Browsing Tag

dance

Self Decoration

Candy Lovers: You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

09/24/2013

CANDYsm

I’ve been reminiscing a bit about one of my colorful past lives that make me a part of who I am today so I thought I’d do a little feature to take in the current and more recent rave culture in fashion. To read my old skool article about the actual culture not just related to the candy rave fashion click here. (Yes I still have a box of candy bracelets and someday I will think of a cute way to display them!)

Last night I had a dream that I lived in a speaker,
And the sky was the smoked filled room in Ibiza,
The sun was a crystal ball shining 24 hours a day,
My air was the winds of the woofers bouncing off the wall,
My soul was the spirit of all the children dancing,
My rain was the sweat that rolled of their faces,
My lightning was the strobe that filled the room like a tropical storm,
This is my world,
This is my planet,
On my planet bass was my day and kick was my night,
Rhythmatic interludes of percussion were my four seasons,
On my planet I could see constellations of children dancing,
On my planet House is the religion and God is a DJ,
On my planet there is peace,
On my planet there is love,
On my planet there are no wars or rumour of wars,
On my planet there are no drugs or politicians,
This is my world,
This is my planet,
And my planet rocks!

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Escapeland

The Parmahansa Ballerina

02/02/2010

At the last moment, I turned right instead of driving straight. “I think we should have some really clean food instead,” I said as I headed down the road to one of our other favorite places. Within a few minutes, we were already there.

The manager greeted us warmly and loudly. You know that comedy show, “Cheers”? Kind of like that, but instead of this place being packed with beer-bellied Republicans, it catered more to the very far Left. Very far.

As we placed our orders, my husband looked at the women on the couch next to ours. “Oh, what a cute dog,” he said. The woman was wearing an almost see-through long skirt, and a knitted hat. “He assists with healing,” she said.

She must have seen the perplexed look on my face, and she began to explain. “He works with cancer patients sometimes, or whatever is needed,” she said. “He takes on the energy of the person he is healing. I named him Buddha,” she added as an afterthought. My husband chuckled and replied, “yes, of course,” half-joking.

I asked the woman about her work. “I’m actually a nun,” she said. “Well, not really – a Swami in the Tibetan lineage, from a specific area in the Himalayas. Soon I’ll be a Parmahansa, and then a Llama after that. Well, maybe. I haven’t decided.”

“Wow, that’s amazing!” I replied. I had no idea it was so “easy” to become a Llama, as it were.

The nun changed subjects somewhat. “I think there may be a big earthquake coming, and my mother is freaking out about that. It’s true, I did predict 9/11 months before it happened,” she said. I kept dreaming about plane crashes. My friends dismissed me as nuts.” She looked vindicated in a way.

At that moment, a friend we knew from our dance class walked in the restaurant. She was in from New York, and we thought we’d missed the chance to say goodbye before she went back. I suddenly remembered my “moment of insight” when I decided to come here rather than the other restaurant, and at the same time I knew this was why the nun’s story interested me so much – life is so much richer when it is lived in the world of possibility rather than the world of the acceptable or “normal”.

While my friend and I chatted, the nun just sat and watched us, eating her food. After my friend left, I told the nun a little about our dance classes.

Her face lit up. “Oh, I dance everyday,” she replied. “I used to be a ballet dancer, you see.” Ha, a Parmahansa ballerina! What a curious mental image that produced.

I asked her about her hair, because I know that many monks and nuns shave as their religion requires. She took of her hat, and she was completely bald underneath. “It’s not required of me anymore, now that I’m a Swami,” she said, “but it’s easier to keep like this anyway!” Hair or not, she still looked nice, which made me wonder something else.

“What about having a boyfriend?” I asked.

“Sure,” she replied, “it’s okay as long as you’re a Parmahansa and he is a priest in the same order. When you teach, your boyfriend must also be a teacher,” she explained. That made sense to me.

As we finished our food and asked for the check, our nun started on a new topic. “I grew up on a cattle farm…” she began, and all at once the absurdity of it all hit me. Here she was, a Parmahansa ballerina, predicting 9/11 but not the big earthquake, with a mother who is paranoid and who raised her on a cattle farm, whose dog heals the sick, and who wears sheer skirts in freezing cold weather.

We got up to leave, and she invited us to come to the temple to see her. “I teach classes there, you should stop by!” she said. We hugged our new friend and then made our way to the car.

As we rode toward home, we speculated what it would be like to create an entire new teaching lineage. Maybe you could begin as a Llama, and then as time went on you would lose rank, let your hair grow, get a boyfriend, and then… eventually you get to enlightenment and completely release from the self! California is amazing!

Design Your Life

How to Look Good and Feel Great

12/20/2009

One important way to getting your life on track and going the way you want it to go is by keeping healthy. But for a second, forget about all the vitamins, potions, and shots that everyone says you need to keep going strong. The one easy (and fun!) way to keep yourself running like a tank is by exercising. And exercising not only keeps you healthy and fit, it can keep you looking hot!

I know, I know. You’re tired of people telling you to get your butt to the gym all the time. You think lifting weights is boring. I agree. You think running on the treadmill (literally) gets you nowhere. I also agree. I used to DESPISE going to the gym. And I do mean despise. My hall mates actually had to pick me up out of my bed and carry me to the door to get me to go to the gym with them. But when I realized I was falling victim to the dreaded “freshmen fifteen” last year, I knew something had to be done.

Getting in the habit of exercising is all about finding what exercises not only work for you but which ones you love as well. It could be all well and good that the StairMaster whips your thighs into shape, but if you dread doing it then you’ll be more likely to quit working out. I’m not gonna lie, it will take a little bit of time experimenting to find out what exercises you enjoy.

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Have a cat? Cat Yoga!

It took me a few months to finally discover my thing, which happens to be cycling classes. But once I found them, I seriously fell in love. I go almost every day, and cycling not only burns a TON of calories, but the classes are fun too! They go by really quickly, and when I leave the gym I have so much more energy than I had when I got there.

Overall, I still despise the gym in general. But never again will I have to resort to attempting to lift weights in a room full of overly-buff boys, or spend 45 minutes running to nowhere on a treadmill. I found what works for me, and I really enjoy it. Since I’ve started working out on a regular basis, I have a lot more energy than I had before. Not only that, but in the midst of this awful flu and cold season, I haven’t gotten sick!

Many gyms have free trial memberships where you can check out the various classes they have to offer. Take my word for it. Go to your local gym, pick up a trial pass, and see what works for you! It could be something totally unexpected, like belly dancing or karate, but if you enjoy it and you’re getting a good workout, that’s all that matters.