Ecstatic Wisdom Postures words/images

by

Deborah J. Milton, PhD

A global spiritual practice based on ancient artifacts,

Felicitas D. Goodman, PhD, anthropologist, developed the system in the late 1970's and called it Ritual Body Postures and Ecstatic Trance.

I discovered her book, Where the Spirits Ride the Wind in February

1993

and renamed the practice

Ecstatic Wisdom Postures because it seemed more

descriptive.

Why ecstatic wisdom?

First we need to examine that state called

ecstasy. In modern times, ecstasy has become confused

with sexuality, depravity and a host of other behaviors that are frowned upon.

Consequently, our modern culture is ecstasy deprived and we humans are

hungry.

Ecstasy deprivation

is a major source

of modern addiction.

How would you know if you suffer

from ecstasy deprivation?

Here are some symptoms:

"being on the pause button"

feeling apathetic, numb, stiff, unfeeling, helpless,

alienated, disengaged from living

feeling a nameless dread

feeling mired by confusion

feeling powerless to change anything including yourself

Fear itself may run your life. But WAIT…

Take a deep breath - we're in the throes of major cultural transformation and unprecedented

demands on human evolution.

AND happily, we're in the soup together. Out of this crisis the creative brilliance of humanity can

emerge.

Ecstatic Wisdom Postures can help us midwife this new human story as well as rekindle our own

compassionate aliveness.

So what IS

ecstasy exactly?

Ecstasy is the “condition that

occurs when the body transcends the

mind without the loss of

consciousness.”Belinda Gore, PhD,

The Ecstatic Experience

In his book, Wild Hunger - the Primal Roots of Modern Addiction, Bruce Wilshire, points out that: “In Greek ek-stasis means standing out from the points in space one’s body occupies. To stand out into the surrounding world and to be caught up and possessed by it. The world owns me and, in a strange sense, I own it.”

We modern humans have broken that “participatory bond…with regenerative source, with wild nature…kinship with plants and animals, with rocks, trees, and horizons.

Even terror is a bond with what terrifies. In such moments we are ‘out of ourselves,’ ecstatic, spontaneous, full of the swelling presences of things.”

Wilshire concludes his book with this

thought provoking statement

repeated twice as you see it below:

"Awe undermines addictions.

Awe undermines addictions."

My experience of ecstasy includes:

a felt sense of communion

awe and profound gratitude

being energized and informed by the

invisible life force streaming through

me being fully engaged

with living

Feeling alive and in love sounds wonder-full, don't you think?

But you still may be asking…

…why do we crave ecstasy?

Because it feels good!

When we're ecstatic, our ego

has let go.

What a relief!That poor ego of

ours is exhausted by trying to control the

uncontrollable.

When we hold an Ecstatic Wisdom Posture the ego

steps back,changes jobs,

becomes a “side-by” to the

Soul, a helpmate to the

Self.

This frees our energy.We feel as if we belong

to something larger than ourselves alone.

Addictions lose their hold.

We find easier ways to negotiate life's surprises.

And we fall in love with life!

Why do I use the term

Ecstatic Wisdom Postures?

Ecstatic Postures provide a felt-sense of aliveness

and the truths beyond facts.

Ecstatic Wisdom Postures

cultivate mystery

and inspire awe…

and that provides an

eco-centric awareness, a well-spring for wisdom.

We discover then thatecstasy and wisdom

areinseparable, regenerative,

and bone deep.

So why are postures called ecstatic?

The Body holds the key.

The practice relies on the body not the intellect.

Our nervous system is hardwired to respond to the rhythmic stimulation and the posture itself

provides the doorway to a specific neighborhood of the world beyond our typical senses.

The combination of pose and rhythm is the key which opens the door.

So exactly what is the practice?

We imitate a specific posture

found in an ancient artifact and

hold it steady for fifteen minutes …

while listening to rhythmic stimulation,

usually drumming and

rattling.

This is an exampleof

how we look!

This simple combination, when experienced in a sacred

and respectful manner,

balances our brain, integrates our body/mind, rejuvenates our nervous system,

releases endorphins for that signature feeling of well-being,

inspires imagination and helps us remember the vastness of our own inner landscape,

nourishes community,and provides direct experience of Source.

EcstaticWisdomPostures show us how to…

live fully so we have no regrets when our time here is done,

experience life-affirming ecstasy on a regular basis,

nourish community, co-creativity, collaboration, inspire artistic expression and imaginative

solutions, live with love, trust and gratitude, which helps

us embrace chaos with courage and equanimity.

. . .at the same time we feel better about the legacy we leave behind for our kids and their kids and their kids…

We enrich our living today …

I hope all that inspires you to sample

Ecstatic Wisdom Postures for yourself.

Please join me for an introduction on February 21st, 2012,

in Hansville, WA,

or on February 27th on Bainbridge Island.

Intros can also be "commissioned" by interested groups, as an Astrology Group is doing in Poulsbo.

A six session Foundation Course is always available after an Intro.

Please check my blogsite -

The Wisdom of Not Knowing Everything for current offerings and more information

about Ecstatic Wisdom Postures:

www.awakeningstorylines.comdeborahmltn@gmail.com

Cuyamungue, the Felicitas D. Goodman Institute, is located near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

www.cuyamungueinstitute.com

Brief Biography

Deborah J. Milton has a Ph.D. in Human Development

from Bryn Mawr College. She has facilitated groups for thirty years. An eco-psychologist, artist, teacher, adventurer, mother of

four and grandmother of eight, Deborah was certified to teach Postures in 1996 by the

Cuyamungue Institute. In 2001, she founded Athanor Arts - a Haven for the Creative Spirit just north of Missoula, MT, and gave the practice the

name: Ecstatic Wisdom Postures.In 2009, in response to the call of our time, she moved to Bainbridge Island, WA, to deepen her

work in the world.As her relationship to EWP has evolved over the years, she finds them infinitely adaptable, always

surprising, and an inspiration for Sacred Activism. They nourish her with community,

life-giving ecstasy and soul-centric wisdom.

Acknowledgements

Text and artwork by Deborah J. Milton, Ph.D. with gratitude to Marianne Carroll and Frances Wilson

for the slides' background design.

This program was written in 2012 using PowerPoint 2003.

Milton photo taken by Barbara Fontaine.

Photo slide 29 from the book by Nana Nauwald.

Photo in slide 11 from an old Institute brochure.

All images of artifacts and portrait of Goodman are from the collection of the Cuyamungue Institute or articles written by Gore.

Here are a few of my favorite books relating to non-ordinary reality,

ecstatic experience and the conscious evolution of the human:

Ecstatic Body Postures – an Alternate Reality Workbook, Belinda Gore, Ph.D.Where the Spirits Ride the Wind - Trance Journeys and Other Ecstatic Experiences, Felicitas D.Goodman, Ph.D.The Ecstatic Experience, Belinda Gore, Ph.D.The Salmon in the Spring – the Ecology of Celtic Spirituality, Jason KirkeyBecoming Animal – An Earthly Cosmology, David AbramShaking Medicine – The Healing Power of Ecstatic Movement, Bradford Keeney, Ph.D.Wild Hunger – Primal Roots of Modern Addiction, Bruce Wilshire, Ph.D.Voices of the First Day, Robert LawlorThe Cosmic Serpent – DNA and the Origins of Knowledge, Jeremy Narby, Ph.D.Nature and the Human Soul – Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World, Bill Plotkin, Ph.D.The Universe is a Green Dragon, Brian Swimme, Ph.D.