John de Kadt

Join Brenda McMarrow and Franco Marini and Myself for a beautiful Kirtan and Yoga retreat in the magical Costa Rican rain forest In December of 2012. Come and experience this healing and heart opening  time as we slow down our rhythms to pulse of nature surrounded by rain forest and ocean. We will tune in with yoga, kirtan, meditation and healthy food and a lot of time in nature. Come relax and restore yourself as we begin to enter a new time of living individually and globally. To lean more and pre register at a discounted price go to   Rain Forest Rhythm and Song in Costa Rica

Two days ago I had the rare opportunity to visit and partake in an an amazing Balinese village ritual. It was celebrating the birth of a child and the entire village was there. It was so beautiful to see such communal loving interaction and connectedness between them all. There was a dance ritual with swords pressing against the chests of some individuals perhaps to symbolize the sacrifice one makes for the many or for the great spirit. It was a little unclear however the ritual honored the light and the dark and for sure. Then Gamelan rocked and and the dance was ecstatic.

I wrote this poem the next day :

The Balinese Village Ritual

The Grandmothers in their scarfs
and the five year old girls beside them
spread the mystery on the grass
calling in another circle for the village

the breast feeding mothers
the young steaming boys
the old man stepping slowly
the shy girls

the earth knows this answer
the call from our bones
the explosion of family
the clamoring gamelan
the rising abandoned dance
this knocking with others
on the trance of darkness with the
light of our feet

India is bright with colors and traffic and fresh fruit and crowded streets and life flowing in all directions. Time to study with my drum teachers and drum most of the day. My apartment is on the forth floor of the building where my teachers live and provides me with quiet and lots of light to really drop into drop into my own flow. I am washing my cloths by hand daily and hanging them to dry on the roof ( i love doing this …something about it feels so good) and primarily eating papaya and pineapple throughtout the day.  As I settle into my space in the busy city of Chennai I feel the pulse of simplicity return.

While  my habits sometimes want more stimulation I remeber as the days pass how wonderful a simpler life is. I feel blessed to have this intimate time with my teachers and study so many different rhythms on various instruments. While here again I’m always profoundly reminded just how rich and deep India’s art’s and spirituality go.  Blessings to you all

Im amazed ( and not so amazed) at how fast a pace I move at most of the time weather I’m eating, or thinking of the next 4 things I need to do or simply anticipating the next moment and missing the one that is here…….down here now in the caribbean on a small island the sun seems to melt everything to a slower tempo…. I can feel my fast gears grinding down to what cells know is our birthright …to what my body remembers is a more appropriate pace for being…and what the ocean teaches me …that there is a flow to all things….lets remember this ocean!

blue blue blue  water

green green green  palms

white white white beaches

clear clear clear breezes

slow slow slow  breath