Athena Sisterhood Glossary
AS = Athena Sisterhood
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BSS = Beautiful State Sister (Sister to do River Cleanse with)
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DANCE CELEBRATION = Anytime. Anywhere. Put on your favorite music and embody ecstatic movement to refresh or digest emotions and thoughts nonverbally. Dancing awakens and enlivens your being, flooding you with all kinds of feel-good hormones, which drench your cells in health.
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FAVORITE FRAME = A frame is your question to the answer: “What did you see, what did you notice, what did you get?" A powerful way to process experiences and digest is by framing the peak pleasure/top gain you took within those experiences.
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GODDESS MANTRA = Break the habit of negative thinking by replacing unconscious messages with conscious, juicy, goddess reframes that you have written for yourself. You don’t have to say them out loud, although you can. Choose a Goddess Mantra and think it silently in your head throughout the day – such as when you are interacting with your partner, your coworkers, your children, etc. Notice how it changes your day!
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For example....
“I am the Goddess of Remembrance... I am sage
I am smart
I am sultry
I am power
I AM Remembrance..."
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Or
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“I am the Goddess of Nurture I am kind
I am caring
I am safe
I am space
I AM Nurturing”
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PEARLS = An acronym for Paths of Extraordinary Action to Radiate Love and Serenity. Instead of calling everything we use tools, we call them PEARLS. You need to dive deep to become pearls yourself. And it's not just about diving to get them, you need to become them. You need to work on yourself first before you can ask things of others. These are our PEARLS to help you do so!
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RIVER CLEANSE DEFINITION AND PROCESS = It takes two sisters to do this exercise. By doing the River Cleanse, you dump/empty the intense emotions (no emotion is bad) on any topic while a sister is holding the safe space (non-judgment) for you. By doing this exercise regularly, you can stay connected to your pleasure which leads to inner guidance and knowing.
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Read about guidelines and the procedure here.
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SWAMP = This is a process of moving emotions through our bodies. The experience of moving powerful emotions through our bodies can take us to a place of power and beauty that we otherwise do not get to feel. It’s just like the exquisite way the air feels after a generous rain.
- Swamping comes in handy when we experience PMS; when we’re overly tired or excited; and when we’re stressed, scared, jealous, angry, heartbroken, or feeling any of the other dark emotions.
- We plug into our emotional truth, and then we embody the shit out of it. We dance. We scream. We bang on pillows, roll around on the floor, and wrestle with a girlfriend. In short, we let it move through us however it wants to.
- When we learn how to Swamp, we learn to ride the vicissitudes of life. Rather than feeling bad about feeling bad, we know what to do. (SWAMP and this explanation came are extracted from the book “Pussy a Reclamation” by Regina Thomashauer, School of Womanly Art)
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Process:
You’ll need a journal, a big black trash bag, a pair of scissors, some loud music, some pillows and other props, and—if you really want to do it right—some witnesses to Swamp along with you.
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- Step 1: Before you start to Swamp, it’s helpful to write out all the things that have upset you.
- Step 2: Get a trash bag. (get a big, black trash bag). Cut a neck hole and armholes, and pop it on like a dress.
- Step 3: Put on some loud music. Don’t have a favorite trigger song? Mama Genna recommends:
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Kelly Clarkson’s “Addicted,” if you are in a state of heartbreak; Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name,” if you are pissed at the world; or Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work,” if you are sad and overwhelmed.
- Step 4: Now take inspiration from a toddler you’ve known and embody your loudest emotion, as fully as you can. To get the rage going, try beating pillows or whacking a dishtowel against a wall. Try rolling around on the floor in frustration or sadness. Or lean your back against a wall and push your hips out, using the wall to wrestle with. Move your body the way your body wants to move. Don’t be afraid to feel or look awkward; it’s part of the process. You’ll be relearning how to really, truly feel your feelings. Just like a little kid having a tantrum or a meltdown doesn’t last forever, there is a beginning, middle, and end to a Swamp.
- Step 5: Consider being witnessed in your Swamp.
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You don't have to go through it alone! We have a Swamp Program hosted by our sister, Alex, Goddess of Aloha to guide you as you swamp your emotions out.
THANK YOU, IT’S TRUE = Have you noticed that most women just cannot receive a compliment? We brush them away, shrug them off, push them aside, or flat out deny them. Especially when they are true. We generally suck at receiving, don’t you agree?
- The truth here is that we can’t receive any more love than already exists, inside, for ourselves. And the less love we have for ourselves, the more we will feel victimized and disempowered around our circumstances.
- Receiving is a muscle. You use it or lose it. And most of us were never taught to use it.
- Correcting our inability to receive by joyfully taking in praise can feel...awkward. Strange. Silly. Selfish. But, actually, isn’t it more silly not to receive a compliment? To push away the love, time, or space that wants to come into your life?
- “Thank You, It’s True” is a handy Sister Goddess shortcut to flexing your receiving muscle, and turning around the bad habit of deflecting praise when it comes your way.
- It will feel awkward, of course. But do it anyway!
How to use this tool:
- When someone gives you a compliment, simply respond with: “Thank you, it’s true!”
- You can also practice this tool with another Sister Goddess, similar to how we did the exercise in class. Set a timer for 3-5 minutes, and decide which of you will give praise first, and which of you will receive first. Whoever is giving praise will then offer praise and reflections for the entire time.
- After each compliment, the receiving Goddess states “Thank you, it’s true!” You can praise her beauty, her inner qualities, what you love about her, what you notice about her, anything worth sharing! Simply bathe her with your love as she expands her ability to receive.
- Then, switch!
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TRINITY = This is a special way to start or close a meeting in a high vibration frequency. It can also be used anytime you want/need to uplift the energy within or around you! The process is below:
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Brag: Feel your value, be proud, and it will take your sisters higher too. Paise the sister who has bragged by responding “Well- bragged” to make the experience for them—and you—twice as fun.
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Gratitude: Recognize all that is good and positive in your life, all the beauty that surrounds you and within you. Let your gratitude list include all aspects of your life, from the physical, mental, emotional to the spiritual. As you notice all this abundance around you, breathe it all in and allow your being to be filled with gratitude. Use the phrase “ I am grateful for...” to celebrate what you have at this moment in your life.
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Desire: Tap into your personal magic to create a list of your heart’s desires. Release your desires to the field of pure potentiality with the expectation that they will bloom when the season is right. Relinquish your attachment to the outcome. Let the universe handle the details for you. Know that when things don’t seem to go your way, there’s a reason. Sisters respond to your desire by saying "And so shall it be, or something even better beyond your wildest dreams. Coming to you at the speed of light, with dripping diamonds and PEARLS!"
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WHAT'S GOOD = The purpose of this PEARL is to bring awareness and positivity into your field. It lets us focus on the gift found in everything. Where your focus goes your energy flows. This is especially powerful when you are using this tool on something that you have been struggling to find the gift in.
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✓ Set a time for this practice and commit with no hesitation
✓ Sister 1: "What’s good?"
✓ Sister 2: "What's good is that [finds the positive in that topic]"
✓ Sister 1: "Thank you, what else is good?"
✓ Sister 2: "What's good is that [finds another positive]
✓ Repeat until time is up and you are bursting with positivity with your focus completely changed
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COOL TOOL = A sister chooses 3 sisters that will ask her these questions, taking turns:
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“ ___ (Name of the sister), What’s new?”
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“ ___ (Name of the sister), What’s changing?”
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“ ___ (Name of the sister), What’s next?”
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Depending on the number of sisters present during the wisdom circle, sisters will keep asking her these 3 questions until her time is up. Once the time is up, every other sister gives a favorite frame.