We’re beginning our preparations for the Wake Up Festival, our five-day gathering of transformation, to be held this August in the glorious Rocky Mountains, and are looking forward to reconnecting and celebrating with our friends around the world.
For those of you still on the fence – or if this is the first you’re hearing about it – take a listen to Shiva Rea, as to why she thinks you might want to attend…
Learn more about the Wake Up Festival here.
Shiva Rea teaches vinyasa flow yoga worldwide. She has studied many forms of yoga and dance in India, Africa, Nepal, Jamaica, and Bali. She is a well-known contributor to Yoga Journal and holds an MA in Dance from UCLA's World Arts and Cultures Program, where she also teaches.
Author photo © Debra McClinton
At winter solstice, the darkest point of the year, light begins its journey of reemergence. This great cosmological rhythm sets our internal clocks, our biorhythms, to the subtle glow of slowly increasing light. In our spiritual and creative process, we begin our own gradual awakening and reemergence from the dark, fertile soil of winter.
This biological and spiritual attunement to light is what has made the many cosmological temples with their ritual periods of connection to the sun, so powerful through the ages.
Can you imagine the impact of the winter solstice less than a hundred years ago when we lived life primarily in natural light? At the nadir of the year, we were sustained by the living fire of candlelight and by bonfires when, in some places in the world such as Scandinavia, a day might consist of as much as twenty-three hours of darkness. And we were sustained by celebration—the twelve-day festival of yule and other rituals of its kind—in which we came together and made merry and honored the promise of the lengthening days ahead.
We have marked the all-important sadhya of winter solstice, the rebirth of the sun, with the literal birth of a son. Myths about the return of the sun king at this time of year have been recorded as far back as ancient Sumeria and Egypt. The birth of Christ and of the Lord of the Dance of the seasons re-erect an extraordinary diversity of winter solstice holidays that celebrate the rebirth of the light through the mirror of human birth. In fact, there are more cross-cultural celebrations at this point in the wheel of the year than at any other time—from Scotland to China, from Tibet to Antarctica—as we turn to one another for comfort, solace, and the shared joy that comes from bonding together to celebrate the return of the light.
Looking for more great reads?
Excerpted from Tending the Heart Fire by Shiva Rea.
Shiva Rea, MA, is a pioneer in the evolution of vinyasa flow yoga. She founded Samudra Global School for Living Yoga based upon her worldwide travels and her studies in UCLA’s World Arts and Cultures program, as well as the roots of yoga in Tantra, Ayurveda, and dance. From transformative home practice videos to large-scale festivals, Shiva offers yoga as a universal pathway for self-realization and awakening positive change for all. For more visit shivarea.com.
We’re beginning our preparations for the Wake Up Festival, our five-day gathering of transformation, to be held this August in the glorious Rocky Mountains, and are looking forward to reconnecting and celebrating with our friends around the world.
For those of you still on the fence – or if this is the first you’re hearing about it – take a listen to Shiva Rea, as to why she thinks you might want to attend…
Learn more about the Wake Up Festival here.
Tami Simon speaks with Shiva Rea, a world-renowned teacher of vinyasa flow yoga and the founder of Samudra Global School for Living Yoga. Shiva has created many video, audio, and music programs with Sounds True, and most recently released her much-anticipated first book, Tending the Heart Fire: Living in Flow with the Pulse of Life. In this episode, Tami speaks with Shiva about what it means to be a “fire-keeper;” the power of attuning ourselves to the natural cycles of the sun, moon, and seasons; how we can reconnect to the pulse of life even in our modern world; and an on-the-spot practice we can do to tend to the fire of our own heart. (66 minutes)
All of the myriad forms of life on our planet, whether plant or animal, predator or prey, contribute to our survival. And when any one of the fragile threads of the web of life begins to fray, all of us are threatened. Craig Foster—the Academy Award–winning creator of My Octopus Teacher—has since the age of three spent his life intimately connected to the natural world, in particular the Earth’s endangered marine ecosystems such as the Great African Seaforest. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Craig about his ongoing mission to reawaken humanity to our interconnectedness—and our interdependence—with each and every living being, seen and unseen.
Tune in now to a fascinating conversation about: the community of activists behind the Sea Change Project; being part of the Great Mother; the extraordinary biodiversity we depend on; attuning to the “forest mind”; establishing a comfortable connection with the wild of nature “that your whole being is craving”; balancing the tame and the wild aspects of ourselves; getting to know the natural environment through places close to home; therianthropes and other mind-boggling images enshrined in the rock art of Indigenous peoples; the healing power of the cold; underwater tracking and learning “the oldest language on Earth”; staying relaxed in dangerous natural settings; a new understanding of the impacts of species extinction; appreciating the vast intelligence and awareness of the creatures who share our world; what nature can teach us about death and dying; the great potential for rebirth and regeneration at this time; and more.
Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.
What would you attempt if you knew you couldn’t fail? Most of us didn’t grow up in a family that was unfailingly supportive. Instead, as life coach and author Giovanni Dienstmann explains, “We were conditioned to believe certain things about ourselves and about life that are just not helpful.” In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Giovanni about his new book, Wise Confidence, and how we can each create our own “aspirational identity”—the person you want to be, how you want to see yourself and the world, and how you want to operate.
Give a listen to their inspiring conversation about: mindful self-discipline; making sacrifices; self-doubt and arrogance—two traps of the ego; the five elements of wise confidence; the conviction of self-belief; the journey from a conditioned identity to an aspirational identity; goal-oriented spiritual lineages (and those that aren’t); living with purpose; recognizing the stories we tell ourselves as the first step in transcending our conditioning; practicing courage; finding your three “power words”; choosing the personal qualities you most want to develop; imposter syndrome; the ceiling fan metaphor; four core tools—mindset, witnessing, imagination, and embodiment; the “never zero” commitment, and how commitment differs from motivation; self-love and self-compassion; energizing your thoughts; living in a multilayered universe; knowing your “bigger why”; and much more.
Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.
After almost 50 years as one of the world’s leading environmental activists, John Seed has started to see an encouraging shift: “Caring about the Earth isn’t just for hippies and pagans,” he says. “More and more people are moving from having these ideas to exploring what we can do about them.” In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with the founder of the Rainforest Information Centre and co-author of Think Like a Mountain about his ongoing commitment to serving as a tireless steward of our planet and all its inhabitants.
Give a listen to this inspiring conversation exploring: the illusion of separation underlying the environmental crisis; experiential ecology, or “the work that reconnects”; engaged Buddhism and activism as a spiritual practice; Joanna Macy’s renowned despair and empowerment work; waking up a culture in denial; transforming numbness into energy and action; creating a container for safely witnessing what’s going on; ceremony and bringing the sacred into our activism; the Council of All Beings practice; gratitude; a guided experience of “the cosmic walk”; Thomas Berry and the call for a creation story that unites us all; and more.
Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.
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