Vividly Woman: by Leela Francis

Dance Your Power

2011-07-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

Power! It’s something we all want more of for it’s exhilarating charge, its promise of fulfillment and its relief from victimhood and suffering. Though power looks different for each of us, we all access it through freedom of thought, curiousity, and courage to explore the road less travelled.

Power is often misconstrued as a finite commodity that some have more of than others. Yet suppose all the power you need is already inside you. Perhaps all that’s missing is the courage and hutzpah to get up and dance it?

When you dance, you move your body in a patterned or random combination of movements that’s different from how you usually move. You step out of every day functional ways of body maneuvering into gestures that are artfully, emotionally or sensually inspired. This triggers activity in a different part of your brain, giving access to a creative, body centered wisdom & power otherwise largely untapped.

Dancing literally takes you out of the box of your own limitations, into the limitlessness of your imagination, a profound portal to your personal power. So when in search of more power, just dance it!

Leela Francis is a speaker, facilitator and Embody Power Expert. She's the founder and CEO of Vividly Woman, helping women to tap into their embodied power to become thriving, healthy and fulfilled leaders, personally and professionally.

Embody Self Love- Not Just an Idea

2011-06-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

There's a difference between the idea of self love and the embodiment of it.

We all know that we "should" love ourselves. That's the idea of it. The fact is however that most of us spend an awful lot of time negating our self worth with negative self talk, choices that don't reflect our true essence, and inauthentic boundaries in our relationships that disempower us.

The idea of self love is a good one, but the embodiment of it goes way beyond the idea into the actual lived experience of it. The embodiment of self love requires a deep and loving inquiry into the soul self versus the social self.

The soul self is the unique essence of our being that runs deep and true. The social self is the egoic self that develops as we grow in order to "survive" in the world, win love and approval, and achieve a perception of success. In other words, we learn how to behave in order to be loved.

Unfortunately our learned behavior often has us sacrificing the authentic essence of the soul self to accommodate the social self. The soul self gets buried alive under the constructs of the social self to the point that the soul self is barely identifiable.

Development of the social self may help us to attain certain results in the material world, however it can also be a persistent abuse and betrayal of the core of our being. And it is this self betraying and abusive behavior versus the deep and true soul essence of self, that is really who and what we dislike, even hate,

Devoting oneself to that deep and true soul self is a first step back to finding the love that it rightly deserves. Because it's been so obscured by the egoic social self, the way new civilizations stack themselves one on top of the other, it's actually necessary to excavate your soul truth, to embrace it, and to truly embody it, so that you can actually love it!

Leela Francis is a speaker, facilitator and Embody Power Expert. She's the founder and CEO of Vividly Woman, helping women to tap into their embodied power to become thriving, healthy and fulfilled leaders, personally and professionally.

Holding Patterns

2011-05-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

Holding Patterns

In my more than 2 decades of training as a massage therapist, integrative body therapist, yoga and dance teacher, and through my own experience living in a body, I ‘ve identified 3 types of holding/constriction that occur in the body.

Physical/Physiological
Emotional
Mental

These holding patterns cause limitation and chronic conditions that, over time will become very difficult to unwind. The more holding occurs, the more that the body learns to hold, which results in more holding, and so on and so on.

It’s helpful to identify the type of holding that’s present in any given area of your body if you’re going to be able to release that holding pattern and create greater freedom in your body, and therefore in your life.

I’ll describe each of these types of holding.

Physical/physiological holding is caused by the body’s own mechanical and anatomical condition. For instance, if you have one leg longer than the other, you’ll chronically compensate by limping, which will result in a holding in the hip and pelvic girdle. Or if you lack calcium in your system, your muscles will relax less readily remaining in a constant state of contraction. Physically and physiologically caused holding patterns can often be addressed or remedied if they are identified properly.
Emotional holding patterns are the result of chronically unresolved emotional issues that take up residence in the tissues of the body. Anger, guilt, resentment, blame, avoidance, when not addressed do not disappear. They just become covertly embedded in your body. Some schools of thought believe that it’s necessary to identify the life experience that caused the emotional holding in order to free up that energy.
Mental holding patterns are caused by a belief that we persistently attach to. That belief may pertain to the body, or may seem completely unrelated. Either way, the unconscious attachment to that belief will result in a stuckness in the body. If you think about it, how could it be otherwise. Afterall, all nervous system activity, controlling every tissue; organ, muscle and bone in the body, originates in the brain, the same place thoughts originate. Clearly these will influence each other. So bringing beliefs and thoughts into conscious awareness can have enormous affect on the body’s freedom or lack of.

Watching the body’s holding patterns in every day life, during exercise, dance or yoga practice, and exploring the 3 possible causes of holding patterns above, can reveal valuable truths about your body’s wisdom. Learning to refer to the wisdom of your body will give you profound access to your embodied power, helping to reduce injuries and live more vividly. Be curious and see what you discover!

Leela Francis is a speaker, facilitator and Embody Power Expert. She's the founder and CEO ofVividly Woman, helping women to tap into their embodied power to become thriving, healthy and fulfilled leaders, personally and professionally.

Blissful Boundaries

2011-05-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

In these days leading up to Vividly Woman Embody Self Love Intensive in BC & Ont, I'm super sensitive to the reality that it's not easy for women to claim our space, to establish authentic boundaries, and express the truth of who we are. Boundaries, or lack of them, are central to the lack of self love issue that is so rampant in our world at the root of women's discontent. Fortunately once you understand how boundaries work, it's easy to claim your space, shift unhealthy patterns that cause suffering and dance into blissful boundary awareness.

I have one nagging professional relationship that used to always challenge my boundaries. I'd end up frustrated, losing my temper, running away from the conflicts. SInce I started noticing the real issue, my own lack of boundaries, everything has shifted.

What I've found is that a healthy felt sense boundary, one that's always changing in tandem with who and what I'm relating to, is a great expression of loving and honoring myself and expressing my self worth to the world on an energetic level.

Watch my 2 videos below: first, more on boundaries, and then the Vividly Woman Energetic Boundary Meditation. Enjoy whenever, wherever. It's served me immensely in my life and it's my pleasure to share it with you.

No, I didn't hang the painting crookedly, the camera was off. Ooops!!

Leela Francis is a speaker, facilitator and Embody Power Expert. She's the founder and CEO ofVividly Woman, helping women to tap into their embodied power to become thriving, healthy and fulfilled leaders, personally and professionally.

2011-05-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

Changing Boundaries

Boundaries are fluid and alive. They change to accommodate circumstances, moods and current needs. Knowing this is essential. Expect your boundaries to organically shift if they are an authentic expression of you. This is your body and your energy speaking to you. An authentic relationship boundary can and does change.

Rather than being a wall to keep people or things out, a boundary is like a container that allows you to have more of you.

As the dance of life ebbs and flows,

boundaries ebb and flow as well.

Boundaries can be fluid, fixed, contracted, and expanded. Most likely we all experience a little of each at different moments, in different situations, with different individuals, etc. As the dance of life ebbs and flows, boundaries ebb and flow as well.

A fluid boundary flows and changes according to the situation. A fixed boundary is rigid and does not easily accommodate changing circumstances. A contracted boundary causes one to shrink back, shut down and/or lose power. An expanded boundary may cause one to be overbearing, approval seeking and/or lose a realistic sense of oneself.

By now your probably getting a sense of how true boundaries are always an authentic expression of you. The value of honoring authentic boundaries in your life is beyond measure because it will show up in every relationship and impact all outcomes.

I learned this in powerful way a long time ago with one of my employers. Working for Jake was not a pleasant experience. His anger brought up for me the anger I had experienced with other important men in my life. His critical nature tended to feed the judgments I held about myself and reminded me of the anger I can easily turn inward.

When I began to practice taking a deep breath and drawing an imaginary boundary in my mind during our interactions, I magically started to sense my own power when I found myself in his presence. I could let him be who he is, how he is, and I no longer took on his negative projections. My boundary acted like a bubble or shield protecting me/distinguishing me from stuff that truly was not mine.

Awareness helps us to make necessary choices

rather than be run by habit

Different relationships and circumstances elicit different boundaries. Often a certain relationship or situation has a characteristic boundary that we automatically step into out of habit. Awareness helps us to make necessary choices rather than be run by habit or external factors, and facilitates a depth of meaning in relation to our own felt sense of boundaries.

Boundaries are a natural part of relationships. Our ability to notice our boundaries when we relate will help us to stay in our power and identify meaning in our relationships.

Learn more and experience boundary exercises in the Vividly Woman Monthly Community Online Program.

Leela Francis is a speaker, facilitator and Embody Power Expert. She's the founder and CEO of Vividly Woman, helping women to tap into their embodied power to become thriving, healthy and fulfilled leaders, personally and professionally.

www.LeelaFrancis.com

www.VividlyWoman.com

2011-04-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

Healthy Boundaries

What is a Boundary?

A boundary is the periphery of the energetic field that emanates from our center and orients us in the world in relationship to other beings, things and situations.

When our boundaries are intact we feel a sense of well-being, autonomy and an “I am-ness.”

“Having a container that has no leaks (clear boundaries) allows for more of the experience to be felt”, writes Saida Desilets in her book Emergence of the Sensual Woman. "When our boundaries have been crashed into by another, or if we fail to consciously set our own boundaries, we can become uprooted from our center, unsettled in our own skin, stuck in our energy, less potent and powerful".

Boundaries are not walls

Often boundaries are mistakenly thought of as separating us from each other. The truth is, however, that when we learn how to have healthy and distinctive boundaries, we can be more truly present with each other, and more authentically connected. Identifying the meaning of having authentic boundaries, we’re more naturally motivated to create them. Remember, boundaries are not walls meant to keep others out, they are defining parameters that allow us to have more of who we authentically are.

When I teach, present or facilitate group process, I notice that the way I relate to the group is strongly influenced by my ability to stay conscious of my boundary. Without a sense of my own boundary I’ll often feel unsure of being able to hold the space for the group, most likely because I am not even really holding the space for myself.

When first I hold the space for me, by consciously creating my own boundary however, there’s an instant sense of coming home in my own body. This connection to myself is what it means to be in my power. From this place I can hold a reverent and dynamic space for others, inspiring them to trust in my leadership.

Notice:

Notice in this moment if you have a sense of yourself beyond your own physical body.

If you do, how far does your energetic body extend in this moment in a 360degree radius around you. This tells you how much space your taking up and letting others know you need and deserve.

If you don’t, how is this showing up in your relationships with others? Do you feel seen, heard and respected? A lack of boundaries can often result in lack of acknowledgement by those around you.

Ask yourself these questions and notice.

In my next few posts I’ll share more about having healthy, authentic, felt sense boundaries so that your relationships flourish and you feel safe in your own body.

Learn more and experience boundary exercises in the Vividly Woman Monthly Community Online Program.

Leela Francis is a speaker, facilitator and Embody Power Expert. She's the founder and CEO of Vividly Woman, helping women to tap into their embodied power to become thriving, healthy and fulfilled leaders, personally and professionally.

www.LeelaFrancis.com

www.VividlyWoman.com

More Yummy, Less Yucky

2011-04-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

3 Tips for Cultivating Witness Versus Wallow Consciousness

Recently I noticed myself wallowing in some feelings of sadness. The sadness was brought on by me comparing myself to a woman who I was perceiving as more successful than I. As a result I was actively self deprecating and feeling inadequate. Yes, I confess that sometimes I do let comparing myself to others get me down, and it can be a real drag. Fortunately lately I've had the insight and awareness to witness what's happening instead of let myself be pummeled by the self pity that often in the past would ensue. Though I still felt the sadness, I was also able to be with it in a way that allowed me to honor my feelings instead of be a victim to them.

Here are 3 practices that I use to get me into the witness and out of the wallower.

1. Feeling & Sensing; Notice your feelings and their corresponding sensations instead of the narrative in your mind that justifies the feeling. Letting go of the story and being a witness to sensation and feeling, brings you to truth that empowers you instead of story that debilitates you.

2. Be Self Referencing: Acknowledge self referring vs external referring behavior. Are your choices motivated by your inner preferences or by outside standards? Witness your tendency towards one or the other to identify whether you are living and choosing authentically for you.

3. Take Responsibility: Do you take responsibility for your life or do your tend to blame people or circumstances outside yourself. Witnessing why things are the way they are, with you as the director and the producer of your life, not just the lead actor, will encourage "yummy" way quicker than the victim "yucky" experience of your life's dramas.

The cultivation of witness consciousness is an ongoing practice. We have to stalk the wallowing tendencies and be gentle when we find them, witnessing even that with a loving "ah so", and choose to dance in the light of the witness helping to dismantle the darkness of the wallower.

Leela Francis is the founder of Vividly Woman. An embodiment Expert, facilitator and coach, she inspires the values of the divine feminine in work and in play.

Satiate SLS for The Sake Of Your Intimate Love Relationship

2011-04-05T10:35:00.001-07:00

Satiate SLS for your family & Children

2011-03-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

Satiate SLS for the Sake Of Your Business and Financial Health

2011-03-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

My coming out of the closet as a recovering self hater has given so many other women permission to admit to being one too. Even just taking that first step is so important, and I applaud you for being here on this page because it takes a lot of courage to be seen as one who doesn't like herself. Well dear sister, you are so not alone!

Starving from lack of self love is not pretty. It's also simply not okay and that's why Vividly Woman is passionately devoted to inspiring greater self love for women. We are so ready for this; we are, our loved ones are, and our world is. Everyone will benefit from YOU being in greater love with YOU!

Diane Anderson MA, RCC, Psychotherapist, entrepreneur & Vividly Woman Co-Facilitator.

Yoni oh Yoni what do you need?

2011-03-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

Yoni oh Yoni what do you need?

Allow me to follow your most precious lead.

And not as defined by a man’s inserting seed

Yoni oh yoni what do you need?

Having for too long lived in an arid place

that hasn’t given you much space

Space for awakening and support to grow

Opening your flower and letting her flow.

Why have we done this? Oh how can this be?

Our sweet Yonis have been left without any vitality.

How do we help her find her way back home

To a place that is honored, cherished, succulent and not alone.

Feel into her and see what she needs,

Sweet gentle touches, patience, and kind deeds.

Honor and reverence for what she gives

Knowing that this is how a succulent Yoni lives.

Each and every woman knowing very well

That her Yoni has lots to tell

Listening to her with your open heart and giving her more than just a menial part

A part of futility, fornication, and further sexual dept

Where her needs are nowhere near being met.

Listen to her and what she has to say

Don’t let other’s needs overpower and get in her way.

She is expressive, filled with wisdom to share

to you and the world… if you would only dare

So stand up for your Yoni and give her what she needs.

Anything less will just create disharmony weeds.

Juicy, succulent, filled with vitality

Is how she wants to live her reality.

Give her what she needs and don’t settle for less

Other wise you will continue to be a part of this societal mess.

Yoni Oh Yoni what do you need

Listen to her and be the fruit of a new seed.

Anna Thea is an Intimacy Coach, a Sacred Sexual Educator and creator of the Yoni Hugger.

www.AnnaThea.org

You can listen to Leela Francis, Vividly Woman founder and Embodiment Expert interviewing Anna Thea about Your Sacred Yoni here:

www.vividlywoman.com/yoni.htm

Women's Day Self Love Revolution

2011-03-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

I'm savouring just having completed 2 week long Vividly Woman Mexico retreats. As usual, these sold out events ALWAYS WOW my circuits and bless me in so many ways.
There is nothing so divine as witnessing and participating in the re-birth of a woman's inner Goddess. I'm still drinking in the holiness of our journey this winter and experiencing gratitude throughout my being. And just in time for the100th anniversary of International Woman's Day this March 8th!
In one of my blog posts last month I made a huge confession. I wrote that I used to be a chronic self hater. It's true, and it's precisely because of that, that I deem myself highly qualified to support the women in my life who are struggling with this issue. Truth be told, it's actually less of an issue, and more like a plague!
I call the disease that so many of my sisters near and far are afflicted with, SLS, Self Love Starvation. The worst part is, that a woman will spend a life time looking high and low for a place to satiate her self love hunger, yet forget to look right inside of herself, the only place she could every find it anyway!
Self Love Starvation affects every area of our lives, but most importantly, the 3 areas that seem to matter the most to us:
1. Intimate love relationship
2. Professional Life & Finances
3. Family/children
Please watch the 4 minute video above for a snapshot of how the 3 most important areas of life are often suffocated by Self Love Starvation.
Every woman deserves to be in an unconditional infatuation with her own unique and precious beauty inside and out. You can't get that in a bottle or off a rack Sisters! If we don't claim this for ourselves, from within ourselves, we'll be chronically unfulfilled in the most important areas of life. International Woman's Day is a reminder to nourish ourselves first for the amazing beings that we are, exactly as we are !

Leela Francis is the founder of Vividly Woman. An embodiment Expert, facilitator and coach, she inspires the values of the divine feminine in work and in play.

My Journey to Embody Self Love

2011-02-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Hallelujah Leela Francis...for naming one of the biggest issues for women, indeed! And for creating a space to heal the great divide in us!!! It's like a chain reaction of self-defeat and discouragement--and it's hard to know what comes first...being devalued that leads to lack of self-love, or lack of self-love that leads to being devalued--but it doesn't matter because Embody Self Love Intensive helped me to get back on the path after I had found myself soooo far off it!

My biggest melt/nurture-through (feminine version of breakthrough) at Embody Self Love Intensive was realizing that I needed to be in GREAT physical pain before I would create the boundary for myself on being overworked and undervalued. I KNEW IT cognitively, but it wasn't until I EMBODIED it through dancing (actually in having to dance very quietly and small for once instead of passionately energetic) that I got it! I saw how much I allowed my ego and my longstanding warrior-like energy to dominate everything--as if that was the only way of being that gave me worth!

I needed to find the care and nurturance of myself--especially when I was in PAIN--versus catering to the demands of others (even though I'd trained them to expect me to do all the work!), ignoring my pain, and ignoring my SELF. Hmmmm....how disconnected was that? PRAY FOR A SIGN EVEN YOU CAN RECOGNIZE, DIANE!

And rather than use a stick to beat myself up with for "not doing it right" and not being MORE self-aware than this....instead I learned to welcome this long-neglected, injured side of myself AND to confront the neglectful torpedoes-be-damned attitude of my being with true compassion and deep understanding.

Embody Self Love Intensive IS learning at the cellular level! I loved what I learned & embodied there! Thank you Leela for your wisdom! Thanks to all the women there who helped me melt-through and get on the path to more self-love. Still a work in progress and that's okay 'cause I am still on the path!!!

Diane Anderson RCC, MA, is a counsellor in private practice in Vancouver, BC and a International Vividly Woman Co-Facilitator.

www.VividlyWoman.com

"This is not my Beautiful Life" (yes as in the Talking Heads song!)

2011-02-19T04:25:00.000-08:00

It was in the space between waking and dream, tangled and tripping on the thin veils that define the two realities, when I stubbed my toe on an old rotting stump of a memory.

It was cold tile slick with my snot and tears, I was gagging on the mediocrity of my life. "How did this happen to me?" Even more disturbing was the lack any real proof or permission to feel this way.

I had a successful and thriving business, a healthy child, a relationship free of infidelity, physical abuse, etc. I chose to work 3 days a week. I had a loving supportive family to watch my son. My Yoga practice was consistent and strong. I had plenty of time to cook, paint, write, hike...

Why had this life become too small, so intolerable? What was this growing resistance inside of me? Why was I insistent on more?

That day I screamed it out loud to my shower curtain, to the gods of plenty, (and apparently to a neighbor who came over later to check on me) "THIS IS NOT MY BEAUTIFUL LIFE! I WANT AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE! NO MORE MEDIOCRITY, ENOUGH!!! I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO REALLY LIVE MY LIFE!" over and over and over again.

(The next day in Yoga class my left hip was magically opened. The hip that I had all but given up on. That's another story for another time.)

8 years later, this morning, I leapt out of bed... The awareness of that declaration made manifest. I was thrust into this truth: I am doing it. I have been slowly but surely creating, cultivating, growing, nurturing my beautiful life. It is extraordinary. I have released what no longer served me, upgraded from mediocrity, I surrendered and birthed a whole other me, that was asking to be born.

My days are rich with deep connection. I am in meaningful service and PLAY! I have amazing communities of sisters, dancers, coaches, artists, and mentors! I get to dance almost everyday! I love my body, finally! I am surrounded by family and friends who love me, and I love them!

How did I get to be this lucky?

Wait I'm not done...there's more!

This Thursday I am leaving to spend more than a week in Troncones, Mexico. I will be in Circle with my Vividly Woman Community! Dancing, playing, swimming and soaking in "Sacred Sensual Splendor". (learn more www.vividlywoman.com!)

This is not luck. It is intention, it is saying YES to my heart's desires. I am powerful in my life.

We are powerful in our lives. I choose to be extraordinary! Did you hear that? We can choose the extraordinary!

Tell me, are you living YOUR beautiful life?

Kara McKay is a certified Nia & Yoga teacher, Vividly Woman Co-Facilitator & coach. She guides women from their head back home to their body.

www.vividlywoman.com/VWoman_Co_Facilitators.htm

www.SacredSassy.com

Self Love Sweet Love

2011-02-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

The number one issue facing women today is chronic and destructive lack of self love. It's a sad reality that living with as much opportunity, wealth, rights and freedoms as we as women do in this part of the world, that we still inflict punishment on ourselves in the form of self hate, self judgment and lack of self worth that is almost as destructive as what we see in misogynist societies.

What the world needs now, is for women to be in love sweet love (with ourselves). It's one of the only things that there's just too little of!

The paradigm shift slowly heading our way, where the values and blessings of the divine feminine are heralded and celebrated, cannot come about until a critical mass of women can honestly say, I love ME, and mean it. This isn't something we can feign. That won't cut it. And I know that all things have their time, but I have to confess I'm a little impatient for this one. Particularly because I now know just how juicy it is. That isn't to say that I don't have my ups and downs, moments and hours when I resort to my issues of shame and self blame. I still know those places intimately, however I am way more the witness, versus the victim to those corrosive tendencies.

So here are a few tips I've learned and discovered over my years as a tumultuously juicy woman with moods and emotions that sometime seem like they could fuel a jet plane.

Tip #1 Give yourself sensual gifts. Choose things that won't induce guilt, like rich desserts or expensive ticket items. Instead, here are some ideas: Take a warm bubble bath, massage yourself with fragrant lotion, cuddle up naked with a soft throw. Please add to the list at the Vividly Woman Facebook group! We want more juicy ideas for being sensually loving to ourselves.

Tip #2 Spend time in nature seeing yourself in the mirror.Nature is so beautiful and she is a reflection of you. Spend lots of time in her loving embrace and remember to ground in your oneness.

Tip# 3 Move your body. Dance every day for at least 15 minutes. You can do it on your own, or join a global circle of sisters who are dancing together virtually. Dance Your Power Daily Dance-A-Thon

Tip# 4 Identify and prioritize meaning in your life. Move out of victim and into the power of self love by choosing to do things that have genuine meaning, and choosing to find and stay conscious of meaning in all the things you do.

Tip#5 Express love to yourself. Make it a frequent daily habit to tell yourself, "Leela, (your name) I love you". Say it a loud, sing it in the shower, write it in the sand, write it on a card and mail it to yourself, send an email to yourself.

Self love isn't a science, it's a creative practice that requires devotion. Aren't YOU worth devoting yourself to?

Leela Francis is the founder of Vividly Woman. An embodiment Expert, facilitator and coach, she inspires the values of the divine feminine in work and in play.

www.VividlyWoman.com

Prayer to Yemayah

2011-01-29T14:00:00.000-08:00

You fold over yourself in ecstasy

Your rapture holy eruption

Your crest challenging the poise of the universe

as you quench the thirsty moon

Through your constant roar

the Warrior Goddess speaks

and I have come to listen

Oh Divine Mother

guide me as a vessel

worthy of your creative vibration

Leela Francis is the founder of Vividly Woman. An embodiment Expert, facilitator and coach, she inspires the values of the divine feminine in work and in play.

Circle Addiction

2011-01-22T08:34:00.002-08:00

I am Vividly Woman! I want to shout it from the roof tops and throw my bra out the window!

I feel compelled to share yesterday’s Ah Ha moment with my Sisters because I want this for all of us.

Life happens each and everyday, thank Goddess. Yesterday happened to be one of those days that challenged my nerves and tested my resolve. At midnight my youngest daughter woke me up with the news that her belly hurt.

For the next five hours she proceeded to throw up thanks to the stomach flu she picked up at school. It was an agonizing, exhausting night and an even harder morning getting my other kids up and off to school.

The clean up began and I was feeling quite cranky. In the midst of the chaos I looked in my agenda to make sure I wasn’t missing something and I saw that I had scheduled a call with my business partner and Vividly Woman Sister, Leela. A smile crossed my lips. Yeah! I get to have a little sister time.

The familiar tingles rose through my body. It was then that I reminded myself to close my eyes and bring myself back to my circle of sisters who I had just left a few weeks back while at Vividly Woman Leaders Circle 1 in Ojai, California. I held my left hand up and my right hand down and I was transformed back to ME in all my Goddess glory, mop in hand and all.

Another jolt of joy and calm rose up when I reminded myself that I would be once again physically in circle in just a few weeks when I assist at Sacred Sensual Splendor in Mexico. Ahhhh, yesssss!

I know for sure that participating in circles as often as possible, live and virtual, is an indulgence, verging on addiction, that I’ve consciously chosen to give/gift myself. I am worthy of the support, the love and the sisterhood that fuels my soul and ignites my spirit. I am in true awe of how I’ve peeled away the layers that had built up over time and I’ve allowed myself to bring back that little girl that was buried deep inside; the excited, sensual, curious, playful and hopeful girl – the girl who knows not to just get through a day, but to dance through it.

I am living breathing proof that Vividly Woman & sacred circle changes lives.

I"m embodying and exuding what I'm learning from each circle. I’ve become a beautiful example for my family to see how I value taking care of myself physically, emotionally and spiritually. The peaks and valleys I experience come much more smoothly. In return, those around me serve ME, the Goddess, in reverence and respect. I love my life, I love my sisters, and I love being Vividly Woman.

Contact me any time for a hit of Vividly Woman Sisterly love
randi@VividlyWoman.com

Randi Markel is co-founder of Vividly Woman Vivapreneur Academy and a Vividly Woman Co-Facilitator. With a background in education and fundraising project management, and as the mother of 4, she is a woman who lives fully and vividly!

Power of the Circle

2011-01-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

Come to us however you are.
Come whole.
Come broken.
Come and gather your pieces here.

Bring your heart and mind and soul, and know that we hold space for you.

If you are stuck, sit in the center of us, and we will buoy you forward, like a lifeboat on the tide. Even if four of us are stuck, we are strong enough. Even if half of us are stuck or hurt, we are strong enough. Even if ALL but one are unable to move, that one is strong enough.

And if we were all unable to move, every one of us broken or scared or stuck, we would join arms, look upward to the Great One, and scream. We would reclaim our power, as one, and then each take it with us, back to our lives. Our ferocity.

So come if you are RADIANT. So radiant you're afraid to blind us!
And come if you are in shadows, so shadowed you're afraid to mar us.
Come. However you are, BE WITH US. Be here, in our circle.

Because we are a circle that meets and holds one another -
with golden shimmering ties of love -
that neither time nor distance can efface.

May LOVE hold us and buoy us forward, beating hearts of sisterhood. RIGHT at this moment, beating. Living. Hands held for our lifetimes.

Vividly Woman guest blogger Mary Agnes Antonopoulos

Mary Agnes Antonopoulos, Vividly Woman Leader Sister, is a writer and social media expert and coach.

RockAwayWriter.com

Brag a Little Would Ya??

2011-01-10T08:22:00.001-08:00

Having landed back in Mexico for the winter, I'm now taking the time to recapitulate the last year, the last 5 actually because I'm now dancing into Vividly Woman's 6th year and I know the foundation of the last 5 has enormous lessons to reveal to me for what's to come.

And through my reviewing process, I've decided that these first few weeks of 2011 are officially time to brag. So I invite you to visit the Vividly Woman Facebook Group page and brag yourself silly. You'll find it tremendously therapeutic! Here's mine..........

I'm bragging about realizing a dream in the last few years to see the Vividly Woman Embodied Leader Training Program not only birth 20 Gorgeous Vividly Woman Leaders, but out of those, 5 of them are now actively engaged in the VWoman Co-Facilitator Program. Where once I thought I couldn't possibly guide others to facilitate VW events, these amazing women are proving me very wrong and they are doing a great job of it!

I'm also fluffing my feathers to boast that Vividly Woman Leader Sister, Albertine Phan has been nominated to the UN Commission on the Status of Women and she largely credits her Vividly Woman Training and our community for helping her to achieve this profound designation.

Further bragging takes me to my achievement of including soulful retreat time and space for myself each and every year for the last 5 on the beach in Mexico where I self-renew and source divine spirit in nature to nourish and inspire my service.

And while I'm bragging, I have to include the fact that I love myself & my body way more than I did 5 years ago! That in itself is a huge accomplishment.

And last but certainly not least, I am feeling exceptionally blessed and braggy to have snagged the most amazing man in the world and 5 months ago made him my Husband!

So what do you have to brag about?

Remember, it's officially time to Brag, so let it all hang out and share your bragging on the Vividly Woman Facebook Group Page. We want to know how amazing you are, and you're inner Goddess wants to know too!

Go crazy!,

Leela

Leela Francis is an Embodiment Expert. She helps women dance their power and rock the world with their passion for life.
www.VividlyWoman.com

Melting Open to Savor instead of Save the Natural World

2011-01-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

I just arrived back in Mexico where I spend my winters. After 9 months of bebopping around from place to place, circle to circle, I have landed for the next 3 months in a place I think of fondly as my winter home. I come her to replenish and remember my truest essence.

I know, from past years, that when I first arrive it takes me a good few days to really land and feel truly here. One of the awarenesses I have is that I feel like an outsider looking in somehow. Though I love and appreciate the beauty of the natural world here, it's why I come back year after year, I still feel separate from it at first. I'm awoken to the reality that I'm usually walking through life armoured against and away from my immediate environment. I don't notice it until I come back here. At first I watch the roll of the waves, the blending colors of the sunset, the swooping of the pelicans, instead of merge with these natural wonders and become their enchantedness.

A few days from now I know the boundaries of our separateness will be blurred and I'll be remembering with my whole being, body, self and soul, our oneness.

I'm passionate that all beings know that one-ness, not just with our mind, but as a visceral experience, a delicious savoring of the present moment's sensual delights. A melting open that softens our separateness and weaves our web of connectedness. I believe that we need to savor our beautiful natural world in order to see her flourish, instead of seek to save her which is a domineering objectification, a separation that defeats the purpose entirely.

So please start savoring instead of saving! Just as I re-discover the richness of savoring each year anew to replenish my own wholeness, I know we can support the earths wholeness in the same way.

Leela Francis is an Embodiment Expert. She helps women dance their power and rock the world with their passion for life.
www.VividlyWoman.com

Vividly Woman Stuck or Still

2010-12-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

So You Think You CAN'T Dance

2010-12-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

I hear it all the time, I can't dance! I have 2 left feet, I'm a disaster on the dance floor, etc, etc.

I can relate! Not about dance, but about other things like singing and painting and chemistry and business and marketing....... All of these things were activities I never thought I could do. They just weren't me and what came naturally.

Well guess what. Doing what doesn't come naturally can actually be amazingly fulfilling. That's what I discovered when I went back to school to upgrade my sciences so I could study massage Therapy. Chemistry and biology were the farthest thing from my reality, but once I conquered that limited belief about myself, I knew that anything was possible.

Singing; that was another one that always intimidated me. Now I howl my heart open any chance I get because I know that the sound of my soul has its own unique charm even if I don't sound like Celine Dion.

So when it comes to dance, one thing that I was blessed with ease and aptitude with since the beginning, I am particularly empathetic when I hear others express their fears and hesitations. I know what it's like to think "I can't do it, I'll be embarrassed, there is a right way and I'll screw up, if anyone saw me, I'll feel like an idiot". I know what it's like to believe there is a right way and a wrong way and I will never have the skill necessary to do it the way it's meant to be done.

Well what if there isn't just one way, what if there is only your way? What if your way is the right way because it's your way and that's what makes it divine and wonderful? Or the contrary, what if we all did it the same way and it looked good but didn't really feel very authentic? Would that serve any purpose other than to make us feel even more alone because we are further from the truth of our own unique dance or voice or.........way?

So does that make you think you CAN dance? I hope so, but now it's time to stop thinking and start dancing! So just frickin dance it.

Happy Dancing!
Leela

Leela Francis

Leela Francis is an Embodiment Expert. She helps women dance their power and rock the world with their passion for life.
www.VividlyWoman.com

Why Do We Resist What is So Good For Us?

2010-11-26T17:11:00.000-08:00

Many sisters have signed up for the Dance Your Power for Darfur Daily Dance-A- Thon, yet In spite of our best intentions to dance for 15 minutes a day, 15 measly minutes per day, even the most devoted of us are challenged to live up to this meager commitment.

Well, it is precisely because we are challenged that we must do it. If it were easy, there probably would not be women in parts of the world who are denied the basic right and freedom of dancing. If it were easy, we ourselves would likely not be suffering from burn out and chronic disease and lack of self care the way so many of us are.

If it were easy to prioritize our self care and healing self expression, the world would be a profoundly different place.

So, these are the things to understand and accept:

1. It is not easy, and that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.
2. Community and sisterhood help.
3. Reaching out and sharing the challenge can inspire us beyond the resistance.
4. Most of us do not have self-care wired within us. It needs to be learned and practiced in order to get the hang of it.
5. Dancing together, even if only in spirit, is easier than dancing alone.
6. Remembering that you dance for your sisters when you dance helps alot

Please keep this list handy. When the impulse occurs to you not to dance, remember how blessed we are to live in a world where we can, and then find the dance that most wants to flow from within you in that moment. And remember that there is dance even in stillness!

Dancing Vividly,
Leela

Leela Francis is an Embodiment Expert. She helps women dance their power and rock the world with their passion for life.
www.VividlyWoman.com

What is an Embodiment Expert, You Ask?

2010-11-12T10:57:00.000-08:00

An embodiment expert helps people to tap into and enjoy their sensual, spiritual and creative power by inhabiting their body as a temple instead of using it like a machine. Harnessing this power gives you access to divine wisdom and authentic joy so your life is a lush tropical adventure instead of the voyeur experience from behind tinted glass.

Imagine a rich thick chocolate or strawberry mousse. How delicious and divine that 's going to be when you scoop it up and savor it passing over your lips and feeling its texture on your tongue and palette, then sliding over your throat like liquid love. Mmmmm........

Now how juicy would that same mousse be if you were to try to suck it through a small straw? You can't even get it half way to your mouth! What a rip off. But that's how a lot of us live our lives, trying to suck up mousse through a straw by trying to enjoy our body when all we ever do is use it like a machine.

I'll give you another example, imagine the lush tropical rainforest, moist and rampant with scents and textures, the spongey earth, the humid air, the wild sounds of bird call. Now imagine it from behind the tinted glass of a tour bus at 50 miles per hour.

It's yours for the choosing my sisters. And I am here to help you make the choice that will allow you to claim a life that is richly lived!

Leela Francis is an embodiment expert. She helps women dance their power and rock the world with their passion for life.
www.VividlyWoman.com

More Sensual Pleasure

2010-11-08T17:39:00.001-08:00

I just spoke to Fitness Trainer, Thomas Tadlock's audience about 3 tips for more sensual pleasure. You can listen to the recording here http://tinyurl.com/Vividly-Woman-3sensual-tips or just have a gander at the list below for 3 powerful ways to get you more sensually connected to your body.

All of it is founded on one important principle; Inhabit your body instead of using your body. If that seems confusing to you, the 3 tips below will help you distinguish between inhabiting and using.

1. Spend more time caring about how your body feels (inhabiting) instead of how it looks (using).

2. Repattern your feeling/thinking/sensing processing. Instead of going from your feelings to your thoughts (using), go from your feelings to your body sensations (inhabiting). This will help dissolve unpleasant feelings and sensations, and it will help amplify pleasant feelings and sensations.

3. Develop a daily ritual of moisturizing your skin with a deliciously scented lotion. Instead of just rubbing in the lotion (using), spend time massaging your body, discovering more of what your body loves (inhabiting).

Start noticing how you typically relate to YOUR body. Do you more often lovingly inhabit your body, or do you usually mechanically use your body?

Leela Francis is an embodiment expert. She helps women dance their power and rock the world with their passion for life.
www.VividlyWoman.com

Unweave the Story

2010-11-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

"The "story" is sometimes what keeps us from ever experiencing our true creative self." Thank you Cassandra Russell, creativity coach, for these wise words.

If only we could catch ourselves in the story. But so often the story pulls us in, wraps us up in her dramatic web, and consumes so much of our energy that could otherwise be spent on more creative adventures that delight and please us.

So how to catch the story before it becomes a trap?

Well, here are a couple of tips to identify and pull the plug on the inflated illusion of disempowering stories:

1. Notice if you are spending a lot of time talking about, instead of experiencing life. If you are constantly in the role of commentator instead of living life in the first person, present time, you are likely in the story. So stop talking and start being and savoring!

2. Does it take you a long time to get a point across? Do you notice that others are hesitant to spend time with you or they tend to boundary their time with you? This is a good indication that your stories are an energy drain on others and likely you too.

3. Are you a glass half full or glass half empty person? If you are constantly complaining, it's likely that you are swept away with the story instead of the truth. Remember that the truth will set you free from the story ridden chronic complaining that keeps you stuck and the victim.

So start noticing these things about yourself and the way you relate to yourself and others. Always weaving stories is alright if you are a spider, but for many of us we just get tangled into our own web of victimhood!

What Story Do You Tell Yourself? Is it VIVIDLY Moving You Forward? Or is it holding you BACK?

2010-10-22T07:32:00.001-07:00

Making Love to Life

2010-10-03T17:49:00.000-07:00

The Courage to Be Yourself, Vividly

2010-09-05T23:26:00.001-07:00

I just finished reading "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the story of a Muslim woman's life growing up under the law of Islam, questioning these laws, and then choosing a different life.

What I loved about this book is watching this woman's mind gradually open and leave the cage in which she identified herself. WIth absolutely no idea how she could survive in the western world, still unclear about what she really believed, she followed a call to liberate her spirit and body from the rule of a culture that is all she really even knew.

Her journey demonstrates enormous courage and profound longing for a union with the truth of her very soul despite the loss of family and clan. I can't even imagine the fear and aloneness she must have felt at times. And then to take up the cause of the suffering of her sisters whose abuse and forced submission are being ignored by the "awakened" culture that has offered them asylum.

Please read this book to open your eyes to the world around you to better understand what is not so very far away but is happening right here in our midst. We must all open our eyes and know that our sisters can be liberated by our own clearer vision.

Love and Sisterhood,
Leela

Compare Yourself or Inspire Yourself, You Choose

2010-08-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Anthropologists would say that women's drive to compete and compare with other women is the primal procreational drive to deter our mates from straying to other eligible child baring women. Apparently it's the survival of the species that keeps us comparing ourselves and watching out for other women who might steal our mates.

Well, as primal as I like to think I am, I disagree. Because you see, even though I wholeheartedly want and support the continuation of our species, and while I do believe that we are physiologically and instinctively wired to do that, I believe that comparing and competing have more to do with our compulsion and drive to grow ourselves, creatively evolve and connect.

I believe that women envy and compare ourselves with other women as a way to connect with other women. We need to connect for our own survival and sanity, and that competing and comparing helps us to get into each other's skin and motivates our creative drive to grow and develop ourselves to fit in and in turn be sought out for connection by other women.

In and of itself this creative urge to connect and grow is a gift and opportunity. The problem starts when we decide that just because we like and want what another woman has, or the way she looks or acts, that must mean that our present circumstances must be pathetic, wrong, bad or not good enough. This in turn causes us the feeling of low self esteem, self judgment and self-deprecation. But Sisters we don't have to spin that way. We could instead be inspired by what we observe in others, instead of being discouraged by it. And let's face it, what you like about the world around you is what you aspire to become, so that's how it's going to play out anyway.

So instead of getting down on who we are today, let's celebrate who we are now even as we aspire to who we are on our way to becoming. We are all growing and becoming and changing whether we like it or not. So celebrate the evolution by celebrating even what we leave behind because without each stepping stone in the journey, there would be no journey!

Flip it!

If you want to flip comparing and competing to make them work for you, (because you're going to compare and compete anyway so you may as well make them work for you), use your comparisons to inspire you instead of beat yourself up.

The next time you find yourself comparing, take a breath and smile and say "thank you Sister for the inspiration!"

Love and sisterhood,

Tip #2 for Embodied Power

2010-07-03T00:43:00.000-07:00

Our 2nd tip is: Hang out more in the sensations that correspond to your feelings, instead of the thoughts that justify them.

In the first tip for embodied power I invited you to distinguish between your feelings, your thoughts and your body sensations. So now that you’ve started to get that your emotions are not your thoughts, and that for every emotion there is a corresponding body sensation, I’m going to ask you to start paying more attention to the sensations corresponding to your feelings instead of the thoughts that correspond to them.

What this means is that every time you notice a feeling, notice the sensation associated with it and keep your attention focussed on that sensation. Notice the texture, the temperature, the rhythym, the strength, the pattern of it. Be captivated, absolutley absorbed by it. Doing this will draw you away from the thoughts associated with the feeling. If you notice a running commentary being generated about your noticing of the sensation just bring yourself back to the sensation instead of the conversation in your head about it.

Let’s try it now. Notice what feeling is arising within you now, what emotion is stirring within you. You may be feeling at peace in this moment without a particular emotion, but even feeling at peace has a corresponding sensation. So look for that, notice where you experience your present emotional state in your body, don’t 2nd guess it, just go with whatever comes up first, and notice the texture that is present there, without judgement, without needing to change it, without having to even understand it. Be there for a few breaths with what is present at the level of your body in connection to your emotional state in this moment. I call this attention to our present felt sense experience, loving presence, and it’s a wonderful place to sit, especially if you serve others in a healing way. It encourages you to be present with you as you serve another.

If you can get into the habit of paying attention and maintaining your focus your body sensations, you are one step closer to harnessing the power of your emotions instead of cutting off that very rich source of power by focusing on the thoughts that justify and disconnect us from our emotions.

The longer you can sustain a sense of your body experience instead of being distracted by your thoughts, the longer you will be able to tap into the rich source of power that presence yields.

The more you can do this, the more body centered, or embodied, you will be.

Now I want to address for a moment a question that may come up for you which is, What if my emotional state is overwhelming and I’m in a spiral of emotion that is creating anxiety and distress?

I think you’ll start to notice that the anxiety and the distress are actually perpetuated by your focusing on the thoughts, which is one very good reason to steer away from the thoughts. We’ll look at that more closely when I share my next tip with you.
For now, know that you can cultivate a very powerful place of emotional neutrality, a place of witnessing your emotions from the center of your rich world of feelings, which allows you to resource the power of your emotions without being at the mercy of them, as you practice and master loving presence.

I’ll meet you soon next for my 3rd tip, until then happy sensing!

Ignite Your Embodied Power - Step One

2010-06-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

The first step to igniting your embodied power is distinguishing between feelings, thoughts and sensations.

So first of all, when I say feelings I’m talking about your emotions, like happiness, sadness, anger, joy, etc.
When I say thoughts I’m talking about the thougths that you think. For every emotion there is a corresponsding thought that goes with it, for instance, I’m happy because I finished work early enough to go for a walk. The thought is everything that comes after the because.

When I say sensations, I mean the felt sense experience of your body, the language of your body. For every emotion there is a corresponsding sensation. For instance, I’m sad and I sense it as a heaviness in my chest.

Most of our states of being arise in conscious awareness as emotions. We notice an emotional change and typically go directly to the thoughts that justify those emotions. The problem with that is that your emotions are amazing sources of power. This is especially so for women. Women are profoundly guided and motivated by our empathy and our emotional awareness. We’ve all heard the story of the mother lifting the car off her child’s body. So to go from our emotions directly into our head and our thoughts causes an immediate disconnect, a cutting off of this infinite source of power that is our emotions. Instead what we could do to harness that emotional power, is go to the body sensation that corresponds to the emotion.

When I take you to steps 2 and 3 we’ll look at that more closely, but for now I just want you to start to pay attention to these 3 distinctive dimensions of your being, your feelings, your thoughts and your sensations.

The easiest way to get into this habit is to go to your journal or a note book and take 3 pages. At the top of one write "I feel", at the top of the next one write "I sense", and the top of the next one write "I think". And as often as you can, when you notice a feeling arise, go to your journal and record the 2 other states of being that correspond. To that feeling.

This very simple distinction has made a huge difference in my life. I’m an emotionally passionate woman, I celebrate my emotions, and now that I know the difference between my feelings thoughts and sensations I can tap into the power of my emotions instead of over ride them with my thoughts. And you’ll understand this for yourself as we move forward over the next few weeks.

So practice this distinction exercise for a week or so and we’ll re-connect with the second step to ignite your embodied power which will start to put this in context for you.

Until next we connect be well and make love to your life!
Namaste,
Leela

2010-05-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

The Art of Embodied Presence

Your body is the only real home you've got. When I was homeless for 3 years, bouncing around teaching and learning, I really got that in a profound way. And I have no doubt that 3 years as a gypsy were meant precisely to teach me the essence of truly living at home in this body temple.

It is here, in this vessel of your spirit, that your feelings, your sensations and your life experience carve themselves into everlasting somatic memories. Your body can either come along for the ride of your life, or your body can be an enthusiastic navigator in the dance of your dreams weaving themselves into realities. It is yours for the choosing how you wish to dance or do your life.

What I hear from many of the women that I have sat and danced in sacred circle with is this: "For the first time since forever I am living in my body again" and "I am dancing for the first time in years and loving my body" not to mention "my partner is loving me loving my body" and "I am remembering what it's like to be a woman."

Remembering? As if the body could ever forget. It's only a chronic referring elsewhere for the answers that stops you from enjoying the delicious aliveness that your body always has access to.

Here are 3 tips to keep you in touch with the wisdom of your body's remembering that is ever available to you, yearning to be heard and honored:

1. Notice the distinction between your feelings, thoughts and sensations.

2. Hang out more in the sensations that correspond to your feelings, instead of the thoughts that justify them.

3. Savor the sensations, both pleasant and unpleasant, and watch the pleasant sensations expand and the unpleasant sensations fade. Miraculous but true.

I'll explore each of the above 3 over the next while so stay tuned for more juicy body wisdom dancing your way!

Love and sisterhood,
Leela

Doing Business the Goddess Way

2010-04-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

Little did I know, when I embarked on this journey of the Doing Business the Goddess Way Tele-Seminar series, that I had a lot to learn about what it really means to do business the Goddess Way. Well sure enough, the universe keeps finding ways to teach me what that really means.

I have never claimed to be an expert on business, not by any means, which is precisely why I was motivated to produce this tele-seminar series, so that I could learn the nuts and bolts of what it takes to run a thriving business using principles of the divine feminine. Indeed, I have been learning much from all the amazing guests featured in the program.

But perhaps equally as important, is that the process of managing an event such as this, with several women, 9 to be exact, is demanding that I communicate and engage in relationships that accommodate the needs and practices of many individuals. So not only did I affirm that business is not my expertise, but I also discovered that resourcing the Goddess under circumstances that test my patience, challenge my values and require last minute emergency measures, is also quite the education.

Indeed, I am getting an education in doing business the Goddess Way, and loving it!

Until next time, have fun doing your business the Goddess Way!
Blessings and sisterhood,
Leela

We Are All Sisters

2010-04-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

I just have to write about a recent event in the life of my dear Vividly Woman Sister, Randi. The truth is Randi is always having extraordinary experiences and I keep asking her to write about them and share her wisdom and life insights. She hasn't complied with my begging thus far so I am here writing her story instead.

Randi and her daughter Chelsea, both whom I had the blessing to dance with this winter in Mexico, were on there way somewhere, in some airport, sometime in the last few weeks. They stepped into the security line and couldn't help noticing a young woman in full army fatigues in tears as she said good by to her young male friend/husband?

Chelsea and Randi watched as this classical scene played out infront of them, imagining that this girl must be off to some distant land of horror and chaos to defend her country.

As the young woman stepped into line behind my Vividly Woman Sisters, she continued to weep. Randi turned to her and asked if she was okay and the conversation continued with the young soldier sharing that she was heading to MI to be deployed from there.

As Randi shared the story, I realized the verb to deploy is pretty foreign to my every day life, and it was actually a very sensually scary word to be hearing and sensing over the phone all of a sudden.

Back to Randi's story, after 20 minutes of waiting in the security line, during which time Randi and Chelsea were vividly aware of their young friend behind them but chose not to intrude on her privacy, they parted ways with out really bidding each other good by.

After going through security heading toward their gate, Randi felt sad that she had not actually said good by to this young woman. As if by magic, the young soldier appeared behind them also headed to her gate, rushing to catch her flight. When Randi saw her she stopped her and said, "I wished I had said Good by and I just want you to know that you are not alone, you have every woman with you and we are all sisters". And then hurriedly rummaged through her bag to find her Vividly Woman; Textures of a Life Richly Lived book to give to her. "Here" she said," I think this will mean a lot for you to read".

The girl was so moved that as they moved toward each other to hug, Randi said she experienced one of the most profound and heart felt hugs she had ever had.

Can you sense this experience. I can. I can just imagine my heart racing with the reality of this situation. A sister headed to war, to engage in battle and possibly the ugliest part of life.

We are indeed all sisters. Thank you Randi for being so Vividly one of mine!

I Am Beautiful

2010-02-22T03:59:00.000-08:00

I am beautiful. Say it with me, I Am Beautiful. Say it again, I Am Beautiful. Say it with your eyes closed. I Am Beautiful. Say it slowly, I.......Am......... Be..au...ti..ful. Say it softly. I am beautiful. Say it loudly. I AM BEAUTIFUL! Say it seriously. I am rather beautiful. Say it doubtfully. I am beautiful? Say it exageratedly, I am so outstandingly and amazingly beautiful. Say it passionately, I am so vivaciously beautiful! Say it vehemently, I am so damn beautiful. Say it shyly, Umm, ah, well, I'm kind of beautiful. Say it fearfully, Is it okay if I say I'm beautiful? Say it happily, I am so loving being so beautiful. Say it sweetly, gee, Am I ever beautiful. Say it playfully, La di da I am so beautiful. Say it melodiously, La la la I am so Beautiful. Say it convincingly, I really am beautiful. Say it vividly, I AM beautiful! Just say it!

Leela Francis Hosts "Savvy, Sexy Social Media" with Social Media Expert, Mary Agnes Antonopoulos

2010-02-20T13:20:00.000-08:00

HERE it is!!! The recording of our 1st Teleseminar in our "Doing Business The Goddess Way" Series. This call features one of our own Goddesses, Mary Agnes Antonopoulos. Mary Agnes is a social media expert and freelance writer and she shared over an hour of us on how to use Social Media to bring out the inner Business Goddess! Mary Agnes brought all of her social media expertise on Facebook, Fan Pages, Facebook Groups, Linkedin and why these are so vital to a Business Goddess. Listen and definitely take advantage of Mary Agnes' amazing social media offer just for our group: http://www.vividlywoman.com/socialmedia.htm (It's an offer you can afford -- and can't afford to miss!

By Leela Francis - Leela's Luscious Feet in MEXICO

2010-02-20T09:30:00.000-08:00

Leela's Luscious Feet in MEXICO. Oh yea....

Do or Dance?

2010-02-07T09:28:00.000-08:00

Do you do your life, or do you dance it?

This is an excellent question to ponder. If you're doing a lot of doing, guess what? You are working way to hard with not nearly the fun and the results you could be enjoying if you were to be doing a lot more dancing!

Doing your life is about living in a box that conforms to what we have been taught, lead to believe, coerced into trusting and limited to seeing, sensing and perceiving.

Dancing your life, on the other hand is about exploring, investigating, and resourcing our inner world and truth. It's about curiously venturing out of the box and passionately savoring the unique and limitless ways of seeing, sensing and perceiving available to you when you choose to dance versus do.

As a Vividly Woman, dancing is a non negotiable way of being in the world that is not reserved for the dance floor or even a deserted beach. Dancing is how we be in every encounter, every task, every opportunity.

So start now. Whatever it is that needs doing, dance it instead. Approach it with the eyes and curiosity of a child. Become greedy for sensual connection with the task at hand and dive in with gratitude and a great big basket of crayons that has every color, shade, or hue you could ever imagine. There is truly no end to what is possible when you are dancing it!

Dancing Vividly,

Leela

2010-01-19T20:16:00.000-08:00

Eating on the Fly

I'm not a nutrition expert but I am by now an airport expert. I literally travel all the time to teach women and men how to live healthy vibrant lives. As a certified yoga and dance teacher and registered massage therapist, I know a thing or two about good health, but eating right in airports is pretty challenging. So here a few things I've learned about how to keep eating in healthy life affirming way even when you are flying.

My 3 tips for not blowing your healthy diet in airports:

1. Make sure to bring a healthy snack for emergency situations. i.e apple, health bar, nuts and seeds. Hudson books always has packaged nuts/seeds/dried fruit mixes as well if you forget.
2. Hold out for the soups or salads. Its easy to be seduced by the pretzel wagon or the burger joint as you make your way between gates during stop overs. Don't go for the first thing you see. Sniff around before you bite.
3. Stop at the sit down and order style of restaurants with a real waiter serving you instead of the counter order style, as much as possible. These full menu restaurants seem to have the most and best options for a healthy meal and they are usually pretty quick. If you are in a hurry check with the host whether you can be served in time. They can often give you take out as well.

So you needn't give up good health when you fly, you just have to know where to hunt down the cleanest options!

2010-01-14T13:52:00.000-08:00

The Definition of Dance

What exactly is dance, besides the obvious movement of the body, often in harmony with the rhythms and melodies of music.

Besides all that, dance is the art of loving presence with oneself set in motion. At least that's what dance is for me and what I sincerely hope it is for anyone who has a body and understands the healing powers of moving and grooving it in sensual and creative ways.

The depth of intimacy with myself, a deep reaching and touching inwards is indeed how the healing of dance has so captivated me. There is, in my opinion, nothing so sublime as meeting the soft animal of my being face to face, skin to skin, flesh to undulating flesh. The quintessential truth that is accessed and savored in those moments is beyond any joy and pleasure that I have known. For it goes well beyond physical or emotional fulfillment and affirms a blessed union with spirit that once tasted is impossible to forget.

Dancing,

Leela

2010-01-12T12:58:00.000-08:00

I propose a Best Airports for Dancing In survey. Wouldn't it be grand if there was groovy dance music playing in every airport and we could dance our way from gate to gate, celebrating the wealth and abundance that we are so blessed to know.

I'm starting the survey now. Chicago Ohare sets the bar for lots of wide halls to dance through. I'm also impressed with their healthy choice of snacks for replenishing your energy after dancing from concourse G all the way to L. I munched on an apple and cheese, not enough time for a smoothie unfortunately!

Next to survey will be Seatac in a few hours when I land there, dancing of course. Hell, if you have to spend lots of time flying, you might as well just frickin dance it!

2010-01-09T12:30:00.000-08:00

1 day post dental surgery and I'm thanking the heavens that I had this done in 2010 instead of decades ago. You see, I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to pain. Yes, even us spiritual women sometimes doubt that the Divine Goddess is out there taking care of us.

Not only that, how many of us get to have our mothers come with us to the dentist all day? Being in Montreal visiting my mother has been really wonderful on many levels. And since she loves to mother me, as all mothers do, it has been a win for us both!

Today we are relaxing post op, staying sheltered from the freezing weather. We played a game of scrabble and now we are cuddling up for a matinee in her bed having fun with all the new channels! I still can't chew so I'm enjoying mum's chicken soup.

Life is good!

Leela

2010-01-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

As 2010 leaps off to a roaring start, I am heading off to the dentist to do some heavy duty work on my teeth. I make sure my teeth are in good shape each year before I head to Mexico for the winter so that my time down there can be exactly what it is meant to be; a sensual adventure into pleasure, passion and play. I certainly don't want any tooth aches getting in my way!

So how does a spiritual woman deal with her fear of dental procedures? Well first I reached out to my sisters, the women who are my inner circle, to invite their loving support. Then I posted on Facebook just to hear what others might have to say about dentist visits. Finally, I resource everything I know about mind over matter, meditation, yoga, and breath to heal and calm the body, and finally I acknowledge how blessed I am to be having excellent care from devoted professionals.

The next time I write I'll have 2 less wisdom teeth, but hopefully no less wise!

To our good health,

Leela

Circles of Friends and Our Online Circle: Nature, Sense and Soul

2009-12-10T07:41:00.000-08:00

I’ve been thinking a LOT about community lately. About the circles we create as women. About what those circles mean to us – to our hearts and our health and our VIVIDNESS. And I’ve been thinking about what happens when we fall out of touch with our circles. How STILL we become. How closed up and overwhelming life can feel. I am so blessed – I dance in circles of women everywhere in my life now -- softly, nia dancing, trance dance, you name it. I dance literally, at my events, encouraging them to find their own rhythm and relationships, hand clasped to hand as we move through space together. And I dance spiritually even as I mentor my Nature, Sense, Soul online group to become more attuned to their lives through sensuality.

What I want to encourage ALL of you to do right now is to think about the circles in YOUR life. Who do you clasp hands to? What women are spread with you and around you like the petals of a flower? Can you see them? And it’s OKAY if you can’t see them – we can ALL use more women gathered in circles in our lives. So your challenge RIGHT NOW, today, is to join (and even create) at least one circle. You can start by joining my Nature, Sense and Soul online circle. The women in that circle blow my mind with their nurturing wisdom and what they’re able to create from the exercise and meditations I lead them through. In sisterly spirit and LOVE for all of you guys and the friendships and circles you are creating, I am honored to invite you to bring your best friend for free when you become part of Nature, Sense and Soul. Bring her into our circle with you – now THAT is a holiday gift that will mean something to her and to the circle you create together as you go through the meditations and exercises. I’m also going to give YOU a gift of my VividExistence Toolkit (which you can see at http://bit.ly/7lq1M6 ). The online community starts very soon, and you can join for a one-time fee of $399 USD or if you need payments, you can pay in 6 monthly payments of $80. You can find all of the information on our online community and a few messages from participants at http://bit.ly/72bV08

I don’t want this to feel like a sales pitch to you guys. I just want to offer a very special way to participate in MY circle and join the women I play with throughout the year. I enjoy knowing every one of you. Start YOUR circle today – just reach out to a sister that you love and have lost touch with today and clasp hands in friendship with her, then invite in another friend… pretty soon it’s a circle and you’re supported and held in a beautiful, exciting way. “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." ~Anais Nin

Love and light and CIRCLES! Leela

Give YOURSELF a Gift this Holiday

2009-12-01T06:43:00.000-08:00

December is here! With it comes wondrous times with friends, holiday decorations, gifts… It’s easy to be literally swept away and to be so BUSY that we’re taken out of ourselves, transported from one hectic occasion to the next.

This is where the second stage of a Vivid Existence comes into our lives like an angel and gives us a strong foundation. This is where we practice GROUND. And yes, it is definitely a PRACTICE. In fact, it is a devotion. As you are RIGHT NOW, take a moment to stop, to breathe deeply, to stand and hold your arms out from your body and to squat down and feel the ground under your feet.

You ARE RIGHT NOW. You are not in your worries or your plans or the endless stream of thoughts in your head. You are in this moment. If you find yourself distracted by the chaos of others or your own endless, beautiful mind, you can do this simple exercise of stop, breathe, center and GROUND yourself to the moment you are in. Center your thoughts on the Earth.

Ultimately, we ARE the ground. We are part of everything around us. If you do not have a daily practice centered on grounding, consider learning a deeper, grounding devotion with VividExistence Body and Breath Meditation CD ( http://bit.ly/7QeW2C ). I have poured my teaching into this CD to support you through all of the five stages of your VividExistence: Sense, Ground, Mobilize, Harness and Express.

This week, take the time to GROUND and to be fully present for YOUR life. Use your senses to support your new experience with grounding and living in the moment. And enjoy seeing the effect that you can have on the people around you, as they spin and toil and SEE your calming, grounded experience, you will be given opportunities to help THEM ground as well.

Love Leela!

PS: Give YOURSELF a gift!
The VividExistence Body & Breath Meditation CD: Journey through the 5 stages of VividExistence™ with guided meditations, breathing exercises and affirmations http://bit.ly/7QeW2C

Sensing the Present

2009-11-20T12:52:00.000-08:00

The holidays are all around us. Can you smell that crispness in the air, descending with the smell of falling leaves and dropping temperatures? Can you hear the birds calling a bien tot as they leave for warmer places? Do you see the sun, further in the moon, further in her sky than she was only a few months ago. Time is moving forward, as it always does, and it cradles us as we sense our way through our lives – or not.

Taking the time to SENSE what goes on around us is a discipline that brings texture to an otherwise flat canvas. It paints colors in our vision, it invites a symphony to our tastebuds, it plays laughter in our ears, and it sensually dances along the curve of our back and the inside of our arms. Sensing life ignites a new love affair with EVERYTHING. We naturally stop rushing through our days and become aware of the beautiful gift of humanity and nature.

This holiday season, take the time to LOVE the crowds, to enjoy every cent you spend and gift you buy, to leave worry on the side of the road somewhere and to Sense the love of Mother Earth cradling you and Father Time gently guiding you forward. This is a new season and a new year approaches. Fill them both with a sense of self that is unlike anything you’ve ever explored before. Choose time with those you love and gently leave obligation as a thing of your past. Choose to move beautifully, sensually through everything – the wonderful and the difficult. Be PRESENT.

With Love, Leela Francis
CEO of Vividly Woman and VividExistence
http://www.vividlywoman.com
http://www.vividexistence.com

About Leela: Leela Francis offers courses, events and products that support a vivid way of being in the world. She is a sought-after keynote speaker for women’s seminars and gatherings, an instructor in Nia, Yoga, Vividance, & Trance Dance; she is the founder of Vividly Woman and VividExistence and the creator of the Flirting with Nature Process ©

Why Circle?

2009-09-22T10:12:00.001-07:00

One of my teachers, Jean Bolen writes "a circle is non-heirchical - this is what equality is like. This is how a culture behaves when it listens and learns from everyone in it." and "a circle is a place to practice honest and caring communication, until this is what you do and expect from others in your life."

I used to think that I created women circles in service to make a difference in the world. I used to think that circles were a fascinating way to draw wisdom down and through us for collective transformation. While both these are true, I now know that circles are a way for me to dance in peace with who and how I am in the divine company of my sisters. It is here, in circle after circle, from coast to coast, that I keep finding the blessing and beauty of who I am through the eyes of my sisters. It is here that I am enchanted and wooed over and over to discover the ancient magic that gives my life meaning.

Laura Day says "the circle is an energetic state of being that allows us to connect with ourselves, with one another and with the transformative powers of the universe. In the circle, what you perceive, what you conceive, and what you create are one- and you are at one with the infinite energy and possibility of creation, the place where everything you are connects as one energy with everything around you."

Sacred Circles are about coming together as beings, in sacred space, where we each bring the truth of our own stories, our unique flavor of chaos and passion, and together in circle we find the one still center, the place where our many stories become just the one story, the center where the chaos and uncertainty of our lives can find an experience of home. This is a place where instead of needing or having to stand out as different to prosper, we actually find that our sameness is a relief and a place where we can rest.

Often at the center of a sacred circle we place an altar, a tangible testimony to the one, a container that holds space for all our dreams and the divine mystery, the bottomless reservoir that sits in stillness as it carries all of creation.

In a circle with a sacred center, all truths are welcome. There is no right or wrong or have to. There is only the honoring that everything, regardless of how foreign or unfamiliar it may seem, is of the one true essence, the spirit, source, or energy that flows through all life and weaves on and on and on.

"Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning, and under every deep a lower deep opens." wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson.

A friend of mine recently said to me, "Leela you are changing so many people's lives" and while I humbly hope that to be true, what I know now more than ever is that it is my own life that I am changing. And I know too that it is within a sisterhood of women as fiercely and vividly devoted to the oneness at the center of the sacred circle, where every end is a new beginning and under every deep a lower deep opens, that I come home, over and over to a place where my truest peace and wholeness dance. And that is why I circle!

Leela Francis
info@vividexistence.com

Creativity

2009-07-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

I love this Ask Leela thing!

So much wisdom coming through inspired by a virtual dialogue, vulnerable inquiry and reaching out for connection. This is the rhythm of the divine feminine. Through conscious and honest expression, and resourcing of our own and each other's wisdom, we create a stir in the universe that inspires truth to dance forth. Tapping into that well spring of truth is how the paradigm shift is taking place, and we ladies are both birthing and dancing to that rhythmic awakening! Pictured here is my dear friend Kara's creative expression as a mother. She's taken one of her son's first pair of shoes and used them as planters!

Thank you for the great questions once again. Creativity is indeed a loaded issue and based on the abundant questions I received, it seems that so many of us are literally starving for it. Join me below for a powerful infusion of the creative life force that is our birthright.

Creative love,

In this issue

"My creativity doesn't exist"

What is one thing I can start doing to explore my non-existent creative side? The one thing you can start doing is stop calling your creative side non-existent. How rude of you! How would you like it if you were treated as if you didn't exist? You would likely choose not to hang out in those environments. Your creative side, which is less a side and more a texture of your being, is alive and well, she just needs some loving care, rather than name calling and judgement. Read on!

Creativity is not something reserved for those artsy types. It is an attitude towards life. Anything is a creative experience if you approach it with curiosity, imagination and possibility. Start bringing that to the little every day tasks and you'll notice your aliveness amplified. i.e. take a different route to work, wear colors that typically aren't you, strike up a conversation with a stranger. Live outside of the box you've come to know as your life and watch the creative juices flow.

Shakti-the Creative life force

How is creativity related (or connected) to spirituality and sensuality? Shakti is the creative life force energy of the universe, the divine feminine that gives birth to all of life. Shakti is the abundant well spring that empowers and ignites all 3, our creativity, our sensuality and our spirituality, because they are each vital for that abundant well spring to flow. These 3 inform, inspire and invoke each other. So if you are missing one, look to the other 2 to spark the flame.

Time for Creativity as a Wife & Mother

How can I find the time required to satisfy my creativity and still meet my responsibilities as a wife and mother? Make being a wife and a mother a creative adventure. Creativity isn't just about artistic endeavor. It's about bringing fresh insight and innovative approaches to your life. If you spend your life waiting to have time to be creative, you'll wake up one day and feel you missed the boat. If on the other hand you make each experience an excuse for creative play, you will awaken the eternal child that loves to discover. Emily Conrad, one of my teachers and the founder of Continuum Movement, claims that finding new ways of doing things is what keeps the body and the organism young. This is a great definition of creative aliveness.

Humor and Creativity

What is the relationship between humor and creativity? I love this question. I really don't know the answer for sure but I imagine that finding the humor in a situation requires a creative/original perspective.

Developing Creativity

How do you develop creativity? I have never thought of myself as creative and feel I lack imagination when it comes to decorating and would love to try my hand at oil painting. I think what stops most people from trying new things, new crafts or expressive hobbies is not that they lack imagination but rather that they feel there is a right way to do something and that they will be judged. The most liberating experience I ever had in a drawing class when I was in art school was when the teacher put us all in a circle with a blank paper in front of each of us. In the middle she dropped a big pile of tools and wires and odd shaped instruments into a heap of abstract mess. We had 5 minutes to render a still life drawing using ink or charcoal or whatever medium we each had. After 5 minutes she had us each stand and walk to the drawing on our right to contribute to that drawing for 5 minutes, and on and on until we went all the way around the circle and had added to each of the drawing boards. Our non attachment and non identification with each piece was incredibly liberating, allowing us to take creative risks.

Creativity and Business

How can I access my feminine creative flow when I am needing to be business like to accomplish the task in hand?? This is exactly what we as women are now on the path to discovering. I am learning as much about this as you through my own life's dance, and it is precisely each of our committment and humility about this dance that is helping to bring about the paradigm shift. Here a few things that I've found help to cultivate more of what will infuse the feminine into our stress ridden, performance driven world.

1. Ask your heart what it loves about the task at hand. Just bringing that into consciousness will extend a heart vibration that is powerfully healing/feminine/creative flow. The Heart Math Institute teaches this as a way to expand heart resonance/vibration of the feminine and reduce stress vibration/vibration of the masculine.

2. Change your own associations. You've created a dissonance between creative feminine flow and what is business-like. What is begging for change is our attitudes towards business and the standards that have been in place that limit the expression of the feminine in business-like environments. Learn more about your emotional quotient to be able to harness the power of your emotional passion and aliveness rather than have to squelch it in order not to rock the boat. At the Vividly Woman Leaders Circle event we connect to our emotional intelligence to be empowered by the depth of our emotions rather than believing them to be a hindrance.

3. The power to think laterally/creatively is a benefit rather than a limitation. The linear approach of the masculine can be near sited and detrimental to innovative advancement in any arena. Remember the asset of an expansive, lateral perspective that your creative feminine inspires and you will tap into her gifts.

Leela Francis
info@vividexistence.com

2009-06-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Sensual Heart Sister!

Now that we have danced together, we are truly sisters. We've gathered and danced and changed the world through a rising vibration of celebration. We've risked freedom of expression of the very temple that houses each of our souls, the vessel that is ours in this life time to care for , to live in, to learn how to be one with ourselves so that we can dance oneness with all of creation.

Thank you for showing up to dance your voice and be heard in the hearts of our sisters globally.
Remember, your dance matters!

So much appreciation to Maggie Reigh for the beauty of her vision to make this event a brilliant success. Through her efforts and dedication we are donating $650 to the Women genocide survivors of sexual violence in Darfur, and 35 sisters in BC are dancing more vitally and abundantly in our bodies today.

A universe of gratitude and blessings from my radiantly sensual heart to yours,

Leela Francis

Exploring the Vast and Infinite Landscape that is Women's Sensuality

2009-05-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

With a topic like Sensuality, so subjective in nature, as I resource the depths of my own experience, I find a tenderness that is both vivid and vulnerable. I see that my own sensuality is a facet of my being that at times I celebrate, and at times I am challenged to keep alive. It is this very dance, a function of the highly masculine world we live in, that is at the heart of the Vividly Woman mission to re-awaken the essence of the divine feminine from within each one of us.

There are reasons ingrained and hardwired why so many of us have forsaken our sensuality. The re-sensualizing revolution that Vividly Woman is all about is as much about re-awakening our sacred sensuality, as it is about caring for the wounds and grieved losses of that same forsaken sensuality.

So in gentleness and humility, with the intention to self-nurture rather than self-blame, let's explore the vast and infinite landscape that is women's sensuality.

What exactly do you mean when you say Sensuality? What does it encompass? How should it leave me feeling to know what Sensuality is?

We are sensual creatures by nature, meaning that we are always relating to the world through our senses. However our conscious awareness and enjoyment of this is what varies from person to person. And our conscious awareness of this is what largely determines how much we prioritize it and, therefore, how balanced a life we are leading. The balance I speak of is body vs. mind -- or sensuality vs. rationality.

Our senses are of the body. When we consciously choose to pay attention to our senses, we are using our sensing awareness to guide and inspire us vs. our rational awareness. Since senses are of the body, practicing sense awareness is a body centered way of living. You will know what sensuality feels like for you when you have a mmmmmmm experience as opposed to an aha insight.

Neither is better than the other, however because we live in a very intellectually dominated culture, many of us spend the majority of our time at a computer and/or relating with each other about thoughts, fact and figures, so our sensuality tends to atrophy. For women this is a recipe for disaster. The feminine requires sensuality, attention and enjoyment of her body in order to thrive.

So notice your mmmmm's vs your aha's to know more of how your sensuality leaves you feeling. For instance, tickle your cheek with a feather to experience your sensuality, mmmmm, now ponder what kind of bird that feather came from for an experience of you rationality, aha.

To your fully lived, amazing life!

Leela Francis
info@vividexistence.com

Finding Home Within

2009-05-06T03:29:00.000-07:00

Want to get out of your head and into your body? Are you burning out from work, family, other's expectations and the feelings of never being good enough, thin enough, rich enough, successful enough?

If so it's a really good time to stop thinking and start sensing by tuning into the truth of your soul and the wisdom of your body. Here is a really easy practice to support you getting in touch with your body wisdom to develop a habit of referring inward to the home within you. This is where we find the truth. Chronically referring outside of ourselves for the standards and approval of others is how we get ourselves overwhelmed, sick and starving at the soul level.

Start using this little mantra to interpret daily events and challenges.

"I feel, I Sense, I Think"

Typically we do "I feel, I think" and never even bother with "I sense", disregarding the body's way of knowing and experiencing. This gets us into trouble because our thoughts are often self defeating and externally influenced.

So instead of going from feelings to thoughts, go instead from feelings to body sensations and notice that you are able to move through uncomfortable feelings and sensations way quicker because you are not focusing on the thoughts that perpetuate them. In fact what you are doing is acknowledging that every feeling has a corresponding sensation, and it's actually that sensation that is your discomfort. Instead of feel it, we try to avoid it by going into our thoughts.

But this doesn't help, it just prolongs the unpleasant experience. If on the other hand you accept and face the sensations, you'll find that they are not nearly as unpleasant as when you try to avoid them. In fact, surrendering and breathing into those sensations actually allows them to melt and dissolve much sooner, and helps us to connect with the safe and pleasurable sense of home within.

Here is an example; I notice that I feel sad. I sense a heaviness in my chest corresponding to the sadness. I think "I'm sad because I'm tired of not getting the results I want at work, relationship, etc". I return my focus to the heaviness in my chest instead of belaboring the so called reason for my sadness, the thoughts. I surrender into the sensation of heaviness at my chest rather than resist it. (What I resist persists right?). I breathe into the heaviness, accept it, and notice that it gradually dissolves.

Remember; "I feel, I sense, I think"

Feedback, questions? Blog me!

Connect with the home within you!
Check out our products and events!

Love,

Leela is the founder of VividExistence and VividlyWoman . A facilitator of groups and individuals for over 20 years, she is an expert in the field of body, self and soul

The Sensual Heart

2009-04-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

The first Sensual Heart "Women Gathering Together to Dance Can Actually Change the World" of 2009 was a wonderful success. We were an intimate group in Ventura California hosted by the beautiful Anna Lena of http://www.extremegolfbliss.com/.

Anna Lena is a no-nonsense woman who lives her passion. It was such a joy to spend time with her and meet her family.

I also got to connect with the stunningly radiant and especially on-fire Christie Calder of Santa Barbara. I met some gorgeous Goddesses for the very first time and together we danced up a storm, celebrating, transforming and changing our world!

Stay tuned as the Darfur Basket of Strength and I travel across North America circling with more amazing Sisters!

Blessings, Leela

Leela Francis
info@vividexistence.com
http://www.vividexistence.com/
http://www.vividlywoman.com/

Follow me on Twitter too! http://twitter.com/LeelaFrancis

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Interview with Amber Chand

2009-04-20T04:10:00.000-07:00

Continued from the VividlyWoman April Newsletter:

LF: What did you discover from this experience?

AC: There was a certain headiness - an intoxication, you might call it - that symbolized that era of the dot.com boom. And a bravado that went along with massive amounts of venture capital being thrown at the feet of emerging internet companies. Clearly there was something unsustainable about these testosterone driven, fast paced models of growth that focused narrowly on maximizing profit in a short amount of time. Inherent in this exhausting vision of growth were the destructive attributes of fear and greed expressed through an impatient, highly competitive and aggressive drive to succeed. The only other example of unbridled growth of this kind I could think of was cancer.

Deciding to go back into the world as a business entrepreneur nine months later and resurrect the crumbling mission of the old company felt terrifying in some ways and I had to ask myself the important question: how would my business enterprise differ from this model and how would it authentically reflect my values as a mother, peace builder, spiritual seeker and global citizen. It was these questions that led me to explore the realm of the feminine paradigm for business.

LF: What does the feminine paradigm for business look like?

AC: I believe that in order to be successful and sustainable in the 21st century, businesses like all other organizations need to create a skillful balance between receptive feminine and active masculine principles. This new kind of enterprise needs to be decisive, action-oriented, focused and strategic (the masculine) as well as intuitive, empathetic, collaborative and inspirational (the feminine).. Its success lies in its capacity to create relationships built on trust and transparency not suspicion and secrecy. Its actions need to be infused with love, respect and fairness towards all stakeholders and not fear,distrust and callous self centeredness. It needs to value interconnectedness through the partnerships it creates rather than succumb to blind competitiveness; foster patience in achieving its goals and create a steady vision for its future, strengthened by reverence and humility.

The feminine seemed to beckon inviting me to reframe the context of my business as transformational rather than merely transactional. I began to envision a matrix that would measure the company's success not only in terms of its profitability (sustainability) but also in terms of its social impact on the communities it served and the happiness that the women felt because of their association with the company. This holistic view - creating an enterprise for the good of all - excited me. Each morning, before I sat at my desk, I would invoke divine inspiration and guidance, trusting in the journey I had embarked upon, feeling the sheer goodness of the work , and sensing that my business was not a separate entity from myself but rather a deep expression of who I am and seek to be - in the world.

LF: Tell us about your most recent enterprise, the Amber Chand Gift Collection

AC: I launched The Amber Chand Gift Collection as an online retail enterprise that offers unique, meaningful gifts created by skilled women artisans around the world. These are talented and courageous women who are rebuilding their lives in the shadow of war, genocide, civil strife and crushing poverty . All are seeking an opportunity to earn a livelihood for themselves and their families. Through the Collection, they are able to market their products to American audiences.

LF: How is the Collection doing based on the understanding of the feminine paradigm in business?

AC: Today, the Collection has blossomed into a beautiful enterprise small and intimate in its gift offerings whilst supporting hundreds of women artisans around the world. It has grown steadily each year, with people from 108 countries connecting to its website and a growing base of loyal customers who are considered our Ambassadors of Peace. By all accounts, it is a successful enterprise. By valuing the feminine principle in the way I choose to run my business I have found a certain ease and grace in the process, a receptivity to each new opportunity that comes along and an openness to each new obstacle and challenge (of which there are many). I find myself trusting the sacredness of this unfolding journey, celebrating its successes whenever it touches the lives of others, and honoring the deeper mission which inspires and informs its growth. Very much like in nature, a seed of a vision is sown, watered, and with patient attention, grows into blossom. This is a very feminine perspective and one that works!

Amber Chand
Founder
The Amber Chand Collection
http://www.amberchand.com/
413-458-5343

Love,
Leela is the founder of VividExistence and VividlyWoman . A facilitator of groups and individuals for over 20 years, she is an expert in the field of body, self and soul

Leela Answers

2009-04-13T08:15:00.001-07:00

Thank you for your overwhelming response to my recent call for questions about women's spirituality. I've had a huge influx of questions. It's so helpful to know what women are thinking, feeling and wanting more of. I have chosen a few of the many questions to answer below that I felt represented the over all requests for my take on the subject.

I want you to know that putting out the Ask Leela email was really scary for me. As much as I might look like I know what I'm doing and like I have my s--t together, there is always that little voice (sometimes big voice) inside me that challenges my right to claim expertise or wisdom.

Yet it is exactly that chronic self doubt and self sabotaging behavior that actually makes me the expert. I've had lots of practice rising above my self doubt and becoming conscious of the ways I self sabotage. I share your fears, your insecurities, your challenges. All I'm doing is getting real about it with my community so that we can stop pretending, bring what's lurking in the shadow out into the light, and support and inspire each other's expansion and healing. What are sisters for?

It's amazing how the right clothes and a shiny website can create the illusion of being above it all. Let's drop the facade ladies and start accepting our own and each other's authentic selves, insecurities and all. From that place of truth I invite us all to leap into the unknown and be amazing, take risks, and be as vividly on fire as we really are, beyond the masks, and dance deeply from our hearts and souls.

Also stay tuned for the Vividly woman on-line April newsletter next week and read the April feature interview with Amber Chand. Our focus is the feminine paradigm in business.

How does one maintain a sense of sacredness and in those moments of dishonoring ourselves find the forgiveness and compassion for ourselves to be able to embrace that sacredness once more? How do we trust ourselves again after betraying ourselves once again? It is as if I am laying out traps for myself to fall into to see if I can find my way back out again.

Sacredness is maintained by honoring my connection to all of creation and engaging all parts of me; physical, mental, emotional and spiritual in that connection.

I've noticed that my life is an endless adventure of opportunities to forgive myself. Meditation is the perfect practice for this. In meditation we watch the mind. Everytime we notice the mind wandering away from this watching, it's an opportunity to forgive ourselves for this wandering of mind and come back to the present moment. Which is the meditating, being in the present moment or noticing when the mind has wandered from the present moment, or both?

Likewise, the situations we create in our lives may very well be the devices to practice forgiveness.

Noticing that this is difficult for you, be gentle and less demanding. Know that you likely will dishonour yourself again, and it will be an opportunity to forgive. As long as you have the belief that dishonoring yourself is wrong, you will blame and judge yourself. When you realize that dishonoring is obviously what you needed to do to learn a valuable lesson, you can forgive yourself and celebrate the learning.

What are the definitions of "divine feminine" and "divine masculine?" I have been trying to get a feeling around those terms in order to develop my divine feminine to attract the right man.

This is a great question, with the answer practically built in to it. Wanting a clear definition is very masculine. Trying to get a feeling around something is very feminine. In order to develop my divine feminine is again very masculine. The masculine defines and controls outcomes. The feminine intuits and senses for the truth that is wanting to be birthed.

What makes each of these divine is the permission and the honoring of each for the beauty that each is as an expression of the great turning, the rhythm of the universe, the very dance of life.

Think of your divine feminine as something that needs less developing and more nurturing. When you approach your goal in this way, to attract the right man, you will attract a man that will naturally nurture the divine feminine in you that you are nurturing in yourself.

How is a woman's spirituality different from a man's?

It is hard for me to answer this question because I am not a man. Though I have read and understand about the differences in the masculine and the feminine, I hesitate to generalize. I will say this though, a woman's spirituality is usually more connected to her body and a man's more connected to his mind. One of my teachers Wilbert Alix, says that men tend to narrow, women tend to expand. This is in sync with the body vs mind theory above.

If there was one thing that I could do, daily, on a regular basis, (for no more then 15 minutes), to nurture and expand the sensual, spiritual, and creative side of my self - what would that be?

My experience is that we each have different affinities for different practices so I can't make a broad claim as to what will be best for whom and when across the board. However, being able to refer inward for the answer to that question for oneself will help each of us to decide that for ourselves at any given time. So with the intention to identify for ourselves what will expand and nurture, I recommend that all women cultivate a practice of learning how to listen to and interpret one's inner voice, the sensations and wisdom of the body.

I for one have several different practices that I employ depending on my mood, desired outcome and what I have at my disposal. It's most important for me to know how to distinguish the longings and cravings of my being so that I can chose what will work best with each new day/time of day/occasion. For instance, my personal practices for health and well being include dance, yoga, meditation, walking, breathing, chanting. Because I know how to decipher the yearnings of my soul, I can chose what will fulfill me the most at any given time. So in order to nurture that sensitivity to ones inner knowing, I recommend these practices:

Sensation tracking- Lie down comfortably in a quiet undisturbed place. Track the sensations present in your body, notice what you sense where and watch this with utter fascination and attentiveness.

VividExistence Body & Breath meditation CD - Each track is 12-15 minutes long. This is a great way to grow that felt sense awareness and the acuity of perception to one's inner voice.

Flirting with Nature- This is a Vividly Woman practice that pretty much works anytime.

Please share your comments below or initiate further discussion on this vast topic.

Next month we'll explore sensuality!

Have a meaningful week;

Love,

Leela is the founder of VividExistence and VividlyWoman . A facilitator of groups and individuals for over 20 years, she is an expert in the field of body, self and soul

Dancing Our Ground!

2009-04-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

Grounding is all about transforming energy into form/tangible matter. Where sense is the idea, ground is the plan to manifest the idea into a reality.

At Sacred Sensual Splendor in Mexico we are explore 3 ways of grounding/connecting to to the earth and her gravitational field:

Collapse/Surrender
Resist Resource
Combination of Collapse and Resist

We empower ourselves when we resource the power of the earth and infuse ourselves with her strength and resilience, leveraging ourselves against her.

Here we are after chakra yoga in a movement sound circle as a way to ground the energy body into the physical body.

Later in the day we had a hot sweaty dance session on the yoga pavillion. May all hands that reach be touched!

In the evening we'll further explore the power of our cravings as we surrender to them and honor each other's surrender in a creative ritual on the beach under the stars.

The ladies are out frolicking in the surf right now and a few are going for a beach sunset horseback journey before dinner.

We are all bathing ourselves in the healing, love and sisterhood of each others company and the beauty of nature that is flirting with us incessantly!

Love,

Leela is the founder of VividExistence and VividlyWoman . A facilitator of groups and individuals for over 20 years, she is an expert in the field of body, self and soul

Sensing in Mexico

2009-04-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

March 22nd/09
Sacred Sensual Splendor 09 #2 began last night. We are 12 this time diving body. self and soul into the heart of our sensuality, spirituality and creativity here in Mexico. I so adore having my dear sisters here with me. This morning as we returned from the beach for breakfast, I looked around in awe of the beauty that surrounds me in this stunning place and how very blessed I am to be able to invite you all to share it with me.

We will spend one full day in each of the 5 stages of VividExistence so today we are enjoying Sense all day.
Here we are using the beach as our sand box to explore the felt sense experience of our energetic boundaries and how we can more consciously use our boundaries to increase an authentic sense of self both with self and others.

We empower ourselves when we acknowledge our right to choose our boundaries in each of our encounters. Our boundaries are not so much about keeping the world out, they are more about affirming our sense of self so that we can choose the level of contact that is true for us in each instant. In this way we create opportunities for intimacy with others be creating greater intimacy with ourself first.
When we betray ourself by not respecting our own boundaries, we become fragmented, meaning that the body splits off from the soul. When the soul leaves there is no opportunity for real intimacy.

As I write our sisters are practicing Qigong with Peter, resident energy guru, and later we will Vividance together on the beach, and then end the our first day with a sacred sharing circle.

More tomorrow when we dive into Ground.
Love,
Leela is the founder of VividExistence and VividlyWoman . A facilitator of groups and individuals for over 20 years, she is an expert in the field of body, self and soul.

2009-03-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

The Sensual Heart is getting underway. We finally managed to get the footage above on You-Tube, hooray Maggie. Maggie, our media queen tried persistently to figure it out and finally her 18 year old daughter Arleigh came to her aid to help make it happen. Goddesses rock! I am so in awe of all the gorgeous women who are pulling together to make these events happen. A few of the venues have been donated, and we are planning 1/2 day workshops the day after the event at some. In ottawa Nathalie, Judith and the rest of their team are even holding pre-event gatherings, quilting and collaging so that we have community masterpieces to auction off at the event! Sharon in Denver is researching creating a run linked to the event and Anna-Lena will kick it all off with the first event in Ventura on April 18th. Way to go Goddesses!

Listen to Leela in Mexico against the backdrop of the Pacific ocean!

Love and gratitude,

Leela is the founder of VividExistence and VividlyWoman. A facilitator of groups and individuals for over 20 years, she is an expert in the field of body, self and soul

Mexico Sacred Sensual Splendor Glow

2009-03-03T02:40:00.001-08:00

I am still enjoying the post Mexico Sacred Sensual Splendor glow. The first 09 gaggle of goddesses left 3 weeks ago and 3 weeks until the next group arrives so I am gearing up for more sizzly adventures. Present Moment Retreat was so on fire with all of us here, I don't think this place had ever seen such a dazzlingly divine group. I thoroughly slurped up the presence of my sisters and together we so deliciously danced and played. Here's some pics from the fun and frolicking:

Leela is the founder of VividExistence and VividlyWoman. A facilitator of groups and individuals for over 20 years, she is an expert in the field of body, self and soul

2008-12-23T10:59:00.000-08:00

As 2008 draws to a close I have ever so fond memories of the circles of Vividly Women, Circles to Spirals and Sacred Sensual Splendor circles of sisters, that embraced and graced me with your love and wisdom this past year. Thank you for an outstandingly amazing and heartful year. I feel so blessed to have you as my dear sisters, teachers and friends. As our circles grow and ripple out into the universe, raising our vibration and our honoring of the sacred sensual within ourselves in service of our sisters everywhere, I can't help but smile and giggle. Is healing and growth supposed to be this much fun? Damn right it is! And guess what, I intend to keep dancing this deliciously. And you? Please tell me your intentions for the new year.

As for me, well, besides dancing my heart open for the next 4 months in Mexico, I am excited to be launching Vividly Woman Goddess Home Parties and the North America Spring 09 Tour of T he Sensual Heart; Women Gathering Together to Dance can Actually Change the World , an evening fundraiser for women survivors of wartime rape and abuse. Other creative stuff like my new DVD, Vividance Yoga and the Vividly Woman clothing line and maybe even a line of natural lotions and essential oil blends. Any creative ideas you have that you want to collaborate on, let's chat. Oops, forgot to mention that I will be finishing my first book, Nature Sense & Soul; Woman's way home by the Spring. Hold me to that would you? I have planned my schedule so that I have each morning free for writing so no excuses!

I have my stack of books for winter reading packed and just waiting for me to sink my heart and mind into. You'll here more about that as I dance my way through the pages.

I also plan to do as much playing and cycling with my sweat heart Greg as possible. We are talking about trips to Cuba and Vietnam. Oh and of course, there's Sacred Dancing with Dolphins, a co-ed trip I'll be leading to Hawaii next Fall to swim with the Dolphins. Musing the Man is my first ever men's retreat that Len and I will be co-facilitating in Mexico, yippee!

And right now sitting here in my living room, looking out on the Spokane River, pine trees and squirrels just doing their thing, being a coach potato, Greg is making pancakes, I'm reading Tales of a Female Nomad, enjoying being cozy in my sky blue robe, definitely one of my favorite things, freshly pedicured........ Enjoying my last few days here, we leave for Mexico in less than a week.

Stay in touch mi amigas and amigos!

Buckets of love,

Leela Francis is a registered massage therapist, Nia, yoga, Trancedance and nature therapy facilitator. She works internationally with groups re-connecting people to the essence of their being and an ever more vivid existence. www.VividExistence.com and www.VividlyWoman.com

Flirting With Nature

2008-06-05T03:15:00.000-07:00

I step into the forest not knowing how thirsty my eyes are for green. I am instantly drenched by her fountain of flora. Many months in the dry heat of Mexico have left me parched and ready for the moisture of this succulent land. I fondle the moss, I rub the leafy soil in my palms and smell its wealth, I cuddle a long straight fir against my pounding heart, pressing my flesh against her marrow to amplify my inner pulsing. I want to touch it all with my eyes, and I want to listen with my whole body. I want to be re-hydrated from the inside out and pour out laughter.

The smooth body of a leaf slides between my fingers. Rough tree bark confuses the padding of my palms. Patches of sky reach through the canopy and beg for attention. Whimsical stems with bell like blooms flank her corridor issuing my onward. I feel oozed through this trail of native witness.

I allow my senses to be awoken amourously this way and I am enchanted, ecstatically. I blend easily with my surroundings. I can't help merging with the space that cradles me so effortlessly. Is it me flirting with her, or is she shamelessly flirting with me? I don't know which is which, similar to the chicken or the egg. Who cares anyway. I am being lustfully courted by this delicious place. I am inviting her to nibble at my ears, lullaby me sweetly, and shower me with romantic gifts, everything wrapped from head to toe in gloriously gorgeous greenness.

There is no mistaking the sudden arousal of my body to her affections. Almost without thinking I bashfully surrender to her seduction. I press my toes into her soil rich darkness, feel the coolness of her must, and the freshness of the moment as we awaken in each others presence. We have given ourselves to each other, honoured one another and all of creation in our union, recognizing our infinite ancestral familiarity.

We are lovers, coniferous and sublime.

Love,

I am on fire since my recent experiences...

2008-05-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

I am on fire since my recent experiences on the east coast. On my way back from Mexico I flew to Washington, DC for a week to connect with Women For Women International. Being in their offices and meeting the women who run that amazing non-profit was soooooo inspiring. I was welcomed with open arms and there was so much appreciation for all of us who have contributed to the sponsorship program to help our sister survivors of war to recreate their lives. I spent time stuffing envelopes and connecting to other volunteers, one form Yemen! and chatting with various department heads about details of their programs, future goals and possible collaborations. It was so exhilarating!

Among other things I learned about the frequency that that the women in the programs meet, how their emotional and psychological needs are supported and how there are regular opportunities for cultural celebrations including song and dance as part of their community building as part of the program.

I also chatted at Length with Corey Oser, debuty director of programs at length about the men's leadership program. I am passionate about this because as WFWI has discovered, a major paradigm shift cannot occur without male support for women's rights. I am working on new ideas to support thier program to educate male leaders in the Congo to advocate on behalf of their sisters, wives and daugthers. I am always open to men's comments so please chat!

From DC I came directly to Massachusetts to sit in circle with Dr.Jean Shinoda Bolen, Jungian psychologist, Doctor of psychiatry and peace activist, who is bridging the gap between women's mysteries and spiritual activism. Dr. Bolen is known for her books Goddesses in every Woman, Goddesses in Older Woman, The Millionth Circle, Urgent Message from Mother; Gather the Women Save the World and others. It was such an honour and privilege to sit with her and be part of her vision of seeding circles globally to bring peace and prosperity to all. I feel so optimistic about the future of our world when I sit with groups of women who are devoted to supporting the essence of the feminine within themselves in service of all beings. Jean is a wise elder now who draws from mythology, history, the arts and sciences in support of her mystical and spiritual crusade to move us all toward a greater healing consciousness. She is doing her best to raise support for a UN 5th Women's World Conference. Visit

www.5wwc.org for more info.

Blessings and Joy;