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Mandala Meditations and Full Moon Manifestations

Happy Full Flower Moon

 

It’s abundantly clear- In the era of Covid-19, nothing is certain.

Wait…Wasn’t life always uncertain, though?  

The only thing that has ever been certain is, sure as shit, things are gonna change.  Everything is always in a constant state of flux.  Nothing stays the same for long.  Maybe we just all got a little too comfy with the illusion of security for a minute.  Welp…nothing like a global pandemic to strip away that veil.  And what are we left with?  The truth that we don’t have much time.  The hard fact that we have royally fucked ourselves by horribly abusing the sacred planet that we call home.  Many of use are staring our own mortality in the face right now.  Is it even possible to find a silver lining in all this death and chaos?  Maybe, just maybe this shadow time has something to teach us.

I’ll tell you one thing, I’m creating now more than ever.  It’s not that now I have time whereas before I didn’t, or that now I have more energy.  No.  To be totally transparent, living with depression during a pandemic is a struggle.  Every day is different.  Luckily, I have the tools of yoga, meditation and art making to help me cope in healthy ways.  I’ll tell you what, this forced isolation has given me the opportunity to turn inward in ways I never have and dig deeper than ever.  From the manure of life sprouts new growth.  What’s been sprouting up for me is lots of new art, and real, true connections with other magical souls.  My sankalpa, or my life’s mission statement, is Live Artfully.  I find that now, within this crisis, I am embodying that in a deeper way.

My newest series, Mandala Meditations, is very much a product of these times. It is a response to the fear of this collective shadow work that we are all knee deep in right now.  Creating these pieces was a way for me to find my center when my mind became overwhelmed and chaotic.  Making these repetitive marks, like a moving meditation, brought me back home to myself time and time again.  The act of sharing these expressions with a world under lockdown was truly it’s own living art piece.  What a profound and priceless gift.  Thank you for being such an integral part of my world and for reminding me that this work matters.

Mandala Meditations

Eye of Earth


Essence of Svadhisthana

Desert Medicine


Whirling Anahata

Vishuddhi Howl

Ajna Prism

Flower Moon

My Love

Yin and Yang

Amethyst Dream

I Am Whole

Be.

It’s hard to put into words what making and giving this art has meant to me.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Remember- you are never alone.  Keep going, keep creating.  May we consider that this intense and dark moment in human history is perhaps an opportunity to explore new ways of Being.

Love, love, love,

Sedona

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February Shadows.

Welcome to fucking February.

February just sucks.  I live in Kansas City where winters are COLD.  The last leg of winter is always the worst.  Though February is short, it feels SO LONG.  In the shadow of our lofty New Years resolutions, many of us feel overwhelmed by trying to solve all of our problems at once.  Many of us had the best intentions, yet we have already begun to fall short of our own expectations.  We were effervescent and brimming with inspiration on January 1st, what the hell happened to that?  We made lists, we made vision boards, we made promises.  “This time it’ll be different.  This time, I’ll be different.  I’m becoming the best version of myself!” (barf) we told ourselves.  By now, we have begun to settle back into the comfy leather chair of our old habitual thought patterns.  Not to mention, there’s that holiday coming up centered around romantic love that leaves many of us without a partner feeling like shit.  Shouldn’t there be a national holiday for single peeps?  National day of autonomy + self love.  Everyone buy yourself chocolate and get a massage.  Toast to yourself and masturbate all day.

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it’s ok to take a moody selfie sometimes.

February is a time of shadows.  In a world where we can pick and choose what we show to the world, we shape how we are perceived.  We are literally branding ourselves with everything we chose to “like”, share and post.  It is so fucking easy to be fake.  It is so easy to choose the smiley selfie because it will get more likes rather than the weird artsy photo that you love but no one else gets.  It is so easy to show the bright and shiny side of your life and let the shadow remain hidden.  Because no one could ever relate, right?

ladyballoon

floatingheads

I am currently working on a series I’m calling “Shadows”.  This series is a compilation of old, discarded, half finished pieces that I dismissed at some point as “part of the process”.  Somewhere along the way, I got frustrated and threw a tantrum because what was coming out of me was not what I wanted to show.  I deemed these particular pieces unworthy to show and cast them aside to forget about.  I’ve decided to pull those half finished creations out of the shadows and explore why I was adverse to this side of me.  Each piece of art I create is an expression of me.  Why have I chosen to hide some of those parts of myself?  Is there some cohesive thread that ties all this work together?  We’ll find out.  And then I’ll show you.

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For the month of February, I challenge you to embrace your Shadow.  Ask yourself: what image am I putting out into the world?  Is it real and authentic?  If no- why?  What fear is standing in the way of me truly connecting with others?  What am I hiding behind and what is there to hide?

Yoga isn’t all about the bright and shiny, y’all.  It’s about the darkness, too.  Those of you who read frequently know my love of clichés.  So I’ll leave you with this:  without the darkness, there is no light.

And also, this: “Good luck exploring the infinite abyss.”  Yes, that is a quote from Garden State, which is a silly early aughts indie film that I love.  BE MORE EMO, ME!

Love to you all,

Sedona

 

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A Summer of Art + Yoga- Reflection + Integration

troisfemmes

First Friday is here again.  Next weekend we celebrate independence and femininity with our group show, “Trois Femmes”, or “Three Ladies”.  So excited to share space two fabulous women, Katie Mantooth and Betsy Row.  Don’t miss out on this trifecta of goodness and our donation bar 😉

In other news, I was out of commission for about a week this summer with poison ivy.  Doesn’t the universe know that artists and yoga teachers can’t afford to get sick?  Though it pains me to slow my roll, I chose to find the up side.  I allowed myself the time off to get some much-needed r&r.  Thank god for Restorative Yoga.

It’s funny, the week I got poison ivy is the week I wrote this down in my journal:

“You don’t always have to be going and doing in order to get things done.  Sometimes, the most productive thing to do is nothing at all.”

I wove this into my teaching intention for that week nicely…of course, failing to heed my own advise.  Luckily, whenever I’m feeling invincible (and getting a little cocky), the universe promptly reminds me to stay humble.  So, I was forced inside….which for me, feels like torture.

Regardless of how I felt about this time off, I tried trying to make an effort to use it wisely.  It was a unique opportunity not just to plan for the future, but to digest the recent past.

Last winter, I was presented with this question:  What do I have to offer the world that no one else has to offer?  What makes me unique as an individual?

At the heart of it…Who am I?  Of course, my dear friend Lisa Ash raised this question in class last week just in time for some reflection…must be sharing some yoga teacher brain waves or something.

Here it is:  I am an artist.  I am a yogi.  I am a teacher.

I always thought I had to keep these parts of myself separate.  In what world could I possibly do it all at once?  Oh, right- my world.  That I actively create, every day.  For me, yoga is art.  Art is yoga.  These aren’t things or ideas to be categorized as parts of my life.  Any separation that I once perceived was just an illusion.  Art+yoga=my life.

With this realization, I started taking baby steps to share that which I am uniquely qualified to share:  That we are all creative beings.  That we are currently creating our reality with every single choice and action.

So these past few months I have been a very busy bee.  I’v planting seeds, leading workshops that I hope have helped shed some light on how amazingly creative you are.  Check this out:

Art Camp at Karma Tribe Yoga

Yoga + Dream Catcher Making with Karma Tribe Yoga

This is just a small glimpse of what you’ve created so far.  Look at all this beauty that you’ve added to the world.  I’m excited to see what else you come up with.  This is just the beginning!

So the glass is half full.  I needed to take my own advise.  I needed to zoom way out in order to gain perspective.  As I heal, I am slowly beginning to zoom back in.  Fall is right around the corner.  With this gust of cooling energy comes a wave of creativity and lots of opportunities to express.  There will be more workshops and more chances us to expand our consciousness.  It’s all very exciting, I could just BURST…

…but I won’t.  I’ll step back, slow down, take a breath and observe.

Then I’ll get back to work.

More art+yoga workshops coming your way, promptly following my recovery.  I can feel myself healing just thinking about it 🙂

Hope to see you all very soon in some capacity.  Until then- dream on, dreamers.

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Love,

Sedona

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Friends and Fables, 11.7.15

Friendship for the win!  Thanks again, Plenum Space for hosting this show!

 

 

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2nd Annual Tarot Glow Show!

Hey friends, happy fall time!  The change of seasons brings so many new possibilities and so many fun traditions…one of my new favorites being our Tarot Glow Show at Westport Yoga!  This show is an exciting fusion of a few of my most favorite things…art, yoga, the occult, friends, food and booze!  And this year it’s happening ON Halloween!  Favorite 🙂

Halloween Tarot Glow Show

Here’s just a little taste of the new series I’ll be showing.  Been sketching lots of these mandala inspired designs that I’ll be transforming into giant wall hangings.  Can’t wait to share the vision with you.  More info coming very soon.

lovelovelove,

Sedona

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If This Is The End…6.7.14.

Thank you so much to everyone who made it out to the opening reception of my latest work, If This Is The End…  Holy Moses, it was a blast!  I am so blessed to live in a city that appreciates and celebrates art.

Extra special thanks goes out to Micki Hadley for showing up with a video camera in her hand and documenting the night.  Shout out to the Ross Williams and James Thomblison for bringing it with the live music. A million and one thanks to Addison Stonestreet for being a frame building machine.  Last but not least, thank you Ami Ayars at Plenum Space Gallery for giving me a beautiful space to showcase my work.  I couldn’t have made this happen without any of you.

The show will be up for another three weeks.  If you get the chance to view it, I hope that you walk away with your own personal bond with the work.  My wish is that each viewer has a unique experience, creating their own story from the images.  It fills me with endless joy and gratitude to share my work with you.

Stay classy, Kansas City.

love, love love,

Sedona.

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the details

Puttin’ the finishing touches on this show!  Plenum Space Gallery, this Friday, 6pm-10pm…can’t wait!  In the  meantime, I’m having way too much fun faming with my good friend, Addison Stonestreet.  He’ll be showing for First Fridays as well, make sure you check out his work at Silver Screen Salon in the Crossroads Arts District.

Rock and roll

lovelovelove,

Sedona

 

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happy weird wednesday

 

Just some weirdly advise from one of my favorite mythical creatures.

In a paint by numbers world, we’ve gotta remind ourselves to keep it strange at all costs.

Don’t compromise…if people think you’re crazy, chances are you’re doing good work.

Keep it real.  Keep it weird…Keep it real weird.

lovelovelove,

Sedona

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Ruffians

Check out this new collaboration!  Cowboy Indian Bear and Micki Hadley are killing it once again.  So grateful to be a part of this project (I’m the creepy imaginary friend).  Keep your eyes and ears open for many more nightmarish music videos to come over the course of this year 🙂

lovelovelove,

Sedona