GLOBE DANCER

I Am Me

2011-05-30T07:29:00.001-07:00

I Am Me
I love deeply
I hurt easily
I am sensitive
My heart overflows
Though it
Has a wall of protection

I laugh, live, love and I hurt
Yes I am all of this.
We call it human
Balance
Fully alive
This sensitive life
It’s mine
I wonder at times
Is it yours too?
All the reactions
Instead of love and compassion

I love you
I love me
I protect
I am scared
And then
Relief
I love again
I am me

Heather Rhea Dawn

Freedom in being "homeless" though very home-full!

2011-05-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

Dearest Ones,
How are you? I hope this finds you follwing your heart.

WOW, is the word that comes to mind. Through all the difficulty of letting go of the only place I considered home in my life….honestly, I don’t miss it, I haven’t looked back, even though I’ve been back several times. My heart and soul is free. I’m in love with life again, I’m happy.

I hear myself singing, being in joy, spending time with people I’ve never spent time with. I feel my soul sending love out to not only the planet but the whole Universe, out to as far as my soul can imagine, and then I feel it coming back to me. So I am in WOW of life.

I have moved into a home with a pool and a Jacuzzi, I’m house sitting there until June 4th and loving it. My life consists of getting up, doing my practice, feeding my kitty, now letting her outside, she LOVES being outside, even if it is concrete and a large pool of water that she can’t use for rubbing her body on….she loves it all just the same, I go out to the Jacuzzi and soak for a bit, maybe go for a swim, lay out in the sun, soak in the rays of light and relax. Or I make it a short soak and go off to work. Then in the evening I am back in the Jacuzzi, I write, I open and feel.
It’s really amazing to feel so free.

Then there is something even more exciting too, I am back dating again, it feels like it’s been so long. I was beginning to wonder what it felt like. I realized I wasn’t open to it. And now, I’ve been asked out by a few men and I asked one out….what a beautiful and sensual time we had. To be with someone with no goal but to just be present, sing, dance, massage, eat food, sing some more, touch, kiss, oh wow….what a delicious time.

I know I know, I’m getting ready for South America, but what’s the harm in having some fun and living life before taking off….and who knows maybe I will find some wondrous and fabulous being to go with me!!!!

Life is just opening, I feel so free and alive. I’m went out to a spa with girlfriends, I haven’t done that in 20 years, we got rubbed, scrubbed and soaked. I have hiking dates with friends, tea times, dinners, lunches, I went to the largest Buddhist temple in the Western hemisphere, it was beautiful. I could have sat and meditated there for days. Meditation is a craving that I am only getting to partially fulfill. I think it’s time for a vipassana. Oh to be with my own mind, my own soul and heart for days. I’m doing a lot of self hypnosis lately, it’s been so helpful.

I might be getting certified to be a hypnotherapist. It’s something that has been on my mind for a long time. I love the healing that happens from it and past life regression. It connects me to spirit so much.
I feel that the more time I spend dropping in and living from my heart that is what is important. Love, giving and receiving is the big thing that I meditate on so much these days.

I’d love to hear from you. Let me know what is making your heart happy these days? May you always know you are loved. Big hugs to you, Heather

My Journey Into Mommihood

2011-04-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

March 15, 2011
My Journey Into Mommihood

We started out so beautifully…you followed me around, you nudged me into your world, I played with you every day…watched you eat and as you slept next to me I listened as you breathed. The sounds that escaped your body, every little sound, movement, utterance…I was there for…you putting your little paw on my face or licking my arm as you soothed yourself to sleep. Then there were the times you woke me awake as you licked my cheek, or tickled my nose with your whiskers…at first I wasn’t sure…I wasn’t committed, but after 2.5 years I have watched myself love you each more every day.

I have seen us ebb and flow and us going deeper in surges. Each day you trust me more, each day I let you in more.

At first having to discipline you as you scratched on the couch or sat on the counter…turned into us coming to an agreement of what was and wasn’t important. I have grown to respond to you with love and kindness, removing you from the counter instead of reacting and pushing you off. You have touch me so much….to take time each day for love, to cuddle with you, and feel you.

We are so much the same and so different. We both love to cuddle, we only like to be touched in certain ways by the people who we want to be touched by, we both long for love and haven’t a clue on how to receive it. We both are fabulously soft to the touch and both have red in our hair. I love touching you….so soft with you Calico fur grown only from raw meat…yes I feed you what feels best for your little body.
What I didn’t know, was at night when we’d lay down to sleep, as a baby you’d purr so loudly I just couldn’t sleep, it was louder then any cat purr I’ve ever heard. But once you drifted off your purr would turn off…I hadn’t a clue that kitties could not purr and sleep at the same time.

I love that I know you…I know when I get up in the morning you will be waiting to go in the bathroom with me, rub against my legs, jump onto the sink and play with the screen in it as if you’ve never seen it before. You will walk onto the back of the toilet letting me pet you if I choose to reach around and then you’ll come back down to rub on me allowing me to give you all the love I want to pour into you. It’s one of my favorite parts of our day together.

You know that every morning I will sing to you…any tune that I can put your name too and sing your own personalized song all awhile doing our morning ritual…sometimes all throughout the day during feeding, my showers, the toilet visits, us eating, your sun bathing….any time

Then I walk with you part of the way to the kitchen after the toilet visits, picking you up for a little part of the way, open the curtains, feel your purr and fur on my arms and sometimes your tail on my leg as we walk. Then as I grow closer to the kitchen you push to get down with the excitement of going to be fed. I put you down, open the refrigerator door, get your food and put it in your bowl with a wet “swap” sound of meat hitting the ceramic bowl. You immediately head for it, only moments later to come back to me, rubbing against me, thanking me for feeding you. It took me so long to realize that is what you were doing. I thought you were asking for more for months and one day I realized I felt your gratitude in your caress of my leg and I loved you even more for that. Since when does a parent of a kitty get thanked so beautifully. I had no idea how beautiful that could be. Even if I go to the other room, you follow me in…sometimes wanting me to be with you while you eat. How precious. So coming back in I’d sit with you, petting you as you eat…I feel like you are saying “aren’t I such a good girl mom, I’m eating all my food you’ve given me”. Who knows if that is what you were saying but it sure felt like it.

I could almost always rely on after you eating you’d spring from your bowl and start running around the apartment with glee…full, happy and sassy! Well, until I get out the yogurt and then there you are, purring at my side, next to my computer wanting some yogurt. Not any yogurt, only the kind I like, Vanilla yogurt. I sometimes put down a spoon full or I put down the empty container, as you put your whole head in it, licking all the way to the bottom of the container, trying to get every drop. Later I’d find crusty yogurt on your ears.

I know that each day you will find a nice dark place in the middle of the day, make your way into your cave and have your afternoon siesta, either under the couch cover or the blanket that covers the massage table.

As a baby you would sleep under my chin, all curled up….my friends started to say I looked tired and thought it was from me sleeping with you, but I refused to accept that. So I allowed you to sleep with me…one day you just moved and slept at my feet, where I started sleeping more peacefully though I missed the closeness of our touch and cuddling, your fur against my skin. I enjoyed this up until you decided that at 4 or 5 in the morning was the perfect time to get up and play, rattle any kind of paper, plastic, toy you could and I’d get up and have to put you into the living room. One day I just decided to sleep through the night and put you out, feeling a bit bad about it. But the next morning felt splendid and almost every morning after that.

I’d sometimes soften when you’d purposely come in, curl up on my bed, right as I’d come into my room and you’d look at me as if to say “please mom”….and I’d melt and say “ok”. And hope you’d let me sleep in until at least 7am. But invariably I’d wake up with you sitting on my chest staring at me, as if you were saying “ok it’s time for me to go out now” or with you sitting next to me staring, or playing with some plastic bag I left out and you decided this was the perfect time to climb into. I’d get up and put you into the living room, only to go back to sleep.
I have grown more and more to love you….though I do feel some day, one day, my heart will break when we will part ways. As my sister told me once “I knew one day we’d have to say good bye, either by death or by them leaving, so I let them go”….she gave away her twins at 3 months old knowing this was the best for her. Oh the pain she must have felt and the pain I know I will feel when this time comes.

But my life is of a traveler, and you are not a traveling kitty. You were born on July 22nd at 12 noon….a Cancer on the cusp of Leo…not a real traveler, though have a bit in your blood. You like stability though crave to be an outdoor kitty…staring out the window fantasizing about how many bugs and birds you could kill if I’d ever let you out. And I know you’d be a wild and great huntress. Part of the reason I know I’ll need to let you go one day. I need to let you fulfill that dream, I want you to. Oh I hope to get to see that. You being wild, maybe if we go some where else, I can show you into the outdoors more then the few times I have been able to in your little life. But the freedom I know that you will feel to be out in the wild, to be free…only to hope you’ll come back home.

I remember the day you some how got out of the house not too long ago, only for me to come home and feel you not in the house. I looked for you, I tried to tell myself “she’s just hiding”. But something said “no she’s not in here”. I heard your voice when I called for you and after the second time around found you at the front door hunkered down, scared to be out on your own and as I opened the door you slowly, crouched down walked into our home. I’d never had you walk in before, typically I have to pick you up hissing at me for you telling me “how dare you take me from where I’m to be” at least that is my translation. But I realized this is your home and you love me. What a beautiful feeling to know you stayed near and wanted to come in.

Thank you for being in my life, thank you for bringing so much joy and shedding life importances on me. After all who would have taught me to stop each day, take time for the ones we love, to lay with you on the floor and look at you, pet you, oh and smell you…something so divinely heaven. To just put my face into your belly or bury my nose into your neck…I know that sent of you…that is my kitty. You showed me that you need love your way…..that you need to be played with “this way”…that “this” is too much. Never ever come to you to pet you in fear as you will attack…so I never have. I’ve never feared you but I have seen many fear you and get your claw.

I’ve seen you in fear when I take things out to have a garage sale but you think I’m leaving you, you hiss and paw at me and I get down to your level, and softly tell you, I’ll be back. I’ll show you, I’ll be back. It’s ok, be mad, but I’m right out there. You hissed each time, new scents coming in with me and going back out, more boxes and then once I came back in, you were relaxed and relieved that I was back to stay. I know I am your home, just as you are my home, for now.

You chose me, heaven knows why you did, but you chose me. I thought us so different but now I see we are so the same. I love you my precious one. We both needed someone. I needed your company, your presence, someone to talk to, someone to love and I needed you to teach me and love me too.

You are my baby, the one I raised since 5 weeks old with your tiny green eyes that turned yellow as you got older.

I felt the pain the day I had to drop you off to get your surgery, the pain of “my baby is going to be hurt and what if I don’t see her again”. And then having to trust. Taking care of you with your little cone around your neck afterward, having to give you pain pills that made you all dopey and drunk but kept you pain free. Then you were with me only weeks later for my surgery….though I have to say you weren’t so gentle on me when I came home….jumping right on my incision and causing me the most excoriating pain of my life…feeling your little needle like paws going right into my flesh, I felt my incision open and your feet go in and come back out as I jumped and lurched in pain. I know you meant no harm. I was gone for 2 days and you were probably upset that I wasn’t there…but it wasn’t quite the welcome home I was looking for. But oddly enough that side of my scar healed far better then the other side. So maybe it was a blessing.

I love you my little tot. You will always be my little puss….and I will always forever sing to you, even after one of us is gone. Thank you for being such a precious part of my heart.

Dressed Naked dot net, Change & South America here I come

2011-03-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

Hello there,
My goodness...how do I even begin, it's been since October of LAST YEAR since I've written. First, how are you? How is your life? Are you any closer to your goals? Dreams? Passions?
What was one thing you wanted for this year, this powerful number of 2011? For me, January came and I thought FREEDOM. Well Freedom is what I'm getting.

But before I get too far ahead of myself. In October last year I moved from Santa Rosa, Ca back to Los Angeles, I met a who new group of people, by the beginning of November I had signed a contract to produce my clothing line, mostly for dancers but really for anyone who loves comfy clothes. So YES, in one month I went from dreaming of making a clothing line to them being in my hands.

It was a HUGE project, a full time job, on top of my work. I started contracting as a massage therapist in an office and it's been GREAT! I love the people I work with and the clients. I have such freedom as I get my bills paid, I can tell them if I can't make a shift, etc. I LOVE that!

If you want to see my new clothing line go to: www.dressednaked.net yes that is right, it's as if you are naked, but with clothes on! I love it. This is my baby and I've been selling them to friends and people in dance communities around the US so far. It's a huge thing to take on selling things when I've been in service my whole life. But it's been a huge eye opening experience and I may do my first "show" at the end of April. I've already done my first Holiday Bazaar at Christmas time.

So January came and I focused on opening to freedom, love, my life life partner, creating income coming in as I travel, when I sleep and doing what I love and loving what I do. So far it's started happening. Something is pulling me to move.

In January after a Contact Improv class an inner voice told me to go to the bookstore. With some resistance I agreed...knowing I need to listen to this voice. I went straight to the travel section, as I knew that is where I was to be. And sure enough I look up and the book from Argentina almost FALLS off the shelf. I grab it and in moments I went from "yeah, I could go to Argentina" to, heart pounding, excitement pouring into each pour "I've got to go here, nature, nature, nature and backpacking and nature" this is my place. I have to say, I didn't sleep much for about 2 days. I was on a high. I almost packed up for March 1st. But chose to wait so I could do my dream.

My dream for years now has been to explore Brazil, study dance and martial arts there, shamanism in Peru and go to Chili, all while hiking every mountain I can get my feet on, as well as going into the Amazon- a place I feel very connected to in many life times.

So I chose to pause, in the pause I was guided almost 2 weeks ago to give my notice to my landlord- this is a place I've lived almost 9 years, longest place in my WHOLE life, the only "home" I've known. Thinking I could still change my mind.

I talked to a friend, I went through some incredible processes, I had to let go of so much, a part of me, a part of LA, my "home" that had started feeling more like a cage and said "yes, it is time to FREE myself". I had a garage sale, then 2 moving sales, now with more then half of my furniture gone, some of my cd's, most of my DVD's, many of my VHS's, clothes sold, I realize I'm really doing this. I let go of some of my most precious peices of furniture, my first peice of art I bought, a bit of mourning came the next day, but I'm feel my soul feeling free.

I'm noticing people are noticing this energetically in me. As I walk down the street or this morning I was on the beach, people really looked me in the eye, stopped me to talk with me...this is LA, it hasn't happened in a bit. So my life within me is lightening up. I'm making room for my "life" to come through, for people in my life, for strangers who want to talk, ask me questions, not that I didn't before, it's just different, with a flare of freedom that I haven't had in a while.

So maybe wondering..."is she leaving NOW for South America, it's going into winter"? Nope, I am going to go to nature, some where in Northern California, then in a few months- September or October, I'll be taking off for Argentina. Starting in the place I'm most excited about.

I'll be going to many of the Contact Improv Festivals to connect with people and locals, taking more Spanish lessons, hoping in a years time I'll be close to fluent and allowing myself to stay if I make work for myself. Yes that is right, if I find "home" there, I'll stay. I feel I have a lot to offer South America that it doesn't have already- Ecstatic Dance first (they only have step dance from what I have researched and been told) and massage- not a whole lot of that there. Plus I can do hair, which of course they have there. On top of many other movement classes I can teach- Contact Improv, Body Awareness, Conscious Touch/relationship skills, personal training and who knows what else.

So I'm dreaming big and the Universe is supporting me so much that I, being self employed mostly last year, am somehow getting a refund on my taxes (I worked in a salon for a few months), something I didn't expect....but it's enough to get me to South America.

Anyone wanting to join me. You are welcome to come. I'd love to see you. If I can inspire or support you in any way to live your dreams and goals, please let me know how I can be there for you. Know that the only way we can do something is to dream it.

When I get sad about selling my things, or having to give up my kitty (if my friends can't take her) I think of the big dream, the dream of being wide open, being free.
My last trip was very internal, this one feels like it's about being out there, loving, connecting, being in nature, meditating, learning a language I'm passionate about and so much more.

Let me know how you are? Where you are you now? Where do you want to be in a year?
I hope it won't be so long since I write again.

Also there is some poetry I've written, you can see it below here. If you'd like to read it.
Sending you much love, Heather

I Will Dance with You Soon

2011-03-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

I Will Dance with You Soon

It’s as if I can smell the nature coming out of your pores. I see the trees blowing in the wind in your eyes, the rivers flowing through your blood. I just want to sit next to you, be near you to soak you in. To feel close to nature that lives inside you. I love smelling the moist soil that is so embedded in your soul, it makes me want to dance in that soil, ride a horse across that grassy plain, to make love in the sun light and grass. My soul is lifted, my heart is lightened just be the sight of you. I feel the drip of the dew drops rolling off your skin as if the sun has just awakened you in the morning and it’s time to come fully awake from a sound night sleep of wetness. The coolness rising, drifting away, the sun heating the dampness and you bathe in the heat of the fire in the sky.

I am grateful for you, reminding me of my roots, showing me where I was planted and where I must go back to. I enjoy our dance, and one day soon I know I will dance directly with you my love, my heart, my passion…I am with you now, in my heart…thanks for the scent of you to show me the way….I am coming, I will be there soon to dance with you oh nature, oh nature…I will dance with you soon. Oh to let your waters rush over me, your breeze caress my skin, your bark scratch my skin when I hug you and to let you leave float over my head and your grass tickle my feet…oh to lay in you, breathe in you…I long for you every day…I am coming, I will soon be with you, oh nature, I will dance with you soon.

Heather Rhea Dawn

What does it feel like to sell everything and dream a journey sweet Heather?

2011-03-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

A friend wrote me this, so I thought I'd share my response to her question:

Wow you are really doing this...what does it feel like to sell everything and dream a journey sweet heather? I might try to make it to dance on sunday. love you

My response:
Oh my...what does it feel like? That is such a great question.

Well....at first it was scary. This is the only home I've known in my life. Longest place I've lived, only place I decorated, bought furniture for and PAINTED A WALL!

With that said....today I FEEL FREEDOM. I feel free to live my life the way I want, where I want, doing what I want. I have felt tied to this place for so many reasons, but I am cutting the cords and letting it go. My dream is to travel, to meet people, to heal, to dance, cry, laugh, be held in someones arms, to make love and see who I am in all of it and them.

I want to taste new foods, feel new soil under my feet.

I will cry, I will mourn, but it will be the first time I mourn while I move. As that is who I am. But today all I feel it, "he's bought my two bookshelves, GREAT, get them out of here"....FREEDOM. I feel freedom, such sweet freedom.

That was the key word I focused on in my meditation as this year started and I'm getting it. So much freedom I might be buying a van to live in to save money to go to South America in the Fall.

I almost decided to leave next month. But I'm not heartfully ready. I like to set myself up to succeed and feel right. That would be pushing it. But if I shift then I'll do it. But for now it will be September or October.

Much love, thank you, Love, Heather

Walking At Night

2010-10-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

Walking At Night
Walking last night under the trees and the grey lit sky from the city lights, I watched the trees barely moving with the lightest of breeze. The smells awakened every sense in my nose, which then took that to my body. Though the night felt so very still, the air so quiet, I felt it’s aliveness, it’s breath breathing on me inside and out.

I looked down at the trail, seeing the cracks and crevaces, realizing they are so much like life…it’s starts here, twists and turns there, stops there, makes a U turn there and continues. Some places the cracks were deep and wet, others just barely showing and mostly dry.

I pondered these cracks….how my life has taken one form, then another, to another in careers, relationships, travel, countries, dreams, hiking trails, friendships and how sometimes I come back to visit a path again, I connect with it again, heal from it, get alivened by it just by being near it or on it again. Our lives take so many shapes, paths, breaths, but it’s all ours.

Which path will I take next is the real question? I’m opening, pondering, shifting my thoughts, opening my heart, asking questions, going within, and feeling the joy each day in life and feeling blessed, grateful and full-filled in who and what I am and have. I’m bringing in more pleasure in my life every day and say a prayer of thankfulness in that. Asking the Universe, how can I shine brighter today, what is my calling and which path will I be taking next?

Embracing my life, change, different thoughts, feelings and people into my life and where there once was fear, there is excitement now. For I no longer have to know all or be perfect like I felt I had to before, I can be me, in all my imperfections and though fear will come up, I can feel it and do it anyway. One step at a time, on my path, here I come.

Making money while getting a massage!

2010-10-14T11:19:00.001-07:00

Hello there,
Yesterday I woke up in an odd internal space, trying to push myself to be creative, the things I "should" want to do. And then I let go. I focused my energy on "how can I be of service". I breathed in and out, sat with this for a moment and all of a sudden a list of things I needed to do came to me.

I knocked them out one by one. I got a phone call from this man who wanted to do a massage trade...ok, I'm used to this, but then he said something very different, "you give me an hour massage, I'll give you $50.00 and 1 1/4 hours massage as a trade". I was surprised at this...I repeated it to him, a bit surprised and he said "yes, that's it", since he is Korean and English is a second language I wanted to make sure of this. I thought a moment and said "let's meet first" as I only do trades with people I know.

We met up at a cafe, talked a bit, he is a accupuncturist and felt genuine. So whilst the trade was going on, I had this thought "I can make money and relax"...I was literally getting paid and getting a massage. And the massage was AMAZING.

On top of that, in the switching over, I booked another client, one I hadn't seen in a year, that I love to work on. So relax and the money will come was what I got from this experience yesterday. "Relax, the money will come". I love it.

Much bliss to you, Heather

Photos of us Dancing!

2010-09-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Moved & possibly on the Road

2010-09-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

Hello there,
Wow, it's been since April since I've written, I had no idea. How are you? I hope life is going really great for you.

So let me see if I can scrunch 5 months into short note to you. In April I went into deep meditations and both times they told me to leave LA or get ready to leave LA June 1st. Well June first came and my roommate give his notice. Something in me told me "this is the sign". I first resisted it and then relaxed into it.

All in one day I found a subletter for my place, a house to live in in Santa Rosa (Northern Cali) and got a job there. Let me back up a little, at first I was going to get rid of my apartment but my landlord never got my notice, and subletting felt more relaxing to my heart. My apartment has been my home for 8 years. I love it.

So after a few more dance performances, the last one being 2 nights before I left-which was the best one I ever did. We showed up to dance to live music in this gorgeous church and the muscians tell us we'll be performing for 30-45 minutes. My dance partner had never done that, and I'd only done that in front of one of my friends once....I danced for 2.5 hours from him as a birthday present for him. It was a great performance, I brought out one of the muscians and played with him and the music and danced to it. The muscians were amazing, my dance partner too.

July 14th I drove out of LA, filled with love from friends of a great going away party and dance, the performance....left in a BANG.

I was wiped out, packed up my Sukhi girl, she'd never been in a car longer than an hour, but the drive up north was good, she did great, the great little puss just laid next to my thigh until she found a little cave to sleep in and that is where she stayed on our way up. I stayed with a friend in Mountain View, THANK GOODNESS. I just was so tired from packing, being emotional. Leaving my best friend was so hard and my home.

I got up to Santa Rosa and found that they have a Farmers Market with lots of music, dance and food every night of the week in a different town near by. Wow, that was great. Outside music and dancing and food, all within 20 minutes everyday. How wonderful.

My first weekend in the dance community I had a great connection with some people. A girlfriend was up from LA and we all went out for Indian food at the Farmers Market in Sebastopol, laying on a blanket, relaxing, touching, sharing. It was lovely.

Then we went to listen to live music else where. One man offered to us all to fix dinner at his place and we all went there, ate together, went in the jacuzzi. It was so filling for my soul. To be in such community.

The next weekend I will filled with community in Sausalito of food with dance people, movie, fixing food and sharing. It was great. I love this.

I got a job doing hair, my first "job" in 9.5 years, at first it was GREAT! Now it's a little hard. Taking tine off or actually wanting to choose my days off isn't going so well.

My great housing situation went from being, I LOVE THIS HOUSE, still do, but the roommates not so great. I realized shortly into it I was living with an alcoholic, smokers, TV addicts that slept with the TV on, which I couldn't sleep through and not so healthy people. Plus the last few days of living there I realize they were going to start growing pot in the basement. No thank you. So I moved out Sept 1st.

A few things have happened and I've thought...maybe it's time to be on the road, Ashland, OR is calling me. The idea of buying a van and going across country getting a job here and there, writing, sewing, reading and being free sounds great to my soul.

But then the other option is a friend of mine and I are considering starting a community home. So that is another options. More options coming my way are to keep my apartment in LA or not? I love it, my subletters are moving out Oct 1st. I'll see. It's all good. It's good to sit with these things, feel them out and go from intuition with it.

I'm loving the hiking here in Northern Cali. I am living in Fairfax with a friend of mine. Deer in my backyard, little birds and animals here and there. Sukhi is loving this house, running all over loving the space. She and I were having a great moment today of me loving on her and her purrring away, I was loving it, feeling very mommilike. Loving her purr and smelling her.

The smell of nature is making me very happy and all the differences of life here. So many amazing things going on, but I'll save more for later.

May this life be treating you so beautiful. Know that we only live in the body once, see what we can do today that makes living really worth living today.

Today I took a great hike and writing this makes living really a great place for me. I love writing...it feels so good. I love catching up with you.

I'd love to hear from you. Sending you so much love and many hugs, Heather
Bliss to you!

In My Element!

2010-04-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hello there,
Wow, has it already been over 3 months since I have written...man oh man, time flies and so much has happened in that short time.
Firstly, how are you? How is life? Is your heart living out loud and soul beaming from the inside out?

About two months ago I got this amazing massage client that through just listening to him, his life, his experience I got something huge about myself. And I want to share it as it has changed my life...maybe it can help you and others in your life too. I love being inspired and I love to inspire people to live life fully. I know how hard it can be when we get in that rut. But once we commit to doing it anyway...the stuff that is scary then it gets easier to do it next time and so on.

What I got out of talking with this lovely man, was he follows his heart, if it doesn't want to do something, he doesn't do it. I realized that the past few years of my career, I stopped only doing what I wanted, and started feeling obligated to do things-take late appts, or on my day off or deal with energies that weren't healthy for me. The words that came to me was "to thine own self be true". I must say it to myself everyday. How am I being true of not true to myself right now and how can I change it or embrace it more? It's been a lovely journey. Not always easy. But amazing. It so amazing to feel proud of yourself, and I do, I feel proud of myself.

I've put this into play in so many areas of my life, not allowing things to happen or do things I don't want to, or doing things, when I'm tired because I know I really do want to and not letting the mind or body to change what I wanted to do and allow myself to be inspired to do things I really do want to do. Like the other night, a friend was having a birthday party, I was tired, didn't want to leave home, but then I realized, "I love this woman, I want to be there, tired or not". I got in my car and I went. I am so happy I went, as it was honoring the true desire and not the temporary want.

My commitment for this year was to make my life about dance, create an income from dance, perform and facilitate classes. My intention I got was I want to do workshops all over the world, travel with my work, as well as make dance clothes, write more and a few things are brewing within as well.

Thus far this year has proven to hear and act upon my intention. Just last month, 3rd month of the new year I started my own ecstatic dance class. I call it The Ecstatic Soul! Ecstatic Dance for the Soul! My gift to this work and to the world is to create community through connection. To play, to honor the child within and be where you are fully within yourself. If that means you need to curl up in a ball, so be it, if you want to be wild or dance with another, honor where your soul is at. So that is my intention for my work.

I'm loving promoting it and putting it out there as it feels so right for me, my soul. There is no shyness around it, it's what I'm to be doing, I feel it. And my classes, though only 2 thus far(this year), are getting better and it feel so natural, in my element.

In these 2 classes I have learned so much about myself. I have seen where in the past that I have tried to teach "like that person, or that teacher", but it didn't feel right. So now, I'm realizing what my thing is, it's being me, in my laughter, joy or being inward...dancing with all or going in deeply and being with me, even while teaching. I see that there isn't any other way to teach but this way. As all other ways are not mine, they are others...and they are already out there, so why be another "them", the Universe already has them, the Universe is asking me to be "ME" and it's amazing and so very easy to just be me, instead of being someone else. My goodness, what a concept. You mean all I have to do is be me? That's it! Wow, that's beautiful. I'll do it, and I'm doing and being me...it feels so free.

It was only 24 years ago when I heard myself say "I want to play my own music to dance too. To be a DJ". Well that wish has come true. I'm so thrilled by this. I bought the DJ music, I'm getting to know it. I'm looking at speakers...I'm organizing my music and thrilled to be on my path. I get to do something I love everyday, listen to music. That's a beautiful thing. And then 3 times a month I get to facilitate my class and give people a new place to dance, connect in and with others. I feel like I'm giving something that I've been wanting to give for years now.

On top of this, in January I talked to this man who is a professional dancer about doing a performance group, he announced it to a dance class 3 days later. 5 weeks ago we started teaching together and May 1st and 2nd we are performing the peice we have been working on. I've been stretched through this and learned a lot about myself, teaching with other, how to put together a performance peice and thrilled that he loved my ideas so much that my ideas are the basis for the whole performance.

Here I've never taught a performance group, nor taught with another person for a whole series or put together a performance peice with people that are doing the work we are creating together. Wow. And now performing again. I see life presenting me exactly what I am wanting and asking for. And I'm feeling really blessed by all of this. I love how we can create our reality. We just need to make sure our soul is aligned with what we are asking for.

Last month I started training in RC CoCounseling. It's powerful and really healing work. Here I've been feeling the past 7-10 months I've been coming into myself, letting of things on a rapid pace and loving my life more and more and healing so many things within. And now...with RC it's just boosted things up a notch or two. It's a process of learning how to listen, not to interrupt, but possibly coach the person, if they want it, and to fully be LISTENED to! Do you know how healing that is...I didn't realize how healing it was until this work. It's powerful. I highly recommend it for anyone out there who wants to learn how to just listen and to give yourself the gift of being listened to, hearing yourself speak about the things you appreciate about yourself, the good things of childhood and then all the other stuff, always starting out with some good things, to see the good in my life and then going into everything else. So we can see what the good stuff is. It's miraculous!

I just went on a trip up to my old stomping grounds in Santa Rosa, I lived there 11 years ago for 5.5 years. I never remembered it being so green. It was gorgeous and glorious. My best friend, Rob, and I went up to be filmed dancing in nature by a friend of ours. But because of circumstances we had to film inside mostly. But we got some amazing footage.

It was an awesome trip full of dancing with new people, sharing time with new friends, hiking, being filmed dancing and just opening my mind to the possibility of...huummmmm...could I live here again? Not sure. But I certainly love that they have a dance community up there now and I see how I can bring my gift there as well. So nice to feel that and get out of town.

Ok, that is probably enough for now. I have attached my flier, so you can read on a little of what I'm doing, or you can go to my website for more info: www.theecstaticbody.com and to see the creation of my flier. It was so much fun to make.

I know life is busy, but I'd love to hear from you. Even if it was a line saying how you are doing.
Sending you love and bliss, Heather

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-01-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

Hello there my Sweet Friends,
I know it's been a while since you have heard from me. Much has been going on. How are you? How your dance, called life, on this planet we call earth? I trust your heart, health, mind and spirit are well. I'd love to hear from you.

I thought I'd give you a brief outline of my 2009, since it's been over 6 months since you've heard from me. But I'll start at the beginning. The highlights of 2009 were:
-I started out the year very abundant.
-I got stitches in my finger from a deep cut from a mirror. First stitches since childhood, but only the first of 2 sets of stitches for the year.
-I fell in love, I mean, head over heals in love, wildly and passionately. More about that later.
-I taught Aerial Contact in my home for 6 months- which is teaching people how to lift people into the air while dancing.
-I took my first Contact Improv Classes. I figured I'm teaching my version of Contact, I might as well see what Contact Improv is...it was nice to take some workshops and classes and learn how others teach this work.
-I was gifted a surgery that I had postponed doing for 11 years-second set of stitches.
-10 weeks after surgery I performed a dance peice I created to a paying audience.
-I started regularly doing Scar Tissue and Lymphatic Massage on clients and being able to teach them this work to support their health.
-Hit the big 40!
-One of the things I'm very excited about is that I taught my first Ecstatic Dance class and it was a great success with many people asking for the next one!
-I started back with my meditation practice and studying Buddhism, which is making me very happy, balanced and feeling so much more well rounded internally.

I have made some powerful intentions this year and I'm very excited about them. Just to share a few:
One is to support myself through my art of dance, sewing, performing, creativity and facilitating classes.
Opening to be with my life partner.
Heal and empower myself more in all areas of my life. I love that work Empower.
Spend more time in nature
Possibly start my journey to South America.

This past year has been a good one, full of newness, love, passion, big AH HA'S and scariness of decisions. But it was a great year for growth and perspective.

Falling in love was the most amazing thing of this year. Funny how you sometimes your don't know you are in love until after it's over. As beautiful, passionate, fun and alive as it was, sometimes self caring is the more important thing. The biggest lesson was that sometimes to get what you want (the end goal), you have to choose the opposite of that in the moment to get it in the future.

Mine was realizing this man had just gotten out of a 10 year relationship, 1 week before we met (I didn't know that for 2-3 months, I thought it had been 3 months-wordage is a funny thing), and 4 months into being with him, he had taken me to his town, introducing me to everyone he knew. I realized he needed to be a free man and I needed to care for myself by getting out of it, as I wasn't getting what I needed. So good to know what you need, ask for it and then honor it. It doesn't always look like it's what you want but it truly is...to love the self.

And then in August I gave birth to a fibroid the size of a 4 month old fetus. Ok ok, not a birth, but a surgery, a surgery that is the same as giving birth surgically, meaning it wasn't a natural birth.

Back 11 years ago, a doctor told me I had fibroids in my uterus and immediately wanted to take me into surgery. I was not having any of that. I realized I didn't believe in surgery. I got in touch with why the fibroids were there. I did a number of things, that honestly looking back at it is the most funny thing and would make a great one woman show if I shared with you all the craziness that I did to rid them of my body, any where from having my lover pouring olive oil up me, to taking disgusting tasting herbs, rubbing all kinds of things on my body, taking hormones that at first caused me extreme bliss, to suicidal thoughts. Yikes!

The pain got worse, I wasn't able to dance as well. I felt as if I had HUGE testicles on the inside of my belly bouncing around. Very unsexy.

It was pretty profound how it all happened. I thought about surgery, told a friend about is, she saw this info where I could get the exact surgery I needed and Voila! Within 4-5 weeks I was in surgery. It was scariest and hardest thing I ever had to decide in my life. But I had such amazing support and so much love around me. All that, on top of being at one of the top hospitals, with one of the best doctors, all for free-that doesn't happen often in the US. So I felt very taken care of and healing was great. I have the whole thing documented on video, my friend will be publishing it for scar tissue massage, which I am now doing.

I am actually considering putting together an organization now to support women through surgeries. No woman or man for that matter should go alone. I am so grateful I had people all around me, laying in bed with me all day the first day out. So healing. I learned so much through this and would love to give my wisdom on this subject to others.

Anyway, 10 weeks after surgery I performed to my first paying audience. Which was a blast. I got to put together my own work, I designed, dyed and sewed my own outfit for it. Everyone involved were amazing dancers.

OH, on top of that I turned 40 this year, yes, that is right, I'm 40! The best shape in my life, very strong, fit and full of life, energy and dancin' my bootie off. I've been wanting to be 40 since I was 16 years old, so I'm happy for this. I know this decade is going to be amazing.

In December I put on, as my birthday gift for me, and ecstatic dance class. It was amazing, so much fun. I got some great feedback and reviews. I am planning on my next class, I want to do something more regular. There is something amazing about giving people a space to dance to great music. What magic happens!

In December I went back to Meditation classes and sits, it's been amazing. I am loving it.

I have tons already in the fires starting for next month. I'll share those later.
I look forward to hearing from you. I'd love to catch up.
I'd love to hear your high lights from last year and if you have any intentions for this year.
Much love, Heather.

My Clothes Designs!

2010-01-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

I have been a busy little bee sewing recently and LOVING it! So I thought I'd share some of my creations with you.
I went to dance in a pair of my pants this last weekend and I had at least 4 people want to buy my pants off of me and one even wants me to make a pair specifically with material he has. This thrills me!
I get to be creative, have fun and clothes people with nice things!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! May all your dreams come true! Love and Blissings, Heather

Sukhi-In Heat!

2009-07-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hey ya,
Just imagine, you come home to your kitty, almost one year old, and she comes up to you rubbing, rubbing, rubbing, and then walking around in a squatted position, with tail up in the air, her little butt just a twitching in the air and howling in such a cat, loving way looking for someone to love on her tremedously.

Yes, this is what I came home to Sunday. First my roommate told me she was all lovey on her when she got home, and then later Sukhi woke up and the love and affection that was showered up on me, with the lovely little howling she does, how lovely. It’s like she’s so horny she just have to let out a howl, I know that feeling, I have been there, I just don’t go around with my butt up in the air shaking it and howling….that could be a good trick, it might work!!! Or I’d just be put away.

Since I’ve only had male kitties and never remember from so many years ago what they go through and this being a girl kitty, never seen this and didn’t know what to do for her. I knew a friend years ago picked up his kitty, with her begging eyes, pleaded for him to do something to stop this. Here he was, thermometer in hand, ready to stick it in, her ready and willing and he just said “I can’t, it’s incestuous, you are my daughter” and put her down. She was so disappointed. I get that urge. I got on the web and one person gave the advice of:

Equipment: -Cat in Heat
-Q-Tip

-Grab wailing, squirming cat and place it on your lap with its hind quarters readily accessible. Chances are the cat will freely offer them, if not the first time this procedure is followed, then certainly each time afterward.

-Insert the Q-tip into the cat's vagina. It will be exposed and puffy. Do not insert the Q-tip into the other orifice. Either way the cat will begin to scream, but there is a subtle and audible difference in the scream of satisfaction and the scream of rectal pain. Experiment a little until you can distinguish the two. (she was basically telling everyone to stick the Q-tip in both orifices to see how she screams differently, is this crazy or what? No thank you)

-Move the Q-tip in and out of the cat's vagina slowly at first, then more rapidly. No need to be gentle, no matter what you do with the Q-tip it beats a barbed cat penis digging around in there. (I’m sorry but cats are meant for that barbed penis, not a rough, cotton Q-tip that is being jammed into her who knows how deep and hard, YIKES-are you laughing, crying or mad yet, it’s not done yet).

-You are finished when the cat is finished. You will know when the cat is finished because it will either begin immediately to have a cat orgasm, or it will run away with the Q-tip sticking out of its ass. If this happens let it enjoy itself for a few minutes before attempting to retrieve your Q-tip.

-That is it, you are done. Enjoy the peace and quiet until the cat flares up again.

What to look for: The cat orgasm that follows this procedure is something the likes of which I have never seen elsewhere. It is a wriggling, leaping, moaning dance of ecstasy that defies any experience of pleasure my mind can even begin to grasp (I love that). If humans had orgasms with the intensity of a cat serviced in this way there would be no such thing as war, hunger, capitalism or God. (yes yes yes, let this be a lesson for humans, orgasms, not war!!!)

Background: A cat in heat is, with few exceptions, one of the most irritating things to have living in your home. A cat in heat will follow you around and howl at you in a bone chilling, hideous wail until you are ready just to toss it outside and let it get pounded by the local tom's. After a few days of this torture having to drown a few kittens sounds relaxing. This cat-saving technique was first demonstrated to me by a terminally un-squeemish roomate of years past.

To continue now:
This is funny, as I read another one that said how does she get her cat out of the pain she is in…do people not know what a horny cat looks like, feels like, sounds like? I’ve never had one, but Sukhi in heat, isn’t like she’s in pain, she’s just overly stimulated and wanting to be done in the most desperate of ways!!! Oh yes!
So I finally called the vet and there is nothing for me to do but to love on her and get her fixed or pregnant. Since I’m not ready to be a grandmother, I think the fixed thing might have to happen, well after a week or so of her loving on me. Of course, when I did start to rub her back right at her tail she just started going crazy, then I started massaging the side of her butt/thighs and she basically came all over me. Wow. Kitty juice!!! Luckily that doesn’t bother me, I loved it and felt honored, though I know she doesn’t care who she gets it on as long as she gets some rubbing, loving and satisfaction.

I do look at my surgical gloves and wonder if I could help in some way, but think “my fingers are probably much too large, but then massaging might help. Yeash!
The doctor said only her being inpregnated will stop her from being in heat. Ok then…who knows. I think I’ll let nature do it’s thing. The great thing is she hasn’t tried to get out, hope that stays that way….she hasn’t realized the tomcats outside are sniffing, laying out on the side walk waiting for her. She notices them but doesn’t seem all the excited by them….strange, but good for me. I just need her to stay inside, away from them.

Much more going on but I thought I’d send one piece of info per email,
Take care, hope you got a kick out of this, she is just adorable, when I get video uploaded I’ll attach it.
Much love to you, Heather

Me Dancing Aerial Contact

2009-06-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

This is the dance Aerial Contact, as my friend, Rob and I call it. He introduced me to this dance 3+ years ago and he and I have redefined and expanded it over the years, to the point that I teach this now.
I'm excited to share it with you. Enjoy!
Bliss and love to you, Heather

Soulmate, Lessons, Dance, Life....

2009-06-02T14:30:00.001-07:00

Hello there,
How are you? I know, long time no hear. So much has been up, happening and I haven't taken the time to share. I truly think of so many so much but I just don't take the time write all the time individually, but I'd love to hear from you.

For me, I met my soulmate February 8th, this year, or should I say, A soulmate, as I don't feel there is only one for each person. It was amazing, breathing, exhilerating. We met each other in so many areas, first, on the dance floor-never have I been met so well on the dance floor by a man in my life. It was as if I was dancing with myself, slow, fast, contact, I lifted him up immediately and he went with it in such trust, I did not know he teaches Contact Improv since we'd never talked. In my first glance at him he inspired me to dance even more. When we connected it was as if I saw his soul, we lit up, we exploded off each other and then met up later.

Off the dance floor we met each other in such incredible, amazing ways that I'd never been met-in communication, sharing, truth,speaking all upfront and with love, compassion, making love like neither of had ever experienced and believing in so many of the same things, supporting each other through so much. I'd never been in something so connected, so easy when we were together. We just lit each other up, inspired and grew from know each other. I saw his soul, not so much his physicalness but his soul shined through. I get you don't choose your soulmates, they just come, and you can choose to embrace them or not.

So now, 4 months later, I found myself last week in a quandary and breaking up with him. As much as it was so powerful with him, he lives in Northern California and when apart, it was not so easy. When I realized I wasn't being met when we were apart, and being met could be energetically, phone, skype, notes, emails...but connectedness, showing up and meeting in the space of heart and soul. I realized it was time to end it, as hard as it was.

My first thought the morning after was "what did I do....so taking care of myself and doing what is best for me isn't always aligned with what I want". I sat with that, really allowed it to move through me and it take very long before I got..."but it is what I want...the big picture is I want my life partner, as so taking care of myself doesn't always look like what I want in the moment, but it is what I want for the long term". As he wasn't ready for a commitment. I am. It was a difference of where we are at and nothing more than that.

And the lessons that have come from that since have been mind blowing...it's not always what we think. I woke up this morning, 5 days after I broke it off, and really feeling all the good stuff he and I had and went through together, breathing that all in and realized, there was only happiness, joy, bliss and excitement. As those experiences are mine, they are part of me and if I can remember them within me I have them and can bring them into my next relationship and manifest anything I want. As, if I can manifest someone so close to what I want, I can manifest someone better.

No one can take these experiences away from me....I realized there wasn't one ounce of sadness, as I would have had in the past, I didn't feel a lack in the loss of not having it any more. I felt love, and gratitude and excitement for the lessons, for all those experiences and all the openings and love that I got to share, the gratitude is beyond anything I've ever imagined before. I felt it, I had it still living within me, it's still mine, it's a part of me and why not let that grow huge in me so I can go to my next step in the next relationship.

How profound is all of this, to love, to allow the loss, cry when the tears come up, let everything flow through and see the joyful happy times, with no attachment to the past, but an opening to the future and celebrate, really celebrate. That's probably the most exciting thing I've ever felt. And that is the real gift of all of this...celebrating life, what we learn no matter how easy or hard it is. I got feel I was given so much in these 4 months with him, I love seeing and feeling those gifts and embracing them all.

Yesterday was the first morning I woke up without him being on my mind and this morning I woke up thrilled about life. I feel so empowered, so relieved by my choice to choose me, my future of keeping my intention to being with my soulmate/life partner this year. I feel this and have felt it for a very long time now. So I'll take joy over pain any day. I embraced the pain fully, I reached out for support and now I feel so clear it is perfect. I love the lessons of life, even these painful ones as it stretches me.

These past few months have been pretty incredible anyway. I've taken to studying Contact Improv, going to do some workshops this summer in this work. I've been dancing 2-7 hours a day 3-5 days a week and this is very exciting to me. I have all kinds of plans for dance in my future and this really thrills me. Though just living in the moment is pretty profound too. I'll be putting up some videos soon of some of the dance I've been up too.

I went to Sedona, in Arizona to video my teachers at the Daka/Dakini Conference (sacred sexual healers). That was so much fun...learning to direct the cameras, being behind the scene as well as using my artistic eye to capture some incredible scenes at the conference. Meeting some amazing people, seeing my teachers and being with good friends.

There is so much more I can share but I'll stop there. Life is good and getting better. I love you all so very much. I miss hearing from you and wish you all your dreams coming true. Hugs and love, Heather
Ps. I'll be sending out some links to some videos I was in soon as well, just for fun.
PPS. Sukhi, my kitten, had her first bout of fleas and going to the vet, she's recovered from it all thankfully now, but man she was a little crazed there for a bit the poor thing. XXOO

Post-Dance Video Fun!

2009-04-27T16:20:00.001-07:00

Hello there,
Here are a few videos I was in over the past few months, just for fun! We all get together after dancing for 3-4 hours and put these together as a community!
Enjoy! Love, Heather

MC Hammer:
http://www.bragster.com/brags/318649-entry-for-dance-on-the-songcant-touch-this-by-mc-hammer

Chicken Dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k-LkOKNL_U&feature=player_embedded

Our first (improvised) musical number:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_DMIHv3ChM

To Thine Self Be True & Love Is All There Is!

2009-03-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

In the one photo with Sukhi, she is learning to fly on my feet, she did very good for about 1 or 2 minutes, Brave and Spirited Soul! She loves to nuzzle in my hair and she loves the laundry basket! My baby at 7-7.5 months old!

Hello there lovely Ones!
How are you? I hope life is just TERRRRIFIC for you! My year has been pretty darn fine, though with it’s share of ups and downs as well. The first few weeks I was high as a kite and thrilled about the new year, full of giggles and on Progesterone to heal my fibroids. Well it is known as the happy drug, but when mixed with certain estrogens it can make you a little on and off emotionally, I went through that and then had to go off Progesterone for a month to adjust to no estrogen in my diet-lotions, shampoos, conditioners, laundry detergent. Wow, it is powerful what hormones can do to you and what it make you feel-the ups are so great and the downs, well they are crazy. But I’m back to normal now!!!

After cutting my finger and getting stitches I saw how the Universe still provided for me and how incredible things work in this energy filled world. I love manifesting love, abundance and positive things around me. Just believing it is there, that it can be and is there and then listen/wait for it to just come.
I saw this AMAZING dance performance by this Dance Company by Diavolo, based in Los Angeles and wow wow WOW! I’ve never watched a dance performance where all you get sucked in by is the dance and movement. Typically the costumes are such a distraction and this company isn’t about the costumes, they dress simply, doing acrobatic, gymnastic type moves, while balancing on huge contraptions that move and roll. I heard about this company last year and thought to audition for them but had never seen them, but now, NOW I’ll be trying out for them in May or June! If I get in it is a 2 year commitment and traveling internationally doing what I most love-DANCE!!! So then my career title will be Dancer, which is what I feel I am at the heart of heart of things!

On top of all this I have started back dating again-nothing committed but I have met a wonderful man that is so beautiful and into so many of the things I’m into. We dance, play and laugh so similarly at and in life. When we dance, where we met, it’s like I am dancing with myself. I’ve never felt that ever in my life with a man. We have a lot of fun when we are together and we’ll see what happens. He lives in Northern California and there are a few things to work out but the great thing is I’m back dating again, my heart it opening and life is very full right now!

Through meeting this man I found out about EMDR….this is the most amazing thing I’ve heard of yet for Post Traumatic Stress. Through my years of looking for a natural healing method for this I’ve found nothing that works. All doctors want to put you on medication but this is a therapeutic method, that they haven’t figured out why it works but it does with people that have PTSD. I started it 2 days after I heard about it and my life has changed. I feel so differently, I feel so strong and good about me, my relationships with myself and others. There is a confidence and sureness that has come over me. I mean it’s not always there, being human we have our moments. But I am looking at life to take care of me first and then others. And that is not always easy being a massage therapist, etc. But it is working, it is risking telling the truth at a cost, but so far it’s all working out. I’ve only had 2 sessions but man oh man, EMDR-google it, find out about it if you know of anyone that has had trauma in their lives. It gets them back to who they are. They use it for war veterans. So far I know of 2 people it’s healed and heard of 9 others.

Sukhi is growing like crazy, she is jumping straight up in the air to 3 or so feet to play with her toys, she is incredible. She stood with all four feet on my shoulders this morning trying to see as much as she could all around her, so very cute. I found her the other day balancing on the toilet seat as I ran out to get something and came back, Oh that was so funny-she’s learned not to fall or jump in it!!!

I am celebrating this week as Sunday I get a new roommate. I went to bed last Thursday asking the Universe to bring me the perfect roommate by Saturday and sure enough my girlfriend called me the next morning at 7:15am wanting to room with me. This woman feels like a baby sister to me and the bond is so lovely. We dance together and have so much to share and grow from the other, so there is much love and excitement for the change and bond!

So that is me for now, I’m sure there is more but for the most part this year is about dance and healing and so far it feels like it’s going in that direction. Step by step, breath by breath keep doing what you love and all will come to you that you love-even the challenges bring us special gifts. I know I’ve learned so much in cutting my finger, dating someone so far away, healing PTSD and fibroids, it’s not always easy but it’s better then doing nothing, watching life go by and not participating, not loving. We are here to love, be love, give and receive love.
This morning I woke up with these words in my mind and in my heart- To Thine Self Be True and Love Is All There Is. But it’s true, and what doesn’t kill us does make us stronger. Though I do believe we can heal though love and pain not only pain.
Have a glorious day! To Thine Self Be True, Bliss and Love, Heather

Happy Medicine, Hoppin', Sukhi, Meditation!

2009-02-06T10:34:00.000-08:00

Hello, hello, hello,
Happy New Year!!!! Actually the start of 2 New Years, Western and Chinese! I feel them just as powerfully! The year of 2009 = 11, which is a powerful number and I find will be a powerfully creative time for all people. Then the year of the Ox, it's an abundant year where people will fall in love and find life partners. All which sounds great to me.

This past year has been good to me from being in New Zealand, backing by myself in Australia, to being filmed in a Tantric Video, to being written up in Playgirl on Tantra on the Beach (at a nudist resort), creating and teaching a dance I absolutely love and opening to more love and passion in my life!

This year so far has started out with a BANG! First, in my search for finding a way of healing Fibroids in women, I found a doctor that has had an 85% rate of healing these things out of the body! All naturally and without any cutting! First of all you need to go on something that is naturally known as happy medicine for women! Oh man, this was really AMAZING the first 1 or 2 weeks, giggles all the time, dancing down the beach, not caring what anyone things and man oh man the bliss, and the sleep you don't need when you are so happy! If anyone is interested in more info on this, let me know, I can give info on this.

I've been dancing with this guy for the past 4 or 5 months now that is a professional dancer, we have just had so much fun! Well this has opened me to see where I want to go in my dance. And in this I started taking Private Tango lessons from him, which at first was intense, very sexy and I think I may have even blushed once-yes I do that! Try doing the Besa (sp?), the kiss, move without having a reaction to it if you feel it in your body when some beautiful man his holding you in his arms-OH MY! Well I think it will take a few years just to find out how I'm to stand and breathe and dance all at the same time-hold your stomach up and in, chest out, almost at an angle toward your partner, keep your upper body in one place and then have your feet go in one direction and have your upper body face in a different direction-and don't forget to breathe and HAVE FUN! Yikes! But the 3 session I had were really great, the last one was the best as I started to finally feel it!

December I had gone out on the Promenade in Santa Monica with this guy and got a small taste of Lindy Hop and Salsa! I know I loved Salsa when I took lessons in India back in 2000-2001, so that was great. Well I woke up last week 2 days in a row with images of this dance that I could only say it must have been Lindy Hop. So I had to go. I took my first lesson last night-MAN OH MAN!!! This must be the most fun dance with steps in the world! I mean, you can't be unhappy or think anything but happy thoughts and be in bliss when you are dancing this! My immediate reaction was "hey my mother used to do this in our living room" what fun! Well sign me up as I am now not only signed up for 4 classes, but next week I'll be signing up for 4 more, if not a double class one one of those nights! Oh my oh my! Such excitement! On top of it, I met someone last night that wants to practice with me, so we did that today, on top of another aquaintance and I will be going out (he's been doing this for years) Lindy Hopping the night away tomorrow night!

I also have one man that I have met via the internet that wants to start doing Salsa with me! I am loving this! I'll let you know what happens with that!

I am getting great images of how I want to dance, how I want to perform-which is a HUGE intention for this year! I am also looking at different dance company's and have written a few to see if we'd be a good fit! I'm excited by all the possibilities of everything!

Sukhi, my kitty is now 6 months, she's been amazing and a little monster all at the same time. She is learning she has claws and how to use them on the carpeting, couch and sometimes if you get close enough to love on her-well your skin gets to experience her claws too. The training of getting her not to do this is very challenging for me. I love her and get tired of the word no-still. But lately she has been going through teenage stuff, "leave me alone or I'll tear your up, now love me, no, not that way, this way...or else I'll leave if you don't do it just so...oh goodness, I'll sit over here then...purrr purrr purrr". Yes that is what it seems like she says in her reaction to people. She loves licking hair, head hair, armpit hair-especially sweaty armpit hair, all those pheromones she loves, she loves to sleep in my armpit if I lay on the floor-she sleeps alone now-no longer wanting to cuddle. She loves to lick, which I love...so sweet. Her eyes has gone from green to now they are yellow, very different, but lovely!

This year is already teaching me to trust, I ended up cutting my finger deeply on a mirror and had to have 5 stitches and being a massage therapist and someone who needs my hands to dance-well this put things on pause for about 2 weeks. I luckily just trusted, I got a lot done and people came to me for meditations, exercises that didn't use my hands or I could use mostly my forearms or right hand for massaging or just energy work. I did end up teaching until my doctor told me to stop it as my cut wasn't healing because of it. OOPs! Plus he didn't stress how important it was to use the brace on my finger and after 24 hours I hit the brace really hard, took it off and decided it wasn't needed-another ooops, wrong. Tssk tssk to me. Well once the doctor told me to stop teaching and wear it, I did it, even longer then expected, just to make up for not doing it before! Do I get brownie points for that? Who knows, but it's healing now. In another week I assume it will be back to normal.

Anyway, there is much more to tell, but I'll let cha go for now. Oh, it's been lovely this year, I am back to meditating daily, which has been amazing, to the point of connnecting directly with spirit in such a way that I heard the voice of my guide. Such a magical experience and in perfect timing. As I needed some support in letting go and it just was perfect for calming the soul and directing me to peace.

I am sending you love and light! Follow Your Hearts Desire, this is my mantra this year, maybe it can be yours as well!
Blissfully and lovingly, Heather

Life is Art!

2009-01-13T22:21:00.001-08:00

Life is Art

Yes Life is Art
Can you feel that?
See it?
Taste it?

Just take a moment…
How do you eat?
From the time you see your food
To the time that you are placing it in your mouth
To the way you chew it
To how you swallow it
It’s all art

The way you take in the scent of your food
This is art
How much time do you take to really smell your food?
Taking it in before you take it in
It’s an art

How you look at your life,
The people who pass you on the street
How you hug
How you reach out and touch someone’s shoulder
It’s art
Life is art, yes it is, so much of it is, what isn’t art?
I don’t know what isn’t art……My mind goes blank to find something that isn’t art

A fire that warms you is art,
How you placed the logs,
What paper you used to light the fire
What colors came at first when it came to light
How did you place to paper?
Was it paper that shifted colors as it started
It’s all art

The way you taste
that first glass of liquid in the morning
the taste of your lovers skin
how you run your tongue over them
it’s art, oh yes it’s art
making love is art, it’s one of the greatest arts
moving, meshing, merging, breathing in, tasting,
smelling, feeling, licking, blissing
the pleasure of moving together
different speeds, positions, slower, faster
eyes open, eyes closed,
dancing in and around the others body
touching, kissing, pulling, pushing, caressing,
nails scratching, biting, contractions, explosions of openness
oh yes, making love, the best form of art
slow down and really appreciate it
open all those senses
and then quicken the pace of passion
yes, it’s art, such luscious art
the art of love, of passion, of heaven
art, oh art, yes loving making is art

There is the art of walking
Dancing, smiling, how your eyes move
What clothes you put on, how you put them on
How you touch your body-oh yes, this is definitely art
Putting that oil or lotion on your skin,
Soaping up your body in the shower
How you lather up your hair
Shave your legs or face-if you do such artful things
They are all art
Next time you do one of these things see the art in it

How you place the book back on the shelf
Opening your computer or turning it on
How you pet your pet
How you pull the blanket up over your in bed
Turning on and off the light
Yes it’s all art
As life is art
Just look around you
The chair you sit in
The scent you are smelling
how it was cooked & the smoke that rose from it when it was cooked
Such art every where

How do you put on your shoes to go to work,
For your hike, to the store or to go to those dance lessons/classes
It’s all beauty, it’s all art
It’s just how we look at it
Our lives are about art
See where art is all around you
Within you and is you
Art is life, life is art
Art

Heather Rhea Dawn

Dance with Presence, Dance with Life, Dance In Life!

2009-01-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

Dance with Presence, Dance with Life, Dance In Life!

Yes, Dance is the journey
Isn't it?
Yes it is.
The dance isn't the end point,
it is the now point,
the here and now point.
We are all dancing right now,
it's called life....this dance
The dance is life
Or is it life is the Dance.
I say yes to both
Be Present, Be here and now
Be Life
Be the dance
Allow your heart to sing each moment

Yes, sing, dance, feel
Let it be heard
And LIVE by IT
It screams to be lived by
It cries, it celebrates, it wishes, it hopes
Oh let it soar,let your heart be heard

Let you heart move your dance
This way your heart gets to dance
Be seen, be felt, be heard, and LIVED!
Yes be LIVED fully, right here right now.
So listen,
oh listen
listen so closely
so still-ly
yes, be still
be ever so quiet
you'll hear it
it will speak to you
so go in, close your beautiful eyes
let that heart, that big glorious heart of yours
be heard
and then dance it's dance
Celebrate it's passion, your desire
Expand, explore, explode!!!
As there is NOTHING we can't do
Nothing.

And the best thing we can do is dance our hearts desires!
Lets go in and rise up,
raise up out of our sleep
and LIVE OUR DREAMS

Let's live our dance, our song, our hearts words and feelings.
The time is now
Will you listen?
Will you dance now?
Maybe you can reach out for support if you feel you can't do it alone
We will support each other to grow, to lift our hearts
Let's dance, sing and listen together

Dance you dance
Sing your song
Live your heart's desire
Love yourself this much
To LISTEN, to LIVE, to BE, to BE YOU!

Dance with Presence, Dance with Life, Dance In Life!

YES! My Kitten Dances!!! Goals & Dreams!

2008-12-04T17:14:00.000-08:00

YES! My Kitten Dances!!!

What a wild, amazing and great month! Right now I’m in integration and recovery from so much love, healing and opening! WOW WOW WOW! It’s been a passionate month of growth, dance, connection and energy sharing!

Not sure how many read my last blog, I didn’t post it but it is here later on this page. But I have under gone some glorious Tantric healings that have completely opened me up to myself and released so many fears and opened to so much pleasure, joy and bliss that wore myself out. Sharing energy with people on the dance floor, shaking, vibrating and flowing in the bliss of connection, I found myself laughing, going in deep and coming out peaceful. Oh yes, life is so very good.

On top of this my birthday was last week, odd week for me in one way as I was so introverted, wanting to be inside, feeling and just to be with myself. But then having planned a party for myself and because of a certain internet networking group so many found out it was my birthday and so much love was outpoured on me. I had to reach out and into receive a deepening of receiving to take in all the love that was there, for me. There was a sharing of such gorgeous stories of my relationships with all of the people at my party as well as how they feel about me in their lives. It was an exercise of opening, expanding and allowing all of this in. I feel everyone should experience this at least once a year. We have no idea how we touch people.

And then of course on the day I got to got to go to dance and be celebrated by the lift, I was high on life on top of being in their hands, being held by their arms, hearts and legs. All I could do it laugh and celebrate in the bliss of all these loving being surrounding me, supporting me and celebrating me. WOW! YES! YUMMY! BLISS to the max! And then right after that a girlfriend depants-ed (how do you spell that, goodness) me! Yep, and of course what do I do, I squeal! One guy came up to say thanks for the squeal, as it drew more attention to you!

I have been doing dance classes at my home for the past few months and Monday I decided to step it up and actually teach some of the aerial contact, stretches and trust exercises, it was so fun. I loved it! What was even more fun is to find that my kitty loves to dance too! Yes she dances and now even more so. I will be walking around the house and she’ll come out and grab my leg and swing around, no claws just dancing. She’ll walk under us as we dance, go through our legs, rub up against us and I’ll pick her up from time to time to include her more in the contact dance. It’s so great! I love that she is so social, so willing to join, very confident with everything and knows she won’t get squashed.

So this time alone, I’ve been really feeling gratitude for so much in my life, the people, my health, my ability to dance, to teach my passion and to share this with the people in my life. Though my biggest thing I’m grateful for is my community, of dancers, of tanticas, my friends that touch me. My life is full, my heart if full, I am touched my the ones close to me, the ones that I touch and how we move, grow, laugh, cry and expand together. I finally have best friends to share my life with and that has been a long time. If you remember all those months ago, my first month in Thailand I put my intention to have more females in my life and have a best friend that is female. Well I have that now and then some!

That brings me to intentions for the coming year, which I am so very excited for as I feel so supported. It’s so easy to run from our dreams. Though my dreams have never really changed, maybe shifted but not changed since I was 4 years old. The main one is “I am a dancer” that is and has been and always will be my truth. So this coming year, I’m creating a life where dance is the base of my life. Performing, teaching, creating, opening to more and expanding in the light of dance, which is my soul. I want Dance to be the center of my life and will be and so it is! It’s time, at 39 years old, though I feel 26 years old, it’s time to live this dream. How about you, what is your dream, your unlived dream? Something to think about, feel into and go for.

I spend my days now listening to music, dancing, filing music, working out, thinking of new ways to teach, looking at how to shift my space I teach in now and make it bigger-some new redecorating is in order! It’s time, commitment and a little time and it will happen! What is even more incredible is how much support I’m getting in all of this. I have people wanting to support me in giving me more ideas on how I can expand my work. So I’m thrilled to be creating with people on this project of dance, living, supporting myself and creating a life of dance.

On top of all of this, I am getting the chance to support others in their dreams with possibly being in their videos, etc. More on that later.

Life is good here, still a bit internal at times, but it feels good, healthy and very self loving.
Thanks for being in my life, thanks for being the precious soul you are. I appreciate you.
Much love to you, Heather

PS. Remember to tell the ones you love, that you love them, as you may not get a second chance! XXXOOO

A Real Day Off!!!

2008-11-24T08:49:00.000-08:00

November 18, 2008

A Real Day Off!

I woke up this morning from a very blissful yesterday. I had a great work out yesterday, I did some Tantric work with a friend that was so healing for both of us. I was the giver but man oh man, you really heal on both sides, being the giver and receiver in this glorious work. It opens one up to all the issues at hand, our blocks, fears and has us go in deeper, dive in, feel, sense, eyes open….fully awake, incredibly conscious we grow, let go and go through our stuff. It is so magical to be doing such deep work, so consciously. I can’t tell you how fulfilling it is to be touched consciously, to touch consciously.

It doesn’t matter if it’s sexual or arousing, non arousing…it’s the fact that you can feel love coming into your body, or going out into another’s body. That bring a certain centered, energy rising, relaxed feeling within. It is so comforting to the soul to know that the one who is touching is touching out of love, not need, not wondering about the next step or if we are going have sex…..as it’s all healing….there is no sex, there is no next step, it’s conscious loving touch, it’s raising the energy and letting it expand and open and then spreading it through the body and then raising, relaxing all over again. It’s expansion like I’ve never known and all in safe hands of a friend, not a lover, just a loving friend.

So after this Tantric afternoon I went to a friends place to dance amongst friends. Through opening to give this work earlier it opened me to really give and receive energy in the dance and Pow, Boom, Bang!!!! Passion, love, heart opening experiences happened. The fear of “what if….this or what if that” left the building, my energy was open, everyone felt it and thank goodness it was contagious and we all just took off in sensual delight of a dance. I raised my friends into the air, I taught the dance I love so much through flying them into the air, having them laugh, melt and fall in love with the dance even more. Honestly it just cracks me up to lift someone and have them immediately laugh, look at me and the feeling that pours from them is love, love of the dance, love for being there and the love for the dancer holding them, that would be me-it’s powerful. One guy that showed up that night, new to energy got so opened, he was vibrating for some days afterward, very powerful stuff and so healing.

Since it was my friends birthday and after a lovely delicious and intimate night of dance we all gave him a clothed massage until I broke out the ice cream…..we used him as beautiful tray and ate the ice cream off his back….well at least the women did, the men weren’t too into that with another man. He laughed with joyous bliss and we closed in a very intimate hug of the group.

This morning, after 8 hours of sleep, waking up at 9am, I curled up, snuggled and cuddled with Sukhi, she purred and just drank it in. Then I was up to check emails, get some breakfast going, just being in the moment. It was lovely. I decided to give Sukhi her first bath for no reason but to get her used to the water. I went into the tub with her. I put her down into the tub and she turned in fright and hung on to me, no claws-amazing how she can do that. She was so scared…I just held her, let her move, let her cling to me and then when she realized I was there, she wasn’t going to drown she relaxed and sat there with me. She allowed me to put water on her as she looked up at me checking in with me. I think making sure she was ok. I feel since I was in there with her she felt safer. It was a bonding moment for us. I grabbed her towel, wrapped her up in it and took her into the living room, rocking her like a baby, drying her slowly as she gazed up at me knowing she was ok and feeling safe in my arms.

After putting her down I walked into the other room, I sat down and picked up one of my Tantra books to read more on the subject. Reading about women and Tantra, and how important having our own practice is and how our bodies respond to stimulation, orgasm, sex and pregnancy. It was so powerful to read about. It got me very centered, very here and now. It woke something up in me even more powerful then it was just yesterday, a centeredness, an awakening to do the practice and go to share the energy with others.

As the day moved on, I drove down to the beach and took a walk. The beach beckoned me like a moth craving that flame. I needed to be outside, I needed the fresh air, the sound of the sea and the sand beneath my feet. As I walked something told me to stop, stop here. So I did. I lay down on my sarong and went into this deep place of the now. My mind of course left and came back but honestly there wasn’t a whole lot of attachment to the thoughts, the thoughts just passed. So gorgeous to just feel my body on the sand, to be present, to feel my body pressing into the sand, the perfect temperature of the sun radiating on my body, the breeze was just at the right speed for comfort and presence.

I stayed there for I’m not sure how long….all I do know is two things, one is I usually get off the beaching saying “I have to do this or that” pushing myself to leave, but today there wasn’t that, I was just in bliss for having this glorious time there, I felt very full and not rushed. As I stood and walked to my car I felt, now this is a day off. No plans, no where to be, just being present, reading, writing, being in nature….opening, seeing the thoughts, feeling my feelings and moving forward. I learned so much in the time of relaxation, no stressful thoughts-well one, when this man yelled at me on the road, but oh well….: ) I moved on. I got back to my car and the second thing I noticed was that I’d been out there for 2 ½ hours, WOW, how lovely. Then it really felt like a real day off.

Last week I went with a girlfriend to Deep Creek. This is a magical place the people drive 2- 2 ½ hours to hike down to this river about 45 minutes to let go of the city. You strip off. No need for clothes there, there were a few locals there as it wasn’t the weekend. And we all sat in the numerous natural hot springs, then dip in the ice cold river and back to the hot springs. Laying on the earth was just lovely, feeling the warmth, the cold, all of it was so lovely. It was a hard decision at first to go, I felt like I was playing hooky from school, which I didn’t even do in school…but I had no clients that day and said “what the heck” and went for it. I’m glad I did. I came back to dance with friends until midnight and then passed out.

That relaxed feeling from the hot springs stayed with me through out the next day.
I see everyone around me, including myself going through so much lately, so much is being worked through. I think it’s partly the holidays coming up, the new year coming up pressing on them that another year is here and the reality that dreams want to come out of all of us and they want to be looked at, felt and manifested. I can feel them all happening.

I know for me I am being requested more and more every week to teach dance so I feel I’m weeks away from that, maybe sooner. I teach it to people anyway, so why not have a class with it. How fun! We might as well enjoy what we do for work, it allows more success into our lives and passion for others to see, feel and grow from.

I’ve been thinking about success and what it takes to be a successful person. And what I have really gotten is not that they have made a lot of money, the dollar amount doesn’t make someone successful. It’s the amount of joy and happiness they get from their work and the allowance of love all around them. This is what makes one successful. So if we can just remember to do what we love, what we are passionate about we will grow in success, as people will see you love it and they will come to you. We’ve all seen the opposite, why not choose the other way, it really is the easier path, for the heart and soul that is and sometimes even for the body.

That night, last Tuesday I received another Tantric Healing session and it was powerful, the tears, the tenderness, the passion, the ecstaticness, sadness and so much that came up to be seen, felt, embraced, breathed through and to be held in the light of love no matter what. Such beautiful, healing work. I am grateful for this time, for this work and for the power to grow.

May you be healing, may you find success in all areas of your life and may you be surrounded by love always.
Love and blessings, Heather

Mommihood, Dreams Coming True & On International Radio!

2008-11-10T10:27:00.000-08:00

Hello there,
How are you? I hope you are finding fun, play and exploration in your life everyday! For me Sukhi is keeping me on my toes. I really have gotten a small taste of what it would be like to be a mommy. And oh my goodness the motherly intincts that kick in are powerful- to protect, to clean, to nurture, to care for. I was driving her in my car and I was extra aware of her being in my car and driving more safely.

In the photos above are a few of her favorite places to be-in the window for fresh air and light, next to my computer when I am working and then a few with me. She will also lay in the bed of a plant I have too.

I have a funny story, this happened this morning. Now Sukhi has a fascination with the bathroom. I'm not sure if it's because the door is always shut and she can't get in there all the time or what, but she loves to play with the little hair catchers and fly them all over the bathroom. She loves to study, sit, lick and play in the sink and the tub. She has even gotten so curious whilst I'm taking a bath that she fell in. Oh the poor thing didn't know what hit her. I wrapped her up in my towel and cuddled her up until she was ready to come out of the towel.

Well this morning beat that. She heard me in the bathroom, she came flying around the corner and without knowing or thinking she flew up onto the toilet, where the toilet seat was up and in she went into the toilet-YIKES!!! To make it worse what she didn't know was it wasn't clean water-not that you wanted to know that.

I realized the next step and chased after her, hoping she wouldn't get on anything, I grabbed her, put her in the tub and she officially had her first bath. She did so well...so much that by the end I didn't even have to keep my hands on her. She just sat there and got bathed, rinsed and then let me wrap her up, dry her off until she was ready to lick herself off and go off to play again.

I have to say she has really changed my life, opening my heart, showing me how to just cuddle with her in the mornings, she makes me realize there is more to life then to focus on work, though I almost feel that there is space for me to really go in and dream my dreams, and now they are manifesting.

Firstly, about 3 months ago I realized day and night I started really dreaming of the dance the I do with Rob, which we call Aerial Contact. We tend to dance and create more and more of it 3-6 times a week. It so thrills and excites me. I actually get depressed if I don't get to do it for a week, my whole system is just so happy when I'm flying. But something shifted about 6-8 weeks ago with it. About 2 months ago I started having dance in my home every Thursday and once I started that I started lifting and flying people. I have no fell in love with flying people, lifting them into the air and just allowing them to float, fly, flow and dance, swing or what ever they need to do.

I love doing this especially with people who haven't flown before as once they come down off me they look completely blissed out. It's as if they had a little peice of heaven, one of my friends told me it was as if he went back to the womb or being held by his mother, very safe and held so warmly.

Men have a special reaction to it especially when a woman lifts them. First none of them can believe me, being around 125 lbs, can lift them being 165-185 lbs. But after some practice and time I can do it and it's so fun. Now I can't take them to my shoulders but it's so delicious to take them around my waist and as high as I can,sometimes to my chest. It's so much fun and they are just completely in heaven to be held, flown and slowly moved.

Even some of my female friends are just so excited they can't get enough. I keep getting people asking me to teach it, so I am teaching it more and more in my home and will probably make it more of a class soon instead of just friends coming over. One of my next steps is to start performing this work. It's so powerful and intimate. It teaches people balance, slowing down, strength and how to be in relationship with another and it truly is a meditation. It takes me to God or Spirit higher and faster then anything I have ever felt in my life.

I have been turned on to something in the past few weeks that involves lifting and I had never thought about. But it combines Acrobats with Yoga and after watching these people lift people into yoga poses with their legs and arms, I just had to be a part of it. I took two classes. The second one sold me on it. I was in an odd mood all day-it had been a hard week with work, etc, but I went the class and came out high as a kite and my business turned around the next day!

So the following weekend I went off to their 3 day workshop and explored some really fun work of Acroyoga. What I really loved about it is how community oriented it is, how you stretch with others and really get to connect with people.

Life is really taking me in a direction I love. I am getting ready for another change that has to do with dance, but it is still brewing and I can let you know when it is manifested.

The other HUGE thing that has happened lately was I was on International Radio the other day. This has been in the plans for months and it finally happened. It went out to over a million people world wide. This woman who does a radio show dreamt of interviewing someone that teaches Tantra/Sacred Sexuality and her name was Heather. So she went into her computer, punched that in and came up with me. We got along great. Deborah is an amazing spirit, the woman who interviewed me. We just really click. So we put it into action, it got postponed several times and then finally Thursday we had a great one hour session and she wants me back for Valentines. It will be up on the internet for uploading for free for 3 months in 2 weeks. So I'll let you know about that.

That interview really lifted me, I was so excited. This week with the whole president election, I think with astrology, etc everyone is in an emotional state. Most everyone I know are really inward and having breakdowns and break throughs whilst spending time alone. I have felt this hugely. Firstly on Tuesday as the election was going on and the day went on I could feel people starting to breathe. It was as if all of of the US or LA had been holding their breath and when they realized we were about to have the change we needed and it was here everything started to relax.

So then by that night everyone exploded in tears, laughter, the fear was released. On Wednesday is when it really hit me and I just let the tears flow, finally, the change has happened. I could feel the Universe around me breathe and my shoulders could come down and I could melt into my life. The moment I released all the pent up holding, pain, fear, angst and the relief came into me, knowing the business would be looking up and soar. Sure enough, I got booked Wednesday. I was blessed last week with some great new clients that I've already had repeat sessions with.

So the US is calming. I'm very excited by this. Finally, we had a real election, got a real life family president, no cheating on the ballets, no fake president, a real person and for the first time an African American President for us, but more importantly is a real family man. WE need that for America.

So between dance, friends, my kitty, working on an invention for people to help their dance, hiking, working out, lifting people and back writing, (started my writing class again!!!!) I am busy, though some slow times here and there. Actually starting to buddy up with people to get projects done. As us self employed people can really get un-action oriented so we are really reaching out and starting to feel a need to keep one another on track. It's very exciting.

May all your loving heart dreams come true. I would love to hear what you are up to. Even if it's the struggle for getting out of the struggle. I've been there, I'm there almost every week at times. Life has it's ups and downs, we just have to keep thinking the next higher vibrational thought. The thought that supports us to be more positive, go further, reach higher. We all need support, so reach out, the pain we all have is a shared pain, we are never alone and maybe someone will inspire you to look a little more positive, give you a hand with a loving word and then life will brighten up.

I've been listening to Esther & Jerry Hicks lately and they just blow me away. I love it. I use their work so often now within my life. I highly recommend them. She channels a spirit named Abraham who is actually several spirits but has much to teach and share with us about moving into a higher frequency.

I send you love and many hugs, Blissfully, Heather

Here is a poem I wrote about Sukhi the other day:
November 5, 2008

Sukhi in the Morning

I woke to her in the curve of my neck
Yes, nuzzled in there
Nice and tight
Warm and softly breathing
I nuzzled her with my chin
She took her arm across my chest
Pressing in closer
Relaxing deeper
More contently
Ever so sweetly
As I petted her with my chin
She started purring
Yes it got so loud with love
So in love
It made my heart sing
After minutes she rose to face me
With her sleepy little face
Her golden eyes not quite open
Her half black, partially white and orange face
Looking at me sleepily
And I knew,
I knew
I am her mommy
This is Sukhi in the Morning with Me

It's a GIRL!!!! Sukhi!!!

2008-10-08T17:53:00.001-07:00

Hello there Blessed Ones,
How are you? Much is going on recently, lots of yummy things. But firstly, I have added a member to my family!!! Yes that is right, I have a baby now. She is gorgeous, lovely, soft, sweet, gentle and purrs me to sleep at night. Yes she is a kitten. She was born the last week in July and she has been a HUGE light in my life for the past month now. Her name is Sukhi, which means "to be happy". I first heard the name in India, and I fell in love with it. And she is a very happy one too.

My first night with her sleeping with me, she put her forehead on mind and vibrated my head to the sound of her very loud purring. As sweet as it was and ever so delightful and wanting to stay there forever in that delicious space, I couldn't sleep with that motor of hers going. She sleeps right up against me every night and cuddles and purrs and is just a love every morning now. At first she just wanted to play as she was used to her 3 siblings which were in the other room with my roommate. But after they all moved out Sukhi completly calmed down the mornings, well until I get up that is. Then it's time to play with me, my foot, knee, claw up my pant leg to sit on my lap. Yes I have tons of little holes in my legs now. Not very good for shorts, but if it's hot enough everything-scratches and all show.

She is a life send though. I feel she has bonded me to something more then just myself. It is such a beautiful thing to take time out each day to love on her, play with her, talk with her. I feel like my life has so much more meaning now after I committed to taking her on as my little one. I watch her grow every day and she seems huge now. I tried to convince her to age but in a small body but she seems not to be listening.

She is such a treat in my life. I have had some fun talking to people about the best way to care for her and feeding her raw food such as meat and veggies and flax seed oil for her gorgeous coat. I feel like a mother really.

Though the only thing I can say I don't like about being a parent is, how many times a day do we adults say no to the little ones. It drives me crazy. I want to just say yes to her. But now I know why we as humans hear no so many times by the time we are 3 years old. It's probably the most popular word and repressive. But with a kitten, what other word can I use, so I try sounds and other little things. Finding ways of showing her not to do this or that-like eating the plant or climbing up the curtains or wall hangings.

She has taken to sleeping in the pots in the cabinets....makes you very aware of washing them before you go to cook, though it is precious. She has all kinds of lovely things that makes her unique. She loves to play in the tub-no water of course, unless it's after a shower, she likes being in there. She crawls in between the glass and the screen in the windows and she crawls up the glass, not the screen. It's like she is rock climbing on glass. I love it, as long as it stays on the glass. She loves to hang out in the corner of my home where I have a little shrine with photos of Amma and the Dali Lama. That seems to be her favorite corner.

She loves to eye gaze at times too, which I love. But then it gets a little intense for her at times and when it does she wiggles closer and closer to me and then reaches out and WHACKS my nose. The last two times her claws were not in, so my nose is just now healing. Not used to all the scratches. But honestly when you have so much love for a little being you don't really think about it. Like her breaking part of my lotion holder I have had since I was 16 years old and love so much, it's beautiful not to get mad, it's just a thing and I can fix it really.

So I'm in love, if you can't tell. There is so much more to my life right now. It's explosive and beautiful. It is the most intense time for me of feeling I'm FINALLY coming into what I am really to be doing in this life to fulfill the rest of my life. Though I don't have time right now to expound on that. But it is GREAT! I look forward to sharing it with you. Maybe tomorrow if I get the chance.
I send you so much love and so many hugs, Love, Heather

More Photos of Rob's Birthday!

2008-09-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

Yes! So much love, happiness and joy here with our gorgeous dance community of friends. The bond of dancers is powerful and can light a fire like nothing else!
Much love, many blessings and many dances left in all of us! I'll see you in our dance of life! Love, Heather

Rob's Surprise Birthday Party!!!!

2008-09-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

And YES it was a surprise! Thank goodness! I love these photos, show so much love. But what I find funny is the one me, that looks like I'm 3 years old waiting for the balloon to come down so I can "get it" hit it back up. But look at the bliss Rob was in on his special day, nothing beats that!
Love it! Great to give back to someone who gives so much, so thrilled so many showed up! Much love and thanks to everyone for showing up and all your lovely gifts by your presence and words. Love, Heather

Dancing at my house! First night!

2008-08-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

so were all mushed together
slow, softly, cuddling
dog piled, moving slowly
stretching, pushing, rising
falling, blissing, smelling
feeling, touching, tasting,some even sweating
sweet nectar of life
3 boys 2 girls, a pile of love
a pile of love
mashed in with each other by choice
through love, the the softly lite room
of life and dance
yes, life and dance
dance is my life
life is a dance

-Heather Rhea Dawn-

mmmmmm...oh, you. August 22, 2008

2008-08-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

yes, my sweet friend
thank you for last night
so delicious to have you here
oh oh oh.....to hold you, dance with you
be near you, what a treat
love love love....oh yes love
i loved our melting pot of friends
moving differently together
yes moving differently together
like life really, yes life
life is good my friend
so happy you are back in my life
in my playground
my childhood friend, play play play
let's feel, play, grow, expand, cry, be in joy and
bliss-out together, bliss-in together
my childhood friend, yes childhood friend, you, that's you
my friend
I look forward to more of this, Sunday, next week maybe
you are always invited to move with me, in my home
on the streets, in a car, on a trail....yes move with me
beautiful!
you me, moving, dancing, in words, no words
in joy and bliss, yet in tears and sorrow
it's all good, oh it's all good

I hug you, yes I hug you, I hug your soul
your soul
your soul has been hugged
I like that, "like pouring milk", yes like pouring milk you said
so is love
love is like milk pouring over you, sometimes slow and soft and flowing
and sometimes fast and almost shocking
And then sensuously falling...like laying back on a bed of feathers as milk pours over you
love pours over you

and then there is
sex on a stick.....Oh I like this one too...you said it....oh that can be taken so many different delicious ways
yes so delicious, or de-lick-sious
get the visual? I'm sure you do my sensuous, luscious one
licking......ummmmm...yes you thought I was going to say it
nope, you know
you know.

-Heather Rhea Dawn-

Love, Focus, Creativity and Passionate Living!

2008-08-19T13:17:00.001-07:00

Hello there,
Wow it's been a month since I've written. I had no idea that much time had flown by!!! How are you? How is life for you? For me life is like it has never been before. There is a peace within me. My heart seems to be opening more and more. And ask that happens my creativity, independence, my need to ask for what I need, make a stand for a boundary or need or desire. It's a powerful feeling to feel so much love and to be able to have it to give, not only to others, but to yourself.

I'm still learning this and also learning to own the power in the love within me and not crawl down out of my heart when I do something that I feel is making as stand for me and my needs and having to disappoint another through it. I get that we will always disappoint someone, maybe hurt someone by our choices of loving ourselves, but we have to live with us for the rest of our lives and it shows the world how to stand for themselves in the mean time. Not an easy thing to do sometimes, but to give space, permission to just love and love the people being triggered in their process of it all.

I have gotten to open my eyes hugely this month of how to care take with so many and to change that is a shock either to them or for me. My time I spend alone is so much nicer now. It's really quality time doing what I want to be doing. And doing it with such passion and vigor that I didn't even hear the phone ring.

I'm getting closer and closer to the goals and dreams I want to expand on. They are just lovely and feels so good to be working toward them. I can share a few but the other ones are brewing and need to be held for a bit time still.

I am in the process of making my garage a creative space, ordering everything to do batiking and now just looking for the right table. I'm looking at buying a serger to do the sewing I want to do. To make the creations I dream of. Who knows all the ideas that can come out of this. I'm actually considering taking private sewing lessons, since I've basically taught myself to sew since I was 16 years old.

I went camping for the first time in my life alone! I drove up to Ojai, about 1 1/2 hours away if you go the freeways. It's lovely, ever so lovely up there. I turned off the main road to the tiny road to get there and all of a sudden a whiff licorice filled all my senses as I drove up the windy road to my camp site. I hung in my hammock, played in the river, took a walk and fixed some dinner that night.

The next day was the best. I took off onto a trail I'd been recommended and met up with some locals and they said "you don't want to go on that one, all the people go there, we are going to the best place". So I tagged along and who knows what eye candy was held and the other spot, but as we went up this trail, turned on this one, curved over here and went boulder hopping here, river crossing there, off the trail and around the rocky path there, we came to the most awesome swimming hole!!!! Wow!

Not knowing I was going swimming off came the clothes to underwear and t-shirt and SPLASH I went in! These girls were great, early 20's, really peaceful, fun, down to earth, wanting so share this place with me. Though told me I couldn't tell all of LA about it! We swam, played, ate fruit, watched the water snakes, I watched them screech away from them and have these tiny things keep them from being in the water. But after a bit, realizing they weren't attacking me they realized they could go in. But what was so hilarious to watch them not take their eyes off of the snakes. The snakes were probably much more scared of us as I see it, we are HUGE! But then I've always been the crazy female that loved snakes, ever since I can remember.

I was so grateful they showed me this place, so very very grateful. When their group of 6 male friends showed up to go for a dip and then for them to continue to the next swimming hole and up to a waterfall-only 5 more hours, and it was already 4pm, I declined. I hugged them good bye and thanked them and slowly made my way out, taking in the view of the trees, river and trying to remember which way was out. Luckily I have a good sense of direction and got out. It was a little piece of heaven back there. How lovely to be taken under a locals wing and shown the way to a fabulous place to be in nature. They also had directed me to the most adorable cafe in the next town over.

I got there and it was a inside and outside cafe, it had a chai bar, so you go up choose your size, pour it and pay for it and have a sit, yes have a sit as I say!!! Free wireless services and some groovy band beat to go with it. So nice to sit outdoors and have a chai!

The next morning I woke up in dire need to dance, I went further out looking for a flat space, danced for a half hour and just cut loose only to realize now I just wanted to dance more. So running back to my camp, throwing everything in my car as I fixed breakfast and driving just at or a smidge above the speed limit I got myself down to my dance class. Leaving at 11:06am, when class started at 11:15am, I drove the 1.5 hours and got there with 1.5 hours of dance left to get my groove on. It was PERRRRRFECT! I had the best dances with everyone I came in contact with and got to dance out all the dances I needed to dance.

Afterward I went to hang with everyone from dance and just had a blast connecting with them. It must have been 5 or 6pm by the time I made it home to unload my stuff and then head to the airport to pick up Rob since he'd been out of town-I wasn't supposed to come back until Monday, but I had a feeling I may come back Sunday so I went to pick him up.

That weekend I started writing poetry and it still fills me, it's so nice to create such pieces of art. Just to sit down and have it flow out, not being work at all but just letting it spill forth.

This past week I must have danced 11 or 12 hours. I got back into doing some Dance Alive classes, got together with friends a few times to dance, went to a friends party, danced there as well as my Sunday class. Just lovely! I may start having dancing at my home every week too....so many wonderful ideas flowing out of me right now, it's the time to embrace our creativity and just go for it. I see it all around me too and it's so inspiring. Watching people I have known for years just blossom into full, complete and grown up people. But still embracing their child like self as well, so passionate and alive!

I had to get really focused on what I wanted when it came down to going through the colon hydrotherapy training...it was a challenge but I got that I am just a curious sort that loves that kind of info but it's not for me to be doing, I just love the knowledge of it all.

Then in canceling Canada, the class wasn't coming together and I really got how much I just needed to be home, nest some, feel my roots and stop "going" so much. So it was a relief though I miss seeing my girlfriend up there. I know it was the right choice for me.

So this month has been about focus, creativity, love, seeing what I'm passionate about, getting more into my own-ness, my one-ness, independence and dance and explore within that as well as be true to myself.

May you be finding and living your creative life, may your heart come alive with everything you do and may you bring power and abundance to that which you love. Be the light, be your love, and allow every part of you to shine and life will fall into place beautifully. As someone told me once, "we don't have to know the, how, we just have to know the, what, and go for it." Meaning we don't need to know how we are going to get to where we are going, we just need to know what we want and allow for that intention to blossom and after many baby steps we will get there.

Much love and many hugs to you, Heather

My love....

2008-08-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hello my gorgeous, spritely and going through the muck of life Goddess!!!

Like that title? I made it up just for you, just this second, oh yes, yes, just for you! Say it 5 times fast and keep a straight face, oh yes, oh yes, do, please do......I hope that lifted your heart up and out of your chest to beam as brightly as we all, the world, see you. And still it's ok to be exactly where you are too. And still it's ok to be exactly where you are. Yes.

I love you, you are great, special, no one can replace you, your dance, your light, your breath, your talent, your scent, no one, no one, no one.......get it....you are one of a kind.....precious, like a rare gem, precious! YOU, yes YOU, YES YOU! YOU YOU YOU YOU!

Oh my love, I hug you, I really HUG you. Funny, I can see myself at your place, all cuddled up together after sharing a glorious meal and just eye gazing, maybe sharing, laughing, possibly tears.....quiet...yes quiet. You and I....You and I.

Being, sharing in the silence of isness, what is, beingness, Being, yes being, You and I.

Bliss! Thank you!
With Radiant Love,
-Heather Rhea Dawn-

This is to you, you know who you are!

I Cannot Make You Safe, August 7th, 08

2008-08-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

I cannot make you safe
You have to find that within you
I can tell you everything I know
Everything I said
Everything I felt
But you……You and only you can make you safe
You have to trust
Finding that path of trusting you, your choices
That is all of our paths
I cannot give that to you
So what ever you need to know
What ever you need to do
I can hold your hand
I can lend you my ear
But my love, you have to go alone and find your truth
Trust and feeling safe comes from within
I know, I have looked outside too
I have asked your questions
I have feared the answers not being true
I have feared the answers, period
We are in need of the truth, but the truth is within
It starts with us, our inner higher being
Our heart tells us

So I won’t change for you
I’ve done that, it does not work
I will be me
I’ll do this not only for me but for you
As for me being me, will help you grow and if I can do that, it’s what I wish
So I will not change so you will feel safe, please don’t ask, though you have, I will not
And please, you don’t change so I can feel safe
As I too need to feel safe within me and that is embracing you being you
Our growth will be much stronger & more powerful in just accepting & embracing each other
Not fearing each other, by asking each other to change
So I will not change and will not ask you to change

If you have a question, ask, I am here
I have nothing to hide
My hiding is over

Do I still feel fear, oh yes, but I feel it, face it and go through it
I pray I stay uncaged and lift the curtain to show all my flaws, my fear, my vulnerability
All those soft, tender areas that are painful to touch and are sensitive to even look at
Those little pink parts in me that scream to be healed, to receive love
And I pray that you will not fear my sensitivities or pull away, but embrace them
As I am you, you are me, and together we are one
Please, don’t run from my imperfections, my vulnerability….as mine are yours too
And yours are within me
We are all each others teachers, healers, students
Please don’t run, we are learning, if you allow it, we are growing, together
I am not perfect,
We are not perfect
But the need to be with each other, within community
This is where we grow, expand, heal and see each other in the bigger sense of the word
Please take my hand, let’s walk together as one
Let’s heal together, support each other
When the ground gets loose with soil and you start to fall, I’ll extend my hand and help you back up
I am not perfect, I pray you can forgive and have compassion for my imperfections, embrace them and see that I too have tripped and fallen
I too have lessons to learn and need a hand from time to time

So…..I will not change for you
I will grow
I will honor you
I will listen and share what ever I can to support you
But….. do you want a teacher or just someone to hear you?
Someone to show you the way or someone to just support you and not show you the truth?
If you allow me, I can be your teacher as you are mine
Will you allow me in?

I cannot make you safe
Safety comes from within
Safety is within

I cannot make you safe
-Heather Rhea Dawn-

A Poem for You- Dance with God!

2008-08-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

For you my love, thanks for being an inspiration to me. For as I dance with you I find, see, feel and smell God, through you-

Dance with God!

When I dance with you
My heart sings
Yes it sings
To the heavens above
It sings the most beautiful music
High, clear, crisp notes
The notes float as I dip and soar
Within your arms
Your hands that hold me so securely, so safely
It is there that I fly
It is there with you
On the dance floor
In your loving embrace, that is where I melt, float & explode open
To meet God, the God in You
Within your eyes, I see God
Within your soul I feel God
Within your touch
I know, I know who I am, who you are, who God is
We become one, you and I
And together we are Oneness, Flow, Universal Love, Passion
We Glow
We Are God
In our dance, We Are God
Let’s continue our song, our flight, our explosion of life
On the ecstatic floor of life
Let’s flood the earth with our love, our light
And dance our Hearts desire
You and I and God, as One
We Dance
Dance as God
-Heather Rhea Dawn-

Dance is My Heart!

2008-08-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

I Dance

I dance because it's who I am

I dance as it shows my soul

It bares my soul.......to me, to others, to you

I share my dance as it gets me closer to You, to God, to Me

My dance is who I am, it's what I breathe, I eat, I feel, I see, I cry, I laugh and I play

Without it.....I am nothing

It's who I am

It saves me from my mind-the chatter

It saves me from going crazy

I meet you there...yes I meet YOU there, as it's where I meet ME there and it's the only place I can meet anyone truly.

Well, there and in the breath, but where is dance if there is no breath and where is there breath with no dance?

They go hand and hand

I dance you in, I breathe you in, and as I do I breathe me in, I breathe me in fully

As it is my flow

It's my heart

Dance is my breath

Yes, my breath

Without it I die

Yes without it I Die

Do you feel that? Hear that? I die without it.

I've died before, it's painful, it's lonely, there is anguish

The heart beat continues but I am not there, I am dead, I did not dance

But now I do, so I breathe, I live, I feel and I DANCE

It's my life....what is your dance, what is your life?

My life is dance, my dance is breath, my breath is life and that....is my HEART!

It's where I meet You..... Me..... & God

DANCE is my Heart, Dance IS my Heart, Dance is my HEART!

Dance is who I am.

Dance!

-Heather Rhea Dawn-

When will you follow your Heart?

2008-08-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

When will we wake up?

When will we wake up and only do what our heart wants us to?

When will we take the chance and follow our heart?

Our Heart, it is the one true thing that wants to be listened to

What is it saying?

What is your Heart saying?

What is Our Heart saying?

The One Heart

The Heart beat of life

When will we follow our Heart?

Today? Tomorrow? When?

When will you follow your Heart?

And when will I?

The Heart Knows!

-Heather Rhea Dawn-

Compassion

2008-08-05T21:57:00.000-07:00

Compassion: Universal Panacea

Only compassion is therapeutic, because all that is ill in man is because of lack of love. All that is wrong with man is somewhere associated with love. He has not been able to love, or he has not been able to receive love. He has not been able to share his being. That’s the misery. That creates all sorts of complexes inside.

Those wounds inside can surface in many ways: they can become physical illness, they can become mental illness — but deep down man suffers from lack of love. Just as food is needed for the body, love is needed for the soul. The body cannot survive without food, and the soul cannot survive without love. In fact, without love the soul is never born — there is no question of its survival.

That’s why I say compassion is therapeutic. What is compassion? Compassion is the purest form of love. Sex is the lowest form of love, compassion the highest form of love. In sex the contact is basically physical; in compassion the contact is basically spiritual. In love, compassion and sex are both mixed, the physical and the spiritual are both mixed. Love is midway between sex and compassion.

You can call compassion prayer also. You can call compassion meditation also. The highest form of energy is compassion. The word compassion is beautiful: half of it is passion — somehow passion has become so refined that it is no more like passion. It has become compassion.

In compassion, you simply give. In love, you are thankful because the other has given something to you. In compassion, you are thankful because the other has taken something from you; you are thankful because the other has not rejected you. You had come with energy to give, you had come with many flowers to share, and the other allowed you, the other was receptive. You are thankful because the other was receptive.

Compassion is the highest form of love.

The greatest anguish in life is when you cannot express, when you cannot communicate, when you cannot share. The poorest man is he who has nothing to share, or who has something to share but has lost the capacity, the art, of how to share it; then a man is poor.

The sexual man is very poor. The loving man is richer comparatively. The man of compassion is the richest — he is at the top of the world. He has no confinement, no limitation. He simply gives and goes on his way. He does not even wait for you to say a thank-you. With tremendous love he shares his energy.

This is what I call therapeutic.

Unless compassion has happened to you, don’t think that you have lived rightly or that you have lived at all.

Compassion is the flowering. And when compassion happens to one person, millions are healed. Whosoever comes around him is healed. Compassion is therapeutic.

Osho

Photos, Mexico!

2008-07-20T08:19:00.000-07:00

This is the lovely Lab, Macho, I met on the beach with his owner. The purple outfit is the one that was loaned to me for Bling Bling night-as it had little sparkly things on it. The third one is of two men walking up the beach playing music, probably on their way to work or maybe it was their work. This is the pharmacy that sells Viagra, right there, on the sign and a list of a number of things can get drugged up on! And then there are the swing bars, the customers just sit on these swings as they drink themselves silly or just enjoy the view! They had these in town and the resort on the "dark side".
Enjoy! Love, Heather

Playgirl, Beach, Peaceful Within, Inspired

2008-07-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hello there,

Photos: they are from places I went snorkeling, I went up in that big sail and jumped out into the ocean. In one place you can see the fish from before you dive in to go snorkeling, the one photos is from the octipus they got out there and inked everyone, fun fun, and then there is the ocean, the gorgeous ocean that speaks so beautifully!

How are you? How is life? I am good, I’m back in LA again and readjusting.

Just imagine, waking up from a great night sleep of 8 hours, it’s 6:30am. You stretch, from the tips of your fingers to the absolute ends of your toes. The soft cotton sheet surrounding you, in the perfect temperature of the room. Your first thought is, “life is amazing”…opening your eyes only to confirm that, with the white soft curtains surrounding the bed draping down and bound in each corner. You get up slowly, walk to the curtains that hold the sunlight out and pull them back. The warmth of the day that was held back even at 6:30am nudges in, you smell the warmth and it softens your sinus cavities and your shoulders relax even more. Pulling open the other drapes of the oval shaped window area that opens to the bathtub on the otherside that looks out over the ocean. Stepping to 3 feet to the window, opening the window and the screen, to unblock anything from really seeing the shocking view of the light blue to dark blue ocean, the gorgeous sky with a few white puffy clouds, the sun hasn’t quite made it up yet but it’s on it’s way, almost there…..looking down the clear blue swimming pool with it’s alley of water that goes to each ground floor room below, as I stand the 3rd floor looking at the whiteness of the resort glow from the sun coming up and showing it’s light onto it, awakening it to the day.

Seeing one or two couples starting to stir down there, reading in a chair, or the hanging lounge beds made for two. Smelling the soft ocean breaze, “Life is good”, yes it is, “all the time” as I hear Michael Beckwith in my head and the congregation. Sitting, breathing it all in through my nose, skin, eyes, mouth and even more peace flows over me, feeling ever so lucky to be here now. How fortunate. Just taking it all in, a clear mind, a passionate draw to be there now.

Taking up a book and reading on what ever your choice of the day it-health, Tantra, India, Love, etc. Then grabbing your durable sandals, short shorts, no shirt needed, your key, hat and sunglasses and off you are to your morning walk. You walk out of your room, “can I be nude here……? Yes, oh yes, I can”, such freedom, the sun shining on your skin and it warms to it with a little wetness coming to the surface, it illuminates, shines and shimmers in the light as you walk toward the beach. You skin that is already bronzed with the sun, used to the light of it all, the ocean breeze touching your breast and having you feel so alive, so awake and thrilled.

Walking over the coral beach and large sand pebbles, up over to the hard coral that is exposed, taking in that you are walking over shells that used to have living critters in them, some still do. Hermit crabs that jump back inside when you kneel down to them or the snails that are sucked up to a rock or another shell or smooth surface of some kind. Picking up a few gorgeous pieces of coral on your way, watching the waves come and splash upon the coral, high into the sky at times, the blue turning white in the sky and falling into the blue foamy ocean all over again.

The ocean taking taking away any worry you may have, cleaning your mind and allowing you to just be present with it. As if it was talking with you silently, collaborating with your soul and your desire to be here now, present. Your mind wants to kick in but then it lets go. Finding an amazing place to take in the view of the ocean, watching the sun come up, just taking in mother nature at her finest.

Walking back seeing the ocean in a completely more colorful view as you are looking in the direction of the sun this time around, seeing what the sun sees and you notice that the sun always sees the most colorful view of things as it shines light on everything. Wouldn’t that be nice to shine light on everything and everyone we look upon. Such beauty.

Going back, sitting down to a breakfast of fruit, granola, and yogurt looking out over the pool, the waiter bringing green tea and pineapple juice without even asking as they already know it’s what you love.

After breakfast, I’d teach 2 hours, then take some alone time or hang out with some of the guests and talk about their relationship or life it’s self. Then by that time it was lunch time and eating at the buffet of any kind of meat or fish on the grill, guacamole, homemade salsa, chips, salads, sushi on some days, and then some.

At two there was water volleyball-my favorite activity of the day. Wow that was a blast, it is such a group bonding thing. In the evening having dinner of salmon or lobster fettuccini, or a number of other things, with an avocado and crab salad and possibly some amazing soup.

At night there would be sometimes band that would play at dinner or after dinner in the “disco” an outside area that is covered, comfy couches, a Jacuzzi, fabric hanging from the ceiling blowing in the wind. Or there would be some Flamenco performance or Mexican performers, dancers, gymnasts, dance lessons or the perfect couple contest, all kinds of things offered.

So those were my days, they were gorgeous! The last Saturday I was there Playgirl sent a couple to interview me for their magazine. This couple was amazing, so full of love and life and so much fun. We talked for hours just really enjoying each others company. They came to my morning Body Awareness through Movement class. We had lunch together, then at 4pm I gave them a private session that was so heart-warming to witness and feel. Afterward they allowed me to take photos of them for my website and she realized she still hadn’t interviewed me so we met for dinner and had dinner and did the interview, it went great. Very simple and fun. We’ll be keeping in touch, having so much in common with food, receipts, etc. So look out for the Jan/February issue of Playgirl, I’ll be in there! Funny, they are putting me right next to an article on Guatemala-which is what I’m writing about.

All the couples I met this past month blew me away, opened my heart, inspired me to know love is so huge and so amazing. Working with couples that were married from anywhere from 15-39 years, still very much in love, and how they gave me so much hope to know there are couples out there that can still love after so many years together and know that some of them didn’t find their life partners until they were 40 years old. Also to know how much I helped them grow closer, that was pretty amazing, but they taught me a lot in just their beingness with each other. One couple in particular that I just loved said “friendship first then the relationship”, I could feel that, really feel it. There were the ones the most grounded, in love and felt the most healthy of all couples there. The inspired me the most, just the way they really liked each other, treated each other, interacted together and respected and accepted each other. Such touching beauty.

I have already been asked back by several guests and by the manager of the resort. Some guests are going to arrange their next trip to when I’ll be there. All that will need to be worked out. But it feels good to be asked to come back and wanted back there.

I’ll see where the journey leads me. I know this, as much as it was amazing and beautiful there, I missed home. Since I’ve traveled so much this past year and a half I am loving being home. Next time I hope to take someone with me. It would be great to have a friend to hang with on the off times and to share it with.

Last night I went to a dance performance, if you have never seen a performance of nude dancers doing contact dance, being lifted into the air you must see it. It pushed some peoples buttons to see that much of people, but I felt it was lovely, courageous and healing. On Monday night they are having a class for nude performing if I am back from an appointment I may go. It sounds incredible! If anyone in the Santa Monica area wants to go to the performance it’s still playing tonight and next weekend at Highways!
Much love to you all, many hugs, Heather

Hermit Crab Delight, Snorkeling, Home in 1 Week!!!

2008-07-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

Hello there Loved Ones,
How are you? How is life treating ya? For me something shifted this morning for me….I was teaching a class and I was asking them to let go of what ever didn’t serve them…and man oh man if it didn’t work, not only for them but for me. The past 2 days I’ve felt a great desire just to come home, to my friends, my dance community and be where everything is known to me. But honestly it’s just people overload. I’m not used to being around so many people so much. Today it cleared though. So now I’m back strong in my happiness, in my appreciation of this life, this world, the gifts and many chances and choices I’ve been given in this life right here and right now. Yet I'll be seeing some of you in just one short week, oh how time flies!!!

Yesterday was a lovely day, it was my day off and a day I didn’t leave the resort but for a long walk out to the highway, up the highway and back again, dodging a few dead animals and getting my heart pumping with lovely, much needed exercise.

Today as I walked through the tropical down pour of rain through Playa del Carmen to pick up a few things I needed, get some gifts and have some delicious Mexican food, I felt the rain, each drop on my skin, clearing and cleaning my senses, opening them up for taking in the fresh air, the humidity that draped the inside of my body and outside. It felt magical to just walk slowly through the rain, celebrate it, not fear it, not run from it, just let it be, on me. Of course just like the movies I was wearing a white shirt and realized this isn’t the best place to be in a see through shirt in the rain. Luckily bathing suit tops work really great as bras and then I could go back to bring present and soaking up the rain and delight in it. I found a little street vendor that had something wrapped up in a banana leaf, she told me “tamale”, oh I was hungry, I hadn’t had breakfast and it was worth the wait. It was hand made, chunks of corn in it and oh so delicious!

This evening I had a blissful experience with a little hermit crab. Oh I just love them. I picked him up, went inside. But determined to come out again he came out, crawled up my arm, down my other arm, over my leg before I let the little one go on it’s merry little way. I felt I was a child again playing with such a precious little life.

I have been snorkeling twice in the past week, once was just amazing as we went out on a catamaran that was so smooth and relaxing, it could have lulled me right to sleep. We dove into the clear blue green water and the fish were going crazy even before we got in. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of them swishing around here and there. I saw 2 barracudas and 1 green eel and 2 yellow and black spotted eels and a few lobsters, and a octopus that was taken onto the boat and inked a few people.

The guide would take food from a water bottle and squeeze the bottle into the home of a eel and then the fish would go crazy to eat it and the eel would come out pissed off and then go back in, I swam down and he must have been 1 ½ feet from my face, he was gorgeous for an angry little living being. Once when he did that, the fish went crazy and then as quickly as there got there they were gone and back again. It was so quick it took a minute to realize the barracuda had swam through getting food and the fish do not mess with them. It’s amazing that they can live just out in the open like that, living together in peace, possibly a little fear of being eaten but right there, no one is hiding out, they know he/she is there but they all live and give everyone distance…..hummm…..

The other snorkeling trip I went on my own down to a cove that connected with the ocean. There wasn’t a ton of fish but enough of them that were so beautiful, and glowing fluorescent greens, orange, red, yellow and a mix of rainbow colors that blow your mind and you try to imagine how such a lovely creature can glow and shine so brightly with just a little sun light. Maybe us humans are the same way. As the people here seem to come alive when the sun is out.

I actually got to teach every class this week as people are talking about my classes and now people are showing up every day, wondering if I am coming back and sharing with me their growth and it is making me so happy to add something to their lives and relationships. Asking them to slow down, to be present and honor each other….as much as they seem to fight it at first they seem to delight in it after only minutes.

I’ve been doing more private sessions and they are going so well, it’s a beautiful thing to watch two people ever so in love open up even more to their true nature together and expand in love, joy, bliss, truth and pleasure. I’m happy I am here.

I am loving the humidity here, it feels so good and I am actually getting a nice base tan-no tan lines!!!! This weeks group of people were truly amazing, I really connected with all of them on such a deep level. Most nights I had people I ate with, went over to the “dark side” to eat dinner with and talk to about life. I was thrilled to be talking with a Colon Hydrotherapist that absolutely loves what she does, we talked nutrition and colon talk, wow wow wow, how much fun. Of course her husband, who was just a great guy would come over and tease us about the conversation, they were the greatest couple, very fun, playful, flirtatious and alive. They invited me out to see them, which I may just do.

So I’m sitting here, outside in a gazebo on a great comfy couch writing this to you as the ocean wind sooths my skin and wakes up my senses even more. Smelling the salty air with just a hint of fishiness to it, but ever so lovely. I’m looking through palm trees and a huge basket full of colorful fruit that is being set up for dinner, as we having dinner at the beach tonight.

I got to work with a couple from Brazil who has studied Tantra before, such a beautiful couple! I’ll be seeing them in Brazil one day, I know that!

Ok, I need to go. I hope you are well, may all your dreams come true and may life hold you ever so lovingly in every moment, every breath and each heart beat. Much love to you, Heather

Can I be Naked Here?

2008-06-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

Dearest Amigos,
How are you? I hope this finds you well and happy, your heart filled with passion for life and the chatter within our minds calm a little more each day and bring us presence. I noticed last night walking on the beach the difference between walking on how my mind can go and go, and then stopping and how my mind pauses for a while before chattering on. But then yesterday morning I noticed that in the being active I could direct my mind to the ocean, to my foot steps, to the coral and the present much easier as I walked and that my mind wasn’t so present when I stopped, but in hibernation or some kind of strange halt, not the present pause of beingness.

So what can I say, it’s beautiful here, I wake up each morning around 6:30am, I draw back the curtains to see the amazing ocean before me, the sun coming up, the palm trees blowing in the wind. I have a glass of juice as I sit and read or write, and prepare for class. I step out of my room and within a few steps a halting thought comes over me, “am I dressed properly? Is it ok to be topless (nude) here? Is this ok here?” As I look around and confirm “yes you are at a nudist resort, it’s ok to be nude. You are fine, go”. It’s so funny, how even after almost 2 weeks I’m still checking in and making sure I’m not walking out into my front yard nude or something. Or what even funnier is before I cross over to the “dark side”, that is what they call the clothed side over here, I step through the gates and immediately look down to make sure all my bits are covered. Though I just spent 10 or 15 minutes getting dressed, there is still the fear of being in the wrong place with no clothes on and thinking I am in the right place, YIKES! So funny!

I leave my room, go for a walk over the coral beach, not a barefoot kind of beach, I come back to breakfast, which all the waiters now know what I like and they just confirm it and bring my drinks of juice and green tea and I go get my breakfast from the fruit buffet.

It’s time for the Rowdies to leave, I will miss them, they’ll all be gone by tomorrow! Half of them are already gone. Man oh man, I have grown so accustom to them being here, how much fun they are, such happy, loud, loving people and all so very connected. They have all known each other for 5-7 years mostly. Every year coming down at the same time to play together-do karaoke, have cowboy night, cross dressing night-which was one of the best night, imagine this-men in their late 50’s to 70’s in 4 inch stiletto heels with stockings, tight form fitting pants, or mini skirts, wigs of bright blue or bouffant, little crop tops to show their bellies, fake boobs that feel real (that some of the got caught at the airport with and embarrassed some of the inspectors!!!!) and make up. It was hilarious to see these men walk in these shoes, they had to walk with their wives so they didn’t fall forward most of them. They have lingerie night for the ladies and I think it’s called leather night where everyone wears leather, in this humidity, good luck getting the leather off!

One night was bling bling night, after a day of Mardi Gras festivities and real Louisiana gumbo made fresh from one of the men from there. Well I didn’t bring costumes for being here, never thought about it really. One woman decided I wasn’t bling bling enough-which is anything sparkly and bright or that blinks with lights. So she offered to loan me her extra bling bling outfit of a blue mini skirt, that has a slit up to the elastic that holds it on, with a clear, 1 ½- 2 inch gab between the front and the back flap and a top low cut and covering the essentials with costume jewelry here and there blinging for everyone to see. Of course I didn’t bring any 4-5 inch heals so I was barefoot with man Mardi Gras beads from the day of flashing people as they went by. But since we were already naked we had to cover our breasts and then show them to the people as they went by in the pool! So we got throw loads of beads. At the party I was given light up beads, it was fun as we gambled the night away with fake money, putting down our smallest bills of $500.00 at a time. There are things you can win at the end of the night by how much you won, I just gave mine to this man who desperately wanted to win.

The last few days I have taken on a few private sessions, how nice to work with couples on specific things! So beautiful. It has been even more opening for me to coach people that are ultimately in love with each other. It’s like working with honeymooners they have been together for up to 27 years. Wanting to know what else they can learn about their relationship through Tantra, what can they heal and do to even closer, to be more open, loving with each other, and to have more pleasure. I have to stop and think from time to time “this is what I’m getting paid for”, it’s so beautiful, I almost cried watching a few couples together in my classes together. It was just so heart warming.

Ok, get this, something so mind blowing, I’m still excited and wowed by this. Some how Playgirl, yes PLAYGIRL heard I was down here. How they found out about me I haven’t a clue. But they did and they contacted the resort and want to interview me and whilst doing that they want to interview them as well and publicize it out of their circulation of people of 90,000 people. I asked the manager, how they found out about me and he said “I assumed you told them”. I giggled at that as I have no contact with them. He said “they found you somehow and it will be good for the resort if you want to be interviewed”. I agreed to it of course, what fun. But man oh man, open and the Universe comes in and takes you by storm. I told him I think I’ll be teaching with my clothes on that day. You know, just in case I run for president one day it wouldn’t look good for me to be naked in Playgirl. ; ) That will happen in July. They’ll be sending a couple down to take my class and take photos. I’m excited, what an amazing year this is turning out to be.

I went into town earlier this week, and it was pretty funny in some aspect, oh town is Play del Carmen. I hopped off the bus and found a little hole in the wall place and had a lovely lunch of beans, rice and tortillas, just want I wanted, nothing like that at the resort. I love Mexican food, I think I must have been Central America in a past life as man oh man I love their food! Yummy!

Walking down the street seeing a pharmacy that sells all kinds of things but the main thing I remember is Viagra, right there on a permanent sign on their building, along with several other things. A retail seller said this woman as she passed by, “ok it’s now my turn to rip you off” she just giggle off. I went down an alley way to see this huge sign that said “Night Club, Gay”, well at least you can’t mistake that, not like you can accidentally walk in there thinking it’s a straight place and find your same sex coming onto you, could be exciting though, yet unexpected!!! I like how clear and blunt they are down here. Like this other man I have met, “I can be your husband while you are in Mexico and then you go home and when you come back I’m your husband again”. So funny, of course there would be no ceremony, but I’m sure the consummation of the marriage I’m sure would be rather encouraged! : )

Some man on the street came up to me saying “I’m from Guatemala” and put his hand out to greet me, now this really freaked me out, if you know anything of my history with Guatemala you will understand, if not, well you can read more about it one day in book form, when I’m done with it. I kept walking, thinking that maybe the travel guy down the way told him I’d been there, as we’d had a long conversation about travel and in some places they tell everything to people so by the time you hit their shop they know everything about you, it’s freaky.

I walked on to see all kinds of American food places, McDonalds, Burger King…..and then Dairy Queen, oh yummy. Well I couldn’t resist it was hot and it was calling. I had the best Blizzard I’d had in years, but then I haven’t had one of these in hummm….maybe a year, some time in Thailand I know I had one. A rare treat for me! When I finally got to the point I could be in any city any where in the US I turned around and headed back, the Guatemalan still tried to pull me in to his shop and others did too.

I went for a walk on the beach that was just beautiful, very crowded with people from all over the world but still just stunning with the clear and clean blue-green water that was nice and warm to the skin. I plopped my down beside a German girl and had a chat, went for a swim which was heaven, laid out for a bit talking some more to the girl, just relaxed, it was nice to be away from the resort for several hours and even more great to be on a beach I can walk on, our beach at the resort as coral and it can be a little rough on the feet, yes even my feet that are used to being naked and worn a bit!

Today is my day off, I’m off to go snorkeling at one of the locals favorite spots, so it should be a nice day in the water. I may do some kayaking as well on the “dark side”. It’s pretty amazing to me, that they can have all-inclusive places like this, you pay nothing, for anything, you snorkel or kayak, it’s free, you drink 20 drinks a day, it’s free, you order anything on the menu and it’s free. The other side is so much cheaper then this side, but I’m not sure if they drink as much as this side does. As they have lots of honeymooners and families, but it’s 18 or older over there.

I noticed when I went over to the dark side for dinner last night for a few times now in a row….what is it about people with clothes on that they wet the toilet seat, but when you have no clothes on the toilet seat stays dry. I think the clothed people are so scared of germs they pee above the seat and spray every where and the unclothed just don’t even care about that. And I don’t see anyone breaking out in any kind of disease on the naked side! Anyway, something to think about I guess. One man said to me the other day, “you can’t be stuck up and be naked, that is why everyone talks to one another”. That is true, haven’t met one stuck up person yet here, maybe shy but not stuck up.

I am loving the calmness the ocean brings to my soul. Walking yesterday morning was a delight to my being. Truly a special thing happens at the ocean for me.

I am off to go play on the beach and in the water. Have a gorgeous day and may your heart be happy and healthy.
Much love and many hugs, Heather

More photos!

2008-06-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

Yummy photos of the critters all about, the beaches, ruins and me! Mucho Amor, Heather

Tulum, Gorgeous Beaches, Fat & Happy Great People!

2008-06-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

Dearest Ones,
Wow, this place is pretty incredible. No, not only because I get to be around nude people all day either. And yes, to answer some of your questions-yes I am nude-swimming nude, eating nude, I’m even teaching topless-all fun, yes yes yes!!! And no it’s not a swingers place, there is no open sexual contact. But what is amazing is most of these people are mid 40’s-late 60’s, high school sweethearts, still in love, show great affection toward each other and when they look at each other or talk about one another it just blows your heart so open, you mind a reeling and your body thrilled that this can still be.

These amazing nudists are any where from Nebraska, to California, Mississippi, Florida, the Dakotas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, to any where else you wouldn’t think to find nudists, but they are all here and they love it here. The come 1-5 times a year, spend 4-14 days here at a time, and unwind from their stressful jobs of being doctors, self employed, artists, more doctors, gynecologists, therapists, all high end, stressful jobs. They come here, drink, party, have fun, laugh a ton, hug and kiss on each other as friends do sometimes and they just enjoy each other, let go of work, some won’t even talk about it. They talk about their kids, the ones that know they are nudists and the ones that don’t, the friends that know about it and the friends that don’t, and even the few that have no friends but here as they have no time for friends but when they come away. So work hard, play hard. They make a lot of money to come down here and relax, paying any where from $150-$600.00 a night. It depends if they are part of a club or time share.

And for me, I have taught a few classes now. My first class I had 3 couples. Man oh man it was hard to get them into this work, connecting on a deeper level. For some it’s a lot of work and they don’t want to work. So focusing on playing, relaxing and just loving each other is what they can handle, so the meditation stuff, humm…..it may have to wait or stop or pause for the right group. But it was good!

The Rowdies are all here now and here the other group told me how scary they were-loud obnoxious, breaking things, etc. But honestly you couldn’t meet a nicer group of people. They are truly so much fun to be around. I’ve found a few to actually talk to about nutrition with, health, diet and things we both love. I’ve made some great connections and we are trading book names, ideas, etc. Now I’m meeting people, like this morning a woman who came to my class for the women’s class that may have me come to teach this work to her clients since she is a therapist that works with molested women.

But there is nothing not to adore about these people, they laugh, they play, they are open and just warm hearted people. In fact they have deemed me a Rowdy group member now. I guess it’s because the other night chose to go to the disco and the right songs came on and I busted a move and that was it. Everyone went a little crazy about how I dance and how no one dances like me. All of them were committed in that moment to come to my classes. All it took was me dancing for them to open, invite me in and to want to come to my classes. So now I have a new family-the Rowdies!!!

The staff that is here is also so very lovely, very kind, warm hearted and generous people. In their smile you can feel their soul and appreciation for life and their work. Though they don’t “take care” of me as they do the other guests-as I get that they see I’m not used to being “take care of”, they allow me to just do my own thing and only come in when asked to take care of something for me.

I have made some great connections with two absolutely soulful massage therapists that are truly loving, peaceful and blissful beings-they ask me all kinds of questions and they laugh with me and they are just a delight to be around.
I’ve already had one proposal of marriage by the main bartender. Sweet guy, but I don’t think so, as much as I love this place.

So the people down here are amazing and as one woman put it “the people here are fat and happy”. It’s true, they don’t care, so much, that they are fat, they are happy with their lives. Yes they’d like to be lighter but they don’t feel they need to ruin their happiness to get it. They are happy with their partners, still in love after 16-40 years of marriage and still make love any where from once a week up to a few times a day in their 60’s! Talk about giving inspiration to people. I taught a class this morning the drew tears to my eyes. I felt so much love coming from these people for their partner it just seeped out to the whole room and it was glorious to witness. So delicious.

Sunday was my first real day off, after breakfast I took off to Tulum, the bus ride was great, easy, air conditioned, everything is flat around here, yet green. I didn’t even really get it until I was there that these are the first Latin ruins I have been to since Guatemala. It was funny, it was actually hard to leave the resort as it’s so comfortable and to just read all day would have been wonderful. But what I saw and what I experienced was so much better for me, to get the passion of travel in me again, to explore something new, on my own, to see these old ruins from back I guess from the 1500’s. And then…….I saw the ocean, OH MY GOSH, I haven’t see anything so gorgeous. I was trying to think of that area in Tasmania but I think this place beat it, not the beach, but the water colors of blue, green to dark blue in the distance, the sand being lifted and swirled and moved around by the water. Once I got in the water…OOO La La….. how absolutely lovely it was to feel it’s warmth on my skin. I wish the ocean was this nice where the resort was, but then there’d be no reason to leave.

Honestly I’m so happy I got out to play, as it made me realize how much I love Latin culture, how lovely the people are. I cried a few tears of seeing the beauty of this culture again and how much I have missed it and how I relate to it. I am tired of staying away from it, time to embrace it and can see myself living in Latin America and would to. Especially speaking Spanish, I love this language.

The beach, humidity and the lull of the ocean calms my heart, brings passion to my full being and I am just calmly happy. I very peaceful and loving experience. Wouldn’t mind staying a while.

I had no idea also I was so close to Cuba, it makes me want to hop on a boat-only a 30-40 minute ride over, OH YES!

Ok, I’m sure I could go on and on and on….you get the point. I am enjoying it here, this morning was the best class yet, and it’s so nice to just get up and choose to wear clothes to breakfast or not. Over the next few days I’ll be exploring new areas. I’m loving being inside these walls of the resort and out of them.

It’s funny to think how much free time I have and it really doesn’t feel like all that much either, between teaching, preparing for class, talking to people about my classes, trying to get some reading in, eating-which takes up some time if you eat slowly, swimming….well not much more time left to do the things I thought I’d do-write on my book, do some research, watch some of the videos for my work. Plus everyone wants me to come down and party with them at night-oh boy, no thank you not on most nights. They stay up to 4am. I’m wiped out by 11pm or 12am, with all the sun we get, but then I’ve never been a good night person. What a rough life!!! Funny isn´t it! Well I asked to travel internationally with my work and here I am, gorgeous beaches, water, people and teaching! I was thrilled everyone loved that class today, really loved it!

Today I’m off for a massage and reading all day and some pool volleyball, should be a great day. Wish you were here.
Big hugs and love to you, Heather

ps. I forgot to tell you each night they dress up in costumes, and wild outfits that you see in speciality stores or Fredricks of Hollywood and prance around showing off all their stuff, it´s quite impressive. Fun group!

Mexico, Catching Up, GRATITUDE & PHOTOS!!!!

2008-06-19T18:52:00.001-07:00

First photo is of the outfit I made, second photo is of me all made up for the Tantra DVD with MAKE UP ON! YIKES!!! The rest are the limo, my room and my view!!!
Hola Lovely Ones,
How are you? I hope you are well, your heart is happy and your soul is dancing in every moment!
I AM IN MEXICO!!!! On “business”! Funny that, what does a work holiday look like. I’ll try to describe this place to you throughout this, but hummmm….except for being here I’m not sure if it will come across but maybe it will!
So much to catch you up on! The past weeks at home have been really amazing! Intense but amazing! Many new things showing up in my life- more work with incredible people, met a colon hydrotherapist that is just incredible, she allowed me to sit in on a session with a regular client of hers, that was really fun and showed me a lot of how everything works in that industry-all kinds of lovely ideas now swimming around my brain!!! I have started back sewing again and that has just been so much fun, I sewed my first dance outfit, it’s been years since my last one. I taught a class on Blissful Connections the Friday before I left, it focused on touch, it went swimmingly. No one wanted to leave. But I finally had to gently nudge them out at 11:30pm as I had a 9 hour day work the next day. I love being busy but sometimes it gets a little hairy!
The past week I was at home was especially crazy, have you ever had one of those times that time is flying by and you hardly any time to really realize what is going on, since life just says “I need to get this done, now this and this”. I am finally getting to stop and breathe now. I am in Mexico now. Oh how wonderful down here.
The flight down was great, I left at 12:25am, arrived Mexico City at 6am (a 3 hour flight with a 2 or 3 hour time change), I had a 5 hour lay over, by this time I hadn’t gotten any sleep but rest. I got on the plane to Cancun, 2 hours away and arrived there at 1:34pm (my body time 11:30am), so I’d been traveling for 11 hours by this time, I went looking for my ride, this cute little Mexican guy showed me the way to this other guy and he directed me through the heat of the Mexican humidity to a long silver limo. I stood their thinking “this is for me, wow!” Talk about style! I sat in the back with all the mirrors on the ceiling and on the side of limo with the bar on it, alcohol, sodas, grey upholstery, jamming out with the driver to all kinds of great music. The driver was great, he saw me back there taking photos of the back of the limo, yes like a little kid, he stopped the limo and took some photos of me. He was a lovely man and a lot of fun.
I watched the flat, green, lush Mexico go by, people looking at the limo as we drove by and about 45 minutes to an hour later we arrived, with me almost asleep in the back at the hotel. Here there are lots of coconut trees, the air is filled with the perfect amount of water, the heat was just luscious to my skin and everything seemed calm, relaxed and mellow.
They took my bags, I hugged my driver, he asked when I would leave and when I told him July 15th he was surprised. I do hope I get him on the way back to the airport!
I got in to the desk and they had no idea who I was. I sat there waiting until they found the right person to know where I go, sleep, and who knows who I am and why I’m here. Oh it was funny, though I was pooped. By this time I was wiped out, sweaty and in dire need of a nap and bath.
Finally the manager came by and knew exactly where I went. So I went from the clothed side of the resort, through the guarded gates of the nudist side, and then the thickness of lush, wet, greenery was all around me, trees, grass, fruit trees…such beauty…
Wow, right now this moment lightning just struck, it’s 8am, it’s stunning looking out over the dark blue and light green waters as the lightning rod comes down through the grey/blue clouds!
Back to when I arrived. It was 2:30pm. I couldn’t get my room yet so I was shown around. This is interesting. First the nudist side and where I would be teaching. So loving feeling, people bonded, sat in small groups playing games, laughing, sharing, having fun and touching each other on the back. Going to the clothed side, which I am welcome to go to, everyone was separate, lonely, in their own worlds. What is it about clothes that keeps all of our walls up, our protection and boundaries up? Is it because we are dressed as the lawyer, hair stylist, doctor, that we just can’t get past that and into our playful, fun, down to earth selves? I’ve seen this before, it’s pretty amazing to feel. So very lonely over there and it was nice to be back on the other side.
Though I sat there eating my first meal with my clothes on and burning up, but I was much to tired and sweaty to go take off my clothes, so I just sat there, as the nudist tried not to look over at me-later I realized they were wondering if I was in the wrong place or if I was writing a book, or on business there or if I was a single not ready to be naked. Oh it was great hearing what they thought of me and the stories they made up. Our minds are so vivid.
I had asked the manager how it was to work around nudists all day and he said, “After a while you don’t even notice they are nude”…..later he said “see, you don’t even see it any more”. I got what he was saying…it is true. Well, except when you get talking to them and they make direct conversation of their particular body parts-tell more on this later.
So I finally got into my room at 5pm or a little past. I wasn’t even aware of how tired I was any more, I was past it. But this room….Oh what a room!!!! How romantic! White cloth hanging from each corner of my bed, the bathtub was the best, it’s a huge Jacuzzi tub filled with bubbles and with flower petals shaped in a heart. The temperature was perfect to just glide into and wash away the past 17ish hours of travel. From the room and the bathtub I can see the whole resort that has a pool and a river that goes in front of all the rooms on the bottom floor. And the beautiful ocean, the lovely ocean that laid out there to feast my eyes upon so scrumptiously. Perfection really. There are little huts for people to lay outside without getting burned right on the ocean, you can get a massage right out there looking out onto the ocean as well, what deliciousness!
So I sunk into the bathtub and just let everything just drain off me. The trip, the tiredness, the nervousness of what this was going to be like and how I was going to connect with these new people. I drifted into a zone between consciousness and sleep, until I felt my head drifting back and further back and I came to realizing I was about to sleep in the tub. So I got out, looking out all the windows to the outside, the blue green ocean, the sun hitting it just perfectly at sunset, though we don’t get the sunset side, the clouds were stunning. Bright whites against the blue sky that was dimming.
I had an amazing salmon dinner that night, walked on the beach and went to bed at 10 and woke up at 9:30am. I was pretty darn pooped! The sleep was just what I needed.
I got up and went down to talk with the yoga teacher, who she teaches everyday at 9am. Then I went for a walk, over to breakfast of yogurt and fruit and granola, while they played traditional Mexican music.
The waiters and everyone was just so friendly. I could feel their warmth and heart in their service, eye contact and one of them actually touched my shoulder-YES! Touch, Yummy!
I had a woman come up and start talking with me, telling me how everyone wanted her to come up to me and ask why I was here, and what I was doing here all clothed the day before and if I was in the wrong place. Another woman told me later if she’d known that I was waiting for my room she would have let me sleep in her room. Man oh man, how kind, I told them it’s because I had clothes on, untouchable and unspeakable. Pretty funny!!!
This first day luckily I just got to relax, adjust and do a bit of nothing but catch up on rest, talk with everyone, play water volleyball, none of them wanted to leave me alone-all of them wanted to talk to me about my work, bummed they were leaving in the morning, maybe they’d come back before I left and how they loved I was teaching this work. The funny thing is they all feel that the other side, as they call it, “the dark side” or the clothed side, needed my work much more….which as the day went by and the stories kept coming I think they are right.
Some of them were soft swingers, or doing all kinds of things that you just don’t think you might do in your 60’s and 70’s. But then that goes to tell you we can do anything at any age.
One man was great, he told this joke, he pushes out his belly and says, “See my baby elephant…….you want to see it’s trunk”, pretty funny!!!! He says some people can’t handle that joke but this crowd is different, he’s right there. They talk about their tan lines, well everything really…I’ll just leave it at that. It’s funny.
I had a few women start promoting my work, it was great, they already want me to come back, how beautiful! So nice to be wanted and feel so warmly welcomed. What a great first day. Volleyball was just heaven, how fun it was to play in the water. That was a blast.
People pat each others bottoms, one guy pats a woman’s breasts, she says “that’s not my bottom” as she giggles. I love that being nude makes them more touchy feely, the women hug the waiters, though I haven’t seen any of the nudist hug other nudists…but it’s only day one and the great thing is everything is taken in love and fun. People sit on each others laps…groups of people come together.
Some of the people here come 1-3 times a year, they come at certain times to catch certain people and other times to avoid certain groups. I’ve already been warned that Saturday a group called the Rowdies come in and they are hard partiers. I’ll see how that goes. They will fill the whole resort practically. There are 43 rooms and they’ll take up 30 rooms and 10 other rooms will be filled with other guests. So I’ll go from peaceful, quiet guests to partiers.
So that has been my experience thus far. I’m sure I could tell you oh so much more but I’m sure this enough for now.
I’d love to hear from you. Hear how you are? Anything up and new for you? Live your bliss!
For me this past week I have woken up in a place of gratitude, for the people in my life, the places life is taking me, the connections I have made in my life and just how life is. It’s powerful to feel gratitude so strongly, it’s a beautiful feeling to open to so much too. I love this expansive feeling of gratitude.
I feel this place will be a good place to meditate, go in and give some of what I know to people that can really enjoy it. That feels really good.
Today I teach my first class. Should be fun!
I send you hugs and love, Heather

Life Happened!!! INTERNATIONAL Teacher Now-Off to Mexico & Canada I go!

2008-05-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

Life Happened!

Photos are from a friends B-day party, friends and I goofing off, dancing and playing together!

Hello Dear Ones,
How are you? I trust your soul is happy, thriving and bubbling over for everyone to enjoy your preciousness! For me life is just taking off, so much that it feels like I’m trying to catch up some what. It’s funny, here I had a few slow weeks and I was wondering what was happening in this city-how was I going to stay here and create the art I want and get more clientele and then- Life Happened! Yep, Life Happened!

Firstly, I got a phone call from a woman who did an interview with me on Sacred Sexuality for Women, back before I left. She is putting together a DVD and wanting me to be on her DVD talking about Sacred Sexuality for Women and taking a select few women through the process of touch, body awareness and how to be with a partner intimately. This DVD is going out to her email list of over 70,000 women to be sold. I was blown away!
If that wasn’t enough she said “I want to do another interview with you but you’ll need to expand your website so you can keep up. As this time it will go out to 1000 women. As soon as I send out the interview, each one of those 1000 women are expected to call you, talk with you and maybe even set up appointments with you”. I sat there, I’m sure looking calm, but inside excited, shocked, and thinking how this could change so much in my life and then the overwhelm of taking so many phone calls in as well getting my website up and going better as well as needing to start a weekly newsletter for my work.

The filming happens on May 31st! This will be a lot of publicity once it come out in late July!!

So I felt I was doing quite well with that. I then got an email from someone who knows I teach Sacred Sexuality, saying that there are two people looking for teachers, one in a festival and one in Mexico. I wrote both of them not even thinking anything of it but how exciting it would be if I did get to do some really great gigs like these. A week later I get an email back from the man in Mexico-he wrote me as if I was already taking the position. He called me a day later, we talked and after a few phone calls, they said “you have a half hour to decide”. My brain just said, “why not-this is MEXICO-CANCUN, FOR A MONTH”!!!! So I said yes!

So this is it, he wanted me down there for 2 ½ months, I told him I’d go for a month, try it on for size first. I’ll be teaching at a NUDIST RESORT!!! Never taught nude before or to nudists, though I have talk to people that were nude. Plus I get to do private sessions with the couples and most all of the people that go are couples! It’s just thrilling that I met exactly to what they wanted after they saw my website and what I do-as I teach more then just one thing! I love that I’ll be able to get this work out to more people-people from all over the US, Canada and even Europe.

So now I thought I was doing REALLY GREAT! When I email a friend in Canada and she’s putting a class of people together for me to teach in Canada, near Nelson, an area I’ve wanted to go to for years, in August!

What is so great is that I am gone for a month in Mexico, teaching, relaxing, sharing, playing and then I’ll come back, roam around Southern California, seeing friends and checking out the surrounding area of LA-just in case I ever do decide to take the leap and move out of LA to a place where trees grow and rivers run and fresh air blows!!!!

I got a huge wake up call a few weeks ago-I took a class on Lymphatic Drainage Massage. I fell in love with the idea of supporting people to cleanse, to heal, to take care of themselves. All my life I’ve been about the body-a trained personal trainer, aerobic instructor, a dance and body awareness instructor, massage and healing, so why not go for it and become a Colon Hydrotherapist???? I have been having fantasies for about a year now, since my month in the Sivanada Yoga Center about doing workshops on health, cleansing, yoga, nutrition and dance.

What is so very perfect is this: go to Mexico from June 17th-July 15th, I explore Cali for 12 days, and on the 28th of July the Colon Hydrotherpy training starts until August 8th, fly out to Canada on August 10th or 11th for 2 weeks to teach and see a friend I haven’t seen in 8 YEARS. We met in Calcutta India and have been in touch since then. She has now been married for 7-8 years, with 3 gorgeous kids. So this will be great to see her and meet her family and also teach! So that means I’ll be gone a total of 2 months-in which I’ll sublet my room out!

Life is so amazing! And in all of this. I learned a huge lesson in trust. Not only that the Universe will provide and listen when you ask the right questions, but again, be careful what you ask for as I asked to be an international teacher. Last year I said “I want to work on the road, share my work and teach internationally”. So here it is. On top of that another great lesson is to relax in the here and now with business. As Saturday I had a games night party. My friend Paul was playing is accordion-which he’s just amazing at!!!! But I got so into it I cut my thumb-literally the tip of it, off. Remember, I do massage-I need my thumbs. I look down, I put it above my head, I cleaned it (I won’t go into the holistic way of healing things quickly-if you want to know ask and I’ll tell you!!!!). I had to take Monday off, and in that I didn’t think of work and phone calls just came in! I booked some appointments for the next few days and by Tuesday my thumb was good to go and now it’s almost gone!

I love that when we stop thinking about “working” work comes. So I have relaxed around this area this week and everything has just come to me-friends, regulars I haven’t seen since I’ve been back and new clients from an ad I didn’t even put out recently called. We do so much pushing in our lives, so much-doing and thinking, sometimes it’s best to just relax, do something fun for yourself and that is when everything comes to you.

This has been a powerful week, my creative juices has started up again and I have broken out my sewing machine, scissors and fabric. My jeans are now shorts, my t-shirts have gone through a make over and my fabric is turning into creations wild and beautiful to dance in!

I’m learning more and more each day to dream big of creating, being creative and take action on it. What are your dreams? What do you fantasize about? We die when we stop dreaming, I know that now, as I stopped dreaming for a few years and it was painful. I laugh more now, I feel more alive now. I feel so much lighter and accepting of life and of others. It’s a powerful time!!!

I have started changing my diet-this doesn’t mean diet in what people think of as “a diet”, I mean as food intake. 3 weeks ago I gave up chai-for those of you who know, it was my drug of choice!!!! I didn’t go a day without it if I could keep from it. I stopped it 3 weeks ago, I stopped bringing home milk, yet organic yogurt with live cultures in it and cottage cheese are still in my diet. I can already see a difference in how I feel, how I see my body and how I want to live my life-completely healthy. Not saying I’ll never have a chai again as I feel everything in balance. If you do something every once in a while, that is healthy. I think when we go to the extreme is when we get ourselves in trouble.

That is why when I helped my mother-when I was 17 years old, to lose 89 pounds I told her-we are taking NOTHING out of her diet, we are only going to give her a tablespoon less of food each meal for the first week, for two more weeks we’ll take 2 tablespoons off of food each meal and on and on until 1 ½ years later and going from a size 22 to a size 9, back up to a 10 as it looked better for her. We added walking to her daily regime and she got to have her favorite desert once a week-a Snickers! So nothing was taken out, just less was taken in and much was taken off over time with a little exercise-as her doctors said she couldn’t exercise.

If I can help people clean their bodies through nutrition, exercise, cleansing, fasts, colon cleansing, dance and yoga then how lovely would that be!!! I’m still researching colonics to make sure this is definitely what I want to do, but honestly since last year it’s been in the back of my mind, and when I took that class on Lymphatic Massage I just haven’t been able to stop thinking of it and now I’ve started coaching my friends on diet, nutrition and massage more and more. It’s very exciting. I want to help change the world. Show people how to live a healthier, more happy life through loving themselves through their food and activities. Of course I’ll still do the couples work, but this works with that beautifully!

So this is my life! It’s very new, very exciting and I’m riding the wave of it, hanging on for dear life at times-writing up contracts and conditions, fliers, booking flights, writing on what will be presented on the DVD as well as working on staying up with writing on my book-which in the past 1-2 weeks have been put on hold. But the great thing is when I do write on it, I write for 2-2 ½ hours at a time! That’s exciting too!

I’d love to hear from you, I’d love to know what you are up to and how your heart is doing. Life is always ebbing and flowing and life is too short not to reach out and tell someone you love them. So reach out, tell someone you love them. Allow someone hold you when you laugh or cry. Share you! Let me tell you, before this DVD thing happened I was ready to go move in with a family member I was so distressed about my business and life. It wasn’t a fun time, but coming out on the other side has been so nice. So it’s not been all up, it’s been up and down, the key thing is know that the only thing that stays the same is change it’s self and that when things look not so great, that things will change soon for the better. Look toward the light, feel your light and open your heart, go play and do something fun and things will change. It’s part of us caring for ourselves.

I send you love, many hugs, and I hope to see you soon, if not in person, in photos or in my dreams. Love, Heather

Lady Bugs, Creativity, Newness, Finding My Place!

2008-04-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

Hello there Everyone,
Wow what a time since I’ve been back! The first 3-4 weeks I was in a fog, had experiences of disconnectedness and just trying to jump start myself to work but just couldn’t get my brain wrapped around it. Well it’s now been 6 weeks! Life is great! Really great!

I feel happier then I ever have in LA I think! The city is still strange and draws up a bit of anger on the road on how people treat others. But honestly it’s not as bad as I remember, or change your attitude and change your circumstances!
All I know is I am in love with working. Everyday I do a massage or work with healing on any level or do a haircut I love it! I am loving supporting people on what they want, need and to heal, to go further, expand further and to let go of the stuff in their lives and to live it more in the light! I feel on cloud nine at times. My work is great, my massages are just incredible and now I’m starting up teaching again. I had to, not only because my clients kept asking for it, but I am craving to share with the world what I have realized within myself of what is important, not only to me, but to every person out there and we don’t know how to always verbalize it or teach or to do or be it. So this is where a class of exploration comes in.

The first class I am offering is A Night of Blissful Connection. I have really gotten how important it is to have connection with people, touch, share our souls with one another, feel anothers energy with no intention, no goal, just to be with another and feel. This week especially I have felt that more than anything, as much as I have spent time with my friends, have gotten touch, laughter, sharing from the soul, the greatest dances I’ve had in ages, but something, some need to share what is on the inside and finally getting to do that with a dear friend and letting it all out, and how beautiful it was, tears, laughter, craziness, bliss and passion all boiled out.

And now, after 3 hours of dancing I feel clear, I feel unleashed and back to me, yet really grounded. I didn’t know how many people I had to hang out with in my life, I hadn’t a clue and I’m loving the connection, the sense that all these gorgeous souls are out there, feeling the energy between us, friendship, passion, lust, creativity, pain, all of it, just letting it all be there, no doing, just being with it.

It's so a part of the west to do something with this emotion or that feeling, but to only just feel it, let it be there fully and see what it wants, it’s powerful, just to accept it.

So my second set of classes are Women & Our Bodies a 5 and 10 week course-this is going to be powerful! It is about women loving themselves, on the inside and out, within bliss, pleasure and even the pain. To connect deeper in their sex, body and heart and share how they feel about all of these areas. And ending with the last 5 weeks focused on sexual healing. I’m thrilled to be teaching about this, going into nutrition, our time of the month, how we can help the earth at that time of the month, eat better for a healthy life and to just accept and love our bodies and allow the pain to release in love.

So my life has been full, very full, full of love, abundance of friends, a deeper connection like never before with everyone that crosses my path. The openness I feel is just so powerful, I am loving it. I respond so openly to people, I’ve been so guarded while traveling for so long, I’m back, all walls have come down and my heart is open to most all around me. So wonderful! I see friends at least 3-5 times a week and not all the same ones, how lovingly balanced that feels it’s great.

On top of getting to spend time with some of my friends kids. Ok folks, this is the best. I just love these little humans. They are so AMAZING! I love them. They are such great teachers and I love that they love me just as much as I love them and man oh man, do they have boundaries. Being raised in a city where their parents are asking them, is it ok if this person touches you, they’ll say, how delightful is that! It’s like when my age was growing up, of course it is ok to touch them, they are a kid, they have no wants or needs, desires of preferences, but we do at every age. What brilliance! So I’m in love with these little ones!

I went to the beach the other day, not sure if this happens every where but we get tons of lady bugs at times and they come to the ocean in droves. So I’m walking on the beach to just be in the gorgeous sunlight, be in nature and clear my mind. And low and behold there they are, every where. The ocean was killing drowning them. The next thing I know I picked one up from squirming on his/her back not able to turn over, then another and another. Next thing I know I couldn’t really pick any more up until they dried off and flew off.

I must have had over 20 all over me or maybe 30, they would crawl up to my shoulder for the breeze, lift one wing at a time for it to dry and it’s rear up in the air to dry. It was so cool to watch them care for themselves, dry off with the air flow. And it’s like they stayed with me forever as if they were thanking me for saving them by staying with me knowing I was safe and keeping me beautiful company. I laid in the sand, very carefully not to squash any of them and that is when they went really crazy going up and crawling all over my neck, oh that tickled but it felt great too, some when to the nape of my hair, some into my hat, a few onto my chin.

Not sure why they wanted close to my face and my head, maybe it’s safer then the ground, not sure. But they just cuddled in and stayed there. I finally got up and headed to go home. I told them I had to go and that if they wanted to stay here they had to fly off. But about 10 or 15 of them stayed with me all the way home in the car ride home, to my home where I took off my shirt and hat and had to lay them outside so they weren’t trapped in my house without a place to eat or fly too. So hopefully they stay in my front yard and nest there. But it doesn’t matter, it felt good to save all those beautiful and delightful lives.

It reminded me in high school when I was running through a field with a boy I was dating at the time, well he was chasing me, and I finally threw myself to the ground and next thing I knew I looked down and I must have fallen in a nest of Lady Bugs as they were all over me, hundreds of them. Gosh I hope even this day and then that I didn’t kill any of them. But man oh man, I bonded with them from that point on. Several of them stayed with me for hours all the way home, which was still another few hours away before leaving and an hour drive home. I was grateful and felt blessed by them.

I did 2 new things this past week, I took my first improv acting class as well as an acting class! Oh my gosh! They were so much fun! I found where I fit finally! I felt so good, so alive, I could be my goofy self, my crazy self, my outward me and be my shy self also, all in 3 hours time. The teachers loved me, which made me feel so incredible. It was so validating to me, like I’m in the right place. It allowed me to really use my listening skills and being present with a being before me and complete with that person as we worked on the Meisner Technique-which I can only explain like this: close your eyes, clear your mind, open your eyes to see your partner and the first word that is spoken between you two the other repeats, you say it so many different ways, feel your partner, then another word comes and then one of you say it, it repeats and you honestly respond to the word, you play with it, feel it, be with your partner and flow with it. It’s so fun, powerful, playful and keeps you very present.

Watching this was just as powerful as doing it, I’d sweat watching two people go for it, it was amazing. I could feel when one was aware people were watching and it was actually distracting as the audience, it tests you both as participant and watcher. I was told to take a class in this technique years ago and here I am doing it now. Powerful, that’s all I can say, and the teachers are just brilliant, so forgiving, fun and love what they are doing. Oh, Meisner really believed in “act and speak before thinking”. Well that is how I got to class one night as I just didn’t think, I just got up and went and I was so happy I did. It took my mind off of being tired and low energy and it brought my energy up! I’ll be going back for sure!

My next step is to get everything put together for batiking in the garage, it’s been baby steps so far for that and to get everything set up for sewing too. But the great thing is I just got the most fabulous new roommate, she is 22 years old, fun, down to earth, full of life, a massage therapist, loves to be creative, loves to hoop as well, draw, paint and dance. We are going to have a blast together, I just know it. It’s so nice to have female energy in my home again and share it with her. It’s been lovely to come home to her talking with friends in the living room or watching a movie and she lives so well with people, she’s a blessing. I knew the Universe would bring me the perfect roommate when I asked.

I asked the Universe one morning while walking on the beach, “please bring me the perfect roommate, please let make the right choice either out of the people I’ve met or bring me a new one. But please, two things, make it obvious, really obvious and make it by tomorrow night” I was so tired of interviewing people at that point. She called that night, she had called two weeks before saying she wanted to work at home. I just couldn’t see that working with me doing massage at home too. So we decided it wouldn’t work. She called and said she changed her mind, I was not so sure if that was good since she wanted it, but she assured me she was fine with it.

She came over and we talked for 3.5 hours. It was so easy between us that we forgot we were interviewing each other for a home and roommate. She told me she kept seeing my ad coming up on Craigslist and kept feeling it was the right fit and that it was better to have a happy home then to work at home. And so here she is, in our home, nesting, and co-existing in a great place together. She’ll come in use my computer in the mornings and we’ll listen to music together, watch movies and run around dodging each other in a hurry to get to work or a friends house. She’s a beautiful soul and I’m so happy to have found or been given such a lovely, kind soul to live with. She is well worth the wait and all the interviews to have the perfect roommate!

I have now started film some of my dances, so hopefully soon I can put them on here. Love to share that with you, instead of just stills!

So life is good, I feel more alive every day then ever before. May your heart be singing, your soul awaken more and more each day!

I look forward to hearing from you!!!!

I send you all hugs and so much love, Heather

YES!!!!!! DANCIN'!!!!

2008-03-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

DANCIN' DANCIN' DANCIN'!!
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!
PASSION PASSION PASSION!!
YES YES YES!!!!!!

PHOTOS OF ME DANCIN' AND SINGIN'!!!!

2008-03-25T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hello there,
I am so high on life today, I just had to share my passion, my heart, my joy with you today! This is me singin' and dancin' in the living room!!!
Much love to you, Heather

Cultureless, Culture Shock!!!! Has LA gotten more Friendly or Have I Changed?

2008-03-11T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hello Loves,
I was talking to a lovely friend yesterday and told him I was in Culture Shock yesterday and he responded, "you mean Cultureless Shock" and laughingly I came back with Cultureless, Culture Shock, and it stuck and I got the title here! LA does have culture, but it's very different then where I've been, it's just a big city and........

I’ve been back now for almost 2 weeks, wow time just exploded by quickly, don’t know where it went to. The first three days I thought “this is great, very easy and I’m already over jetlag”. Well then day 4 happened and it’s like something crashed in me, not sure how to explain it. Here I was almost back on a normal sleep schedule except always sleeping in later then normal and then the shock of being back happened.

But those first three days I stayed with Rob. My days were full of walks on the beach, making phone calls to friends, more walks on the beach-wondering where all the garbage came from-you don’t see thing is OZ, going to my favorite healthy Mexican place Baja Fresh, OH Yummy! And yes Kristin they still have the green salsa and it was just delicious and it’s not even the normal salsa I have. But my taste buds have changed as most everything I loved before tastes very strange to me-I think all that food that is less hormone induced or something, I’m only craving a few things that actually taste good and the lovely thing is it’s all healthy food!

I went on one of my favorite hikes that look out over the ocean and the it was a delight to be back in a place I know, trails I know, seeing places and people I know!

I got to move back into my apartment and oh yum yum…..to sleep in my own bed, to close my bedroom door, oh what a delicious treat. And then to open up the boxes of my things from the garage-it was like having Christmas in March! To see all the things I own! And then TO SEE ALL THE THINGS I OWN! Meaning I don’t own much compared to others but honestly when I have only had one backpack of stuff to myself for 13 months, opening up several boxes made me wonder “do I need all this crap”. “Do I need 20 pair of pants and 30 tops or 100 or what ever it was”? It really made me wonder. Especially when all I want to wear are the things I that I just bought in OZ before I left.

Then I opened up the packages I sent to myself from India, man oh man, I love all these things but where am I going to put it all? So the shock of stuff hit me upside my head and I drowned in it for a bit, had to take a break, then tackle it again. And so it went half the day Friday and all day Saturday, then Sunday, my favorite day of the week! And do you know why? DANCE!

Yes Dance! I went, and it was great and shocking to be around so many people that I knew and knew me. I’d never ever felt overwhelmed by the numbers of people who knew me, but this day I felt it. So much so I just couldn’t hang out with everyone after dance. But to be recognized, to be touched, hugged, to dance with fellow dancers, to feel these lovely beings that I am used to seeing once a week for 9 years, how great it was to be blessed by their company, their spirits, and their touch. Shock or no shock, I felt blessed and alive and it was a delight to dance again.

At dance I had a run in with a beautiful spirit that asked me “what was your favorite part, tell me your favorite part of your trip”? What I found incredible is what came out of me……the first thing was, being given that $2.00 coin from that little girl for my singing. Then I paused and I realized all my favorite moments had to do with singing and dancing in front of friends, in temples, ashrams, or in my place in Bali, sharing my passion was a true thrill to me and felt so natural.

Then the next thing that came to me was when I spent a few days with some friends of mine in Pune and helped coach them on their relationship, it was so organic, so pure, beautiful and so incredible to be the witness of their relationship blossom-how lovely to give back to such loving individuals! All the faces I photographed in Pushkar, Rajastan, I loved taking their photos, I loved how happy and sometimes stoic they were in the photos. But most were so excited to let me photograph them. And then I can’t ever forget chanting in Rishekesh on the Ganges with the mountains looking down on me lifting my soul, lightening my heart and singing to my hearts delight!

I can’t forget Lombok for it’s lazy days that are made for relaxing and healing filled with meditation, yoga, snorkeling, eating, reading, writing and doing it all over again 2 or 3 more times. The snorkeling there was just so fabulous and breath taking. And to learn more about Muslims and to witness one of their celebrations, hummmmm….Just lovely.

And then there is New Zealand, first the best part of New Zealand was to have Rob there, to have someone I knew and knew me so well there to share with, laugh with and to explore the most photogenic and possibly the most gorgeous place I may have been so far in my life. To share it with him and see all those mountains, rivers, water falls and eat all that delicious food and to feel so spoiled and taken care of, it was bliss! To travel by car is the way to go there and especially with great company!

I did my first massage client on Saturday, it felt so very strange to be back at work, luckily I only did one client. But technically today is the day I have chosen to officially go back to work and it’s the first day I feel grounded, back to almost normal, yet still a little bit of a fog still hang on. But I had a lovely experience of going to a student of mines houses and cut her hair, that felt so right. It felt so good to be back at doing hair.

I have a feeling things will be changing a lot in the next month. My heart is giving me answers of where to go, how to go and what do to make me happy. It’s very different then before I left. So I am ready to hang on for the ride and let it take me on this roller coaster called life.

I will say it’s nice to be home to a place where people know me and I know them. Yet on the other side of things I am checking out places in the surrounding areas wondering, am I supposed to be in LA? Am I to be in the woods? I am hearing of so many that are off in the woods and only coming to LA every few months to make money, do some workshops and then off again. It’s pretty amazing.

I think LA has either gotten nicer or I have completely changed. As now I’m back, I’m not in a hurry to get any where, I just want to enjoy the journey of being here in LA, being stable, take in the people around me, smell the ocean and the jasmine and honey suckles around me. I have had more people talk with me, make eye contact, say hello and just overall be friendly. I think I got an attitude adjustment while I was gone, THANK GOODNESS! Love these adjustments!

In fact I had a great experience yesterday, I went off to my favorite grocery store-Trader Joe’s-I think it should be world wide, my opinion, love this place. I was waiting patiently for this guy to back up so I can have his parking spot and just enjoying being there in the lovely warm sun, when this guy came up behind me and started honking. Then started yelling to move, then these other people said to him “hey fella, we are all here, stop your honking” quite friendly like. And he responded “she shouldn’t have a license to drive” angrily and impatiently and they responded “no I think you shouldn’t have a license to drive”. I was so excited, A. I was calm and not bothered by his upsetness, as I couldn’t do anything to get out of his way, there was no room and B. to see that others were standing up for other LA people, how beautiful. I park, he drives off and this woman stops and says, “he was rude wasn’t he” to me. Wow! Yes there are people like that guy, but there are so many others so friendly and helpful.

I think I’m just a lot less stress and not looking for everyone’s business so it’s nice to just be present with people. So it makes it a more happy place to be and so I’m calmer, happier and more open. I had one guy in a café turn to me and just start talking happily along saying “if people don’t want to talk to me, I talk to them anyway. I let them know that I won’t be ignored, that I am here and will talk to them and amazingly enough I get really great results of people talking with me and knowing I’m a guy they can talk to”. Pretty funny, I’ve taken the other way and I like his way. But pushiness, hummm….I think there is a place for both.

Been spending some great time with friends and just drinking it up and I feel so much more connected and working toward what I want-more of a community in my life here at home and my extended community of friends-abroad! OH, if you want to get ahold of me, three great ways!!!! Home phone: 310-915-8575, Cell phone: 310-621-6991 OR for FREE www.skype.com at heather.rhea.dawn, give me an email or call any time!

Ok loves, I am off to a gorgeous hike! Oh that is another thing, I don’t remember LA being so warm and lovely. Yet others seem shocked by it too. I think the Universe finally heard that I want to be warm!!! YES!!! Off I go and much love to you!

Oh, if any of you are in the area, I’m having a coming home party this Saturday, or if you want to fly on by, come on over! Love to see you! Love, Heather

To Fresh Beginnings, Goal & Dreams!!!! MUCH EXCITEMENT!

2008-02-24T19:17:00.000-08:00

These are some photos of Melbourne, a city that I would have no worries about living if it didn't get too cold! I love the white statue as it reminds me of a dancer and so very lovely and elegant at that. More photos soon!

Dear Ones,
How are you???? How is your February? It is almost over, can you believe it? Man these 2 months have gone so very fast, but so very full and filled with learning, exploring and opening.

I left Hobart to go up to North Sydney, I loved it up there, so very peaceful. I truly just keep falling in love with every place I go right now, it’s funny. It was just so relaxed there. Walking down the street with trees all lined up the street giving shade and a gorgeous green and yellow color surrounding you! Then there are the little outdoor cafes that have umbrellas over the tables that whether it’s raining or not people eat out there taking in the fresh breeze and the only the hum of the cars, the noisiest thing is the hiss of the bus that stops to pick up and drop off customers. The air is pretty fresh for that many cars driving around.

I sat in the most loveliest of parks with a water fountain that seems like every city has at least one of! I walked down the street, and though I’m in a city and the people are a little more aloof the people in the cafes and shops are just as friendly as in the country and it’s authentic. I walked into this café just to see what they had to offer and this woman asked if she could help me, I asked a few questions and within minutes I had the most delicious chicken schnitzel sandwich with avocado and tomatoes and other yummy things. I took my sandwich to the park where it proceeded to wake up my mouth, my senses and made my experience in the park just so much more lovely. Every bite seem to come alive. I could only eat half the sandwich it was so fulfilling!

I then just took in everyone around me, everyone was laying in each others lap, touching, talking, laughing and relaxing. The Auzzies are very publically affectionate when they are in relationship, they hold hands, make out with one another, hold each other in deep embraces and kissing often. It’s really lovely. I really like that, me being a touchy feely person.

I moved down into the city of Sydney, which was a good thing as I hadn’t really connected with Sydney and now I get it. I get why people love this city. I’m not a night person, but for a day person it’s a lovely city too. I love all the parks-Hyde Park, WOW, I’ve been there everyday reading, writing, taking in the water fountain with statues, watching the people, going in and out of the churches and listening to the sounds of their bells ring out after wedding-which I walked in on one right as the wedding march (as I call it) started up and got pushed out of the way as the bride walked by! I couldn’t imagine getting married in a church with tourists walking in. The churches here reminds me of Europe (wonder why??) big, tall colored glass windows and huge walks down to the front of the church and sun streaming in from the sky window, it was stunning!

So when I wasn’t walking around or sitting in parks, I was in a café listening to music, organizing my music for classes which has been so much fun and makes me so very happy. My heart starts pounding and I get so excited that I just can’t sit still. Then it hits me, the one thing I am so missing is DANCE. I so miss dance. I miss singing as well. I had so many opportunities in Asia, but here I share every room with someone so it’s impossible. I know I can sing with people in the room, but dance, some rooms, well lets just say it would be dangerous as they are sometimes so cramped!

So I made a decision…..YES I have!

I have been walking on cloud 9 for the past 48 hours as I had the thought to come home just a little earlier. That is right, life keeps changing each moment! And let me tell you, these past few days in Sydney have been amazing. But it’s time to go home, so I called just moments ago and I am leaving tomorrow, which means 2 days from now for most of you. I will be home Tuesday night. I won’t be able to move into my home for a few days but to be able to walk on familiar beaches, hopefully get my thoughts straight, see a few friends and get organized for work I’m very excited about.

I can feel the equal excitement for alone time as well as seeing friends. I’ve been sharing space for so long and now it’s time to have some in my room time or at least have the possibility will be so nice! But the real excitement is going for my goals and dreams. I’m thrilled to put my passions into action! That will be so lovely! Oh, yes lovely and beautiful are so much more in my vocabulary now that I’ve been in OZ. I love these words!

Tonight I go off to my friend Beenie’s and Kristi’s and then off to the airport in the AM!

If you are in LA, I’ll be seeing you soon! If you aren’t, you’ll know where I am if you’d like to see me, you have a place to stay!

I look forward to hugging you very very soon!!! Here comes a very excited Heather! Yes I know I maybe blown away by LA and want to turn and come back but I know that possibility and I’ll just have to deal with that, that is typical coming back from any trip-culture shock of the city and being stable, YIKES!!!!

At least I get to see you and dance with you very soon and hug my LA friends, Yummy!
Ok I’m out of here! Much love to you! Heather

KISS FOR YOU!!!!

2008-02-18T17:37:00.000-08:00

This is me in Rishekesh. High on life!!! Just done chanting,kissing the world and now YOU!!!! Love, Heather

I'M IN LOVE WITH HOBART!!!!! Hard to leave it!

2008-02-18T17:27:00.001-08:00

Dearest Ones,

Thanks for all your emails on the last one, how lovely!!!! I love hearing from you.

I have had the most glorious morning here. I had a great night sleep, woke up feeling great! And I mean Great! I got up, got dressed, no breakfast, just took off walking. The sun was out in full, I just needed a light weight shirt and headed toward the water. I didn’t know where I was going but it was stunning, the sun sparkling off the water, so warm and lovely. A perfect light breeze wisped by. I got down to the ocean which had a park, which later I realized once the dog walkers woke up was a dog park. Ozzie people love to get their dogs wet. It’s as if they insist on it, I’ve seen them do it and then the dogs are happy. So cute and funny all at the same time.

The architecture was just stunning. I loved seeing the homes with porches, with glass enclosed porches that they can work on, gardens, railings that surround around the door ways. Some homes are red brick and others old fashion, like the South East style in the US.

It’s like all my senses were alive. My eyes were constantly being fed and popping out of my head in love with everything I saw. I haven’t felt this alive in so long and it was just so great to feel so alive, curious and with such a great inner happiness that I just bounced down the street. I talked to a number of locals that were just in great moods.

I got offered a lift to Melbourne as well, on a boat. I would have taken it but it was going to take 3 weeks of hopping islands to get there. Let me tell you, if I wasn’t so excited to come home and have my date planned and if I knew I wouldn’t be hanging my head over the side of the boat (which I haven’t a clue how my body would handle a boat trip like that) I would have done it.

I loved seeing how people are in the dog parks, they let their dogs have their misunderstandings, growl at each other and verbally fight-they never physically fight but a nip here or there. They bring out water bowls for all the dogs and refill them daily so the dogs get fresh water. As well as some of the restaurants do this as well, especially in St Kilda they’d have water bowls for the dogs that their parents eat at their restaurants. It’s just lovely.

The ocean was so warm and so lovely to be next to, walk around and breath in, take in. Such great eye candy. Such delight and excitement, my heart pounded and was thrilled. Here it is my last day here, I’m sad to go. I have fallen in love with this crazy place of every changing weather, cold at times, windy and icy other times, but then there is no where you can where shorts if you so dare to trust the weather. I love laying in a park reading, relaxing, sitting in a café getting some work done before I get home as well as reading. I love taking walks around down and now at the waters edge, seeing how the people are just so lovely, relaxed and human.
I love the trees and the fresh air, the silence of the drivers, the peacefulness of this town-the largest city in Tas. I love I can go hiking just 20 minutes away by bus. I can get amazing sushi or any kind of Asian food within 2 blocks any where here in Tas. Tastes of India are every where, and tonight I am going out with Kristin for my last dinner here at her favorite Indian place!

My body is feeling great since the cleanse, it feels cleaner, I’m not eating as much, but highly aware of my ons and offs of wanting to eat and not, craving, or being ok with being hungry. I feel like I’m just feeling the effects of the cleanse now. My energy is now starting to come back, I’ve just been tired this whole time since after the cleanse. It’s like my body waited to be tired after the cleanse. Or maybe I was so busy during the cleanse I didn’t have time to be tired and now I’m able to honor my tiredness.

My goal is just to rest the whole next 9 days I’m here no matter where I go. I am reflecting and really seeing how much I love it here. I really get that now looking back. The people being so human, down to earth, friendly, making new words shorter or longer or adding an O to the end of words or ie or y-like Possy for position, Cossie for bathing suit, or Mossie for Mosiquito. I love that they are always walking their dogs, they don’t yell at their animals or at each other. They love just to have fun, be with their friends and they don’t stress about money, they know money is there to bring more happiness to their lives-as in if they want a coffee or a meal they don’t bitch about the price, they just get it, they don’t piss and moan much, they just accept “I want this and this is the price and it’s all ok”. I love that attitude. I love that the streets even in cities are relatively quiet without the honking of horns as they only use them in emergencies.

They also reserve the right to look inside your bag while checking out of any store to see if you have taken anything. Could you imagine how well that would go over in the US? They do it gently and factually, not accusatory at all, it’s pretty impressive really. Strange at first but they do it with such easy it’s not offensive at all but just what they need to do to keep everything on the up and up.

Oh, they have the best yogurt here. Oh my gosh it’s so lovely. I found this yogurt that has all the wonderful bacteria that the body needs to digest food well and it is just so yummy! I’ve been living on that for the past month that I was eating. OH my gosh it’s lovely. I’ll have to write the name down and see if we can get it in the US.

I am also so very in love with that fact that this place feels so safe. I watch people leave their bags, shoes, what ever, walk away and come back 10 minutes to an hour later and it's still there. The only thing I have had stolen from me is some gorgeous organic sheep cheese from the backpackers place and that is only in the past 2 days. Bummer but the great thing is someone has had the delight to eat that goregous cheese.

I will miss Hobart, it’s been so great, so relaxing, with nothing to do, no where to go. It’s just want I needed for part of the last few weeks traveling. It’s really shown me how easy it is to relax and to be. Just to lay under a tree and do nothing or stare out at the water and let it take the thoughts away and to be.

I have to say as much as I started to want to go home in January, these past weeks I have needed to really be excited to go home as well as the past 2 months have really shown me how to stop thinking of work and money all the time. In LA I got in the pattern of always thinking of work and it was draining, so now it’s time to go back and keep it as part of my life, not my life. I love the work I do but to always be thinking of it is too much. So I needed these last two months to calm that chatter.
I really got in touch with nature to a deeper level being up on Cradle Mt. It’s like something shifted, just taking in all that was around me was so magical it livened up my senses, and possibly being on the cleanse helped that as well.

So I am going to go enjoy the rest of my time here on my last day in Hobart and try not to get sun burned, as it’s so stunning out there. I send you love, Heather

TASMANIA PHOTOS! GORGEOUS!!!!

2008-02-17T16:38:00.000-08:00

The little critter you see in the next batch of photos is a Wombat, it came up and smelled my foot, I am in love with Wombats, so very adorable. The mountain area is Cradle Mt, the ocean is one of the top 10 beaches in the world Wineglass Bay, just stunning. Dolphins came out to play with people and by themselves, it was just lovely. The lake is the lake I woke up to in the morning in Cradle Mt area.
Enjoy!!!! See you soon, Love, Heather

GUESS WHAT!!!!!

2008-02-17T16:27:00.000-08:00

Hello Hello Hello,
It’s time……!!!!! I’M COMING HOME!!!!! I’m so very excited by this. It feels so very right! I want to see you (my friends at home), be with my friends, sleep in my own bed and wear my clothes that I haven’t seen in over a year-and probably have forgotten about most of, AND DANCE DANCE DANCE in my community of friends, hike my mountains I know and just be!

It’s time to come home to the people I know, the places I know and to go to be in my womb inside my home, be able to close the door and be alone, without listening to the snores of strangers inside my dorm room. I look forward to getting up without having to tiptoe around and be so quiet as to not wake anyway. I want to start the next leg of my journey-creativity-singing, dancing, sewing, batiking, cooking, baking, and throwing parties. I look forward to start teaching new classes and expanding in a stable zone. Yes I know this all means giving up the constant change, the newness, the meeting of new people daily and seeing different places everyday. But there is so much and so many around me even at home I have not seen or met and so maybe it’s time to see those places and meet those people.

It is so nice to come home excited, with a goal and dream. Before I left I felt I had no reason any more to be in LA but now I feel like I’m coming back with so much I want to give, do and be that it’s thrilling to me. This trip has gotten me so clear on who I am, who I want to be when I grow up ((I love that line) and what I want in my life. Nothing has changed, it has all been there, the same since childhood really, well except batiking which I only have known of for 9 years now. But it took time away, time alone to look inside to re-see and re-feel it again to live it.

I really want to create a community of people that are creative together, active together, cook, play, create dreams and fulfill dreams together, support each others dreams, and just being there for one another.

I will be able to hug you in person soon enough now. As I am coming home the evening of February 28th! It’s funny this date has been following my family around for years, all kinds of things have happened on this day but it feels like the date that has been calling to come home on, so that’s what I’m doing!
I look forward to seeing you

Love love love, Heather

WOW!!!! The Mountains! Cleansing, Trekking & the Beach!

2008-02-14T15:18:00.000-08:00

G’day Mates,
How are you? I hope this finds you splendid, busting with life at the seems. For me, right now is a time of rest and letting the body heal. The last 13 days have been glorious! Filled with tremendous views, hikes, tours of the Cadbury Chocolate Factory, cleansing for 10 days, going through some beautiful emotions and not so beautiful emotions-but all needed and healing.

Before I left Hobart I went to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory, oh my goodness, the scent in there is just lovely. The hundreds of thousands of pounds of chocolate that is made there daily is just ridiculous! But how yummy is it to smell and take little tastes of. Do you know which country eats the most chocolate-according the Cadbury? Take a wild guess……Ireland. I guess with it being cold and well you know what they say about chocolate and sex…..hummmm……well…..Maybe Ireland needs a little something! ; )

It was pretty impressive to see these machines that can wrap 700 candies in a minute, while the fastest hand roller was 120 or 170 a minute. I can’t imagine, those are some fast hands. They give you a little box mixed chocolates at the end and plenty of time to shop in their little shop full of sweet delights.
After that is when Kristin had the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, which left lots of left-overs in the house. But come Monday, only 2 days after the fiesta we started our cleanse. For me this is a time to get India out of my system, as it effects the body in strange ways and last time it took 5 years to get my toe nails back to normal. So off we went onto the Master Cleanse. Not sure if you know anything about it but it’s a cleanse you do for preferred minimum of 10 days to over 40 if you are seriously ill. All you intake the whole time is Bentonite (sp?), in the morning, with a tea to help you go!!!! Then you start with the real stuff of maple syrup, lemon and cayenne pepper in water-drinking 2-4 liters a day and that is your diet for 10 days, well repeating the Bentonite and tea at night as well. But that is it.

This process was amazing, truly impressive to see where “hunger” starts from…..as we think our way into hunger. I so many times didn’t feel hungry but my mind wanted to eat. Talk about a mind control, to really watch the mind. Here you are getting all the minerals, vitamins and substance you need to live on, exist and your mind is going “I want this, feed me that”. But since Lemons and Limes are the two most healthy things you can eat and the minerals in the syrup is so comprehensive to keep you going and the warmth and vitamin B and C in the Cayenne is so good you being well fed through a liquid diet. It’s just retraining the mind to know you are fine, you don’t need “food” to exist and function.

There were many times I didn’t feel hungry, and other times that I couldn’t get enough of the stuff-on the strenuous days! The great thing about this stuff is it tastes great. I didn’t think it would but it was lovely, I never got sick of it-well except one day when I had to put less syrup in as there was no store for 2 days away and I wanted to extend my stay in the woods, then it got a little bitter!!! ; )

So that was cleansing and clearing and lightening of the load of the toxins in the body and bile and a little weight.

After getting used to being on the cleanse, 3 days in I took off for Cradle Mountain…..this is the place that everyone goes to, to do the Overland Track, which I had decided not to do as I didn’t want to be part of the human highway. I got up there and already to go up to the Scott Kilvert hut for a night or two, excited to be backpacking-first time on my own, what an exhilarating feeling to do this on my own! I loved it.

But what I was ready for is this trail that was recommended to me to go up-which I found out later is the hardest trail in the whole National Park. On no food, only a liquid diet I went up by foot, on hands and foot, and hands and knees, around cliffs, up cliffs, over mountains, next to lakes and sweated up steep jagged edges, and panted up with my 40+ pound pack (I was loaned some pretty heavy gear), nursing a sore knee, to get to the hut 5 hours later. I don’t ever recommend doing this on a cleanse, I call it crazy. I had no idea what I was in for as I took the hardest trails, but then I always love a good challenge, just preferably not on a cleanse! I will say being in nature is the best place to be when you are on a cleanse though, it really makes you closer and more at one with nature and I felt more alive!

But the views made it all worth it….Let me start with where the trail starts from. Lake Dove. Take my breath away….here you stand before this gorgeous lake with the back ground being these 2 jagged mountain ranges jutting out of no where behind them. They are ragged, sharp, pointed, and gorgeous! Green all around them but them being this brown jutting out from the earth with the blue lake in front of them. I just didn’t want to leave from the lake. But with every bend, with every turn, they got closer to them, they kept beckoning me, reaching for me, taking me in , drinking me in with each step closer. It was a grey day but it was still stunning that day.

I got up to the view point of Cradle Mountain and what can I say….there really aren’t any words to express how strong, bold, knightly, and brilliant this mountain is. I felt so at peace and happy in the presence of this mountain. It’s as if it talked to me. Maybe I was here once before in a past life, maybe not, but this mountain called to my body and talked to it and my body loved it. I never wanted it out of view. I never had this feeling with a mountain before. So on I went, forging forward past Crater Lake which is huge and glorious with it’s mountainess edges and deep slices cut into the sides of the mountains surrounding it. At this point I was on the Overland track, which is the most easy part of the whole trail….it is actually so well maintained even going up hill it’s an easy track to take.

You can’t believe how heavy lemons and syrup are until you take them on a walk with you….I don’t recommend that walk! ; ) I just laugh at myself now for doing such a crazy thing but live and learn I guess.

I got the base of Cradle and decided that because my knee was in so much pain by this time and I was getting tired and I had at least 2 hours left to hike, not to go up, plus it’s a pretty dangerous trail up there and even worse coming down.

So I went on to the hut, which took 2 ½ hours, losing the trail at one point, almost going down a cliff, but instead realizing the trail was straight up the cliff side. YIKES! I had rain, sleet, hail and stuff I called slail as it was between sleet and hail, I had gusting winds and a little bit of sun. And though I was tired and cranky I still sang as I went along-the strangest songs you find you know when you trek, things I didn’t even know I knew….a strange thing in nature what pours out of ya! Coming off that steep mountain trail my legs were shaky and I was pooped, so I copped a squat for a bit (took a break) and just rested with the lovely surroundings of great green valleys, mountains and the scent of nature all around me. Luckily from there it was most all down hill. I got to the hut and I was alone for the first bit. The lake the hut sat on was just lovely.

I got in set up, had my “food” and rested. That night was filled with 3 others showing up, talking, them eating and thinking I’m crazy to be not eating and doing this-I agreed. But with my hot water bottle in my sleeping bag I went out and slept very nicely, after I got over the sounds of the craziest snorers I’ve ever heard in my life, so erratic, no constant anything, just all over the place different sounds coming out of this woman’s mouth and the man at least was pretty even with his snores.

I got up to the most gorgeous morning in a long time. I didn’t need my 5 layers, my fleece hat and my hiking boots. So off I went outside to the lake and did my yoga, meditated and wrote, as the sun came up over the lake and shown it’s brilliance of life on me and the earth. As I sat there all I could think is “this is how I want to get up every morning, to a lake in my back yard and the sun in a clear blue sky warming my whole being”. The only things I’d change is I’d like the wind to be warmer, a kayak for the lake and preferably a place a little closer to a road so it’s easier to get the food to the house, oh and central heating and a larger pot belly stove!

I finally had to tear myself away from the lake so I could get down the trail. I headed out a different trail out and had some more just stunning views of other lakes. But I have to say with my knee being cranky it wasn’t as nice as it could have been if my knee was feeling better. Luckily it was a pretty good trail out. I got back down and got a great little wooden shack with 3 bunks in it all to myself for $17.00 and went off for a tiny hike and came back to the kitchen that was warmed by a large fireplace to just read, relax, have my drink and some tea and pass out. I was wiped out.

Over the next two days I went on some great hikes and got to see wallabees every where (I see them as little kangaroos) and the best thing happen that made me so very happy. I not only saw a wombat, but I got to follow it around and it finally came right up to me and smelled my foot. OH I was so excited!!! I was about to pet it but I saw the bus was coming and had to leave, and it scared the poor little critter. From a distance it looks like a pig but up close it has brownish/black fur about 1 ½ inches long, short stubby legs, about a ¼ of foot from the ground, long and round-a little chubby with a angular face and round beautiful beady eyes. It kept its head down eating as it walked and had a little tail as well. OH it was so cute. I just wanted to pick it up and take it home with me. I now want a wombat, wallabee and a koala in my yard as wild pets.

The next few days I just relaxed as I went on my way to Coles Bay and hiked over this hill to Wineglass bay, which OH MY GOSH! I now know why it is said to be one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. It is stunning and not only just the white sand that is so soft to the touch, but the water is so clear AND the best thing is a whole group of 10+ dolphins came and swam, played, jumped out of the water straight up and splashed down. A few people actually swam out to them. The wind was way to cold for me to be getting in that cold water-no way!!! YIKES! You have to realize the wind comes straight from Antarctica and it feels like ice air. I think it is actually colder here in Tassie then in New Zealand. Not sure how but it’s what it feels like. But the dolphins came for a very long visit but once 5 people got out there the dolphins left. Well for a while, they came back to play a little more and then they were off again.

So now I am back in Hobart to relax, I got a ride from a fellow coming here from Coles Bay, the drive was just stunning. I am back, I am starting to take in a little food, after doing a day of orange juice and my body is not so sure about this solid food stuff. It at first felt like a lump in my stomach and it’s getting a little used to it. But I’ll tell you, I have never felt so full from eating a half of an avocado! It sustained me for a good 3-4 hours. I did some research on these lovely fruits to find they are one of the easiest digestible foods there are and we are to have 3-6 a week and they are the perfect thing to eat while trying to come off meat as they have so much protein. So just in case you want to come off meat, this is a good substitute. This website I found told you so much about them it blew me away. Thankfully I love these lovely fruits.

So the next week will be adjusting to eating again, gently and easily and resting. I hope you are having a brilliant time in life, your heart is opening and living your dreams. Heaven knows my dreams are growing by the minute and once I am home I’ll happy to put them in motion. Yet right now I’m living a different dream! Much love to you, I send you all hugs, Heather

The Day for Love.....

2008-02-14T15:17:00.000-08:00

The Day for Love…

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

This is the day that is set aside for expressing love, love for partners, lovers, married couples and friends. Remember in school when you’d write out all those little Valentine Cards and give them to your friends and the cute boy/girl that sat in the corner or back of the room? How lovely it was to send out those little hearts as well with the cards to show their sweetness! What sweet and delicious times.

Funny we have a day to express love as it would be much better to celebrate this daily. Maybe that would be a nice wish……just lovely.

I wish you a loving day, full of inner love for yourself most of all, peace, love and comfort with all around you and full expression to share your love with them as well as treat yourself with love always. Being patient with ones self and others is one way of loving, being generous with ones time, giving hugs every chance you get and really receiving them back. Feel the connection with your friends, your own heart and life around you, even the strangers walking down the street-they need love too, today and everyday. Maybe just giving that smile will brighten someone’s day or save someone life, you never know, doing random acts of kindness does lovely things to ones soul-to the receiver and giver.

Know that this isn’t the only day we get to share love, and do special things for others, every day is for this…how lovely to know if we accidentally skip sharing love with someone on our list of people we love we can do it tomorrow.

Lend a hand, a heart, an ear….slow down for just a minute, touch someone you don’t know in the grocery store as you reach for that box of chocolates and give a warm smile, see how this is received, but don’t expect anything….some people don’t know how to handle touch, but we all so very much need it.

I’ve met people in my life that are not touchy feely people and I’ll just hug them as they giggle uncomfortably until they learn to love the touch, the hug, the embrace, as scary as it is for them, they do love it in some way.

So for me, I am sending you love, I am touching you as well as I can today, taking my two arms, reaching them out to both sides of me as far as I can and I am wrapping them around you so HUGELY and hugging you, sending you so much love and tenderness and this glorious day of LOVE. I am there with you in your heart and supporting you in anyway I can to allow love to be there stronger every day. I know it’s hard to feel love at all times, but we can all work toward that and eventually it may just be upon us.

I feel blessed to have you in my life, to be able to touch you, to share my life with you as well as hear about your life, your stories, and your heart. Thank you for being a part of my life. I send you love and one day real soon I’ll be giving you one great big hug! HAPPY LOVE DAY=HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
Love, Heather

Yummy Kanga!!!!

2008-02-04T23:07:00.000-08:00

Hey ya lovely friends,
How ya goin? I’m good! I’m here in lovely Tasmania, staying with my girlfriend Kristin & family, who I haven’t seen in 5 years and it’s been a great! She has truly been amazing letting me share her home, play with her son-who is just a beautiful 4.5 year old and be part of her family.

My first day here I went around gathering info on the Overland Trek, but after a few days my traveling companions canceled as we found out how costly it was going to be, just go to TREKKING! I can’t blame them, I was thinking the same thing, but wanted to go trekking so I thought to go anyway. After talking to some locals here I found that that trek is a human highway and if I wanted peace and nature it’s not the trail to go on. So I have let it go and now I have found a million other trails to trek that don’t charge a huge fee to go on! So that is the plan. I have never trekked alone but it’s time for an adventure and something new, or I’ll meet up with someone along the way!!! ; ) It’s all good living day to day seeing what gifts this life will give.

So Kristin took me on some gorgeous hikes up in the Mt Fields National Park and it was just stunning. She loves to hike too so we had a blast hiking, catching up and exploring.

I absolutely love being around her son. This past weekend Kristin had a Cinco De Mayo Fiesta!!!! They don’t celebrate this so it didn’t matter that it was in February and they had to dress up Mexico style!!! They came with great costumes and we had tons of guacamole and chips, her friend prepared some lovely food, not sure what it was called but yummy, fried quesdias, Margarita’s and everyone was happy with the Coronas. The great part was when it came Sunday morning everyone was a little tired and I laid in bed with Ollie, her son, as he played with my hair and cuddled with me and watched Shrek II and later The Incredibles-man I love cartoons! He was just adorable curled up in my arms and entangling his little hands in my hair. Just precious.

I had Roo! Yep that is right, as much as I protested I did not want to eat these hoppity hop hop animals, I broke down when Kristin said how she liked it better then any other meat as well as it healthier then other meat. So I had Kangaroo at her house, it was lovely! It had the texture of steak but had the flavor of liver and steak mixed but better. Luckily I like liver-though I haven’t had it in years, but it wasn’t a strong flavor of liver, but just enough. There was no fat on this thing at all, just pure really red meat. It was so good, filling and you didn’t need much to fill ya. Yummy!

We went on another hike in the sprinkling air on Sunday and it was just as lovely even in that weather. It’s nice hiking all around this area. It’s also nice there is nothing to bite cha, but snakes that are highly poisoness. They actually take the cat in at night so it doesn’t kill birds and night critters. Whereas in Cali we worry about what’s going to eat the cat.

So Kristin and have found refuge at Starbucks from time to time, reading and just letting life be and enjoying the moment. It’s nice to have a little piece of home from time to time.

I decided to finally cleanse, I’ve talked about it forever now, but I have finally started and Kristin decided to join me. So we have been drinking our diet the past two days now. The first day was hard as I was cold, didn’t do much and hungry with yummy food that is very bad for me in the fridge. But I was good, I got out and hiked, had no food and went to bed feeling really great and slept like a baby! Today’s been great as I got up, went straight for a hike, clearing my thoughts and breathing in the trees and smelling nature and now I’m in town trying to choose which trail I’m going on! This is the difficulty with having such a lovely hiking island, how to choose. But luckily after some calls, found out many don’t have water, and so I won’t be going there. The idea of trekking with water has no appeal to me.

In the next few days I’ll be off for some trekking and exploring Tas. It will be nice to see some more of this lovely island between the mainland and NZ. Funny many feel that Tas is it’s own country, they can keep saying it, but it’s not, it’s still part of OZ.

I am learning more of the language here as Kristin and I talk about it all the time. It’s so fun. They love shortening things but then sometimes they lengthen words by putting a “y or ie” at the end of a word.

I am good, I’d love to hear from you, see how you are. Keep smiling, stayin’ positive and cherishing each moment. I send you great big hugs. Love, Heather

Photos!!!!

2008-02-03T14:18:00.000-08:00

Hello there,
Here are photos!!!! The first one is of me in Rishekesh, near the Ganga where I'd chant each morning! Then the Ocean is in Bryon Bay, so beautiful! My feet in the Suds at Lennox Head with my as Monkey toes!!! :) The card is something I just loved and had to take a photo of, Creating our own life-it's what we do each day, it's within our power everyday! There are other cards that aren't so inspiring that I may put up one day so you can get the OZ sense of humour, one day anyway! And then there is the archetecture of Sydney, very beautiful. In fact much of the homes here have those grates, metal railings, I think it's beautiful.
Much love to you! Keep creating and I send you many hugs and wish you love, joy and happiness! Love, Heather
PS. Also if you are interested in the coming Chinese New Year animal-the rat and finding out how it may effect your year (which I always take with a grain of salt, but I think is fun) go to www.proastro.com. Enjoy!!!

Sensually Rigid Pleasure

2008-01-28T14:04:00.000-08:00

January 26th, 08

Hello hello hello,

How do I start??? Well first I guess I should say HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!!! Yes it’s their Independence Day-220 years old!

On top of that since I’ve written last I have gone from Byron to Sydney to now I’m in Melbourne and about to leave it here…..I have to say though before I start to catch up with you, I believe Melbourne so far is my favorite city in Australia, and St Kilda (a suburb) maybe even my favorite area. But really how can one compare, each town has it’s blessing to give to the world. Yet here in Melbourne area it’s so relaxed and peaceful for my heart, there is something just very beautiful about it. I believe it’s all the parks, there is a park every few streets, even in the city. I miss parks. When I lived in San Jose, it’s what I loved, walking to a park to read or write or just be with nature.

Let me begin by sharing with you this amazing lake I got to swim in when I was in Lennox Head and my time in Ballina. Well I had a fabulous few days in Lennox Head and Ballina. I really got to see how relaxed I am from NZ and spending time with Rob. I took my first day in Lennox Head just to walk on the beach where the foam was about 1.5-2 feet deep as it’s been flooding and all the rivers flow into the ocean and make this foam. It had been toxic for about 5-7 days and that day, the day I was there was the first day that people could go into the water again.

It was lovely to watch the foam move, roll and shimmy. It was so amazing how alive it felt and looked. Slightly brown in color and just bubbles galore. The rainbows that shown in all those bubbles were brilliant, even without the sun being out. Rainbows where every where you looked, within the bubbles.

I walked through the bubbles, my feet and legs being completely swallowed by these foamy forms and when a wave come, the foam would go higher up on my legs and then rinse some off going back out to sea. You see the ocean was cleaning all that was toxic and dirty within the bubbles this past week after the floods. Nature amazes me, it works so well when we step out of the way.
Yet of course it was great that the city came in and removed debris, trees, and then the last day I was there cleaning the sand from all the left little stuff, dead fish, etc. Even the birds didn’t eat the fish, they knew it was toxic. I met a woman that was helping the birds there that had eaten the fish, she brought the birds pillows to be more comfortable as they were nursed back to care. I love that this place takes care of its home and its animals.

I then went for a swim in the Tea Tree lake. At first you think it’s just black from who knows what, but it’s colored a dark redish brown from all the Tea Trees that live around it. You get into it and it feels lovely. I soothes your skin, your hair, you don’t feel like you need to bathe afterward. I felt so clean and pure. It washes everything away and lifts you some how. It’s just glorious to swim in. I felt so close to nature there in that water. So grateful I had come to Lennox and that I had the chance to, even if for one more time swim again in the lake. I ended up staying a few days instead of only 1 just so I could go swimming again in this lovely lake.

I really see how clean it is here, especially for as many people as it has. At the lake there wasn’t trash here and there or cludder. And for as many people there are there that’s amazing! And here there are garbage cans around, but in NZ there was never a garbage bin and still there was no garbage around.

It’s funny the locals complain that the service sucks here in OZ, but honestly I’ll take the service here any day of the week. I’ve found the locals quite nice, they go out of their way to make sure you get what you need and help in any way they can, it’s so lovely to have such great service from people and it’s nicer to give money to people you like.
I love how the bus drivers drive in this country, they drive very precisely, there is no hurry, nothing else to be done but drive. Not too many stressed out drivers I see here. They are very helpful, calm and I feel them happy to be helping others. What a beautiful feeling. I love how when you ask a question to the bus drivers or to anyone on the bus they are so helpful at any time. Only three in all of my time in OZ have I come across someone unpleasant-two of them drivers upset with pedestrians and one just wouldn’t answer if the café had wi fi-but I think she was scared to be caught as she was using it and not taking anything from the menu, but I doubt they would have made a fuss anyway.

I have to say I loved the weather in Byron and Lennox Head area. I could get up at 6am walk on the beach with maybe a t-shirt on or possibly a singlet top and shorts! Love that.

I got down to Sydney to see Beenie and how lovely! After 10 years of not seeing each other it was so lovely to see him again, hang out, have him show me around Sydney, the places people don’t go as tourists and some that they do. It was just a lovely time with him and Kristi. Catching up and seeing each other and having a bbq with his friends and just relaxing with him was great! Plus he’s quite the cook so I got some really lovely food while staying there-simple but SOOOO Good! I was spoiled with such great hospitality-food, shown around, a great place to stay and great company. He took me out for a day on the town on his motor bike, this is the way to see the city! Because nothing is obstructing your view so you see the bridge above you as we crossed it and all the buildings, birds, and everything around you….lovely. We went to beaches, suburbs to see architecture of buildings-which was lovely and he just loves, being he’s into building homes and selling them. We had a great week together, I just couldn’t leave really.

So I got to Melbourne a few days later then expected and honestly I wish I had more time here. It is by far the best city I’ve been in here in OZ. It’s just so comfortable. The energy just feels good, not sure why, maybe it’s the nature within the city. But it’s lovely. I have gotten to see my friend Steph who I met in Mulwillimbah along with Adriane as well, who lives here. It’s been nice to catch up with people and see them, hang out with people I know! Steph will be joining me in Tas with one of her friends to do a 7 night, 8 day backpacking trek in a few weeks. She is from France and just a lovely soul with a big heart. She is here working as a baker which she is great at!!! She’s the one that baked us a cake in Mulwillimbah!

Friday night it was time to do something a little different, something that my soul wanted-I went out to see a dance/gymnastics performance called Aeros-It may have already been in Los Angeles. But if you get the chance, go for it, see it. It feels like you are there for about 30 minutes but 80 minutes have past. It’s brilliant! They did a duet at one point and it was delicious! It brought up the feelings of Sensual, Rigid, Pleasure! As it was very sensual, yet they were stiff at times so it felt rigid, yet the pleasure they seemed to be getting out of it and the audience receiving from it was divine! I have never seen a dance production so in sync before. It was glorious! That was on my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of traveling present to me. That’s right, that just past.

I am off to Tasmania for the next month of hiking, seeing Kristin, my friend from the US that has moved there 4 or 5 years ago and now is married and has her second baby which I haven’t met! It will be nice to catch up there with her.

So life is good, filling me with lessons of slowing down, listening to my body, not “doing” so much. Really asking what I want today or in this moment and doing and being that just that, in the moment. I feel I have finally started to slow down, after a year, yes it’s taken a year, to finally just be happy not doing a lot, but just being here now. How many times do we go off doing this and that and not checking in and see if that is honoring to our souls?????

Today I spent the day exploring St Kilda and will do some more tomorrow. Went for a walk on the beach, which we had great weather and perfect water temperature to swim in. I also went to the main street and looked into the tiny little shops full of all kinds of fun things- great clothes, pastries piled higher then I am tall, all kinds of chocolates, desserts of all kinds, ice creams, gelato, every other shop was filled with lovely things to tempt your taste buds. On top of great cafes people were pouring into and eating lovely salads, meat, pies, everything. Oh, I had my first pie here-no not a pie like we think of it, a pie as it a meat pie-I’d call it a potpie. It was lovely. It reminded me of childhood when my mother would make us frozen potpies in the oven.

Today being a holiday everyone is at a park having a bbq with friends, or at the beach relaxing, swimming in the ocean or going to the festivities in town, which is what I was going to do, but I decided a relaxing day at the beach and having a wander was more my cup of tea after staying up late at the theatre and walking around Melbourne with Adriane last night. I love how relaxed everyone is in this country and how they really spend time with their friends. Which I look forward to once I am home.

So enough for now, I hope you are well, happy, filled with bliss with the life you have chosen. It’s not always easy. Even on this trip it’s not been easy but it’s been full of lessons that I am finally getting to integrate after a year of working on listening and trusting.

I send you love, many hugs, Love, Heather

More photos of OZ!!!!

2008-01-15T20:39:00.000-08:00

Here are so more extraordinary photos of the Blue Mountains in OZ!!! One of my favorite places here in OZ! May just have to go back there before leaving, I'll see. It is so stunning, even in the fog and rain! There is a photo me when hiking with Kristi at the beginning of my trip here in OZ! I like this photo of me. It's funny the photos you really like.

Photos of OZ!!!!

2008-01-15T20:20:00.000-08:00

Hello there,
Here are some photos of the Blue Mountains in OZ as well as a sicada out of it's shell and the Opera House in Sydney!!!! Enjoy!

Kayaking with Dolphins & a Farewell to NZ!!!!

2008-01-12T19:43:00.000-08:00

Hello there Loves,
I have left NZ! The photos are of Stuart Island, so beautiful!!! The bird is a NZ Shag!!! The sign tells all, bird crossing!!!!! I love the signs in that country and in OZ for that matter.

Rob and I had a blast and it was just the most amazing place for hiking, nature and well, as one quote said-There is yet another damn gorgeous picture-talking about NZ! Yes it's such a gorgeous place. And the people were extraordinary! So sweet and such great parents. We loved watching them with their kids, so interested and so inclusive and wanting to be a part of their lives. So gorgeous.

So I had to leave Rob as well and that was hard, I really enjoyed traveled with him, having someone to laugh with and play with in nature. But it was good, it was a good period of time, it was nice to have time with him and share the holidays with him. I feel refreshed, relaxed and renewed having someone from home, someone who really knows me to be with me for a month. I am so much more relaxed now and just enjoying the moment.

But I have to say, as relaxed and calm as I was entering OZ wasn't a arms open, love hug. I was more like a hour of harassment. A word to the wise, never try to get in raw nuts or dried fruit into OZ, they don't like it. After at $220.00 because they thought I was trying to hide them, when I had written it write on my card that I had them I got to leave a free woman. They treatened of prison and bigger fines. YIKES! So a lesson learned and move on.

I just wanted to get to Byron where I felt nice and safe sound, like a second home. I got into my Backpackers on the Beach and just unwound, relaxed, walked on the beach. I enjoyed the warm rainy weather as I walked on the beach. It was stunning weather, the rain felt good and it was warm enough to have a singlet top on so I was happy. I just relaxed and didn't do much for that day. I have to say that I ate at 6:30am and just didn't eat again until 5:30pm as I was so tired. Not normal for me! So off to my little Japanese place to eat some great food!

The next day I had a perfect relaxing day of walks on the beach, writing some, hot chocolate, a delicious salad and OH, it was perfect, I went into a book store looking for the book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and they of course didn't have it as they sell out of as soon as it gets in. But this guy came up and said he just got rid of it at another shop. I busted a move and I got the book! I'm only 40+ pages into it, I so far highly recommend it though it's not a comedy, but I can recommend his other book The Kite Runner, it's sad but good as well.

I had an interesting experience next night and I only tell this as I want to warn people that things happen and to really take care. I went out with a group for a glass of wine-and yes it's true I've only had a half a drink in a year but I swear something was slipped in it and luckily my gut told me to go home then. I got home and almost got sick. I waited it out and I'm fine now, but especially ladies be careful out there.

So Bryon Bay has been heaven to be in though, it really has. I love my 6:30am walks on the beach, even if it's raining, watching the 20 something kids fix their breakfast in the mornings of coke and M&M's, seeing parents on the beach with their kids and an old lady laying in the surf kicking her legs like a kid with the water came in and getting up to put her cute little pink dress on to wander the streets in little girl clothes made for a big person!!!

But Friday I went to 5 Rhythms Dance!!!! It was my second time and it was so much nicer this time! I danced my butt off for 3 hours. Man that felt good, last time I was sick there and couldn't keep up with myself. I was in heaven to move my body and be with the music and my soul. I had some great connected dances with some really great people! But it did make me miss my own dance community at home!

The next morning I got up and met the first blue sky and white cloud morning and it was hot already at 7am. I said "yes, this is the perfect Kayaking morning". This was the perfect day! It was a great 3 hour journey. We had to push past all the waves in the Kayak, then wait for the others, as I almost got sea sick but it's all worth it. Then we paddled out over huge swells and kept paddling, going around the light house and there, in the distance-DOLPHINS!!!! Yes, playing in the waves, not just a few, but 5 or 10 at first, then we turned the other direction 10-12 more, turn again even more, paddle some more and there they were within a meter of our kayaks. So gorgeous! The babies just swimming, playing, surfing, having a blast with their parents and pals. Their perfect grey color, unmarred and just silky smooth and so light in spirit, getting so close, so trusting! It was gorgeous to see them so close.

Only once before have I been closer then this, on Venice Beach when I swam out with a girlfriend and the dolphins were pacing, I went out far and they came with 2 meters and then one came up right in my face, half an arm length away. I saw his green spots, his eye looking at me. How marvelous to be so close to something so precious!

So I thought that was it, we saw about 50-70 of them all around us in the waves, time to go in, normally you are sad to go, but two things kept me from that feeling of not wanting to leave them-thirsty and we actually surfed the waves in, in our kayaks. If you have never done it I highly recommend it. You are just pushed in by this huge power water surge. We got to do it twice. The second time we were pushed over but even that was a blast! The water being the perfect tempurature for swimming here and just a perfect day!

A quote I love: "Don't save anything for a Special Occasion, Life IS a Special Occasion!"

I am nice and relaxed here, loving my time here. I went to a movie the other day Atonement, though the story is sad the way it was shot was beautifully done. It's worth seeing just for that alone.

The women here wear dresses that barely cover their butts, like baby doll dress sort of but with nothing under them but a g-string. This is the fashion, as well as strapless dresses. It's interesting how they dress, I think I've seen this kind of dress in Miami beach only. Very skimpy. They also walk down the street, off the beach, in only a bathing suit, now I'm not sure about this but I rarely see people do this but here in Byron they do it all the time. I like watching the differences in people.

The other day I watched a whole group of people out for a surf lesson, it was so funny, all these beginners with these huge boards that they could barely hold on to and they were walking down the beach. I'm sure that would be me as well, they look huge! I was going to do a surf lesson for the heck of it, but I've seen too many injuries here so I think I'll skip that.

I'll be heading down to Sydney later this week to finally see Beenie!!!

I'll let you know what's up when I know! I'm very happy to be with my own computer in a cafe and even better with free wi-fi!!!
Ok, much love and many hugs to you. Remember to live for this moment, be happy and be free!!!!

I send you love, Heather

New Zealand Photos!!!!

2008-01-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

Enjoy!!!!!

Listening to Nature in NZ!

2008-01-07T02:55:00.000-08:00

Dearest Ones

How are you? How is your soul? Have you found time for nature today? Hugged a tree or a rock? Well here in New Zealand it's fun to do all of that!

New Zealand has been incredible. Yes I want more time here and so does Rob and I’ve tried to talk him into staying but honestly I feel like I’ve seen the best of this country and to try to stay without him here seems very strange. So I’ll move on back to OZ and see my friends in Sydney and Tasmania, hook up with some friends in Victoria and Taz as well.

New Zealand has been one big breath taking place. It seems like every where I turn I want to remember this vision, there is another photo to take to remember to feel to see. I’ve never been in such a beautiful place. I can’t say it’s even honestly hit me how gorgeous it is here. We’ve been so busy traveling, hiking, exploring, laughing, recovering from backpacking, healing from this cough that is almost gone, that to stop to really feel it all is pretty powerful. I keep checking in to see if I want to stay. It’s so magical here. But I feel it’s time to let go, release it and allow for more exploration of OZ and for NZ another trip. I really feel we have seen the best of this gorgeous place.

We have hiked around blue glaciers of ice that are so huge it blows your mind. Then there are all the rivers and waterfalls that are unbelievable. It’s shocking there is so much water here, even without raining daily. But the snow is melting so it keeps it going.

We went to Milfred Sound, which by far is the most incredible place we saw here on the South Island! We took a boat ride to explore it closer in depth and what a magical place! It steals your heart and opens your mind to what is nature, how it can touch you and brings out all your feelings of love of all that is natural. STUNNING, is the best word that describes it! We drove out there in the rain and spent the night and when driving back it was clear and gorgeous. But honestly it was more photogenic in the rain! But both were stunning. It was shocking to see how the land absorbs the rain over night or even within hours. As we had a down pour off and on all day but a constant rain all day for sure and by the end of the day around 8pm when the rain stopped within an hour the waterfalls started to dissipate to almost nothing.

Oh something that is incredible here, is it is still light out until at least 10pm. So here it is 8 or 9pm and you are thinking, “oh it’s time for dinner” and you look at the time and it’s almost time to go to bed. As the sun doesn’t go down at any normal time for us here. So we have adjusted accordingly but it’s still odd to be able to start a hike at 5pm and know you have 5 hours of light. But I love it, more time to hike!!!! Though I think I hiked Rob out!

It’s been such a pleasure to have Rob here, someone to share this journey with, laugh with and have experiences with and backpack with. In Milfred Sound we hiked the Kapler Trail, it’s a 3 day trip, 60km, that’s about 12+ miles a day I think with packs on-yikes! I loved it. The first day was good except we didn’t know how far we had gone, we kept going up and up, through limestone cliffs, lots of green, views of the huge lakes around, with lots of trees, fresh air and blue skies. We got up to tree line, came out to the wind, and a blessing-A SIGN!!! Saying 400kms to where we’d be staying!!!! What a lovely sign! The backpacking here isn’t completely roughing it as you stay in huts and you don’t have to take a tent or a stove, but everything else you need. It’s was great to have an indoor place to be with all the wind. I think they provide shelter as to care for the land as well as the wind would probably take everything away.

I loved how they cared for the land, they at times at trails, at times they’d build a wooden track above the land to not wear it down. AND GET THIS, NO GARBAGE! This country is so clean, no one puts their garbage anywhere. You walk to the most touristed areas and there is not litter everywhere. If they can do this here, why not everywhere!!! How brilliant! I love how clean this country is. You can see how much they respect and love their land and country by how they take care of it. They have a lot of recycling which is nice, we have to look for organic and normally we can find it too! We can find some at least in even small towns. The only odd thing they have that seems out of place is a lot of diesel cars and no smog/emission tests to control the pollution in cars, so they are a bit stinky! Time to change that before it gets too bad but they are doing so well with everything else it’s just lovely!

From Milfred Sound we took off to Stewart Island where we mostly relaxed and recovered from the intensity of almost being blown off the mountain in Milfred Sound. Oh, the backpacking, we fixed a nice dinner that night, watched the sun going down over the rivers, lakes and mountains surrounding us. The mountains turned pink and purple around us. I read from The Mastery of Love and it is blowing me away more and more, how simple love can be and how hard with make it. So beautiful! I’d recommend this to everyone it’s so gorgeous.

The next morning we took off into the blustery wind. They said at times it got up to 75-100knots of wind (not sure that’s how you spell it or write knots, nots, kts, who knows). But we were going up this mountain, got to the top and decided not to go to the peak as it almost blew me off. Then we had to go in between two mountains, we were being pushed and blown this way and that way. I was cracking up, it was hilarious, I felt drunk, as I couldn’t walk straight it was so intense. I felt like I had no control of where I walked. I’d push into the wind and then it would stop and I’d almost fall over, I wouldn’t push into it and then it would almost push me over.

The most intense part though was coming down the other side, after hiking about 4 hours on the top of the mountain. They had these stairs to come down, the wind straight at us from the right and at one point I had to sit on the stairs to keep from being blown off the stairs onto the cliffs of the land. Rob almost got blown off if it wasn’t for a rock that saved him that he got to hang on to and get up and go on. So here I was sitting on the steps wanting to scoot down on my butt but the back pack stopped me from doing that. So I had to keep getting up and sitting down until the wind cut down some and I could stand up and walk down the stairs. As the wind kept going, if it came up from our feet it was fine but directly from out left was hard to handle.

We finally got back into the tree line where we could start taking off our clothes to protect us from the elements, the rain/wind coats, the scarves, the layers for warmth. Then came the trees that had fuzzy moss all over them, bright yellow and green. So gorgeous! Lots of photos later. First part of the day I was looking out over lakes, brilliant mountains and taking photos of the valleys around, almost being blown off the mountain, dropping my camera once when the wind blew me down, (Rob had his sunglasses blown from his face and it took him 10 minutes or so to realize it, but luckily someone found them and gave them to us at the next shelter to stop at) but now in the tree line, nice and comfy in protection, green and beautiful. Then it was 2-3 hours down to the next hut, which was a great home! No wind, calm and gorgeous with a waterfall near by, but lots of sand flies so we didn’t stay out too long.

The next morning we woke up to rain, we were told it was supposed to rain all day. So we accepted that and went off to the pretty flat track all the way out, but it only rained the first hour maybe. So we got blue skies, waterfalls, rainbows in the waterfalls, and lushness all around us for the 7 hour journey out. I have to say I have never backpacked where I have packed everyday for at least 6-7 hours everyday. The first day, since we started late in the day, was hard on me, as I am a morning person. But the second day leaving early was great for me and powerful. Buy the last day it was great, except one toe not being too happy with being in my boots any more. Rob got blisters, but he’s recovering quite nicely!

So Stewart Island was a welcomed restful place to sleep in, take hikes in the late morning and afternoon and evenings. We enjoyed all the nature loving people in the backpackers place we stayed and strolled on some gorgeous beaches that would blow your soul right out of the water to know even on a weekend only 7-10 people where there enjoying them with their family, laughing and playing. So peaceful there.

We found one beach that was very nice, as we walked up it we saw a bird that looked dead but it must have been in shock because as we got closer it jumped up and we could tell it was injured. The poor little thing. He was so beautiful, he is a New Zealand Shag, yes there is such a bird called a Shag, lots of different kinds of shags actually! We tried getting him help in town but since they aren’t endangered they wouldn’t do anything for him.

We were given some gorgeous fish there at the backpackers the first night there, it was caught that day. We almost had Poua with a bunch of people, a local shell fish but we were too late, it was great, everyone would catch fish during the day and there was so much they’d share with everyone at night.

So our last night there was relaxing, we ate, packed and did not a whole lot of anything. This island called for a lot of dreams. Dreamt of my brother a lot and of his wife, very odd dreams, Rob dreamt a lot too. Funny how certain places make you dream. I even dreamt of dance friends at home. NZ has been a great place for putting goals and real dreams of what I want in my life into order. Nature being one of the main things, music, dance, and now that I’m getting my voice back I am starting to sing again. NZ teaches you in small increments to let go of the thoughts and start to see, smell and feel nature. It helps you get in touch with our roots of being one with the earth. The earth has spoken to me and has danced with me. I look forward to more of that.

As for now, we are about to head off to Christchurch and Akoroa, we will be swimming with the dolphins tomorrow and then on Wednesday I fly out to Australia again and he goes home. I will miss him and traveling with him! But I look forward to seeing my friends and going off to Victoria and Taz with friends.

I am off for now. I look forward to hearing from you. I send you lots of love and big hugs. Love, Heather

PHOTOS OF NEW ZEALAND AND CRAZY ME!!!

2007-12-27T15:12:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM NEW ZEALAND!!!

2007-12-25T13:19:00.001-08:00

Dearest Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from New Zealand!!!!! I wish you all the love and joy this season has to offer you! May you be surrounded by the best of friends and so much love and joy and may your heart to so happy! This is a time to share with the ones you love. Share from your heart, not so much from your pocket book, but your heart, your love and share the joy you have with you. Open to your truth of who you are and let that being out and turn to your family and friends and say “Hey, I love you, you are and amazing being and I want for you all the happiness and joy there is for you no matter what.” So here I am saying exactly that to you! I love you! I appreciate you and think that world of you-even if I say it in a group email it is to you, individual and as a group, as we are all one anyway! So go be merry, happy and love! Merry Christmas!!

It's been lovely so far here in NZ! The weather the first day was gorgeous, warm, and clear blue skies with white puffy clouds. Rob and I got the car, made our way to Akaroa and the drive there was spectacular!!! All the rolling green hills, trees, blue skies, air so clean, the sounds of the sheep baaahhhing and the birds singing. It was so nice to see someone from home and be traveling with someone! What a beautiful gift!

We got to the top of this hill and was over looking the lake of Akaroa and the hills all around were just breath taking.

We got the house and “OH MY GOSH”!!! This place was gorgeous! Yes a little run down, needing a paint job but honestly who cares. With all it offered! We park at the door, the owners have all the windows and doors open, the man, Lou, calls out to us saying he’ll be right there, full of life and light in his voice. He introduces himself as Lou with such grounded New Zealand Cheer. He showed us the HUGE pool table, and when I say huge I mean huge, meaning it’s the size of almost two pool tables in the US! It had a gargantuan fireplace in the same room and windows filling all of one wall with a couch and vases behind it looking out on the huge grass yard with a large organic veggie garden beyond it-which we eat out of!!! YUMMY!!!

Next room over is the dining room with a Baby Grand Piano in it with the view of the mountains, fresh rolling green hills. Upstairs is where the real delicious part was. Our room……imagine a room with a Queen size bed, a dining table in the corner with windows looking in all directions in the corner, a fireplace next to the bed and then walking out on the extra large porch with a deep old looking tub OUTSIDE, with a bed with a four poled mosquito net hanging above it and a sun shelter pull down to guard from sun or rain or wind. So you can sleep inside or out! The view of the hills and the ocean from the other porch was just outstanding! So staying here by day of exploring Christchurch and looking around the place as well as just staying in laying in front of the fireplace sharing and cuddling as well as me getting well took up our days there. It was the most incredible, magical and best place I’ve ever stayed in my life and very romantical!

It was just incredible to take an outdoor bath with the stars above and the light cool breeze coming in from the ocean and mountains and take in the sounds of the cows mooing and sheep baaaing in the back ground. All the animal sounds came alive at night it seems. So gorgeous! The bathtub was so deep you could fit your whole body into it and possibly even put your whole head under without scrunching into it! Beautiful! Plus when you put on the hot water it is immediate hot water, almost scalding, so you have to be careful, but there was plenty to fill it and then some!!! So you can be warm, warm, warm!

And the food……it was……divine! We couldn’t have asked for more blessed food-Salmon cooked with the most glorious spices, asparagus, piles of veggies, salad, one night, other nights lamb, potatoes, more veggies and salads, and beef with lots of healthy things like steamed beets from the garden, served fresh to us each night. With breakfast being a HUGE bowl of cut fruit with all kinds of colors of Strawberries, kiwis, apricots, apples and many more, with toast, tea and ginger with lemon and honey for me!

It was so nice to be spoiled for those few days there. Moving on was hard but it was time after a few games of pool and a few delicious nights sleep there-us being the only people there.

Every where we went we found friendly people, so down to earth, authentically friendly, laughing, full of life and light. It was a delight to be around these people. To watch how they raised their children was even more of a delight. As they included them, they wanted them around, talked to them as people. It wasn’t as if they wanted them away, or they were too loud, or pestering them. They wanted to be a part of their lives, thoughts, ideas. They wanted to be a part of their lives inside and out. The children seemed so confident, so well rounded, so appreciated and appreciative. I’ve never seen anything like this in the west. It was such a breath of fresh air, I breathed a sigh of relief to have such love, laughter, joy, inclusion around at the next dinner table over or at the beach of a lake of everyone talking, playing, listening to music, working out problems and communication. This is how children should be raised, it’s just lovely to see a culture doing this and seeing how together they seem as adults.

We drove through the mountains and stopped at a resort for a dip in the hot springs but ended up staying over for a massage, dinner, a dip as well as a great night sleep, a lovely breakfast and then a very filling breakfast.

Driving through the vastness of the green valleys, the turns and twists, the clouds hanging just over the tops of the mountain tops and then breaking through to the blue sky at the beach, watching the ocean pound onto the pebbled grey beaches was just titillating to all the senses.

So driving south on the west side to all the jutting lush mountains coming out of the land, next to the sea was just a sight to be had for our longing eyes for nature. Here I was, “stop here”, “now here”, “oh, oh, stop here”. That was me, I couldn’t get enough. So many photos in so short of time. I’ve almost already taken my 1200 photos on my camera in the past week, of course that includes a few videos as well!!!! Much to share once I am back.

Now we are at France Joseph Glacier, near Mt Cook and it rocks the most so far! It seems like each place gets better and better. The blue glacier the moves a foot a year, maybe it’s a month, but I think it’s a foot a year, is powerful in its stature. It stands strong, powerful, unmovable yet feels like it’s moving all at the same time. The tall green mountains surrounding it are just stunning, whether in sun or in cloudy weather, it’s just miraculously amazing!

If you have never been here, you must come if you love nature. The sound of the birds, cows, lambs baaaing every where and so delightful to listen too. I can’t imagine eating the deer they have here for meals but they have lots of deer farms.

It’s to nice to hike by day see glaciers, nature, smell the freshest air I’ve smelled in a long time. As well as finding lots of organic foods and fallen back in love with nuts and dried fruits, YUMMMYYYY! They don’t have lots of organic and they aren’t much into health, but it is getting bigger over here and it’s very nice to see and taste when we can find it. Oh and driving opposed to busing it, this is like heaven. To go when you want to go, do what you want to do, I am really loving it. Plus listening to music in the car, windows down, fresh air in your face, feet sticking out the window, when it’s not too cold.

Some days are so gorgeous here, but other days I have 3+ layers on and a rain coat. But I have to say, it’s so far a lot warmer then expected and the landscape makes up for the chilliness!

It’s funny this place seems western but it feels like it’s about 40 years behind with it’s small towns, laid back attitude, things closing at 5pm, and when they say that Greymouth is the largest city on the west coast, well if you say a town with two main streets in it a large city, well, hummm…..that’s pretty amazing! So it feels a bit small and backwards but it feels absolutely amazing here!!! I am delighting in this place, enjoying all the hikes and nature.

The other day nature took me by the hand and started talking to me, showing me things, teaching me lessons. It was a beautiful lesson. It gave me a lot but I’ll share with you 3 words it shared with me: Love, Believe and Trust. These are some powerful words. The message was to be as the stone-strong and powerful within yourself, be as the tree-bend with life, allow for change of direction and acceptance, be like the river flowing around things, ever changing, going through and around things, being absorbed yet being part of. It told much more but nature has much to say and it asked to be listened to more and more. So to be silent with her, it is the best! Listen me, hear what life and the ones around you have to say. This is the important thing of the now. Who you put around you and what you put around you is what is important so take a look around, who and what is around you? Do you like listening to them? Do you want to hear more? Do you listen to it/them? Do you enjoy them?

My lesson is to listen more, enjoy life as a gift everyday and every human that crosses my path. Thanks for being someone that has crossed my path and that is in my life today. I send you love, Merry Christmas and have a very safe and Happy New Year!

Remember someone out here is thinking of you, no matter how far away I am, I am here, I feel you and love you. Love, Heather

Many hugs to you!!!!!

OFF TO NEW ZEALAND TOMORROW!!!

2007-12-14T21:45:00.000-08:00

Hello there,
Yep that's right!! And I'm so excited! I get on the plane the first thing in the morning and then land down at 2:05pm!!!!
OZ has been great here in Bryon Bay! I've loved it. So many artists, fashions, the beach is stunning and gorgeous. Everyone is cooking themselves in the sun!!! I am getting well, cough has gone away by huge percentages!!!!
I send you hugs and kisses from OZ! I'll talk to you in NZ very soon! Have a blast in all you do! I am excited to get onto some of those mountains! Time to do some serious hiking!
Love and hugs, Heather

Driving on the OTHER SIDE of the Road!!!

2007-12-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

Hey there lovelies,
Wow Australia is brilliant! In fact I really have to acknowledge that it's nothing really of what I thought it would be like-well except great beaches and green. But I thought it would be more mountainous, but it brings me new surprises everyday!

For example, everyone told me Nimbin-don't go there, too many drugs, hasseled all the time for weed, others said it's beautiful. Well luckily I went with my gut. I went, it is stunning, so laid back, yes lots of weed but I was only approached once on the next to the last day there. It had rocks jutting out from the rolling green mountains, rivers and water every where, the people were just lovely and it was so much cheaper then other places-fruits and veggies-YUMMMY! Oh and it had the best bookstore I have been in for a long time.

Oh, one of the books is "Who can you trust. Your health at risk" by Toni Jefferys. He talked about women who wear bras, did you know if you wear a bra for 12+ hours you increase your chances of cancer by 19 times more. Or even worse the ones that do 24 hours increases their chances by 113 fold for cancer! He also talks about plasics, cell phones, and all kinds of things.

Oh, I went to this most incredible art gallery, not having any idea what I'd find. But it's the best art I've seen in a long time of people. One art piece was of this man who is a doctor. Did you know there is a vaccination in OZ for Cerivical Cancer. Yep, I saw it on TV and what thinking "yeah right" but then I saw this painting, his name is: Ian Frazer, he believes cervical cancer can be wiped out within one generation, this is his lifes work! How beautiful is that!!! So ladies if you want to help you and your friends, this maybe the way to go. I'm going to see if I can get him on the phone for a chat.

Anyway, after meeting some lovely friends in Nimbin I went on to Mulwillembah-say that three times fast!!! I didn't connect at first but man oh man, it's a place I could stay for a bit longer. Rivers, ocean near by-from what they said, cute little shop, a salon that on it's sign said "you don't leave until you "love it". How great is that! And a cafe that said "a place to meet and eat". I want to own a place that says that. LA needs a place to meet people and eating is a good thing too! I met a French woman there that was great fun, we instantly connected. We may meet up in January to go trek around Tazmania together and maybe drive a car across to Perth, we'll see! She fixed us some fabulous chocolate cake and let me tell you, it was lovely! And her salad for herself was as if it was for a customer in a restaurant!

Oh, I forgot, I have learned how to drive on the OTHER side of the road!!!! Yep that's right, I do the turn abouts and everything now thanks to Dougs lovely instructions and trust of me driving his van! How great and such lovely freedom. That will get me ready to drive in my next country, yep that's right my next country is coming up in less then a week! Can't believe 2 months has passed so quickly here in OZ.

I'm off to NEW ZEALAND!!!!! Rob is coming over and we are going to have a blast trekking around and exploring AND having Christmas and New Years there together! So nice to have someone from home here with me, I'm completely THRILLED!!!!! OH and guess what, New Zealand will be my 31ST COUNTRY I've traveled in in my life! I'm so excited! I do come back to OZ so I'm not done here, thank goodness as it feels like I've barely even touched OZ.

This place is so huge I just can't see seeing it in even a year. I mean you can see the highlight possibly but not close to everything it has to offer. Just taking the bus 1 hour here today back to Byron Bay, if I was driving I would have stopped at least 2 time to check things out! It's definately a place a car is a good thing!

Oh, but the sand is so clean it squeaks when you walk on it, so white and soft too! I went to the Sanassin celebration with all the Osho people! It was very simple, nothing like I've seen before but it was nice to be in the energy of Osho peeps!

The place I stayed in Nimbin was just exquisite as it was right on the river so I went swimming in the river, read in the grassy field, walked through the farms through such lushness you could hardly believe a place exists. I love the weather here, it rains a bit and sometimes hard at times, but normally not all day, it just gets it on and over and then it's warm. Sometimes hot. But mostly it stays a lovely short sleeve whether from day break to night fall when you may put a long sleeve shirt on. It's gorgeous weather! Perfect for me anyway. When it does get hot, like it did this weekend the sun feels like it is going to scorch your skin. I luckily haven't gotten a lick of sun here-too scared of it really!

This is funny, I'm finally, after 2.5 months of being out of India, just now finally starting to show my arms and wear my spagetti strap tops without a top over it. Once in a habit it's hard to change it. Last time in India it took me years to wear shorts! Funny what you take with you of those things.

So I have got something that I never have gotten-I got the Whooping cough, yep that's right. Some have called it the 100 day cough but I found the most amazing herbalist today that gave me quite the concoction that just about kills me with the taste- so I'm sure it will kill this thing, with some pure vitamin C and she says I should be well by Saturday! I'm experiencing all kinds of things on this trip. If you haven't had this peticular cough I say to you "you don't want to experience it". Unless you want to cough so hard you think you are going puke or die as you can only breathe through your nose and not your mouth. But other then spitting up things you feel fine, unless you talk that is. That's the worst offense that makes you cough! : )

It's all new experiences. This is the first time in my life I've gotten ill 3 times in a year-The Universe is talking to me, telling me to slow down every step of the way, and now with the sore thought it's saying "stop talking". Ok, so I will. So I'm here at my friend Dougs relaxing, helping him out a little and just catching up on little things.

Yesterday, was great, yet it's the thing that took me to getting well to worse. I hiked Mt Warning!!!!! Have you ever seen the movie/cartoon Fern Gully? If not, see it! It's one of my favorites and it's based near Mt Warning. It's about fairies of the forest and how humans come and cuts the trees, leaves garbage, doesn't care for the earth and one of my favorite parts is when a human carves their initials in a tree and she takes his hands and asks him "can't you feel it's pain". The trees feel and talk and people well.....we have our own ideas...It's a gorgeous tale and the fairies are sweet and sexy!!!! Just in case the story line didn't take you in! ; )

Mt Warning, most people get up it in 2 hours and down in 2 hours. Well, even ill and forcing myself to slow down I got up in 1 hour and 25 minutes. I guess you can say I miss hiking, I miss nature, I MISS BEING PHYSICAL AND WORKING OUT! But I got it yesterday. And the great thing is the clouds parted right as I got there for 30 minutes and the view of all the green hills below was stunning. Actually the hills around it are hills from a crater. Mulwillumbah sits in the middle of an old crater and all the hills around it is just the crater edges! Stunning! I saw this one tree so huge around it would take 6 or 10 human to hug it and touch fingers, and so tall, well I have no clue how tall it is. With all the vines on it, making it even bigger around and green leaves and root every where. Huge bolders here and there, so large, it makes you feel like a midget.

It was lush out there, it sprinkled a little, showed me great views and OH, the frogs croak in different notes and thought "my friend Scott would love to be recording these little critters". I imagined recording all of the notes they sang and put them to music or on a piano to make them croak per key-How fun is that!!! Nature at it's best out there!

So you can say I'm loving OZ, though it feels like I've seen little of it. But hope to see more once I am back. Everyone keeps asking when I'm coming home. I wish I knew an exact address, but I'm sure I will by January know when. But right now I can say this between Feb and April unless I find work-more than likely March or April though!

I think the laid back spirit of the people is wearing off on me, thank goodness, how great! I'm not stressing over things I normally would. Like today, I didn't book my bus in advance as I didn't know I was supposed to so I called them and they said to go pay at the station. I went down and they said they couldn't accept payment unless I wanted to take a chance of the bus not stopping for me and me losing my money. So there I was on the side of the road with my bags, my two friends helping in the sun waving down the bus! It stopped, the driver told me it was illegal to give me a ticket but did it anyway and I was on my way to Byron! YES! NO stress, NO worries! Love it! They do like their rules here though, I'll say that but I was happy he was willing to bend them for me!

I loved seeing all the towns on the way down as I listened to my ipod playing Alison Krause, I love her voice! I love Oh Atlanta, but don't have a clue what her lyrics are for the chorus, pretty funny, I've listened so closely but I can't seem to get it.

So I'm going to pass this on, it's by Richard Bach, he says this "the opposite of loneliness is not togetherness, it's intimacy", thanks for sharing that with me Edgar! It's lovely! A good thing to meditate on and really feel!

I have met some great people the past week or so of my trip here and I am grateful, some I may see again, some we shared some lovely experiences and conversations. The owner of the hostel in Mulwullumbah was just beautiful, great spirit, fun, gave us ice cream every night at 9pm for free, played games with us until 11 or 12am! He made my stay there and he was sad to see me, the French girl-Steph and Adriane leave! It's like we all bonded in those 3 days! I love it!

Out there they have something called Water Dragons, they are huge lizards! And I think they are vegetarian! Tassie, the owner of the hostel in Mulwillumbah, showed me how to feed them grapes! I'd hold them a certain way, move it around a little to give it a challenge or maybe it eats bugs and makes it seem like a bug, but then it gets it in it's mouth, slowly, very slowly holds it and starts to squash it. It has very small teeth so it eats slowly. Good for digestion, smart bugger! I love the nature here, and there was more then just him, a whole family of them under the porch. I've seen them every where. Today I saw one in the hostel visiting, until it saw me and wobbled out on all fours!!!

Ok, I'm off. I love you, I wish you all the happiness in the world and if you want to come out and play I'd love to see you! Can you believe it's almost Christmas and a New Year-this year ZOOMED by! Love and hugs to you, Heather

How ya Goin'???

2007-11-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

Hello there,
Yep that's right, How ya Goin'??? Not how you doing? or Where you going? It's How ya goin'? for How are you doing? I love it!!! Ozzies!

They have so many shortened words like, pool comp, that means pool competition! It's a language all of their own.

So many new things to share with you.....Firstly I road a camel, yep that's it, you heard me, a CAMEL!!!! Do you know how many wild camels are in this country? Take a wild guess......come on guess......higher........yes higher...............over A MILLION! That's write, I guess they breed like crazy out here once they were dropped off from Afganistan (from what our guide said). Watch out the spit!!! No, not really, that's just from Aladdin-I love that cartoon-you have to see if you haven't already, one of my fav's!!! Nope they just chew their cud and drip, not spit.

They guides for the camels were hilarious, I was laughing the whole time, they'd flirt, crack jokes, tell some history and make it funny. I wasn't even going to do this Camel ride but the guy got me laughing so much I just had to. Of course I turned down the butt rub he offered if our butts got sore...but I'm sure he would have made that fun as well!!! He took photos of us, the camel, the camels parts-if you know what I mean ; )! How degrading for the poor camel! Not really but goodness, how many people have photos of his genitals and feet! (the camels, not the guy's though he pretended to do that too, not something I'd want as a token from OZ). ; )

Bellingen was heaven, I hope to go back there. I have now been up in Byron Bay area for the past week staying with Doug, a new found friend, a friend of a friend from home. He's been great. Picked me up from the Bus station, we had SUSHI, Yummy!!! Now I'm woofing for him, taking his dogs for walks, gardening, fixing meals...but my favorite part is watching him do what he does best, he works with clay! Yes he throws, he makes great little animals out of clay and pots! I've already made one little rabbit, he said it was great for my first time. I was impressed with the little bugger! But it's fun playing with clay. I want to do more of it!

I'm finding balance between being out here in the country side-rolling hills, green, lush, raining every other day but coming out of it gloriously fresh, wet and sunny afterward, to visiting the small towns around. I get a little stir crazy out here once I've been here too many days, I need to see something else. I think if I lived here it would be different. So much to see here that I know there is going to be a ton I miss, as this country is Ginormous!!!! (sp? if it's a word) But I want to see more.

I will be helping Doug glaze tomorrow which will be exciting! Then on Sunday I'll be going in to Byron Bay's Market, which I'm very excited about experiencing!

Last night I went to a comedy night, OH it was great! Three Comedians, all terrific, people looked at me as I laughed so loud-OOPPS! Not really, I don't care, really, too many years of quiet laughter, I'm workin' on letting it all out now, while everyone around me is quietly laughing. But then I got a woman who would laugh quietly with me giving me eye contact, it was great!

My Birthday was Great! It started out by getting up at 5:45am for a 2 hour walk through the small country road, hills rolled out in lush bright green. The blue skies just shined as the white clouds turned shades of morning colors! The country homes seems such a peace sitting there with the nearest neighbor minutes away and not in view from each other! Then I found some friends-3 horses and some cows!

Their was 2 white horses and one brown. Well I just had to sing to them, they just came on up and listened, didn't want to be touched but stared at me. One got quite aroused, not sure if you have ever seen an aroused horse, but ladies, I think we would all agree we'd be running! YIKES! Glad I'm not a horse, well, I guess it would be different then! Well then I got excited as I thought I was going to see two horses do the wild thing in nature...but another horse came around and all horse flirting with the two in front of me stopped and the excitement of the male went away....Nature, don't cha love it. I guess it's ok in front of humans just not other horses, or maybe there was a jealousy thing going on or too many decisions, who knows! Not that you wanted to know all of that.

But my morning walk was filled with thoughts of what I believe in, what I stand for in this life. I came up with a few things: healthy living-food and exercise, healthy communication in relationships, healthy parenting, homes and food for all and creativity. All that I believe in is covered in this short line! There is much more but it all can be under those things. How lovely! What do you believe in, what would you stand for? What could you not live without? I can't live without exercise, dance, creativity and communication, and well good food is just so lovely!

So then I got home to Doug giving me this book that I almost brought with me: Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz! Oh my gosh, it's perfect. It's so lovely, talks about your childhood how it effects you now, how a little thing like you playing with your fathers guitar and him coming in and smacking you effects how you trust him and others for the rest of your life. How we learn to stop playing as we might get in trouble. Man this really hit some cords in me. I can really track things back. It's a great read so far and very simple! A must I see for reading and learning about yourself and clearing things with awareness!

I had one my favorite meals on my birthday as we celebrated Thanksgiving! I got to help prepare the meal which I love! I got to talk to my mom and some friends on the phone which was so nice! As some I haven't talked to in ages or since I left! That was a blessing! So the evening was filled with friends of Dougs, new found friends for me, food, music and at the very end I danced! I loved it! I was wiped out by the end of it but I was a great birthday! A good time to bring in the new-year 38 which equal an 11 in numberology and it's a powerful number! I have some great goals for this year! Love it!

So my days are spent walking, working on Dougs property, once he saw that I could help him out as he has so much growing and to do and no time, as it's high season for his business with christmas coming! Once the work is done I go swimming in the pool OR this is the bestest, yes that's in my dictionary, I take the dogs out to the beach and run with them, I get them in shape they get me in shape, then we swim in the cool, not cold, salt water. Which getting me out is the hard part since it's so nice and the weather being perfect! Then we walk to a lake across the way that is filled with Tea Tree water from it growing wild here and we swim there and get the salt our of their gorgeous German Shepard coats of fur.

They are happy, I'm happy and we head home or to Starbucks for chai! We sometimes go to one of their many parks of rivers going through them. Trees every where, people BBQing and perfection at it's best where parks are concerned. This is the one thing LA lacks, parks, I'll have to track them down once I'm back.

Because of the nature I could see myself living here or in a place like this. But I'll see. The US is a big place maybe there is a place there, but the warm factor is the big thing here, it's warm here at 6am-and it doesn't get too hot either. Perfect temperature! But who knows that's the future, for now it's gorgeous!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, if you celebrate it!

Oh, I have to tell you this. There was a sign I saw that said "aged people walking slow, slow down" or something to that effect in Bellingen. I thought it was hilarious-could you imangine in the US-watch for slow aged people, SLOW DOWN! Goodness, what does the aged people think of this sign, maybe it's a good thing. They have funny signs here. More on that later.

I must go work! Off to packing ceramics!!!

Have a great day! I look forward to talking with you soon. I'd love to hear how you are? What you truly believe in? And just a thought, what would you die for? I'll have to think on that one!

Much love to you, and so many hugs, Heather

May the brightness in your soul peer out, shining brightly in every moment and may it be shared by all around you! H

How do you like your Chokes?

2007-11-21T16:41:00.000-08:00

And no I don't mean artichokes? Chokes out here are chickens!!! Pretty funny eh? They love to shorten and change everything with words!

Hey ya,
How are you? Well my last several days have been great and challenging all at the same time. I was out wwoofing on a organic permaculture farm. It was stunning, the view, with the mountains around and the greenery! My favorite was feeding the chickens.

The first day I was scared of them, afraid they'd peck at me like my mothers goose did when she was a child-she said it hurt! But they were great, I'd feed them from my hand and they'd grab my skin but no pain!! I petted them and picked them up. The son of the family helped me with playing with them and getting them back in the cages as they loved to come out to scratch around and eat grass! I liked the son best. He was very coold-sensitive, respectful, generous with what he had-like letting me on his computer and loaning me a plug to plug in my ipod. Plus he bakes cookies for everyone!!! YUMMY!

Then my second favorite thing was getting up in the morning around 6am-that's just when I wake up, and taking a walk. Well on my walks I'd sing to the cows and they'd crowd around to listen and stare at the human that would also moo at them-Yep, I love talking Cow! And they seem to love it too as they all moo back, especially when I'd walk off they'd all moo- of course in my human mind it means they were wanting me to come back or saying good bye. But hey who knows why they do that's it's not the first time cows have followed me down a field mooing!

Then I'd sing to Misty, the horse at the farm, she seemed to like me making up songs about her beauty. I loved her fuzzy white ears and sing to her about them. She seemed go like it and come closer-how lovely, but she doesn't to be touched so don't touch her-but I had to try! So once I touched her (twice it happened!!!) she jumped back and I jumped too, funny, she scared me, even when I expected her jump! Her white gorgeous body was just too nice to not try to pet!

I stayed in a caravan home you pull behind your vehicle, I liked it. It was nice and it's what I called home. Not like my creative little 6 walled bungalow like I had at the other place with windows on 4 of the 6 walls and very colorful and fun and set into the trees that you wake up looking at in the morning, but the caravan was nice!

So the father was a bit controlling and very selfish and all about him. But I just tried to avoid him after a while. He did know a lot about Permaculture that he learned from books. But after him treating me like a child one time too many my patience were up and I asked to leave and thank goodness he took me to town!

Though I loved working in the garden, arriving in Bellingen, where I've wanted to be for a while I'm very happy I came. I love it here! Cute little quaint town, with hills, rivers and valleys. Fresh air, coffee shops that fill the air around the main street. Cute little shops filled with all kinds of creative things. It is so relaxing and lovely here. I think I'll come back to stay a week or two. But I've got great plans for the next few days!!!

Starting tomorrow night I found a 5 RHYTHMS Class to dance my booty off too in Byron Bay!!! And this is where I've wanted to spend my birthday!!! So I'll be spending my 38th birthday, that's write I'm 38 years young in Byron Bay! To top it off I'm staying at a friend of a friends house where on my birthday-the 25th, we'll be having Thanksgiving meal-one of my favorite meals with Pumpkin Pie! And then Monday I'll be going out to a retro night club to dance to old time lovely music I love! So it should be a lovely weekend.

Last night I went on a sunset kayaking trip, just lovely. The sunset was stunning, the hill side breath taking and the whole thing was beautiful. I wish it was longer. I really love kayaking. So any of you who want to go when I get back I'd love to go with you have you come with me.

Oh I forgot to tell you, I met my first leech on my ankle, it was having some fun and I without looking rubbed something away, ooohhh, man it still stings days later. Not very friendly guests after the fact. Painful and itchy! All my life in the wild and I get a leech on a farm near the chokes!!!

So I'm enoying the nature, what I'm learning about Permaculture, want to learn more, it fascinates me!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Have a lovely day full of gratitude. I have a huge list of things to be grateful for but one of my biggest things I'm grateful for is you! You being in my life, hearing from you makes my heart sing and sharing with you my stories and rambling on forever and you reading it. I love sharing with you and hearing from you. The freedom of this life is a gorgeous thing to choose your friends, your life, your work, so make sure you are living the life you love and grateful for everything, even the rough times as that is where we grow. I know it is for me-though it's hard at times.

Many hugs and with much love and gratitude, Heather

.....My Heather

2007-11-19T22:00:00.000-08:00

Hello there,
This is yet another gorgeous poem from my same friend that wrote me the last poem. She has such incredible heart and talent and she is just lovely, knowing me so well! I miss her tons. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Much love, Heather

Lately, I wonder what time it is in your bedroom... lately, I want to be a part of the air, there, where you lay silent... I wonder if the best thing about today is the idea of tomorrow....the idea of Summer and your precious face resting in my hands...the background holding Amma against it's gold and red banners, India with its black language and profound mouths watching us exist....watching my hands on your eyes...the way you hold me up, kiss me, then fall down again... the way I love you like an extravagance...in a place where flowers with dove blood push, by morning, through the black soil of your breath out of your lips and I pick them fresh everyday and hold them there, in a deep green vase, next to my bed where I pray for you to be strong...where I pray for you to be happy...though I miss you....though I crave the touch of your orange blossom fingers, your embrace that cuts through me like the green balconies of the sun over an orange and gasoline rainbow...now...I am dying of such love....now, I wish to be where you are...where I know you are dancing in the empty air of turquoise brides...where all of a sudden, I am seeking a permanence in time, and imagine no limits on earth and you, you stand there like a habit of nature, immortalizing greatness like that of a just-created ocean... nothing but love, the curvature of silence, star lines and kisses.... your pure gifts gathering sage from the pockets of my grey ghosts....the pockets you could never visit without your red dress on....though I've missed your hair growing longer....in my sleep I can see you....and I stretch to reach you where you are...

Got Paid for Singin'!!!!

2007-11-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

Hello there loves,
How are you? I am great! I'm in Port Macquarie and it's stunning here. I am loving it in this port town. So much to share if I can remember it all.

Well I got on the bus from Sydney up here and I was just listening to my music on my Ipod, having a hard time containing my voice from singing full out! We stopped for the break and while everyone got out to walk and eat. I stood there just belting out at the top of my lungs singing to Amae! Got I love that womans music and lyrics! I didn't care that I was getting looks. I'm getting you just have to do what you have to do and let others do the same-including react or try not to react.

So I'm standing there singin' and having a great time, so very happy, heart soaring high from the music coursing through my body! I saw this little girl walk by with golden hair and a matching rat to boot-reminded me of that book your recommeneded to me Edgar, she stayed in my head, and she went into a play area. I didn't see her at all playing but when she came out she did something so stunning to my system. She walked right up to me and infront of me was a table and she placed a $2.00 coin! I looked at her fingers in slow motion as she scooted it against the table to me. It went so slowly, then she slowly walked off. My mind was saying "is this for what I think it is, for singing. Is this little girl of 8 or 10 years old really paying me for my singing". I picked it up, holding the $2.00 coin in my hand and looked up right at the same time she looked up and we waved at the same time.

I was so grateful, thrilled, excited and overwhelmed with ECSTATIC BLISS!!!! I felt as if the Universe is was telling me something, like, "yes you are on the right path. Keep going with this, yes, yes, YES, YES!". So I have been walking on cloud nine since. My first payment for singin' from a beautiful little girl with golden hair and a matching rat on her shoulder. Children are so great, so many lessons in that little moment when she place that coin down. I love it and love her for it! I love this Universe for how it works too!

I got in the moment it was one of my favorite of my whole trip and then realized most all my favorite moments revolve around singing and dancing on this trip. Lovely!

I went for a walk the other day at the rivers edge and starting singing "my favorite things" and then it hit me, "what are my favorite things". Well of course food came to mind-love my food-like raspberries with vanilla yogurt, the taste and scent of celantro, crab......Then of course I went into dance, singing, writing, animals-dogs and cats I just adore and any other little fuzzy critter or even unfuzzy like dolphins...., friends, cooking together with friends, having parties...and the list went on and I realized more and more what I loved and what were my favorites-like I love the feel, scent and sounds of Starbucks-I know not PC but honestly when I smell a Starbucks I as so happy and I love their music and chai of course-which I got to have yesterday here in town!!!! So what are your favorite things? What makes you smile and laugh, giggle, shine and all the rest?

Well I have fallin' in love! Yes that is right! And I am bringing the two of them home! No they are not human and nope I really can't bring them home, but I'd love to! I spent the last two days with Koalas, they are beautiful, so sweet and so great natured. I got to pet two of them yesterday and I just couldn't stop, they are so lovely and sweet! Then I got to pet a Kangaroo-well a few of them actually and some of them being mamas with their joey's (babies). I learned a lot about Koalas. Like, did you know they live to 16-20 years old, they die mostly from being hit by cars or dog attacks or chlymidia-a popular disease with them as well as conguntivitis.

They are so strong and have huge nails and only eat eucaluptus leaves which doesn't give them enough nourishment to move a lot so that is why they sleep all day-nope they are not stoned off of them.

The other big thing I am consciously practicing is to be grateful for my life every day and every moment. What are you grateful for right now? The roof above our heads, the computer so I can email you, the bed I sleep in, the food, and being able to travel, sing, dance,writing, thinking, be excited and to be conscious of CELEBRATING LIFE NOW AND EVERYDAY!

So I am off to Kayaking in a few hours, which I love and I am thrilled about. I send you love, I will share more soon. Much love, remember to be grateful and live fully. Love, Heather
Be YOU!
I need to go now but I will finish this later

HUGE Kangaroo in my Way!

2007-11-11T17:26:00.000-08:00

G'day mates!!!
How are ya? Well I'm back in Sydney now, the mountains were lovely. They made my heart so happy and they hikes were gorgeous! I did my first Wwoofing job-organic farming work. You put in 2-4 hours of work and you get free room and board and the rest of the day is yours.

I have to say this first experience was definately an experience! I get to the place, it's two trailers that have a wooden porch in between them that is missing boards so you have to be careful where you walk as you might fall in! ; ) Fun fun! I was brought into a room where I hadn't a clue if it's where I stayed or not. But found out shortly this is where the owner stays, but it's where everyone fixes food and watches TV and listens to music. No heat, just four walls, the ceiling might blow off if the wind got strong enough.

So I sat down with the other Wwoofers after chatting a while-2 from Switzerland, one from Germany and one from Korea, and we all watched a video. I was starving as I hadn't eaten in hours so they sent me to the fridge to fend for myself and not one vegetable to be found there, YIKES! All meat, eggs, cheese and bread. Well I do eat eggs and cheese and bread I'm not fond of but I'll eat. Put it this way, there was nothing organic here and nothing fresh or good to eat. I finally pulled something together and then the owner came in with tomatoes, so I got my veggies. I fixed enough for everyone and we all relaxed.

Well the owner, Lovell, he can talk a mile a minute. Someone told me that people in this area take wwoofers for company and I realized it was true within a short time. He couldn't handle being alone and he didn't care if you worked or not. Just be there. His father, when I went looking for work, told me I was working by keeping him company. Luckily I got to do some unloading huge amounts of aloe veras and a number of other plants from the truck and helped his other son plant some great small trees in front of his two trailers with his living room outside and covered by a huge plastic tarp. It was clean and nice. I liked hanging with him. He was spiritual, into health, though he didn't eat that way, but he knew how he was to eat anyway. He knew cures of cancers and all kinds of things. I liked him a lot and his girlfriend that came by in the afternoon, she was great too!

I went for a walk one day, now mind you I didn't have my glasses on for distance, I was wandering through that lush green trees and smelling the fresh air, while singing to Barbra Streisand on my Ipod-a new experience as I have never been in nature with my ipod, I love nature sounds, but the music took me further in to the now of nature. My voice raised louder and louder, letting the fragrant surroundings take me away! At some point I just stared at the clouds doing a number of things-white and puffy, the blueness of the sky was stunning and the sun just about to set starting streaking the sky with orange colors. I finally decided to head back.

I turned back and looked up ahead and froze in my tracks. What I was looking at from a distance looked like either a Ginormous (is that a word and if so is it spelled that way?) Kangaroo with no head or it was a huge man with a Kangaroo body. I'm talking this thing must have been 8 foot tall at least and heavy in weight, possibly 5 feet around. Without my glasses it was a little unnerving as I wasn't sure what I was looking at, but as I moved to my left I could see his head, as his head blended in with the trees. He just stood there in the middle of my path. Thank goodness it wasn't headless as it looked at first. My first though is "are they dangerous"? I knew I didn't want to get close just in case but how to continue on?

So I started talking to him as I moved closer. He took a few humm.....steps forward, or are they slow hops, not sure, he was bouncing but using all 4 limbs to move forward a few feet. Then stopped. I came a smidge closer and really got to see his beautiful brown colors of his coat and black eyes. I started talking some more and he went a little further off the road, at least I could pass now. He wasn't my first kangaroo I'd seen but that hugest thus far. Then as I got closer he hopped right over a 3 foot fence and right out into the woods. Man oh man, no effort, just hop, talk about humans being no competition for them. Can you just jump standing still 3 foot off the ground and keep going. He was very impressive. I'm sure they are not to impressed by us....I mean really, not physically anyway. We can write and all but they must be all muscle underneath that soft yet wiry coat.

I see Kangaroos all over when I'm in the county, it's pretty impressive and shocking these things actually live. I hear of raindeer too, we'll see.

I saw something two days ago I never heard of walking on the beach. I saw these little plastic filled balloon type things only 2 inches long. I popped a few of them with my shoe, having no clue what they were. I assumed it was something that fell over board from a boat. Later I was told they are blue bottle jelly fish, I'd even touched one with my hands but luckily not the tenticles. I was a little wigged out at I'd been squooshing live things, but they were probably dead anyway, hate thinking of killing something. And they were every where. Now I know why no one was swimming that day, but they were surfing as usual and fishing.

The people here don't seem to get cold, I'll have 3-5 layers on and they have a singlet top on and shorts. I think they have thick skin or something. I'm not sure. Or I'm just adjusting to the tempurature. But luckily I'm over jetlag and culture shock and feeling good. I still ask people "are there banks in this town?" as it's called a town. But I realize now if a train goes to it a bank is there and it is the west. I also got to hear the seranading of sicades again in Windsor and I got to see there burial grounds of shells they leave behind after they shed them. Pretty amazing things. I got to pet a few live ones. One wasn't too happy about it so I didn't pester him too much. But they shed everything but their wings and they only live for something like 24 hours but are in the ground growing for years before-at least that what I was told. Pretty amazing critters.

So my trip is going well thus far. Heading north tomorrow, probably to Port Macquarie, but who knows. I'll decide where in the next hours to come. I went out with Kristi and friends yesterday and really got to see how Ozzies party, pretty amazing. Can't say I could relate but they were pretty simple people and fun in their own right. For me, humm.....it was fun for a day, but not my thing but I could completely appreciate them for who they were and how at ease they were at being them.

I still have great memories of staying up in the hostel in Katoomba, with the fire place blaring heat out of it and everyone reading around it. Just so great. Felt like such a great community of people. Love that place. May have to go back. If you get the chance to stay at the Flying Fox Hostel, it's great!

I loved calling the bus and train station, everyone so nice, and getting them to laugh is so easy. It's truly lovely talking to the Ozzies. So laid back and "no worries".

I'm out of here. Take care and love ya lots, Heather

The Mountains are Good to Me!!!!

2007-11-06T01:12:00.000-08:00

Hello there,

How are you? How is life treating you? Well I'm up here in the Blue Mountains, first in Mudgee (love that name) and now in Katoomba! The mountains are great and have been good to me here. Hiking everyday for 3-5 hours through the green carpeted forest up here at over 3,000 feet. It's so incredible how green a place can be. The trees go on forever without seeing any cities or buildings or houses. So stunning!

Even through the rain and fog it's just breath taking here. The air wakes me up as I walk out of hostel and onto the road to go to the trail head. It gets the nose running, the eyes watering and make one wonder "do I really want to do this" but after 20 minutes the blood is pumping and the heart is going and the passion for nature has awakened by the sight of the trees, fresh air and the bright red and blue birds hiding in the trees. So it's all worth it.

I am so in love with being in nature up here. And the people are so friendly, and the hospitality in the cafes are just lovely! They are all so friendly and making sure everyone has what they need. It's great to be around down to earth, caring, mountian people. So much less stress up here. I'm lovin' it. If it weren't so cold I'd consider staying. Yes it's spring here, but it's friggin' cold for my hot blooded body! But I have a feeling I'll be up here again.

I saw these 3 men coming out of the deli today with their dinners in hand in bags, all of them with those large full brimmed hats, jeans and all rough and Auzzie like. I just smiled as I past them, I am in Australia. These people really dress this way up here, it was great to see it live and in person.

Plus I had a great flashback of 2 or 3 years ago wanting to come Echo Point and Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains, and here I am, here, and loving it. Dreams coming true!

And the bonus is really feeling how authentically friendly these people are. I mean, I can talk with them on the street, on trails, in cafes, where ever and they are just so positive, full of laughter, conversation. So many of them seem to walk with a sparkle in their eye and a bounce in their step and just so happy. I went into an antique shop and the guy just talked my ear off about the short history of OZ and how the people are all from Europe, except the tribal people that you hardly see any more. He was just full of words, light and just wanting to share what he knew and he is from England, not from here.

So I could go on but I thought I'd keep this short. I am off to do some farm work, I think tomorrow, so it will be a new experience. I'm excited by it. Plus it's supposed to be sunny down there!

Oh oh, I almost forgot. I went to Kristi's family's house in Mudgee (I think that's the perfect dogs name, Love it) and we made homemade pizzas, OH MY GOODNESS! They were all about 2.5 inches thick, with all kinds of veggies and shrimp on mine, the others had meat and all kinds of things on theirs. YUMMY! Plus then we served up brownies that Kristi and I had made up earlier that day with Cherries and then played Scattagories! So much fun! I love games!

Ok, I am off now. Take care, big hugs to you, Love, Heather