Connecting with your Divine Feminine

Art work by Arna Baartz http://arnabaartz.com/

Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:30pm

A weekly class for women where we will exercise our bodies and spirits using meditation techniques and yoga as well as practicing different types of healing. The goal is to connect us with the divine feminine.

*Ellen Weissbuch, who will be leading the sessions, has been empowering women's spirituality, personal growth, and holistic living through ritual, movement, meditation, and healing arts for nearly 30 years.

Ellen is certified as a Kundalini Yoga teacher and Sat Nam Rasayan practioner, Somatic Respiratory Integration facilitator and women's circle facilitator. She has also taught middle-eastern dance and is the owner and creator of Elenware Holy Sheramics, a hand-crafted pottery and jewelry business.

When she is not in the pottery studio, or working with clients, Ellen also works in schools and after school programs supporting the natural wisdom of children and helping sustain their transformative values and ideas into adulthood.

Her ultimate vision is the integration of authenticity and consciousness in daily life, to create a future where women have a powerful voice and presence.

Recommended donation 10 euro.

Place: C/ Escoles Pies, 17, 2-1, Sitges (the narrow glass door/la puerta estrecha de cristal)

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For the 9th year, I attended the Kundalini Yoga Festival in France. This international event takes place in the beautiful countryside. It was such a blessing to walk on earth (instead of paved roads) for the 8 days of the festival.

I furthered my studies of Sat Nam Rasayan with Guru Dev Singh, played percussion with Sada Sat Kaur (here is a small portion that was captured on video), in the bazaar I sold all the ceramics I brought, made new friends and saw old ones from all over the world.

There were 2,500 people in attendance this year, the biggest ever. Most of them use the camp-site. Since I'm not a camper, I usually stay in a small shared room and use the communal bathrooms. However, this year since I didn't register early enough, the first 3 nights I was in a dorm room with 49 other women. Since I was first on the waiting list for a smaller room, I ended up in the chateau where the VIPs stay. It had a private bathroom with only 3 other women, one from Brazil, a Swiss woman and another from New Mexico. I was very grateful for how that worked out.

It's a 10 to 12 hour drive from where I live to the festival, but the time passes quickly with good friends. The French countryside is so beautiful and the highways are much better than in Spain. This is a photo I took where we stopped for our picnic lunch on the way home.

Kirtan

WHAT IS KIRTAN?
Simply stated, kirtan is the chanting of mantras often accompanied by music.

The word Kirtan comes from Sanskrit. It means "to glorify." It comes from the Hindu practice of chanting the name of the divine in all its forms. In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a text said to have been written in the 2nd century BC, Patanjali speaks of the importance of chanting "Om" and doing "japa"--repetition of the names of God. Many religions and spiritual traditions celebrate the divine through chanting, for example, Sufi orders chant as well as Sikhs and Buddhists.

"Mantra" is another sanskrit word that can be divided into two words: "mana," meaning the mind, and "tra" which means "to deliver." Mantra delivers the mind from mundane thoughts to a state of deeper more instinctive or spiritual consciousness. Chanting mantras is a powerful meditation technique not tied to one religious or spiritual belief.

Because chanting is a great way to clear the mind of thoughts, the practice of Kirtan continues to gain popularity in the West.

HOW I GOT INTERESTED IN KIRTAN

Before I knew what kirtan was, I learned to play middle eastern percussion to deepen my understanding of the rhythms for my belly dancing. I played dumbek, or "darbukah" as it is called outside of the USA, finger cymbals and later I became interested in the frame drum. A master of the frame drum, Layne Redmond , introduced me to Kirtan at a percussion retreat. She is also the author of When the Drummers were Women.
Layne was inspired to add rhythm to the mantras by her experience as a yoga teacher. Studying with her inspired me to learn more about kirtan and mantra music.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH KIRTAN

For years now, I've been playing percussion and chanting with friends at the Integral Yoga Center in St. Pere de Ribes during our Friday evening kirtan. I find playing the frame drum to be incredibly soothing because its vibration moves from outside in and chanting vibrates from inside back out.

I was drawn to Kundalini yoga because of its connection to mantra music and being a dancer, moving to music in a yoga class felt natural to me. When I eventually became a yoga instructor, two very accomplished Sikh kirtan musicians, Gurudass Singh and Gurudass Kaur administered my Kundalini yoga teacher training.

For the past 8 years I've had the honor of playing percussion with many of my favorite mantra artists at the annual 3HO Kundalini Yoga Festival in France. In these photos, I'm playing with Gurudass Kaur for the "whole camp mantra" and also with Sada Sat Kaur who was premiering mantras from her latest CD, Mantra Masala.

I've attended concerts arranged by people I know in the local yoga community of the most well known Western kirtan artists, Snatam Kaur and Krishna Das. I'm looking forward to a workshop and concert with Krishna Das here in Spain. His last concerts and workshop here were tremendously inspiring.

To watch some of these artists in action, visit my youtube channel.

In closing, I wanted to share a related quote I found on my friend Girish's website by Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Maharaj-ji--a Hindu guru who left his body in 1973. Many contemporary Mantra musicians like Krishna Das, Jai Uttal and Girish studied with or have been influenced by him:

"Constant repetition of God's name, with or without pious feelings, even in anger or lethargy, brings out his grace in the form of bliss all around."

Sat Nam Rasayan Retreat with Guru Dev, Perugia, Italy

The photo is of Guru Dev Singh Khalsa at the Sat Nam Rasayan retreat in Perugia, Italy 2009 with Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa at his side. He's holding the mug I made for him in his hand. He has one of the best collections of my mugs on the planet.

In December of 2009, I had the privilege of attending the annual weeklong retreat with Guru Dev in Italy for the 5th year in a row. For years it was held in the spiritually charged town of Assisi, but for reasons outside of the organizers' hands, this year it was in Perugia.

About 350 practitioners and teachers from all over World get together to deepen their understanding of Sat Nam Rasayan. I think Guru Dev once lovingly referred to attendees as his "guinea pigs" because it is there that he works on perfecting the terminology for SNR and ways to teach it.

I followed two clients for a series of sessions over the course of 4 months for the the written part of the 2nd level exam. The second part of the test is a healing session given in front of Guru Dev. Like when I'm giving a SNR session or work in ceramics, I centered myself in the heart chakra before and during the test. Later I asked for a meditation practice to continue deepening my healing ability.

My ceramics booth there nearly sold out. My "Tierra" line was one of the most popular, along with my sacred symbol necklaces and essential oil burners I'd made.

Gurmukh, the teacher I study with whenever I'm in the Los Angeles area, made a surprise visit and taught a few dance-filled kriyas. I enjoyed the change from a very inward, contemplative and meditative state to an ecstatic and energetic one. Both types of energy are needing in healing and in life. Gurmkh had arrived to help Guru Dev celebrate his birthday. To read an interview with Guru Dev and for more information about Sat Nam Rasayan visit LA Yoga Magazine.

Women's Healing Circles

I have come up with a way to allow others to partake of my experience and love for dance, healing, yoga, meditation, sharing good ideas and being in the company of like minded women. It is called "The Women's Healing Circle."

"The Women's Healing Circle" is inspired by the books of Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen, the teachings of Yogi Bhajan/Kundalini Yoga, Llewellyn Vaughn Lee and numerous other visionaries emphasizing the need to actively work with feminine consciousness and the ancient feminine beauty of oriental dance.

In this circle, we will briefly talk about the role of the feminine in bringing about changes in our world, do breathing exercises and stretches based on yoga to help us connect to our center and then some movement meditations based on the form of the infinite "8" from middle-eastern dance to mantra music. We finish with a healing meditation. The circle is open to women of all ages and fitness levels.

As we get get in touch with our bodies and feel better about ourselves as women living in this exciting time, we can effect all sorts of change in the world. As an example, some of the proceeds from The Circle will go towards EQUIS-MGF , a Pan-African women's group based in Catalunya providing training to African women to help educate other women to prevent female circumcision and promote family planning and health awareness.

I will be facilitating the Circle on Sunday, May 16th in Espai Para Deesses (The Goddess Space) in Vilanova i la Geltru (Paseo Maritimo, 107, 8º, 3ª), just south of Sitges. I also facilitate The Circle on Saturday, May 22 in the Integral Yoga Center of Sant Pere de Ribes.

I've been deeply inspired by listening to some extraordinary women from a free online series of talks called Women on the Edge of Evolution. This series features Jean Shinoda Bolen, Marianne Williamson and Barbara Marx Hubbard talking about the business of co-creating a better world, starting with our selves.

Sharing with the big kids....

I had the good fortune last winter to share yoga and mantra in movement at two very interesting events.

Here in Sitges I taught two yoga classes for "The Bridge of Transformation", which was attended by more than 70 people from all over the world. It was the 9th annual event of healing, personal growth. It was a weekend consisting of six Network Spinal Analysis® "entrainments."

I taught yoga classes during breaks in the sessions. Everyone there was very tuned-in with the energy in their bodies already because of the entrainments. It was a pleasure to work with such an focused group. It had been ages since I'd taught yoga to adults. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and that intensified the benefits I received during the weekend.

At the Spanish National Kundalini Yoga Teacher's Association Conference titled "Healing Addictive Behavior," I helped open the event with one of my favorite Celestial Communications, which I also share in my Mantra in Movement workshops, Ra Ma Da Sa--a mantra for healing. Using our entire being we started the weekend of workshops and meetings with a healing meditation.

I premiered my "Mar" and "Tierra" lines of bowls and mugs and sold my other lines of ceramics in addition to the teaching I did at both events.

A percentage of my sales from"The Bridge of Transformation (where my Mar line of pieces nearly sold out) went to support Casa Mantay . Casa Mantay in Peru is a non-profit organization that shelters and teaches useful skills to teenage mothers from 12 to 18 years old. It is estimated that around 25% of Peruvian mothers are under the age of 18. Many of these mothers might have otherwise abandoned their babies due to lack of support, or simply being overwhelmed and under-prepared for the experience. The purpose of the home is to give the mothers another option and to assist the development of the mothers and children.

Snatam Kaur in concert in Barcelona

Snatam Kaur in concert in Barcelona

I'm excited to be attending Snatam Kaur Khalsa's third concert in Barcelona, Friday October 2nd at 8pm.The first two, held in old churches and lasted over 2 hours, were such meditative, mystical experiences. I look forward to this latest one. This visit, she is performing in the Auditori del Forum, Rambla Prim 1-17, 08019 Barcelona.

I choreographed one of her mantras, Hari Har, and performed it at the Kundalini yoga festival in France. I also use her music for celestial communications which I share in my yoga classes.

Snatam is angelic sounding and looking. Having taken one of her workshops, I have also experienced her very grounded and centered strength.

As her website states:"Through her deep devotion to the Divine, Snatam Kaur delivers a heart opening performance that combines musical traditions of East and West. Her enchanting voice will bring you an experience of peace to cherish."
For more information about her and to hear her, visit her website....

http://www.snatamkaur.com/web8.html

The above photo of Snatam and I was taken two years ago, at her last concert in Barcelona.