Awaken the Sacred Women's Circle Byron Bay Retreat

We Are The Dreamers

It is my honour to welcome you home, to call forth your inner knowing and introduce you to a growing community of inspiring women across the globe who are dreaming in a new way.

It's quite the journey as women to find our way in a world that so eagerly wishes to compare and define us from the outside in.

It can be very discombobulating to find oneself in a place where things that once felt important no longer hold the same meaning... knowing you're on the precipice of something new but not quite knowing what that means or where it's all going.

What I can say for certain is that the wheels of change are in motion and if you’re reading this it's likely you’re feeling it.

Yet, beneath all the noise there is a wise whisper of reason calling you in... calling you home. To Nature - and your true nature - that timeless safe-haven where guidance is given freely and you remember your innate capacity to restore balance; within and without.

Let us nourish the soil for this collective return to the garden, where all flowers are welcomed to grow and unfurl in their own divine timing.

Singing together, we remember harmony.

It is my genuine belief that if we continue to come together as women, holding the intention to empower one another with knowledge, wisdom, resources and genuine support, we will lead the re-love-ution to a harmonious heart-centred world.

And so it is.

Based on Bundjalung Country in the Byron Shire, Fiona Louise is a Sound Healer, Ceremonial Musician & Retreat Facilitator devoted to a collective reconnection to Nature and her teachings, wholesomeness, healing and conscious community.

I am a student of life, along side you, curating spaces to share practices and teachings that have helped me to find balance, beauty and meaning within this mysterious human experience.

It wasn't until my mid-20s that I finally touched upon a way of perceiving that truly spoke to me; body, mind and soul. Life up to that point had always been marked with an underlying sense of yearning - without ever knowing what I was yearning for. This manifested in many ways, some beneficial and others less so. The "seeking" lead me to beautiful teachers and many different teachings, fuelled by a deep desire to find meaning and comfort within this human experience. Almost two decades on and a lot of learning in between, I now understand this journey through the lens of myth and archetypal story. From the ashes of what was - the outdated and limited ways of seeing and being - entirely new visions arose. Along with this rebirth came a renewed sense of purpose, a new direction and an opening of gifts that, up until then, had been resting quietly within. From darkness a lotus blooms.

Since then I've lived many different lives; cycles within cycles, different countries, cities and communities, following the call of spirit, collecting memories and songs along the way. It hasn't always made sense or been as graceful as I would have liked. Naturally the path of heart is a reckoning with all parts of self; tweaking one's beliefs and deepest fears, stretching who we think we are well beyond what feels safe. One thing for sure is that it has been more evolutionary and beautiful than I could have ever contrived.

Awaken the Sacred is an expression of my deepest gratitude to this great mystery and the many gifts received, to the sacred lands that hold and nourish me, to my ancestors, teachers, family, spiritual allies and growing community of courage and heart that inspires me in countless ways.

May all that we share be for the benefit of all.

About >>

It’s not happening to you, it’s happening for you.

This game of life, this Lila. Sliding doors and fated meetings, synchronicities followed in faith. Equal trust and curiosity. How do you know when you’ve done enough? Is it better to tighten your grip and navigate your way through the storm front or to jump ship entirely in search of calmer waters? Perhaps it makes more sense to relax and go with the tides, trusting beyond logic that the currents of life always lead you exactly where you need to be. Is a strong intention strong enough? What is intuition and what is mind? Where is the line between action and surrender… is it all just a moment by moment sentience? Only stillness knows.

What if the very thing you fear most is actually the gatekeeper of your own liberation?

Watching, listening, feeling. Self, other and all life. Macro and micro. The play of energy within and all around. It’s nuanced and deep, a confluence of conditioning and karma. Rest assured there are no mistakes. All is divine timing. With new eyes we are learning to see underwater as simultaneously we learn about what it is that we are seeing. That which was once blanketed in darkness emerges, strange in some ways yet familiar in others. A framework of growth offers some sense of sure-footedness as we set sail into unknown waters. Even the most basic knowledge of cycles provides welcomed context and support in accepting the rise and fall of phenomena. Kindness and compassion are key. Forgiveness a holy act. Trust our greatest ally on this path. Humility nourishes the soil for harmonious expansion. Unconditional Love the way forward, always.

So why do you do what you do? I ask as I ask myself. Why do you think like you think? Is it working? From where do your long-held beliefs originate? Are they serving your highest unfolding here and now? One can’t deny that everything is speeding up, surely this is no time for dilly dallying.

Curiosity illuminates and light transforms all.

Beloved Mirror, fractal of The One, Thank you. I honour you, I love you. Know that I’m sincerely humbled and grateful for the gift of sight and for what I am learning in your reflection.

Twist and turn around the centre
Spiralling through time
Formed from dust of shooting stars
That twinkle in your eyes
Seeking truth you traveled far
Only to return
This place of beauty
Place of pain
This land where all is learned

Symphonies of nothingness
Choirs of realms unseen
Leading into deeper space
Through moments in between
Toward the centre rivers merge
All thought and form dissolve
Opposites are reconciled
Mysteries resolved

You speak in wind
Shaping sands
Etch patterns in my palms
Lines of laughter
Tears of loss
On mists that rest in moss

To gift it All…everything

And trust you’ll lead me home
To bow to you and kiss the Earth
To know that All is Done; for

We have remembered

We have forgiven

All life now reunited

Hearts aligned
Past left behind
Fire of Spirit ignited

Quiet now, child
Drink it in
Sweet stillness of unity
Nowhere to go
Forever home
Forever wild and free 𓂀

Surges of sadness well
Waves of tenderness
For the children
The women
For the men who’ve forgotten how
For this earth and all she holds in her vastness

It requests of you
To love so much
Begging you to forgive
To see more widely

To go deeper

To know those same seeds of cruelness
Of forgetfulness
Reside within us all

When it all feels “out there”
A world gone mad
Voices raised
Fingers pointed this way and that
When blame and shame and separation abound
There is an invitation to go within
To Listen
To Feel

To Remember

For what is this if not a game of remembering?
Albeit easily forgotten

May the ring of Truth sound in every cell
A reminder of Harmony
Of Kindness
Of Wholesomeness; and
The transformative force that is Vulnerability
Like a river that cuts through stone
Like warm rays of morning sunshine that melt ocean ice, lifting it as mist toward a sky of hidden stars
Like rainfall that quenches desert sand igniting a rainbow fire of flowers in bloom

Love is the Way

Gather together
Come together and Feel
Come together to Heal
Do it for the ones who can’t or won’t
Do it for you
Do it because in some quiet place within it’s the only thing that truly makes sense
Let it be your contribution to those who are still sleeping, yet to remember this is all a dream; and

We are the Dreamers

Love this world and everything in it back to balance

If not now, then when?
If not you, then who?

Yesterday has passed
Tomorrow never comes
Sooner or later truth shall emerge
And when it does I know you will agree

The only way out is in

All those whisperings you follow
All the callings of the heart
All those secret clues
Just for You
Speak to you in light
Listen child, open
For they’re sure to lead you home
To a place of truth
A place of pure
A place you’ve always known

Stars surround
Shining light
Remember Who You Are
Flow forth from rainbow waterfalls
Bloom bright, oh cosmic flower
Learning Love
Gifting Trust
Filled with emptiness
Fragrant sweet
Across which we meet
The uniqueness that is You

For heaven knows you’re needed now
Please be just who you are
No one else could take your place
Radiant One of a trillion stars
Illumination from within
Cast light into the dark
This mystery
The song of You
Ember of divine spark

Growing seed of knowingness
Stretch toward the Sun
Limbs unfurl to catch the light
Roots embrace the earth
Drink from clouds, Sacred Waters
Crystalline memory
Ancient secrets
Blood of time
Akashic flows through You and Me

All those whisperings you follow
All the callings of your heart
All those secret clues
Just for You
Like fire in the night
Listen child, open
For they’re sure to lead home
To a place of Truth
Place of Peace
A place you’ve always known 𓂀

Know the Angels will come again as we heal our internal war and become like innocent children.

// Claire Heartsong

Each woman has potential access to Rio Abajo Rio, this river beneath the river. She arrives there through deep meditation, dance, writing, painting, prayermaking, singing, drumming, active imagination, or any activity which requires an intense altered consciousness.

A woman arrives in this world-between-worlds through yearning and by seeking something she can see just out of the corner of her eye.

She arrives there by deeply creative acts, through intentional solitude, and by practice of any of the arts.

// Clarissa Pinkola Estés

To all the women who touched my heart so profoundly during our time together, and to dear @sallymustang for your trust and calling us all together to create magic… thank you ✨

As women we are always connected.

Life is so full. We all juggle many plates and deadlines, callings to follow-up and hearts to hold. So let’s make an agreement shall we? Let’s relieve each other of any thoughts that lead to places of doubt as to the value or unconditionality of our connection.

Let’s remind one another, here and now, that our love, friendship and the lessons we’ve learned together transcend space, time and most most certainly any words we could use to describe them.

So even if we don’t see one another or speak as often as we’d like, let’s remind one another that we are always connected - always. That in the centre of it all; the haste, the requests and to-do lists; I feel you, am barracking for you, appreciate you, honour you and love you so so deeply.

Yes, you. I’m talking to you xx

Because sound unites without preference.

Because it connects us to ourselves, each other, nature, culture and this precious moment. Because it makes us feel, move, create and contemplate. What was, what is and what could be.

Because it inspires, intrigues, ignites and shapes reality.

Walk into the fire let it burn you to a cinder
Watch the smoke of all that’s been be nourishment for trees
Feel the heat, feel it all, the immensity of life
This precious gift
This mystery
These temples formed of light

They’re everywhere, The Dreamers.

…the ones who dream of something different.

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This confrontation is the first test of courage on the inner way, a test sufficient to frighten off most people, for the meeting with ourselves belongs to the more unpleasant things that can be avoided so long as we can project everything negative into the environment. ⠀
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But if we are able to see our own shadow and can bear knowing about it, then a small part of the problem has already been solved: we have at least brought up the personal unconscious. ⠀
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The shadow is a living part of the personality and therefore wants to live with it in some form. It cannot be argued out of existence or rationalised into harmlessness.⠀
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// Carl Jung

When I lived in Mexico I was introduced to the term Artesano, referring to artists who hand-make and sell their creations for a living. Translated, Artesano means “craftsman” and is made up of two words; arte (art) and sano (healthy or in good health). Here it is implied that art and good health are entwined… for both the artist themselves and anyone touched by their creative expression.

In my experience, I can vouch for the fact that when a song comes through in response to a moment or experience, there is a self-soothing that takes place in singing it. A healing, as it were. A level of truth and authenticity expressed that transcends lyrics or melody, beyond the song. A frequency that invokes feeling and finds spaces of resonance in others.

For Me, For All came through in a moment when I was attuned to the immensity of suffering on this planet (very likely after watching the nightly news, which for good reason I rarely do). Even though I hold a wider view that all is unfolding in accordance with a divine plan, at times I am paralysed by a depth of sadness that seems to reach far beyond my own life. In the face of all that is in need of rebalancing, one can easily feel small and insignificant… stretched in faith. And whilst I’m under no false pretences that I alone can prevent wars, famines, floods, tsunamis, injustice, disconnection or any of the challenges we’re facing as a collective, I do have power in tending to those spaces within my own being as well as the ability to exercise my will to call in something different for my own life.

…to fully accept what is - just as it is - but choose another path. Of peace awakening. We all have this choice, in fact, and it is in this way large scale change can be realised together, rapidly.

I write to bring perspective and light to the human experience and to sing sweetness into places that feel cold. To find humour in seeming chaos and delight in the divine play of it all… this beautiful magical wild existence. Beyond anything, it is my wish to bring about lightness, love, joy, remembrance, and perhaps inspire a little more compassion, kindness, forgiveness and humility.

This is my prayer; For Me and For All.

I remember this place. Where roads meet and morning light casts newness onto a blue-black blanket of stars. I’ve been here before, but everything looks different this time.

Rises have fallen, seasons have cycled, buds have bloomed and been swallowed by soil many times over. Flowers have flowered and new shoots have pushed their way through earthen skin, reaching for warmth. Reaching for something unknowable. Something mystical, encoded with secrets yet shared freely across the blueprint of all creation.

Countless caterpillars have found flight, catching light as they dance between shadows. Springs of liquid akasha have sprung out of mountains and up from valleys. Rivers have changed course in their haste to meet the ocean. Some have halted and begun to stagnate.

Still, humbled, present with what is, I look side-to-side, then straight ahead. Each road a different journey, different travellers, leading to different destinations

…at least in this skin.

None offer certainty, they can’t. Only learning.

Resting both hands across my belly I give space for water to speak. Her voice is silent and familiar. Her wisdom clear like rain, flowing gracefully into inner spaces thirsty for cleansing and nourishment. Her teachings are gentle but wield the force of waves… those of turbulent oceans whose frothy crests lick salted winds. The kind that can erode, devour and change the shape of continents. The kind that can reclaim life in an instant.

Left.

She speaks.

Go left and let the rest unfold.

Drink water. Drink life. Death is birth. Endings are beginnings. Nothing is real. Truth is Light. Light is All. All is One, expressed as Frequency and reconciled through Harmony.

She speaks.

Simplicity is the outer shell of infinite complexity. Complexity is nested in simplicity. Energy is directed by will. To feel is to heal. Everything is but cycles within cycles.

She speaks.

Change is evolution, to evolve one must change. Joy is contagious. There are no mistakes, none.
Forgiveness is freeing. Music is medicine. Life is Art. Love is the key to all doors.

// continued in comments

“Be still” whispered the mountains, for they had seen so much. Seasons of sun and snow and storms so strong they shook leaves from trees.
Stillness, their state.
Stillness, their teacher.
Stillness, a doorway to knowing life and all her secrets.
She listened for a time to their silence, hearing beyond sound and sensing their stillness within hers.
Home.
And when the skies broke open and gathering mists gifted their tears to the earth below, she too cried.
One with the sky, she was.
One with the mountains.
One with the overwhelming knowing that harmony is truth and that all life is connected.
“Harmony”, she whispered to the mountains.
“Harmony”, she sung without sound to the sky.
Harmony the secret, hidden in plain sight; everywhere, all around.
“Be still” whispered the mountains, for they had seen so much.
Be still, for you are always home.

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Cosmic mystery, wrapped in body. What a curious design indeed. This mystery of life. To share. To ponder.

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Two songbirds and a bunch of cheeky monkeys.⠀
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Our last rehearsal for Music of the Mystics turned out to be a mutual serenading. We heard echos of laughter on the wind and children frolicking in trees long before they found us. Such a sweet sonic exchange… enough to turn your heart into honey.⠀
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Deep gratitude for all Lex, @magdalena_siol and the epic @peacefulgrowing team have created in the valley. The joy of children is a gift for us all; for the kids, the land, the community and our collective future together.
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@dar_pan369 , @mapstonemusic , @peterteyspercussion @shaeh.sacred.garden @iselin_stoylen and I are so looking forward to sharing with you next Friday. A few tickets remain. ⠀
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// Singing Honey in your Heart by the sweetest of sweets Shaeh Shaeh. Link in Bio 🍯

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Silently she falls⠀
Dripping into a sweet smelling rose of peach and pink where there she rests in setting sunlight⠀
But before moon rise or the play of stars, a thirsty earth beckons⠀
Down down down into roots that wrap and twist and dig through moisten soil⠀
Entwined, as lovers, toes of trees share nourishment and secrets beneath our very feet⠀
Still she falls between stones and sand and silt, slipping through fortresses of ants and places where only caterpillars go to sleep ⠀
To dream⠀
To remember.⠀
All around a deep low hum, familiar and kind; the heartbeat of the great mother herself⠀
She listens⠀
Changes shape⠀
Mirrors in form; ⠀
The splendid choir of nature in change⠀
Decaying, blossoming, reaching, becoming⠀⠀
In darkness she merges with rivers so still that perhaps they’re not even rivers at all⠀
Crystalline clarity of colourless cool hold the story of all that has been⠀
Magnetic, the river seeks her embrace as only mothers do She merges⠀
Boundaries between earth and stone and water dissolve ⠀
Resolve⠀
Expand⠀
Into stillness⠀
Boundlessness⠀
Unity⠀
She, the still river, silent, beyond time⠀
Is;⠀
And isn’t⠀
Listening, still, to the blueprint of creation⠀
Infinite harmonies⠀
Awaiting the lotus’ call

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Western Science is approaching a paradigm shift of unprecedented proportions, one that will change our concepts of reality and of human nature, bridge the gap between ancient wisdom and modern science, and reconcile the differences between Eastern spirituality and Western pragmatism.⠀
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// Stanislav Grof, Beyond the Brain

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Everything is dual; ⠀⠀
everything has poles; ⠀⠀
everything has its pair of opposites; ⠀⠀
like and unlike are the same; ⠀⠀
opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree;⠀⠀
extremes meet; ⠀⠀
all truths are but half-truths; ⠀⠀
all paradoxes may be reconciled.⠀⠀
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// The Kybalion

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We are not the mind, We Are.⠀⠀
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Mind is the bridge between our finite human experience and the infinite nature of reality. ⠀⠀⠀⠀

We are limitless consciousness shaped into form for but a fleeting moment in never-ending time. And when our human experience comes to an end we simply unfold back into the swirling whirlpool of potential from where we came; where all is recycled, reshaped and born anew.⠀⠀
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There is no stand alone beginning or end, they are a simultaneous event. For one moment to be born another must fall away. And so it continues on for eternity... in a line that goes nowhere and in every direction all at once.⠀⠀
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All life - all creation - is an endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Opposites may be reconciled. All is One, expressed as everything.⠀⠀
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How we experience life is a direct mirror of our belief systems. What we think we see. How we feel colours the world around us. We are mirrors of and for ourselves, each other and everything that exists. Mirrors of mirrors. Teachers and students.⠀⠀
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And just like a magnet attracts and repels, so to do we; as walking talking thinking feeling electromagnetic aspects of the One. ⠀⠀
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To change ourselves, or the world around us, we must start by looking deeply into the mirror of our own lives; our beliefs, our patterns, our relationships and our actions in the world. No one else can do this for us. Change is an inside job... an internal work that shapes the outer world.⠀⠀
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All life is change. ⠀⠀
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Change is the only constant.⠀⠀
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I am you.⠀⠀
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You are I.⠀⠀
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We are One 𓂀

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Gratitude; a path without structure or goals, Guru or destination. Where is there to go? I’m already Here, Now, residing in the only moment there is…
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The more I surrender to the river of life as it flows through me, the more deeply I feel every single moment as a gift.

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Do not make the mistake of supposing that the little world you see around you - the Earth, which is a mere grain of dust in the Universe - is the Universe itself. There are millions upon millions of such worlds, and greater. ⠀
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And there are millions of millions of such Universes in existence within the Infinite Mind of THE ALL.⠀
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// Excerpt from The Kybalion⠀
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Image by @penabranca

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We had the recent pleasure of spending a week sailing around Fraser Island on a bonafide pirate ship with some of our dearest friends.⠀
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No agenda, no phones, inspiring conversation, good food, spontaneous harmonies, undulating sand dunes and breathtaking sunsets cast upon a backdrop of crystal clear ocean, white sand, cloud and sky. ⠀
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The simplicity is what stood out... that and the pricelessness of just being together. Coming together and allowing the magic of community arise.⠀
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How simple and transformative. ⠀
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// Singing along with Amrita, Ria and Avi on our beloved Migaloo 2

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Little Bird⠀
Spread your wings⠀
And fly

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A return to nature, my nature, ours. Nature herself. The place where I am lost and found simultaneously, humbled and refined, reminded, inspired.

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One day the notion that all life is a mirror of our beliefs really dropped in. It became an embodied knowing that everything we See, feel, fear, desire can all be shifted and refreshed through the conscious direction of will. ⠀⠀
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Furthermore, that the will to change, to See the world in a different way, IS the change. Incites change, makes it possible. That in the very act of reframing or reimagining we recreate the world around us, moment by moment.⠀⠀
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It’s so powerful to look back and observe how this revelation has unfolded and bore roots in my life, and just how deeply one can engage with the world around them if they so wish. Observing this in the people around me and how rich and colourful life can be is awe inspiring. What is possible is far beyond what the mind could contrive. ⠀⠀
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Nothing seems more worthwhile than the conscious participation in life. Living fully, deeply, broadly, courageously and in full colour. Tasting it all, sharing the findings, encouraging creativity and growth in myself and those around me.⠀⠀
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And there is nothing more rewarding than watching the people around me sparkle, shine and radiate kindness, creativity and experimentation for the sake of evolution. Like watching stars twinkle in a night sky, each with their own kind of shine and rhythm.⠀

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So you’ve woken up?⠀
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You’ve connected the dots and see a bigger picture. You’ve awakened to the notion that this is all one grand experiment; a journey, a work of art and the moment-by-moment expression of your deepest beliefs. ⠀
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You understand that you’re the author, the director and the obvserver all at once. That the plot is yours to bend and twist as you please and that it is never helpful to say “never”. Things are always changing. ⠀
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And in those moments when it all gets shaky and the world seems cold and hopeless, you accept the invitation to spend some time resting in that precious heart of yours. ⠀
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Listening.⠀
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Just listening. ⠀
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Captivated by the space that surrounds sound. That place of stillness where you can bare witness to what arises from the kind of conversation that needs no words.⠀
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So now here we are together where everything begins yet never truly ends, suspended on that infinitesimal point between rise and fall, growth and decay, doing what we can to remain balanced as we walk forward into the now.⠀
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And how wonderful it is; the colour, the chaos, the mess and the unpredictability of it all. ⠀
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And how tremendously interesting and inspiring to share this fleeting moment in never-ending time with you as your friend, your ally and a mirror of your incandescent light 𓂀

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Beloved Mexico, thank you for opening the world of colour, music, plants, magic and mystery in my heart and in my life. Everything changed when we met again.

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Awaken the Sacred Women's Circle Byron Bay

Fiona holds such a warm, welcoming presence. She transmits her reverence, care and love for All that is, with such brightness and luminosity.

To listen and deeply feel her music is an exquisite experience ~ it calls me back into remembrance of the joy, sadness and beauty of this existence.

I have such gratitude for this divine being, and feel so blessed to sit in the spaces she holds.

Lillian Donnell, Australia

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach

Clarissa Pinkola Estés

When I first met Fiona I thought ‘Wow, what a woman’ Her presence in circle is rooted in earth wisdom, a profound knowledge and a deep openness, welcoming everyone. Her music awakened parts of me that were asleep. A gift I will take with me is that Fiona made me remember how to have fun and find my freedom again.

Alice Kershaw, England

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Awaken the Sacred Women's Circle Byron Bay Blue Lotus

We Are The Dreamers

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