shona lily photography

my photography blog 

just for me having a bit of fun, playing around with styling & photography!

shonalilyphotography.blogspot.com

shonalily.x

simply beautiful

http://blog.jackielaryea.com/

http://www.funzug.com/index.php/creativity/most-amazing-feminine-sketches.html

shonalily.x

favourite styles for spring...

...loving all things BOHO these days!

stunning artwork & imagery

 absolute favourite casual style... 

the boyfriend jeans

stylepantry.com

soft, feminine, simple & very comfortable...
easy to dress up or down...
the Maxi

fashionbombdaily.com

winter kate by Nicole Richie 2012

stylepantry.com

fashioninmyeyes.com

 a Must for me...

I  love my 

accessories!

Isabel Lucas...adore her style & her gorgeous parisole

Simply...

I adore, Hats!

having a cupboard full of them...

I always love the stylish versatility of

scarves!

an Olsen twin! gorgeous headwrap!

my favourite handbag at the moment...

a worn vintage satchel!

comfy, stylish & for almost every occasion...

& all seasons...

the lovely worn leather boot!

& lastly, 

my staple, 

chunky jewelery...

shonalilyx

dance..... & dance therapy

Dancing on the Earth

Women's Stories of Healing Through Dance

"My first task in exploring Contact Improvisation was to understand what it meant to be "home." This turned out to be a twofold experience for me. The first home was in my body and the second home was in my spirit. My awareness shifted when I learned to tune into myself first as soon 

as I arrived at the dance…

Relationship with myself requires the discovery and development of my solo dance. This dance is best found by initiating all movement from my core, my own center of gravity. With movement from my center, I find the edge of balance and imbalance, of flexibility and stiffness, of strength and weakness, of equilibrium and dis- equilibrium. My solo dance is where I come home when I have over-extended, or lost my way. My solo dance centers me. It teachers me how to fall softly, to follow my own desires, to expand as much or as little as I like. It shows me the full extension of me. It can take me into utter stillness and rest. It is an intimate connection with my essence. Strength, flexibility, and balance develop in the body while learning this dance. 

These same traits are required in an intimate relationship with another.

Coming home to my body means tuning in to myself in a physical and emotional way. It means letting my desires and limitations guide my dancing. Coming home to my spirit means honoring who I am in any given moment and dancing with that. It means abandoning the agenda of looking good, or not being good enough, but to dance from the inside out. It is about letting the dance dance me. It is body dancing body. It is dancing without sexualizing, without shame, without hidden motive. It is dancing for no other purpose but to be in the joy of dance, in creative expression, and a shared joyful experience. This is a sacred time to be in a solo dance or to be synchronized with another in movement."

-Jolie Pate 

Excerpts from the beautiul book,  Dancing on The Earth.

www.dancingontheearth.ca

 

What exactly is Dance Therapy..... 

Although dance has been a method of expression for centuries, it wasn’t until just recently that it was characterized as a form of therapy.

 

 

" The Grand Dame"

 

 

 

 

Marian Chace, “The Grand Dame” of dance therapy, is the woman responsible for introducing the idea of Dance Movement Therapy to the United States and therefore inspiring the first wave of DMT.  In 1942, through her work, dance was first introduced to western medicine. Chace was originally a dancer,  choreographer, and performer. After opening her own dance school in Washington, D.C, Chace began to realize the effects dance and movement had on her students. She was soon asked to work a hospital in Washington once psychiatrists too realized the benefits their patients were receiving from attending Chace’s dance classes^.

It wasn’t until the 1970's and 80s that the second wave of Dance Movement Therapy came around and sparked much interest from American therapists. During this time, therapists began to experiment with the psychotherapeutic applications of dance and movement. As a result of the therapists experiments, DMT was then categorized as a form of pshcotherapy. It was from this second wave that today’s DMT evolved.

 

The theory of Dance Movement Therapy is based upon the idea that 

“the body and mind are inseparable”

Dance movement therapy rests on certain theoretical principles:

•  Body and mind interact, so that a change in movement will affect total functioning
• Movement reflects personality
• The therapeutic relationship is mediated at least to some extent non-verbally, for example through the therapist mirroring the client’s movement

• Movement contains a symbolic function and as such can be evidence of unconcious process
• Movement improvisation allows the client to experiment with new ways of being

...through the unity of the body, mind & spirit, 

Dance Movement Therapy 

provides a sense of wholeness to all individuals...

  

shonalily.x

an introduction to vintage tattoo art

Jessie Knight, UK's first woman tattoo artist

It was in and around the year 1936 when Jessie Knight set up her own tattoo shop in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, & then eventually moving into the back of an amusement arcade in the army garrison town - tattooing there throughout the Second World War.

Jessie Knight

In 1955 Jessie took second place in the ‘Champion Tattoo Artist Of All England’ competition held in London, with a large back design of a Scotsman tossing a caber, complete with tents and spectators in the background of the tattoo.

my favourite Vintage tattoo images

on my wishlist.....

these are stunning! 

Vintage leather gloves decorated with classic tattoo art...

love!!!!!!

a commitment to Vintage style

gorgeous corset tattoo

shonalily.x

a beautiful soul.....Thich Nhat Hahn

Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. 

It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. 

To be mindful is to be truly alive, present and at one with those around you and with what you are doing. 

“The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go

 back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch

 with life.”

 

Thich Nhat Hahn

Thich Nhat Hahn

One of the best known and most respected Zen masters in the world today, poet, and peace and human rights activist, Thich Nhat Hanh (called Thây by his students) has led an extraordinary life. Born in central Vietnam in 1926 he joined the monkshood at the age of sixteen. The Vietnam War confronted the monasteries with the question of whether to adhere to the contemplative life and remain meditating in the monasteries, or to help the villagers suffering under bombings and other devastation of the war. Nhat Hanh was one of those who chose to do both, helping to found the "engaged Buddhism" movement. His life has since been dedicated to the work of inner transformation for the benefit of individuals and society.

In Saigon in the early 60s, Thich Nhat Hanh founded the School of Youth Social Service, a grass-roots relief organization that rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools and medical centers, resettled homeless families, and organized agricultural cooperatives. Rallying some 10,000 student volunteers, the SYSS based its work on the Buddhist principles of non-violence and compassionate action. Despite government denunciation of his activity, Nhat Hanh also founded a Buddhist University, a publishing house, and an influential peace activist magazine in Vietnam.

After visiting the U.S. and Europe in 1966 on a peace mission, he was banned from returning to Vietnam in 1966. On subsequent travels to the U.S., he made the case for peace to federal and Pentagon officials including Robert McNamara. He may have changed the course of U.S. history when he persuaded Martin Luther King, Jr. to oppose the Vietnam War publicly, and so helped to galvanize the peace movement. The following year, King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Subsequently, Nhat Hanh led the Buddhist delegation to the Paris Peace Talks.

In 1982 he founded Plum Village, a Buddhist community in exile in France, where he continues his work to alleviate suffering of refugees, boat people, political prisoners, and hungry families in Vietnam and throughout the Third World. He has also received recognition for his work with Vietnam veterans, meditation retreats, and his prolific writings on meditation, mindfulness, and peace. He has published some 85 titles of accessible poems, prose, and prayers, with more than 40 in English, including the best selling Call Me by My True Names, Peace Is Every Step, Being Peace, Touching Peace, Living Buddha Living Christ, Teachings on Love, The Path of Emancipation, and Anger. In September 2001, just a few days after the suicide terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, he addressed the issues of non-violence and forgiveness in a memorable speech at Riverside Church in New York City. In September of 2003 he addressed members of the US Congress, leading them through a two-day retreat.

shonalily.x

smoking lilys feminine touch..

smoking lily

smoking lily

smoking lily

smoking lily

smoking lily

smoking lily

smoking lily

Carrieday Photography
Models Justyna Borowski & Ita Morrissey
Hairstylist Deirdre Walsh
Makeup Artist Nina Stuczynska
Styling Shona Neilson
Clothing from Smoking Lily Studio

shonalily.x