Day 1: 40 day fast~ This Thing Called YOU!

I was reminded that today marks the Autumnal Equinox—the beginning of the Fall Season.

We are being called to really listen to the stirring in our souls. We are aching to do something. But we are frozen. The year is coming to an end and we are wondering what significant things have we achieved this year. Have we kept our resolutions? Are we following through on those things we say we want for ourselves? Are we living our most authentic selves? Are we honoring who we are? Are we walking towards our vision? Perhaps some of us are feeling like we haven’t accomplished anything.

I am here to inform you that it is never too late… the New Year does not have to start on January 1st a new day can begin today.

I read something earlier today that made me stop and pay attention. It was around this concept of fasting and detoxification.

I began to think about other terms and processes: reinvention, release work, healing, personal transformation, rebirth and cleansing. I am meditating on the many paths taken on this continuous journey towards transformation and all the ideas around healing and cleansing. There are so many ways to arrive—the point being that we arrive. I have been doing some work around “changing the old story that we tell ourselves.” I am always seeking new ways to Spiritually Cleanse myself. A way that I cleanse spiritually is creating healthy rituals that are a symbolic way of releasing the old story (people and experiences of my past and present) so that I can begin writing the new story.This is how I detox... I write... I release it all on the pages. This is where most of my healing work is done through writing.

We are being called to do some detoxification work and remove toxic substances and people from our lives that are no good for us. We are being called to release the OLD STORY! We are being called to make different choices. We are being called to make a difference! We are being called to find our force! We are being called to live our life’s purpose! It’s about being WILLING to abstain from those things that don’t serve us and let go of those things that do not bring us forward. We are being called to release the negative thoughts and behaviors that are harming us.We are being called to make a new commitment to ourselves. We are being called to live the truth of who we are TODAY!

Fasting is defined as being the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time.

While reading a book titled: This Thing Called YOU by Ernest Holmes, he writes:

“You have been told that you should fast and pray. Perhaps true fasting is a determination no longer to entertain negative thoughts, perhaps it means continually to be affirming the good. The act of physical fasting is merely a symbol of this inward grace. It is good practice to fast, so far as the negative is concerned, and feast on affirmations only. Why not fast from the idea of lack and feast on the idea of abundance. Pg. 97” ~Ernest Holmes

“Your search is after something great enough to lose your littleness in, something within you worthy of immortality and eternal expansion. Pg. 95” ~Ernest Holmes

So as today marks the first day of the arrival of the fall season I am beginning a 40 Day Fast and making a conscious choice to release those things that don’t serve me and I am only allowing in my body those experiences that are for my highest good. Today I am making a new commitment to me, my life, my writing and to all those I serve!

In honor of the beginning of this beautiful fall season I am offering a FREE workshop for women.

On Sunday, October 28, 2012 @ 6:00pm – 10:00pm EST

Join me for the first  ~ Women of the World Writers Workshop~

This is a FREE writing workshop being offered with the intention of providing a sacred space for women to gather virtually from all over the world to write together.

Have you been carrying a story that is suffocating you... a story that will not let you sleep?

Do you want support in beginning that project unsure of where to begin?

Are you ready to stop procrastinating and take YOU seriously?

Have you started the story but are feeling blocked or paralyzed?

Are you a closeted writer?

Are you afraid to answer your call?

This is the time.  I will be facilitating a writing workshop for women who are ready to BEGIN… for women who want to WRITE. This is a safe space to share your story and be SUPPORTED on this writer’s journey, which is one that can be incredibly lonely.

You have an important story to tell! You were BORN TO TELL THIS STORY! Don’t waste another day.

See you on Sunday, October 28, 2012

To register and for more information please email: findingyourforce@gmail.com 

In your email please include the following:

Your name:

Email: 

State/country:

Once you are registered you will receive more details.

About the Workshop Facilitator:

ALICIA ANABEL SANTOS

Alicia Anabel is a proud New York born writer who is passionate about writing works that empower and inspire women to find their voices, speak up and demand that they be respected. She is a Performance Artist, Producer, Playwright, and Activist, who after reading one too many stories about women she could not wholly relate to, decided to write her own tales that would honor women throughout the world.

She recently published her memoir, Finding Your Force: A Journey to Love and is currently completing a historical fiction novel titled, The Daughters of the Revolution. Her one-woman show I WAS BORN was selected as part of the ONE Festival in 2011, held in NYC. She is the Founder of the New York City Latina Writers Group. Alicia has spent the past six years facilitating writer’s workshops.

Alicia has worked for renowned magazines BusinessWeek, Glamour and Domino, but it was an article published in Urban Latino Magazine, "Two Cultures Marching to One Drum," that would change the direction of her life. In 2008, Alicia joined Creador Pictures as Writer /Co-Producer of its first documentary, "Afro Latinos: La Historia Que Nunca Nos Contaron / AfroLatinos: The Untaught Story" WWW.AFROLATINOS.TV, partnering with Renzo Devia, on a project that will change the way the world sees color and race relations in Latin America. Alicia lives in Harlem, NYC with her daughter Courtniana. She works as a freelance writer and activist against sexual and physical abuse towards women and children. She attended New York University and Rhode Island College.

Santos has spoken, performed and held workshops at Stanford University, Yale University, Brown University, Arizona State University, Johnson & Wales University, New York University, SUNY Albany, SUNY Plattsburg, SUNY New Paltz, Bowdoin College, Cornell University, The New School, Pace University, George Mason University, University of North Carolina (Wilmington), Medgar Evers College, Columbia University Teachers College, George Washington University, Haverford College, Five College Pa’Lante Event (Amherst College, UMASS Amherst, Smith College, Hampshire College, and Mount Holyoke College) the LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, Brooklyn Book Fair, Nuyorican Poets Café and Bowery Poetry Club.

Keynote address at Syracuse University: Without Limits: A Women’s Movement! (2012)

Conferences: National Dominican Student Conference (2012, 2011, 2011), Fuerza Latina’s 22nd Annual National Latino Collegiate Conference,"El Poder De Ahora: The Dawn of a New Era" (2012).

Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation (VONA), Completed the Fiction Writing Workshop with Maaza Mengiste, University California, Berkeley (2012).