Wisdom Rising

Embodied Presence: Qigong And Dance To Live In The Now with Peter A. Petersen

• Christine Renee and Shantel Ochoa • Season 5 • Episode 15

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Your body already knows how to come home, but most of us were taught to live in our heads. We sit down with Peter A. Petersen, a longtime Qigong practitioner and instructor (24 years), meditation teacher, and dance facilitator, to get practical about what embodiment actually is and how to build it through movement, breath, music, and real-time choice.

Peter tells the story of his first Qigong workshop and the surprising “trance-like” clarity it sparked: relaxed, present, and suddenly able to feel energy moving through everything. From there we unpack how Qigong, Reiki, yoga, and tantra all point to the same core skill: shifting from past and future into the now so your nervous system can regulate, your intuition can speak, and your creativity can come online. We also talk about why the mind is a helpful first mate but a terrible captain, and how agency grows when your yes and no come from the body instead of fear or people-pleasing.

We zoom in on community spaces that support sober connection, including the Austin's Embodiment Festival (Sept 18 to 20). Peter shares how he curates a welcoming, spacious container with an ebb and flow of modalities, plus standout practices like Latihan (blindfolded movement meditation that trains intuition and consent) and a five elements dance journey that moves from grounded to expansive. We close with a grounded reframe of tantra: not a technique checklist, but the ongoing practice of removing what blocks aliveness, intimacy, and authentic connection.

Subscribe for more conversations on embodiment, energy healing, Qigong, tantra, and nervous system care, then share this with a friend who needs more presence and less pressure. If it resonates, leave a review and tell us what helps you drop into your body fastest.

Here's your quick links to events discussed in today's podcast:

Creating a Sacred Sex Life: Connection through Presence 

Live Webinar August 10th with Jim Macdonald & Christine Renee
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/9AnGFdU-TzmVhQWRAabJdQ

Intro to Tantra: Awakening to an Ecstatic Life

5 Week Online Masterclass starting August 17th with Jim Macdonald & Christine Renee
https://moonrisinginstitute.circle.so/c/intro-to-tantra

Embodiment Festival, Austin TX 

Join us September 18-20th for a weekend of embodied exploration, authentic connection, movement, dance, touch, and transformation!
Use coupon code Christine10 for a discount!
https://www.everydaytantra.com/event-details-registration/austin-embodiment-festival

Introduction to Sacred Tantra: Where Spirit & Body Meet in Austin, Texas

Join us January 15–18th, 2027 for a four-day immersive training designed to help you reconnect with yourself through breath, movement, sound, embodied awareness, sacred communication, and energy practices.
https://moonrisinginstitute.com/intro-to-sacred-tantra/

Moon Rising Shamanic Institute Links:
Website: https://moonrisinginstitute.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/moonrisinginstitute
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/moonrisingmystics
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonrising.institute
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@moonrisinginstitute
Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://moonrisinginstitute.kit.com/spiritguide

Book a session with Christine: https://calendly.com/christinerenee/90-minutes-intensive

Book a FREE 10 minute connect call with Christine: https://calendly.com/christinerenee/10-minute-connect-call-srpt

Welcome To Wisdom Rising

SPEAKER_01

Welcome to Wisdom Rising, the podcast of Moonrising Shamanic Institute. Join shamanic Reiki practitioners Christine Rene and Chantel Ochoa as we dance between worlds of shamanism, mysticism, and energy healing. Each week we illuminate your path to self-sourced wisdom and attune you to the whispers of wisdom rising from within. Welcome back to Wisdom Rising. I am your host, Christine Renee. And before we get into today's guest interview with Peter Peterson, who is an amazing Qigong instructor as well as meditation teacher and dance instructor, and we get really into embodiment and presence and so much. It's such a good conversation. So stick

Webinars, Trainings, And Upcoming Events

SPEAKER_01

around. And before we dive into the interview, I have a few quick announcements to make. We have so many cool things coming up. I want to make sure they're on your radar. Next week in one week, we have a creating a sacred sex life connection through presence, a free live webinar. That's Monday, August 10th from 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern time. And that's 5 to 6 p.m. Pacific time. So this is going to be a live webinar to help you really understand the secret to connecting better sexually, has less to do about techniques and more to do with presence, presence presence with yourself, your partner, and the connection between you. And so be sure to put that on your on your radar. In the show notes, you'll have the link to register. Next up, we have one week following. We have Jim and I will be teaching our five-week intro to tantrum masterclass, where this is about awakening to an ecstatic life. I really love this because each week we come together for not only a really deep dive check-in, but we do somatic practices each week. And so this is about discovering how to create sacred space. We're going to move through, move that energy flow through us through the three keys of Tantra being breath, movement, and sound. And then the last week, we're going to dive in even deeper to creating that sacred sex life. So wanna invite you into checking out that link for the intro to Tantra masterclass. We've already taught this two previous times, and two of those couples took it both times because they enjoyed it so much. Know that you can come as a solo, as a couple, as curious. All is welcome. Just know that we are going to be respecting boundaries and honoring those boundaries. But this is a really great five-week masterclass, whether you're doing it for yourself or for date night. Love that one. And then in September, on from September 18th through the 20th, we have got uh Austin's embodiment festival. That is what I'm this interview with Peter is on, is um he is hosting this embodiment festival. And I'm gonna be there as a vendor. I'm gonna be dancing with you, moving with you as well. And so know that this is a space of dance, embodiment, connection, nervous system care, expression, intimacy, movement, play, music, authenticity, and community, where it's all happening under one roof for the three-day weekend. So be sure to check that out. I'm I wanted to get Peter on in early so that you would have time to plan if you wanted to make travel arrangements to Austin. That is what I am doing now. It's on my to-do list to book my tickets now. I'd love to see you there. I'm I'm envisioning my booth, my vendor booth at the back of the room as kind of like an integration station. So I can be offering Reiki, offering integration tools, offering some breathwork to ground. And so know that I'm gonna be there for that. And this is all kind of leading into what I'm most excited about is our four-day, three-night training intro to sacred tantra, where spirit and the body meet. This is gonna be facilitated, Jim, with Jim, my partner, as well as Wilder Akasha. And this is gonna be taking place in Austin as well from January 15th to Monday, January 18th. So this is MLK weekend. I'm letting people know right now that enrollment is open. Um, be sure to check it out if you want a space where you can really dive in deep to your own personhood, your own sovereignty, your own agency, and really understand how I can reclaim my natural birthright as blissful. Um, be sure to check that out as well. And I will be there as one of the assistant facilitators. So be sure to check out all these links in the show notes. Let me know if you have questions. And now it is time. Let's dive into this interview with Peter Peterson.

Meet Peter Peterson And His Work

SPEAKER_01

Welcome back to Wisdom Rising. I'm your host, Christine Renee. And today we've got a special guest with us. Peter Peterson is joining in, and I'm really excited to have him on. Um, we recently got to know each other through the embodiment festival that's coming up in Austin in September. And the more I learn about Peter, the more I was excited about doing this podcast. Cause not only has he been a Qigong practitioner and instructor for the last 24 years, but he's been weaving in dance into the sessions for since 2011. And he's had a huge breadth of areas in which he's worked in, whether that's health clubs, hospitals, retirement communities, wellness resorts, tantra festivals all over the world. And I can just um really feel into his excitement for not just become being the meditative instructive, the qigong instructor, the dance instructor, but also for his excitement around dance, breath work, music, and really becoming fully embodied and experience that with whoever he's with. And so I feel like that's right in alignment for where I am and my life and so many of our listeners that I'm really excited to have him on so that we can all bring in and breathe in the medicine that he offers as a doorway to greater freedom, connection, and joy. So welcome to the show, Peter. Thank you so much for being here.

SPEAKER_00

Well, thank you so much for having me. This is really exciting. I love to talk about my passions and joy, which is movement, meditation, and um music. And yeah, so let's let's get into it. I'm I'm excited to see where this conversation goes.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. And I think what I I

A First Qigong Trance Experience

SPEAKER_01

want to kind of hone in on just to kind of give get some of your history and how you came into the embodiment world, is that you started out in a very deep energetic movement practice. Can you tell us a little bit about your Qigong background and what kind of led you into more of the dance and embodiment work?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely. It started one very hot day in Northern California. It was like July 2001. And um, I would happen to be visiting my mother, and she's like, hey, uh, they're doing this qigong workshop in up in Nevada City. Would you like to go check it out? And I was like, What, like what? Like, what is qigong? I had like zero context. And she's like, Oh, it's like martial arts meets the hula, and it's like very dancy, but also very flowy with like some martial art uh tendencies or aspects. And I was like, you know what, why not? Let's let's go check this out. I was dabbling in yoga, I was dabbling in meditation and just kind of being curious with the schmorgasborg of different practices that were out there. And so we go, we we go to this like weekend training, and we walk in the door and people are just moving. I'm seeing these people move. I'm like, oh, this looks this looks intriguing. Like, what is this? And we just I just watch someone and I start emulating the moves, and we do this move for 45 minutes straight. Like we don't stop. He just the teacher's just like keep going, keep going. We're not, and it's literally we're just doing one move, and the move is bringing the hand up to the heart, and then the hand goes down to your root, and then you bring the hand again. So it's like you're creating this circuit, like you're pulling energy up, you're putting it in your heart, you're pushing it down into your root, you're releasing it and bringing it back up, and you're just you're just continuing to do this. And I got into this, like this trance-like state, and someone came over to me uh like about 10-15 minutes in. I was like, Wow, Peter, you're really good at this. Like, how long have you been doing this? And I was like, five minutes. Like I was I was I was pretty astounded at how easily I I got into the flow of it and how easily my mind just turned off, like the whole world just like just went into the background, and my internal world just lit up like a Christmas tree, you know, and I just felt like okay, I'm really present, but I'm also really relaxed. I'm like, wow, I'm really enjoying this feeling of being relaxed but present at the same time. So we do this, so we keep just keep going, we keep going, keep going until like I'm like in orbit somewhere. I'm like it's in some other world. And then he's like, okay, take a break, get some water, like go to the bathroom, like you know, let's let's uh take care of yourself. And my I stop and my hands are just like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, oh I'm like, whoa, like what is this? I was just like in I was in a little bit of a shock, but I was also just feeling very electric. I don't know, it's not really there's not really a word to ascertain the feeling other than maybe kind of like ecstasy. Like, yeah, and I and I kind of felt like I was on ecstasy, like it was it was that much joy, but it wasn't to the point of where I had to expend it. You know, where you take you take a compound like coffee or something that kind of like energizes you and pushes you, you feel like you have to have this outlet where with this it was like in my body and I'm ecstatic. Yeah, and and I I proceed to walk out the door because we're in this like old like 1850s like Catholic church with just hardwood floors and everything's been cleared out, so we have this huge open space. And I walk over to the front doors, I open up these two double doors, I look out and I see the world for like for the first time, where I'm just like, whoa, sun's coming through the clouds, like this. I can see the rays, I see the shifting of the wind in in like the brush. I I see like little animals moving. Like I I'm not just sensing energy, I'm feeling energy and the and I feel like there's a kundalini. I didn't know at the time what the heck it was. Yes, but I had this like kundalini rising up in me. And before, when I would see people kind of like do those gyrations and things, I'm like, I'm like, get the F out of here. Like, I'm like, come on. Really? Is that really happening? Yeah, what is this? And and in that moment, I was like, oh, that is what's happening here. And then I had another light bulb. I was like, Oh, this is what Luke Skywalker discovered when Obi-Wan showed him the force, yeah, or or Yoda, like this energy is not just something that moves through wires or you know, and lights up appliances, like it is in everything, it is a bit of this field that it is everything. And I was like, I am a part of that energy field, and it flows. And when I turn myself on in this way, I can feel the energy and use it in a way that makes me feel good. And that was that was my moment. I was like, okay, I want to do this all the time, and I need to learn this, and I want to start doing this every single day because it's like I want my whole life to feel this ecstatic. Yeah. Why why why live in this state of past, future, past, future, past, future? And why am I always combating my mind, trying to take the reins of my body back from my mind when I can just be here in my body right now without having to fight? Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. Well, it totally does because I can resonate with it for sure.

SPEAKER_00

Um have those experiences. Yeah, so in an initial, that was it. That that was that was my experience, and that's what catalyzed my whole like, I want to start doing this for a living. That that was it. And that was that was 2001.

SPEAKER_01

That's fantastic. I love that story so much. And you know, it it I have so many people on the show where they come to their awakening, they come to their aliveness, they come to this thing through trauma, through stress, through um hardship. And that's not what I'm hearing here. You know, it's from this place of curiosity. And I'm like, and I think this is when I tell people, I'm like, there it's never too late to start to get curious and explore. Like, try the breath work, try the energy movement modality that is presented to you, and trust the universe is bringing you the next right thing for you to say yes and to move through it, to be in and flow with it. And I love that there's key words that really stood out to me was like, I'm present with not only the energy within myself, but the energy of all, like all of nature was became more alive for you.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So let me let me respond to one part of what you said, which is I don't know if I would have taken this teaching or this energy in if it didn't happen at that moment, or maybe at a later date. But if I had discovered this like a year or so earlier, I don't know if it was or would have resonated with me as deeply. Like in that moment, I was really open to something new coming in. And and I feel like there is it's that old adage of like when the student is ready, the teacher appears. And my teacher, he's just like out of thin air, whoosh, here he is, and he happens to be one of the best Qigong teachers on the planet. And he had taught martial art um people in China for many years. He took them to like many gold medals, and so I was just super fortunate to walk in a room one day to be in the midst of one of the most amazing teachers who was not only super humble, but super talented at articulating what the feeling is of the movement. Does that resonate at all?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely. Because I feel like that is so often the case of when you are ready, and it really is this I'm ready for the next step, I'm ready for the next processing of my my personal development, my spiritual development, my business development. Like the teacher does arrive, and the more open and ready you are it's like profound teachers just come out of the woodwork.

unknown

Right?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's a com it's a combination. The teacher is not just this bright, shiny object, but the teacher has some sort of relatability that you see in yourself, and you go, Oh, yes, I believe whatever this person is saying to be the truth, and I trust it and I want to follow it. And it's it's funny, in my career, I I've had people either say, like, well, what is qi gung? Like they they're just like super perplexed on even just what it is, or they're like, Oh, qi gung. Yeah, that's great. And it's mainly because the teacher is not very exciting. They're they're they teach in a way that it's very slow, it's not very compelling. And I've just I've had so many people come up to me after a class or a session and go, that was that was the best I've ever, you know, I've had other things, but that was the best Chigang class I've ever had. I never have experienced it in the way that you proceeded to teach it. And I wanna, I wanna, I'm curious to explore it more now. So it's it's a two-way street. Like the teacher's gotta be compelling, but you also have to be ready. Yes. And when those two things align, that's the perfect synergy of finding of finding your teacher.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you know what it reminds me of is oftentimes I have, I mean, I've been teaching Reiki for well over 15 years at this point. And one of the first things when people ask me, what is Reiki? I go, Well, it's one of those key things. There's Tai Chi, Chi Gong, Reiki, Ki and Chi, same thing. Like, so it's it's very interesting of like when we can come down to the nuts and bolts of it, like it's energy. How are we moving the energy? And there's so many different ways to move energy. And I feel like in my life, that focusing in on moving energy has led me more and more into dance, more and more into embodiment work, more and more into how can I recognize where is the energy stuck within me and how am I allowing and inviting more of a flow? And so I can see that in your own experience. You're nodding your head right now, like, yeah, this is like noticing even in the qigong, the practices I am bringing in the flow. I'm moving the energy within me. We're releasing down in the earth and we're pulling up this energy from within. And so it's amazing when people are practicing

Presence, Energy Flow, And The Natural State

SPEAKER_01

embodiment work of so many different kinds. There's so many different avenues to that embraces embodiment and how how we are recognizing and noticing what's happening within us.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I I agree. Um, it for me, the crux of this practice, like why I love it, is how much presence is created inside of my body and how my microcosm and my body is connected to the macrocosm out there. It helps create a channel so that energy is flowing freely and it's not getting stuck right here, where a lot of times it gets stuck. You can it also can get stuck in the throat, it can get stuck in the heart, like it can get stuck in any of the chakras. Um, but when your body is moving in a very loose and fluid fashion, the energy centers in your hands and your feet in the top of your head all begin to open. So energy just starts flooding into your body. And so that fresh energy that comes in naturally displaces the old stuck energy that's been inside of you. And so you're creating this catalyst of recycling energy. And from that recycling energy, I feel like you're you're most relaxed. And my teacher likes to call it the natural state, the state that we were born into before the mind displaced us into the past or the future. And really, from this state is the state you can accomplish anything. And and uh my teacher has like so many stories about hey, how he would he'd have people like always trying to get him to do things, and he's like, hey, like when it's time for me to do it, I'll do it. Like, I'm not going to exert myself past exhaustion to take care of something. Like when I get to that bridge, I will cross it and I will uh attend that challenge or difficulty in that moment. I'm not gonna try and attend to it in some metaphysical future because honestly, that is how we kill ourselves is that if we're not here, our body is in stress mode. It's stressed about trying to figure something out. But when you're not stressed about figuring something out and you trust your body and you trust your intuition that you can figure it out in the moment, I feel like that's when life changes and you start to be in a flow.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's really comes down to that being in the now. And there's so many things in our culture and our society and the institutionalized systems that tell us not to be there to like stress out about the future, be concerned about the past. And and it's it's interesting. It's like, how much time do we really need in focusing on our past traumas, childhood wounds, all of these things? Because you're still bringing your attention to them, right? And so it's it's very interesting for in my work. Oftentimes I'm helping my students, helping my clients, like really go, we're gonna spend some time here, but we're not gonna spend a lot of time here. And how can we release and let this go so that we can then have this um recognition of I'm okay to desire what it is I desire. What do I want for my future? So often they can't even see what they what's in the realm of possibility, but it's all to get them into the now, right? And there's so much of like that, you know, we're using the mind to do this mindset work, but it ultimately is almost a distraction from them being in the flow of the energy. And how can we invite them into the flow of the energy because that's all that really actually matters. Is how do we quiet the mind so that they can recognize I I feel what I feel, I know what I know, and I can trust the process. I can trust the energy of what's leading me to the next thing in relationship to myself and to others.

SPEAKER_00

I feel like it's befriending the mind, befriending the ego. So many, there's like these adages of like kill your ego, like you know, get rid of the mind. Like it's it's just causing problems. Like no no no it's actually your best friend. It's actually the first mate. It's not the captain. But you see, we use it so much it starts thinking it's the captain.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And it starts running these old programs that we've picked up from our past where it just starts running them automatically. And it's like no no I don't need to do these old behaviors that no longer serve me. And once you figure out those behavior what those behaviors are be like okay I'm gonna I'm gonna slowly move away from those old behaviors and try something new. And that's that's exactly what Qigong Yoga Reiki Tantra all these different practices basically bring you into the now they bring what's unconscious into consciousness and then allows you to decide what's really important. Like that's that's why I feel like tantra and yoga and qigong they they've all been around for thousands is I let me say this again thousands of years. There's a reason why it's been around it's been passed down for so many generations because it's such a useful tool for your own agency and you you get to be the captain of your own ship and you get to go after the vivaciousness of what it's like to be alive. Instead of like running on someone else's program of what you think you should be doing. And that's that's a I'm sorry but that's a lot of people growing up is like well my dad was an accountant so I'm going to be an accountant or like I you know some someone in my family is in the military I got to be in the military. And it's like no you're your own person like what's really alive right here and export that joy out into the world and then you get to do whatever you want. That's so that's my philosophy and that's why I love to do what I do.

SPEAKER_01

Right. And I think there's that that piece of the philosophy is that we're innately wired for bliss we're innately wired to live an ecstatic life that we're innately meant to be whole with all that we are whether that is the mind body relationship the mind body spirit relationship like how can we accept all of who we are and not be continuously shaming ourselves or accepting shame from others that is the inhibitor of joy of creative compassion uh ecstatic life right and so it's like when we can start to recognize I really am in my own agency, I really am in my own sovereignty state and I can choose what I participate in. I can choose how I use my thoughts and I can feel what I feel and I can notice what I notice and I can I can live from this place of fullness of full acceptance of there's not actually anything wrong with me. And I think that's a transition oftentimes I see a lot of people where people are at because there are so many modalities that especially in the health and wellness industry and I I know you want to talk about that a little bit too of going we're broken and we need to be fixed.

unknown

Right?

SPEAKER_00

There's like we're not broken we've just we've been given some information that we feel like is the gospel and it's it's like this Samsonite baggage we carry around and we don't and a lot of us don't even know we're carrying it because there are these old behavior programs. He calls it BS belief systems. Yeah it can also be the other BS as well but those belief systems are is what's holding you back from creating the best version of yourself right now. And so I I just feel like once you ascertain that I feel like that's a huge moment in a person's life where you really you you're not doing what you do to people please you're not doing what you do for somebody else for a teacher a

Befriending The Mind Without Letting It Lead

SPEAKER_00

lover a family member like you're you honestly are doing this thing for yourself that is one of the hugest moments in our have human evolution and I and that's why that's why I do what I do this is it helps you get that bridge that gap is what I feel like it does. Okay so I'd love to hear your favorite tips of bridging the gap what does that look like for you and and every day um I feel like it is it's creating like a wellness checklist that not only gets you present it gets you relaxed but it all and it nourishes you of the food that you want but then it also dials into the creativity that you want to export out into the world. And for me I was very lucky I found it early it was music and movement and and sports. I love playing sports I love moving my body to music and uh I loved just I love the camaraderie of being other people for like a certain goal kind of like playing hockey or volleyball. But then I also love going to see live music and watching the musicians kind of like look at each other of like okay your turn my turn like the collaboration up on stage of them working together to create this magnificent sound. And you you were a part of it because the energy was coming inside of you and you were giving that energy back in your dancing and yelling and screaming. So that's I feel like that is the special sauce of really being alive is finding out what your creativity desires and wants to go for. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely and I love that description of being in a live music event because you it feels so energetic. You can feel the energy between the musicians and I can feel the energy between me and the musicians. Like it's an energetic exchange like I'm pouring out my gratitude to them for their art form and they're providing it and so everything so feels so enhanced when it becomes this energetic awareness of we're all playing together and everyone is dancing and celebrating and screaming and shouting and being excited because of the way the music is landing for people. Right. And so it's so much fun and I in our in my community where I'm I'm in a smaller town I'm in Boseman Montana and we recently had a DJ put on like a silver music event and it was great. I just have so much fun at these events and they're they're fairly rare because I'm in a small town now I know in California or in Austin like they've got so much going on but the the beauty of when it lands in my tiny town it's like uh everyone appreciates it so much more right like we're we're we all show up we're all excited to be there and um it feels like a bit of a reunion of like all right we've got this thing happening and we can all go um dance and and move and and just be and I love that and I love that more and more than are these sober events that are happening right I I think that there's um like there's so much to be said about you know psychedelics and plant medicine and all of these things. And when you come in intentionally to a music event to an embodiment festival for example or any of these things where it's like no we're here to do an ecstatic dance. We're here to do qigong we're here to do a meditation we're here to fill in the blank and we know that every everyone is in their most I feel like almost when I say their most real self like it there's there's not an enhancer going on and like if you can allow yourself to feel the fullness of who you are in those moments it can be so incredibly powerful the connection of knowing like this isn't being brought on by alcohol or being brought on by a substance. We're actually here in this moment whether that's an eye gazing exercise or whether that's a movement practice or whatever it may be. And it feels that not only like I'm alive in my body but I now I'm able to connect in your energy authentically as well. And how much beauty can coexist in those spaces is just phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah agreed that's I'm I I have to say I'm addicted to those spaces they're they're so intoxicating where you get a group of like minded souls who really love music and they really love movement and they love moving together. Yeah it's it's all three of those things because I I have some friends who really like movement but like oh I don't like large large spaces and I'm like I'm like it I'm not talking about Tomorrowland or Burning Man. I'm talking about like you know a hundred people you know like no that's still too that's still too much and I'm like okay that's fine but there are groups of people who love to congregate with other like minded people who are like yeah let's let's move together and let's let's be creative in the spontaneity of what lays in wait to be activated and for me there's almost no other place on the planet that I would rather be which is where music and movement come together to synergize a creative expression. And from that expression I feel like I you know I feel like I talk to God or source or universe or whatever word you want to call it I I'm in such a flow that you the universe is downloading me information when I'm in that state and it's like the universe is like hey do this and I'll be dancing and moving like wow that like that's a great idea you know like I need to go write that down. Because you're you're so open energetically and you're so relaxed. It's like the universe can just talk to you like like God sitting right next to your shoulder. So yeah that's that's why I'm so intoxicated with with festivals.

SPEAKER_01

I love it. And I have a confession to make Peter I am one of those people who are really intimidated by the hundred plus event like 100 people plus event and I'm like but I like my little circle of 10 like I'm good. I'm really comfortable right here. And I gotta say like when I pulled up your event for the embodiment festival that's happening in September, I was like I love all of these activities. Your lineup of events I'm like okay I can do an ecstatic dance and the biggest one in our town would be maybe

Music, Movement, And Sober Connection

SPEAKER_01

25 people 30 people right because we're in a tiny town. Okay so I'm like I'm I'm over here going can I handle this like can I can I put myself in a situation where I'm gonna be possibly feeling into everyone's energy and know that there is there's such a um a beautiful intention behind everything that you're pulling together and because the intention is so foundational and strong that it feels like even just reading the the the festival it feels like no it feels safe. Like I already feel that there's gonna be breath in this there's going to be spaces of integration there's gonna be spaces of uh there's freedom in recognizing what your capacity is and it's okay if you need to step out for a moment or whatever it may be. And so um I just am putting out there for all of the listeners who are like I don't know if I can handle being in a room with a hundred people dancing.

SPEAKER_00

Well let me give you some context the the the root it's a fairly large room it can hold 300 people comfortably so there's gonna be space and there's like a little lounge area with a with a couch there's other little kind of nooks and crannies where you can kind of go off to the side and have your own space so it's not it's not like a tiny bar where we're gonna be you know pushed together you we've got a lot of room to move and it'll be fun and what I really appreciate it is it's not just kind of like rah rah rah dance dance dance the whole time like we have dance but we'll have acro yoga we also have like contact improv dance we have Latin fusion dance like we have a smorgasborg of many different styles of movement that is not just all vertically going crazy like there's an ebb and flow to the schedule so that one thing can be kind of exciting and ecstatic and the other thing will be gentle and relaxing.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah there's that yeah well and I felt that like I really did feel like there's enough variety here of really high energy things and more mellow drop in things that had the balance like if it really was three days of ecstatic dance I don't think anyone could handle going that hard that long right and and so I would love to hear like if you wouldn't mind please go ahead and share you know the details know that our listeners will have all the links in the show notes I would love to hear um what you're crafting like I know this is just a few months out yeah we're it's September 18 to 20 and it's at the Austin Aesthetic Dance Center which is South Austin.

SPEAKER_00

And it is basically a culmination of some of my really good friends and some and there's a few people that I don't know but what I've been told is that they're the best DJs in Austin. Like the the five rhythms teacher I've heard from multiple sources like oh you got to go get that guy that guy is amazing and I was like I was kind of crossing my fingers like I hope he says yes I get on the phone with him he's like yeah sure my my friend told me you you guys are great and I want I want to do this and I was like oh that was easy so so I I I think when you really put forth the intention of trying of curating something that feels really aligned with your soul and your heart I feel like the universe is like oh here you go like it it just naturally puts things into place so that you're not trying to do it it just it just flows. And I I feel very fortunate that the the teachers that came together were just in a flow where we're just like yeah this sounds exciting I want to do it and all of them I'm telling you are like top notch like they're really good. They're not the type of DJs that just like have one slow song and then you know it's like hey there's there's a buildup there's there's like it's like a really good dance set is like building a flyer a fire where it's like you start out with the kindling and it starts slow and then it builds up steam and then it gets real hot and fiery and chaotic and but then it eventually you know it goes back down and there's like a denouement and then a a stillness and like a a shavasana sort of state. So I I'm excited to showcase something that's a little bit different than what's out there because I'll see clips of Tomorrowland I'll see clips of Burning Man I'll see clips of these like giant festivals and I listen to the music and I'm like eh it's just so electronic and it's like I I've told all my DJs and I said this is a prerequisite like I need organic musical instruments involved and it doesn't have to be all organic and and I want electronic music of course but I can't just be like an hour and a half of dubstep or you know like it's like no I need to hear rhythms. I need to hear bass lines I need to hear soloing music soloing instruments that are communicating with one another and working in synergy with one another and to me that's what guides my body the most into its creative state if it's just droning music and it's just like it's like I can't do anything to this yeah it just it I just I can do it for a little while and I'm like you know what I'm I'm bored. I I need some more creativity to be instilled into this music if it's gonna really have me move my body and fortunately these DJs understand that aspect and they're gonna be bringing it to the table in Austin September 18 to 20 I love it.

SPEAKER_01

Who else do you have coming?

SPEAKER_00

What other kind of modalities are going to be there I mean

Inside The Austin Embodiment Festival

SPEAKER_00

I should have I should have um I know you have some Qigong I know you have I'll be doing I'll be doing qigong and dance um have you heard of Latihan?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah well I don't know what you mean by that because I know what Latihan is like as a personal experience I know what Latihan is. But what is it as a as a presentation like I'm not sure what exactly that's going to include.

SPEAKER_00

So this is one of my favorite moving modalities because what you do is you put a blindfold on so your sight is completely taken away and soft music is playing in the background and the motif is to move with the music in the moment so there's no preset movements in place. It's not like a bunch of jazz hands and high elbows obviously high elbows are not recommended for safety reasons like because everybody's blindfolded you're moving around with your hands kind of out like this okay and your hands are sonar and then if you come in contact with another person you have a choice point to be like hey I want to explore this feels interesting I want to explore this touch or if you want to be in your own journey you just gently push the person's hand away and you go on your own journey. So for me it is all about stepping into the unknown trusting your intuition that you're moving in the right direction. It's it's like going to the gym and building up the muscle of your intuition so that you start really trusting your movements without second guessing yourself too much. So you understand what I'm saying? So that and then there's also an agency piece about your pleasure and your body like hey this feels good I'm gonna explore it. If this feels kind of weird or creepy or you're scratching me then I'm gonna push you away or I'm gonna remove your hand like so you have agency it's teaching you that you have agency over your body at any time and no one's gonna come save you and if you need help you take care of yourself. Okay now obviously there's people watching who don't have blindfolds on and if there's something that looks like it's gonna be catastrophic like you're gonna run into something or whatever there'll be people with pillows to kind of guide you back you know I I've had people like they touch the pillow and then they they start like rubbing their head on the pillow and like oh the pillow and I want to I want to go into the pillow and it's like no no no that's just a barrier stop stop trying to kiss the pillow but that happens i've i've done this many many times and I've had people kind of like jump around like a bunny rabbit and they're thinking like this is sort of like a static dance I'm like no no no this is moving as slowly as possible and really feeling the intuition of your body and allowing the music to move you in that moment.

SPEAKER_01

Yes yeah I love that oh it's so powerful and when you come out you really trust your you like you've you've gone to the gym for your intuition like you've really have increased your capacity to have intuition come in and be like yeah I trust that and I want to and I want to bring more of that into my body yeah I I love that so much because there's you know I have hundreds of people who come to me to develop their intuition right like that is that is what I'm sought out for and it's like if they had this type of practice of like you have a choice you can lean in and notice what you notice and notice is this pleasurable is this not is this weird like just noticing how you feel in that moment and then you have a choice and that there's not there's a there's it's almost like a very respectful scenario of like if you reject their hand it's not a rejection of them and this is totally known amongst everyone.

SPEAKER_00

And you're blindfolded so it's you you can't Take it personally.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

You know, it's it's and and when you start touching something, you don't know if they're a man or a woman or you know, a all of those things, all of the genders, whatever gender you call yourself, it doesn't matter because a hand that hand is just a hand to you, and it's just a sensation. So, and you have a choice to like, oh, I want to go into that sensation, or I want to be with myself and not have any sensation at all. And you have that choice moment to moment. I feel like it's just it's such a great opportunity to strengthen that skill.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Well, you sold me.

SPEAKER_00

It's a great, it's a great practice. You yeah, I should definitely do it. That's that's one of that's one of my favorite moving meditations aside from qigong. I'll be doing qigang and dance as well. I do a dance of the five elements where it starts out on earth, it's very slow and grounded, moves into water and flowy, get hot and chaotic and fire, go into air, which is light and lyrical, and then uh ether, which is like a shavasana stillness. And it's just I do I do that after I do qigong because qigong gets you out of your head.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And then you really don't care who's watching you when you move. You're so in your body, you're so relaxed, you're so open. When I play music that really excites you to move your body, you don't you don't give a crap if who's watching you or what's going on, you just start moving because you love movement. That's it.

SPEAKER_01

And I think that's there's so much that's key right there. It's like you are so in your body, you don't care about what others are doing, watching. It's not your responsibility to take care of them. You're you're in it for yourself.

Latihan, Consent, And Body Agency

SPEAKER_01

And when you have that much, I love the way my body feels, breathes, moves in this moment, you're not only embodied, but you're so fully present in where you're at.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. And you have enough wherewithal to not be like a Tasmanian devil or you're just knocking stuff over or you're creating havoc and chaos, you're actually so in control of your body that you realize that you want to have your experience and that you don't need to bother somebody else's experience. Now, when I tell people like, hey, raise your hand if you'd like to join another hand to have a coupled experience for an exercise that I'm going to do. But I tell people, like, hey, you meet the person in the eyes, you touch with the hand, this means I'm a yes to this experience. If they're not a yes, you go into Namaste, this means hey, I'm in my own experience. So you have choice on the dance floor to say yes or no to another person's experience. But when you get this open and relaxed, you you can feel into the moment, it's like, oh yeah, this this song and this exercise feels good. I'm gonna, I'm gonna partner. And then I may do another exercise, but you know what? I'm I'm actually okay. I'm gonna be, I'm gonna sit this one out and do my own, do my own dance. And I see it happen all the time. And it's just it's a wonderful way to learn how to move through the world because you're you're accessing your yes and no that feels natural. It's not coming from here, it's coming from here. The yes and no is now coming from here and not from here.

SPEAKER_01

Right. So from the heart space, not the mind space.

SPEAKER_00

Correct. But you use the mind space to help you navigate and be like, oh, yeah, like I'm not gonna just wave my hand and slap someone in the face while I'm dancing. Like, I'm gonna be aware of my awareness so that I'm not wreaking havoc, but I'm I I'm I'm having the awareness that I can be in my own space or connect with someone in the framework that feels safe and conducive for everybody.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. Yes. Anything else you want to share about the embodiment festival coming up in September in Austin?

SPEAKER_00

Um, just come. I just okay. So let me let me pre-qualify you. Do you love music? Like different stuff, like different kinds of music, like a the whole spectrum of music, like jazz, country, rock and roll, electric, you know, blues, uh, funk, like it, it's going to all be there. It's gonna it's like all of it's going to be there. Um, so if you like music, you're a yes. Do you like to move your body? You're a yes. Do you like um, you know, relatively smaller crowd? It's it's not this isn't gonna be like, oh, like it's gonna be crazy, but there'll probably be like about a hundred-ish people there. And um, so if you feel comfortable in that setting, then I would say you're a yes. Like especially if it's easy, if like if you're in the Austin area or it's easy for you to get to, why not? It's it's it's very reasonably priced, and it's it's on a weekend that it's I feel like it's not, you know, you know, it's not during Burning Men, it's it's not during Halloween, like it's it's it's kind of in this in-between place where it's easy to get to.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I love it. I'm so excited. Um, is there anything else that you want to share with us?

SPEAKER_00

Um what else?

SPEAKER_01

I know you have something coming up in California as well. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, the California Tantra Festival, the Awaken as Love California Tantra Festival. Awaken as Love is a mystery school I'm a part of that is really all about helping people um get into their own evolutionary state to create the life that they want. And we use shamanism, we use tantra, we use embodiment practices, and we use integral theory, which is created by Ken Wilbur. And we kind of synergize those four different pillars to create an experience that illuminates what's been underneath the surface of your body. And we do shadow work, we do um, we do like a practice where you go be by yourself for a while. Like it was what I love about this mystery school, it's it's not just about you know, a couple people up in front of the room just kind of lecturing the whole time, like it's really about giving some context and then having a real life experience of how to evolve your life. Yeah, and it's really it's it's it's an amazing process. And uh, we're doing a tantra festival in Cal in Dunlap, California, September 25 to 29th. So basically the next weekend.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, what are you thinking? I'm like, what am I doing?

SPEAKER_00

But what am I doing? But you know, it just so happened, these are the two weekends, it worked out great. Yeah, and uh and this festival has been going on for 10 years now, and every year it's about 130 to 150 people, so it's another one of these things, it's not super crazy, but it's enough people to who like, hey, I'm passionate about learning about Tantra and embodiment and how to really be aware of my awareness and how to be aware of my passion for awareness. And so that I mean, I feel like Tantra is a way to find liberation for your own body. Yes, yeah, and it's it's really about being in the 3D. Shamanism is about connecting with the divine and going into the spirit world, and it's very metaphysical. It it's it does synergize with being in the here and now, but tantra is really about 3D. Yes, it's about like really being in the body, and um yeah, so I um I'm really I'm really excited to be there and to showcase my love for Tantra as well.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I love that there's a bit of like you get a little bit of both. Like I'm as a shamanic practitioner for many years, I'm very well aware of like traveling into the different spiritual realms, and I have just fallen in love with Tantra the last couple of years because of the nature of embodiment, because of the nature

Tantra Beyond Techniques And Misconceptions

SPEAKER_01

of I get to fully feel alive and have permission to feel all of my feelings and feel all of my emotions. And there's nothing wrong with that emotional expression. And so I love that there's um, I feel like what Reiki was 10, 15 years ago is where Tantra is today. And Tantra is gonna be this next wave of how do we connect? Like I think there's this piece of lack of connection because of social media, because of technology, and people are so desperate to come back into real authentic connection again. And I feel like this is the this is the next wave of spiritual work. Is how do I how can I be a full yes to myself and know who I am and my own energy and what my yeses and no's are and feel in my body, and how do I relate to others? And there's so much, and there's so much more to that, but like I just see it, I see it unfolding.

SPEAKER_00

It's it's happening, and uh it's too bad Tantra has been kind of shaded in this weird light of like, oh, it's just about it's like it's all about sexual practices and sexual this and that. And it's like, no, it's really about becoming more aware of your awareness, yes, and you see that that piece is what makes sex so amazing because you're because your body's so turned on and alive. That's that's the secret sauce. It's it's not like, oh, I just do this like this technique or this thing. No, no, no, no. It's really what's in the way of you being really right here. Yeah, that's that's that's what my Tantra teachers told me. It's like it's not a how-to, it's what's in the way of me being the most alive, vivaceous person on the planet, and that's what creates amazing, amazing sexual encounters, that's what creates amazing friendships, that's what creates you know, amazing camaraderie and everything that you can think of where you're connecting with other people, it's like, how alive can I be? And those practices help you become more alive. So why not explore them?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yes, right. Well, it's so funny that you bring that up. That's that's you know, real presence with yourself. Because next Monday, in one week from when this is being uh broadcasted, uh, my partner and I are going to be doing a webinar called Creating a Sacred Sex Life Connection Through Presence. You know, it's and it's exactly that. It's like, how can we come into our full awareness so that we can better connect with ourselves, with our partner, with the divine, right? It's like I love it.

SPEAKER_00

Finding out what turns this guy off right here. What is what is your easiest, most joyful, passionate pathway to just turn this off and just turn on the whole body and just be right here. And then that to me, that's your that's your navigation pathway to connecting with other people deeply.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, you're gonna start yeah, we can definitely start with the embodiment festival September 18th through the 20th. I will be there. Um, I would love for the listeners out there to come join me, dance with me, move with me, all of the things. Um, and know that all of the things that we have spoken about, all the different festivals, opportunities, they're gonna be in the show notes. So definitely check out the show notes for those links. And Peter, has this been uh such an amazing conversation?

SPEAKER_00

I just want to say thank you so much for I can't believe an hour's roll, but like this has been so miraculous. Like, wow, this was an amazing conversation. We call this tantra time when you get into like this vortex of like where something um what's the word where it's like you have an experience with someone where it feels like 15, 20 minutes has rolled by, but it's like wow, a whole hour is just and it's it's like you are you're just you're in the now. That's what it is.

SPEAKER_01

It's it, it's it, absolutely, and it's been so fun to have the conversation because I I feel like I don't know, maybe I'm the ideal person to come to the festival. And I feel like there's a lot of people who are in the same position that I am, where it's like, come come dance, come move, come breathe, come meditate, come really feel yourself and know that you're okay, you're fully accepted in who you are. And it kind of reminds me of going to like summer camp as a kid when you get, you know, a your own special name and you're kind of out like it's a camp for for adults.

SPEAKER_00

But you I absolutely agree with you. It is, it's like summer adult camp, and the hidden treasure at these festivals are the little interactions in between the classes, yes, like an impromptu conversation you have at the snack bar or outside or waiting in line. Like you just you just spontaneously start meeting people and you have a little conversation, like wow, that conversation was really amazing. And then you realize, like, oh, this is my tribe. These are these are my people, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yes. I love I love that. I love that. And I'm I think that's one of the reasons why I'm so excited because because of the limited population of being all interested in the same thing, I feel like this is going to be opening up doors of connection and community um beyond my own, what's happening in Bozeman. And I feel like so funny because I have so I have a lot of connections down in Houston. I have a lot of students down in Houston, and all of a sudden it's like Austin, Austin, Austin, Austin, of like, okay, apparently I'm going to Austin.

SPEAKER_00

It's kind of the capital of the Tantra world right now for for the United States, basically. It's it's really popular there. And I'm tell those, tell those Houston people to make the drive up. Yeah, be pleased. If you're into music and movement and dance, then you're

Closing Thanks And Where To Connect

SPEAKER_00

you're gonna find the right, you're gonna find your people and you're gonna you're gonna have a hell of a good time. So thank you for thank you for talking to them. And you know what? I'd love to come to Bozeman and and do like a little like a weekend class or something around movement and meditation and all that.

SPEAKER_01

Sounds good. Let's make it happen.

SPEAKER_00

Let's make it happen. Perfect. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Peter, and to all of our listeners. Thank you for listening. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for sharing. And we will see you next time. Thanks, everyone.

SPEAKER_00

Be well.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks for tuning in to today's show, the Wisdom Rising Podcast is sponsored by Moonrising Shamanic Institute. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcasting app and be the first to know when we release a new episode. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at Moonrising Institute, or visit our website, Moonrising Institute.com. Once again, thanks for sharing space with us today. And until next time, may you awaken to the whispers of wisdom rising from within.