Guided breath and meditation practices on Earth Star Shambala
I was inspired by the hours of movement, breath and meditation classes that I have given over the years, to finally help more people have access to their power. Please meet Earth Star Shambala, my new guided practices channel on Spotify!
On Earth Star Shambala, you’ll find guided meditation and breathing practices, both in English and in French. Each practice lasts from a few minutes to maximum of 15mn. To help get into the mood, I create most practices to be guided to the sound of music, such as Balanced Breath (a pranayama practice), or Vibrant Flower Meditation.
Here’s the channel on Spotify, and you’ll also find it on Youtube, Deezer, Apple Music (see links below) and most music distributors.
Listen to Earth Star Shambala on Apple Music and Deezer
The vision I received for the name Earth Star Shambala was this: a luminous seed falling from the nightsky and landing in the middle of a forest clearing, creating a light bridge between the warm moist Earth and the big starry sky above. The feeling is belonging and connection. The seed is being home. Earth Star.
As for Shambala, it is the name of a mythical or elusive spiritual land said to be somewhere in the Tibetan Himalayas, or somewhere between Asia and Europe. Part fairyland and utopia, part real, it represents peace, happiness and enlightenment. Why does this mysterious land mean something to me? I had the great chance of traveling to Tibet many years ago, and although it was not a religious pilgrimage or a spiritually-led journey, the land, people, sounds and art all left a deep imprint in me. This journey kicked off a more scholarly research for me, on Bön (Tibet’s indigenous religion), Himalayan culture, art and Buddhism.
Through Earth Star Shamabala, I’m inviting you to explore short guided breath and meditation practices. I design them to bring a bit more light to your body and mind, a bit more relaxation to your day, and to make practicing easy and effective.
I hope you enjoy the guided practices on Earth Star Shambala! Let me know how it goes on IG with #yesyoga_sophie
When I’m not on the yoga mat, meditation cushion or in my flamenco shoes… When I’m not shaking a shamanic rattle and drumming till the devas come home… Or when I’m not Reiki-ing myself, my crystals or other people… I write and draw!
And today, I am delighted, honored, dancing, smiling, giggling and sooo happy to present Dancing Devas!
(well, OK, I also hold classes, am an entrepreneur in organic beauty, and I care for my family -and I occasionally cook dinner for the clan…)
More about my author-illustrator work inFisso’s World
Dancing Devas, my new Children’s Picture Book
Dancing Devasis my 3rd book, after Wandering Angkor and Fisso’s World in Cambodia cartoons. I sold over 3000 copies of my first 2 books!
Dancing Devas is a Children’s Picture Book that tells the story of Vida, and intrepid girl who discovers a magical forest with her 6-legged side-kick, Zazu.
When Vida chases her cheeky grasshopper friend Zazu out of her yard into the forest, they find themselves transported to a surprising jungle world.
They stumble upon mysterious ruins when suddenly… SWISH! SHOVE! THUD! All around them, stone ruins and carvings start coming to life!
Will Vida and Zazu escape the fierce Giants and dodge the hissing mythical Serpents? How will they gatecrash the Apsara Fairy Queen’s rambunctious dance party? Dancing Devas is a lively and whimsical children’s picture book, where Southeast Asian myths, art and architecture come to life.
Dancing Devas – 34 pages – Full color
Behind Dancing Devas
Dancing Devas is a labor of love that bridges so many worlds and times.
A bridge over the Pacific Ocean:
I started creating this Children’s Picture Book in San Francisco, scribbling when the kids were busy and I was not teaching yoga. I had a little table in the corner of a bright room where I’d play with acrylic paints and inks. My computer had dozens of sketches scotched to the wall behind it. Then the book was left aside, and kind of steeped in its own magical tea. Or should I say, fermented into bubbly kombucha!
I picked it up again in Singapore, tweaked the start and the end to make it resonate best with the kids and adults that will read it. I went back to my drawing board and computer with a new vision. And I turned words over and over, upside-down and right-side up in my head, over my tongue and through the countless proof and edit readings. (Many many thanks to my beta readers).
A cultural bridge:
As a child of mixed heritage, with unruly hair and visibly brown skin, I grew up loving stories… but not recognizing myself in them. Why did the princesses (nearly always) have light hair or fair skin? Why were all the books we read in school set in Europe or North America? I mean, even the stories I wrote and drew as a child featured light colored characters with long smooth hair…
Then one day when I was in Elementary school, a neighbor gifted me the Children’s novel she had written. The neighbor was Minfong Ho, and her book was Sing to the Dawn (which I love). What a revelation : a book in English for kids about kids in Thailand! Books about brown kids was possible! I now had books in my shelf that reflected my bi-racial and multicultural background.
Fast forward to where I stand today: creating stories where cultures and skin colors mix.
A bridge between the worlds:
Dancing Devas is firstly an adventure picture book. Vida and Zazu stumble upon a magic forest where, to their surprise, ancient sculptures come to life. They meet supernatural creatures such as the Giants, and Nagas (mythical serpents), and they party with the Apsara fairies (celestial dancers).
Beyond a journey into the myths, art and architecture of South and Southeast Asia, Dancing Devas is also told like a meditative journey. Vida and Zazu travel together from their ordinary everyday reality into the dream-like reality where anything is possible, even ancient stone statues dancing to life!
I loved walking these bridges in my creation process. And now my wish is that Dancing Devas flies out into the world and delights you and all the children you know. As an independent author-illustrator, I need you to help make it fly!
It is available in paperback on Amazon(.com, as well as all others) and can be ordered at your brick-and-mortar bookshop. Dancing Devas is also widely available on ebook platforms all over the world.
Yes Yoga Be Well made the Biba Buzz in its March 2018 issue (yes, I was slow to post the great news. It’s like great wine, time just makes it greater).
And if Biba is buzzing, so am I! BUZZZZZZ BUZZZZ BUZZZZZ!
Thank you Biba! And keep up the great work. We LOVE your curated tips, buzzing news and all the best trends in fashion, beauty, lifestyle and culture.
French Women’s Mag Biba – March 2018 Issue featuring Yes Yoga Be Well French Version
