18/02/2023
For Lent, I am bringing together two giant passions of mine, Sacred Body Wisdom and Incubation. Sacred Body Wisdom is a newly developed somatic artistry used to explore the hidden depths and Incubation, a religious practice of sleeping in a sacred area with the intention of experiencing a divinely inspired dream or cure.
February comes from the Latin word Februa, which means purification rites, as Februus is the Roman god of purification. It was believed that purification made way for fertility and creativity, known today as spring cleaning.
In the Christian tradition, Lent is a time of fasting, self-restraint, prayer, and repentance that takes place over the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Easter feast. It's 40 days when Jesus (and Mary Magdalene) fasted in the desert, resisting temptations from Satan and preparing for a life of public ministry.
Incubation was practised by many ancient cultures. In perhaps the most well-known instance among the Hebrews, found in 1 Kings 3, Solomon went to Gibeon "because that was the most renowned high place to offer sacrifices." There "the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night," and Solomon asked God for the gift of an understanding heart. Among the members of the cult of Asclepius, votive offerings found at ritual centres at Epidaurus, Pergamum, and Rome detail the perceived effectiveness of the method. Incubation was adopted by certain Christian sects and is still used in a few Greek monasteries. Modern practices for influencing dream content through dream incubation use more research-driven techniques, but sometimes they incorporate elements reflecting ancient beliefs.
A form of incubation was also used by the Iatromantes of the ancient Greeks. According to Peter Kingsley, Iatromantis figures belonged to a wider Greek and Asian shamanic tradition with origins in Central Asia. A main ecstatic, meditative practice of these healer-prophets was incubation. More than just a medical technique, incubation reportedly allowed a human being to experience a fourth state of consciousness different from sleeping, dreaming, or ordinary waking: a state that Kingsley describes as “consciousness itself” and likens to the turiya or samādhi of the Indian yogic traditions.
My all-time greatest passion and ever-deepening discovery is movement as medicine; for over two and a half decades, I have been exploring and mapping the body's ability to release mind patterning and traumatic memory by using movement to restore our psychological processes and emotional well-being. The wisdom within the body is fathomless in its ability to transform, transmute and heal.
By engaging with this pure feminine approach (left-brain), Sacred Body Wisdom will light the path to:
Trauma and Nervous System Health
Somatic Psychology
Shadow Work
Somatic Dance Therapy
Female body Intelligence
Embodied non-duality
Embodied Eldership
The Deep Feminine Mysteries
Body Sovereignty
Menstrual Cycle Wisdom
Menopause Wisdom
Accompanying us will be the most exquisite music, drenched with depth and deep feeling.
These classes will be an hour long and are for all ages, all genders and all levels of fitness.
Live and Recorded. Join me every day for 40 days for one hour, both Live and Replay. https://anaiyasophia.com/talks/sacred-body-wisdom-purifying-light-of-lent
