The Calm at the Centre of the Storm – June 2021
By Ya’Acov Darling Khan
Hey all, I’m finding myself needing to be really clear at times. I’ve struggled with this at times, mistakenly equating clarity with unkindness. To repair this, I had to find the root of this story in my experiences of cold, heartless, mindless clarity. My education was full of it.
I rebelled. I became the kind of feminist man I wouldn’t trust if I met them now. All soft and pliant. And of course, like anyone who tries to be good according to any set of ideas that come solely from the head, seething with resentment and petty criticisms that boiled away under the surface. I was disempowered and irresponsible and the harvest of living like that wasn’t a lot of fun.
These three and a half decades of teaching Movement Medicine have been a ride, as life has continually and graciously given me a consistent stream of opportunities to put my own teachings into practice. I confirm that we teach best what we need to learn. So it’s no surprise that the way our work has unfolded has a heroic journey of soul at its core and invites us to develop our personal power, take responsibility for it and put it to a use we consider worthy.
So, since I last wrote to you all, we’ve been on a journey that has required every little bit of medicine I’ve ever experienced to stay steady, upright and connected to what holds us all. And when I say we, I mean myself, my family, pretty much everyone we know and I guess, you too. To give you a little taste, Susannah’s dear papa Richard has come to live with us. He’s 88, lived a life of service and been unwell. It was a choiceless choice to invite him to live with us. I’m not going to write some happy family fantasy story to display my spiritual achievements – it’s been everything you might expect it to be and more. There is more than enough good ground between us to make it possible to live our super clear intention to let life be the unfolding adventure it is. And yes, it’s asking a lot of us all as we struggle to get used to yet another change in this topsy-turvy time.
I’m grateful for this new chapter of the adventure because I’m choosing to be. And because I allow myself a medicinal five minutes of complaining a day. And because my practice is strong. And because here I am again, learning on another journey round the sun the things that I teach.
And in the middle of all this, I had what our dear friends Jake and Eva call ‘an episode.’ This particular episode was a meeting with death. Yes, him again. And I call death ‘him’ because that’s how he’s always appeared to me. I had some rushes of blood that were super strong. If I was into kundalini yoga, I might call them kundalini rushes. I was close to fainting, my chest was sore and it was strong enough to call our wonderful Health Service helpline. They asked me some questions and advised me to go to the hospital. My dear Susannah was hoping for a day with her horses but five minutes later, there we were, in the car on the way back to the hospital that she had so recently been visiting her papa in.
I put my phone onto random play and I kid you not, the song that came up first was a beautiful track by Eik Octobre called ‘Heart failure’. I felt calm but inordinately sad. I told Susannah some important practical things and then started telling her everything I wanted to say if I was about to die. We spoke gently and passionately and through the sweet waves of sorrow all the way to the hospital. Within minutes of arriving, I’d been given an ECG, had my blood pressure and bloods taken for testing, and before I knew it, was a member of Derriford Casualty’s Sunday crew of twisted ankle footballers and a young broken wristed brother who’d punched a wall rather than a person. He told me his story. I told him mine. We laughed.
Fortunately, I’m in good health and the doctor sent me home with an invitation not to worry but to investigate further should it happen again. We came home in the May storms to greet my mother who had come to join the party. She had just arrived for her first visit in way more than a year. Our son and his wife joined us for dinner and our weekend came to a tasty conclusion as we tucked into our roast.
Having shared all this, perhaps you won’t be surprised to hear that a couple of months ago, I received a direct instruction from that quiet voice that’s there when I listen, to offer a workshop space online called The Calm at the Centre of the Storm – The Power of Peace in Times in Change.’ The instruction arrived complete with the vision of two dear men, Manari Ushigua and Estas Tonne, at my side as my guests to help hold the space. And here we are, now just one week before that event will happen with a strong circle of people from all around this magnificent world, gathering their intent as we prepare for a deep journey together.
That’s how it is in my world. I follow the instruction and then get put through my paces as I’m initiated into the next level of whatever it is I’m going to teach. Just move your body with these words one at a time for a minute each and you’ll get a small taste of what I mean.
CALM – CENTRE – STORM – POWER- PEACE – TIMES – OF – CHANGE
Did you get a flavour of the medicine in that? Do check out a couple of recent Face Book Live Events FB lives I’ve done on the subject if you want more from me. Full details of the workshop, which has limited spaces, is here. And I’ll be doing a Q&A on Facebook on Thursday 3rd June for any last minute questions you might have.
Intention is a powerful thing, especially when it comes from that quiet yet powerful place at the centre of this storm that says yes, here I am, ready to dance with what life has to teach me.
I miss you guys and I’m so sad that our Long Dance won’t happen again this year. I’m dreaming of how it will be when we eventually do get the go-ahead in a safe way for an international gathering like the Long Dance. In the meantime, here I am, and here we are, inviting you to be at home with me.
As always, our community is at the centre of our prayers. My love to you and your loved ones. Hope you’re perceiving the adventure, that’s another way of seeing whatever is happening.
It’s time to dance. But then, as you know, it always was.
2021 Gratitudes
YDK
May ‘21
Upcoming events and workshops with Ya’Acov:
3 June: Calm at the Centre of the Storm with Ya’Acov DK.
Facebook Event, Life Talk, Mini-Practice and Q&A with Ya’Acov.
Hang out with Ya’Acov for an hour, as he introduces one of his powerful new creations, a new online workshop “Calm in the Centre of the Storm”, for deep personal growth, learning and healing.
For more information follow this link.
4–6 June: Calm at the Centre of the Storm the Power of Peace in Times of Change
with Ya’Acov Darling Khan. A 3-day online shamanic workshop.
Dive into the strong process of rediscovering your relationship with your power. Find the well of peace at the centre, which the kind of power brings that is well owned, understood and celebrated. If we can own and be at peace with the magnificent power we all hold inside, we have a great ally that enables us to give all we came to give, without any holding back.
For more information follow this link.
19th June: Tribal Heart Solstice Ceremony with Ya’Acov and Susannah. Online.
With Special Guests Ayla Schafer, Joshua Wenzl and DJ Reuben DK.Dance your heart out, in your living room, your kitchen, or wherever you find space at home. In the dance we resource ourselves through our connection to each other, the dance and spirit. We dance together to remember the light we came to shine and what’s really important to us. We dance for all life, for the cycles of the year that hold us, for pure joy of being alive and connected, and in deep gratitude for earth and all that sustains us here.
19.00–22.15 UK time
For more information follow this link.
26 June–4 July: Initiation with Susannah (supported by Ya’Acov). Rill Estate, Devon, UK.
Initiation is an intensive 10-day retreat during which the dancers are invited and guided to embody and dance through the rich landscape of all nine life cycles from conception to death. This deep journey includes play, deep processes, and the support of the group and teachers. This workshop is an extraordinary, life-changing, colourful, profound and rewarding journey; and it is one of the prerequisites for the Apprenticeship Training.
Contact Roland: +44 1803 762255; hello@schoolofmm.com
25–26 September: En-Tranced: Walking Between the Worlds with Ya’Acov Darling Khan. Paris, France.
With the archetypal energy of the inner Shaman, we discover how deeply we are connected to the web of life here, seen and unseen. We can bridge the perceived disconnection between ‘dream’ and ‘reality’ and find that which always is unbroken and which always shows us where we are headed.
Contact Pierre-Henri: + 33 615 325 816; freemouvementfrance@gmail.com
22–24 October: The Infinite Well with Ya’Acov Darling Khan. Winterthur, Switzerland.
In this weekend workshop we will travel through the five dimensions of relationship (with self, other, community, spirit and Source (Well). We will visit each one of these dimensions, learning how we show up in these relationships and how we might like to show up differently.
Contact Monika Dittli: +41 78 738 8470; modi@gmx.ch
19–23 December: Returning Home with Ya’Acov and Susannah. Waldhaus, Switzerland.
This annual workshop of story telling, art, dance and ritual, invites participants to reflect on the year that has past and conceive new dreams of another year ahead. Set amidst the mighty mountains of the Swiss Alps, this retreat provides an invitation to return to the essence of who you are, let go of what has been, plant new seeds and nurture your connection to community and to all life.
Contact Roland Wilkinson: +44 (0)1803 762255; hello@schoolofmm.com