Essence

Last night we held another of our sacred women's circles.

It was a chance for us to explore a lovely story by Jane Ray called The Apple Pip Princess (Orchard Books). It is a story about three princesses in their pursuit to become the next monarch of an ailing kingdom by doing something special to please their father, the old king. One princess chooses to build a grand tower, from which she can almost reach the moon.... the second tries to better her sister's efforts by building a more beautiful tower from all the shining metal in the kingdom. The third princess, Serenity in all her feelings of inadequacy plants a tiny apple pip. Using contents from a magical box which she inherited from her queen mother, she day by day, took a special essence or elemental, earthy ingredient to add to her budding garden. In her quest to plant, dig and nourish the barren land, she is joined by all the folk from their tumbledown cottages and by the end of the seventh day, her father chooses her to rule the kingdom, for her tiny buds had magically been transformed into a blossoming sanctuary filled with trees and birdsong for the whole kingdom to share in and enjoy.

After our story we tuned in to ourselves and moved and stretched in some gentle yoga. With our focus on the life energy coursing through our bodies, we were able to visualise through meditation, an essence which fills and nourishes ourselves personally. For one it was the lightness of a feather, for another, the calm energy of the forest, another participant chose the nightingale's song, another the sunlit ocean with wind in her sails, and another, pink love-filled light.

Later we had an opportunity to talk about our chosen essence while we sculpted some clay into a vessel..... It was enlightening to explore through conversation with eachother, what was unfolding for us in the clay and in our attunement to ourselves and to eachother. This is what companioning through creative arts therapy is all about. It is the chance to grow our ability to be present in a way which we don't always ask of ourselves...... to learn more about ourselves..... through our creative expression and through the responses and experiences we share with eachother.

I'd like to share with you the song which came to me for this circle which we sang at our circle's closing last night.... enjoy.

Essence

There's a place inside my heart

Where glows a sacred light

Through my lens of love

It grows and fills my sight

Here understanding blossoms

Wisdom pools and overflows

My knowingness is openness

My struggle fades and goes

Essence of my nurture

My prayer is to be steeped

Infuse me with all that I need

To walk the path of Peace.

By Melissa Joss 9/1/10

Networks of grace

Recently I received an email through a subscription that I must have signed up for at some point from a man called Andrew Harvey. He has written a book called The Hope A Guide To Sacred Activism (Hay House). It was a book that I felt compelled to buy and read, but didn't.... cos I was in the middle of another email subscription lead .... but that's another post.

Anyway, this email has sent me on a journey over the internet researching into Harvey and I found his recent talk in Copenhagen. His passion and emergency in his speech is overwhelming. Click here to view the speech.

Here are two excerpts from his book which were cited at P2P Foundation

This work is positively INSPIRING!!!!!!!

I know that so many of you out there are conscious beings, with a heart felt concern about the shape our planet is in... and our future....

But what are we really all doing about it? In our own way, perhaps we are all trying to do little bits.... raising our children to be stewards of the earth, to care for each other, making homemade goodies, recycling, reusing, watching our consumption and keeping our footprint a little lighter each day.... the list goes on. But are we really doing as much as we can? Is there stuff we can do together that would make a significantly greater difference than trying to do lots of little bits on our own?

Harvey's vision for success for our future, is activated at the grass roots level.... in small community groups who support eachother in our conscious efforts. I do feel since moving here on the coast that the amazing people in our community are doing this already in so many ways. Maybe though it's time to shift up a gear and grow our sacred activism....so that we may live towards a better world for us all. Maybe 2010 is our year to initiate a more fully conscious, creative network of grace!

Like to join me? If you do, please email me! or leave a comment here and I'll get back to you.

melissa(at)myshatherapy(dot)com

Now 4!

Our little one is now four!

I can hardly believe how much she has grown.

We spent part of our day celebrating with little friends in the back yard.... playing traditional games and enjoying the summer with a swim...

And we ate the (back up) cake after the icecream cake had a bit of a landslide the night before.

But all was a success.... along with the mushroom house.... her birthday gift from Mama.



complete with dolls of course...

We shared the evening with extended family...for more celebrating.... and somehow we managed to fit in some reminiscing...looking back over photos and little video snippets of her life so far. It was a lovely day... albeit a tad tiring for us all so close to Christmas.

Now I can take a breather!.... and smile widely over the (many) photos and the memories.

Celebrating

Isn't the best thing about Christmas that brilliant sleepy eyed smile at ten past five in the morning??!!!

....and the relief you feel when all those hours making turn out to be rewarded in the best possible way!

And just so you aren't in suspense about dolly's name..... it just so happens to be....(drum roll)

Snow White Katelyn Honey-Bun

(at least for now anyway...)

Retreating in the Glasshouse Mountains

I have just returned from an absolutely beautiful yoga retreat in the Glasshouse Mountains.
Once again I feel so blessed to have been in the presence of like minded and inspiring women and in such a gorgeous natural setting!
In the MYSHA session I ran, we meditated on our roles in life
Self at work, Self at home, Self at leisure or Self in Spirit
We created action self portraits and later wrote our own Ode to Self.
It was a creative unfolding journey inward.... and a process coloured with flow and some obstacles too.... and in all of our experiencing we cultivated mindful awareness and gentleness with our Selves.

We honoured our Selves in sacred ceremony, sharing our inner work and play, we sang our hearts wide open and we basked in the collective glow of auras building their brilliance.
And best of all, we grew the living flame of the sacred feminine for all women, everywhere!

Here are some photos for you...

Ego and Soul

After our last women's circle, I am left in awe once again of the experience and of the company I am blessed with ..........the beautiful watery theme of our evening, the impeccably told story, the accompaniment of soulful songs and candlelight, creative exploration through silk painting and the shared sacredness of brave, beautiful women bearing their Inner Truths....together.

Without going into detail of the night's events, I would just like to honour one moment, one experience which stays with me still. It resonates with me. It holds significance to me. Gratitude fills my soul as I allow one of our beloved women's sharing to penetrate my human Being. I'd like to share with you my reflection...

The ego depicted...

striking painted lines of direction

like driven arrows,

ascending way up,

as high as a mountain.

Reminding me

of all my little struggles.

How tired I am !

of climbing

the ladder towards perfection.

Can I for a moment

find a new perspective?

Allow the warmth,

the sun of my soul

to shine on me

....wherever I am?

Celebrating Our Way

It's a bit of a tradition in our home.... when we celebrate a special day, to make this decadent chocolate cheesecake! This time it's the special man in our family who is turning a year older and wiser and our little one was very eager to "help". She did a great job of breaking the chocolate (yes a whole block in this recipe) into squares for melting.... and we only lost half a cup of brown rice flour on the kitchen floor this time! So good was the mix that the beaters didn't even make it off the mix master this time!

Want the recipe? Here it is. But first please let me warn you, depite the gluten free bit, there is nothing healthy about this one!... except how good it makes you feel eating it!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cheesecake

Base is a chocolate slice recipe:

1 cup all purpose plain gluten free flour (I used Orgram's brand from the health food section)

1/2 cup brown rice flour

3 tspns gluten free baking powder

1-2 tblspns cocoa

1/4 cup coconut

1/2 cup castor (Less is fine)

6 good tblspns butter (melted)

1 egg

Throw the whole lot into a bowl and mix well. Press into a springform tin, lining the base and sides. Bake at 165-170 degrees (fanforced) until it starts to crisp at the edges. Set aside to cool.

(This makes a great choc slice on it's own if pressed into a regular biscuit tray. Keep it thin if you like it crunchy or thick for a softer texture. You might also have a bit of mix left over for a couple of little cookies - delicious with the whipped cream we'll be preparing too!)

Cheesecake filling:

2 x 250g blocks of Phily cheese

1/2 cup castor sugar (again less is fine)

about 200g of melted chocolate (more is fine)

11/2 cups thickened cream

Beat cream cheese. Add sugar and melted chocolate. Whip the cream and stir in til mixed through well. Pour over cooled base. Refrigerate.

Insert celebration candles, sing, shout hooray, clap and enjoy! Serve with extra whipped cream.

[Variation: If you're not worried about the gluten free bit, you can make your crust the traditional and easier way by crushing a packet of choc biscuits and adding enough melted butter to hold the mix together when pressed into your springform tin. Refrigerate.]

Hope your family loves this one as much as ours does!

xx