Seekers of silver light and golden mirrors, you belong in my temple studio. Unfolding feelings and emotion reveal yourself to yourself through the powerful medium of Siri BellyDance.

Imbued with the essence and energy of all my dancers past and present, my studio has become like a living Mandela. Here, we capture the spirit of nature's forces - earth, air, water and fire - in movements practiced from ancient times. Drawing in this energy, the experience is intensely personal, offering a unique understanding of our place in the universe from the inside out, not the outside in.

I ask my students to enter The Temple of Siri with a spirit of creative imagination and an open heart. Although it has its place in understanding basic movements, the analytical mind can be a barrier to the higher learning of this sacred dance. A student who doesn't grasp the importance of learning from a place of sincere emotion and feeling cannot achieve the authentic or spontaneous art and soul that brings the dance to life.

Today women too often feel compelled to assume male behaviour patterns in order to be taken seriously in the workplace and society in general, becoming what I call shadow men, surrendering their golden gift of femininity. Step into the light and discover that the true nature of woman is the most powerful force in the universe, the giver of life itself.

I've just received this letter from a student recalling her first lesson: "When I walked into Siri's Temple Studio, I was amazed. There were gilded goddess statues everywhere, and candles and fragrant incense smoke and colourful veils ... it felt like I had just walked into the private world of my own imagination, materialised into reality! And Siri welcomed me with open-heartedness, as did her students; there were women of all ages and of every possible body size, shape and dancing ability. My body wasn't out of the ordinary at all; I blended right in along with everyone else.   Then Siri put the music on and she started the class. I began to follow her movement, and right there, for the first time in years, I felt 100 per cent present in my body. I wasn't daydreaming about being somewhere else, or someone else or even thinking about the list of things I had to do. I was just completely alive in the moment. I could feel the energy everywhere, from the tingling in the soles of my bare feet to my pulsing fingertips! This astonishing feeling was so intense, and I instantly craved it so much that I knew I had come to the right place, and that I had just found what had been missing in my life. I felt like I had finally come home and I never wanted to leave again. I didn't understand it then, but my body had just responded to the call of the music."

Another magical journey begins!

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The Goddess lives.   - Siri