by Lisa Citore

I read this poem today in the Awakening Women blog. It is easily one of THE most beautiful pieces of writing I have come across in my entire life. One woman had commented below that: “I am brought to my knees in a sea of beautiful tears.”

A man responds with:  

“Thank you for these words.
Thank you for reminding me…….
These words are indeed words of Truth and yet what you ask Woman is no small thing.
But you are right. For too long have I dipped my toe into the Ocean that is Woman and Love.
Terrified and humbled as I am I know the times draws near for the axe. I long for it and fear it but know it is inevitable.
Be patient with me Woman for I shall come. Miguel x”

So now I bring it to you:

When a fairly spiritual male friend of mine who had finally found and was deepening into committed relationship with his soul mate confided in me he was thinking of being single again, and in the next breath expressed his latest idea for raising consciousness worldwide, I wrote this poem.

If you want to change the world… love a woman-really love her.
Find the one who calls to your soul, who doesn’t make sense.
Throw away your check list and put your ear to her heart and listen.
Hear the names, the prayers, the songs of every living thing-
every winged one, every furry and scaled one,
every underground and underwater one, every green and flowering one,
every not yet born and dying one…
Hear their melancholy praises back to the One who gave them life.
If you haven’t heard your own name yet, you haven’t listened long enough.
If your eyes aren’t filled with tears, if you aren’t bowing at her feet,
you haven’t ever grieved having almost lost her.

If you want to change the world… love a woman-one woman
beyond yourself, beyond desire and reason,
beyond your male preferences for youth, beauty and variety
and all your superficial concepts of freedom.
We have given ourselves so many choices
we have forgotten that true liberation
comes from standing in the middle of the soul’s fire
and burning through our resistance to Love.
There is only one Goddess.
Look into Her eyes and see-really see
if she is the one to bring the axe to your head.
If not, walk away. Right now.
Don’t waste time “trying.”
Know that your decision has nothing to do with her
because ultimately it’s not with who,
but when we choose to surrender.

If you want to change the world… love a woman.
Love her for life-beyond your fear of death,
beyond your fear of being manipulated
by the Mother inside your head.
Don’t tell her you’re willing to die for her.
Say you’re willing to LIVE with her,
plant trees with her and watch them grow.
Be her hero by telling her how beautiful she is in her vulnerable majesty,
by helping her to remember every day that she IS Goddess
through your adoration and devotion.

If you want to change the world… love a woman
in all her faces, through all her seasons
and she will heal you of your schizophrenia-
your double-mindedness and half-heartedness
which keeps your Spirit and body separate-
which keeps you alone and always looking outside your Self
for something to make your life worth living.
There will always be another woman.
Soon the new shiny one will become the old dull one
and you’ll grow restless again, trading in women like cars,
trading in the Goddess for the latest object of your desire.
Man doesn’t need any more choices.
What man needs is Woman, the Way of the Feminine,
of Patience and Compassion, non-seeking, non-doing,
of breathing in one place and sinking deep intertwining roots
strong enough to hold the Earth together
while she shakes off the cement and steel from her skin.

If you want to change the world… love a woman, just one woman .
Love and protect her as if she is the last holy vessel.
Love her through her fear of abandonment
which she has been holding for all of humanity.
No, the wound is not hers to heal alone.
No, she is not weak in her co-dependence.

If you want to change the world… love a woman
all the way through
until she believes you,
until her instincts, her visions, her voice, her art, her passion,
her wildness have returned to her-
until she is a force of love more powerful
than all the political media demons who seek to devalue and destroy her.

If you want to change the world,
lay down your causes, your guns and protest signs.
Lay down your inner war, your righteous anger
and love a woman…
beyond all of your striving for greatness,
beyond your tenacious quest for enlightenment.
The holy grail stands before you
if you would only take her in your arms
and let go of searching for something beyond this intimacy.

What if peace is a dream which can only be re-membered
through the heart of Woman?
What if a man’s love for Woman, the Way of the Feminine
is the key to opening Her heart?

If you want to change the world…love a woman
to the depths of your shadow,
to the highest reaches of your Being,
back to the Garden where you first met her,
to the gateway of the rainbow realm
where you walk through together as Light as One,
to the point of no return,
to the ends and the beginning of a new Earth.

Lisa Citore

—-> I’d LOVE to hear from you. Please share your comment, thoughts, feelings, tears in the comment box below. And give this post some facebook and twitter love…

To your growth, expansion, continued opening…

In love, always

Ronja

Dear friends,

I have just arrived back home, after a week on Gotland (glorious island off the East coast of Sweden). 18 beautiful women had gathered together, to dive deeper into the feminine mystery, as a part of the one year long Women’s Way programme. The theme for the week: Creativity, with the 5th chakra - the throat - as our focal point.

Already on the ferry from the main land, I could feel myself beginning to relax, and as I and two of the other women spent three hours going over the adventures we’d experienced since our last rendez vous, as well as discussing what might happen during the coming week, I could feel that all so familiar butterfly feeling grow stronger in my belly…

Merely spending time in such breathtakingly beautiful nature, finally breathing fresh, ocean scented air, would have been enough of a cleansing getaway to rejuvenate any Londonised city gal. But we were not here (just) to chill out.

What followed were some very intense days and nights of some pretty challenging stuff. But apart from the heart and throat opening practices (from which my voice is still recovering), and deep emotional release work, we also shared a lot of pleasure together. My favourite bits are usually the times when we just put on music and DANCE it all out - but this time, I must admit, we got to experience something that almost surpassed the most delicious dancing evening…

What I’m talking about is our Friday night of full body aroma oil massage. Very oily. Very full-bodied.

We were in groups of about five women, and one at a time, we got to receive a massage from four other women at the same time.

Eight hands.

And an indefinite number of other body parts.

Suffice it to say that after a few hours of that, everybody was opening and relaxing in a beautiful way. We were kind of wondering how many men would have happily traded their flat screen TV’s for the privilege of being in a room full of naked women massaging each other, but then, it was just so nice to be together like that, with only women, in a safe, incredibly sensual but totally non-sexual way. Our dear queen goddess Charlotte told us that in certain cultures, at certain times, it has been a common practice for young girls who are just entering women-hood, to receive this kind of sacred treatments for two weeks - continuously! I wonder what that would do to the rate of depression among young women in our society. Our culture is sadly pleasure-deprived, and this kind of nourishing practices are greatly needed.

Another evening, we took part in a ceremony linked to Little Grandmother.

(Those of you who are not yet familiar with her, can click here to see some youtube clips.)

One part of her work is the bringing back to balance of Mother Earth. Basically, with the insanely large amount of bombings, explosions, war fare and rain forest rape that have been taking place over the last couple of hundred years, the Earth has been set out of balance. I’m not talking about some airy fairy feeling of emotional imbalance, but a real, measurable change in our planet’s magnetic field. Compasses all over the world now have to be altered in order for ships and air planes to be able to navigate correctly.

It’s completely whack. Bonkers.

North isn’t North any more.

The good news, however, are that some wise dudes saw this coming already a few hundred years ago.

To aid this situation, five huge crystals were taken out of the earth, to then be placed back down into the ground at five very specific places, at a pre-decided time. That time has now come.

Three crystal stones have already been buried at various places across the USA.

The fourth stone was buried on Hawaii last Wednesday, 12 May.

The fifth and last one will be placed in the ground at Ängsbacka retreat centre, during the No Mind Festival in July.)

(Now, bear in mind that the time and place for the re-placing of the crystals were decided several hundred years ago - way, way, way before Ängsbacka even existed! Let’s just say that there seems to be no coincidence that Ängsbacka is situated where it is. A truly magical place. In more ways than most people know of.)

And as we were all together on Gotland the 12th of May it felt like a natural thing for us to connect with the re-placing of the fourth stone.

The ceremony was to take place 12 o’clock noon on Hawaii. With the 12 hour time difference that meant midnight for us. So a bit before twelve we all went out into the night, which magically had become very warm, after a freezing day.

Hawaiian winds?

We went down to the ocean, and stood on the beach facing the water, sending love all across the globe to that distant island on the other side of the planet.

Other activities during the week included powerful manifestation ceremonies, the weaving of our own vision boards, sightseeing on Gotland, climbing rauks (funnily shaped rocks that only exist on Gotland), dancing, enjoying food, nature and each other.

It is incredibly nourishing to gather together in Women’s circles like this. I find it almost indispensable in terms of getting recharged, so that I then can go out and serve, give and be present with the people around me.

If you’re also longing to connect on a deeper level with other women, please visit Passion of Heart (for more information about Women’s Way and other programmes lead by Charlotte Norell), The Awakening Women Institute (founded by Chameli Ardagh, for blog, courses, resources and info about women’s groups in general), or if you live in Örebro, you are most welcome to join our bi-weekly women’s group

~ Samasati ~

In love, always

Ronja

It’s been a while since I last raised my voice through this blog.

The Februarian month spent on the road - or, on the rail road, to be precise - was wonderful in many ways.  Amsterdam always seems to want to keep me there for longer than I have the privilege to stay. A vibrant, joyous and alive city, it is.

Paris offered all sorts of pleasures to indulge in. Not a very good place to practice asceticism…

Berlin was full of multi cultural gems, available to anyone who knows where to look, and practically hidden to those who come there for the first time without knowing anyone “on the inside”. It’s kind of like an amazing product, which is sold by someone who really needs the money, but who doesn’t actually want you to buy their stuff.

And London - my second (third? fourth?) home - turned out to be the high point of my Europe tour. Wouldn’t be able to explain it here even if I tried, so I’ll just give you one word:

MMI. (If that means anything to you.)

I have been back home in Sweden for a couple of months now. Back and forth to Stockholm a few times. Attended Ängsbacka Yoga & Dance Easter festival.

But mostly I’ve disciplined myself to actually stay in the city where I live for a while, and get things going here. In Örebro, Sweden. Dig where I stand, so to speak.

Here is a list of some successes I’ve enjoyed since I got back:

Bollywood Blast & Kathak Dance

I’ve started teaching Kathak and Bollywood dance workshops in Örebro every Saturday, together with a friend. For more info about that, click here (Facebook event) or here (flyer and info). Or click the Bollywood Blast & Kathak Dance link on the right, here in this blog.

To quote my Bollywood partner in crime, Josefin Wikström:

“Tie your turban, wax your moustache, polish you bells - and join this spring’s hottest dance event!”

DansJAM

On Friday evenings I lead a 5Rhythms inspired DansJAM - “Somewhere between dance meditation and the world’s best clubbing evening!” - and the response has been incredible. Everyone I speak to says that this is exactly what they’ve been longing for. So, it is my duty to share these gifts with the world. ;)

For more info about DansJAM, click here (Facebook group) or here (to see the flyer). Or click the DansJAM link on the right.

Intuitive Aroma Oil Massage

I have practically quit my home massage practice, and I’m now working at Naturligtvis Eco (a holistic yoga/massage/eco hair dresser salon) in Örebro, offering Intuitive Aroma Oil Massage, as well as Energy Boost treatments for companies.

The newest news is that me and my dear friend Helen Karlsson have founded a women’s group ~ Samasati ~ Women’s Temple -

Samasati means “remember who you are”. We come together in compassion, love and unity, without judging or competing, to grow and be inspired to living life to the fullest! Through dancing, touch, massage, conscious conversation and other juicy practices we dive deeper into the feminine mystery… and come closer to the Woman/Goddess/Lioness we truly are.  ♥ ♥

Contact me or visit the ~ Samasati ~ facebook page to request to join.

In love, always. /Ronja

So.

I was sitting there (in the Persian restaurant in Kreuzberg, Berlin), reading the book

“Hångla mer! - En bok om att ge sig hän”

by Klas Hallberg (please see “Noom - Part 1” for reference), and the section I’d like to share with you is this: (The book is, as you might have guessed, in Swedish. So what follows is a free translation to English, for the pleasure and convenience of all ya non-Swedes out there!)

“This is a text about NOOM

I have heard a rumour. It may be an urban legend. It may be true. I don’t care which; I want to believe that it is true. And if it isn’t true, it has given me both joy and peace.
I’ve heard, that somewhere in the jungles of Africa (what a marvellous expression … in the jungles of Africa …) there is, supposedly, a people/a tribe/a cool bunch of players who don’t have the words “good” or “bad” in their language. They simply do not have the same system of valuation as we have. They do, however, have expressions that correspond to “good” and “bad”. But they judge it according to an entirely different scale. I think it is phenomenal.

Rumour has it that, in this tribe, they instead use the concept of noom. Noom stands - simply put - for the intensity of energy in any given moment. And high noom is “good”, while low noom is “bad”. Which means that, according to this tribe, it is pretty damn good to be completely furious and scream and cry with high intensity, whereas it is completely lousy to zone out in front of the TV, and watch the news broadcasting mutilated children, without your pulse rate increasing by a single beat. Indifference, routine manner and apathy are, in other words, the worst that could possibly happen to anyone in that tribe.

Phenomenal.”

How high is your noom?

The first time I encountered the idea of noom was four-or-so years ago, at the No Mind festival at Ängsbacka in Sweden, during a Fire Walking workshop with the ever fabulous Peggy Dylan.

As a part of the preparation for the walking-on-hot-coals part of the evening, she introduced us to this concept.

Noom, as she described it, is simply a measure of one’s life energy - in other cultures it is called prana, chi, qi etc. - and she told us about an African tribe that is very fond of fire walking, where they say that if my noom is as high as the noom of the fire, I can walk the coals unharmed.

In the moments before I was to take the first step across, I found myself thinking:

“Are you crazy?!? Just think about how burning hot sun-warmed asphalt is, or a beach on a sunny day! You’re gonna walk o something that is hotter than fire??”  In that moment I definitely felt the notion of noom empower me.

I think that this does not just apply to walking on hot coals (or dancing and rolling around in hot coals, or rubbing each other with hot coals, like the noom people like to do) - but I daresay it’s an incredibly valuable concept in terms of anything! If we can grow, so that our energy, desire, inspiration and passion is larger than anything that may come in our way, then what could possibly stop us?

Or, as I felt after the first time I had danced across that fire at Ängsbacka:
 

If I can do this, which my mind is telling me is physically impossible - then where are my limits?

In love, always

Ronja

Yesterday I was sitting in a Persian restaurant in Kreuzberg, Berlin. After a tasty meal I was getting a bit thirsty, so I had a look in the drinks menu: Orange juice (freshly squeezed) - Carrot juice (freshly squeezed) - Chardonnay - House red - all of which were €1,60 as a pre-5pm-offer. And, to my surprise, I found myself enthusiastically go for the carrot juice. Not because I felt the need to have the least delicious, but most healthy drink, although I really wanted wine. But because the carrot juice was what spontaneously and honestly made my mouth water.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The reason why I’m telling you this seamingly pointless little story, is that it brought to my attention that I expected myself to want a certain something, and I was surprised when I didn’t want what I had thought that I would be wanting. Which in turn made me think of how we, in general, often have pre-decided ideas of what we are supposed to desire, and what constitutes a “good” or “bad” evening, or what a “successful holiday” is supposed to look like…

I’ll try to disentangle myself from that messy explanation.

So.

I arrived in Berlin on Sunday morning. I knew that I’d only have until Thursday mid-day (less than five days!) to explore and enjoy this fabulous city that I haven’t been to since I was three years old. Therefore, I felt an urgent need to start “ceasing the day”, and check out all the coolest bars, clubs and cafes, see all of Kreuzberg, and other hip, alternative, creative areas of Berlin.

Moreover, the 60th Berlinale - the best film festival in the World! - is going on while I’m here, so I should at least see about four films every day. Easy peasy.

Other than that? Just chill out. And do a bit of reading, writing and high quality Reflections Upon Life, the Universe and Everything.

Not too much.

But the fact was, that I had been on a 13 hour train from Paris, on which I had been sitting all the way and had had to move seat a good five-six times, because all the reserved seats and beds were full.

What I really needed was to rest.

But, as diligent as I am, and not wanting to miss anything that this exciting city has to offer - I ignored my tiredness, had a shower, changed into a clean set of clothes and switched into Film Festival Mood! … At 1 o’clock in the morning, two hours into the Indian black-and-white movie Charulata I began wondering what the hell I was doing. What use is there in doing a kazillion different things, if I’m too tired or too distracted to enjoy them?

Consequently, I have instead spent my time sleeping and resting much more than usual (at home), practicing yoga (at home), dancing like crazy (at home), reading and writing (at home and, once, in a restaurant), singing in the bath (at home) and cooking (oh yes, at home). I actually haven’t left home other than to go to work on Monday evening - life drawing modelling session at the Aktsalon - or to take a walk and seep in some daylight and some Kreuzberg atmosphere.

The beauty of it is, of course, that “at home” is not my home, but someone else’s. I am staying in my friend Martin’s apartment while he is off promoting his music in New York. And I suppose, that as much as I do enjoy exploring new cities/countries/places, merely being away from my own home is enough to let my mind breathe and become spacious enough for new ideas, thoughts and creative leaps!

So, yes: sometimes carrot juice does make my mouth water more than wine. And sometimes I do prefer enjoying the immense pleasure of being at home, rather than seeing-all-of-Berlin-in-less-than-five-days.

Phew.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

With me, in the Persian restaurant, was also the book

“Hångla mer! - En bok om att ge sig hän”

(Roughly translated: “Make out more - a book devoting yourslef” or, with British vocabulary, “Snog more - a book about devoting oneself”.) By Klas Hallberg.

and as I was waiting for my carrot juice (freshly squeezed), I came upon a chapter which made me realise why it is, that I love travelling so much, and what it is - in Life - that I am always seeking, wherever I am, whatever I do. In short: what, for me, constitutes a good evening and a successful holiday.

The key word, my friends, is

NOOM

But that will be the subject of my next blog post.

Now, I’m off to a concert with Dave Matthews Band.

In love, always

Ronja

So… my stay in Amsterdam continued in the most pleasant way…

One definite highlight was the Saturday night Chocolate Club Party. Excellent DJ Kareem Raïhani got us all sweaty and happy with latino beats, klezmer and house music upstairs. And downstairs there was the Chocolate Club Bar, where one could enjoy Raw Chocolate Elixir, packed with natural afrodisiacs, and Amazonian Ecstasy tea - no drugs, pure superfoods! I won’t give any juicy details here (talk to me in person, hint hint ***) but it was certainly a night to remember.

Sunday morning came after only two hours of sleep. I had agreed to prepare the food for a healing workshop, which took place in Marius’ appartment that day. At 11:30 I went away for a few hours to work in Peter Eurlings art studio again. The three hour session was split between traditional life drawing, with still poses; contemporary movement improvisation; and classical Indian Kathak dance.

Tired and happy I went back to the healing workshop to bake an apple crumble…

After a fun but very busy weekend, Monday was spent in the most perfect way in Sauna Fenomeen - an incredibly cosy sauna with menthol scented steamroom, an icy cold swimming pool, eclectic interior design, and - as always on Mondays - it was reserved only for women.

In short, the week in Amsterdam was fun and fulfilling! Lots of dance, enjoyable life drawing sessions, new business contacts, new friends on FB, and a little bit of AcroYoga… It turned out that Marius was as religious (or more) as I am about chocolate and Sex and the City, so I definitely got my fix for the week, hah!

Also, I had my first experience of rain since November. Sweden has been extremely snowy with a temperature between 0 and -25°C, and as much as I do enjoy making snow angels and cycling on ice, few things beat the feeling of being able to walk in high heels on bare ground… ;)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

And now, I am back in Paris again. Pour la sixième fois, je pense… La cité d’amour, and crêpes, and haute couture fashion, and the most beatiful language in the world… I will not be working here, this time, but instead spend these days checking out possible places for life modelling, Kathak gigs and contemporary dance platforms. As well as enjoying the French language, and seeing my friends Pierre-François, Julien and others. Yesterday I bought the three first Harry Potter books in French. Now I’m off to Buddha Bar by Place de la Concorde…

In love, always

Ronja

This post was originally published on http://ronja.bloggsida.se/2010/02/05/amsterdam/ on 5 February 2010, at 17:59.

Hey yo people…!!

I thought that my first business trip would do as a fine occasion to start up a new blog! So… voilà! Served on a silver tray for you…

Wednesday 3 February I left Gothenburg to embark on my very first business trip with my newly founded company - Body, Breath and Being – one week old. Fresh out of the oven and still steaming…

The first train left Gothenburg Central at 07.27 am, as planned, but that´s as far as the ”on time experiences” went that day. I arrived half an hour late to Copenhagen, only to discover that the Hamburg train had been cancelled. I took a local commuter train, 30 minutes outside of the city, managed to catch another train to Hamburg, which also arrived half an hour late to its destination. I had missed my connecting train but found an alternative route – which started out on time – but then turned into a replacement bus and three more trains before, finally, reaching Amsterdam Centraal at 23.32 – instead of the expected 23.02 arrival at Amsterdam Zuid. A surprisingly modest delay, considering that not a single train during the 16 hour journey had departed or arrived as it should have! Ah well…

Tram number 1 took me to Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat-Overtoom (don´t ask, street names and stuff are a bit crazy around here…) where I was met by my host for this part of the journey; AcroYoga teacher Marius Weerts. Although exhausted to the bone we stayed up talking and AcroYoga flying til the late night hour, had a nice  late Thursday morning with yoga, porridge (oh, so healthy) and chocolate (yum!). A few hours later I was off to my first life drawing session in Amsterdam.

Guus Hendrickx art studio turned out to be a very nice and chilled place, with happy people and a nice, relaxed atmosphere. I kind of enjoyed hearing people talking all around me – dutch is a very funny language – and not having a clue of what they were speaking about… Left my thoughts free to roam… http://www.guushendrickx.nl

Tonight and on Sunday I´m modelling at Peter Eurlings art studio. Feel free to check the link for more info! (Scroll down to Friday 5 February.)http://www.petereurlings.nl/englishversion/index_en.html

http://www.petereurlings.nl/englishversion/dropinlifedrawing.html

Lastly, I invite you all to check the AcroYoga video on my website! For all you people who have no idea of what AcroYoga flying is, and for you all who do know, but simply want to be uplifted, go to http://www.ronjaandersson.moonfruit.com and enjoy!

In love, always

Ronja