July 5, 2006
Greetings Anjlart Friends,
I trust your long independence celebration weekend included all the Summer fun that comes along with fireworks,
watermelon and good company.
Miraval Life in Balance
The first news that I would like to share with you all is about my trip to Miraval…”My Heaven.” I know that I was
pretty apprehensive about going again and wondering if the cost was worth the end product. My, oh my!…let me
just say…it was beyond my imagining. Where do I begin?
As some of you know I “thought” I was just going to lounge and relax. But the Universe truly does know better.
Emotions began to surface on my plane trip and so I took the advice of so many of my wise friends and I allowed my
self to sit with them and be fully aware. Breathing, being still, and quietly listening to what they had to say...as so
eloquently written in Sabrina Fay’s new book Visitors at My Door: Reflections of a Modern Day Medicine
Woman (of which she has so kindly used one of my art pieces).
This read was the best preparation for the six days to follow for in those days so many parts of myself came into
focus. It’s always amazing to me how much is in this life/self/body of mine when I allow it to slow down.
As I arrived I was greeted by the usual comfort and familiarity of the sweet souls that met me at the door. Welcome
back, Angie…are you ready to be pampered? Yes.
First an amazing lunch, then an hour to settle in and finally the long awaited trip to the Spa for my Ultimate
Ayurveda Body Treatment. (This is the treatment that I had randomly scheduled during my first trip to Miraval in
December of 2004 that literally jarred my awareness into a dimension that I had never before experienced.
Ayurveda deals with the measures of healthy living, along with therapeutic measures that relate to physical, mental,
social and spiritual harmony. This particular treatment is a 90 minute massage that ends with Shirodhara which
involves gently pouring a continuous
stream of warm oil on the forehead to promote relaxation and well being. This is a most sensuous experience ever!
My second trip to Miraval intentionally included the Ultimate Ayurveda Treatment and so, for this third visit, I was
now wise enough to schedule this same treatment for not only my first but also my last treatment of my stay as
well…which was the perfect closure after a very telling Equine Experience. Who knew I would be confronting a
fear so primal I didn’t even know I had. Urg! But it was during this experience that Wyatt Web introduced me to a
book that just rings of truths I’ve always known and have seriously needed to know.
Awareness by Anthony De Mello. I more than highly recommend this book and it is a perfect read after reading
The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle.
Anjlart
Under “New Releases” on the Home page of the Anjlart website you will see the newest painting, Paul’s Canyon
that was painted as a gift for a friend of mine who has just purchased a new home in Lake Isabella. The actual gift
was given as a blank canvas and so I took it back home to unveil the painting that awaited.
In a style that you will recognize the earth tones just came alive and emptied down to a section that was obviously
the raging river. The section of sky with clouds gives the painting a simple yet 3 dimensional feel that is unusual to
my work. I kept feeling like something was missing and then it came to me what the finishing touches should be;
Two metallic gold lines outlining each side of the canyon and intersecting at the place where the river begins only to
empty at the bottom of the paintings edge with a splash.
I housed the painting in my living room (only until his house was ready) where I do my daily morning meditation
and journal writing. Each day it brought such a sense of calm from the earthiness, and power and energy from the
river along with a sense of the unknown from the sky.
Now the painting has been moved to the home it was intended and I am experiencing quite a void where it once
hung. Which only means…it’s time for the next painting!
Anjlart Music
So much news is going on in this area. First is the newest tune Sweet Connection that was written the first
morning as I sat on the patio off my casita at Miraval. I (on purpose) did not take any art supplies (nor my guitar)
since I wanted to be totally empty of all of my “human doingness”…yet…this one piece wanted to be written so…by
hand and in my journal it flowed.
Sweet Connection is about how we connect with people and sometimes they move on without the clarity of
explanation. The message is always to keep the heart open and experience the sweetness as long or short as it
lasts staying in that place of stillness and calm and feeling the entire range of emotion.
So many messages from my experience at Miraval are in this piece that came from… a Grief workshop, Ayurveda
treatments/workshops, an awareness of the energy in the palm of our hands, and some elements from the
Passionate Lives workshop given by Lana Holstein. The music is minimal and the melody has a bit of an, unusual
for me, Jazzy flavor. It looks like I will have to add a third page for lyrics to include this tune on the website.
I’m not sure if Sweet Connection will be on the CD which I am currently designing, and which (by the way) will be
under studio production in just a few days. I am hoping that the CD will be good and ready for a release event just
nearing the end of the year… perhaps at holiday time. Stay tuned for updates on this project.
Okay…this is long enough so I would like to end this month’s newsletter with a reminder from Anthony De Mello’s
Awareness to…
“Wake Up” and “…have an openness to the truth, no matter what the consequences, no matter where it
leads you and when you don’t even know where it’s going to lead you…because…Your beliefs give you a
lot of security, but faith is insecurity.”
In Awareness,
Angeline/Anjlart
www.anjlart.com