Wow, what a wonderful group of open people! If you are looking to connect and create conscious community this group is for you. It felt safe, loving, and authentic. There was a mutual desire to celebrate life as a community.
We had our first meetup last night and it was fabulous. We began with dancing, connecting our breath, body and heart. We created a circle and shared about ourselves and our desires for a Tantra communinity. The consensus was to meet 2 times a month once informally for a potluck or outing and once for a more formal Tantra practice. I will be posting those dates soon. The last hour I lead the group in a pleasurable, heartful puja which ended with the group laying on the floor and listening to a Tibetan Bowl. We closed by offering blessings for those we know in need and offered gratitude for all we have. Thanks to everyone who participated.
Learn more about our meetup here: http://tantric.meetup.com/68/
Blessings,
Crystal Dawn
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Midwifery and Tantra
I just returned from California Monday night. I went out there to attend the 20 year reunion of my nurse-midwifery class. It was great to get together with my sister-midwives again. It felt so natural to be together, it was as if no time had past at all. We each told about our history as midwives over the past 20 years. I was the only one no longer attending births. Even though I am no longer working in the hospital as a Certified Nurse-Midwife, as a Tantra teacher, I am still a midwife. I help men and women give birth to the awareness that they are ecstatic beings connected to all-that-is. I help my students remember their true nature and support them in nourishing a life based on love and joy. Midwifery takes many forms and I am loving being a Tantric Midwife.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Presence = Better Demos and Deeper Experiences
Last weekend while teaching my Awakening the Ecstatic Body Level One workshop I noticed that consistently the participants were dropping more deeply into each process and being more open and vulnerable with each other. Even the students who had been in my classes before, noticed a qualitative difference and commented on it. As the weekend progressed, I began to ask what I was doing differently than in the past. As I reflected on this, what stood out to me was that I had changed the demos. In the past, I would often explain what I was doing as I was giving the demonstration. This kept me a bit detached from the process and I wasn't as open or vulnerable as I could be. There were several reasons for this,which I won't go into right now.
One thing that has changed, is that I have a new assistant, Jim Miller, who is my friend and lover. It is a pleasure working with a man who I am intimate with, and it adds a depth and power to the demos. Jim suggested it would more effective to do an actual demo and then do any explaining afterwards. I immediately noticed a difference in the quality of my presence after each demo. I allowed myself to be fully in the experience instead of being half participant and half teacher. I also saw that people were deeply touched by the vulnerability they felt watching us being so open-hearted. This in turn opened them up and allowed them to go for it when they were in the process. www.TantraForAwakening.com
One thing that has changed, is that I have a new assistant, Jim Miller, who is my friend and lover. It is a pleasure working with a man who I am intimate with, and it adds a depth and power to the demos. Jim suggested it would more effective to do an actual demo and then do any explaining afterwards. I immediately noticed a difference in the quality of my presence after each demo. I allowed myself to be fully in the experience instead of being half participant and half teacher. I also saw that people were deeply touched by the vulnerability they felt watching us being so open-hearted. This in turn opened them up and allowed them to go for it when they were in the process. www.TantraForAwakening.com
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tantra and Transformation
This past weekend I taught, Awakening the Ecstatic Body, Level One: Opening the Pathways of Bliss. I know that this workshop offers powerful SkyDancing Tantra tools for awakening. Still, I am surprised by how deeply people are effected by these processes. It is a gift for me to see, how much people can heal and be transformed in only a couple of days. http://www.tantraforawakening.com/workshops.html
This workshop was equally attended by students new to SkyDancing Tantra and experienced students, who had taken several of my workshops before. I enjoyed the chemistry of this mix of students, as they offered each other different perspectives on the weekend's events. New students see things fresh, while repeating students often drop into new levels of wisdom. I also enjoy the process of keeping the workshop fresh, by changing the contents, in such a way that there are surprises, even to those who have done it more than once.
Much of this workshop was focused on opening our hearts and speaking our truth. Giving voice to truth is a powerful tool for transformation. Each person took an issue that they needed clarity on and then allowed three different chakras to speak to them and offer their wisdom on the issue. This life changing process helps you find resolution problems that you are unable to resolve with the thinking mind.
Saturday evening was delightful. We created a sensory awakening ritual to open our pleasure-body. Activating touch, taste, smell and hearing while being blind-folded. Our senses are a doorway to expanding awareness, as we become more present, we open up to a greater awareness of our connection to all-that-is.
It is a joy to teach this path and I feel so blesssed to be sharing this with my students. I always learn so much myself in the process. One thing I learned about was the power of a really good demo....
This workshop was equally attended by students new to SkyDancing Tantra and experienced students, who had taken several of my workshops before. I enjoyed the chemistry of this mix of students, as they offered each other different perspectives on the weekend's events. New students see things fresh, while repeating students often drop into new levels of wisdom. I also enjoy the process of keeping the workshop fresh, by changing the contents, in such a way that there are surprises, even to those who have done it more than once.
Much of this workshop was focused on opening our hearts and speaking our truth. Giving voice to truth is a powerful tool for transformation. Each person took an issue that they needed clarity on and then allowed three different chakras to speak to them and offer their wisdom on the issue. This life changing process helps you find resolution problems that you are unable to resolve with the thinking mind.
Saturday evening was delightful. We created a sensory awakening ritual to open our pleasure-body. Activating touch, taste, smell and hearing while being blind-folded. Our senses are a doorway to expanding awareness, as we become more present, we open up to a greater awareness of our connection to all-that-is.
It is a joy to teach this path and I feel so blesssed to be sharing this with my students. I always learn so much myself in the process. One thing I learned about was the power of a really good demo....
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Awareness Resists Nothing
I read this quote by Adyashanti yesterday and it really touched me. In Tantra we express this same understanding, by saying Yes! to what is.
Last night I gave an free introduction to the weekend I am teaching called, Awakening the Ecstatic Body, 16 people came, many were new to Tantra. Over the course of the evening, it was wonderful to watch people let go and stop resisting the moment, allowing themselves to be seen. As the evening progressed I guided a ritual, called a puja, where we move around the circle looking into each other's eyes and acknowledging the divine in each other. I am always amazed at how this simple ritual tranforms people. By the end of the evening the room was full of sparkling energy and open hearts. www.TantraForAwakening.com
When we let go of resistance magic happens. I love teaching Tantra. It is such a gift to offer this path for awakening to others. The power of the work is so accessible and immediate. More to come...
Last night I gave an free introduction to the weekend I am teaching called, Awakening the Ecstatic Body, 16 people came, many were new to Tantra. Over the course of the evening, it was wonderful to watch people let go and stop resisting the moment, allowing themselves to be seen. As the evening progressed I guided a ritual, called a puja, where we move around the circle looking into each other's eyes and acknowledging the divine in each other. I am always amazed at how this simple ritual tranforms people. By the end of the evening the room was full of sparkling energy and open hearts. www.TantraForAwakening.com
When we let go of resistance magic happens. I love teaching Tantra. It is such a gift to offer this path for awakening to others. The power of the work is so accessible and immediate. More to come...
Monday, August 18, 2008
Tantra is Our Natural State of Awareness
Recently, I did a coaching session with someone new to Tantra. I was reminded that many people have the idea that Tantra is a philosophy or something you practice to have better sex or become more spiritual. I was under this impression myself at one time. What I know now and what I stress to my students, is that Tantra is not something we learn, it is simply, a remembering our true nature. Our true nature is the awareness that everything is woven together, connected, one field of consciousness and we are not separate from this consciousness, we are it. http://www.tantraforawakening.com/coaching.html
Tantra is an awareness that I am one with all that is. No matter that my thoughts want to convince me that I am alone and separate. I know this is an illusion. This is why I call my website Tantra For Awakening because each moment is an opportunity to awaken to the awareness that we are consciousness, in form, becoming aware of our true nature, not these separate egos, who think they are here to prove something.
In my SkyDancing Tantra workshops and coaching sessions I teach tools that allow you to easily tap into this awareness and make it apart of your daily life. Then Tantra is not a doing but a being. You are awareness living life, apparently separate and always connected. You are consciousness in form, having a human adventure. Living in this way is liberating and fun.
Tantra is an awareness that I am one with all that is. No matter that my thoughts want to convince me that I am alone and separate. I know this is an illusion. This is why I call my website Tantra For Awakening because each moment is an opportunity to awaken to the awareness that we are consciousness, in form, becoming aware of our true nature, not these separate egos, who think they are here to prove something.
In my SkyDancing Tantra workshops and coaching sessions I teach tools that allow you to easily tap into this awareness and make it apart of your daily life. Then Tantra is not a doing but a being. You are awareness living life, apparently separate and always connected. You are consciousness in form, having a human adventure. Living in this way is liberating and fun.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
New Look and Header
I just created this new look and header for my blog. I went to the Help section and found the Header topic and followed it to a how-to video. In the past I have been intimidated by this stuff, but the how-to video was easy to follow and I created the header in about 30 minutes. Then I found a template on the layout page that looked good with the new header.
I am surprised to find that this blog is becoming a meditation for me. In the past it could easily have felt like work. Instead it feels like a blessing. Last night I was listening to Adyashanti and he said,"This is It !" Meaning, Now is all there is. Now is not a problem. It just is, as It is and we are not sepate from what is arising. It is a relief to let go of life being a series of problems to be solved. I find I am relaxing into each moment more easily and it feels so good.
I am surprised to find that this blog is becoming a meditation for me. In the past it could easily have felt like work. Instead it feels like a blessing. Last night I was listening to Adyashanti and he said,"This is It !" Meaning, Now is all there is. Now is not a problem. It just is, as It is and we are not sepate from what is arising. It is a relief to let go of life being a series of problems to be solved. I find I am relaxing into each moment more easily and it feels so good.
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