We are gearing up for the workshop on Saturday at Vara Healing Arts. My Co-leader, comrade and inspirational writer, Suze Allen, says it all about Women In Transition – Climbing Into Your Authentic Self. She has much to offer in the way of creativity, insight and guidance. Enjoy!
Creating Space for Transformation
by Suze Allen
“It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward…” Joseph Campbell
If you’ve ever woken up stuck inside the confines of your own brain, trapped in the circuitous wiring of your hormones, hemmed in by the imposed boundaries of your physical world, or the expectations of your boss, co-workers, children or partner, living in gray and unimaginative areas, experiencing loss and grief, filled with a longing to crawl out of your old skin and embrace your metamorphosis, I know how you feel. Sometimes just the transition of coming in through the front door after a long day and going from writer to Mom can jangle me, shake me to the core. On a more profound level, I have encountered a restless struggle in each decade of my life that renders me uncomfortable in my body, disillusioned and trapped by the world I set up for myself, and ultimately at a loss for knowing how to make the next step and go deeper into my life. And the transition keeps posing the eternal question – “What is “my life”? How is it mine and how does it intersect with the other people that I live amongst and between?
Over my 48 years, I have vacillated between yearning to move forward and being thrust into a change despite my Herculean efforts to stay the same. Each intersection of desire and necessity has made me stronger, more passionate, and wider-awake then I would sometimes like to be. But ultimately living a conscious life is its own reward.
The paths to transition are many: complicated relationships, decisions about careers, college, spirituality, gender, motherhood, surging hormones, and living a life of substance and beauty whatever that means at any given time. Whatever kind of transformation you are undergoing, I can tell you unequivocally that you can benefit from taking some time for introspection, intention, and integration. That’s what has worked for me and why I designed a holistic workshop about women facing change. Women in Transition – Climbing into Your Authentic Self is structured around the Mythic Journey as put forth by author and mythologist Joseph Campbell. For Women in Transition, we use a 7-step variation of Campbell’s 12-step mythic structure from his book, Hero of a Thousand Faces to explore the journey of change. The first step is the Call to Adventure where you are called out of your ordinary life and into a new place that might be exciting, challenging, overwhelming, or even unbearable. Answering the Call to Adventure puts you on a path where you will encounter, fear, jubilance, and reluctance, where you will meet enemies, allies, mentors and face many tests until the ultimate test – where you face your worst fear – do battle with it and take possession of what you came for; being who you actually are now, in this moment.
No matter what age or path you are on, if you are a woman in the midst of change, yoga, ritual, and purposeful writing can help you to both open up and get grounded. Yoga (any level – beginner to advanced) clears the path to your inner desire, your spiritual self, or to your god, if you will. Purposeful writing chisels a road into your innermost thoughts and emotions and clarifies your intention. Ritual cements your intention and your desire for change into a sacred journey and gives you the strength to move through the difficult but rewarding phase of transformation. I know this. My lifelong study has shone this to be true.
Joseph Campbell talks about the mono myth – the one story that gets told over and over again through the ages. It is our story. And the beauty of this story is that we are assured that we are not alone, that many have gone before us on this heroic journey and they have paved the way for us.
Women in Transition – a workshop for Climbing into Your Authentic Self was designed by Jnana Gowan, certified yoga instructor and educator, and myself, Suze Allen, author, writing coach and teacher to meet women where they live in the uncertainty of change or evolution. We customized the class from our experience as mothers, spiritual practitioners, and teachers who know the difficulty and the power of the feminine journey. As women who refuse to live our lives, “asleep at the wheel”, our approach to transition is, “keep your eyes wide open, embrace the darkness and the pain and find as much humor, and grace as you possibly can.” The workshop has lots of space, music, creativity, art, and contemplation. The yoga and writing aspect of the workshop is central and is for all levels and is appropriate for anyone from a complete novice to a seasoned professional.
What I find exciting about the workshop is that is creates space and time out of your busy world so you can actually hear the voices in your head, breathe deeply and honor what is happening to you, right here, right now. In this day and age of intense doing, it is imperative to take time to be, to feel, to intend, and to flow. As a mom and dedicated Capricorn, I find, that I have to coerce myself to feel the force within and without so I can grow and accept who I am. Workshops like the one Jnana and I have put together serve to make me a more authentic person. For me that means “being in my bones”, coming from a place of,” take me as I am” and “no judgment”, of intention and creativity. This is not easy but whoever said easy was good? And the journey is intensely personal to everyone. The question I ask myself often and ask you now is, “What are you willing to live with and what do you need to lose?” That is the journey. Attaining and letting go. – Mind, Body, and Spirit, embracing the connection of our whole selves: Yin and Yang, Dark, and Light, Joy and Pain.
Women in Transition – Climbing into Your Authentic Self
Saturday, October 16th from 1-5
Vara Healing Arts 850 Talbot Street Albany, CA
www.healingarts.us
