~ Goddess Celebration ~ Movement Meditation ~

These past few months I've been feeling this inner call to start moving my body more and getting more in touch with my senses. I had been focusing so much on my emotional, mental, and spiritual body, that I sort of forgot about my physical body.

~~ Our bodies are our temples, the vessel of our Soul. Its important to be fully present in our bodies and honor it as Sacred. ~~

Most of us tend to live up in our heads, we don’t breathe very deeply, and generally aren't really present in our bodies. 

Ive found that in my experience, dancing has been a really effective and fun way to reconnect with my body, ignite my inner fire and let it express itself through the dance. 

Over these past months I've come to really LOVE my body, and love my whole Being. Every part of it, my whole imperfectly perfect self. 

~~ My body is my temple and my dance is my offering ~~

Dance for the Universe, Dance for the Divine, Dance for Peace, Dance for LOVE <3

I decided to start practicing what I call "Goddess Celebration Movement Meditation". A practice where I can celebrate my goddess nature and heal myself through movement. One of my favorite ways of doing this is through Intuitive Dancing. I just close my eyes, put on some music and let it guide me. No rules, no thinking, just fully letting go and letting my intuition guide me. 

 ~~ Let Go and Let Love Guide ~~

I noticed that every time I do it it's never the same. It all depends on my state of being on that given day. I just listen to my body and move however FEELS good. Remember that whatever feels good for you on any given day is what you should do. No shame. No judgement. No guilt. Just come as you are and express yourself in your own beautiful authentic way.

Another one of my favorite movement meditations is hoop dancing. The circle in general is an intriguing shape. It's a very feminine shape, the shape of the moon, of the egg, a symbol of life, eternity, and balance.

Everything in the universe is constantly spinning. Galaxies, planets, solar systems are all constantly spinning. So what I've experienced is that when you're in the hoop and fully in the flow you can really connect with this universal rhythm. It's like you tune into this Macro - Micro synergy and reach this state of effortless flow, where you are dancing from your heart, from your source, from the divine space within you. 

It's also healing you on so many levels. Physically it's obviously really good for you body, but it also brings mental and emotional balance and clarity, & on a spiritual level it helps us connect to our true authentic self and express it through movement.

Belly dance is another really nice movement meditation practice especially for women. It really connects us to our feminine essence which most of us aren't really intune with. We’re living in a very patriarchial society where our feminine qualities (such as compassion, gentleness, nurturing, intuitive) are often seen as “weak” when in fact this is where our strength lies. 

Belly dancing unleashes our feminine qualities and bring to light our true goddess nature.

Belly dance has a lot of undulatiting circular movements especially in the hips and the lower chakras (muladhara, svadistana, and manipura). 

The root chakra, at the base of our spine, is where the kundalini shakti energy is stored. So through moving our hips in these very sensual fluid like movements, we activate this energy and as we tune in more this energy gets awakened and moves up our chakras creating higher states of consciousness and reaching a state of balance.

So I really encourage you all to honor your movement meditations as a spiritual practice, a way to release energy blockages, get more prana flowing in our bodies, connect to our sacred feminine essence, get in touch with our physical bodies and senses, and make us more present.... all while being in a state of JOY! :)

 Infinite Love, Gratitude, & Blessings,

~ Aida 

Cannaberry Healing Smoothie

Ingredients:

3 organic bananas

handful of frozen organic raspberries

handful of frozen organic blueberries

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

4 tablespoons of blended raw cannabis leaves

2 tablespoons of hemp seeds

1 cup of mineral source water 

This smoothie is packed with super healthy power foods!! One of them being.... RAW CANNABIS!! 

Ok so most people don't know about this amazing use of the cannabis plant. Instead of heating it up and smoking it and getting high, you can also juice or blend the whole plant (i use the leaves) to get all the CBD content and it won't make you stoned... well it makes you feel a different kind of high, a "oh my god i feel so energised and healthy" high haha 

"Contrary to popular belief, the marijuana plant is a whole lot more than just a psychoactive drug that people use to get high. In raw form, marijuana leaves and buds are actually loaded with a non-psychoactive, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer nutrient compound known as cannabidiol (CBD) that is proving to be a miracle "superfood" capable of preventing and reversing a host of chronic illnesses" (Natural News). 

I live in Belgium where it is legal to own 1 plant per person. You can still make this smoothie if you don't have access to cannabis leaves, just substitute it with other green super foods such as spirulina, chlorella, kale, wheat grass, or any green leafy vegetable. 

Ahh one of my favourite things to add to smoothies... Raspberries and blueberries! 

They contain high levels of vitamin k, manganese, vitamin c, and fiber. 

... and lets not forget about the all the antioxidants!! Antioxidants fight free radicals (unstable cells) in the body that cause illness (such as cancer), protect your skin and hair, and improve your overall health. Wonderful to add to smoothies or eat as a snack :)

I also add some coconut oil for healthy fats (blog post about uses and health benefits of coconut oil coming later... there is just way to much to talk about with this miracle food hehe), organic bananas, hemp seeds for protein, and source water loaded with natural minerals (I stay away from tap water as much as possible).

 Blend all the ingredients together...

 Serve...

 & Enjoy this delicious healing potion <3 mmmmm :D

Golden Goddess Face Mask

This is one of my go to face masks when my face needs some overall healing! 

It is inspired by the ancient Indian system of healing, Ayurveda. 

The power ingredient in this mask, Turmeric (aka the Golden Goddess) is a very medicinal plant and is used in many ayurvedic remedies. Turmeric contains a wide range of antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, anticarcinogenic, antimutagenic and anti-inflammatory properties. Which are all fancy, scientific ways of saying: It will make your skin glow!! It removes bacteria, evens out skin tone (great for acne scars!!), prevents acne, and gives you a natural shine. 

The second ingredient in this mask is chickpea flower (aka besan or gram flour). This is another ingredient that is used in many Ayurvedic skin care potions. It removes oiliness from skin, fights pimples, evens out skin tone and may lighten skin tone a bit.

I also add lemon peel powder, a few drops of essential oil (I used lavender oil, other good options: tree tree, sandalwood, clove) and a mix of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and water (this is what will make it pasty and easy to apply).

These are the dry ingredients: Chickpea flower, turmeric, & lemon peel powder

I like to keep it as natural as possible so I had fun making this outside in nature to maximise the healing properties and give thanks to Mother Earth for gifting us all these natural remedies :)

So first mix all the dry ingredients (in a bowl... or in a leaf.... if ya wanna go realllyyy natural hehe)

Then add some drops of an essential oil of your choice (lavender, tea tree, sandalwood)

Add the mix of liquid until it becomes pasty and easy to apply (you don't need to much! be sure to start with a little bit and slowly add more)

 Mix with your hands, put a nice intention into your creation, infuse with love, and voila :)

Apply all over your face, let it work its magic for about 15-30 minutes and rinse with warm water. I like to moisturise my face with some coconut oil afterwards to finish off this beauty ritual :)