I Go to Goddess Boot Camp

 A spa day for my soul.

 -Melina Gerosa Bellows

Saturday morning in the Hamptons. I’m not celeb spotting at the farmer’s market, shopping at Tory Burch or Polo, or sucking in my stomach at Asparagus Beach. I’m here, at New York’s playgrounds for the rich and famous, about to go on a blind date with my inner goddess.

My hook up is courtesy of a one-day workshop led by a colorful Morroccan artist named Salima Roui, whom I call the Goddess Whisperer.

Salima created an agenda to connect with the Divine Feminine through the following: meditating to connect with my deepest inner guidance, chanting to heal through vowels and sounds, and visualizing to tap into my mythological world, which feeds my psyche. Then we’ll paint, collage and create to manifest my current emotional, physical, spiritual inner state. It’s like a spa day for the soul.

We’re in a small cottage, cozily outfitted with kilim rugs, throws, exotic music and candles. The atmosphere is like being deep in the Marrakech souk.

Salima starts off the session with an elaborate ritual to “open our sacred space.” The purpose is to let the Divine Feminine know that we’re ready to play.

“Write down a blockage that might prevent you from entering your Goddess Dimension, something that you want to get rid of,” she instructs.

I do as she says and Salima burns my scrap of notebook paper over a candle. My scribble ignites into a blaze and burns her fingers.

“Wow!” she says, laughing. “What did you write?”

“Fear and self-loathing,” I admit.

I then write down what we want to replace it with, “Excitement, acceptance and love.”