Maybe people could be as the birds that migrate counting only on their instincts and the confidence that they will find everything they need.

No doubt, the search for simplicity is not easy in a capitalist world, where buying is the order of the day. However, even when being part of this kind of society, everybody can try moderation in their actions, especially by not buying on impulse. It is always possible to take a walk or wait until the next day before making a decision.

Probably fifty percent of our purchases would be avoided with this measure alone. It is also important to learn how to buy better things, as well as to give away what is no longer used. This way people can establish a limit in their wardrobes as well in their homes.

Empty spaces are very important as a decoration element. Pay attention to this – empty spaces give value to objects and bring a sensation of peace. On the other hand, cluttered spaces are stressful.

Another important reason to buy less is the possibility of saving money, not only for security reasons, but also because saving allows to fulfill dreams, to travel, study, and for self improvement.

But simplifying life presupposes simplifying the mind. Or could it be the opposite? When people organize and simplify things they change their mental state. Organizing starts by relaxing the mind wich bring flexiblility to let the river of life flow without the need of controlling everything all time. This doesn’t mean to live without direction. It means to define a direction and walk towards it with smoothness, certainty and serenity.

Very often people feel stressed and fail to stop for an instant to give new order to things, to find an exit. But to stop, to be quiet and in silence for a few moments in order to feel life should be a part of their routine, since otherwise they are living in a frenetic rhythm and have no time to notice things – not even the very good ones.

Simplifying means also to remember to come back to the centre, to say no to the thousand-and-one superfluous things that call out to the attention all time. This is almost a lost knowledge in a society where “time is money”. This belief is so strong that people come to feel guilty when they are doing nothing.

So, people who are always in a hurry or who have lost inner contact, should try to stay for a while far away from television, computers or anything that distances them from their interior space, and stay there – in this peaciful place – some minutes each day. Then they can look for simplicity, remembering that simple doesn’t mean less, it means intelligent!

Read more about this ancient Egyptian dance!

After several years researching, I decided to try conventional hormone replacement, taking a medicine called Angelic. I gave up on the 6th day, because I started to have breathing problems, I felt extremely tired, besides having difficulty to sleep.

Fortunately in my researches I had read a little about bio-identical hormones, a subject that many doctors, even gynecologists, had never heard about before (!!!). Fortunately, my conventional gynecologist – the same that recommend me Angelic – knew about them, and gave me the telephone number of a colleague who worked with them.

After detailed blood examinations, I started to use bio-identical Estradiol, Estriol and Testosterone creams, in September 2008. I never felt ill, my hair doesn’t fall anymore, and the cellulite practically disappeared. To be more exact, I started to see the improvement in the FIRST week: improvement of the muscle mass, skin, and energy.

Of course, nobody should use any medication without medical prescription and detailed examinations, but I think that every woman must know these hormones that are manipulated for each individual and therefore do not interest the big laboratories who cannot make money with individual formulas.

The bio-identical hormones are indicated also for men, whereas they also have hormonal problems that are not so evident at the beginning as for the women, but certainly lead to diseases and bad quality of life.

Since these hormones are still quite unknown, it is necessary that everyone who knows its beneffits speack about them, so that more and more people can have access this possibility, and so that we can enter a new time where it is possible maintain quality of life as we get older, and remembering that unbalanced hormones can affect young people too.

We went directly to Vancouver, a city with which we had imediate and total affinity. After a week we took a train - The Canadian - for a two-day trip to Jasper, a tiny and pretty city, surrounded by snow-covered mountains. Since there is not public transportation to Banff, we rented a car to traverl the 280 km on the famous Icefields Higway that connects Jasper National park to Banff National Park. We rented a very confortable car equipped with speed control - which is very important when the speed limit is 70Km/h the most of the time . It permits the driver not to worry about exceeding the limit.

The road is really wonderful, all surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, adorned with creeks and rivers, scented trees and… the bears. It was also very calm and with very few cars - what made the journey a relaxing experience. It was wonderful to see my husband’s eyes, green and serene like an ocean in a calm day. By chance I had with me a CD we like very much – Conan the Barbarian soundtrack - its orquestrated music was as imponent as the landscape around us. As it was still the begining of Spring we thought we wouldn’t see snowfall anymore, but suddenly I saw small things flying like fairies beating on the car’s windscreen - and we entered a strong snowing area. The snowflakes were small and bright, and the landscape’s wightness was like a dream. It was a perfect trip, a true meditation!

And speaking of eyes, at a certain point of the road where there was an agglomerate of spruce trees , we saw from a distance a man walking between them. Some meters ahead we decided to stop at a hostel near the road. We went in, but nobody was there. After a while the man we had seen previously arrived – we recognized him by his clothes – and he came to talk to us. He was the Inn owner or the responsible. He introduced himself and when he shook our hands, he looked at us in a very intense, deep and calm way, direct in the eyes. It was a wonderful gaze as if our eyes were immersed in a placid lake. When we left, we talked about that look that reflects the scented woods, singing of birds and his lonely walks through the woods.

Eyes that reflect an intense inner life and inner peace, are really very rare.

That reminds me one fact happened to Yogananda, reported in his book Autobiography of a Yogi. He tells us that he was travelling through the Indian countryside and heard about a very evolved yogi that lived in a cabin in the jungle. Yogananda goes to visit him, and becomes very impressed with his eyes. According to him they were “eyes tha do not search anymore”.

We arrived at Banff in approximately five hours, that seemed only minutes. We saw a frozen water fall, a bear crossing the road, and a grizzly sow with her little cub.

Banff is a small, clean and beautiful city, also surrounded by giant mountains. We stayed at the Juniper, a wonderful hotel surrounded by spruce trees just outside the city, separated from it by a viaduct over the highway. Below the view from the hotel restaurant window.

As for canoeing at Lake Louise… I found the lake still completely frozen. It was very funny, unexpected, and frustrating. But it’s OK. It’s a great excuse to come back again.

Belly dance classes, finishing with meditation and massage – in a class where the students will learn and exchange massage between temselves. This massage exchange after dancing and meditating – considering the integration and harmony of the group - induce to wonderful results throughout a profound relax in alfa state.

The electrical activity of the brain is classified in four levels – Beta, Alfa, Delta and Theta. We are in Beta state when our brain produces waves between 14 and 40 cycles per second, during the normal everyday activities. When we are more relaxed, doing something very creative or meditating, we are in Alfa (9 to 13 cycles per second). In Theta (5 to 8 cycles per second) we are almost sleeping, or in deep meditation or intuition. Delta (below 4 cycles per sencod) is a deep sleep state, some very advanced states of meditation, cure and regeneration.

The focus in the feminine performance is based in the uterus energy as a source of creation not only for reproduction but also or specially (depending of the individual goal) to create force and power to the women.

Once, working with a group in Porto Alegre – Brazil, when I was giving a massage in a student belly, she started to fill as if thousands of small energy spheres rolled in her belly, according to my mouvments. He had deep perceptions of emotional records of this part of her body. In my workshops all the participants have important perceptions that amplify their consciousness, making them more concentrate and self-confident. We acces these emotions keeped in the body only to liberate them. This is important because is very easy for us to stay imprisoned in the past, specially in any good moment, and when we liberate these ancient emotions we can be ourselves, as we are now. And what we are now is fresh and full of possibilities. We can creat new resourceful states to deal with our challenges and to face the new ones with excitement and pleasure.

In Honolulu you can take a flight  to Maui, and get there in less than thirty minutes. Maui has, I think, three airports. I landed in Kahului and rented a car to get to Lahaina, the city where we chose to stay. At the airport I chose a hotel, very practical and new in my experience. There is a wall where you can find the names of the hotels with fees and a direct telephone to each hotel – no phone charges. Usually, they pick you up at the airport. Everything is quick and perfect. I found this system also in Honolulu and Europe.

Maui is absolutely wonderful. We rented a car to drive around the island (about five thousand kilometers), stopping at beautiful beaches and waterfalls - without destination or schedules, in a real paradise - carrying along only water and fruit - eating whenever we felt hungry wherever we found a good restaurant.

Makena (above) is my favorite beach in Maui, where I had a frightening experience. The water was very shallow, about twenty centimeters deep, I was wearing a long dress, and I walked into the ocean for a long time with my camera to take photos of the mountains behind. I turned my back to the ocean to take the photos and at a certain moment I looked back and saw a wall of water behind me. I started running towards the shore, as fast as I could, holding the camera high up. After a long run, the wave took me from my neck to toe, but it was no longer water - it was only foam. In the end I saved my camera, and the foam bath was delicious, unforgettable. But it’s good to remember: do not trust the apparent calm of these waters, and do not let your children go far in the ocean. Later I heard that Makena is the best beach for surfing in Maui.

Lahaina is a small and lovely place, where you can find great shops - the most famous brands from Italy and France, and great restaurants. I especially remember one that was built into, and  had lighting on the floor, onto the water. We had dinner watching the fish swimming near us. I do not remember its name, but it is a very well known restaurant in the main street.

Maui is also famous for the humpback wales that come to the island from December to April. Unfortunaltely I went in August- when the mountains are covered by flowered grass - and couldn’t see them. But… I will come back one day!

Honolulu has something undefinable, as if the air is more transparent, brighter and full of energy. People are beautiful, happy, everybody using flowers in their hair. At night the lights of the buildings, trees and the torches give a magical sensation. It is delicious to go out for a nightly walk, have dinner in a good restaurant and then walk up to the beach to look at the ship lights under the shining stars or the full moon.

I had two favorite places to have lunch. One was a self-service restaurant, which had lots of fruits and vegetables, some pasta, fish and chicken for 5 dollars per person. The other was a small restaurant, which served a typical island fish made in a very simple way which brought out his flavour, besides white rice and some salad. All abosolutely simple and wonderful, for 12 dollars per person. Dinner was always more expensive, although I went many times to chinese restaurants, spending about 15 to 17 dollars per person.

Two things you cannot miss: The Polynesian Cultural Center and a lu’au. Many 4 or 5 star hotels ofer a luau to their guests, but it is interesting to go to one outside the city. Remember that you will take an entire day for each of these activities.

For the luau there are many ticket booths in the streets. After buying the ticket, you take the bus that will take you to the luau, usually 50 km from Honolulu. A great lunch is included. What’s wonderful is that in Hawaii Nature is respected and preseved, and everything is very organized. You arrive at a beach which has some shacks that hide the sound and lighting equpiment for the show. You do not lose the sensation of being in a desert, primitive, and untouched place. At sunset a wonderful Hula show begins. They make a small interval to serve dinner – pork barbecue and typical hawaiian food. Then the show continues, and at around 11pm you are on your way home. Bellow I am in a typical polinesian shack.

PCC is a giant cultural center where some of the main Polynesian islands are represented - Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, Aotearoa (Maori New Zealand), Fidji, Marquesas and Tonga. You Buy the ticket, take the bus for a 100 km trip. When you arrive there you receive a program that you have to follow, because there is a right time for each island dance presentation. If you are not careful, you will miss a show which is impossible to see later. This way you must move from one place to another to follow the program, and watch the wonderful presentations. Then you have a delicious lunch (included in the ticket), and some free time to look around and visit the shops, and take photos. At sunset there is a big show with more than 100 dancers. It is unbelievable, unforgetable.

You can get to know Honolulu well walking or by bus : Waimea Bay - a gorgeous beach, Diamond Head – an extinct volcano, and many other things.

From Honolulu I went to Maui, I’ll leave this for another post.

Some kinds of rhythm may induce a trance, especially drum sounds, techniques used in rituals to connect the human being with the spiritual world. In fact every kind of music afects the brain in some way, and it is wonderful when we can dance, when we can express with our body the beauty of the melodies. Beauty is another important aspect of dance, it is the goal we look for when we repeat a mouvement over and over, until it is perfect - and when perfection is found, it is brought to other aspects of our lives.

Dance has also a social role, it approaches people, and makes us more self assured. It has been used since immemorial times, connecting people and nature. The creation of the world itself, is expressed by the dance of Shiva, who also dances to the balance and destruction of the universe, so that new forms can be born again.

The word dance comes from the root “tan” from Sanskrit, which means “tension”. When we can express the tension of our lives with our body, mind and spirit, connecting ourselves with nature and the gods, we are really living!

You can also find food from all over the world: Italy, Japan, Thailand, France, Russia, and many others.

Avenida Paulista is very beautiful and it has many important buildings where some of the most important companies in the world have opened offices. We have an intense cultural life.

For safety, tourists should not wear jewelery or cameras in the streets in most regions.

São Paulo is not a usual destination for tourists who prefer the  North and Northeast beaches, but it is an important business city. But  business men and women can enjoy good concerts or dance shows. There is also the option to take weekends to visit beautiful beaches 1oo km from the city, like Juqhey or São Sebastião region.

The road that gets there , Rodovia dos Imigrantes, which had a revolutionary project,  built on pillars over the Serra  do Mar forest. The road is incredibly beautiful, and its lanes are revesible, that is, they can be controlled to became only one way depending on traffic requirements.

The history of the city is very interesting, it was founded by the bandeirantes, who were strong and adventurous men who opened paths in the forest, to discover new lands, look for precious stones and to found villages, soon after the Portuguese colonization.

For those who come to São Paulo or any other city in Brazil, it is imperative to try a caipirinha, the Brazilian traditional drink. It is made of cachaça (fire water), lime, sugar and a lot of ice. It is delicious and can be made more or less strong, and it goes marvellously well with fried fish and all types of local delicacies.

In my honest opinion, Riot is the most beautiful city in the world. It is perfect, surrounded by mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. Its design is perfect, the people are beautiful and friendly. You can take the bondinho (cable car) to visit the Cristo Redentor statue, and the famous Pão de Açucar (Sugarbread) mountain, and enjoy the wonderful view of the city and the bay. There are incredible restaurants near the ocean, where you can appreciate seafood and international dishes. All over the shore you’ll find typical bars where you can drink a delicious caipirinha (usually firewater mixed with lime and sugar, but has variants) or chopp – a kind of light beer. And do not forget to eat bolinho de mandioca (small fried manioc balls) and camarão frito (fried shrimp).

Rio has many wonderful beaches, my favorite is Barra. To get there you need to pass by the Barra tunnel, and the vision is fantastic:  you get out of the dark tunnel and face the intense blue of the ocean.

Carnaval isthe largest festivity of the planet. It does not have a precise date, but it hapens in Brazil in the february month, for four days. Rio’s carnaval is the most famous in the world.

In Rio you must be careful: do not use jewels or anything expensive in the streets.