and boundaries related to this practice. First, one person speaks while the other person listens without judgment or commentary. Then you switch roles. Here is an example:

"I desire to stay present, open and connect deeply to your soul."

"My fear is that I will get self-conscious and will start acting silly."

"My boundary is to stay connected to you, even if resistance arises."

Why boundaries? When I teach this practice in my classes, people often have resistance to setting boundaries. I explain that boundaries are not walls, they are bridges. Bridges help bring people together. Intimacy happens when people have "healthy" boundaries. Healthy boundaries allow you to feel safe, stay open and be present. Boundaries are dynamic, so it is important to check-in periodically with yourself to see if your boundaries have changed. If they have changed, update your partner so they can honor your new boundaries. Here are a few examples:

"I need to end this practice by noon."

"I don't want to be touched during this meditation."

"I am committed to staying present in this practice. If I go into thinking, I will close my eyes for a moment and bring myself back into the practice."

4) Eye Gazing Practice

Once you have created the bubble and shared your desires, fears and boundaries, begin the eye gazing practice. Traditionally, it is recommended that you begin by gazing into left eye. This is because the left side of the body is considered to be the receptive side. Use a soft gaze. This is not a staring contest. It is ok to change eyes if and when you feel called too. Just relax, breathe and allow the experience to unfold. Notice what arises without judging it. Be open and curious, like a child.

You can do this practice for as long as you want. I suggest you begin with 2 to 5 minutes of eye gazing the first time you try it. Then close your eyes, go inside and reconnect internally for 1-2 minutes. When you are ready, open your eyes and begin again. Extend the time as you get more comfortable with the process. Doing this practice for an extended period of time can take you to new levels of connection. Set aside a time when you can practice for 45 to 60 minutes. Eye gazing is a great way to discover how open you are and to notice when resistance arises. If you feel resistance, allow it to be there. Feel it and see if you can allow it to melt away.

5) Share Your Insights

Afterward discuss your experience with your partner. How does it feel to be seen? How does it feel to look deeply into another person? Were you able to see beyond their body and personality? Did you notice their face changing form? Did you feel your heart open? This is a great practice for developing intimacy. It can be helpful to keep a journal of your experiences.

Eye gazing is a simple and powerful practice. It cuts though illusion and opens the door to Truth. When done regularly, it can transform your understanding of who you are. Even if this is the only Tantric practice you ever do, you could Awaken through it alone. I invite you to practice eye gazing with your friends as well as your lovers. When done before and during sex eye gazing can enhance your connection both sexually and spiritually, making love then becomes a powerful meditation.

Copyright 2011 Crystal Dawn Morris

5 Slogans for Waking Up

Machig Labdron was a 12th century Tantrica who told her teacher she wanted to wake up so she could help heal the suffering in the world. These were his instructions to her.

The 5 Slogans of Machig Labdron

1) Confess your hidden faults.
2) Approach what you find repulsive.
3) Help those you think you can not help.
4) Anything you are attached to, let it go.
5) Go to the places that scare you.

She later revealed the practice of Chod which is still practiced today by all 5 schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is a way to transform dis-ease and the shadow into an ally.

Pema Chodron - Five Slogans of Machig Labdron YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIeetlSjwvg&feature=related