On December 21st 2012

I don't know if in the rest of the world people are also wondering about this date as much as they are here in Mexico...

December 21st 2012.

It's supposed to be a big day...

And it is. :)

I am very blessed to be so close to it all...I feel like a Filipino delegate of sorts, to the Mother of All Championship Games in the Galaxy. :)

Natural Time is the name of the game. :)
12.21.2012 is it's stamp in time.

Why the hype?

Have you even read the news lately??? (I haven't really...just reading the headlines makes me want to cry :( )
These days they say are the end of time...
Not the Mayans though!

(They actually left us with something very powerful...)

According to the man who seeded said date (12.21.2012) into mass consciousness, Dr Jose Arguelles...all we need is a positive thought!

ONE.

All of us.
At the same time,
   throughout the world.

Talking trippily...imagine a rainbow around the Earth.
That's an image that would make you smile, no?

If you are a geek like me, then you'll want to know that a rainbow around the Earth is called a Circumpolar Rainbow Bridge. If you want to understand the science behind this...see below videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-AxevGjDogw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YL5K1o2X3aw

If it ever once crossed your mind to ask what to do on said Big Date...but you don't really consider yourself "spiritual enough"...do me a HUGE favor and think about a Rainbow around the Earth.

That's all you have to do. :)

Sit quietly, close your eyes and listen to your heartbeat...and pop this image back in your head.
Then smile.
The Rainbow Bridge is real. :)

Woohoo!

musings on my 30th

I turned 30 this year. (woohoo!!!)

I’m so excited!J

Not only am I starting a 29-year cycle astrologically speaking (google Saturn Return), but these are also monumental times ahead for humanity…12.21.2012 is just around the corner!

No…the world will NOT come to an end on that date. It is merely the closing of a cycle…according to Dr. Jose Arguelles:

The Closing of a Cycle is a cosmic event, a rare passage in the aeon. The aeon is the impossibly immense cycle containing all the other cycles, and is itself but a fractal of a divine thought moment. The smallest cycle that is closing then is the Great Cycle of History, a span of 5,125 years from Babylon to Baghdad. It is also the conlusion to a 26,000 year cycle – a precession of the zodiac or Platonic (Pleiadian) Great Year. And it is the ending of a cycle of 104,000 years. A lot has happened in that time, not just on our little planet but throughout the solar system and our entire galaxy.

~ ~ ~

Where are we in time? We know where we are in space, out there toward the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. But where is the map that will show us where we are in time? There is such a map, drawn up by the Maya, and it shows us that we are ALL on the Road to 2012. Winter solstice (Northern Hemisphere – Summer solstice Southern) 2012 is the closing of the Great Mayan Cycle.

By now just about everybody has heard of this date. It is inscribed in our DNA.That moment in time is the eye of the needle through which all of humanity must pass. It is the moment when our planet is perfectly aligned on the solar ecliptic with the center of the galaxy – the Hunab Ku. In fact, on that date, we will be on the Hunab Ku direct transmission line. (Hunab Ku is the source of the center of the galaxy. Hunab Ku – One Giver of Movement and Measure – is also another name for the One God.) And that is a great thing to look forward to being in alignment with!

Too woo-woo for you?

Well…in simple terms…we are on the verge of starting a new age,

a new culture,

new world.

(Finally!?!)

You know how when the world was in the Dark Ages and then it transitioned on the the Renaissance? That’s where we are right now. We are coming out of a modern Dark Age and easing into an Age of Supra Enlightenment!

Did you know that it only took about 300 or so people to jumpstart that phase of humanity’s evolution? This time, there being approx 6 BILLION humans on the Earth, we only need about 10% of that number to get this rEvolution going.

(For Ananta…you will learn about this in school eventually, or Wikipedia.J And by the way my Love, you are one of the neo-Buddhas of our time. <3 You’re one of the Ones that will beacon the Light of the New Age. Yey you!)

While it’s only a fraction, 10% of 6billion is still a big number. I don’t doubt that we will reach our quota though. Left and right people are waking up and being more aware, realizing that there is more to life than the to-do list or getting that raise, or a new iPhone. Not all waking up to this woo-woo stuff are on the same level of consciousness either...and that's perfectly fine too. (Where ever you are in your journey right now, that's exactly where you have to be...IT'S ALL GOOD) Some are changing lives by the thousands through Soulful and inspired service and offerings from the Heart, while some are simply asking the question: What if the world does end on December 21, 2012?

Well...what if it does? What would you do Now, in the next 15 days?

 

Would you spend more time with your family and friends?

Quit your job and do what you always wanted to, even for just a day?

Reconnect with nature?

Donate or volunteer for something that you really believe in?

Travel, or pamper yourself, for once?

Reconcile with your not-so-favorite people?

Meditate?

What would you do?

I would close my eyes and breathe.

Sit still, and listen to my heart beat; actually feel my pulse.

Listen to my breath whilst still within; and then as I speak.

Dance throughout life!

Look into Ananta Malaya's eyes...

Run, sing and have fun under the sun!

Sleep in the moonlight...

Breathe ~ Stretch ~ Smile

Yoga is life, yo. <3

Dearest Ananta Malaya: on your 2nd rEvolution

Dearest Daughter,

You’re turning 2 today. You have grown so much in the last year, it’s unbelievable! (You now run, ride your tricycle, understand 4 languages, and we’ve since said goodbye to the daiper and the bottle!)

At this time (7.26am) you are still sleeping soundly on your bed…you’re not getting up till around 8.15 or so…or somewhere around the time zumba at the park starts.J

These days we live in Los Sauces, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in the apartment behind the park that’s close to Abuelita’s place. It’s a blessing to be so close to Abue, your previous daycare (recently you stopped going and Artyom has been taking care of you while I work at Mexico Fun), the “ruins” at the park, the bakery, the fruit place, the mountains etc…we love it here!
 

 

Today I wanted to write you about your birth story…it was a miraculous time! <3 I can’t seem to decide where to start though…from the time we got to the hospital? from the first contraction? from the time I first spotted (which is sign that labor is about to start)?

I had already been waiting for you to arrive, you see. If I remember correctly, your estimated date of birth was gregorian may 28…so by the time june 3^rd came around, I was pretty eager to finally have you in my arms instead of in my belly! It wasn’t uncomfortable at all…you blessed me with a very easy pregnancy! I just wanted to meet you already!

I worked at the office until the last possible day. If I am not mistaken, gregorian may 31^st was my last day at Mexico Fun. After having stained myself as I was preparing to leave work, a co-worker named Wanda excitedly told me that that was the start of it. (She’s a really nice Puerto Rican lady who organized the bets for your birth date and weight among the girls, which Amanda eventually won.)

The next day I went to the IMSS hospital to get official about it…I had not felt any contractions at that point, so I felt a bit awkward being there knowing it wasn’t my/your time yet. A nice, young-ish male doctor checked me out, and told me to return as soon as the contractions start or if my water breaks etc. Still no you…bummer!
 

So your Papi and I tried walking around and other stretching tactics...nothing worked. So we decided go to the movies and see Avatar (please watch this movie!) to see if whether the excitement would help jumpstart you out of (down) there. Sure enough, at around 5am the next day, the contractions started.J

Let me tell you that I didn’t feel a lot pain during those early contractions. I’m not really one to have cramps when I get my period, so at that point it was just a mild discomfort. But being as excited as I was, as soon as I felt one I started to time them (as per doctor’s instructions), and since they started coming every 3minutes or so I started to prepare for the hospital. I double-double checked the bag was complete; I cut up a melon and made 2 sandwiches, one for me and one for your Papi. He was sleeping around this time, I didn’t want to wake him until the last possible minute that we had to leave the house (which, at that time was behind the Medassist Hospital close to work…no way I was having you there though!), as I knew he would get all nervous if I told him you were already coming.

After telling Abuelita it was time, we left and rendezvoused at the hospital at around 7. We waited our turn and eventually entered, and were again attended to by the same male doctor that saw us prior, who was surprised to see you still in there!J He said it was still too early though, so we walked to Lucy’s house (Abue’s friend whom she met back in Manila), who happened to live 2 streets away from the hospital.

By then I could feel the contractions a bit more intensely…its still not painful, but I could feel the stretch inside, so that outside I had to do the same. Luckily, Lucy had these super comfortable light pink, suede-ish reclining chair she had brought back from the Philippines, which I completely owned for the next couple of hours while I texted friends from Manila (and elsewhere) that the show was about to begin. J

At around 9am Lucy drove us and we were finally admitted. A nice young nurse set us up, and wheeled us into the room where 2 other Goddesses are about to have their own little miracle. <3

It was a bit of an interesting time. There were nurses, doctors in training, hospital staff, all of them going about life just like any other day, while us 3 ladies stretched out on the wheeled beds…waiting, feeling, breathing a new existence into being, one breath at a time.

One of the nurses tells me she is surprised to see a first-time mom like me so at ease all morning…I tell her living the first 7 months of the pregnancy on a house 200 steps up a hill (overlooking the Pacific) must have helped…but that also, the contractions stopped.J

Being a social security hospital where one doesn’t have to pay for anything (although a certain percentage is deducted off your monthly paycheck for this service), I think they were pretty eager to get the line going, so to speak. So at around 11 or 12 they added the inducer-juice into my IV line…and then the show really began!JJJ

Now that I am writing this…I come to realize that: Yoga, really IS, Life. You, the union of body and Soul, came into this world through yoga (hallelujah for pranayama). As I started to become aware of each breath, I listened to my body more and more…I trust my sacred body, She knows what to do was my mantra (thank you, guru Anna, for teaching me this)…and I flowed with each wave of contractions, opening myself more and more every time.

The same nurse that said I had been so calm saw I was ready. She told another nurse, they both looked at me looking at them, breathing, and they started to prepare the delivery room that was right across me. I didn’t realize I had been so close all that time.

Once inside…it was funny, but somehow they expected me to move bed,s already being 10cm dilated and experiencing bigger contractions, all by myself. Ooook :S

Once on the second gurney however, the one with the contraption to hold your legs up, it all happened pretty quickly.J

They cleaned me up and hovered around, I kept breathing, the resident doctor came in, congratulated me for doing a job well done so far, and told me to push ONLY when they said so.
Easy enough…you were out in 3 pushes!
No epidural, but they did cut me up…it took them longer to sew me back up than I did to deliver you!
 

Ananta Malaya. kg. 51cm.

Born on gregorian june 3^rd 2012, 1.55pm…

Crystal Moon 11, Day 5, Yellow Self-Existing Warrior.

Today, White Rhythmic Worldbridger.

 

Its 9.04am, you’re still sleeping. We will be having lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in town, Coexist Café, having cajeta cake from Suspiros (my favorite cake place!), with more or less the same Circle of Love that celebrated your first rEvolution and blessing last year. Then, in the evening…temazcal de mujeres at Rancho Madre Tierra…what a beautiful day this will be! <3

 

Happy Birthday, Ananta Malaya!!!
 

Mom loves you with all her being, from the depths of her Soul…always, in all ways…to infinity and beyond.

Momma'hood

My mom, a full blooded Mexican married to a full blooded Filipino, dedicated much of her life to her little bubble of happiness - her family. It is with great love and honor that I dedicate this piece to my mother, the woman who taught me what (and how) it is to be a mother.

 

Long before my daughter was born it came to me that motherhood is a sacred journey. Reflecting upon my own mother’s example towards us, her 7 children (and even a couple of grandkids), I realized that there is no greater offering to Life than the unconditional love, incessant care and quality time that a mother gives to her child. (no matter how much or little it is)

 

Motherhood birthed in me the awakening of Shakti and the embodiment of the Divine Feminine.

Shakti is the Great Creative Energy that drives us both man and woman.

Deep inside every human is an amazing power to create….but deep within every Woman, is a Sacred Space where miracles happen - the greatest of which is the Miracle of Life.
 

 

Every day a mother is born to the child that comes to awaken her. Whilst still within, the babe stirs an ancient power in her womb - nest of all creation, to come forth to full bloom. This is the calling to Divine Motherhood, the noblest path in the way of the Divine Feminine. 

 

But what is the Divine Feminine? In a male-dominated society whose systems and structures were made by men for men, during these times - the one that we are living in - when women are breaking through in every field and endeavor, it is of utmost importance that we REMEMBER what it is all about.
 

 

The Divine Feminine, an ancient knowledge pre-dating any man-made religion or philosophy, refers to the ever-present force the fuels all creation. It’s your drive. It’s your passion. It is what brings you joy, but at the same time it is also what brings you sadness.

As compared to masculine divinity, which tends towards quiet stillness for the attainment of consciousness, the female aspect of the divine connotes flowing with the cycles of nature - fertilization, gestation, birth, growth and maturation, death and transcendence and then re-birth. It is a strong and dynamic force, like the water from which Life burst forth, so that She is seen as both nurturer and destroyer, giver and taker. Her embodiment refers to the manifestation of one’s dreams and pursuits through a natural creative process.
 

Now that the world is awakening to new paradigms, it is important for us women to remember that we have this innate power in each of us, not only to nurture life in the form of our biological children, but also through any creative project that our soul yearns to share and put out there. These are also our “babies” - all the projects that you can possibly think of…because they are also endeavors that we are mothering into being.

 

I don’t remember when I started thinking this…but I honestly I don’t think that every woman is meant to be a mother. Not every woman wants to be one even if society insists otherwise! But when she does become one, she bears a great responsibility - for she molds the mind and Spirit of the next generation of mothers and fathers of the human race.

 

Regardless of whether you are a biological mother (and actually, even if you not a woman), the Divine Feminine lives in you and all that you do. Embrace her! Reconnect with your mother, the Earth, and know that everything in nature, that which you are just another part of, evolves; and sometimes, in revolutionary ways.

 

Wake up, Woman! Now..2012..is YOUR time!

 

Claim it!

Answering the call of the Mother

Tonight, longer a time ago than the last time I posted a blog, I returned, this time with my daughter, to the womb of our Mother, Gaia.

 

It’s called a Temazcal. A Mesoamerican sweat lodge, if you will. We did it Mujer-Mexica stylee…women only.

Oh man, what beauty lies within!

This is not your regular spa sauna. Although each wonderful woman that entered tonight came out exuding so much of the beauty they already had within. Glowing cheeks! Radiant skin! Beautiful, heartfelt smiles!

To give you an idea of the magic that happens under a new moon, in a Sacred Circle of Women whose fire is tended to by two men called Agilas del Fuego/Fire Eagles (without duality there is no reality!)...we enter a dark cloth-covered dome set on the soil made with a natural material such as bamboo, clay bricks etc. Inside thatched mats lay, and in the middle: a whole in the ground.

There are four doors: one facing North, the other South, East, and then West. 

The two men tend the fire that heat the volcanic rock that will later be placed in the center of the dome. But first…before entering with bowed heads and hearts, we acknowledge the 7 Cardinal Directions.
Seven because aside from North, South, East and West, there is also Up - to the Stars, our sun, the source of Life; Down - to the Earth’s core, her heart (remember? Earth is a living being!), and then the Center - of Life, the Origin of all Creation.

We pray…using tobacco, the plant the Indigenous and Knowing People use to offer their prayers to the Source, by mixing it's smoke with one’s breath, or throwing it in the Fire.

 

Before we finally enter, we bow before the door, head on the ground, and hands & feet on the floor, to humbly ask for permission to re-enter the Womb of Gaia with and for All Our Relations. Mitakuye Oyasin, so say the Lakota Sioux. We ask for all those we ever loved, all we’ve ever come across, all we are praying for - because we are all One.

This is the Temazcal.

The stones heated by the fire, the first and foremost element, represent the knowledge of the stars. Out of the Fire came the impulse To Be - this is how the stars were born, later planets, the Earth, the ground upon which we stand on.
Next Water flowed and then Life flourished…plants, animals, humans…and so we bring in the medicine - dried herbs (I think I smelled coconut? salvia?), and our tools - a pairs of deer horns for the curanderas to move the hot rocks, an animal-skin drum and a pair of rattles made of gourds - to use while we sing and chant along.

The Temazcal represents the womb of our Mother Gaia. Here we pray, sing, chant, laugh, cry, open our hearts and offer our all, to remember what it is like to still be part Her. The darkness inside reminds us of that peaceful state when we slumbered in the womb of our own biological mothers. Water is poured over the fiery-red stones, which evaporates so fast so that smoke rises and embraces you whole…the heat within this hearth heals.

This is what happens within this Sacred Sauna.

Ananta did great! She sat still, sang, sweat and slept in her first ever Temazcal. She only completed one puerta (door), we exited by the second. Even so, I’m so proud of my little Warrior (Guerrera)! It is my hope that she will grow up to honor and continue taking part of such sacred ceremonies regardless of how technologically advanced the world becomes when she is older. (Actually, the more "modern" society becomes, the more is there a need for these practices to be honored.)
 

Because not only do we women (men too) have the medicine inside us to heal ourselves and the entire planet - we are also the warriors that fight for what is right in our own lives. We are those that fight for Mother Earth’s life. Who you are is the embodiment of the beautiful Goddess within...this is calling of the Divine Feminine…that tonight I heard in the Temazcal, and am now shouting out to you, Wo-Man.

Hear Her song and Let Your Light shine.

(I haven’t felt so beautifully connected in a while…thank you One & All!)

I’m ecstatic to have found this Voice. BLISS!

First Holidays with Her: Birthday, Christmas & New Year (and Thanksgiving too!)

Ananta & I will be celebrating many of those this year..Firsts.

bald bold & beautiful @ 28

Twice now Ive shaven my head..and I realize..

Time ticks quickly..
2mm taller already! (me. SHE is now 8.5kg & 72cm tall!)

Because you either grow..or not, although as a Mother, you really have no choice.

--==+8+==--

The Best Christmas Gift Ever

Cant really tell if I was naughty or nice this year..
F + B = a
;)

And as the new gregorian one starts, more new beginnings commence..

 

Here's to more Adventures of A&a!

Bring it on, 2011!

A&a's first family vaca!!!

Around this time last year, I took a 3-week respite from work to go to Guanajuato, Mexico, where E (Ananta's dad) is from. Days before leaving I was positively positive about being a mom, I hadnt even told my mom about the pregnancy yet! This year, vaca is only good for 9 days and my baby is a day shy of her 6th moon. Damn. Time flies!

Guanajuato 2009, about 10 weeks preggy

Im glad we came! Checking the temperature days before the trip I considered postponing to after Holy Week because it was just too damn cold (3C anyone???)! Thank Heavens (literally) it was only a cold front that made the temperature drop, and now that we're here its not even as cold as I thought it would be (I remember last year to be colder). Ananta is still disguised as an eskimo though. ;)

Guanajuato 2010, waiting for Abuelo at Leon's bus depot

Im even happier that li'l A is bonding with her tias, abuelo y abuela and especially her little cousins! I thought she would be more reserved since shes not really used to so many people around her, but she has been such a smiley and happy baby with everyone, and E has a big family!

In Vallarta, there arent many of us, its just my Mom, my brother Jo and my sister Angela and her family (thats 17-year old Carlo Barlo, my nephew, Alex, my cuñado aka bro-in-law, and Ani the hotdog dog). Of course we spend fun times in PV too! On Vaca Day 1 we slept over at mom's to watch the Pacman kick Margarito's ass, the enth Mexican hes beat. She didnt make it to actually watch the fight though, but we had a chill out start to what is now a chilly vacation. =)



Pacquiao vs Margarito

grocery trip with Abue & U. Jo the day after the fight

Being here is heartwarming though, because I grew up with my cousins and I have very fond memories of my childhood having such a big and loving family. I know she wont remember this trip, but the few pictures I've taken are already priceless treasures for me, and hopefully later for her as well. <3
We're already on Day 6 of this mini-vaca, the third of a 4-day visit, and I really wish we could stay a bit longer! But alas, work beckons, and more importantly Ming (my roomie) is leaving soon, so we absolutely have to be back in time for her going-away dinner (eggplant polenta, here I come!). Extended family is important too, you know! =)

So many things have happened in this past year..its amazing how personal stories unfold! I just feel so blessed to have a warm, fuzzy feeling inside knowing that whatever happens, (biological, extended, legal or not), your family will always love you no matter what.