Yael Nehama

About two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a Dancing for Birth Teacher Certification ™ workshop and some of the Midwifery Today Conference. What an amazing week that was for me, to be in the presence of all that wonderful female and birth energy was energizing and very inspiring. First of all, the Dancing for Birth™ Workshop is such a dream come true for me! I was completely unaware that such a program existed and to have a merging of two of my passions, dance and birth, into one program seemed too good to be true! When I received the newsletter from a local retreat house that they hosting a workshop the following week I was amazed! Now mind you, it wasn't that I was naive to the benefits of dance, particularly belly dance for the prenatal and laboring mommy. As a matter of fact, just the weekend prior I had taught a workshop on this topic called, "Dancing Your Way Into Motherhood." I had a very simple workshop focusing mostly on dance moves that would be helpf...

You know, I really don't care how Earth day started and why. Just like I don't care that Mother's day and Valentine's day are Hallmarks tricks to guilt you into buying lots of presents and acknowledging the one you love. Y'know why I don't care? Because if it gets some folks to OPEN their eyes and take a moment to become AWARE then I am all for it. If a person never calls their mother or visits her except on mother's day, well shame on them, but at least there is that one moment in time that they have. If you never say I love you except on February 14, well you're a fool, but at least your sweetheart has that moment in time. If you already do what is right, forget Hallmark and continue on, for you are blessed! That is why I am benevolent about Earth Day. For sure it is our duty to take care of our planet. I give thanks for the beautiful planet I live on! I bless her by caring for her. I try not to make excess waste and live consciously. But there are man...

I have been slowly reading and working my way through The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. Although I have not followed through on everything she suggests the one thing I have taken on and fully embrace are the morning pages. According to Ms. Cameron, morning pages are simply three longhand handwritten notebook pages of whatever comes spilling out of your brain. She encourages you to write them every day even if you have nothing to write. In that case, she suggests you simply write, "I have nothing to write", just be sure to fill three pages of it. When I embarked on this journey of morning pages, I wasn't sure what the result would be, but I figured it couldn't hurt. I began doing them quite purposefully and ritualistically. I lit a stick of incense, creating a sacred space in time. I got my coffee, creating a wide awake human being and sat myself down in my spot at the dining room table and began to write. My notebook is a nicely weighted spiral bound one where the cov...