Definitions of ecstasy, consequences of modern ecstasy deprivation, connection between ecstasy and wisdom, introduction to a spiritual practice based on ancient human art which balances our brain hemispheres, quickens our neurology, releases endorphins, expands imagination and creativity and integrates the bodymind. Good medicine for our modern malaise.

1. Ecstatic
Wisdom
Postures
written by
Deborah J.
Milton, PhD

2. A global spiritual practice based on ancient artifacts,
Felicitas D.
Goodman, PhD, anthropologist, developed the
system in late 1970's and called it Ritual Body
Postures and Ecstatic Trance.

3. I discovered her
book, Where the Spirits
Ride the Wind in
February 1993
and renamed the practice
Ecstatic Wisdom Postures
because it seemed more
descriptive.

4. Why ecstatic wisdom?
First we need to examine that state called
ecstasy.
In modern times, ecstasy has become confused
with sexuality, depravity and a host of other
behaviors that are frowned upon.

5. Consequently, our modern culture is
ecstasy deprived and we humans are
hungry.
Ecstasy deprivation
is a major source
of modern addiction.

6. How would you
know if you suffer
from ecstasy
deprivation?

7. Here are some symptoms:
"being on the pause button"
feeling apathetic, numb, stiff, unfeeling, helpless,
alienated, disengaged from living
feeling a nameless dread
feeling mired by confusion
feeling powerless to change anything including
yourself

8. Fear itself may run your life.
But WAIT…

9. Take a deep breath - we're in the throes of major
cultural transformation and unprecedented
demands on human evolution.
AND happily, we're in the soup together. Out of
this crisis the creative brilliance of humanity can
emerge.
Ecstatic Wisdom Postures can help us midwife this
new human story as well as rekindle our own
aliveness.

10. So what
IS ecstasy
exactly?

11. Ecstasy is the
“condition that
occurs when the
body transcends the
mind without the
loss of
consciousness.”
Belinda Gore, PhD,
The Ecstatic Experience

12. In his book, Wild Hunger -
the Primal Roots of Modern
Addiction, Bruce
Wilshire, points out that: “In
Greek
ek-stasis means standing out
from the points in space one‟s
body occupies. To stand out
into the surrounding world
and to be caught up and
possessed by it. The world
owns me and, in a strange
sense, I own it.”

13. We modern humans have
broken that “participatory
bond…with regenerative
source, with wild
nature…kinship with plants and
animals, with rocks, trees, and
horizons. Even terror is a
bond with what terrifies.
In such moments we are „out of
ourselves,‟
ecstatic, spontaneous, full of the
swelling presences of things.”

14. My experience of ecstasy
includes:
a felt sense of
communion
 awe and profound
gratitude
 being energized and
informed by the
invisible life force
streaming through
me
 being fully engaged
with living

15. Feeling energized and engaged sounds healthy, doesn't it?
But you still may be asking…

16. …why do we crave
ecstasy?

17. Because it feels good!

18. What a relief!
Our ego can let
go.
That poor ego of
ours is exhausted by
trying to control the
uncontrollable.

19. When we hold an
Ecstatic Wisdom
Posture the ego
steps back,
changes jobs,
becomes
a “side-by” to the
Soul,
a helpmate to the
Self.

20.  This frees our energy.
 We feel as if we belong
to something larger than
ourselves alone.
 Addictions lose their
hold.
 We find easier ways to
negotiate life's surprises.
 And we fall in love with
life!

21. Why do I use the term
Ecstatic Wisdom Postures?
Ecstatic Postures provide a felt-sense
of aliveness
and
the bone-deep truth beyond facts.

22. Ecstatic Wisdom Postures
cultivate mystery
and inspire awe…
and that provides an
eco-centric awareness,
a well-spring for wisdom.

23. We discover then that
ecstasy and wisdom
are
inseparable,
regenerative,
and bone deep.

24. So why are postures called
ecstatic?
The Body holds the key.

25. The practice relies on the body not the intellect.
Our nervous system is hardwired to respond to the
rhythmic stimulation and the posture itself
provides the doorway to a specific neighborhood
of the world beyond our typical senses.
The combination of pose and rhythm is the key
which opens the door.

26. So exactly what is the
practice?

27. We imitate a
specific posture
found in an ancient
artifact and
hold it steady for
fifteen minutes …

28. while listening
to rhythmic
stimulation,
usually
drumming and
rattling.

29. This is an example
of
how we look!

30. This simple combination,
when experienced in a sacred
and respectful manner,

31.  balances our brain, integrates our
body/mind, rejuvenates our nervous system,
 releases endorphins for that signature feeling
of well-being,
 inspires imagination and helps us remember
the vastness of our own inner landscape,
 nourishes community,
 and provides direct experience of Source.

32. Ecstatic
Wisdom
Postures
show us
how to…

33.  live fully so we have no regrets when our time
here is done,
 experience life-affirming ecstasy on a regular
basis,
 nourish community, co-creativity, collaboration,
 inspire artistic expression and imaginative
solutions,
 live with love, trust and gratitude, which helps
us embrace chaos with courage and equanimity.

34. We enrich our living today …
. . .at the same time we feel better about the legacy we leave
behind for our kids and their kids and their kids…

35. I hope all that inspires you to sample
Ecstatic Wisdom Postures for yourself.
Please join me for an
introduction on February 21st, 2012,
in Hansville, WA,
or on February 27th on Bainbridge Island.
Intros can also be "commissioned" by interested
groups, as an Astrology Group is doing in Poulsbo.
A six session Foundation Course
is always available after an Intro.

36. Please check my blogsite -
The Wisdom of Not Knowing Everything
for current offerings and more information
about Ecstatic Wisdom Postures:
www.awakeningstorylines.com
deborahmltn@gmail.com
Cuyamungue, the Felicitas D. Goodman Institute, is located near
Santa Fe, New Mexico.
www.cuyamungueinstitute.com

37. Brief Biography
Deborah J. Milton has a Ph.D.
in Human Development
from Bryn Mawr College.
She has facilitated groups for thirty years. An eco-
psychologist, artist, teacher, adventurer, mother of
four and grandmother of eight, Deborah was
certified to teach Postures in 1996 by the
Cuyamungue Institute. In 2001, she founded
Athanor Arts - a Haven for the Creative Spirit just
north of Missoula, MT, and gave the practice the
name: Ecstatic Wisdom Postures.
In 2009, in response to the call of our time, she
moved to Bainbridge Island, WA, to deepen her
work in the world.
As her relationship to EWP has evolved over the
years, she finds them infinitely adaptable, always
surprising, and an inspiration for Sacred Activism.
They nourish her with community,
life-giving ecstasy and soul-centric wisdom.

38. Acknowledgements
Text and artwork by Deborah J. Milton, Ph.D.
with gratitude to Marianne Carroll and Frances Wilson
for the slides' background design.
This program was written in 2012 using PowerPoint 2003.
Milton photo taken by Barbara Fontaine.
Photo slide 29 from the book by Nana Nauwald.
Photo in slide 11 from an old Institute brochure.
All images of artifacts and portrait of Goodman are from the collection of the
Cuyamungue Institute or articles written by Gore.

39. Here are a few of my favorite books relating to non-ordinary
reality, ecstatic experience and the conscious evolution of the human:
Ecstatic Body Postures – an Alternate Reality Workbook, Belinda Gore, Ph.D.
Where the Spirits Ride the Wind - Trance Journeys and Other Ecstatic
Experiences, Felicitas D.Goodman, Ph.D.
The Ecstatic Experience, Belinda Gore, Ph.D.
The Salmon in the Spring – the Ecology of Celtic Spirituality, Jason Kirkey
Becoming Animal – An Earthly Cosmology, David Abram
Shaking Medicine – The Healing Power of Ecstatic Movement, Bradford
Keeney, Ph.D.
Wild Hunger – Primal Roots of Modern Addiction, Bruce Wilshire, Ph.D.
Voices of the First Day, Robert Lawlor
The Cosmic Serpent – DNA and the Origins of Knowledge, Jeremy Narby,
Ph.D.
Nature and the Human Soul – Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a
Fragmented World, Bill Plotkin, Ph.D.
The Universe is a Green Dragon, Brian Swimme, Ph.D.