Author: Aerin Alexander

Categories
Community Events

An Experience with Real Life Warriors

REGRESAR AL BIENESTAR (RETURN TO WELLNESS)

I was honored to be part of a remarkable event last Saturday, September 14, in support of women with breast cancer. It was the first of four monthly events in downtown Los Angeles organized by The Cancer Support Community – Benjamin Center specifically to offer friendship and support for Spanish-speaking women and their families. It was powerful. I am certain the remaining three events will be just as remarkable (the dates will be October 12, November 9 and December 14; for details, see http://www.cancersupportcommunitybenjamincenter.org).

It was a joy to participate on Saturday, and to speak my mother tongue (Spanish) and work with the local Los Angeles community. I’ve been invited to return to again present the work we do with Being Energy—the energy enhancing mind-body practices and educational information that are an integral part of our programs. I so look forward to returning to offer our work to these wonderful Latina women and their families.

As I entered the Mercado La Paloma (in downtown LA) on Saturday, I was greeted by a cheerful, colorfully decorated indoor market. Inside, a multitude of Mexican stores sell everything from tailoring services to food and clothing. It was 10 a.m. and the enticing aroma of tortillas and chocolate caliente filled the air. Many people were enjoying breakfast. I felt at home.

The Cancer Support Center meeting took place in a large room. I was the first presenter and I was a bit anxious. Around 40 people were just concluding their first group support session and were looking forward to getting out of their chairs and moving their bodies.

I started by explaining that Being Energy is a system of movements that help us to regain our vitality and energy. One of the well-received highlights of the presentation was when I spoke about our “spirit”—our intangible part—that is not touched by the cancer. I also talked about the ways that we can revitalize ourselves from the inside out so that the experience can be met as a challenge and not as a curse.

I talked about finding a new description for our bodies and minds, and about moving and positive thinking! We practiced the Gathering Energy form and counted the number of repetitions to help focus our minds on the present moment and connect mind and body with the purpose of joyful movement. In spite of the heat and through the sweat, everyone counted and enjoyed the moment, applauding vigorously at the end.

All participants received a printed copy of the PowerPoint portion of the presentation, and a copy of “Guided Visualizations of the Heart” that are part of Being Energy’s daily practices.

Quietly, connected to our hearts with hands held to our chests and eyes closed, we felt the heart beating and visualized the heart as a center for processing information—the heart as a brain connecting with our loved ones in a sincere and caring way.

“I can give all the love I have,” said one person.

“We felt both very connected and empowered,” said another.

One participant said, “I am usually very negative with my thoughts and attitude, I fear death. This exercise helped me to connect to life and to the love I have for my children. That keeps me alive.”

This is but a sampling of the experiences in the room. At the end, no longer strangers, we exchanged hugs. I was able to see once more the power of connecting from the heart and offering our best, and how it affects people in such beneficial ways.

Two years ago, my mother died of cancer and last Saturday in downtown LA I was somehow honoring her as well.

Hooray to all these brave warriors, and to all of us who are going through challenging times, finding as we face our challenges our true strength and spirit.

And for all of you Being Energy teachers and our community of practitioners, this is your call to jump up and share what you know. Your light will shine through to help others in ways that you can’t anticipate.

Much love to all, Aerin

Categories
Community Events

Filled with Silence and Energy from our Retreat in Ojai – June 2013

We just came back filled with silence and energy from our event at the Ojai Foundation. We spent the weekend gathering energy, experiencing silence, practicing movements, humming and finding our own sounds. We ate delicious organic foods and slept under the trees. We explored and acknowledged our blood families and our energetic lineages.

“We are the people of the Plumed Serpent” and we connected and danced in it. We were blessed with two Kiva’s ceremonies where Justine guided us in singing Hopi prayers and Native American songs to acknowledge mother Earth and our origin, the Stars. Our friend Jerry also guided us into receiving the depth and knowledge of our ancestors.

Thank you to all that joined us, and to all of you that continue supporting our community. We feel blessed, and honor each one of you who contributed to making the event special, profound and simple: love is all around us, we are love.

As the photo above indicates, we enjoyed intimate and heartfelt interactions under the trees with our fellow beings. The gathering helped us all renew, explore and transform.

Categories
Community Events

Love Liberates! Our Retreat in Teotihuacan – March 2012

Being Energy’s inaugural workshop and teacher training Module 1 wonderously unfolded in Teotihuacan, Mexico, in March 2012. It was an auspicious beginning, and an amazing experience for all who attended.

We were invited to hold the workshop in Teotihuacan by the people of this ancient city, and to celebrate life and natures cycles. The vernal equinox and new moon set the stage for a celebration that we’ll always remember.

Teotihuacan, which can be translated as “the place where one becomes divine,” is where the spiritual and material knowledge of the Mesoamerican people generated a high expression of architecture, urban planning and art in the Americas. It arose at around the time of Christ and later became the largest and most populous urban center in the Americas. Among the monumental constructions in the Valley of Mexico, two high, enigmatic pyramids stand out, dedicated to the worship of the sun and the moon.

We were at a sacred center, in alignment with the pyramids, facing the moon pyramid.

The experience was deeply resonant and transformative. It exemplified what Being Energy hopes to bring to people all over the world, in ways that breathe new life into ancient practices and connect us deeply to one another. So many centuries later, the power of Teotihuacan is palpably strong.

Categories
Tools and Tips

The Wisdom of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico Applied to Modern Health

The Wisdom of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico Applied to Modern Health: Freedom of Perception

Published in Yoga magazine, November 2011, in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Back in the sixties, don Juan Matus described to Carlos Castaneda. the “conditioning of modern man”. He told him to be aware of how we are constrained by social and cultural conditionings and how our inner being (spirit & guide) is forgotten, numb and without purpose. We identify more with the outside world, with our idea of who I should be, (competing: “I’m better/worse than him/her”) and there is little room for, or access to, our inner life.

We are bored when we are not hyper-stimulated. Have you ever concentrated on your breathing for 20 minutes while you were on a bus (or somewhere) without being interrupted by worries of the future or by stressful and repetitive thoughts? How many times during the day do you give yourself the chance to open your eyes and marvel at the beauty of your surroundings?

For the seers of ancient Mexico, we are beings of energy and we come to this planet to increase our awareness through life experiences and interactions with others. One’s self, one’s path, and how we choose to walk it, can be the purpose of life in itself, Carlos Castaneda said. But how do we choose when our attention is being diverted by all the advertisements of a consumer society? We get tense when we think about how to pay the rent or how to make ends meet. It becomes difficult to access another state of consciousness when we are in a mode of survival, worry, fear and scarcity.

What Carlos Castaneda proposed to us was not a “fashion” of the hippy years. It was a mood, the mood of the warrior, of being aware of one’s mortality and one’s approaching death. A spirit that loves and respects the earth and its creatures, and beyond all that, that seeks freedom.

Freedom is not to be understood as “I do what I want,” but as the freedom to perceive the essence of life itself, the freedom to be creative and fluid, cheerful and considerate, without expecting to be applauded or congratulated. Freedom to breathe deeply, to feel the body expand and the heart that opens when you’re in the middle of a business meeting or even the birthday of a family member you may not like. Freedom to recognize the illusion of linear time and space. Freedom to accept everything I am and to enjoy every second of my existence.

Our proposal, based on our apprenticeship and on our own experience of almost 20 years of teaching and researching, is to explore our life’s purpose as energetic beings; to expand our understanding and perception, to free ourselves from the physical and emotional limitations and to thrive in the world.

Our association with Carlos Castaneda and our professional work related to health and welfare have led us to develop being energy™. It takes the form of a series of programs focused on knowledge and education, including ancient and modern techniques of healing and personal care that increase our energy and vitality. These programs have evolved from our passion to combine two interests: expanding the capacity to perceive and improving our health.

Carlos Castaneda loved movement and we practiced movements daily with him—an aspect which we focus on in our teaching. From him, we also learned breathing techniques and ways to call inner silence which are part of the course curriculum.

In these programs we include movements, exercises and sequences of breathing that bring vitality, inner strength and confidence, and which increase our wellbeing and health.

We include information and formation from psycho-neuroimmunology – the relationship between our immune system and emotions and thoughts – dynamic lectures, and the sharing of group and personal explorations, leading to expanded perception.

By reclaiming our energy and integrating a new awareness in our daily lives, we reach a state of wellbeing; we begin to feel the vastness and mystery of the universe living within us.

For more information contact us at:

info@beingenergy.com 
beingenergy.com being energy™ provides a forum for the general public and for professionals who work in the areas of health, education, art and social science, to meet and expand our inspiration and to work together for the development of health and consciousness in a safe and dynamic environment. It is based on the conviction that cooperation and group work is the key to opening new pathways and creating great benefits not only for small groups but for the whole planet.