Dancing tango every week (sometimes several times per week), I adore Cubaocho the most of all the Milangos! Filled to the brim with historic art, authentic patois and burly men puffing idly on their fat Cuban cigars, I savor the music, the intricate footwork we master and the other world I have fallen into. Miraculous really, to sip wine in beveled crystal with velvet settees buoying me and the others, while the hypnotic trance brews. I know only one other person; Fret, a man I once danced with from Turkey. But, the place is packed and my mediterranean coloring blessedly helps me ‘blend’ in a bit as not too overt a neophyte. After all, this scene could be daunting- the flicks and flares some dancers exhibit are impressive. Not to mention the panache!
For 4 hours however, I tango nonstop, with complete strangers from all over the world; Havana, Copenhagen, Paris, Buenos Aires, Nepal… It is extraordinary to not speak another’s language, yet a glance of the eye, an outstretched arm and I am suddenly gliding around the floor ( in reverse -lol), a lovely cologne wafting into my hair and a silver fox from Buenos Aires embracing me more intimately than some lover’s have. All you do is stay close, feel within. No thinking or analyzing, just sensing, not even anticipating. Let go into the gesture. Right up my alley!!
The bubble of sensuality, mystery and that dynamic ‘push-pull’ so classic of tango is quite a marvel. The addiction to learn the endless pivots and ochos is immediate and the kismet of discovering someone through dance and no spoken language is quite an art form.
Sometimes I think it’s the waltz, other times a rumba and then no, I realize Argentine Tango contains a bit of worship; a true reverence between the feminine and the masculine. This dance is slow and breathy and also luring and intoxicating. The gentle bob of syncopation, the firm arm stance and the willingness to surrender to a man’s certain lead creates a foray from everyday life. It is unnerving at first and then slightly narcotic, one could say.
By midnight, my legs are getting wobbly in high heels, my hair is strewn and the Miami heat is so thick that I have sweated certainly on way too many partners. But, then again, we all have!! It is part of the haze, so many senses entwining, just as so many ethenicities of the world have melded here on Calle Ocho tonight.
As I sway out the door into the tropical night, I spy the crescent moon dangling over a modern skyscraper to the East. Miami is a stunning city and I am cascading through time warps; the old-time tango music, Little Havana centered in these streets, my late mother being raised in this neighborhood prior to World War 2 and the threading of time and space and history as one. I feel grounded and yet enchanted simultaneously, this city I have come to love, wrapped on an aquamarine bay, bursting at its seems, all ages groups and cultures blending. Tomorrow it’s Salsa on the beach and Thursday Brazilian Samba, but tonight I am reminded that ArgentineTango is my elixir. I am filling myself up within, for all that I will in turn pour out ‘on the road’ when my speaking schedule begins.
Meanwhile, gracias CubaOcho and all my fellow tangueros!!
I was keyed in by a few friends, that February 29, 2016 is a special energetic day in our world, as in the system of numerology (how numbers and birth dates, etc add up on an ancient system of insights) the numbers 2.29.2016 individually tallies up to 1111 and some of you know I have had a REALLY profound connection to this configuration over the past 2 plus years, with 11:11 or 1111 appearing everywhere, almost every day, including the condo I am living in in now- on 11111 11th st !!
I have come to learn that this 4 column depiction is a representation that one is being reminded from the Universe, angelic guides, a master guardian or God that when 11:11 keeps appearing you are being asked to stay open and aware and be conscious about your life path, the choices you make and even more directly that you are being encouraged that the efforts you are selecting and embracing are that of your life work.
I have lived through some hellacious times, bedridden for years, a broken back in a body cast for a year, then a decade later loosing my career and all my savings, home, marriage and more to misdiagnosed Lyme disease over 10 years, and I rallied, dug deep, embraced deep healing work with the beauty of Natural medicine and the profound powers of spiritual healing. The great reward is that I healed 9several times over, and went on to become the #1 spokesperson in the USA for Lyme disease awareness and a beacon of light for the critical key the USA needs for more Integrative Medicine to address chronic illness.
Other miracles were born– I became a radio host, an internationally recognized teacher and was gifted with the ability to heal others (some times spontaneously) by being trained by one of the top medical Intuititives in the USA. And, my work and the path I now walk with pride ,has helped me meet thousands of people and forge so many magnificent connections and friendships.
If I did not embrace these awarenesses and instead went on my merry way or stayed at home in my little New England town, none of this would have occurred. I would not be walking the path I am on and helping break down the walls of denial surrounding Lyme disease and teaching others how to ignite the powers of the mind-body healing pathway via my workshops and teachings.
11:11 is my reminder that the risks I have been taking to be a pioneer, to live selflessly, to let go of my old ‘comfort’ zone and to help awaken others is just what I am supposed to be doing and in all honesty, I love it, though some nights I fall into bed bone tired from the endless energy I pour out into others and into the world, sometimes in group or mass settings. It is wonderful, enlightening, expansive and something I can NOT stop paying attention to.
With all this in mind surround Leap day this year, I kept feeling a lovely chapter from my newest book, rummaging through my mind all day. SO, I took it as a signal that I am meant to share this message to you about Pathways– specifically our unique individual Life and Healing Pathway. I hope you enjoy these words. They are from my heart to yours.
Blessings
Katina I.Makris, CCH, CIH
Our Own Inner Healing Pathway
Chapter 19 from “Autoimmune Illness & Lyme Disease recovery Guide, Mending Body, Mind & Spirit”, by Katina I. Makris, CCH, CIH
I love the word pathway. As a college student I recall favoring exploring the back pathways to a dorm or classroom building instead of following the main route everyone else used. When out on horseback, the shadowed hidden paths at the wood’s edge beckoned me inwards. As a plein air artist I spent three years on a series called “Pathways” capturing meandering streams or sun blazed ruts through a meadow with my buttery oil paints.
“Pathway” suggests a trail to me. Not a blazed, trampled one, but instead one that is evocative and maybe even secret or discrete. Likewise, a pathway gives me a direction. It suggests a way to go; a known route to a destination. Those marked hiking tails up mountainsides maintain distinct progress, as step by step you ascend to the summit, worn roots and knobby boulders passed over by others before you. The path is reassuring—in fact, it is an intricate map of sorts.
I have guided us through the marvelous systems of our body, illustrating the symphony of the endocrine system and the vast network of the nervous system, its delicate dendrites, sending impulses across fibers as we elect to move an arm or unconsciously take a breath. These bodily system pathways still marvel me with their faithful workings and interplay.
A pathway of particular interest and great regenerating capacity is the invisible one working between our mind and body. This pathway was diminished for decades bytwentieth century doctors, as they chalked all illnesses and recoveries to physical measures. Why would a mind be involved in physical processes? This blip in modern era medicine will likely be recorded as merely a “disconnected” moment in doctoring, as for thousands of years prior, the mind and spirit were entwined with healing, even taking in great reverent religious tones in Europe of the Middle Ages.
At the dawn of thetwentieth century, we witness the growing understanding that our emotions and thoughts actually very much do interconnect with our physiology. Though hospital surgeons remain removed from their patients daily care, the nursing staff pays very keen attention to their post-op charges, working with great nurturance and attention to keep their spirits positive, coaching for a swift recovery and more optimal return to well-being. Nurses intimately know the feelings of their patients, how vulnerability creates fear, pain evokes distress, isolation creates depression.
The endocrine system appears to be the known bodily system that interplays continuously between mind and body. Anger can raise your blood pressure, worry cause a knot in your stomach, grief a lump in your throat, and too much of a workload can create tension in your neck and shoulders. These are just the most obvious acute manifestations of our emotions triggering physiological recourse.
When we recognize that chronic illnesses carry an emotional footprint, too, doesn’t that make you curious to explore the pathway to the origin? My interest is certainly piqued.
The section ahead on the seven energy chakras conveys the assorted emotions piggy-backing with the specific bodily symptoms. The entire human body is not randomly designed. Joy and sorrow favor the lungs, indignation the gallbladder. Metaphysics studies this interplay. Coming to understand these interrelationships puts an extremely different posture on doctoring, as there are more influences to affect change and cure than just externally directed modalities. Humans bear inner powers and use of the mind is a prominent player.
Take a look at each of the 7 chakras in the map section. Here the essential interpretations are illustrated. Much of this chakra information is centuries old. The ancient healers of worldwide cultures follow these threads. It is empowering to learn how to activate the energy of each chakra site and in turn promote more energy flow or the effect of balancing runaway energy in your bodily systems.
The art of stillness, creativity, will, affirmation, intention, meditation, and prayer all have intrinsic roles. These personal powers are natural and free and all yours. You do not have to pay someone for these healing services, you merely must practice them faithfully and with care, because reinforcement on a daily basis is what will translate to cellular change at the physiological level, enabling you to transform a condition, state, or symptoms.
You have the power. My job is to orient you to the pathway. Just as the map of a hiking trail serves the hiker, these pages will help guide you on the mind-body pathway. Igniting this circuit is not that difficult once you understand. The work is in finding clarity within yourself, making a commitment, and persisting with daily practice.
visit wwww.Amazon.com or a local bookstore for a copy of “Autoimmune Illness & Lyme Disease Recovery Guide, Mending Body, Mind & Spirit”, published by Helios Press
Katina I. Makris 