Month: February 2015

Categories
Tools and Tips

Sounds of the Spirit

Dear Being Energy Community,

Quetzal Calls – The Pyramid of Kukulcan Sings!

As I prepare for my second trip to the Yucatán, to the magical city of Chichén Itza, I have some information to share with you that will make the hairs on the back of your neck rise!

What do we know about the Maya? More than just a Mesoamerican civilization that began around 3,000 BC, the Maya were (and are) extraordinary, with a culture that was complex and magical. Known for mind-blowing astronomical, mathematical, artistic and architectural developments, the Maya built hundreds of cities that contained schools, libraries, hospitals, sports arenas and observatories (they predicted eclipses and the rising and setting of Venus). The ruins of their cities tell a story of stunning intelligence and a strongly developed artistic culture, and visiting these ruins can be life changing.

The Maya created the concept of zero before the Europeans—a BIG DEAL if you really think about it. They developed complex and accurate calendars that tracked the cycles of the sun, moon, and planets thousands of years into the future, correctly.

The Maya also invented chocolate from cocoa beans—(not the Swiss!) and a detailed writing system (only 4 other cultures ever did that!).

And… The Maya never vanished. Even though their largest cities were abandoned 1,000 years ago for reasons still unknown, the Maya survived. As don Regi a Mayan shaman, told us in Guatemala a few years ago “We are nomads that walk a path with heart. We were not conquered by anyone and we will never be. We are free.”

The Maya people and knowledge live today beyond national and linguistic boundaries. You can find Mayan people in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, for example. They speak many languages, including Mayan languages (Yucatec, Quiche, Kekchi and Mopan), Spanish and English.

Now here’s the amazing thing, the thing we want to tell you about: The Maya also built pyramids that sing!The pyramid Kukulcan (Quetzalcoatl, or the ‘plumed-serpent”) in Chichén Itza was built somewhere between 500 – 900 AC.

For the Maya, the quetzal’s feathers as well as its cry were sacred. The cult of Kukulkan spread beyond the Maya, though. It was the first Mesoamerican religion to transcend linguistic and ethnic divisions. In fact, this cult facilitated communication and peaceful trade among peoples of many different social and ethnic backgrounds.

The Kukulcan pyramid, also known as “El Castillo,” has four 80-foot-tall sides, each with 91 steps. A platform at the top adds the final step to equal 365 steps—one step for every day of the year.

A handclap at the base of Kukulcan’s staircase generates what scientists call a “chirped eco” that first ascends and then falls, just like the cry of the native quetzal—the very bird that the Mayans believed carried messages of the Spirit/Gods. Handclaps from different positions along the base of the staircase likewise trigger the echo—but with different musical tones spanning half an octave.

Also, during the spring and fall equinoxes, the sun projects a pattern of light on the northern stairway for a few hours in the late afternoon—it creates an undulating shadow that looks like a serpent, caused by the angle of the sun and the edge of the nine steps that define the pyramid’s construction.

How did they do this so very long ago, without Internet, phones, or even a simple calculator?

We will be there in a few days clapping and connecting to the Spirit and Magic of the Maya.

Join us in person or in spirit, with much love and gratitude, Aerin

Categories
Tools and Tips

Energy, Movement and Awareness

In Being Energy, we consider movement as the departure point for enhancing the awareness of who we are and how we relate to the world around us. When we talk about movement, we refer not only to the physical act of moving our limbs, for example, but also to the mental attention required to know which leg we’re moving first, if right or left, or the breathing pattern associated with the way we move our right leg versus our left, and the memories and emotions stored in past experiences, and, most importantly, the perception of ourselves moving through space.

Carlos Castaneda inspired and encouraged me to practice movement daily—to make it a “must do,” with the purpose of finding the trail of energy that aligns all the parts of myself into one single energetic unit. He urged me to connect to the core, or to the alignment of all of what I am through movement. The seers of ancient Mexico characterized us are luminous beings held together by a vibratory force that they referred to as “intent”—the same force that holds stars in place.

Physical movement done with attention and purpose, he said, can forge the link to our vibratory force, the core of who we are as physical and energetic beings. Movement can lead to states of high alertness and awaken consciousness, creating an alignment of the whole self, our physical tangible parts and our energetic invisible parts.

Some professional athletes dramatically exhibit this kind of connection, such as an ice dancer flipping and turning in the air, landing powerfully, with grace, giving a breathtaking and breath-giving moment to all of us watching it!

But we don’t need to be a pro athlete to experience a connection to our center and sustain it as we go through daily life. There is something called “somatic education,” meaning that we can learn to sense and feel through movement, which is a beautiful way to start the journey.

Somatic education supports this exploration of knowing ourselves as energy first. I studied and taught somatic education for more than a decade, and observed its many benefits, including the personal experience of it helping me to heal unhealthy psychological-motor patterns and develop a clearer experience of myself as grounded and connected to my whole self. For example, I learned to stand up without projecting my lower ribs forward (a habit that had caused chronic back pain) and to free my breath by lifting the arches of my feet and to think and perceive without the unnecessary facial contortions, like frowning or raising my eyebrows.

I’d like to share with you an article about somatic education by Tomas Hanna. It is an introduction to what it is, where it came from, its pioneering teachers and its contribution to the field of health and consciousness. In Hanna’s own words, somatic education “is the use of sensory-motor learning to gain greater voluntary control of one’s physiological process. It is ‘somatic’ in the sense that the learning occurs within the individual as an internalized process.

Somatic educuation is based on self-teaching, self-learning, self-healing, and self-regulation. We find the “what” and the “how” through exploration and paying attention as we move through space, as we EXPERIENCE OURSELVES. There are several schools and methods of somatic education, which include:

Alexander Technique

Eutony

Feldenkrais Method®

The Hanna Method

Most of the explorations involve sensory perception and movement as the means of increasing one’s own awareness.

See Tomas Hanna’s Article.

To learn more about movement, watch our videos.

There is so much more to be said about somatic education, but I hope this is an interesting start for you! Aerin

Categories
Community

Energy to Follow your Dreams

Dear Being Energy Community,

Hello Everyone, my name is Keyco Sergio Contestí.

I live in the city of Buenos Aires and want to tell you how I worked on a dream and how it taught me about the endless resources I didn’t know I had.  I currently work as an instructor of  yoga and Being Energy®.  I also advise on the art of Feng Shui with Chinese astrology.

Both Chinese philosophy and the vision of shamanism through the teachings of Carlos Castaneda, through his books and seminars, has helped me to understand the life of a simple and comprehensive way of being.  These teachings became axes that enabled me to embody the practices of Chi Kung, yoga and Being Energy.  They have consolidated for me a belief system in which I live the laws of nature and mystery, with access to the magical power that we possess. These integrative visions allow me to navigate without contradictions by following different grooves, different energetic pathways as art, Taoism, psychology, music, tantra and everything that awakens my curiosity.   One of these interests is Permaculture, where I would like to share with you my dream.

Permaculture is a sustainable, designed system that harmoniously integrates housing and landscape, conserving materials and producing less waste, while natural resources are preserved; it involves designing sustainable human habitats and agricultural systems, which mimic the relationships found in the patterns of nature (for more information and inspiration, you might want to read Bill Mollison’s writings).

I was able to observe this experience personally, for the first time on a visit to an organic farm called Gaia which was a pleasantly surprising experience.  I decided to take courses in bioconstruction in La casa de Tierra de Oliveros, a few kilometers from Andino, the town where my family lives.  Both the people and the knowledge transmitted by the land were generous and inspiring.

I usually travel to Andino to visit my family, which is about 350 kms from the city where I live.  It is a village surrounded by countryside and fields crossed by the river Carcarañá. There was a plot of land there with a house project stalled for several years that brought me much grief and a profound sense of abandonment.  Associated with this situation was something I saw in my family and me. That is why I decided to transform it and bring light to that place, and, therefore, to our lives.

I started actualizing this dream three years ago, coming and going with a van full of things, which I found or bought in town for the cabin. I took what I learned in the bioconstruction courses, while simulataneously using new construction techniques, recycling doors, windows, furniture, etc.

It was very hard work, but little by little my body was adjusting to the effort. Even today I do not consider it finished; there is always something to do. After many years working with Feng Shui, I was able to bring this vision to the cottage, experience and learn more about this ancient knowledge, that goes hand-in-hand with bioconstruction.

The house was built by trial and error. In the middle of this adventure, my father, whom I deeply appreciate for his help, his example of solving problems, and so much more, left this world. With bewilderment, grief, strong will and love, I continued. I used all the tools at hand to build the cabin and work with the land and livestock, which increased my health and morale.

This dream would not have been sustainable without the help of my partner, my mother and father, my brothers, cousins, uncles, nephews, friends, artists, teachers, the whole family of Being Energy, all the pets, the river, the divine help, support from ancestors, financial support, support of good ideas, the experience of hands in the mud, the help of empowering words and many more. Thank you with all my heart.

As you may have noticed I share an interest in many things. I want to also tell you that I love to express myself artistically. So, when I can, I connect with music, dance, poetry, and, lately, I am daring to paint.

If you want to see, you may access it through Facebook: name Nirankar Keyco.

Listen to a sample of my music here.

Thank you for this beautiful space.

Categories
Stories of Power Tools and Tips

Energy for Real Changes in Our Lives

Dear Being Energy Community,

In 1996, Carlos Castaneda urged me to make real long lasting changes in my life. He told me that true change comes from a place of energy. If you have no energy, you cannot make changes.

It’s so cool to me that even though he told this to me almost 20 yeas ago, it is still as important and relevant to our lives as ever. In fact, it seems that our own energy is really the most important resource we need to live a meaningful life.

Here is what he helped me formulate about my own story and I want to share with you: (oh, and by the way, this is the very thing that we will be practicing and expanding on at our upcoming workshop in the magical, powerful Chichén-Itzá, in Mexico!)

“The first thing that I could tell you is that a total change of personality, expectations, goals and purpose is what shamans look for as the basic principle of their lives. Unfortunately, this is something impossible to attain in the world of everyday life.

I have friends my age who have already had to go through several therapies in search of help, in search of solace. They want to change more than anything else in this world, but they cannot. There is something that doesn’t allow them to do it. And their best efforts fade into mere promises of change.

They construct lists of possible ways to change. They tell themselves that the coming year is the year in which their necessary changes will take place. They call all this ‘New Year’s Resolutions.’ They say, ‘This year will be different.’

When I was ten years old, I was already involved in making lists of changes that never took place.

Shamans ask why these resolutions to change are never fulfilled. If one is willing to change so sincerely, why don’t these changes ever take place? We don’t even come close to change; it seems to run away from us.

Shamans say that the reason for all of this is our lack of energy. They say that something stops us by dispersing our vital energy. Shamans are very emphatic about this point. They assert that there is something that leaves us with only sufficient energy for self-reflection. Therefore, we are never, ever able to go beyond our lists of promises. Our lists are the ultimate expression of self-reflection. This self-reflection is, of course, the cult of me, I and myself.

Castaneda, every time he wants to point out my vice of self-reflection, sings to me a song that the old nagual, Don Juan, used to sing to him: ‘Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me.’

But it is impossible to talk about a genuine change of behavior unless we have sufficient energy to carry it out. The only way to acquire sufficient energy is by saving it. And by learning how to gather it. One way to gather energy is through movements.”

Gathering energy through movements is what we practice in our daily Being Energy classes and in all our workshops and events. Movement is life and there is no life without movement. Physical movement leads to states of well-being not only as a physiological response, but also as a shift in perception, in our consciousness. Our ordinary interpretation of the world around us, shifts, and we get a glimpse to new possibilities for thinking, feeling and acting.

Consistent systematic practice and shifts, leads to enhance consciousness: we are not just what/who we think we are, our identifications can be broadened and acknowledged. Here is where we have CHOICE. And there is no possibility of choice without energy.

Go for a walk, clean your house, join our daily classes, move!