Azaima Anderson

Because I’ve had so many wonderful people staying at the Heart and Wings Retreat Center, I wanted to give them more room. So I created a living space in the garage to use when I’m renting out all three units.

Among other improvents: I’ve converted the base of a leaky stock tank into a beautiful medicine wheel. It sits on a hill with great mountain and starlight views. I look forward to doing ceremonies there.

The crumbling old walkway has been replaced with one that’s intact.

There are now bancos for sitting on the front porch, when the rocking chair and swinging bench are occupied.

I’m grateful to the kind and generous people who have put their hearts and skills into the work.

As someone who has no interest in decorating, I’m especially gratified by the consistent five star reviews of all three guest units on airbnb.

Please consider a visit. The area has a lot to offer, but, in my humble opinion, the dogs, alone, would be worth the trip.

photo courtesy of Silver City Sun-News

I’ll be driving to Maine in July by way of the Swannanoa Gathering outside Asheville, NC, my favorite music camp. Here’s a link from my Untamed album to “Dawning over Swannanoa,†about the musicians who stay up all night playing there.

I’ll return to Silver City in October after taking part in another exciting Global Songwriters’ Connection FOCUS event in Nashville.

If you’re between NM and ME, and interested in having me perform and/or offer an “Untame Yourself” workshop in your area, please let me know. I’m condensing the workshop into an hour format in Truth or Consequences on May 14, so I can be flexible around a timing that might serve you.

I’ve had a great time since last May turning my place into a Guesthouse called the Heart and Wings Retreat Center. Silver City attracts artists and adventurers, so everyone who shows up is someone I’d enjoy getting to know. Although I provide local maps and brochures, I discover more about what Silver City has to offer just by talking to the people who stay here.

Most recently, I found out about a wolf sanctuary that I’ve since visited twice. It’s magical.

I don’t serve breakfast because no one would want to drink my green smoothies. The irony is that I instead get to take advantage of the food people leave behind in their kitchenettes. My favorite leftover was a slice of coconut cream pie.

Many of my guests take advantage of my healing services while they’re here. It’s often easier to relax and receive a healing session if you’re away from the obligations of your home environment. If you’re interested in a transformative weekend, please book some time here. Between the walks, the views, and the healing opportunities, I’m confident you’ll leave refreshed and renewed.

In this season of taxes, our thoughts turn to an accounting of what we have. It is tempting to focus on lack, to lament all we’ve spent and to rail against the government for appropriating and misusing our hard-earned funds. Whether or not we are justified in our attitude, it doesn’t feel good to be the victim.

I’ve created a recording to antidote the tax-time blues. I didn’t design it for this season in particular, but it may serve you well. It’s a series of Sufi prosperity mantras. They’re sung in Arabic, but translated in the CD leaflet.

Mantras reinforce positive thoughts through repetition. They connect us with our higher selves. While they won’t negate the reality of our current circumstances, they remind us of a dimension we inhabit that is inherently perfect and complete. Some of the qualities affirmed in these songs are mercy, compassion, gratitude, kindness, generosity, and the outpouring of blessings. And that feels better than worrying about money.

I composed the tracks on a silent retreat, almost whispering them into my Garage Band software. I wanted to create something soothing, hypnotic, relaxing, and, I hope, inspiring. The album interweaves 3-part vocals with guitar, flute and percussion. Jud Caswell recorded and produced it in his Brunswick, ME Frog Hollow Studio. Recording can be nerve wracking because it has to be perfect, or you’re stuck hearing your mistakes forever. But there was something about this style of music that created a relaxing studio atmosphere for all of us. None of us had ventured into this genre of music before, and we are happy with the outcome.

It has been well received. Here’s what Sacred Music Radio had to say:

“At Sacred Music Radio we often receive music which artists would like us to broadcast. To promote any music on Sacred Music Radio the music must be appropriate in that it is what we consider sacred and really beautiful. When we listened to Heart Lightening by Azaima Anderson the decision was really easy to make as we were so moved by the beauty and tranquility of the music on this album. We found it uplifting and inspiring. For example, after listening to the track “Bismillah” the words and the beautiful sound stay with me. For over a month we featured this track several times a day and now it is broadcast as one of the tracks on our playlist.â€

– Michael Kenton, Sacred Music Radio

You can taste test the recording by checking out a video of the first track.
Sink into gratitude and forget what you owe Uncle Sam. If you like what you hear and want more, you can get a copy here.

Silver City has an important new resource called Gila Mimbres Community Radio. Anyone can listen online at gmcr.org. It’s a breath of fresh air to hear real news and commentary from concerned individuals rather than the commercially sanitized messages that permeate even National Public Radio.

KURU fm is right on Silver City’s main drag, Bullard Street, across from the food co-op. We can wave at passing friends through the station’s large picture windows.

I’ve enjoyed several recent on air opportunities. Greg Renfro and Jean Eisenhower asked me to host their Silver City Acoustic show while they attended a Folk Alliance conference. I prepped all day, listening to tracks by the visiting artists I was going to interview, organizing my notes, questions, and station identification breaks. That process gave me tremendous respect for anyone makes a weekly hosting commitment. Though I madly shuffled papers throughout the two-hour program, some friends who listened indicated we sounded seamless enough. Whew.

A few weeks later, Greg and Jean had me on as a guest. Here’s that appearance. I was happy to have the chance to discuss not only my music, but also my healing work, retreat center and activism.

This month, Andrew Dahl Bredine and I came to the station to play our Gila river songs. We were promoting the Wild and Scenic Film Festival in support of attempts to resist the river’s diversion.

The following morning, Bija Aranow and I joined Paula Geisler’s radio show to discuss the threat of geoengineering. Chemtrails poison our air, earth and water, and we must build awareness of this problem if we are to have any hope of sustaining life on the planet. For more information on that topic, please visit geoengineeringwatch.org.

Silver City, NM is a magnet for artists, athletes and eccentrics. We’re not on anyone’s way anywhere, so you really have to want to be here to visit. But with a great collection of art galleries, top-flight restaurants, and beautiful hiking and biking trails, anyone’s visit is well rewarded.

Last month, I listed the Heart and Wings Retreat Center on airbnb.com and made several fun new friends as a result.

Because people can book a room and show up with barely a moment’s notice, I have a great incentive to keep the place clean.

One would assume from that airbnb’s name that I would have to serve breakfast, but you can select the amenities you provide. I offer guests their own kitchenette and they can feed themselves. I have never liked eggs, and it would be presumptuous to assume that anyone would go for one of my green smoothies first thing in the morning.

If you want to check out the Continental Divide Trail, I’m 15 minutes away. Here’s my airbnb listing. Stop by some time.

Last month, I had the privilege of marrying a couple of men who had been together for 46 years. One was 70 and the other was 80. It was a powerful and moving experience for all in attendance.

Someone told me a few years ago that my house was on sacred ground, and that the Apaches who used to live here held many weddings on the land. It seems more than fitting to revive the tradition, and to support marriage equality as well.

Here’s the wedding video. Grab a hanky and enjoy. It includes Aretha Franklin’s amazing recording of “My Cup Runneth Over.â€

Have you wondered why the simplest things are going wrong these days?

Recently, my dogs’ invisible fence containment system stopped working. After I closed the door to the room that contained its transmitter, I couldn’t open it, even with a key. These back-to-back malfunctions made me wonder whether Mercury was retrograde. Indeed it was.

Yesterday I went into Mexico, charged some items on my credit card with no problem and then had it refused on the basis of attempted fraud the next time I tried to use it. Last night three hours of my blog copy disappeared from the computer before I had the chance to save it. This morning, none of my outgoing mail was saved in the sent folder, despite apple’s promises to do so automatically. I expect this beat to go on for a couple of weeks, so it’s time to breathe deeply.

You may be besieged by minor annoyances such as these from now until June 30, but at least you’ll have a convenient scapegoat.

Mercury rules communication. It goes retrograde three or four times a year for about three weeks. This time, Mercury is retrograde in Gemini, the sign it rules.

What you can do:

• Beware of silver-tongued devils. They may sound convincing, but, more than likely, they will be missing a vital piece of information.
• Check your facts.
• Confirm appointments.
• Keep your appliances in good repair.
• Take nothing for granted.
• Allow extra time to correct things that will inevitably go wrong.
• You will do better finishing old projects than initiating any.

Consider each mishap a lesson in humility. Against the backdrop of the life-threatening and chaotic Uranus Pluto square, Mercury retrograde is nothing. But the little things can get to us while the big things may be so inconceivably horrible that we refuse to entertain their validity.

I’m changing the name of my business to Heart Lightning, as I enjoy facilitating quick results in others.  I have acquired a broad array of ways to help people get what they want, usually in just one session.

One of these is a healing modality I developed called Heart Lightning. It simultaneously combines metaphor, eye movement, felt sense, limiting belief, earlier experience and emotion. I really don’t know how or why it works, but I assume the unconscious gets so overwhelmed with all these stimuli that it gives up and releases the block. For whatever reason, Heart Lightning works fast.

Heart Lightning is also the title of my new CD of Sufi chants. I was attracted to the Sufi path in the early 90s because of its ability to effect instant transformation as well. Rather than wallowing in a problem, Sufis ask what qualities you would need to solve it. You repeat and affirm those qualities until you realize they’ve been part of you all along. Who knew?

Here’s a link to my ebook, Stalking Ecstasy, which is full of Sufi practices.

I composed the Heart Lightning songs on a Sufi retreat focused on prosperity. As in all Sufi retreats, we repeated specific Divine Names focused around the qualities we wished to cultivate. The great thing about the Divine Names is that their sound, alone, is effective, whether or not you have any idea what is being chanted. You are building your capacity for success just by listening.

I invite you to enjoy this new recording on any level that serves you, whether you fully immerse yourself in the practices, singing along, or use it to relax, as background music. Here’s the video of the first song, Bismillah.

Sacred Spirit Music Radio had this to say about it.

“Music on Sacred Music Radio must be sacred and really beautiful. When we listened to Heart Lightning by Azaima Anderson, the decision was really easy, as we were so moved by the beauty and tranquility of the album. We found it uplifting and inspiring. The words and the beautiful sound of the track, Bismillah stay with me. For over a month, we featured it several times a day, and now it is broadcast as one of the tracks on our playlist.”

Here’s a link to a free download of another song on the album, and an opportunity to purchase the entire album as a download or as a CD. May the music fulfill your every desire.

I’ve been Abbe for 57 years. It was a paternal ancestor’s last name that became my grandmother’s middle name and landed as my first. Among other things, it means a source of joy. I’ve had a good life and the name has served me well.

Along my spiritual road, I was given the name Azaima (pronounced uhZEEMuh). My Sufi friends have called me this for decades. It’s been defined as ecstasy, flexible strength and the divine down in your bones. I’ve decided to make it official.

It takes months of legal hoops to change one’s name, as anyone who’s been married knows. Much to my mother’s consternation, I kept my name when I got married. But as I’m recently amicably divorced, it seems an opportune time to change it.

My new name is Azaima B Anderson and my new website is azaima.com.

I appreciate your flexibility accommodating this shift. 

On May 25, 100 of us gathered under the marquee of Silver City, NM’s Energy Ideal Green Boutique. We stood just feet away from the local farmer’s market and a few feet further from the local food coop. Many people grow their own food here, and our march was more of an affirmation of people doing the right thing than an impotent rage against an unscrupulous titan.

 A friend and I drummed. Most carried signs. Our circuit took us down the main street, up the highway and around the annual Silver City Blues festival. We were greeted with honks from the drivers and raised fists from pedestrians. The organizer in front of me danced with her NO GMO sign as if it were the sexiest partner she’d ever encountered.

 The protest was organized on facebook by recent Aldo Leopold High School graduates. The woman who kicked off the event admitted she’d never used a bullhorn before. None of that mattered. The town was behind us. The local sign making shop offered a beautiful banner. The food coop served lemonade.

 I gave up believing that a demonstration would change policy after a million people mobilized to protest the Iraq war to no avail. Monsanto is so fully entrenched in our government that it doesn’t need to heed the citizen’s cry.

 But there is power in knowing you are part of a worldwide movement for a healthier future. When we take control of our food supply, it doesn’t much matter what Monsanto does.

 So here’s to people power and the gentle reminders we offer one another when we unite.

Yoga is union with all that is. That means acceptance of our foibles and pains as well as embracing our place in the world, with all its headaches and blessings. It is ironic that we must make peace with the present moment in order to transcend it.

 Yoga heightens our awareness so that we may become increasingly aware of our discomfort and move beyond it.

 Take time to breathe deeply and feel all the places you habitually ignore. Where are you sore? What thoughts race through your head? What feelings do you harbor?

 Stretch in any way that feels good. Make space for what is. Set an intention. How might you move, walk, stretch, breathe to affirm that intention? Let it be true.

 If you would like to schedule a private yoga session in person or by Skype, we can try to relieve some of your pain together and allow you to move forward with greater ease and powe

Ruthless Pluto will square rebellious Uranus until 2015. We see the disruptive effects of this cataclysmic combination in tornadoes, mass murders, earthquakes, abuses of power, and general unrest. If you’re complacent during these times, you’re not playing attention.

It’s an opportunity for great expansion, shedding the old, liberating yourself and moving beyond your fears into greater power. Grassroots efforts to stem the ravages of the earth are finding increased support, as global warming can no longer be denied. Will we be able to stem the destructive tide? Who knows? Would you prefer to ride this one out and regret not doing something while there was still time?

If you’d like a personal take on how this transit. shows up in your life, let’s talk. You can schedule an astrology reading here.

When we consider yoga, we often imagine tall slender flexible bodies doing things we cannot. But yogic union is possible in any body in any situation. It does not depend on a prescribed posture to work through you. When you have opened yourself, you can more easily unwind and find the freedom that lies beyond your constriction.

When our bodies are tense, we are apt to take something to relax. But our own hands and gravity will allow us to relax lot of this tension, ourselves. All we need is focused attention.

I imagine there is some time in everyone’s day where the neck and shoulders tighten. Breathe and feel the tension. You might make this your yoga tip for the day, every day. Reach where you can with your hands and massage the knots and tight places until they melt. Don’t let the resistance stay inside your body. Dig in. Imagine stressful sensations evaporating as your breath expands beyond them. 

Use your breath and mind to determine the exact location of the tightness and pain. Once the pain knows it has been understood, it no longer needs to sound its alarm.

As you breathe and feel into these tight places, they will soften. They will merge into the flow of energy coursing through the body. Yoga is union.  Once the body relaxes, it no longer demands attention. It’s a happy reunion. Welcome home.

If you have Skype, I can offer you a private yoga class in the comfort of your own home, wherever you are. Please visit azaimaanderson.com/yoga to schedule a session. If you’re near Silver City, NM, I’d be happy to meet you for yoga in person. 

I don’t even know how to start writing about this. It’s like deciding where to jump on the merry go round that is spinning faster than I feel is safe to board. Such is life.

The world is changing more rapidly than we can assimilate. Global warming, corruption, and technological advances overwhelm us.

There is an astrological reason for this. Uranus, planet of unexpected change, is squaring Pluto, governor of our unconscious desires and aversions. Uranian lightning strikes our trees, while Plutonian resistance has us clinging to our roots.

Lightning does not compromise or bargain. The strikes will be sudden and irreversible.

Pluto is not used to changing on a deadline. He’ll defend the status quo until we’re ready to see beyond it. Pluto drags us into the middle of what we don’t want to face, and says, “Deal.† He unearths our resistance. Once exposed, it no longer holds sway.

The process of moving into our true power requires courage, patience and the willingness to accommodate uncomfortable feelings until we can transcend them.

Pluto is slow and plodding, knowing effective change takes time. Things we thought would last forever are evaporating around and within us. We are being forced to abandon things we never thought we could do without, and we don’t think we are ready.

What might you do when the irresistible force meets the immovable object?

When change comes, ask what is being liberated. When you need to make a choice, select the one that feels the most freeing. Uranus shakes things up so that you can reveal your unique facet of the Divine Being, unfettered by others’ expectations. Instead of bemoaning what is lost, ask what is being gained.

When you are consumed with fear, remember your intention. This vision will encourage you to move through the darkness. Hold the goal in front of you as a motivator, rather than letting fear and resistance consume your thoughts.

Remember your power. It’s Pluto’s specialty.  Pluto strips away the false sense of power, based on possessions and position, and replaces it with a more durable force. When you feel helpless, remember the miracle of life that sustains us beyond any conscious effort. We are breathing. A planet of extraordinary beauty and resilience is our host and provider.

Our hearts and minds are connected in ways we will never understand. When we are faced with disagreements and disruptions, return to love. Seek it. Long for it when you don’t feel it.

Uranus’ square to Pluto asks us to hurry up and step into our power. We are being dislodged so that we may stand tall on new ground. Because this is a long-term transit, we have the opportunity to try something new, reconsider, change course and start over. The chaos won’t last forever, and you aren’t going crazy. You’ll know what you’re made of before it’s over.

Let’s pool our efforts on this one. What’s working for you?

Fasten your seatbelts May 28.

Silver City held its first International Women’s Day parade on March 7. The parade included horses, goddess banners, men in T-shirts that said “awaiting instruction,†and a giant Venus of Willendorf.

 

In the 80’s, my boss told me I didn’t think the way he did. I think he meant it as an insult.  It’s probably why I’m no longer marketing manager of Alpo Dry Dogfood. Much as I miss the Labrador and beagle puppies at Alpo’s Pet Care center, it’s probably for the best that I no longer work there.