Shadow Dance

 I didn’t expect to be burned alive by a volcano—inside and out.

They say be careful what you wish for. I say: never name your event Shadow Dance unless you are prepared to step on a stage as your own deepest shadows come to life.

During prep, a volcano erupted on my belly in the form of badly blistering skin. It was as if Pele herself had claimed me as her conduit and muse. What unfolded cracked me open, tested me, and demanded more than I thought I had to give.

Shadow Dance felt like slipping beneath the surface into black water, the kind so dark you can’t see your own limbs. We entered together, eyes open, senses stretched wide. Every breath and every sound became louder in the absence of light. It was disorienting, intimate, and raw. 

And then it began. Bioluminescence, emotional & electric, started to flicker. Not in the eyes, but in the guts. Someone shook with grief and it lit the room. Someone roared with anger and the whole field pulsed brighter. We were revealing, not the polished parts, but the parts that had adapted to survive the dark. It was as if the deep sea inside each of us remembered how to glow when met with presence.

Most of the group was calling for more spice. So we went there. The problem with walking the edge is that sometimes you go over a cliff. A demonstration with another facilitator crossed an unseen line - one I hadn’t known was there until I was suddenly on the wrong side of it. A deep rift formed between us, as if the ground had opened and lava started spewing out. We found ourselves on opposite sides, moving farther apart with each passing moment.

It felt like our team was the caldera holding the eruption. I couldn’t see or hear the others through the smoke. Could we contain without collapse? The heat was intense, but we held, unbreaking. On our final night, the actual volcano shot over 1,000 feet into the air.

You haven’t seen a triumphant announcement because I was shaken to my core. More was burned off than I expected. It’s taken months to tend what emerged—to feel what was lost, and what remains.

And yet, through that intensity, something lasting emerged. The wavelength of the dragons is palpable; what we created endures. Shadow Dance was a descent into the dark to find what glows. We found it in each other - trembling, luminous, and more alive than before.

So what’s next?

The work keeps evolving. This weekend, Meta Predator: Awakening the Guardian Dragon dives us into our raw power - how we wield it, how we surrender to it, and how we become trustworthy in its presence. 

From true sovereignty that doesn’t dominate or retreat, you will expand your capacity to remain so clean and clear that others can finally exhale in your presence. As integrity sharpens your blade and devotion steadies your hand, you become a Guardian Dragon. 

This is an initiation into embodied leadership.

If you've been waiting for a sign - this is it.

Begin with our orientation workshop, then dive into our 4-week series.