Alchemy of love - Amanda’s Journey of expansion through expression

Written by Amanda Norgaard & Sita Sunar- 11 January, 2023

Living by her vision to create more love, connection, and joy - Amanda, cultivates ways through poems, creative expression, and Kundalini yoga to reprogramme the subconscious landscapes and understand the neuroplasticity of our minds to step into our authentic selves. Sharing her wisdom collected through her lived experiences, Amanda encourages her community to live a more sacred life other than practicing segregated spirituality.

With much curiosity, we connected with Amanda to immerse ourselves in her world of Kundalini yoga and other expressions she uses to move her community and visions to life. As the conversation unfolds we are diving deep into reprogramming the subconscious, neuroplasticity, and Kundalini yoga. Join us below in conversation with Amanda and learn more about her ways, life experiences, and her love for red hot chili pepper.

“We cannot meet Love if we cannot meet our fears. My desire to heal generational trauma and mental illnesses were stronger than the fear, and that, if you ask me, is Love. ”

COULD YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF BRIEFLY?

My name is Amanda Norgaard. I’m a writer, public speaker, Kundalini Yoga Teacher, and model. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, I spent the majority of my teens and the first half of my 20s in New York working as a model. I’ve always loved modeling as a way of not only playing around with different expressions but first and foremost because of all the human connections I’ve made throughout the years. Before I was anything I was an artist. I always knew I’d dedicate my life to creative frequency; I write, build universes and move visions into reality to create more love, connection, joy, and depth on the planet. That’s my biggest flex and joy.

Q - AND WHAT LED YOU TO YOUR CREATIVE HOUSE ILLUMINATION?

I created my creative house ILLUMINATION to house all of what I find juicy, moving, and interesting about life from spiritual practices, esoterica, and native storytelling to healing modalities, cultural and creative bridges, community, and essays spiced with punk-rock.

I love witnessing people coming back to aliveness; unfolding their innate creativity, wonder, and power. I do multiple different things within ILLUMINATION from teaching to mentoring, to writing, and to simply just hold a space for the soul to unfold. To work from love to me is to serve love. To create from a place of wholeness that may create more wholeness in the world. Love. That’s the sweet spot. It’s what I live for.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'SPIRITUALITY' AND A SACRED WAY OF LIVING?

What we see today often in spiritual spaces is a big focus on ‘love and light’ and a certain hyper-positivity. Could you draw on the connection between this and the separation between ‘spirituality’ and a sacred way of living?How do self-care and cultivating self-love & deep self-intimacy play a role in this and how can we step away from segregated spirituality into a way of a sacred lifestyle?

I’ve never experienced spirituality as a separate entity from my human life. Yes, I adore my spiritual practices as a way to connect with myself and cultivate a greater consciousness, creativity, and chi within and I come from a lineage of hidden mystics and psychics who worked with esoterica and energy healing, yet,

I find just as much sacredness in my human life. Because it is not separate. I’ve always desired to live in great coherence with the spirit within this very human constellation. I go to work, it’s sacred, I walk my dog, it’s sacred, I cook my food, it’s sacred, I pay my taxes, it’s sacred. Chop wood, and carry water. This is what I weave into my work as well hoping to tear down the separating framework.

CAN YOU SHARE SOME INSIGHTS ABOUT YOUR RETREAT 'THE VACATION'?

I do these powerful, beautiful and fun retreats called THE VACATION: one night we’re in a deep, prayer circle in the most ancient ceremony known to man, and the next night we’re dancing at a private 80’s club. We jumped timelines and initiated big changes, while tanning, laughing, and chilling. That’s sacred to me. Everything alive is sacred. I am who I am. I teach the sacred path of Shakti while I wear leather pants, I wake up and meditate after dancing til 2 am. I get epiphanies as I drink my coffee and listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers.

WHAT IS THE ALCHEMY OF LOVE AND YOUR REFLECTIONS ON HOW YOU IMPLY THIS IN YOUR DAY TO DAY LIFE?

So on one hand I spent my first 25 years in deep terror and fear, suffering from PTSD due to a very unstable and unsafe upbringing. Feeling separate from Love and like the world didn’t want me in it. On the other hand, Love, capital L, has been my guiding force. My Northern Star. Always. Even in my darkest years, not seeing a way out of this intense suffering that paralyzed my body and mind, I continued to walk, because somewhere in the back of my mind I just knew there was a different life waiting for me. Love found me in Nature, in art, in reading, in writing, in dancing, and in walking for hours every day. Love found me in wonder, in moments of joy and stillness. Love always found me through words. Reading Blake, Emerson, Rimbaud and other mystics, I just knew that there was something behind the veil of suffering, and my greatest desire was to continue to unfold it. We cannot meet Love if we cannot meet our fears. My desire to heal generational trauma and mental illnesses were stronger than the fear, and that, if you ask me, is Love.

“Love is the will to extend one's self to nurture one's own or another's spiritual growth. Love is an act of will -- We do not have to love. We choose to love.” ― M. Scott Peck

HOW HAS KUNDALINI YOGA IMPACTED YOUR LIFE?

Kundalini Yoga accelerated my courage to change my life, and my mindset and put one foot after the other. It gave me the courage and the energy to begin reprogramming heavily subconscious imprints that kept me confined and dissociated from my vital energy, joy for life, and essentially, Love. We spend 95% of our lives, living and projecting from our subconscious landscape which is programmed in childhood. Expanding the subconscious to what is possible, what you, in the now, actually desire and the story you tell yourself is really how true change and healing happens. When I started learning about the power we withhold to rewrite our lives and destiny through neuroplasticity my whole life changed. I was no longer a victim but in full Autonomy. Kundalini Yoga, Neuropsychology, and Hypnotherapy have been crucial assets in my own personal and professional journey in returning to wholeness, being, and creating from there. My daily Kundalini Yoga practice supports me in staying not only consistent when life gets bumpy but continues to charge me, expand me and inspire me. I get the majority of my creative business ideas, as healing realization in my daily practice.

CAN YOU SHARE WITH US YOUR RITUAL OR PRACTICES TO CULTIVATE LOVE?

After 5 years of real cocooning, while still starting and growing a business, 2023 has left me feeling incredibly ignited. In the past 2 months, I’ve come back alive to an extent I haven’t remembered feeling before. The last 3 years especially have been alchemical as I’ve moved through major blocks, subconscious programming, and fears. The world looks very different than it did a couple of years ago, inside/out. A daily Kundalini Yoga + Meditations practice in combination with cold showers, nature, journaling, and really solid relationships are a few of my non-negotiables. The daily connection and rendezvous with myself are so incredibly important because the level I meet myself is the level at which I can meet the world.

Learn more about Amanda's journey, workshops and retreats & her work with ILLUMINATION

Amanda founded Illumination - a virtual creative house to explore and experience the richness of your human life and potentiality.

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