December 25th, 2014
Merry Christmas to all & to all many blessings & blissings for the year to come!
Such a gift to have this lovely, sunny day to myself to be quiet & reflect amidst the busyness of this time of year. And to take the time to write this letter, gathering together my ponderings and the many upcoming events for this Winter Spring season.
There is much to choose from, my weekly ongoing Moving Medicine classes, a mini-workshop in Deep Cove after Easter and most exciting, another Continuum Immersion retreat on the Victoria Day weekend on the Sunshine Coast. Ingrid Rose, Lana Maree & I are collaborating for a Soma Fest day on March 8th, International Women’s Day, tastes of somatic approaches to enhance your tuning in and deepening processes. In addition, Sarah Pidutti will facilitate a workshop in January, Robert Litman (whom we hope will come to Vancouver to teach soon) offers a retreat day on Vashon Island and Cherionna returns in April (Details to follow & on my web site.)
Recently, I read an incredible book, called “The Book of Love†by Kathleen McGowan. What struck me so strongly with her recounting the story of the legacy passed down by the gospels of Mary Magdalene, who is emerging according to many sources as Jesus’ companion & partner, was the union of the male and female in the Divine. Many other cultures and religions, e.g., the Hindu recognize the multifaceted nature and union of these opposites. Our Western culture doesn’t seem to, and is much more inclined to emphasize the male aspect of the Heavenly Father & his Son. In that, I believe we are missing half of ourselves & our heritage.
Playing with the opposites is a rich and enthralling process in life and in Continuum. In my recent retreat day, Descent into Soul, we reflected on and explored the ascending movement of Spirit and the Light and the descending movement of the Soul and the Dark. Our culture much favours the light. We like to get high, don’t even like dark skin & tend to avoid the dark, finding it unpleasant and scary. (I speak here not just of the physical dark but also the darkness within, our shadow self.) Yet without the dark, how can we know the light? Each is important to the other, in fact, the light returns in the darkest time of the year which is now. Carl Jung states that a mature person is able to hold both sides of the opposites.
In this play of opposites, we also resonate with our biological selves. We are conceived from the union of the smallest, fastest cell in our body, the sperm and the largest, slowest cell in our body, the egg, to produce the emergence of something new. Scalar waves (1000s in most of our 10 trillion cells) are two electromagnetic waves of the same frequency but opposite to each other so when they meet, they cancel each other, not in an annihilation of magnetic fields but in a transformation of energy, reverting to a state of potentiality, the possibility of becoming something more.
So, we have ends and beginnings, the old and the new, masculine and feminine (we have both aspects in each of us, male & female). Our universe is full of opposites. which we need to grow and expand and become more of who we truly are. It is true that the nervous system needs a certain amount of stability but it also thrives on diversity. I love the yin/yang symbol of the dark containing the spot of the light and the light containing the spot of the dark. They interweave with each other, dancing and dialoguing. We need to embrace all parts of ourselves with curiosity and with love.
From “The Book of Love,â€
We are the very people we have been waiting for, and we have always been. Fear and faith (and I would add love) cannot exist in the same place at the same time. Choose one.
With love and wishes for the year to come, may it be inspiring, nurturing and help us to connect to ourselves, other beings and our world, Doris
My offerings for this season – I would be delighted to have you join us:
CONTINUUM MOVING MEDICINE classes begin with a free introductory session on Friday, January 30th, from 11am – 2pm @ Yoga on 7th, 156 E 7th. Please register for this class with Doris either by phone 604-254-0147 or doris@dorismaranda.com.
Ongoing series follows for 8 weeks from February 6th – March 27th. Investment $250, early discount by January 16th & underemployed $200. Send $50 deposit by cheque to Doris @ 115-2033 Triumph St., Vancouver V5L 4X3 or by email transfer.
Drop ins $30 (no drop ins after the first class on March 6th unless you have Continuum experience.)
SOMA FEST DAY – Sunday, March 8th 10-5pm @ Inner Evolution Healing Centre, 3263 Heather St., Vancouver, (between W 16th & 17th) A series of mini-workshops. (More details to follow later.)
Body is our first home on the planet. More miraculous than the internet and its edgy spawn, we’re designed for a flow of creative exchange and exploration. Through sensation, emotion, feeling and thought, we dance our inner and outer worlds into being.
Come join us and taste your fluid movement through Continuum Movement with Doris, attunement and embodied awareness through Rizze Expressive Yoga with Lana Maree, and your authentic voice with writing from the body with Ingrid Rose.
Moving Medicine Mini Workshop – Sunday April 19 – 1:15 – 4:15 @ the beautiful Maa Studio, 489 Dollarton Hwy, Deep Cove. Sliding scale: $25-$55.
A time to explore the fullness & depths of who, what and how we truly are as human beings. Helps us to relieve stress, tension, anxiety & mobility issues, to awaken & come more alive and to enhance creativity & healing. (No experience necessary, only the willingness to explore.)
CONTINUUM IMMERSION WEEKEND – MAY 16 – 18 @ Oceanfront Haven on the Sunshine Coast. (www.oceanfronthaven.com). From midday Saturday until midday Monday on the Victoria Day weekend, we will gather together in this lovely house by the sea, which has accommodation for about 6 people, time for sharing, communal meals and Continuum diving with a long periods of silence to follow your own impulse, walk by the ocean, paint or write, rest and rejuvenate, tapping into those primary sources which Continuum enables us to access. More information to follow. (Continuum experience is required.)
OTHER CONTINUUM EVENTS IN VANCOUVER & NEARBY:
January 17rh & 18th – 1-6 pm – Awakening into Fluid Presence, An Exploration of Continuum Movement, Investment $111 ($100 if registered by Jan10) @ an Intimate Home Studio in Kits. Facilitated by Sarah Pidutti, RCST, Biodynamic Cranial Sacral Therapist, Authorized Continuum Movement teacher & Birth Doula. www.birthintoContinuum.com.
For registration or information about the workshop:, contact Sarah: sarah.continuum@gmail.com or ph, 604,736.8841.
February 7th, with Robert Litman, The Breath of Moving Life – a day of Continuum @ Tesoro de Luz, on Vashon Island, Seattle WA. Contact Robert: robert@thebreathablebody.com or 206-567-4029. www.thebreathablebody.com
April 25th & 26th , 10:30am – 5pm, with Cherionna Menzam-Stills, Embryo, Earth & Cosmos. Resonance & Resilience wirh Continuum Movement, @ Salmonberry Room, Stanley Park Dining Pavilion, Vancouver. $165, ($115 before March 25th). Registration: Sid Hawkins rootedflight@gmail.com, 604.440-2769). More info & online registration: www.cherionna.com.
Doris Maranda