The month of October ended with my third Cacao Ceremony facilitation class and my first workshop in Manila. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding this delicious-sounding activity, so I thought a blog post about it would not be superfluous! Sharing belong the preface to my Sacred Cacao facilitation manual, which I wrote last July:
Hello dear seeker,
Welcome to the world of sacred chocolate!
Over two years ago I was sitting by a bonfire under a full moon in Laguna, Philippines, and was given a cup of bitter cacao to drink. The brew was so intense that I was not able to finish it, but all of a sudden, a combination of elements – the fire, the moon, the guitar and the voice singing, tied together with the sacred drink, all produced a shift in my energetic system. There was an opening or shift, though hard to describe, which lingered on for months, until the following year, I found a teacher of sacred cacao and started my own practice. I knew I wanted to share this with the community that was growing at the Gassho Center for Healing Art in Cebu, which opened its doors in September 2017, only three months after my first cacao ceremony in Santa Rosa.
As I have been serving it, I also encourage the members of the community to do the same. As a result, many have also taken on this habit, which curiously enough, some remember from their childhood days, where cacao was served in their homes by parents and grandparents.
Now that the Gassho Center is coming to a close (closed in August 2019), it is time for sacred cacao to spread even further, which is the reason this course came into being. Honoring the call from the Spirit of Cacao herself, it is my honor to share this with you all.
In her honor, with love
XOXO
Windy
Cebu City, July 2019
As of the moment there is no date for the next workshop, but I will be serving cacao ceremonially during our upcoming events this November, namely: Heart Chakra Workshop on Monday 4, Serene Sunday overnight retreat on 10-11 in Carmen, Plant Spirit Ceremony on 12 at Soul Sierra, and many more to come! Please check our events page for more details.
Hey guys! So it’s almost been three weeks since the closing of the Gassho Center, which I consider as an EXPANSION more than anything else! I have been slowly adjusting, recalibrating, making new connections and brewing some cool stuff for you guys. People are still a bit confused about my work, so here is a bit of a rundown if you will, feel free to follow all some (or none!) – I know a lot of you already are, and I am grateful.
My old Reiki page Reiki cebu is no longer active, but it’s still up and I guess you can still consult if for historical reference here:
https://www.facebook.com/gasshocenter/
It chronicles my first steps in Reiki and sharing this with Cebu.
A lot of you are already following Gassho Center’s page, if not here it is:
https://www.facebook.com/thegasshocenter/
There’s also the website: www.gasshocenter.com
Main focus is of course Reiki, which is at the foundation of my practice, but also shamanism and as of last year, plant medicine (cacao, rapé, sanangga, hongos, etc.), sound healing, yoga, tarot, astrology, and more! There is also the Gassho Circle, which is a closed group, not currently accepting newbies, while I figure out what to do with it.
Next is my public page Zarah Windy, which coincided with the launch of my online mindfulness course. I actually opened it to have a separate personal account because I was getting a lot of request from people I didn’t know. That didn’t really help, lol. Anyway the main focus of this page is Mindfulness practice, including, but not only, meditation.
https://www.facebook.com/zarahwindy/
www.zarahwindy.com
Omfest was last May so I also opened a FB page and IG account for that, resources from the last event.
www.omfestcebu.com
https://www.facebook.com/OmFestCebu
Finally, I started Tantrika also this year, which is applying mindfulness to all aspects of relationships, a topic that is always at the forefront of everyone’s mind (together with health and career). The more I deepen my practices with different modalities, the more they seem to point towards this path, which I am called to share.
https://www.facebook.com/tantrika.sacred.love
So there you are, most of these accounts have IG counterparts, but everything is in flux. Hope you find these resources helpful. I am available for private bookings as well as groups, let’s work together to bring more love into our beautiful planet!
Namaste.
IG handles: gasshocenter, zarahwindy, wakeupcall_mindful, omfest2019
A few months ago I got to have dinner with a dear friend in Singapore at a lovely restaurant. We used to hang out in Makati, Manila, right after college, and would see each other almost daily with our group of friends, just enjoying the Makati nightlife like the care-free twenty-somethings we were. Allan was his usual sweet, gentle self, picked my aunt and I up at our hotel and took us to his favorite restaurant, where we had a delicious meal and a lively conversation. We had a lot to catch up on! He shared about life and Singapore and moving in with his partner; they were going to buy a house together. As I went home I could not help thinking, wow, this guy has got it together. What do I have? Comparing ourselves is never a pretty thing, but here I was measuring myself up against a friend's life choices and path. I thought to myself, I want to move to Singapore! Thankfully this only lasted for a moment, as I do love my life in Cebu, especially my work at the Gassho Center and my friends. A few weeks back, our common friend told me Allan was in the hospital for a heart operation. Last week, he passed away due to complications. I am still wrapping my head around this. Allan is not my first friend who passed away. In my work and life, I have come to honor death as part of life. And yet it doesn't take away from the suddenness, the shocking coldness of it. I try to think of Alan's suffering before he passed, and his relief as he moved on to the other side. I focus on him - not on me. I send him love and light for a safe passage. I take time to honor him. I am grateful I got to see him one more time, after such a long hiatus. Love your life, even on shitty days. Make your health your priority: physical, mental and emotional. Till next lifetime, love you Allan!
