After being bucked off, Jordan Stanton didn’t just get back on her horse, she rode off into the sunrise. And she didn’t need someone in shining armor to swoop her up into this new dawn. She knows how to listen to her deepest stirrings and she knows how to follow them, for this 33-year-old wise woman had been living and teaching self-empowerment at Shakti Rising for more than a decade.

To so many, Jordan is an inspired role model for the teachings of this social change organization. Its mission is to empower young women to rediscover and reclaim their whole selves – and Shakti has helped more than a thousand women coping with mental and physical health issues, addictions and trauma.

Jordan, on the right, in a Staff Meeting at Shakti House ~ Photo: aemartin photography

“Jordan had dedicated her life to Shakti. I mean everything,” says Kelley Cohill, who co-directs Shakti Rising’s Education & Community Wellness Program. “She really contributed so much to the organization.”

In October, after nearly 15 years with Shakti Rising, Jordan and her beloved steed Kona trotted off to the Pacific Northwest where grass is a lucid green, the kind you find in picture books and fairy tales, where rivers flow over their banks and horses run free. She dreams of integrating a deep love of horses with her wellspring of knowledge on holistic healing, possibly through equine therapy.

Shakti Staff 2011

The move is a leap of faith for the beloved leader who was serving as regional director of Shakti Rising San Diego. Through residential and community programs, this dynamic organization is doing nothing short of birthing a new paradigm of the feminine – one that is strategic, sustainable, community-based, leadership-oriented, trauma-informed and ultimately holistic.

“It was hard to imagine Shakti without Jordan,” Kelley says. “But she really listened deeply and took a risk despite the fact that a lot of people would be sad with her leaving and I’m sure she had her own internal questioning. Her deep knowing and trusting that call to do something different is what we ask women to do here everyday at Shakti.”

Shakti House

Jordan came to Shakti when it was first forming. She was only 19 and in a very fragile place. Nothing else, including medication, therapy or in-patient programs, lifted her out of a deep depression. But at Shakti, Jordan’s entire world turned around. She blossomed and her bright light shone out. In 2001, she graduated from Shakti’s live-in apprentice program and went on to teach classes like Living the Seasons and Transformation 101. Jordan helped pilot and create a host of new programs, including Education and Community Wellness, and took the director’s reins last summer.

“She can really connect with people and a circle of women in a way I’ve never seen anyone do,” Kelley Cohill says. “She just has a talent and natural gift in that and is extremely generous and really joyful and loving and really really smart.”

Jordan in the Sophia Circle

After leading countless healing circles at Shakti – a signature piece within their programs – little did Jordan know last spring, she would become the center of another circle of women, the Sophia Circle.

Jordan had questioned whether she could make it to that Sophia gathering on a bright April day. She’d taken a bad fall off Kona and was gripped with pain. Amanda Collins, her friend who also happened to be in Sophia Circle, urged her to come anyway. Amanda isn’t usually so insistent, thought Jordan, so she arrived at what initially seemed like a simple lunch.

Sophia Sharing

There’s always an air of magic and a wisp of mystery unfolding at a Sophia gathering. Women uniting to uplift each other. Love expressing herself.

At our spring meeting, we introduced ourselves to each other and our special guests, Jordan Stanton and Kelley Cohill, by proclaiming what we love. Nicole, days when it’s breezy and beautiful; Amy, her open heart since the journey to India; Paige reminds us of the joy of touching the mother, the earth, in the form of life-giving dirt; Laura of blue sky and stars, cooing doves and French tulips; Amanda, well, she so clearly loves to love and Jordan, the women in her life, the sun, her horse Kona.

Jordan & Char at the Sophia Lunch

In the sweetness of sharing, each woman offers to the river of Sophia. Laura Plumb, whom you could call our Goddess of Ceremonies, has brought us together through vision, grace and layered action. We started as a founding group of 12 members and have grown into a collective of open-hearted women, most Deep Yoga Teacher Training graduates, who serve the community with a Sophia touch. As Laura explains in her gentle powerful eloquence, Sophia embodies a stream of the sacred feminine, a body of living wisdom, the holy waters that keep us alive. Sophia is a mother to all and keeper of the knowledge of what is just. She leads us to wisdom inside of ourselves.

Our Circle meets seasonally. In summer, we bless the water, often assembling along the banks of the San Diego River. Our autumnal gathering is The Sophia Conference, a bountiful retreat held this year at Dianne Cook’s luscious Sacred Journey Yoga studio in Temecula.

Sarah Karpicus & Kelley Cohill of Shakti at The Sophia Conference, leading a Forgiveness Circle

We gather around the fireplace in winter, setting our year’s intentions and drawing sacred contracts. And that brings us to Spring, a time of blossoming, springing forth and sharing our own carefully cultivated splendor with a very special recipient – someone whose acts are so great they cry out to be returned with kindness.

I always love this part, the giving of the Sophia Gift, because the recipient doesn’t know what she’s about to receive. There’s an undercurrent of excitement, as if invisible butterflies are circling the room.

Jordan celebrated by Sophia

This year, it was utterly apparent why Jordan Stanton was chosen, even before Laura made the announcement. This brown-eyed beauty carries an essence of pure loveliness that you just yearn to bask in. She’s a true peace warrior.

Jordan started as a participant in Shakti’s early pilot program in 1999. A group of women living atop Mount Helix with visionary founder Shannon Thompson experienced remarkable healing from drug addiction, sex abuse and childhood trauma. People said it couldn’t be done, especially with women who had been through so much. But, in time, through their core programs, focused on recovery, wellness and service, over a thousand women healed, transformed and became whole once again.

Jordan in the Circle

Now, it was time for the joy of circling Jordan in the OM Home garden, with each member offering a gift. Many of us had just met Jordan but her bright smile slipped right inside our hearts. The Sophia women offered massage, acupuncture, Ayurveda, Feng Shui, home-cooked meals, retreats, whatever gifts sprang from their individual craft and ultimately the heart.

“We are offering you the Sophia Gift because of your amazing gifts to our community,” overflowed Laura.

Jordan in the Middle

Jordan took it all in graciously, with alacrity and poise.

“I’m so grateful for what you have to give and I will be sure to pay it forward,” Jordan said after each woman made her offering.

Of course, that spirit is what landed Jordan in the center of the circle in the first place. “I think you’ve already paid it forward!” Laura chimed in.

Jordan!

Several months later, I had the joy of meeting Jordan at Shakti’s charming Golden Heights headquarters in a 1906 Victorian. She seemed to float around in a bubble of happiness while leading me through the homey, wood-paneled living room where Shakti holds healing circles and Yoga classes. She beamed like a proud parent at the stalks of corn and buds of lavender in their backyard vegetable, flower and herb gardens, home to horticultural therapy and community workdays. Shakti Rising has even created it’s own line of organic elixirs, a seasonal blend of homegrown herbs fittingly called Shak-TEAS, which benefit their various programs for women in recovery.

Rebecca with the Lavender

“It’s about priestessing these women,” Jordan says of the live-in Transformational Recovery Program, which helps participants address substance abuse, body image, interpersonal violence, depression and low self esteem. Through counseling, education and leadership development, Shakti defines transformational healing as recovery of the whole self within each woman.

“It’s a spiritual apprenticeship program. And it’s very much about doing it from the feminine, really truly from the Sophia,” Jordan says.

Jordan feels a deep alignment between Sophia Circle and Shakti Rising, both committed to birthing the divine feminine consciousness in their own way. Even so, she never expected to be the recipient of a Sophia gift.

“I was deeply touched and pretty shocked and pretty speechless,” Jordan says. “I’m not a person who is beyond words very often but I really felt that way. I felt really seen and just loved, so deeply loved.”

Jordan is so easy to love!

Even upon first meeting, it’s easy to love Jordan, with her vibrant warmth and passion.  Those who have had the privilege to work with Jordan revel in her rich hues. Founding staff member Tina Scaccio told me that Jordan has inspired her and hundreds of other woman to be free, intuitive and gracefully feminine.

“If I had to chose just one thing to honor her legacy here at Shakti, it would be her dedication to the wild woman,” says Tina, currently Shakti’s Co-Director of Transformational Recovery. “Jordan has a fervor and a flare for the true essence of magic in this world.  She provokes that which cannot be seen, to come alive; whether this unseen is in people, in organizations, in horses or herbs.”

Jordan is so alive!

Maybe it’s Jordan’s communion with the unseen that emboldened her to leave the beloved Shakti sisters she had lived and worked with for more than thirteen years. Even last spring, Jordan knew something fresh was calling her and Kona. But first, she needed to get back on her “sensitive giant” after that bruising fall.

“Amanda came out with me to help me get back on him because she grew up with horses in Ireland and she said ‘the longer you wait the more fear will grow so you need to get back on him,’” Jordan explains. “It made such a big difference. It ended up being a really positive experience for he and I that we grew from.”

Amanda with Kona

Jordan marvels at the timing of the Sophia gift. She was so in need of the massages from Sharyn Greenberg and Liscia Di Giacomo, a chiropractic adjustment from Michelle Ross, an Ayurvedic consultation with Laura Plumb, who Jordan says “has such an elegance in how she lives her life and how she practices her craft.”

The Sophia outpouring gave Jordan unexpected, unadulterated support as she prepared for a fresh and mysterious chapter of her life. With her Feng Shui wisdom, Amanda also helped Jordan sort through and purge her life’s belongings for the move ahead.

“It was a huge surprise and it came at a really significant time for her because she was at the end of this really intensive life cycle with Shakti,” Kelley says. “She felt extremely grateful that out of the blue, women would honor her and honor Shakti.”

Kelley Cohill attended the Sophia Lunch with Jordan

It was a physically and emotionally nourishing yoking, as this dynamic, intuitive leader followed her true North to a farm in the wild and green Pacific Northwest.

“There’s nothing more beautiful than women supporting each other, the experience of being so supported and loved unconditionally – because a lot of people didn’t know me – was really remarkable,” Jordan says, with her characteristic sparkly flair.

In case you’re wondering, this isn’t the end for Jordan and Shakti Rising. From Vancouver, Washington, she’s still engaged with Shakti’s “sky vision planning” and its cultivation committee – and of course, Jordan can’t help but cultivate Shakti and Sophia wherever life’s long and winding road take her and Kona.

~

These are just a few of the photos. There are many more and they are all fabulous! For all photos, please visit here.

Looking forward to next year’s Conference on December 1 & 2, 2012.

Namaste!

Click on Image for a Print Version

Our Conference Schedule

You are welcome to invite your friends!

Please contact Laura Plumb for more information and to register: [contact-form]

Rosa and Whitney

The La Maestra garden has been dubbed “Jardin de la Vida” or “Garden of Life” by the women who cultivate this urban plot.  On Sunday, August 23, the village gathered to get some herbs started at the already productive vegetable garden.  Sophia Sisters Irma, Laura, Nicole, Whitney and Sally dug in, helping to plant cilantro, mint, chives, basil and so much more…

Laura arrives!

With Laura’s powerful presence, we joined hands in a sacred circle around the new garden bed, offering blessings and beautiful intentions for this abundant gardening space.

Cilantro, an essential latin herb

We planted herbs for cooking, for teas, for salves and lotions, for medicine and for beauty.

Angel and Sally

It’s easy to see the happiness of our community as our own happiness.  This day radiated a collective energy that is supportive to us all.

Variegated Rudbeckia

Love and compassion bloom here.

Irma, La Maestra

Irma, the Garden Coordinator, says “all the plants are doing well. Many of the gardeners have taken the lead in coming to water considering the high temperatures we’ve had in the last few days.”

Mint tea, anyone?

We had enough starter plants to spread out beyond the front container to all areas of the garden, front and back and all around the house. So plants like Mint will have room to grow and grow.

Medicine Woman, Nicole

Nicole returned to La Maestra on Sunday, September 11 to lead a bilingual herbal salve preparation workshop and shared wisdom about the herbs Arnica, Chickweed and Plantain.  Participants learned how to make herb-infused oils and vinegars, and made their own prepared salve to take away.

~

La Maestra is located in the City Heights district of San Diego where they fulfill their mission to provide quality health care and health education, and improve the overall wellbeing of families of the under-served, ethnically diverse communities of our society with health clinics, classes, treatment centers, micro-credit programs, small business coaching and the La Maestra garden. Our Sophia Circle is honored to participate! 

Spring Sophia Gathering

In the Spring, Sophia offers her gifts to a leader in our community – to someone we admire, someone who steadfastly lives her ideals and makes the world a better place by being in it everyday with purpose, presence, energy and passion.

Sophia Circle for the Sophia Gift

This Spring, we offered our Sophia Gift to Jordan Stanton of Shakti Rising, who for more than a decade now has devoted herself to uplifting the lives of young women, helping them become transformational leaders, and healing our community in turn. This she always does with a smile, a ready laugh, an honoring patience, and a very special way of deep listening with the heart.

Paige & Jordan

We met yesterday and were blessed to have Jordan with us for the afternoon, given how busy she is now as Shakti Rising’s Regional Director. We were also blessed to have Kelly Cohill, Director of Education at Shakti, responsible for, among other things, the Yoga at Shakti House. May the Divine Mother eternally protect these great souls who inspire us to believe and to live more fully in the grace of the Divine. Jai Ma!

Wendy, Amanda, Rebecca, Sally

We also grew our community yesterday and welcomed many new members ~ Sharyn Greenberg, Wendy Castillo, Dianne Cook, Paige Sapp, Nicole Plaisted, Michele Ross, Amy Steckdaub, Whitney Kear, Victoria Linder, Liscia Di Giacomo and Char Selsvold, whose wonderful Blue Bees Odysseys may be the perfect vehicle for a sustainable Sophia Odyssey in the future…

Sharyn, Char, Paige & Dianne

I’ll add the website links for the new members to the “Blogroll” on the right. If I haven’t already included a link to your name above, please email that to me.

Also, please know that our Divine Friend and Sophia Sister Stephanie West (who painted the Lotus that graces our Blog in the banner above) helps people create low-cost, easy-to-manage web sites. Examples are the Sophia site, or Michele Ross’s website (link above). If you are looking to create or improve your site, I think all of us who have worked with her would highly encourage you to contact her. She is delightful, creative, helpful, practical, and fun. You can connect with her, and with all Sophia Sisters, through the links under “Blogroll.”

Amy Steckdaub

Our Sumer Gathering will be Sunday, July 24th at Mission Trails where we will bless the San Diego River in the tradition of sanctifying the rivers of the world for the holy gift of life. How about 10 am? This one will be a BYO picnic. I’ll bring extras. We go with the blessing of Sadhvi Bhagawati, our Divine Sister from Rishikesh who was just here with H.H. Puyja Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji Maharaj, travelling over from India where they live the tradition of river blessings.

Sally Tinker Smith

We missed a number of our Founding Sophia Sisters yesterday, so very much look forward to being together again in July when we will deepen our connections and further express the love in our hearts. Thank you for being a part of Sophia!

Rebecca Tolin

Stay tuned for Rebecca’s report on the day.

Namaste !

Through our combined seasonal dues and donations received at our annual Sophia Conference, we are blessed to be in a position to send support back to India, the source of Ayurveda, Yoga, and all that unites us in “Sophia.”

Young Girl in Kerala

We are so inspired by the Muthashi Project, and grateful to Director Niika Quistgard, the doctors of Rasa Ayurveda, and the women of Kerala for their efforts to create and sustain it.

Niika Quistgaard

Niika facilitates many wonderful Ayurveda immersion programs and is a regular contributor to Yoga Journal.  Her voice is fresh and inspirational.

From her YJ article, Ideal Meals

Our contributions will make it possible for Rasa Ayurveda to offer a clinic for new mothers, plus a full day of learning, wisdom sharing and plant-giving to the Kerala community in Southern India:

Open Clinic – An open clinic day for local women, focused on pregnant women and mothers with young children. The Sophia Circle contribution will provide medicines and treatment materials.

Ayurvedic Consultation

Healing with Plants – A complete Muthashi Program taking place in a local community of women, beginning with an introductory outreach lecture about the project.  The second meeting is an afternoon of medicinal plant identification and hands-on medicine preparation. ‘Muthashis’ – the Great Grandmothers, are asked to share their knowledge with the younger women who have decided that really do want to learn and continue the traditional knowledge and plant relationships into the next generation.   Our donation will cover the cost of the native botanicals given to all women who attend to take home and plant near their homes, event transportation, and the shared meals which are provided both to attract local women and give a chance for women from East and West to establish cross-cultural ties over a traditional meal.

The girls learn botanical medicine

Rasa Ayurveda is devoted to women’s health and happiness.  The experienced staff is steeped in the knowledge and practice of traditional Ayurveda and Siddha Vaidya, the oldest systems of medicine on the planet.  They encourage sustaining relationships among women from East and West with Kerala’s medicinal and nutritive botanicals.

When a woman feels well, she can express her life fully and make her unique contribution to her loved ones and to our world.

Niika and the Muthashi girls

Namaskar, Sweet Sisters of India!

January Gathering

Namaskar Sophia Sisters!

We had a wonderful warm afternoon together last Sunday, with lots of laughter, love, inspiration, and clarity. Apart from picking cards, casting our Sacred Contracts’ Charts, and sharing updates of our lives, we discussed the evolution for Sophia and agreed on the following ~

1. The Sophia Conference (TSC) ~ Our first was a great success! We received tremendous feedback, unanimously that attendees were refreshed and inspired to have this affirmation and community.

We are charged and clear in our purpose for our next TSC which will be 11.12.2011, all day, at The Sacred Journey Studio in Temecula. Dianne Cook (in the photo above between Rebecca and Amanda) is the very generous owner of Sacred Journey ~ absolutely the most divine studio with immense sacred feminine energy, and a full kitchen, along with spacious, natural surroundings for all our needs.

Our schedule for next year will be similar, only we will add a more focused piece on “Exploring your Inner Sophia,” with intimate group discussion to follow, since the personal interactions were so juicy for all. We will finish the day with a short Restorative Yoga piece and a longer bit of chanting/singing to seal it in.

The whole day, plus lunch, will be $75.

Going forward, we envision a special Keynote Speaker each year. Soula Saad has agreed to be ours for 2011. Soula is the Producer/Director of “Women’s Voices” an on-going multimedia collection of wise women’s songs, words, and loving expression from every part of the world. Her project demonstrates the love, the healing and the unifying power of the woman’s heart. Soula’s own personal story is poignant and powerful itself. She will be an amazing presence.

Sharon & Siobhan

2. Sophia Gatherings ~ As we have been, we will continue to gather seasonally: in January to set Intentions, in April for our Sophia Gift, in the summer for our Sophia Blessing (at the River or Bay), in the Autumn to plan The Sophia Conference. Laura will provide nourishment, so there is no need to bring anything other than your basics and an open heart.

3. Sophia Advisory Circle ~ Amanda, Rebecca, Siobhan, Sharon, Stephanie, Sally, Alina, Laura are the Core Circle of Sophia who help to guide its energy and unfolding, and are the “Planning Circle” for TSC.

4. Dues ~ $12 contribution made at each Seasonal Gathering.

5. Seva ~ Irma Timmons would love for us to continue to help grow the La Maestra Garden. She will attend our next Gathering so we can plan “dig dates.” La Maestra is also looking for someone to teach them Yoga and Meditation. I let her know that we have many great teachers amongst us.

The Muthashi Project satisfies a long-held desire to give back to India for all it has given us. With this project we can support the women, the healing, the wisdom traditions, and the local environment with relatively small donations from our combined dues and the TSC collection.

Girls learn "Dravyaguna," the science of botanical medicine

We are exploring the logistics of continuing to Feed the Homeless, weekly, following Amanda’s lead with her annual Christmas Day Oatmeal distribution that many of the Sophia Sisters joined this year, which by the way, fed 750 that one morning alone. Amanda will speak to Ryan’s Kitchen to see if we can base operations there, and if so, will find out which day is best. Sophia Sisters will not be obliged to show up weekly, but we hope turnout will be consistent, and we will invite our larger community of Yogis and friends to join us. In addition to food, we will put calls out for donations of shoes, blankets, and other necessities.

6. Expansion ~  There has been energy around growing our circle, which came to a head after The Sophia Conference. Given that Sophia emerged initially as a gathering of women primarily who had graduated from the DY YTT, and given all the amazing Yogins who graduate each year from our Training, and given that the MLTT creates such a strong Kula every year which Bhava and I feel committed to nurturing and strengthening, and given that the message from the New Year Labyrinth was “Wholeness,” it makes perfect sense that Sophia would grow by inviting MLTT women graduates to join us after they complete their  Training in the Autumn.

Therefore, at our next Gathering, April 10th, 2-5pm, we will be inviting women YTT Graduates, many of who attended The Sophia Conference, to join our Circle. It promises to be a rich pollination.

Sophia will only be able to incorporate DY MLTT Women Grads who are uniquely committed to growing the Sacred Feminine, of course, who feel a like-mindedness with our Circle, too, and who can make the commitment to attending four annual gatherings, the $12 seasonal offerings, active participation in supporting our Sisters, and availability for our Seva activities. TSC will remain a distinct event, except for those in the Sophia Advisory Circle. New Sisters would attend at full fee, or we can discuss a discount, unless as in Dianne’s case, they are hosting it!

Finally, we enjoyed warm, wintery savories, and a sumptuous Chocolate Pâté. The simple recipe for this exquisite dessert is below.

Chocolate Pâté

Chocolate Pâté

1.5  Ghirardelli 100%  Cacao Bar
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup ghee
1.5 tablespoon Jaggary, or Evaporated Cane Juice

Put all ingredients into a medium size pot and cook over very low heat, stirring constantly. After a few minutes, once chocolate has mostly melted, turn off the heat. Continue to stir until the consistency is smooth and even.

Line the bottom of a small loaf pan with a large piece of cellophane, or parchment paper, leaving excess wrap to hang over the sides. Give the chocolate mixture a few minutes to cool, still stirring, then pour it into the loaf pan. Cover with the wrap, and refrigerate 5 to 6 hours, until firm. Before serving let stand at room temperature one hour, then turn out onto a plate and sprinkle with cocoa or cinnamon powder. Garnish with figs, blueberries, blackberries and serve with Crème Fraîche.

This is such divine succulence from the Mother. With food like this, Her eternal, delicious love is hard to deny!

Honoring the Divine Feminine in you, and in all Life ~

Namaste!

Sally at La Maestra Gardens

Oh what fun it was! Sally worked with Irma Timms of La Maestra to prepare the ground surrounding a beautiful old Arts and Crafts bungalow tucked in the middle of high rises in City Heights.  Best of all, she then wrote about it on her Home Sweet Orange Blog, where she has a photo of herself dressed all in white! Only Sally, fresh and radiant as she is, could shine in pure white on a construction site.

While you are at her blogsite, scroll to her posts on her recent Anniversary trip to Hawaii. Looking at the photos and reading about their visit is a joy. It is almost as gentle and uplifting as being there. We wish Sally and Jeff many happy returns!

La Maestra Dig

Meanwhile, Irma and her husband have learned that they are expecting a baby boy! My what things grow when you put your attention to nature’s abundance ~

We look forward to returning to La Maestra Gardens in the Spring for planting season. What a delight it will be to see what sprouts next!

Zucchini Pesto

• 1 bunch of fresh basil leaves
• 4 small zucchini
• 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Pine nuts
• 1 avocado
• 1 tablespoon of garlic

Slice zucchini noodle like. Blend basil, garlic, pine nuts, avocado and lemon juice together. Season pesto to taste with salt and pepper. Even better when slightly heated.

Moist Chocolate No Cook Cake

• 1 1/2 cups almonds, ground
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup dates, pitted
• 1 medium apple, peeled, grated
• 1/4 cup carob powder
• 1/4 cup cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a food processor, blend the ground almonds, walnuts and dates into small crumbs.  Add the remaining ingredients and pulse to bring all the ingredients together.  The batter will seem a bit wet, but will firm up as it chills.  Press the mixture into the bottom of an 8 x 8″ cake pan.  Chill and serve with chopped bananas.