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EVENT | Ibiza Spirit Festival

Ibiza's festival scene shows no sign of letting up. Next round: October 5th at beautiful Atzaró for a day of gorgeousness for the whole family.

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By Jane CharilaouSeptember 10th, 2014

Ibiza is increasingly home to festivals that push the boundaries of their genres. From electronic music festivals such as the Ibiza Music Summit, to World Music celebrations such as the Ibiza Roots Festival. From huge weekend extravaganzas like the famous IbizaMedieval Festival, to small, local, crowdfunded festivals like Ai Carai. Plus a whole ream of recent art festivals, from surrealist Bloop to Urban in Ibiza, showcasing cutting-edge street art and held in the lavish gardens of the incomparably beautiful Atzaró.

So it’s really no surprise to see another small, local festival, now in its second year, having blossomed quickly into an event that half the island seems to be enthusiastically involved in. The date for your diary ladies and gents, is Sunday October 5, 2014.

Celebrating life

Ibiza Spirit Festival is a holistic event with a fascinating programme that spans dance, Tantra, workshops and talks, Yoga, a chill-out zone, music therapists, birthing woman, oracle readers, special events and a fabulous children's area. While last year’s resoundingly successful inaugural event was at Casita Verde, this year they’ve grown, expanding into the much larger, stunning surroundings of Atzaró. For the full programme, just check out their website.

The organisers, Jerry and Sabina Brownstein, assisted by local media good guy, David Moss and Café del Mar producer Ingmar Hansch, have declared the day long event ‘a day of inspiration and celebration.’ All are devoted to promoting 'conscious living' to improve health, happiness and longevity.

A World transformed

The organisers are collectively focused on providing a day that provides a glimpse into an alternative reality, one in which the participants (that’s you and me) get to envision ‘a World transformed.’

Transformed into what? You may ask. And rightly so. The answer, in short, is a World transformed for the better of all. One that embraces freedom, equality, cooperation, compassion, respect and joy in each other's lives. This is a World of singing and dancing, to inspire and be inspired by, an inclusive, peaceful World of art, of beauty, of learning and playing.

Well we definitely like the sound of all that!  

Ancient Rituals

The event runs from 11am until 8pm and entry is by voluntary donation. You can expect a dramatic closing ceremony from 7.30pm, with accomplished performer Zinnia performing a beautiful sacred dance for Tanit, the ancient Carthaginian Goddess of Ibiza.  She will dance for Tanit as an ancient priestess, asking for blessings of prosperity, joy and protection.

Naturally, Atzaró will be providing delicious food & drinks for the occasion.

The festival is sponsored by Greenheart Transforms and Fundacion por el Futuro, two non-profit organisations dedicated to “envisioning a World transformed”. These charities generously fund positive projects, conferences and events throughout the world. All donations generated from the event will assist these two organisations with their various existing and future projects.

Below is a summary of the programme:

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Dance and movement: Essential elements of The Spirit of Ibiza, the festival will bring people together in creative dance, sensual Tantra and soulful musical meditations.

Inspirational talks and workshops: Presented by fascinating people from Ibiza and around the World, who will invite you to explore new ways of finding health & happiness in mind, body and spirit.

Music is the messenger: The festival features wonderful DJs and musicians who will fill the air with healing and uplifting sounds, all day and well into the evening. At sunset everyone is invited to celebrate and dance to the beats of DJ Ohm G's new "Quantum Collage".

Yoga classes: At the beautiful Pagoda, you can experience different styles of Yoga presented by the accomplished teachers of Ibiza. This will begin with a spectacular ‘spectrum of Yoga’ exhibition at 12 midday.

Therapy room: You can receive a variety of alternative treatments including different styles of Massage, Reflexology, Reconnective Healing, Reiki, Cranio-Sacral, Crystal Healing and much more.

Ibiza art: Will be on display with several local artists showing their work.

The children's area: At the entrance to Atzaro you'll find fun, creative activities going on all day... face painting, puppet shows, Yoga for kids, arts & crafts, storytelling, workshops and more.

There is also a special area dedicated to feminine empowerment called Birthing Woman.

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Ibiza Spotlight welcomes this relatively new event onto the Ibiza festival scene. It sounds like a unique opportunity to really meet the alternative, holistic people of Ibiza and get some much needed end of season recuperation (particularly those who have partaken of the Ibiza closing parties, ahem). We’ll be down there trying out some new therapies (mmm, massage…) and enjoying the blissed-out ambience of Atzaró. See you there?

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WORDS | Jane Charilaou  PHOTOS | Ibiza Spirit Festival

Moving the Feminine into the New Sensual~Sexual Story

There appears to be a variety of ways that we are living our lives in 2013. I received a newsletter from a spiritual teacher a few weeks ago that really spelled it out for me. Some of us are busily living the old story, some of us are busy finishing up writing the old story, some are in the Sacred Pause, some of us have begun to catch & ride the Co-Creative Wave, and some of us are actually writing the New Story.

When it comes to women and our body images, our sensuality, our ability & willingness  to receive pleasure in our bodies, and our sexuality, the New Story is directly connected to the Divine Feminine within us. If we can relate to the Great Mother, to Gaia, the Goddess in any way, shape or form, we may have a better chance at getting to the New Story. The old stories are really old, ancient in fact. We have been victims of violence, war, poverty and discrimination for 5,000 years. The V-day “One Billion Rising” to mitigate violence against women and girls that happened worldwide on February 14^th, 2013 was probably the largest event of its kind ever.

This global campaign mobilized over a billion people worldwide, inspiring women and men in 207 countries to come together to express their support. They shared with singing, poetry readings, art and flash mob dances, and the gatherings also included speeches by state legislators. Various groups joined in the call of action, including marginalized communities of the poor, domestic workers, and the disabled. This event received support from the Dalai Lama, United Nations, as well as many famous people and social media.

Some of the victories were the creation of solidarity and a safe and free space for violated women to tell their sexual stories, dance in public, and commune in open spaces. It inspired millions of men to become our allies, deconstructing patriarchy. It helped to increase funds and supportive educational programs to end violence. The event brought much awareness to make violence against women impossible to ignore. It reminded the world that women united will not be defeated.
Consciousness is rising, and so are women, again. This time we will not be shamed into silence by being called bitches and radical feminists, because those words don’t matter anymore in the great scheme of things. I am fondly remembering a Seattle Shamanic Priestess circle in 2007 that calls themselves “Witches, Bitches and Whores”. I asked them if they wanted to put the wordsacred in front of that, and they politely declined! I love the many younger women who don’t care about labels and laugh in the face of established power structures. I guess they remind me of myself as a young feminist in the 70’s.

The end result of the old story is internalized shame that directly affects how we feel about our bodies, and then bleeds into a distorted and disconnected perspective on sexuality. It is disconnected from the juicy, vibrant goddess that lies with each of us, who knows she is whole and has a divine purpose to bless and heal the earth and all beings with her love, sensual, erotic, passionate and compassionate nature. The bigger picture of the New Story is this Divine Goddess within.

Many women will never seek healing, choosing instead to feel powerless and stay unconscious in the old story. Their souls may offer them the opportunity to wake up through dis-ease, or depression, and they will wonder why they are being punished or why they cannot seem to climb out of their misery. Little do they know that they are carrying the wounds of countless generations of women, and are being asked in this lifetime to let them go.

Some women are waking up and discovering that their old story is falling away, and they can let it go more easily than ever before. They can no longer relate to it as who they are, and they recognize the signs and omens that are telling them to release it and heal.

Some women have done the work of releasing the old story and find themselves undefined, in the Sacred Pause~Paws of a Great Void,  pregnant with possibilities unborn, or maybe not yet conceived. They are needing rest, renewal, and a nurturing of their life-force energies and a reconnection to the sensual.

Some women have caught and are beginning to ride the Wave of Co-Creation.  The impulse and vibration of change is in the air for them, and they are ready to find a new way to be in their bodies. Practicing, or desiring to practice a freedom of movement that allows desire to rise up into power, they are feeling the exuberance of feminine flow in harmony with Gaia and the Goddess within.
And some lucky women are in the forefront, writing the New Story for the Feminine because they have been living it all along, those tantrikas and teachers that are truly walking their talk in all areas of their lives.

While many have sufficiently reclaimed their power, others have done little or only some of the work required to release their full potential in this time of the Turning of the Ages. Often we’re left with being able to do only so much on our own, and then require assistance from an experienced and innovative feminine source to complete our miraculous transformation.

For many women, the greatest challenge resides in the 2^nd Chakra, which is the empowerment center for the feminine. It is here where a woman isn’t complete and whole until she heals the energetic-deficiencies within her (Sacral/Spleen area). Typically, what holds her back is due to some sort of sexual wounding… be it abuse, frigidity, neglect, or some type of fear or judgment.
There are many aspects to the 2^nd Chakra which include our sexuality, sensuality, motivation, creativity, life-force energy, self-esteem, self-worth, life purpose, and being comfortable in one’s skin with a positive body image. It is the summation of our feminine power, and the doorway is our onnection to the sacred sexual/sensual experience.

It helps to work with an archetype to assist us in relating to what we wish to embody. One of our favorites for this work is Mary Magdalene ~ the Sacred-Sexual Healer. Connecting to this archetype serves to help in the healing of one’s sexuality and spirituality, then linking these two forces together.

Even though there may be some resistance to explore this sacred place in our bodies, the rewards make it a worthwhile pursuit. Self-esteem, liberation, strength, and the joy of receiving the radiance of your soul are the gifts this can bring. Fear is conquered and transformed into love resulting in an experience of sensual pleasure that brings a full and complete pathway to BLISS. But the main focus is to heal and fully reclaim all of the benefits of the 2nd-Chakra… to be set free!

Of course, the 2^nd Chakra isn’t about having to have sex every day. There are many ways to activate our sexual power. And, learning how to activate the life-force energy within becomes supportive to express ones spirit in the physical realm.

“There is a life-force energy pumping through your veins. It comes from flirting with all of life. It’s a type of merging that’s energizing. Just love the best you can.” 

~ Anonymous Facebook Post

When we take the time to slow down in life, and to come from the place of receiving by starting with rest and our sacred breath, we begin to enter the world of the Goddess. Try not to take your environment for granted, that’s the Great Mother. Her Spirit lives in all things. When you breathe into the essence of an object or the room itself, you can merge with all that is, and activate life-force energy, as you get plugged into the Divine Source. Life-force energy is there, when you connect with everything around you. You can then love unconditionally in the moment, because you are physically connected via spiritual vibrations. The emotions are the carrier to ignite the fire of desire. This births sensuality. Once our senses are awakened with presence, we can fully enjoy all 5 senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste with magnified delight!

In many ways, this becomes the relationship to your sacred feminine (just being), and your inner masculine (physically doing). When these two aspects of self co-exist in harmony, the Divine Child is born, which is the magic of the 2^ndChakra. It is creativity and motivation all rolled into a sacred-fire, of the new. Without special attention to growing our pilot-light into a bonfire… we often only have enough energy to be on auto-pilot… especially if there are any old wounds needing to be healed that are either ancient or from this lifetime.
Now that we’ve fully entered this New Age of Aquarius, it’s time to reclaim our Divine Feminine power as she’s been hiding in the Underworld far too long. Together we can create a container of safety, whether it’s with a friend, a therapist, or in a group, and hold each other up as we face the last bit of our fears, and transform them into our greatest strengths with kindness and love. So then, we can truly fulfill our part of the Divine plan with ease, grace, joy and passion!
It’s time for us to move away from the very old sexual story of sacrifice, martyrdom and neglect/fear/abuse.

Finally, we can blossom into a new sensual story of safety, desire, co-creation, equality, and innovation with our sexual fire to create a new paradigm shift. With our full life-force energy, everything we can imagine and more is possible. May we hold each other’s hands and take this journey together.

Moving the Feminine into the New Sensual~Sexual Story Republished from Goddess On The Loose By Anyaa McAndrew & Sahara Exodus

Self-Love Guide

I'm so excited to launch this new guide with the help of the amazing Rita Loyd. She is such a soulful, nurturing spirit and her wisdom in self-love and nurturing will help you in your your journey of self-discovery towards love, nourishment, tenderness, trust and care.

AS I FACE THIS PARTICULAR CHALLENGE IN MY LIFE:

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I PROMISE MYSELF to face it with the support and encouragement of unconditional
self-love: I will speak to myself, treat myself and envision myself with love, support and
encouragement. I will pay attention to what my needs are ~ spirit, mind and body and do
my best to address those needs with love, understanding and action.

I make this pledge to myself because I know unconditional self-love can be difficult to
sustain during times of personal crisis. And that is because personal crisis is often
accompanied by thoughts of failure and self-doubt.

Self-Love, Self-Care and Self-Worth: Part 2

In Self-Love, Self-Care and Self-Worth: Part 1, we looked at different strategies for loving yourself, taking time for you and defining your self-worth. In Part 2 we go even deeper and start understanding the fear behind our painful choices. And finally, the strategies to heal and regain a powerful sense of self-esteem.

What Do I Have To Lose?

There comes a point when you have to ask: What do I have to lose ? What is the point in staying stuck?

Taking current examples, I could blame the my ex-husband for giving up on the marriage which catapulted me on a journey that has left me still searching for a home. Why do I need a partner to settle down and have a home? Why do I judge myself and get frustrated and feel overwhelmed sometimes. It's because I’m not focused and clear on where I want to live and what lifestyle choices make the most sense for me right now. And that's okay. As long as I embrace the unknown, I embrace my fear of it. As long as I don't judge myself, I don't abandon myself. As long as I am moving towards understanding my new identity, who I am and what I want for this new cycle of my life, I can take the pause to integrate my lessons and be grateful for the quiet moments. I'm learning that stability comes from within in me. And that's very new to me.

Self-Love, Self-Care and Self-Worth: Part 1

I promised myself that 2014 would be a year of self-love, self-care and self-worth. All the love and compassion I had given to others would be poured on to me. The reason? I committed to my personal growth and being more honest about myself, my fears, limitations and patterns so I could empower myself and break free from them. I knew that I wanted to be free from my past mistakes and choices and start a new cycle of freedom and expansion, which meant starting with the truth.

I became real with myself about other aspects of my life work, soul purpose, teaching, family. friendships, relationships and overall life balance. However, the first time I really got real with myself as a person, was when I acknowledged that I had become emotionally unavailable after my divorce and once I started on a journey of truth, I learned some uncomfortable but empowering things about myself.

What is empowerment?

• Empowerment is being clear about who you are  
• Empowerment is feeling free to feel all your feelings
• Empowerment is owning your personal transformation and what needs to be changed
• Empowerment is speaking your truth even if you disappoint others
• Empowerment is letting go of repetitive patterns, beliefs and habits that keep you stuck
• Empowerment is taking control of your life
• Empowerment is being able to walk away from abusive or toxic situations
• Empowerment is being free to break the ties that bind
• Empowerment is using your power to choose

Empowerment is when you move your will power through strong emotions like fear or anger ad confusion. You can use the energy behind anger, fear and confusion and transform them into positive qualities that nourish your life. You can use them as doorways into a journey of self-discovery and transformation.

Empowerment is actively taking charge of your thoughts. Changing long-held belief-systems, patterns and habits takes time and devotion.

The Power of Joy

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”
~ Henry Ford


Getting divorced was the hardest experience I’ve had up until now. It was frustrating, emotionally crippling and felt like spiritual abandonment.

The experience forced me to face my darkness and to face what choices had brought me to this moment. Why I had separated with a partner who I had pledged to spend a lifetime with. I do not commit easily and when I do, it’s for deep soul partnership. When that dream shattered, I became lost.

I was fortunate to have the strongest weapon in my spiritual arsenal during that time period. My faith.

I used the melancholy time to go inward and reflect. I committed to feeling the pain, understanding the pain, cleansing myself consciously and journaling every day.

While all of that that helped me intellectually, nothing touched my soul the way that joy would. It was a journey I was meant to go through and it changed my life and gave me soul purpose in a way that nothing else had the power to.

At some point in the divorce process, I decided I wanted re-invent myself and change my career direction. I was an advertising executive working in San Francisco and New York. I began to dream of a life I’ve always wanted but was scared to pursue. One year in the Mediterranean. I imagined a life in Spain. I listened to flamenco music and Cafe del Mar all day long, I had vision boards of "My Life In Spain" in my house and at work, I listened to my intuition on places to visit that matched my inner desires, once I arrived there I networked and created trustworthy relationships with people who lived in a magical island called Ibiza. For months I journaled through my resistance and transformed doubt and worry into passion and purpose. I channeled the joy I felt about this life.

When I journaled about the possibilities of this experience, there were so many voices that cautioned me out of it. What will my parents say? What about my full-time job?  I trusted the words that poured out of my soul. I followed that. I trusted my inner voice and my inner vision. I chose that. After hundreds of pages filled with the voice of a woman’s whose soul had been set on fire, I had discovered the ability to follow the voice of my soul consistently and discern between soul and ego. My body was tingling all over. My heart was pounding and I felt excitement and passion flow again through my veins.

I had laid down plans for a new vision for my life. My deepest longings and desires to dance at festivals and concerts the way I once had when I was young girl. To swim in moonlight and dance across the shore of an ocean. I wrote down all the possibilities.

I arrived in Ibiza with money to live there for a few months, retreat and rejuvenate.  I took long meditative walks in nature, spent time meditating on my desires, enrolled in belly dancing classes, painted and wrote poetry. In other words, I connected with a beautiful, sacred and magical part of me. I was not only dancing at healing festivals and concerts and weddings again, I was dancing with life. I had found joy.

After the first year of discovering joy, I knew I had tapped into a fountain of power and it had regenerated me. Now, how to maintain that power? This was to be my next learning. I created a daily manifestation practice as well as a seasonal one where I trained my mental powers and physical body.  I made decisions based on my core values, spoke my truth even when that meant disappointing others. I took inspired action, believed in my worthiness and deservedness to receive all my heart’s desires and became a leader of my community.

The result? I ended up living on a magical island for 3 years, developing a sacred dance practice, life coaching business and a wisdom school to mentor young women.

Every year I felt stronger, eating fresh salads and fruits, swimming in turquoise Mediterranean waters, running 12 kilometers three times a week on an ocean road, learning new spiritual skills, belonging to a sacred community who embraced me. I had learned how to take care of myself again and belong. And not make my partner responsible for filling those needs for me. I marketed my dance company in the Mediterranean and was invited to dance in Greece. I danced with famous sacred musicians who taught me the value of joy through dance, song and music. I was so connected to my personal power and what I could manifest with that.

By this point, I felt I had fulfilled all my wishes. I looked back on my vision board I had created three years ago and I wept. I had achieved everything I wanted. A life based on music and dance, strong community relationships, and feeling beautiful inside and out. I felt very abundant. But there was something missing..

Something was still holding me back. There was resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness. I had to learn to let that go. If I was going to have a beautiful relationship with myself – clean and pure – I had to let go of old emotional programming. The divorce was final. The courts had signed the papers. I was a free woman. I called my ex-husband and I wished him well. I let him know that I would always be here should he need anything and that I honored our friendship still. I gave both of us the gift of forgiveness. And I gave myself the gift of self-acceptance and peace with my past.

Once I did that, the magic began again. And a new set of opportunities presented themselves to me. I was done with my three year retreat on the magical island of Ibiza. I had finished the lessons life was teaching me. It was time to learn a new challenge.

Now, a new career is now opening for me. To teach sacred dance, online empowerment classes and open a wisdom school to mentor priestesses in training. My new dream is to spread these rich teachings globally to women. Some are transitioning from a relationship, some have been abused or mistreated and some just desire more abundance from life.

I have a message for these women, “Yes, joy exists, After everything you’ve known falls apart, it is this one thing that can save you. And you have this power within you.”

Here are my top 5 tips on how to connect with your power:


1. Trust your inner voice

Envision your ideal life, desires and dreams. How do you feel? What are the things you want to do the most now? Let your voice flow and listen. Feel the quality of freedom of being able to do this. Journal to connect consistently to this voice.

2. Claim your personal power

Believe in your worthiness. Write down all of the goals you've already achieved this year. Character traits you love about yourself. Read this list over and over. They key here is to believe in yourself and go after your dreams!

3. Manifest your dreams

You can manifest anything by getting clear. Clarity cuts through confusion. Get clear on how your perceptions. Get clear on your imagery. Get clear on your expectations of your life.

Feel into the possibilities of the picture you've just created.

4. Transform pain into wisdom

Master how to change one form to another form. Transform depression into expression of life. Transform deep loss and regret into life lessons and joy. Shape-shift your career into your spiritual mission and life path.

5. Own your magnificence

The world needs your brilliance, joy talent, grace and radiance. Hold the vision of your life, sing your soul song out to the world and be a light.

Joy is a practice. You have to practice it every day. Joy is based on pure desire. Desire it. Long for it. Claim it and own it. Not only will you attract and magnetize to yourself the life you want, but a life that you deserve.