National Women’s Health Week encourages and empowers all women to make health and wellness their top priority this week. This year’s theme is “It’s your time!” Take the pledge to get all of your annual check ups and be a wellness warrior! Are you in for the challenge?

Receive regular check ups and preventative screenings. Get active. Eat well. Manage stress. Avoid unhealthy habits. There are just a few of the simple steps that you can take now that will have a major impact on your health in the long run.

Old habits die hard. Are you looking to end an unhealthy behavior? Journey to Joyful author, yoga instructor, and wellness coach Dashama Konah recommends the following three keys for eliminating addictive behavior in the following excerpt:

Meditation and the Observation of Thought | Fundamentally, this is where it all begins. When you quit something, whether it is drinking, smoking, overeating, laziness, or letting go of a codependent relationship, to name a few examples, you reprogram your subconscious mind to no longer need or want that thing, activity, or person in your life or at least not allow it to control your life. On a physical level, we crave what we are addicted to. We have emotional cords tied to these things, and spiritually, we are bonded as well. It is a process of cutting the cords on all levels and this begins in the mind. It is essential that you have a good journal to write down your thoughts as they arise for you. This will help when you feel drawn to relapse. Also, even if you do have a temporary relapse, keep coming back to your thoughts. Observe: is it a specific time of day, or is there a trigger that sends you into a relapse?

Find an accountability partner | When I quit drinking, it was easy, because I was really ready. Additionally, I was with a man who was in the same place in his life and we both did it together. We had had enough. It was clear that it was doing us more harm than good. We had both had run-ins with the law, jail time (only a few hours), and now we were committed to experiencing a higher vibration. We both wanted to create something real and impactful with our lives, and this bonded us in a powerful way. It was a process of eliminating the negative influences/friends and environments that were drawing us into the trap of habituation that led to the negative patterning we were ready to release. We had to reprogram our entire lifestyles, and it was easier to do this since we had each other. It is ideal if you are married, if your accountability partner is your spouse, or even your lover or best friend, since they are often the number-one influence upon your lifestyle choices. If this is not your situation, then ask those to whom you are close to please support you in your new lifestyle choices. I guarantee you will get overwhelming responses of positivity and encouragement.

Replace the Habits | This is key. If you typically find yourself drinking at a bar on a Friday night, or even having drinks at home, or whatever your issue is that you’re ready to let go of, you must find another activity that is equally enjoyable for you to replace the other. I recommend exercise, yoga, meditation, singing, dancing, and connecting with nature in various ways like camping, hiking, walking on the beach—anything that gets your body moving and away from what’s sucking you into the trap. If your old friends are not interested or ready to let go of these negative habits, just find other ways in which you can connect with them. This happened to me. When I decided to quit drinking, it led to a complete transition in friends. This was hard at first. There was a period of time when my only friends were my sisters and my boyfriend. That was fine, however, since I was so excited about the new level of energy, enthusiasm, and excitement about life and my future that I was ready to move on and up from the old habits, thus I was grateful to let them go. Embrace releasing of the old to welcome in the new. It will serve you richly for the entirety of your life.

The fastest way to freedom is to feel your feelings.
—Gita Bellin

San Francisco-Bay Area psychedelic enthusiasts are in for a real treat from the spirit vine this month. On May 23, The Marsh Theater in the Mission District will present “Wind in a Mirror…Ayahuasca Visions” with writer/performer Josie Hyde. For one lucky NABCommunities.com member (sign up is free and easy, and promises to be spam-free!), Hyde’s offering a  FREE ticket to see the performance, which is appearing for one night only! Here, Hyde gives us an exclusive interview about the upcoming show, which promises a multimedia experience like no other. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the page!

1. You’ve traveled all over the world as a performer, but it’s actually been over a decade since your last real performance. Why the break, and what lead you back to the stage?

About 20 years ago I began a career in performance poetry. I wanted to create a one-woman show and was working on a long poem, “Death by Men, Confessions of a Serial Lover” when I drank ayahuasca for the first time. Drinking ayahuasca changed everything. I found my true subject. I didn’t abandon the style of my earlier poems but now I wanted to tell the deepest story of my life. So I set out for the first time to combine story and prose with poetry. A learning curve was involved. I never intended to take such a long hiatus from performance. It just worked out that way.

When I began “Wind in a Mirror…Ayahausca Visions” it had a few poems in search of melodies, but singing was not something I was going to try. But then all the shamans I knew in the Amazon began asking me to sing during ayahuasca ceremonies. One night I risked singing one of my own poems and the poem found a melody. So add on a few years for the songs in the play.

From the beginning I wanted the play to have a visual element. Once I had performed my poetry to slides of collages I had made and I wanted to do something like that again. As I got into making multimedia collages, my standards rose. I just got better and as I got better what I had already done got worse. So add on some years for the art progression. It all adds up to a hell of a lot longer than I would have allowed if I’d been in charge.

2. How did you first learn of Ayahuasca?

I spent quite a lot of time in the 60s in the little Mazetecan town of Huautla de Jimenez, Mexico where the magic mushrooms grow. One day in Huautla, a traveler told me about a magic vine in the Amazon that could show you death and in showing you death, show you who you really are. I had to find this vine. It took me about thirty years to catch up with that wish.

3. Why did you feel it was important to tell the story of “Wind in the Mirror… Ayahuasca Visions” by Josie?

Well, I’m a writer. And this is my story. I don’t think that an artist really can choose the kind of artist she is. And in a way the story chooses you. I mean art, whatever the form, comes from within. I like the idea that creativity is a tryst with the unconscious. I didn’t really choose to write this play so much as I had to write it.

General knowledge of ayahuasca is much greater today than when I began writing the play. But I never set out to spread the word about ayahuasca per se; my motivation was a different sort of thing, more a need to speak the truth.

Click image to expand

4. Your performance promises a multimedia experience. Did you work with anyone to create this, and how long did it take for you to develop the story, sounds, and visuals for this particular event?

Time taken, I covered somewhat. But I’m glad you’ve asked about collaborators because I have been blessed with the best. Percussionist and composer Tom Lackner is responsible for the soundtrack. Tom combined original compositions with the traditional music of shamans Jose Campos and Agustin Rivas Vasquez. As well as being a composer and music producer, Tom is the drummer in Jeff Bridges’ band “The Abiders.”

My daughter Rani DeMuth is a writer/director filmmaker. She took my 2D art and turned it into a video for the show. Rani’s short film “The Double” starring Eric Roberts received LACMA’S Art of Film Award. Her first feature “Killing the Dream” is yet to be completed.

5. Can you give us a little preview of what people can expect to experience or hear on May 23?

Let me give you a short passage from the play that hints at the theme:

When I was a little girl, the world was a magic house. Earth, water, fire, air, day and night, the sun and the moon—such a plan! Everything was magic. Baby chicks were little bits of chicken magic. I had to be taught that a chicken is just a chicken. There is no magic in the equation. But as a kid, a chicken materialized out of thin air is no more magical than a chicken hatched from an egg.

Which brings me to the point:

Where do we come from?
Why are we here?
Where are we going?
And why does it cost more every year?

6. Is there anything that you had to cut from this performance that you can share as a sort of “bonus” material for our readers?

A song I wrote the day my mother died called “Sorrow” was in the play at one point. In the end, it had to go. Here are the lyrics:

Sorrow

Sorrow, that’s another word for being born
Sorrow, that’s the other word for dying
That’s the word for me and you passing through.

Love, that’s the word for eternity
That’s the word for nobody
Like me and you passing through.

I know you know you made me crazy
You know I know how low I let you down
Sorrow is loving you more now that you’re not around

Take this kiss I forgot to give
Teach me how to live
Take these words I forgot to say
Know I meant them anyway.
So far, so near, I’m on my knees
I pray the dead can hear
I love you now, I loved you then
And when I die, I’ll love you all over again.

Sorrow is loving you more
Sorrow is loving you more
Sorrow is loving you more
Now that you’re not around.

Event details:

May 23, 2012 at 7:30 pm
The Marsh Theater
1062 Valencia St., San Francisco, 94110
(parking at 21 St. & Bartlett, 3 blocks from 24th & Mission BART)
tickets $10-$15: www.themarsh.org/rising
by phone: 415-282-3055

(click on the flyer image to the left to expand)

May © Copyright 2012  Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): On the one hand, you’re facing a sticky dilemma that you may never be able to change no matter how hard you try. On the other hand, you are engaged with an interesting challenge that may very well be possible to resolve. Do you know which is which? Now would be an excellent time to make sure you do. It would be foolish to keep working on untying a hopelessly twisted knot when there is another puzzle that will respond to your love and intelligence. Go where you’re wanted.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): From an astrological perspective, it’s the New Year season; you’re beginning a fresh cycle. How would you like to celebrate? You could make a few resolutions — maybe pledge to wean yourself from a wasteful habit or self-sabotaging vice. You could also invite the universe to show you what you don’t even realize you need to know. What might also be interesting would be to compose a list of the good habits you will promise to cultivate, and the ingenious breakthroughs you will work toward, and the shiny yet gritty dreams you will court and woo.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “My father-in-law was convinced that his sheepdogs picked up his thoughts telepathically,” writes Richard Webster in his article “Psychic Animals. “He needed only to think what he wanted his dogs to do, and they would immediately do it. He had to be careful not to think too far ahead, as his dogs would act on the thought he was thinking at the time.” To this I’d add that there is a wealth of other anecdotal evidence, as well as some scientific research, suggesting that dogs respond to unspoken commands. I happen to believe that the human animal is also capable of picking up thoughts that aren’t said aloud. And I suspect that you’re in a phase when it will be especially important to take that into account. Be discerning about what you imagine, because it could end up in the mind of someone you know!

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Your right brain and left brain have rarely been on such close speaking terms as they are right now. Your genitals and your heart seem to be in a good collaborative groove as well. Even your past and your future are mostly in agreement about how you should proceed in the present. To what do we owe the pleasure of this rather dramatic movement toward integration? Here’s one theory: You’re being rewarded for the hard work you have done to take good care of yourself.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A South African biologist was intrigued to discover an interesting fact about the rodent known as the elephant shrew: It much prefers to slurp the nectar of pagoda lilies than to nibble on peanut butter mixed with apples and rolled oats. The biologist didn’t investigate whether mountain goats would rather eat grasses and rushes than ice cream sundaes or whether lions like fresh-killed antelopes better than Caesar salad, but I’m pretty sure they do. In a related subject, Leo, I hope that in the coming weeks you will seek to feed yourself exclusively with the images, sounds, stories, and food that truly satisfy your primal hunger rather than the stuff that other people like or think you should like.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): There are only a very few people whose ancestors were not immigrants. They live in Africa, where homosapiens got its start. As for the rest of us, our forbears wandered away from their original home and spread out over the rest of the planet. We all came from somewhere else! This is true on many other levels, as well. In accordance with the astrological omens, I invite you Virgos to get in touch with your inner immigrant this month. It’s an excellent time to acknowledge and celebrate the fact that you are nowhere near where you started from, whether you gauge that psychologically, spiritually, or literally.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “When I’m good, I’m very good,” said Hollywood’s original siren, Mae West, “but when I’m bad I’m better.” I think that assertion might at times make sense coming out of your lips in the next few weeks. But I’d like to offer a variation that could also serve you well. It’s articulated by my reader Sarah Edelman, who says,

“When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m batty, I’m better.” Consider trying out both of these attitudes, Libra, as you navigate your way through the mysterious and sometimes unruly fun that’s headed your way.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The Weekly World News, my favorite source of fake news, reported on a major development in the art world: An archaeologist found the lost arms of the famous Venus de Milo statue. They were languishing in a cellar in Southern Croatia. Hallelujah! Since her discovery in 1820, the goddess of love and beauty has been incomplete. Will the Louvre Museum in Paris, where she is displayed, allow her to be joined by her original appendages and made whole again? Let’s not concern ourselves now with that question. Instead, please turn your attention to a more immediate concern: the strong possibility that you will soon experience a comparable development, the rediscovery of and reunification with a missing part of you.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Seventeenth-century physicians sometimes advised their patients to consume tobacco as a way to alleviate a number of different maladies, from toothaches to arthritis. A few doctors continued recommending cigarettes as health aids into the 1950s. This bit of history may be useful to keep in mind, Sagittarius. You’re in a phase when you’re likely to have success in hunting down remedies for complaints of both a physical and psychological nature. But you should be cautious about relying on conventional wisdom, just in case some of it resembles the idea that cigarettes are good for you. And always double check to make sure that the cures aren’t worse than what they are supposed to fix.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Outer space isn’t really that far away. As astronomer Fred Hoyle used to say, you’d get there in an hour if you could drive a car straight up. I think there’s a comparable situation in your own life, Capricorn. You’ve got an inflated notion of how distant a certain goal is, and that’s inhibiting you from getting totally serious about achieving it. I’m not saying that the destination would be a breeze to get to. My point is that it’s closer than it seems.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): When most Westerners hear the word “milk,” they surmise it has something to do with cows. But the fact is that humans drink milk collected from sheep, goats, camels, yaks, mares, llamas, and reindeer. And many grocery stores now stock milk made from soybeans, rice, almonds, coconut, hemp, and oats. I’m wondering if maybe it’s a good time for you to initiate a comparable diversification, Aquarius. You shouldn’t necessarily give up the primal sources of nourishment you have been depending on. Just consider the possibility that it might be fun and healthy for you to seek sustenance from some unconventional or unexpected sources.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You wouldn’t want to play a game of darts with an inflatable dartboard, right? If you were a smoker, you’d have little interest in a fireproof cigarette. And while a mesh umbrella might look stylish, you wouldn’t be foolish enough to expect it to keep the rain out. In the spirit of these truisms, Pisces, I suggest you closely examine any strategy you’re considering to see if it has a built-in contradiction. Certain ideas being presented to you — perhaps even arising from your own subconscious mind — may be inherently impractical to use in the real world.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Rob Brezsny’s “Free Will Astrology.”

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In our recent podcast interview with Jeff Brown, author of Soulshaping, he explains what ultimately motivated him to leave his successful career in law to pursue his “innate image.” Offering guidance to anyone who is compelled to do the same, Jeff also explains concepts like “The Healthy Masculine” and “The Divine Feminine,” and shares inspirational stories of his work with the Open Heart Gang.

Intrigued? Tune in to Jeff Brown’s interview below and be sure to share it with others who may be searching for their soul’s purpose.

Did you enjoy the interview? Head over to the Soulshaping forums to chat with Jeff Brown.

Visit the SOULSHAPING FORUMS

BONUS: 3 things Jeff Brown would like readers to take away from Soulshaping:

“That they do not have to hide their light under a bushel of shame; that each of them has a profound reason for being here in this lifetime, and that they can both excavate and actualize it, whatever stands in their way.”

Saltibarsciai,

Serves 6

3 Eggs, hard boiled, cooled, peeled, and quartered length-wise

6 cups Low Fat Buttermilk

4 large Beets (2 15oz cans of cooked, shredded beets may used instead)

1 Cucumber, peeled and diced, without seeds

1 cup Green Onion, finely chopped

2 Radishes, thinly sliced

Fresh Dill, finely chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

Eight servings of your favorite potato: boiled, roasted, fried, etc. Traditionally served as a side dish.

Directions:

Boil the beets for about 30 minutes. Drain, and set aside to cool. (Skip this step if using canned beets.)

When the beets are cool enough to touch, peel the skin off and shred them. Or for a more elegant presentation, julienne the beets.

In a large glass bowl, add buttermilk to the shredded beats until covered, and a the consistency of a medium-thick soup. If the buttermilk is too think, it can be thinned with a little cold water. Add cucumber, green onion, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

To serve, place to egg quarters in the bottom of a bowl. Gently add soup to fill. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream, radishes, and dill. Serve with hot potatoes on the side, and a tall glass of pilsner.

 Featured Images by La Grande Farmers’ Market and Pille – Nami-nami on Flickr Courtesy of Creative Commons Licensing