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Only love interests me, and I am only in contact with things that revolve around love.
– Marc Chagall

How does talking about this weekend’s New Moon go into talking about androgynous quality? I guess I come from a country where male actors play women (both genders) and female actors play men ( both genders), Kabuki and Takara-zuka, respectively… so I don’t really freak out when someone exhibits that quality – in my mind, it’s just aesthetics and a theatrical play – a diff. of one chromosome x vs. y… While interesting to explore, I don’t want to get too caught up in defining how women should feel this way – the feminine, and men should feel another way, the masculine – with Left (ida) or Right (pingala) dominance, etc.- we are just human; Human beings (as Jon Kabat-Zinn would say, Human “Beings” not Human “Doings” – touche!) and maybe that’s why this poem by Hafiz strums a chord with me:

How Does it Feel to Be a Heart?

Once a young woman said to me,
“How does it feel to be a man?”

And I replied, “My dear, I am not so sure.”
Then she said, “Well, aren’t you a man?”

And this time I responded, “I view gender as
a beautiful animal that people often take
for a walk on a leash and might enter into
some odd contest…
in hopes of winning a strange price.”

My dear, a better question for Hafiz
would have been,

“How does it feel to be a heart?”

For all I know is love,
and I now find my heart, infinite, and everywhere.

*** Soooo beautiful…

Saturday, July 26th…on the West Coast, USA
Sunday the 27th in Asia…

Time to renew or contemplate setting your new intention. It’s a magical time when you allow yourself the “me-my-time” (indeed, sounds like a cocktail?) and carve out a “time-out” you deserve as you re-start your cycle. Men and women alike at any age – To be intimately in tune with the workings of nature may be intuitive to some women as they are in synch with the notion of a monthly cycle to:

Relax
Recharge
Repair
Renew
Rejuvenate
Nourish
Prepare
Grow & Change
Conceive, Create something new OR
Eliminate and detox what serves you not;

Cleanse, Purify as needed…

so that…then, we may be given another chance, another opportunity and yet another beginning…all over again.

Men and women are already on a lunar rhythm restarting over and over …we can renew the cycle again; and again; and again… each time setting an intention and then a re-affirmation of your purpose, a reminder of what you value most. It’s not a repeat; it’s not a routine – it’s kind of a rebirth each time – a fresh re-start so lovely, almost like a petit-reincarnation on a lunar cycle basis, and that, in THIS lifetime.

For women especially during the hormonal transition whether on monthly or on a lifespan basis, it’s even more essential to re-evaluate and change your pre-conceived idea of Madison Ave. defined “fitness” and “wellness”. If you don’t, Mother Nature is likely to show you…manifested as a tough “lesson” rather than a blessing and a gift. Sometimes, connecting to Nature, your true nature will bring about the vitality you had forgotten you had. Men have much to gain by cultivating the lunar energy to offset the solar energy often times set on fire – Too much dominant sun can burn… lunar energy cools down and calms the nerves and the mind for that “cool” “clear” headed you to re-emerge. Sensitive and yet strong and vibrant… as we were all meant to be.

Growing up, I was told by my late father that if I wanted be a good writer, I needed to read a lot of varied authors’ works; if I wanted to be a good cook, I needed to eat as much from various foods prepared by other chefs as possible (in today’s world, he’d be called a “foodie”}; if I wanted to be good at math, I had to solve a lot of math problems and … if I wanted to be a good teacher, I needed to learn from as many good teachers as possible – so, I guess that’s what I am doing. Students are your best teachers and other teachers are also the best teachers – anytime, any learning takes place, I am grateful. Special teachers appear in your life…some I revere while realizing that sometimes, life itself can be a … lesson plan. We unlock the secrets to the ultimate truth, if we live with attention. To not be swept up in one “perceived” turmoil after another – all the dramas – but really taking that deep breath to remain ultra-conscious with all five-senses sharpened.

Like with anything, if you go into something deeply and wholeheartedly, it’s another big mysterious profound world so full of things to learn, to pique your curiosity – maybe that’s why I love the practice that recognizes the mind-body-the divine connection so much (it’s called “yoga”:) It’s boundless and abundant. One would hope to live a life of that – abundance not of material goods but “abundance” in spiritual growth and understanding.

I know … I owe you pictures – photos… need to download… I too have a To-Do list.