Lyndsay Rose…
“I believe that what I learned in this workshop will last a lifetime because every time I think I can’t achieve something I will remember that I have the tools to do it, and that I can do it to my fullest.”
When Lyndsay Rose came to the Activate Your Personal Power program in the fall of 2013 she was struggling with insecurity. She was stuck carrying a dream of teaching what she had learned through her personal studies of dance and healing, but afraid of putting herself “out there” as a teacher of dance and sacred embodiment.
Lyndsay had a tendency to shrink away from attention…to hide her talents and deep knowledge behind a sweet and shy demeanor.
What she was hiding was a rich and beautiful understanding of how to embody the sacred feminine and heal our own personal wounds as women in this culture. She had been studying sacred dance for many years already and had learned how to use it as a tool to befriend her body, transform her trauma and welcome the sacred feminine to rise through her. What she learned had changed her life so profoundly that she yearned to share it with others…but she was afraid to take the leap from student to teacher.
“Activate Your Personal Power was a pivotal experience in my life. I had been praying for guidance on how to take the next step in my life when I came across the program. I knew right away that it was just the thing I needed but I had no idea how much it would really activate me.
When Jo asked us to choose something in our lives to focus on for the program my first intention was to see if I could try out offering some dance workshops in my community. It all felt a little fuzzy (and scary) at first, but then, through the exercises she lead us on, my vision refined a bit more and I realized that this was the next step in my process of embodying the sacred feminine. That teaching the workshops I had envisioned would give me the opportunity I needed to come out of my shell, my seedpod, my safe inner healing space…and bring my healing process to fruition.
During the program Jo guided me to come into my personal power and my life’s work from a deeper place than I ever thought possible. From this wellspring within I can nurture and strengthen my dreams into reality.
There is a magic to what Jo does in her course. At the beginning you can not even imagine the changes that will occur. A sacred circle is established for your intention and core being to grow together. In the process of unfolding, unblocking, and transforming I discovered the power of joy and unconditional acceptance. It was a deep journey of self-discovery on a personal and universal level.
During this course I found the power within me to make life long dreams come true. I learned how to see what my blockages are and realize that they’re totally fake. I learned that I can do whatever I need to do and that I can step into myself more fully. That’s been so powerful.
As I moved beyond the blockages in my mind I got to see what I really aligned with and wanted from life. I learned that I am capable of expressing and bringing into fruition my truest desires. The meditations and activities that Jo shared with us were always timed perfectly in the unfolding of my true self. Taking her course was the best gift I could give myself…it paid off financially, personally, and spiritually.
So much transformation has occurred in the months since this program and the magical seed I created at that time has begun to take root and sprout. I realize now this is just the beginning of a giant tree that reaches into the universe. There is a long way to go and I keep having to take down more and more walls to let the unfolding of my truest being thrive. Now that I am aware of how I have limited myself in the past I cannot choose that again and I have to keep becoming more naked and vulnerable. Sometimes this feels like a lot, but there’s no other way to live.
This path demands me to be bigger and stronger in the places that I have historically felt weak. But I don’t feel weak anymore because of the support of the group and the awareness I gained there. Because, now that I’ve seen it all for what it is, I can step into myself more fully.
After I completed the program it felt effortless to create the dream that seemed so scary only weeks before. I started teaching belly dance classes and workshops for women and girls and leading more community activities. Now I know that I can develop these programs and lead them with confidence and I am venturing into an even deeper level of bringing my gifts into the world.
I now look at the bigger picture of my life and feel confident in getting there. The tools she gave me continue to help me grow.
I believe that what I learned in this workshop will last a lifetime because every time I think I can’t achieve something I will remember that I have the tools to do it, and that I can do it to my fullest.”
– Lyndsay Rose
Following the Activate program Lyndsay’s confidence blossomed in a BiG way as she began developing, promoting and facilitating a rich array of empowering offerings to her local community. She offered sacred embodiment workshops for women that led participants deep within to their divine feminine and facilitated cathartic healing through movement. She collaborated with the local teen center and began offering belly dance instruction to adolescent girls in addition to teaching weekly belly dance classes for women. She dreamed up and delivered an Art for Social Action afterschool program for k-8 kids and supported them to display their visions for change in a community art show. And now, after years of wanting to learn the sacred dance of Nepal she (in her words) “finally had the guts to invite Master teacher Prajwal Vajracharya to come to Colorado.”
The ripples of empowerment and joy that have radiated from her own sacred embodiment, confidence and activated personal power are simply astounding.
We have come to Be Danced
Not the pretty dance
Not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
But the claw our way back into the Belly
Of the Sacred, Sensual Animal dance
The unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box Dance
The holding the precious moment in the palms
Of our hands and feet Dance
We have come to Be Danced
Not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
But the wring the sadness from our skin dance
The Blow the chip off our shoulder Dance.
The slap the apology from our posture Dance
We have come to Be Danced
Not the monkey see, monkey do dance
One two Dance like you
One two three, Dance like me Dance
but the grave robber, tomb stalker
Tearing scabs and scars open Dance
The rub the Rhythm Raw against our Soul Dance
We have come to Be Danced
Not the nice, invisible, self-conscious shuffle
But the matted hair flying, Voodoo Mama
Shaman Shakin’ Ancient Bones Dance
The strip us from our casings, Return our Wings
Sharpen our Claws and Tongues Dance
The Shed Dead Cells and slip into
The Luminous Skin of Love Dance.
We have Come to Be Danced
Not the hold our breath wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
But the Meeting of the Trinity, the Body Breath and Beat Dance
The Shout Hallelujah from the top of our Thighs Dance
The Mother may I?
Yes you may take 10 giant Leaps Dance
The olly olly oxen free free free Dance
The everyone can come to our Heaven Dance
We have come to Be Danced
Where the Kingdom’s Collide
In the Cathedral of Flesh
To Burn Back into the Light
To unravel, to Play, to Fly, to Pray
To root in skin sanctuary
We have come to Be Danced
We Have Come.
~ Jewel Mathieson
