Self discovery in the desert: a journey into ancient women's business

SELF DISCOVERY IN THE DESERT


http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/self-discovery-in-desert/2032019/

only in the silence...

photograph by kamahlfilm

photo by Kamahlfilm

Talking to the press about my retreats

A sweetly written article about my retreats: sisterhood, aunty-hood and the Aboriginal way of doing women's business. ENJOY

http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/self-discovery-in-desert/2032019/

Every moment counts...

Sitting in a cafe in Alice Springs

with my future daughter

When a young woman recognises me and says to my daughter-to-be, "I love this woman." She joins us and tell this story:

"Years ago at high school we had a substitute history teacher. We were a wild lot and had proudly burnt out several teachers. Then this woman came along and she just let us rabble on for about 20 minutes and then she came up to each one of us and introduced herself and shook our hands. RESPECT. After that we loved history and we loved her. And that teacher was Denise."

Wild nights and wild women

Modern women need to nurture their wildness, re-ignite their spark, re-experince their passion as these women did on a secret dune near Uluru during my WILD WOMAN RETREAT, this September. 

Being wild does not mean 'out of control,' 'rude' or 'aggressive.'  It means to step behind your 'good girl' self and re-connect to your intuition, your knowingness, your inner wolf.  

Being wild is ancient women's business. You can get a taste of it in my book FINDING ARTEMISIA: A JOURNEY INTO ANCIENT WOMEN'S BUSINESS

Blessings, Denise

Wild nights! Wild nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!  Emily Dickinson

The colours of my novel

Here I am immersed in the glorious colours of my novel FINDING ARTEMISIA.

The joy of returning to the source of its inspiration, hearing the silence, tasting the colour, feeling the freshness, while at the same time succumbing to dimensions beyond the sensory world.

Compare these colours to my book cover: they got it right.

Blessings on the women who made the journey with me, by reading the book and attending the retreats.

Desert Mob Retreat in Alice Springs, Australia

So it has begun.

Three of us have met up in Alice Springs already.

Today we sat with Aboriginal women who have come from all over Australia to exhibit and sell their art.

Here we are celebrating sunset on top of the Wild Woman's hill in Alice, talking about my WILD WOMAN retreat coming up in ULURU.

Tomorrow morning at dawn we will head out of Alice and meet the other women who are flying directly to Ayer's Rock.

Powerful times.

Teens talking FAT, anorexia, body image and photoshop

Teens talking fat, body image, anorexia and photoshop in the link below. 

Meanwhile Images like this don't help. 

One of the main characters in my book FINDING ARTEMISIA has anorexia. www.findingartemsia.com

Teens talk FAT

Good girls need to speak up

It's time for good girls to speak up. Too many women don't say 'no' often enough and far too many say 'yes' when they mean 'no.' 

That's the good girl syndrome. But it's time for good girls to GROW UP, to be REAL women, to say what they mean and do what they love. 

Laurie Penny's article is insightful and timely.





"Most of us grew up learning that being a good girl was all about putting other people’s feelings ahead of our own. We aren’t supposed to say what we think if there’s a chance it might upset somebody else or, worse, make them angry. So we stifle our speech with apologies, caveats and soothing sounds..."  Laurie Penny. New statesman
http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/08/laurie-penny/men-sexism/

A picture says a thousand words...

A picture saves a thousand words... so here are many thousands of words describing the joys and wonders of my women's retreats in the centre of Australia. Next month, some wonderful women will be gathering out there in the image free zone, to explore their connection to the WILD WOMAN within. Can't wait.

Just double click on the link below and ENJOY....

http://www.denisegreenaway.com/image-library.html

http://www.denisegreenaway.com/image-library.html

Return to goddess fashion?

A young fashion commentator in Milan tells me the next fashion "trend" will be "A Blast from the Past." And she wonders if women consumers have had anything to do with the return to the "full figured" woman.  

It's an  important issue:  the power of women as consumers in an industry that ‘owns’ them, so to speak. 

Women wear fashion. It’s unavoidable. Every choice they make is fashion conscious. At the same time their choices are image driven, more specifically, body image driven. 

“Does my bum look big in this?” became the catch cry for the way women make a choice within the limits of what is made available to them by the fashion gods.

 So when the gods switch from heroin chic, to granny comfortable, or fifties retro etc, it begs the question: Are the gods influenced by the consumers, who have been struggling to fit into skinny legged jeans,  g-strings, pointed boots and strapless bras etc or is the switch just another whim.

Certainly the return to the more curvaceous, goddess-like women, such as Marilyn Monroe, Esther Williams, Rita Hayworth etc will be welcomed by the majority of women because the majority of women have hips, breasts and thighs. That’s what makes them women.   But will the designers allow curvaceous women to model for them? Will cat walk models ever be less leggy and more fleshy.

As a psychologist working with girls and women with eating disorders, I can vouch for the effect fashion has. While fashion may not create eating disorders per say, it does have a negative impact on ‘recovery.’ Many girls are asked if they are models. Receiving positive praise for thinness discourages them from gaining weight. And for obese patients, their depression is exacerbated by fashion which extols thinness as a virtue.

So while I would like to think that the retro fashion has resulted from consumer pressure, I am also aware that a lot has to change in the fashion psyche before women can be celebrated for what they are: diverse. A one size fits all approach does not serve them, especially when that one size suits only the smallest fraction of the minority.

Women, take your power...

While  women buy the youth card, they deny girls and younger women the guidance they need. While they chase the promises of cosmetic youth, they deny themselves the wisdom they deserve.
And at the same time, they fail to model womanhood for the young. 
Come on women, don't be afraid to take your power...Younger women depend on you.

"The Crone has been missing from our culture for so long that many women, particularly young girls, know nothing of her tutelage. 
Young girls in our society are not initiated by older women into womanhood with its accompanying dignity and power. 
With no inner wisdom figure to guide them, and no outward model to help them set boundaries and be their own person, young women often fall victim to false and superficial ideals, such as pleasing others. 
Ironically, they achieve their greatest success at the cost of their own emerging sense of self. "
-Marion Woodman & Elinor Dickson from Dancing in the Flames

Girls pouting and posing for a selfie. For whom?

Actor Miley Cyrus poses for a selfie.

In my practice as a psychologist, I see girls with eating disorders, body dysmorphia and other body image issues.

Sometimes they show me pics of their friends or other girls they think are PERFECT. 

Most, if not all of the pics I've seen are of girls  posing like this. Many of them post their pics on facebook. Their female friends respond with LIKES and comments such as 'you look hot.'

My question is: who is all this posing and pouting for?

The availability of so much visual media is making the body image trap more insidious for young women.

And men are being affected too, having procedures so they can look good on facebook or on their phones.

I am deeply saddened by these destructive trends. I hope they will pass, like the whirlwinds they are.   But how much damage will they leave in their wake?

What do you think?

Love and laughter with Uncle Bob Randall

Sharing love and laughter with Elder Uncle Bob Randall.

As the first rays of the morning sun light up ULURU,  the heart of Australia, Bob speaks softly about LOVE for all BEINGS.

Despite being separated from his beloved family at a tender age, "re-educated"by the White man's ways, Bob speaks of LOVE and FORGIVENESS and the value of the traditional ways.

His voice is rich with the songs of his life, his heart tender and his laughter as innocent as any child's.

What a privilege to welcome the dawn with him and his beloved.

Thank you Uncle Bob and Barbara for the the love and laughter.  

Getting grounded

Some of the women from my Alice Springs Women's retreat enjoy rest and relaxation in the healing river sands.

Feeling the Earth, resting on her and letting her support you, is a powerful form of rejuvenation.

I wonder if some of the strange diseases of this century aren't a result of us being so DIS- CONNECTED from the healing magnetic forces of the planet we are living on.

High rise buildings, super highways, concrete etc blocking the Earth's energy.

We need to take every opportunity to touch the Earth and get grounded.

Indigenous elder Uncle Bob Randall

These beautiful people hosted our ULURU women's retreaters last week. Such good fortune for us. 

Thank you Uncle Bob and Barbara

http://portraitsinfaith.org/uncle-bob-randall/

Uncle Bob Randall | Portraits in Faith

portraitsinfaith.org

Uncle Bob Randall - Mutitjulu, Australia“Sometimes when we were beaten…we’d just lie on the earth and say “I’ve had it, I need you to hold me. And then she would. The mother would hold you.”Uncle Bob Randall was taken from his mother at seven and sent to a mission a thousand miles away.266102www.sim...

Resting in a tree.

Me, resting in a tree, in a sandy river bed outside Alice springs

Imagine if you measured your life in terms of tree stages:

Have a look at my video link to get the idea

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8u5mDuLKcY

Touching THE MOTHER

Here I am in Alice Springs for my Ancient Women's Business Retreat.

Just outside the township in a sacred place I re-connect with the Mother....Earth

Join me on the link below


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=aLgSlEIr09o

The woman I've become...

As I wait for the women to join me in Alice Springs before we travel out to ULURU on retreat, I reflect on the woman I have become:

"I am becoming the woman I've wanted,

grey at the temples,

soft body, delighted,

cracked up by life

with a laugh that's known bitter

but, past it, got better,

knows she's a survivor-

that whatever comes,

she can outlast it.

I am becoming a deep

weathered basket.

I am becoming the woman I've longed for,

the motherly lover

with arms strong and tender,

the growing daughter

who blushes surprises.

I am becoming full moons

and sunrises.

I find her becoming,

this woman I've wanted,

who knows she'll encompass,

who knows she's sufficient,

knows where she's going

and travels with passion.

Who remembers she's precious,

but knows she's not scarce-

who knows she is plenty,

plenty to share."

-Jayne Relaford Brown 

Roses and desert women

And so they met, the women who will be attending my Mother/daughter Desert Retreat at Uluru in May.

Chatting easily as women do, sharing dainty sweet treats and the joy of roses: pink blossoms for the child within, full blooms for the blossoming women.

First pic: Meringues filled with fresh cream and adorned by baby pink roses.

Second pic: French pastry filled with custard accompanied by an urn of earth coloured roses in full bloom.