10 Things to Do For International Women's Day

I read Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own' when I was 17, and it changed the way I live my life. It has given me the lifelong habit of taking my work and my creativity seriously, and always, always, creating time and space for my self and my work in the midst of my busy, demanding life as a woman/wife/mother.

I just read (well, actually, skimmed) this Washington Post article, International Women's Day - 10 Ways to Celebrate. First of all, it's in the Lifestyle section. Because, I guess, being a woman is a lifestyle. Then, it includes ideas like sending flowers, eating cupcakes, and wearing red lipstick, for various political reasons and causes. Well, OK, that's fine, I actually like doing all of those things too (although I've switched to mellow berry tones and corals now that I'm over forty.) But anyway, this article inspired me to create my own list of 10 things to do in honour of International Women's Day, and here it is! Enjoy.

• Say Thanks.  Take the time today to reach out to a woman who has helped make you who you are. Did someone mentor you in your profession? Encourage you in school? Did your Mom raise you right? Is there a living writer, blogger, artist, or activist who has changed your life as a woman? Let them know. Call, write an email, or send a note.
• Say No Thanks. Is there someone in your life, or your world, who needs to know that their sexist or misogynistic behaviour is unacceptable? Take the time to let them know. Maybe you need to write to a politician or journalist. Maybe you need to have a gentle word with a coworker. Today, instead of just rolling your eyes, write that letter.
• Support a Cause. There are so many great organizations working to uplift women worldwide. Tap in today and see what you can do to help. Make a donation. Volunteer locally. Participate in a letter writing campaign. I could suggest causes, but you need to act on what is closest to your heart.
• Speak Out Against Sexism. I mean this literally. Please don't let that comment go by unacknowledged because you don't want to rock the boat. There are so many little opportunities every day to be honest and clear about how the sexist trivia of life affects you. It's OK to draw the line. Maybe you need to tell your partner that you won't watch that TV show anymore because there is so much gratuitous violence against women in it. Maybe you need to remind your friend that it hurts you when she constantly denigrates her own body. Start small, but speak your truth. It helps all of us when you do.
• Journal or blog about being a woman. What is your experience? What is this world and this society like for you as a woman? What do you love, what do you hate? How do you define slippery words like feminism and femininity?
• Read other women's work. You could delve into feminist history with Simone de Beauvoir or Virginia Woolf, explore modern classics with Andrea Dworkin or bell hooks, or explore the vibrant world of contemporary feminist writers and bloggers like Meghan Murphy.
• Change Your Own Mind. None of us is free of ingrained sexism. Can you do some searching self-inquiry and commit to a small change?
• Organize. Have you not found a local cause or organization, or an internet campaign that addresses a certain women's issue that's important to you? Then you've found your opportunity. You can start small, with a blog or facebook page to raise awareness, or dream big and start a foundation or non-profit society. The important thing is that you start, and today is a great day to begin!
• Be a Mentor. Young women need help navigating this society successfully. You have wisdom to share. Can you reach out to a younger colleague, a relative, a student, or a friend's daughter?  If you don't have a special personal connection with a mentee, maybe you have a skill or set of ideas you can present or share at a local high school or youth group. Use your imagination and intuition to find ways to connect and help.
• Stop Hurting Yourself. It pains me to say it, but as women in this culture, we are taught to shame and denigrate ourselves. We are taught to dislike our bodies, distrust our instincts, and to connect with one another in shared self-denigration. You know what I'm talking about. JUST. STOP.

So yeah. Happy International Women's Day. We've got our work cut out for us, so it's a good thing we are so beautiful, strong, courageous, and resilient.

shinrin-yoku

Shinrin-yoku is Japanese for "wood-air bathing," the therapeutic practice of walking and taking in the air of the forest. Here's an interesting meditation on the practice. And here are some images from my recent session of shinrin-yoku:

The Cailleach

At home in Scotland and Ireland, she is the Old Woman of Winter who regains her youth each Spring. She is the holder of ancestral wisdom, sitting in meditation on cliffs and mountaintops, through snow and storm. She is the spirit of the land, the possessor of the land's true sovereignty. She is lichen on rock, slow and tenacious; she is the raven taking flight into the cold wind. She is the creator goddess, and her consort is the sun god.

Lakshmi

Lakshmi is a Hindu goddess of wealth and abundance. She is the bestower of material riches and also spiritual riches. Her benevolence is complete; she has no fierce form. Read about her 108 sacred names here. I adore the colours and feel of popular hindu devotional images! Lakshmi's red sari, pink lotus, gold coins, and white elephants are so vivid and enticing.

Artful Reminders:


Soulful, artful island RETREATS for women - make art, journal, dance, do yoga, practice deep self care, learn to celebrate the sacred in daily life - all with a group of like minded women in our forest retreat at the heart of our Gulf Island... YUM!!!!!! Read more here, and join the mailing list here.





Seven Keys to an Artful Life - I'm so excited about launching this on-line circle for artful living - begins February 15th! Read more here.

a heartful collaboration - retreats for a woman's body and soul!

For a decade now, Gillian and I have been putting together annual retreats for women. Some of my sweetest, most soulful, most transformative moments of the last decade have happened in these wonderful groups of women! This year, we are both feeling a need to blossom into the world bigger, better, more, and juicier... so we are really excited to be crafting five retreat weekends, soulful getaways for feminine creativity, recharging, healing, and fun. They will be held at Arbutus Retreats, Gillian's beautiful island sanctuary, and will focus on journalling, art, yoga, dance, meditation, creating rituals of self care & embracing the sacred in daily life. Join our retreat mailing list if you'd like to know more. Upcoming dates for our weekend retreats are March 19, 20, & 21, May 28, 29, and 30, July 30. 31, & Aug. 1, September 17, 18, and 19. Each season on the island has its own magic and beauty; the mists and frogsong of March, the soft air and wild roses of May, swimming tides and long deep twilights of July, September's tall grasses and garden harvests. We hope you can join us for one of these magical weekends!

Green Tara

This beautiful Green Tara Thanka was painted by New Zealand artist Ella Brewer.

The Green Tara is the principle of active compassion. She is ready to come to your aid in all manner of crises and emergencies. In situations that are overwhelming, complex, difficult, horrible, or stuck, she's the one you call on. She can help you overcome dangers, fears, and anxieties.

Some people describe Buddhism not as a religion, but as a system of mind training, with kindness at its heart. We know that mindfulness meditation (a buddhist tradition) can combat depression and improve physical health and quality of life in very real ways. The many Buddhist deities, like the Tibetan Green Tara, are not gods and goddesses per se; that is, they aren't conceived of only as autonomous entities "out there" somewhere - nor are they mere psychological entities existing only as archetypes in our own minds. I have heard them described as emanations, and this idea makes intuitive sense to me. They are like holographs of the best of our own possibilities, what has been or can be in our hearts and spirits. Working with these deities, we are working with powers and possibilities that are both within us and outside of us. In traditional Tibetan deity practice, the practitioner may spend years perfecting the ability to visualize the deity, in five senses and three dimensions. I am in awe of this kind of devotion to both creating and internalizing beauty and compassion. My own considerably simpler, more humble practice is just to open my heart, in meditation, to the idea embodied by the beautiful deity-emanation. You can also try a simple mantra practice: Tara's mantra is Om tare tu tare ture soha.

Artful Reminder:

Your Artful Life e-Course begins October 2010! We will devote time to spirit, creativity, self-care, life-balance and more.

Explore it here.

The Artful Life e-course; Creativity, Mindfulness, Life-Balance, Self Care, and Fun!

You are a bright light,
and you are capable of incredible goodness, joy, and creativity
in every aspect of your life!

Your Artful Life e-course is an exploratory journey,
a scouting mission into the untapped creative possibilities of your life.

This isn't about self improvement or some dramatic life make-over.
It's about revealing the magic and beauty that's already there in your life:

your hidden treasures,
your dormant talents,
your overlooked gifts,
your own unique possibilities for grace.

An e-Course That  Explores Balance 

in All Aspects of Our Lives as Women!

Class begins September 15 2012!





Our journey will be an exploration of the Seven Keys to an Artful Life:

• Love your Body
• Nurture your Spirit
• Indulge your Creativity
• Practice Loving Self Care
• Create Your Home Sanctuary
• Savor Your Relationships
• Share Your Gifts

We'll spend an intensive month - September 15 to October 15 2012, the length of one moon - exploring these Keys and discovering ways to gently integrate them into our lives.

Each week will start with the delivery via our private blog of a hand-made playbook for the week's Keys.

We'll look at two keys each week, exploring them through our playbook, essays from me, journal prompts, videos, and sharing on our private blog.

Your homework (always optional) will include both guided self-reflection, and 'artful challenges,' which will allow you to apply the keys in real and practical ways to your life right now.

How highly would you value the chance to relax more fully into the beauty of your life?

What is the gift of authentic presence worth to you?

Your investment for this one month intensive ecourse is $128 plus two to three hours per week to play with the course materials. If you register by midnight PST August 15 2012, you'll get the early bird rate of $108 for the course!

I'll help you gather the tools you need to live more vividly, more authentically, and with a richer enjoyment of your already-awesome life.

And together we'll craft a plan for moving forward, a plan for integrating all Seven Keys to an Artful Life into your daily life in the coming year.

We'll have a lot of fun along the way, too.

I'll be sharing with you some of the rich diversity of my own creative life, which means we'll get to play a little bit with everything from art journaling to bellydancing, from mindfulness meditation to the beauty of healing foods.

By the end of our moon together, you'll have:

• A solid plan for bringing more creativity and spaciousness into your life.
• A personal self-care calendar for the coming year.
• A deeper appreciation for the abundance that's already there in your life,
• and a deeper understanding of the bits of your life that need work.

Two weeks before class begins, I'll be sending out a PDF with fun & artful activities, prompts, and exercises to get you started laying the groundwork for our intensive month. Then on September 15, on the New Moon, our journey begins!

For two decades I've been teaching, leading, and facilitating workshops, retreats, and classes for women. Whether I'm teaching movement, visual art, creativity, or wise woman ways, my focus is always on guiding each woman home to herself, home to an appreciation of her unique shining spirit and perfect, wise body. I'm so excited to be bringing these teaching gifts online, and I trust that the same gifts and spirit that have allowed me to connect so deeply with so many in-person circles of women over the years will also allow me to connect through this medium, with you.

Testimonials:

"Bronwyn moves through life with ease and grace.  She is an inspiration for any person wishing to add beauty and creativity to their existence.  As a dance teacher she taught me to feel strength and power in my body.  As an artist she has shown me how one can craft objects with deep simplicity and complex beauty.  I am honored to have her in my life and always look forward to her next creation or word of advice."
                           
~ Arielle Fraser, Vancouver, Canada

"Bronwyn is a wonderful, gentle, skilled teacher and leader.  I am someone who likes to dabble in art but has no talent whatsoever, and I found Bronwyn guided me through one of her classes with ease, patience and understanding. Her praise at my attempts encouraged me to continue. Her peace, patience, talent and grace radiate from her wherever, whenever. I want to be just like her."


~ Roxanna Mandryk, BC, Canada

 

"Bronwyn ~ she is Grace on earth and an innate teacher with wonderful skills! Bronwyn saw the dance light in me as she does in others and her own light radiates!  I benefited by increased self-esteem through her classes, I benefited in learning proper technique for Raqs Sharqui style, including a Teacher Training Certificate in this style, also my overall health improved and so did flexibility and overall feelings of mental wellness. I have Lupus and some limitations, as indeed a lot of dancers do, Bronwyn is gracious and kind and knowledgeable where anyone would feel like they 'fit in.' "


~ Layla Kukkola, Comox, BC, Canada

"I found Bronwyn a gentle inspiring creative leader sharing her love of dance, meditation, art and theatrical expression. I found my fear drop away as I experienced the teacher giving the message of “there are no mistakes, only variations!” I would love to participate in another retreat led by Bronwyn."

~ Jenny Nash, Vancouver, BC





 "In early 2011 I took Bronwyn’s course, “The Artful Blog.”  I completely enjoyed the course and found the content very useful.  Bronwyn was patient and helpful too when I had questions.  When I signed up for the course I had a personal blog just for fun.  I was able to spruce it up and improve the appearance.  Now I have a business site and blog.  Looking back over the content of this great course, I can see that I need to review it all and make some changes!  I’m glad that I still have access to this course so that I can review the information and apply it."                          ~Loran Hills, Utah, USA

"What I loved about having Bronwyn as a dance teacher was that she taught us more than just dance steps. Dance was more about finding ourselves creatively and expressing that through our movement. Her classes were more about us as people in the dance, being the dance, rather than students just "doing" the dance.  I loved this because she encouraged and honoured our intuition."

~ Lisa Hamilton, BC, Canada




"Bronwyn is a great leader and compassionate champion of women's empowerment.  I attended the first class she taught in my area, and within a year or two it evolved into a community of diverse women of all ages.  We all developed our creativity and confidence. With Bronwyn's expert teaching, I was able to perform solo and in group choreographies, something I had never done before.  I have not found another  teacher who could compare to her.  Bronwyn is also a creative talent in her varied other endeavors... your involvement with her is most likely to be beneficial and rewarding beyond your expectations."           ~ Julia Gardner, Vancouver, Canada


Class begins September 15, 2012.  Your investment for this one month intensive ecourse is $128. plus two to three hours per week to play with the course materials. If you register by midnight PST August 15 2012, you'll get the early bird rate of $108 for the course!

More Testimonials:

These beautiful words of appreciation are gleaned from the stack of cards and letters I've received over the years from my students and women's retreat participants. These cards and letters live in a special hand embroidered pouch  in  the special drawer that also contains love letters from my husband, and little treasures from my daughter's childhood. That's how much I treasure the work I've done with circles of women, and how much each student's experience means to me!

"Through my workshop experiences with you, I have found a multitude of things that I really like about me. That is the greatest gift!"

"You are making a difference every day with your teaching style and your deep understanding of the human (woman!) condition."

"I can't recommend Bronwyn's teaching style highly enough. We had soooo much fun!! We laughed and shared and opened our hearts... she facilitated a fabulous melding of personalities into a weekend of growth... and some epiphanies too."

"You helped inspire me to follow my dreams, trust my intuition, live my truth, speak and sing my voice, dance my joy, and feel my pain authentically. I am so incredibly grateful to you for that..."

"We thank you so much for your leadership and guidance! You are opening our minds to greatness and our bodies to freedom!!"

"It's been almost a week and I cannot get you or the workshop out of my mind! It was so powerful and enlightening. You had such an effect on all of us. Thank you for all that you shared... I am a fan for life!"

"Thank you Bronwyn for all your love and patience and for all your encouragement and your special gentle way of teaching. You've opened up such a world to me!"

"Bronwyn, you are an amazing, elemental force of beauty and inspiration..."

"Thank you so much! (After your workshop) I felt so inspired, rejuvenated, and full inside!"

"We all loved the way you helped us, you are a true and loving goddess!"

"Your teaching has enriched my life and allowed access to my soul...Thank you!"

“Bronwyn ... I loved your workshop... you have the rare gift of bringing joy to people...”

"I love your classes because they take me outside of the box and into a place where creativity and inspiration dwell. This is one of your great gifts as a teacher... you create an atmosphere that is absolutely positive... you make every woman aware of her inner beauty."

Class begins September 15, 2012.  Your investment for this one month intensive ecourse is $128. plus two to three hours per week to play with the course materials. If you register by midnight PST August 15 2012, you'll get the early bird rate of $108 for the course!

Artful Life Moon Circle - Full Moon Check In

photo from www.nightpath.org

I know, I know - I haven't checked in with the moon or this moon circle for a couple of months. I even missed a few moons with my face-to-face moon circle. But we were back together on Tuesday night, G's house was clean and serene as always. I love her clay coloured walls, soft leather furniture, vivid textiles on the walls, smell of incense, beeswax candles, warm woodstove, gentle feminine atmosphere. We snuggled in to the big soft sofas, toasted with red wine, then started spilling. It seems the last six weeks have been thick with experience, some of it really, really challenging. The strength of women amazes me. Between us we had horrible court appearances, financial crises, deaths, seriously ill spouses, work dramas, child dramas, and the usual repertoire of broken dryers, broken cars, needy children, and sundry messes to deal with. Ironically the circle was cut short by a minor child emergency, just as the mother was explaining how she was finally beginning to understand Margaret Atwood's idea of The Edible Woman. Ha! So in the (now waning) fullness of this moon, I just want to take the opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the fullness of our lives, and wish us all the fullness of our strength and powers to live through it all with joy and courage!! If you'd like, I'd be honoured if you'd share in the comments what your biggest challenge of this moon has been, and how you've met it. Happy Full Moon!

living a sacred and sensual life

I believe our creativity blooms when we are nurturing our authentic spirituality, and when we are in touch with the sacred. For me, the sacred is very tangible, in the beauty and fragility of the rich web of life in which we live, and in the tender soft spot in our hearts which connects us with others and constantly reminds us of our shared humanity. I see the sacred and the sensual not as antithetical, but as deeply interwoven. Living a sacred and sensual life means cultivating awareness of and participation in our physical world; cultivating aliveness of all five senses; and cultivating love and appreciation for our own precious selves, bodies, and physical experiences

My own spiritual practice defies labeling. I am a committed Buddhist, because of the deep joy and inherent practicality I find in the Buddhist path. Over millennia, Buddhist practitioners have created incredibly powerful technologies for combating human suffering, both social and individual. These technologies - I call them this because they are practical sets of tools - mindfulness, study, meditation, and precepts for ethical living - continue to transform my life and my psyche for the better.

Alongside my Buddhist practice exists my natural and lifelong inclination towards folk magic and the sacred wisdom of women. My domestic life, my life-cycles, my body, my relationship with nature - all are supported by my deep connection to these earth-based traditions. Again, I am drawn to these traditions because they are both joyful and highly practical. I take pleasure in learning about worldwide and historical traditions of folk wisdom & spiritual practices.

I love incorporating ritual into daily life. For me the idea of daily ritual encompasses not only the time we set aside as sacred, apart from our mundane activities (like time for prayer or meditation) but also the acknowledgement of our mundane activities as sacred in themselves, the bringing of mindfulness and gratitude to our everyday. Much of what I share in this blog is about this part of our lives - bringing sacredness and creativity to our everyday. This is hugely important to me!

I can find things to admire and learn from in most of the world's spiritual traditions. Does it support well being of self, society, and earth? Does it engage the critical mind enough to encourage a thoughtful and living set of ethics? Is the idea of non-harming highly valued? Are earth and her creatures, including us, seen as innately good? Then the tradition earns my respect.

My next "7 Keys to an Artful Life e-Course" begins September 5th, 2010!
Start your autumn season with 7 weeks of creativity, life-balance, self-care, and fun. Read about it here.