By Happy Oasis, Raw Spirit Community News
Happy: Good Tidings, luminous Larisa! What lights up your life?
Larisa: Love. Pretty Simple. (She laughs) That's all it is. (Ponderous silence.) How to fill myself up.
H: How do you fill yourself up?
L: Listening. (She listens for the answer.) Moving energy through.
H: Mmmm. How do you seem to so easily and continuously access the infinite wellspring of love & joy?
L: There are a lot of tools.
H: For example?
L: For example, I shake my body to realign my nervous system to let loose of any undesirable energetics, including emotions emanating from people passing by. I literally shake them off.
H: Intriguing. (Shaky, breathy, giggling) I'm trying it now. Anything else?
L: Rudra Breath… and Ponglin as taught by the Dalai Lama… [Larisa rapidly continued with a lengthy, luscious list of seemingly exotic means of experiencing a virtually continuous state of joyful lovingkindness.]
H: What are your subjects of enthusiasm?
L: Creativity. Writing. Community. [Larisa would pause to ponder between each thought, hence the punctuation.] I live in community constantly. This is huge. Music. Prayer. Meditation. Sunshine. Nature. I love being in nature. I my back yard [behind her fairy tale-esque home in Long Beach, CA] a butterfly just hung out on my hand for 40 minutes.
H: What is the greatest focus of your enthusiasm?
L: Being a Puppet of Love for Spirit. (We giggle.)
H: I can vouch for that. What is your Joy Of Being?
L: I'm having a love affair with myself right now. Listening to what moves through movement by movement.
H: Such as?
L: New poetry and songs.
H: Would you please share a few of your newest lyrics?
L: I'm just finishing a song about Tara, Goddess of Love and Forgiveness. This is the first time sharing these lyrics. "There's a ring of light in a beggar's gaze; a speaker of truth in the addict's haze; there's a free soul in every rusted cage… Om Tara Om" [lyrics ™ by Larisa Stow].
H: So beautiful. Sounds as if they were inspired by your work in prisons, yes? Would you update us about your soulful, heart-opening rock and healing kirtan concerts 'behind bars'?
L: Wishing to broaden our Shakti Tribe Peace Outreach to more prisons, we are now offering concerts under our friend's Wisdom Spring non-profit. If you know of any prisons or anyone who might have contacts, we'd like to expand. It's quite a process.
H: It can be almost as difficult getting into prisons as getting out. Larisa, You have a full, creative lifestyle, including leading retreats to Bali and Idyllwild, CA as well as being a fulltime loving mother, wife, beloved, life mentor, kundalini yoga teacher, phenomenal musician, and treasured friend to many. What inspires you to do all of this?
L: I get deeply touched by people having "Aha!" moments. (Larisa pauses one last time). It's fun! (She giggles). www.LarisaStow.com
