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Who is the modern woman? What is her role in the society, and to what extent does she maintain her essence in a world dominated by men? It was only through dance that I succeeded in finding my true femininity, and it allowed me to show this possibility to other women. In truth, all forms of meditation can show us the path, but dance is meditation in movement, a Continue reading True Femininity
Belly Dance Classes (Egyptian Style) in North York, ON – Bayview & Sheppard
I will start giving belly dance classes on Wednesday, August 4th from 5:45 pm to 6:45 pm. The classes will include warm-up, dance techniques and choreografies and a final relaxing and meditation session. All you need to start is a comfortable long skirt and a mini top or bra. Dancing helps you to strengthen your body and relax your mind. The music is beautiful and the movements are extremely feminine. Click here to learn more about the benefits of belly dance. Here is some information about myself.
For questions, feel free to contact me here. Thanks for your visit! Maria Alves Why do people always have the need to accumulate things, to keep useless objects because they think one day they might be needed, or to travel around with eighty percent of clothes they will never wear? Maybe people could be as the birds that migrate counting only on their instincts and the confidence that they will find everything they need.
No doubt, the search for simplicity is not easy in a capitalist world, where buying is the order of the day. However, even when being part of this kind of society, everybody can try moderation in their actions, especially by not buying on impulse. It is always possible to take a walk or wait until the next day before making a decision. Probably fifty percent of our purchases would be avoided with this measure alone. It is also important to learn how to buy better things, as well as to give away what is no longer used. This way people can establish a limit in their wardrobes as well in their homes. Empty spaces are very important as a decoration element. Pay attention to this – empty spaces give value to objects and bring a sensation of peace. On the other hand, cluttered spaces are stressful. Another important reason to buy less is the possibility of saving money, not only for security reasons, but also because saving allows to fulfill dreams, to travel, study, and for self improvement.
But simplifying life presupposes simplifying the mind. Or could it be the opposite? When people organize and simplify things they change their mental state. Organizing starts by relaxing the mind wich bring flexiblility to let the river of life flow without the need of controlling everything all time. This doesn’t mean to live without direction. It means to define a direction and walk towards it with smoothness, certainty and serenity. Very often people feel stressed and fail to stop for an instant to give new order to things, to find an exit. But to stop, to be quiet and in silence for a few moments in order to feel life should be a part of their routine, since otherwise they are living in a frenetic rhythm and have no time to notice things – not even the very good ones.
Simplifying means also to remember to come back to the centre, to say no to the thousand-and-one superfluous things that call out to the attention all time. This is almost a lost knowledge in a society where “time is money”. This belief is so strong that people come to feel guilty when they are doing nothing. So, people who are always in a hurry or who have lost inner contact, should try to stay for a while far away from television, computers or anything that distances them from their interior space, and stay there – in this peaciful place – some minutes each day. Then they can look for simplicity, remembering that simple doesn’t mean less, it means intelligent!
I started researching about hormonal replacement because during a long time, I had unbalanced hormones, which caused cellulite and hair loss. After several years researching, I decided to try conventional hormone replacement, taking a medicine called Angelic. I gave up on the 6th day, because I started to have breathing problems, I felt extremely tired, besides having difficulty to sleep. Fortunately in my researches I had read a little about bio-identical hormones, a subject that many doctors, even gynecologists, had never heard about before (!!!). Fortunately, my conventional gynecologist – the same that recommend me Angelic – knew about them, and gave me the telephone number of a colleague who worked with them. After detailed blood examinations, I started to use bio-identical Estradiol, Estriol and Testosterone creams, in September 2008. I never felt ill, my hair doesn’t fall anymore, and the cellulite practically disappeared. To be more exact, I started to see the improvement in the FIRST week: improvement of the muscle mass, skin, and energy. Of course, nobody should use any medication without medical prescription and detailed examinations, but I think that every woman must know these hormones that are manipulated for each individual and therefore do not interest the big laboratories who cannot make money with individual formulas. The bio-identical hormones are indicated also for men, whereas they also have hormonal problems that are not so evident at the beginning as for the women, but certainly lead to diseases and bad quality of life. Since these hormones are still quite unknown, it is necessary that everyone who knows its beneffits speack about them, so that more and more people can have access this possibility, and so that we can enter a new time where it is possible maintain quality of life as we get older, and remembering that unbalanced hormones can affect young people too. In May 2008 my husband and I went to Canada for the first time. I had re-discovered a photo that had enchanted me years before: Lake Louise – and my dream was to row in its blue waters.
We went directly to Vancouver, a city with which we had imediate and total affinity. After a week we took a train – The Canadian – for a two-day trip to Jasper, a tiny and pretty city, surrounded by snow-covered mountains. Since there is not public transportation to Banff, we rented a car to traverl the 280 km on the famous Icefields Higway that connects Jasper National park to Banff National Park. We rented a very confortable car equipped with speed control – which is very important when the speed limit is 70Km/h the most of the time . It permits the driver not to worry about exceeding the limit. The road is really wonderful, all surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, adorned with creeks and rivers, scented trees and… the bears. It was also very calm and with very few cars – what made the journey a relaxing experience. It was wonderful to see my husband’s eyes, green and serene like an ocean in a calm day. By chance I had with me a CD we like very much – Conan the Barbarian soundtrack – its orquestrated music was as imponent as the landscape around us. As it was still the begining of Spring we thought we wouldn’t see snowfall anymore, but suddenly I saw small things flying like fairies beating on the car’s windscreen – and we entered a strong snowing area. The snowflakes were small and bright, and the landscape’s wightness was like a dream. It was a perfect trip, a true meditation!
And speaking of eyes, at a certain point of the road where there was an agglomerate of spruce trees , we saw from a distance a man walking between them. Some meters ahead we decided to stop at a hostel near the road. We went in, but nobody was there. After a while the man we had seen previously arrived – we recognized him by his clothes – and he came to talk to us. He was the Inn owner or the responsible. He introduced himself and when he shook our hands, he looked at us in a very intense, deep and calm way, direct in the eyes. It was a wonderful gaze as if our eyes were immersed in a placid lake. When we left, we talked about that look that reflects the scented woods, singing of birds and his lonely walks through the woods. Eyes that reflect an intense inner life and inner peace, are really very rare. That reminds me one fact happened to Yogananda, reported in his book Autobiography of a Yogi. He tells us that he was travelling through the Indian countryside and heard about a very evolved yogi that lived in a cabin in the jungle. Yogananda goes to visit him, and becomes very impressed with his eyes. According to him they were “eyes tha do not search anymore”. We arrived at Banff in approximately five hours, that seemed only minutes. We saw a frozen water fall, a bear crossing the road, and a grizzly sow with her little cub. Banff is a small, clean and beautiful city, also surrounded by giant mountains. We stayed at the Juniper, a wonderful hotel surrounded by spruce trees just outside the city, separated from it by a viaduct over the highway. Below the view from the hotel restaurant window.
As for canoeing at Lake Louise… I found the lake still completely frozen. It was very funny, unexpected, and frustrating. But it’s OK. It’s a great excuse to come back again.
Experiencing feminine energy Belly dance classes, finishing with meditation and massage – in a class where the students will learn and exchange massage between temselves. This massage exchange after dancing and meditating – considering the integration and harmony of the group – induce to wonderful results Continue reading Massage, Dance and Meditation In Honolulu you can take a flight to Maui, and get there in less than thirty minutes. Maui has, I think, three airports. I landed in Kahului and rented a car to get to Lahaina, the city where we chose to stay. At the airport I chose a hotel, very practical and new in my experience. There is a wall where you can find the names of the hotels with fees and a direct telephone to each hotel – no phone charges. Usually, they pick you up at the airport. Everything is quick and perfect. I found this system also in Honolulu and Europe. Maui is absolutely wonderful. We rented a car to drive around the island (about five thousand kilometers), stopping at beautiful beaches and waterfalls – without destination or schedules, in a real paradise - carrying along only water and fruit – eating whenever we felt hungry wherever we found a good restaurant.
Makena (above) is my favorite beach in Maui, where I had a frightening experience. The Continue reading HAWAII – Maui Traveling to Hawaii is the dream of a lifetime. I left Los Angeles at 5pm for a 7.5 hours flight over the Pacific ocean, and arrived in Honolulu over 11pm . My first views of Hawaii are unforgetable. First in the plane as it was landing, I think I had taken a nap and when I looked out the window I saw that we were in some sort of bright circle, surrounded by dark clouds. I saw the city all illuminated , it was a three-dimensional view, with a jewel in the middle, a emerald green swimming pool (later I could undertand the reason of the three-dimensional view – the buildings and trees are lit up). It was a wonderful sensation. I went to the hotel very tired but because of the jet lag I woke up at 6 am (it was like 10am for me) and I went to Waikiki beach. Something that I had never seen before happened: it started to drizzle, so thin that the water was almost immaterial and I thought that it was going to rain, but instead, as I walked on the sand, a big rainbow appeard! The ocean in many blue tonalities, the desert beach and the rainbow – It was perfect! Honolulu has something undefinable, as if the air is more transparent, brighter and full of energy. People are beautiful, happy, everybody using flowers in their hair. At night the lights of the buildings, trees and the torches give a magical sensation. It is delicious to go out for a nightly walk, have dinner in a good restaurant and then walk up to the beach to look at the ship lights under the shining stars or the full moon. I had two favorite places to have lunch. One was a self-service restaurant, which had lots Continue reading HAWAII – Honolulu It is a natural thing for everybody to like dancing. But why is it so important? Dance is not a simple exercise that strengthens your muscles and makes you lose calories. Dance makes us feel complete, happy and alive – because we dance not only with our feet, legs or arms – we dance also with our brain! When we learn a step or a choreography, that results in brain actvity. The learning process keeps the brain young while new brain cell connections are created. Some kinds of rhythm may induce a trance, especially drum sounds, techniques used in rituals to connect the human being with the spiritual world. In fact every kind of music afects the brain in some way, and it is wonderful when we can dance, when we can express with our body the beauty of the melodies. Beauty is another important aspect of dance, it is the goal we look for when we repeat a mouvement over and over, until it is perfect – and when perfection is found, it is brought to other aspects of our lives. Dance has also a social role, it approaches people, and makes us more self assured. It has been used since immemorial times, connecting people and nature. The creation of the world itself, is expressed by the dance of Shiva, who also dances to the balance and destruction of the universe, so that new forms can be born again. The word dance comes from the root “tan” from Sanskrit, which means “tension”. When we can express the tension of our lives with our body, mind and spirit, connecting ourselves with nature and the gods, we are really living!
São Paulo is a big and multicultural city. It is one of the best places in the world to eat, because it has all kind of restaurants, especially in the region of Jardins. São Paulo state doesn’t have a typical kind of food, but certainly the city has typical restaurants from each part of Brazil: fish and sea food with coconut milk and pepper from Bahia, dishes from the North like “pato no tucupi” – duck in tucupi wich is a kind of delicassy, churrasco (barbecue) from the South and home cooking from the state of Minas Gerais where slaves and Portuguese colonists mixed their cooking knowlege, making dishes like the famous “feijoada”. You can also find food from all over the world: Italy, Japan, Thailand, France, Russia, and many others. Avenida Paulista is very beautiful and it has many important buildings where some of the most important companies in the world have opened offices. We have an intense cultural life. For safety, tourists should not wear jewelery or cameras in the streets in most regions.
São Paulo is not a usual destination for tourists who prefer the North and Northeast beaches, but it is an important business city. But business men and women can enjoy good concerts or dance shows. There is also the option to take weekends to visit beautiful beaches 1oo km from the city, like Juqhey or São Sebastião region.
The road that gets there , Rodovia dos Imigrantes, which had a revolutionary project, built on pillars over the Serra do Mar forest. The road is incredibly beautiful, and its lanes are revesible, that is, they can be controlled to became only one way depending on traffic requirements.
The history of the city is very interesting, it was founded by the bandeirantes, who were strong and adventurous men who opened paths in the forest, to discover new lands, look for precious stones and to found villages, soon after the Portuguese colonization.
For those who come to São Paulo or any other city in Brazil, it is imperative to try a caipirinha, the Brazilian traditional drink. It is made of cachaça (fire water), lime, sugar and a lot of ice. It is delicious and can be made more or less strong, and it goes marvellously well with fried fish and all types of local delicacies.
In my honest opinion, Riot is the most beautiful city in the world. It is perfect, surrounded by mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. Its design is perfect, the people are beautiful and friendly. You can take the bondinho (cable car) to visit the Cristo Redentor statue, and the famous Pão de Açucar (Sugarbread) mountain, and enjoy the wonderful view of the city and the bay. There are incredible restaurants near the ocean, where you can appreciate seafood and international dishes. All over the shore you’ll find typical bars where you can drink a delicious caipirinha (usually firewater mixed with lime and sugar, but has variants) or chopp – a kind of light beer. And do not forget to eat bolinho de mandioca (small fried manioc balls) and camarão frito (fried shrimp). Rio has many wonderful beaches, my favorite is Barra. To get there you need to pass by the Barra tunnel, and the vision is fantastic: you get out of the dark tunnel and face the intense blue of the ocean. Carnaval isthe largest festivity of the planet. It does not have a precise date, but it hapens in Brazil in the february month, for four days. Rio’s carnaval is the most famous in the world.
In Rio you must be careful: do not use jewels or anything expensive in the streets.
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