Next Phase of the Journey....

My friend just showed me a thread about the BodyArt Cookbook on a bodybuilding forum where they were trying to find the author "Tanya Mein" (my former husbands last name).  The consensus was that I had retired.  Well, I like to think of it as an extended sabbatical.  The last time I had an online journal was 2003/2004.  At that time, I was going through quite the life transformation. 

I finished the 2003 CBBF figure model championships, went through a divorce, closed my beautiful yoga studio, sold my cute little house, let go of most of my belongings and headed out on the road - on a study quest to learn and experience alternative "off-the-grid" philosophies and practices.  From the artistic intensity of Venice Beach, to the healing womb of the Blue Ridge Park Way - I learned more through that adventure than through any book or course.   After many places, lessons, insights, a few wounds and some interesting friends... I've landed in Alberta, ready to bust out some projects from the core of Calgary's booming economy. 

Since arriving in Calgary, I've had time to passively "feel out" the city and various body movement communities from yoga to bellydance, fitness, athletics and mixed martial arts.  I've hooked up with some old friends in the figure/fitness modeling world, and partied in the electronic music scene - absorbing philosophical perspective from gogo dancers and dj's alike.   I tested the waters of West African dance, and had a small taste of the Latin dance community as well.   And I couldn't feel complete until got a feel for the vast selection of yoga studios, styles and teachers.  I bellydanced all the way into the eighth wonder of the city, and most recently, became schooled in the art of punching and kicking! I even pounded a big tractor tire with a sledge hammer! 

In this process, I've come across some cool people - a few hidden gems - fantastic role models.  They have given me hope that the mass-conformist, multi-billion dollar body movement and exercise industry hasn't been completely sucked of it's soul essence.

When spanning the spectrum of disciplines and communities, there is a subtle common thread found in a few specific individuals.  No matter what the preferred modality of body expression or training - there is a state of mind that transcends beyond labels or compartments.  It is an embodied energy - commitment to evolution and strength of personality.

I would love to build a community with these personalities at the core of it all.  Early 19th Century French-Cuban author, Anaïs Nin wrote: "Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."   I daydream of a community of different-minded bodyartists, who have similar core values and integrity.   It's a badass fun community that clearly understands optimization of body-mind-mojo as a central component if one desires to take life by the balls, give it a good ride, and feel vibrantly alive - whatever that may end up looking like. 

xot