FREECYCLING

After 22 years of living in the first house that my husband and I bought together, we are moving! As you might imagine, we have accumulated a lot of stuff in those 22 years. And so this is an opportunity to cull some of our "stuff" and pass on what we are not using.

Being long-time environmentalists, we are loathe to just pitch everything into a dumpster. In my search for what to do with the "stuff", I discovered FREECYCLING.

Here's how it works: Use the link above or search on YahooGroups to find a freecycling group in your locale. Once you find a group, join and start posting the items you want to give away, and in a short time you are getting emails from people interested in your stuff!

Here's an example of one of the groups I joined: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GrotonFreeStuff/

We spent the whole weekend packing and freecycling. I set my computer up in an area I dubbed "freecycling central" and I would check my email every few hours for updates.

The most fun has been actually meeting the people who come to pick-up the "stuff" and learning a little bit about them. I love this!

Mother's Day

On this Mother's Day I bring you more Belly Dancing Mamas!

Doesn't this look like fun!?!

The next session of Prenatal Belly Dance for Pregnancy & Birth starts June 1, 2009.

Details at www.InTheBellyOfTheGoddess.com

Root Chakra Mandala

Here is the top cover of my drum carrying case on which I embroidered a mandala dedicated to the root chakra. My design was based loosely on Mendhi (henna tatoo) designs, and the colors I chose are earthy reds & browns. The actual work of embroidering was a very Zen experience - and a nice surprising memory of how much I like doing it. I had done a lot of embroidery in my late teens, but it had been years since I picked up a needle and floss.

At the center of my design is the Sanskrit symbol - Muldahara - which represents the chakra .


The root chakra is all about grounding and our connection to earth. I am relatively new to drumming - I am studying doumbek - middle eastern hand drumming. It is a very grounding activity!

Located at the base of the spine, the Root Chakra is associated with the color red and is the grounding force that allows us to connect to the earth energies and empower our beings. This Chakra is related to survival, our body and identity as an individual.

Root Chakra Visualization

The roots of a large tree spread deep underground, anchoring the tree into the
earth, use your creative visualisation to imagine roots, going down from your
body plunging into the depths of the planet and spreading out, just like the
roots of that tree. Envision the prominent bulky roots extending downwards below
the surface, broadening from the base of your spine. These roots are the essence
that will, enable you to draw into your body the positive frequency of the
mother earth. You are now beginning to feel the awareness of a reaction from the
planet deep below the surface coursing into your space. As this occurs, you
visualise the bulky roots that are beginning to entwine with the waters inside
the planet's core, these waters represent the unconditional love, healing the
rarefied energy of the Earth. As your roots entwine with the Earth energy use
your senses to experience the awareness of unconditional love.

From Spiritual Chakra Meditations