November 2018

Let me keep my mind on what matters which is my work which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished!

Mary Oliver, THIRST 

Dear Sultanas,

We are women of a certain age, leaning into our third and fourth acts, consciously recalculating and reinventing ourselves while transforming the current paradigm of aging by:

 Aging, Sageing, and Engaging Sultanas Gathering. Jan. 11-13, Delray Beach FL 

There will be @12-16 Sultanas showing up and stepping into the unknown for an experience of awakening and blooming. We will be the first class of Sultanas Fellows [2019] who will stand and dance together in the first Sultanas wisdom circle.

For those not able to attend, we will share some of our experiences of letting go, dynamic ease and stability, mobility, agility in order to stimulate new pathways of engagement to affect positive change, first in ourselves, then out into the world.

Warm snow days do enliven the soul.

After a snowy week in Vermont, I look forward to seeping into the healing rays of the sun after a large family VT. Thanksgiving weekend.

I send you all wishes for a nurturing thanksgiving holiday month ahead. I am grateful for all our friendships and the great works we do in our communities.

Blessings to the people of California who have weathered the wrath of fire!  We all have to believe in the healing rays of the sun.

Hinda Miller Founder, Sultanas Group

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Starlene’s Corner Francesca Arnoldy, End of Life Doula Sultanas Fellows 2019

Francesca Arnoldy will be at the Sultanas Gathering, leading us into living life more fully by exploring death and dying. She is the creator, facilitator, and program director of the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine’s End-of-Life Doula Professional Certificate Program as well as a part-time volunteer coordinator with her local nonprofit hospice team. She is launching a guide book and workshop “Cultivating the Doula Heart: Essentials of Compassionate Care” focusing on practical approaches to compassionate care.

The book illuminates the core components of the doula approach, providing readers with a deeper understanding of emotional support techniques and greater confidence to companion others during life's most intense times. Featuring detailed descriptions of practical techniques, useful suggestions, and contemplative exercises, this read is a beacon of light for difficult realms, allowing readers to practice and hone their ability to move from sympathy to empathy to compassion while avoiding exhaustion and burnout.

You can find Francesca contemplating birth, death, and life with the doula heart on her site: contemplativedoula.com. 

October 2018

“What day is it?” Asked Pooh

“It’s today”, sqeaked Piglet

“My favorite day.” Said Pooh

AA Milne

Ahhh, living in the present moment, that’s where our power resides.

Here in Vermont, it’s a time of seasonal changes. The wind is up, the temperature is falling; the leaves

are turning red and the acorns are falling. From sandals to shoes to boots; from cotton, to silk, to wool.

It has been a busy summer of life changes: birth, death, health issues and relationship building. These shared stories of Sultanas experiences in our autumnal cycles brings us wisdom to generate positive change especially when we collaborate effectively

Aging, Sage-ing and Engaging

We are Sultanas, women of a certain age, leaning into our third and fourth acts, consciously recalculating and reinventing ourselves while transforming the current paradigm of aging through …’sage-ing’ (life-long learning / community building / service), and engaging.

Sultanas Radiance is what we seek:

“When she is in the room, life gets more interesting”

Our intention is to shape the human experience as social sculpture. Just as a sculptor chips away until the truth of the stone is revealed, we want to chip away, let go and release the triggers and habits, thoughts and emotions that no longer serve us as Sultanas.

Some of us are gathering in Delray Beach Florida Jan. 11-13, 2019 to experience time and space for being in grace and dynamic ease.

By sharing our portals of experience in spiritual eldering, healthy holistic aging, and death, dying and documents, we will deepen our understanding on how to generate positive change.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Ashley Grant, Ashley@sultanas.biz.

Until then, Dance on,

Hinda Miller

Founder, Sultanas Group

June 2018

Dear Sultanas, Namaste.

Sultanas feel comfortable dancing in the metaphysical realm of conscious where universal laws of nature rule. We explore fundamental questions, including the nature of existence, space and time, cause and effect, possibility and how these categories of being are interrelated.

If we want to synchronize the energy of this age, we must open our hearts for healing and recalculating. Only then, we will find what we love and love what we do, with new purpose in our Sultanas cycle.

“When women come together [with open heart] and unite. They can change the world” Dr. Joseph Michael Levry. Rootlight.org

Sultanas can consciously initiate and support disruption and positive change by proximity, by coaching, by resourcing and by caring. We can also practice activating the Human Factor through nurturing and caring for self, family and community, as well as sharing with word, song and movement.

And it starts with the little things that encompass the whole universe.

Like my friend and Aileen Waech experienced in her garden:

“A typical city lot which had only sand for soil. And with time and effort some weed pulling in a lot of dirt under the nails, we have transformed it. To be filled in abundance with a diversity of plants and animals had to start with the soil."

READ MORE

Being the change we want to experience. Thank you, Gandha-ji.

Yallah, Sultanas!

Hinda Miller, Founder

The Sultanas Group

What’s New

Sultana Gathering Fall

September 7-8, Burlington, VT

Collaborating with other Sultanas, themes and questions are emerging for the Fall Gathering.

· How do we embody Sultanas?

· How do we practice moving towards ease and integrating the sensation/ joy of movement?

· How do we explore sound, rhythm, beat, poetry, and storytelling allowing us to penetrate the metaphysical interconnected field of being Sultanas?

· What is the Sultana cycle? Sow-grow-compost.

At this point in life, we are constantly experiencing birth and death and everything in between.

The Italian word for birthing means “giving to the light”, therefor the work of dying is “returning to the light”. So we will tease out the roles of birth doula and death doula.

Sista’ Sultanas will guide our dancing, prayer, song and beat to sanctify our journey together.

Plus, we will enjoy local Vermont farm-to-plate food, drink and the company of amazing Sultanas.

Click Here for more information and to register.

Click Here to reserve a hotel room at a discounted rate if booked before Aug. 1st.

Also, be sure to check out our newest class of Sultanas! Sultanas@Work

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Starlene’s Corner

Teresa Hodge/Mission: Launch. Inc.

Starlene’s Corner is inspired by a beautiful, honey-brown millennial women who worked the early am shift @ my hotel during New Profit’s 20th Anniversary Gathering of Leaders. She radiated lightness, efficiency and general coolness even at 6: 45 AM. Starlene represents all women, of all diversities, who are contributing to make this world a better place, if only with her positive energy. My goal, in Starlene’s Corner, is to highlight women who are making a difference in their world.

One such woman is Teresa Hodge, Co-founder and Director of Strategy and Innovation for Mission Launch, Inc.

Teresa is passionate about using technology and technological education to create digital inclusion for

Teresa Hodge with Hinda and Tulaine Montgomery, Director of New Profit

people living with criminal records. As part of this mission, she has developed a credit system that allows those who are re-entering society after prison to develop a credit score that reflects their life after prison Over 700,000 people return from prison every year needing to open bank accounts, secure housing and apply for jobs, but the current system of credit scores does not account for personal rehabilitation leaving these citizens underserved by the mainstream financial institutions. Teresa Hodge with Hinda and Tulaine Montgomery, Director of New Profit

She is now in the process of “training her algorithm” and building partnerships with banks to increase implementation. You can learn more about Teresa and her projects at www.mission-launch.org/teresa_hodge