The desert and femininity is a transformational journey into the joy of life.
Why?
Because we immerse ourselves in receiving things and situations as they are. Sooner or later every woman learns that this journey is completely different than she imagined. Liveliness thrives on the unexpected. She is challenging. Everyone takes the leap into the unknown with them. They are great women who embark on this journey and go through all the processes that pave a new path for them, or simply become incredibly happy and wake up for their own life adventure. This also includes redesigning some lives and courageously leaving some things behind.

Our ideas often cut us off from life.
That's why I design my desert trips in such a way that you often don't know what's coming next and what awaits us. We follow the conditions of nature. She shows us when and where to go. Everyone comes to the desert with an idea.
Some long for silence and relaxation, others are looking for new paths and visions after upheavals in their lives. Some are looking for a challenge and an adventure. And every woman receives what is important for her to experience and grow from. This is the great invisible part of the desert experience. And sometimes you only understand this much later, after the trip.

And here we go!
We travel through Morocco in a minibus for 11 days and spend 7 days in the desert in a caravan.
10 women, my nephew Aaron, who is filming this trip, 12 dromedaries and 5 men accompany us on our adventure.

Preventing liveliness are the ideas we bring with us

What luggage do you bring with you to the desert?
Ideas are the poison for liveliness!

Because they contain a schedule. As humans are, they like to stick to a plan. That gives him security. And if the plan is not fulfilled, you get stuck with the lack consciousness. Everything that should have been and isn't is viewed as negative, although that is exactly the fabric of the adventure. Plans and policies do not work here in the powerful nature of the desert. Maddo always says: No plan is the best plan . The desert teaches us from the first moment that plans you make don't necessarily work. Because nature sets the pace, not humans. We have ideas and yet remain humble when they don't work! Just like once again we couldn't visit the places we planned to because of the storm. No Plan does not mean a lack of direction, but rather being able to apply the fine art of improvisation and the ability to turn every situation into a gift and a good thing that feels completely right.

We want sunshine and finally get some vitamin D.
The desert smiles and sends us wind. Early in the morning, while we were doing energy exercises with Qigong in the sunlight, I could hear
the wind slowly coming in from afar.
I love this wind music. It holds something so mysterious. It is not yet known how strong the wind will be. The desert is not always quiet. It can also be quite loud.

Walking, sleeping and a lot of wind

After the nomads have prepared our breakfast and packed everything onto the dromedaries, we set off.
I love this morning departure. Walk barefoot, walk alone, walk with others. Everything happens as you go. Conversations with individuals or perceiving the landscape and the accompanying thoughts. Its storming.
The wind with all the sand keeps us wrapped in its secret message for almost 4 days. And as if guided by a magical hand, the wind stops at sunset.
Every evening. At least you can rely on that (hahaha).

When we arrive at a new place at midday after about 3 hours of walking, two large tents are immediately set up for us and a shaded area with a carpet and mattresses.

This is the moment where I just surrender. I lie there wrapped in a large cloth, listening to the wind and dozing. Despite being exhausted, my energy level is so high that I feel like I'm floating. This happens to me at night too. I always have the impression that I hardly sleep here! It is such an inner alertness that accompanies me throughout my entire stay in the desert. Under the gigantic, glowing starry sky, I feel extremely connected to the universe.
I like to be awake and sleep little for this unique experience.
Usually only 5 hours. I can sleep at home.
Here I am not in a sanatorium and not on vacation either. Here I am on an adventure trip. I absorb everything that comes my way.

After so many countless desert trips in my life, I know about this desert magic and always look forward to all the gifts. One of the greatest gifts for me is increasingly mindfulness and absolute presence in the moment.

That was not always so! At some times I was carrying around a lot of mental rubbish with me. These experiences are different for each participant.
First, you encounter yourself in its purest form. Everything we think about and perhaps even annoy ourselves about has plenty of space to look at here.
I forego details such as maintaining silence while walking and simply point out this valuable opportunity.

I see myself as a companion, space holder and connecting people and cultures.

Opening of the womb and the dance into femininity

I call my afternoon exercises the dance into femininity.
Here I would like to quote a colleague (Heide-Marie Heimat):

“ Women who engage in the spiritual practice of dancing are richly rewarded: when they give up control, they can have the healing experience of being carried and flowing through a force that fills them from within.

If a woman learns to entrust herself to the flow of female primal energy through dancing, this has wonderful effects on her entire life - especially on her love relationships. Living from the feminine self brings with it everything a woman heartily desires. We women stand together in a large circle and practice moving our pelvises,
stomachs, hips, breasts and shoulders together with music and freeing them from years of “holding on too much”.

For me, these exercises are for women the connection to their femininity. There's a lot of movement going on in the lap area.
And the movements of circles and figure eights, horizontal and vertical, are a revelation for every woman. As a dancer and choreographer who has always enthusiastically learned from ballet to modern dance, hip hop, African dance, tango and much more, I know WHY I say that these dance exercises promote a female body image to the highest degree like no other." Technology" . Speaking of technology! I attach great importance to people learning a technique from the ground up. Because as Nietzsche once said: Freedom comes after discipline!

And to see how the women are so much more connected to themselves towards the end of the dance week in the desert touches me.
We even dance a little to hip-hop music.
For the fun, for the vibe, for the inner attitude. The field of dance practice is huge and every style has so much to offer and is combined with joy of life.

Only those who follow the rhythm of the drums will connect with Mama Africa

After the wind, the silence and the delicious food that the nomads provide us with, the drums of Africa begin to speak. For me personally, this is one of the most important experiences with the nomads.
In their culture, music plays a big role in the evening!

After every strenuous day, we look forward to singing, playing and dancing together. That is origin. The fire, the music, the sharing, the quiet stories around the fire and the loud, hearty laughter that comes from simplicity. I was so happy that Maddo had brought more instruments with him this time. Because most of the time people drum on everything that is there: canisters, water containers, glasses and of course there is clapping to the rhythm. (Yvonne and I even sometimes had sore muscles in our upper arms from clapping). A special guest is there. Ayoub, one of our two chefs, is also a member of the music band Generation Taragalt e , with which he will soon be going on a European tour. with Africa's most famous music band Tinariwen at the Taragalte festival in Mhamid.
What an honor to have him there!
But he's not the only one who plays fantastically! There are everyone here who can play and create rhythm and energy on everything they hit: Baschier, Sami, Maddo, Whali and Ayoub. ALL! This has absolutely nothing to do with a “folklore group for tourists”! music band Tinariwen via the link above , you will understand much better the importance of music in the desert and that it is pure salvation! No other culture places so much value on music. But to do this you have to understand the background of the nomadic peoples.

To this day, Tinariwen is the most important and internationally successful band of Tuareg nomads.
They have been fighting for their freedom for decades:

The pioneers of desert rock are the band Tinariwen.
She belongs to the nomadic Tuareg people in Mali and has a clear message: freedom, recognition and self-determination. Their fight for freedom is unbroken. – “We are politically committed and advocate for the interests of the Tuareg. We are watching with concern as more and more countries isolate themselves and close their borders. That's why we use our weapons: Our music - peaceful and, in my opinion, more effective than the atomic bomb." (from Deutschlandfunk. See link!)

Laughter, dance and pure joy of life. Only those who get involved with the music and let it move them to dance will experience a kind of initiation. What we may be looking for in the supposed silence will now awaken at the latest:

• The Kundalini
• The liveliness
• Sexual energy
• Ecstasy

The desert and the nights are full of music.
The fire is lit. A fire that may have been extinguished long ago or simply never burned.
The nights around the fire with the nomads, the music, the drums and chants
and conversations are a very important part of the journey through the desert as I design it.

I couldn't find that feeling in Sinai, Egypt.
I missed the drums in the evening. I have also accompanied women there.
But after spending a lot of time with nomads in Morocco, I know how important music is to them.
And when they don't play themselves, they listen to music. The man at my side is our desert guide, and I spend
private time with him and his friends outside of desert trips.
Quiet evenings are rare! (Unfortunately, cell phone culture has done its damage here too, but that's another topic!) Music, fun and fire are simply part of their culture!
And that's where I find myself again. A very long time ago I once said: I want to live in a country where people make music, dance and laugh.

So clearly!
Anyone who goes on desert trips with me and my nomad friends will not spend the middle part of the evening in silence. I want to celebrate liveliness with women. Maddo places the carpets closer to the fire so that we don't remain spectators, but rather join in and the energy is transferred to us.
Come to the front. Not at a distance from the musicians. No! Fully immersed, in the middle of it all and hopefully happily exhausted at the end of the evening! Then peace returns. The fire is now embers. Everyone who stayed until the end huddles in her sleeping bag. Under the stars, or in a tent. Sometimes we can still hear the quiet voices of our hosts talking and laughing around the fire. I sometimes wonder what they have so much to say about. Her speech is also like music. Then it becomes quiet. And I go out a bit in the moonlight and meditate.

As always, only you choose where your personal journey goes!

Being an onlooker is not for me.
I want to smell life, taste it and breathe it with everything that is. Even if the taste is sometimes bitter, I know that behind everything there is always the learning experience that my soul needs to mature and develop. I much prefer to feel life in all its facets and dimensions than to watch other people's lives with a remote control in my hand.

• How do I know what my next step should be?
  How do I know what my goal might be?
  Can I just set off without knowing where I want to end up?
  
• I always go according to my impulse.
  For me personally, this is my guiding star. An impulse is like a fire that starts and if we don't add more wood, we miss the moment.
  That's what happened to me this time in the desert.
  I missed an opportunity. Because there was an impulse that I didn't follow.
  I sat on the terrace in Marrakech days later and thought about that moment that I never left.

I wanted to dance in the desert. I didn't recognize the gift of the sandstorm. This wonderful storm! I wanted to go out and didn't follow my impulse and just stayed there. I thought later. Later was too late. I'm sorry now. Very sorry indeed! I had Aaron with me to film my dance in the desert. Because it was storming, I didn't go out and I didn't follow the thought and impulse that was spreading in me to go anyway. I didn't realize the gift of this storm until later! The moment will never come again. I missed that one.

That was my little lesson in the desert.
For the people who walk with me, I want their full attention to their wishes, needs and insights. This also includes taking wrong steps in life. The older I get, the more I don't want to waste days on things and people that don't nourish me mentally or intellectually.

Ramadan, lack of water and dusty palm trees

Oh yes!
There was also Ramadan! Even in the desert, its inhabitants strictly adhere to the plan: do not eat or drink before the sun rises and only again when the sun goes down. 3.5 days of sandstorm and for the first time I see the nomads lying tired in the tent in the afternoon.
Actually, they are no longer nomads today. They are former nomads and are Sahrawis .
(If you would like to find out more about the political situation, you can do so in this link). The Sahrawis are the desert dwellers and nomads who consist of many, many tribes. They were once able to move across the borders in the Sahara. That's no longer possible today. Morocco has drawn borders across the desert. In addition to this conflict in Western Sahara, there is also the lack of water. And this one is really bad! The residents in M'hamid live exclusively from tourism. If this were no longer there, then there would be no more life here. It rains in the north of Morocco and in the middle of the country there is a dam that separates the south from the water.
I always cry when I drive through the country and see the thirsty, dusty palm trees. And that's just because the world needs electricity like crazy. The Ouarzazate Power Station (or  Noor Power Station) is a solar thermal power plant in Morocco, located approximately ten kilometers northeast of the city of Ouarzazate, Ouarzazate Province . The El Mansour Eddahbi reservoir is located approximately 10 kilometers southeast of the power plant.

“Morocco is using solar power to free itself from fossil fuels. One of the largest solar complexes in the world has been built in recent years on an area of ​​3,000 hectares. International donors such as KfW are promoting the energy transition, in which many German companies are on board. “

What is less known is that this mammoth solar system requires a lot of water. That's why the dam remains closed. And the south can only hope for rain!

We would really like to plant vegetables and trees here. But to get water from a well you have to dig pretty deep. 12 meters!

When women strengthen their femininity in the desert , transformation happens

It happens automatically.
I keep hearing from women how protected and supported they feel in the field of desert men. It's so natural. It is the natural order: the man protects and provides for the woman. Being in this field of natural order gives women something back that they rarely experience in their everyday lives.
They are always the ones who have to look after everyone in the family and often feel alone. On our journey together we feel the power of men and so we too come into our own.
In our feminine power.
From personal experience in my partnership with a nomad, I can say that I have never felt like this in my womanhood before: seen, valued, carried, protected, supported and respected.

We live in our male and female poles.
Archaic and original. I don't want to claim that all men here are like that! That would be a total lie! I wrote about this in my last blog article . But I understood what it's like when you first give yourself your own appreciation and love, the result is either a single life lived in peace, or a man appears who appreciates you and loves you sincerely.

In the afternoon, when the wind dies down, I start the women's circle and we dance.
Once we had to practice in the tent.
We were brought two plastic buckets with sand and a candle in them. The mood was mystical. The storm was raging outside. The tent walls shook and we moved in a small circle to music.

The emptiness is what makes the desert so full

The desert invites you to always have the courage to change your life.
This doesn't happen with your head against the wall or through the storm. This happens in surrender, with what is. This is one of the many lessons and I feel how the women, each in their own way, can take with them what they are willing to allow.

What amazing women! I love our connections, conversations and time together!

And I love this country, the colors, the storm, the sun. The joy of life. The liveliness, the music, the drums, the speaking, the silence, the stillness, the community, the primal power, the people, the dromedaries. It's so no-frills and so original.  

Live connection.

Walking together for a week through the surprises of the desert creates the greatest connection.
To you. And to others.

A week without social media and constantly looking at the cell phone and the clock brings us back to the source of true conversations.

There is nothing left to distract you. You arrive at yourself. Simple happiness begins to make itself felt. Without striving for more. Thoughts have so much space to show themselves. Maybe they'll rebel for a moment before disappearing into nothingness. The emptiness is what makes the desert so full. We empty, reveal, recognize and create space for something new.

It seems like the whole universe is talking to you.
Stars twinkle intensely all the way down to the horizon. The night gives us clarity. I float when I sleep. I already said. I feel like I'm barely sleeping and yet I'm not tired. I feel supported and guided by an invisible hand.

I wish that people who come to the desert go home with a new perception and remain true to themselves.

Quite a few find something here that moves them to change their lives. Or they receive a call, a vision that they want to follow. I am eternally grateful for this nurturing time with the women.

In October I will go to the desert with men. Together with Maddo and the boys we will take men on the path to their masculinity.

Good connections and relationships with the opposite sex require strong poles of male and female energy.
In conversations with men, young and old, I know how much insecurity there is.

That's why I'm particularly looking forward to this trip! All trips that I offer together with my partner and his team can be found here:
The Desert Experience.
ART.HEALING.VISION. For these and other inquiries you can contact me via email.

Another travel report on my blog about With the caravan through the desert: Pure joy of life and femininity

  An impulse is like a fire that starts
   and if we don't add more wood,
   we miss the moment.

Cooperation

I am Nora and I accompany people through the desert to their hearts and their femininity!

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