SOULFULL YOGA
with Angelique Shofar, CMT,CYT

Soulfull Yoga empowers you from the CORE!!
Life begins at the CORE!!

Most people are not aware that the core muscles are involved in every movement they make. From driving and looking over your shoulder, to cooking dinner, to bending down to pick up while cleaning, to lifting your baby from the crib, to reaching into the glove compartment for your glasses, to making love and beyond. Bending, lifting, walking, running, standing reaching back and forth all rely on the CORE muscles.

The core muscles hold the hips and spine keeping all the postural groups of the body in place. When the core muscles are weak, you are unable to do any movements properly. No matter how strong your other muscles are, if the core is not strong then the other muscles become strained and fatigue, making them weak and putting strain on the joints. Much of the common aches and pains many endure in their lower back, pelvic area, neck, headaches, abs, shoulders and more are a result of weakness and misalignment of the core muscles.

There is an infinite space to offer traditional and unconventional angles to the world of sexuality, love and relationships that has remained as dark as the continent of Africa and as large as the big white elephant (present yet invisible). Living in America, the most sexually superficial country, I see the need to draw out the qualities, the power, and the blind beauty of sexuality so that others can appreciate and utilize the wisdom. As an international woman of color, I am looking beyond the borders and ideals of a country in which I've lived in and been influenced by for more than half my life and into the vast cultural spectrum of sexuality, love and relationships around the globe.

Click on link to read on....
http://sexualgriot.blogspot.com/2008/07/horny-cultures.html

I kid you not when I say that my love and romantic life and some of my relationships have always been exciting, adventurous and filled with d-r-a-m-a. And sometimes crazy drama. Now for my astrology minded friends and visitors I have Leo on the cusp of my 11th house and that is also where you'll find my Uranian expressions. And everyone has and expresses the energies of Uranus somewhere in their chart/life. Now for those who don't know what Uranus is all about fellow Astrologer Kim Roger-Gallagher will paint a picture for you.....

Follow the link below to continue....
http://sexualgriot.blogspot.com/2008/07/unpredictable-inevitable-drama.h...

I’ve been receiving and giving bodywork for a number of years, but the last two years have been like a re-birthing and resurrection of that long forgotten power healing path and world I had drifted away from. Two years ago, I decided to walk deeper into the world of tantric healing touch. I recall the very first time I had to strip off my clothes and lay naked and open to receive bodywork. It was when I remembered just how shy I am. The touch of the healer was rather foreign to me and I was twisting and turning as the unfamiliar hands began to survey the landscape of my physical territory. I would skip many weeks of therapy because the old “me” just wasn’t going that way. No matter how long I stayed away, I’d always find myself right back there. And each time I was so thrilled that I went because each session resulted into a major break through and remembering of just how powerful I am!

Follow the link to read entire story:
http://sexualgriot.blogspot.com/2008/07/yoni-stone-healing.html

The map of your soul contains so many secret paths and unexplored territories. Would you like to trace its path and uncover its ecstatic riches and hidden treasures?

Come….enter into a sacred space, with bare feet explore the spine-tingling sensations of moving your body free-ly. It is your sensual playground. Come move, dance, sweat, stretch, unwind, release, sigh, shout, laugh, make believe, release, connect, change, transcend, come fuse …mind, body and soul!

Soul Fusion is an ecstatic fusion of yoga and dance.

You are invited to celebrate life and play!

SOUL FUSION - (Integrating Yoga & Dance)

&

TANTRIC ACTIVE MEDITATION - (Peace & Sensuality in Motion)

Visit the following link for more information:

The Sexual Griot Playbook
http://sexualgriotplaybook.blogspot.com/2008/07/sensual-living-playshops...

Don't Treat Thirst with Medication!!

"When the body is well hydrated, all of the physiological and hormonal prerequisites to a satisfying sex life and more-than-adequate libido will be in place. In addition, one or two glasses of water before the "event" will help in achieving a firmer and sustained erection in men and the joys of participation in women."

Peace be with YOU!

I have been a Holistic Health Practitioner for over 15 years. I am a healthy 43 year old woman. Most people are stunned by my age and ask me what my secret is. I tell them plenty of water and plenty of sleep. Of course it's just words to them. But to me it's my life, my body and my entire well being. I kid you not when I say that water has been my preventative medicine and a big part of my daily and sacred rituals. Simply put, I just can't live without water. (And i am not selling anything so if you are wise you will read every word I have written - carefully.)

A TASTE OF TANTRA!!!

What is all the talk about Tantra? And do you truly grasp the meaning? Come find out what tantra is and how it relates to culture, sexuality and every day living. Change the way you see your body and the way you experience life - with ease and sensuality.

Come get a sampling of an ancient spiritually erotic tradition!
Come explore the world of Tantra with two Sensual Soul Sisters!!

Join Angelique & Lisa for a Taste of Tantra!
in a free introductory sensual playshop.

The Telephone Playshop (Tele-play-shop) takes place on.....
Date: Tuesday, March 11th
Time: 9:00pm - 10:00pm EST
Location: In the comfort of your choosing. (by telephone)

After you have reserved your space, instructions for joining will be sent to you.

Email your name, contact info and interests!
contact: thesexualgriot@gmail.com

Links: http://thesexualgriot.typepad.com/
http://lifeblisssolutions.com/

Have a Sensual Day!

Listen to the Angelique Live! Podcast

Join me and my co-host Zaccai Free in a naked conversation with relationships expert and best selling author, Dr. Aaron Turpeau on Love Month and the political, social, sexual and power dynamics and climate of relationships during love month.

We also peel the layers of co-parenting, and free love relationships!

Listen now!

Go to: http://angeliqueshofar.podbean.com/

I was having an online chat with a sister out in California where she explained why she went vegan. Fred had apparently been the cause. Following the word Fred was a 3 year old fibroid tumor she had been struggling with. I was pulled inside and my immediate thought was why did she name it? I couldn’t help but be reminded of my struggles with fibroid tumor – the muscular fibrous ball of tissue that grow in and around the female uterus. I never named it and I wondered why. She named hers and I wondered why. I see irony in naming something abnormal, annoying and painful that’s growing in your body. It gives it an oxymoron kind of twist, I must say.

Read complete article:
http://thesexualgriot.typepad.com/culturaleroticlink/2008/02/invasion-of...

How We Express Our Physical Love & Sexual Desires

Eros brings beauty, meaning and divinity into our lives. It comes to us through a very particular epiphany, a passionate inspiration present in a particular lover, teacher, melody, or landscape. We long to follow it always. But this is not the whole story. For Eros also brings us obsessions, cruelty, abandonment, and betrayal. It may come through anguish."--Harriet Eisman

Eros is the god of erotic love. Knowledge of its position by sign can give you insight into how you individually express your erotic and romantic impulses, and the type of sexual and romantic chemistry that is generated between you and another.

My friend Chris and I have known each other for a while. When we met he was unhappily married and I was getting out of a marriage. There was an instant reaction the moment I walked into the room where he would interview me for a part-time position with the marketing firm he worked for. I was overwhelmed with what is known as “deja vu” when I first laid eyes on him. The feeling that I had known him already was a sign of what would become a lifetime friendship even if we never became sexually involved. Its 13 years later and we have still not had sexual relations, but we have been intimate in so many other ways and have enjoyed a very sensual relationship.

Read complete story at:
http://thesexualgriot.typepad.com/culturaleroticlink/a-ghost-of-my-sexua...

The evening is slowly expiring. I just returned from running with my dog. It is cold outside, but my internal heat is on. Sweat eases out of my pores; the volume of sensations increase while the day’s energetic accumulation moves into an orgasmic release through my skin. I always feel grounded when I run or ride my bike and my sexual velocity increases as well.

The energy finds its way into my lower extremities giving it the support and power it needs to utilize the muscles for maximum capacity. It slowly seeps out of my upper body – (shoulders, neck, head, etc.) the area where its sometimes trapped during daily mental interactions and tensed moments. Now it descends downward into my lower compartment. Once the buttocks and lower body are engaged all energy begins to follow. Energy follows thoughts. Energy follows motion.

Read complete erotic story at
http://sexualgriot.blogspot.com/2008/01/seductive-abyss.html

I am sitting at my desk listening to Bossa music online. I am being serenaded by the soothing latin tunes and the soft instrumentally mesmerizing music that keeps me in a mellow trance. The music has taken me back to the days when I was married to my son’s father. We got married in 1996 on Valentine’s day. This is clearly a synchronicity- that I am traveling back in a time capsule. We’re only a few days away from Valentine's day - talk about circles of life. My ex is from Brazil, born and raised in Salvador, Bahia. I have always been a sucker for culture, foreign languages, international men, and all that is unusual and from another place beyond my immediate environment. The sensual potency of a rich accent, of the excitement of dancing to musical tones and listening to stories from a faraway land are some of my natural turn-ons. I am evoking the sensual longings of my past and bringing them to life again.

For complete story click on this link:
http://sexualgriot.blogspot.com/2008/02/sensual-nostalgia.html

Attraction is an intriguing phenomenon. And when I say attraction I do not refer to the dogma of attraction, but rather the mechanics, the dynamics, the details and the dance of what happens during the complex interaction of mind, body and sometimes the spirit of two people.

You’re at a social gathering, engrossed in a conversation when suddenly you turn your head only to find your eyes locked into someone else’s gaze. A surge of energy surfaces from within you and your heart beats faster; your energy perks up and you begin to experience tingling sensations in your body. You’re sexually aroused! Characteristic? Hardly! Those moments are caused by an incredible chain of biological reactions that involves the hypothalamus, synthetic nervous system, and pituitary and adrenal glands which work together to release epinephrine – the chemical that makes you feel “turned on” as reminded by Charlotte Kasl in her book, “If The Buddha Dated: A Handbook for Finding Love on a Spiritual Path”.

Sistahs aren't you fed up with the generalization that whenever you feel angry, headachy, tearful, moody or lacking in sex drive you are told... “It must be your hormones.” One woman tried asking her gynecologist about hormones and his answer was: 'Don't ask me. I'm not very good on that sort of thing.' Women want to understand what’s going on in their bodies, especially when their libido is on the down slope and their hormones are not in harmony. But what’s the real deal on hormones and libido? And how is the libido crisis portrayed in men and women?

Throughout history the libido has revealed itself in many historical wars and through the binding of men. When the libido of men is high and is not channeled through transcendental sexual practices, men create excuses to go to war. When this potent fire of dormant vital life force known as Kundalini-energy is untransmutted, it is externalized as aggression.

THE NAKED CONVERSATIONS PODCAST!


brought to you by THE CULTURAL EROTIC LINK!

This edition of NAKED CONVERSATIONS brings you a woman with a background that blends a mix of Chinese and French cultures. She peels her layers and gets naked with her truth on orgasms, intimacy and loving her own body.

"Sexual Revolution in China"

Listen to the Angelique Shofar Live! Podcast on Naked Conversations with Women!
Subscribe to the podcast for automatic updates and feeds!


Visit http://angeliqueshofar.podbean.com/

Subscribe to the Sexual Blog spot for automatic updates as well:

http://thesexualgriot.typepad.com/

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FALLING BACK INTO YOUR SENSUAL NATURE!!!

Your complimentary copy of The Cultural Erotic Link awaits you! Send your mail request to: thesexualgriot@gmail.com

From The Editor:

Hey Sexy You!

Setting back our clocks allow us that extra hour of sleep to shift into the spirit of Fall! What have you done to get into an autumn state of mind? For the entire month of October I lived intentionally in my "yin" space balancing the depletion from the summer months. I had my challenging moments: friends in need; external distractions attempting to move me away from my inner depths; noises competing for attention away from my senses.

The simultaneous mercury retrograde in Scorpio brought me face to face with its counterpart "guilt" but for the first time guilt and I became intimate friends. Face to face I learned of it's madness and its meaning.

Sexual Reflexology moves reflexology beyond the realm of foot massage and into the realm of sexuality. It is based on the principle of using our sexual reflex points in lovemaking to heal the rest of our body. Our sexual organs are the most powerful reflex points on the body. The whole body provides the sexual organs with energy so when the sexual organs are stimulated they in turn stimulate and energize the entire body. In this way, sexual intercourse is a form of ecstatic acupressure. This means that sexual intercourse can have deep healing properties when applied intentionally and precisely.

Angelique Shofar
Holistic Health Practitioner & Publisher of The Cultural Erotic Link !
will be a guest on "The Point" on XM Satellite Radio 169 on the XM Dial
with host Dr. Barbara Reynolds
on Saturday, October 20th
6:00pm -7:00pm.
Live show open to callers – 1-866-801-TALK

The topic: CELIBACY!

Read her recent column on Celibacy!
http://washingtoninformer.com/health.html

Angelique Shofar is the founder and director of the Spirit of Wellness and the publisher of The Cultural Erotic Link! As a Holistic Health Practitioner her practice focuses on Sexual Wellness & Empowerment. She is a yoga & dance teacher,
wellness & lifestyle coach and columnist. She is also a radio personality and former host and executive producer of "Africa Meets Africa on Pacifica Radio, WPFW 89.3FM. Angelique has been featured in The New York Times, ABCNews.com, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Heart & Soul Magazine and other online publications. Visit her online at www.spiritofwellness.org & at www.myspace.com/culturaleroticism.

In the News....

Jill Scott on Celibacy Blues!

This blog explores our wild, primorial nature and the patterns of
suppression and misunderstandings that retains and inhibits our
sexuality. As young children we were in perfect harmony with our
natural expression of wildness. No doubt you can see it in the brave,
daring and innocence of a child playing. The abundance of pure energy
that is unmatched by ours. Or we can see it in the full body breathing
of an infant or the belly laughter or anger and tears of a child.

The "Wild Self" has its origin in this childlike energy, this raw, essential
power as it is expressed naturally before it becomes filtered through
the civilizing codes of social education and or religious influences.
Where do you suppose it all goes? And how can we reconnect with our
childlike essence for pure love, potent sexuality and life?

Read The Sexual Griot Blog and share your thoughts! Click on the link below for more!!

Is Your Wild Self Really Dangerous?
Real or Surreal?

What’s on a man’s mind may very well be a catalyst for his total well being. While the list of the benefits of humanity’s oldest and most pleasurable pastime (Sex) is extensive; and most know the feel good benefits of sex while engaged in it. How many are aware and informed on the health benefits that go on long after the rubbing of wet bodies and the sweet bedroom talk. With all the drama and delusion around sex you’d be astonished to hear that many of our men are not thinking about sex every day.

According to sexual research by The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, 54% of men think about sex everyday or several times a day, 43% a few times per month or a few times per week and 4% less than once a month compared to only 19% of women who think of sex everyday or several times a day. The actual validity of these figures and sample of people of color is questionable, and for some even arguable. Yet, it is a springboard for cultural sexploration!

[“And yet a woman who has not had an orgasm develops the temperament of an ungrateful snake, she strikes out irritably at every little thing; she is an unpleasant, unpredictable, unrewarding companion in any pursuit.”]

The sexual myths that have been passed down from generation to generation have played a leading role in the rise of internal pain, suffering, health challenges, conflict between the genders, hostility and the suppression and fragmentation of our real power. We are unquestionably a sexually immature and a sensually underdeveloped society. Sex is a sacred act and ancient philosophy that humans living in modern day society are very confused about.

As children, we were fed with information and images that painted the “art of love making” with dark colors that are dull and shadowy and like a secret forbidden society that dwells behind locked doors with the keys thrown away. Ironically, it is that part of our being that we most fear, and so we most fear are authentic power.

Everyone can identify personally with a flower. I am an ORCHID. What flower are you? Tell me what flower you are drawn to and I'll tell you of your essence.

Imagine a romantic setting in nature, rich with the lullaby of birds. The grass is green and the air is laced with the sensual fragrance of fresh spring flowers as they exude Mother Nature's complex sexuality.

Flowers are frequently thought of in terms of form, colors, shapes, rather than its function. We decorate our homes with them because of their aesthetically appealing presence and the aroma they bring into our space. We show love to another with the gift of flowers. We hastily pass them by in our rush to get somewhere. Other times we ignore them and take them for granted.

Sexual Healing, Power & Awakening!

Welcome to The Sexual Griot column! A space carved out to explore the depths, fabrics and holistic nature of our sexuality. As people of African descent, our sexual history, sexual stories and beliefs around sexuality are largely shaped and dictated by other forces. Yet our sexuality has its roots in our culture, our personal sagas, the splendor of our antiquities and the unique passages that