NY Yoga + Life HEALING ISSUE x Denisse Monge

Love and Healing by Denisse Monge.
This whole being a human is a risk. We are all so fragile and yet so strong. I love that saying that there are two certainties in life death and taxes. I would respectfully like to add one more - the third certainty in life is that we will get hurt.
Getting hurt is part of the human experience. When our soul chose our heart it took the biggest risk on this earth and that is coming here. The risk of loving ourselves through all of the hurt. Traumas, joy, grief, depression, and excitement. If you are reading this- I can almost guarantee you that you have been hurt and I can guarantee you that you can also heal. Whether the pain is physical or emotional - you are so strong yet so fragile. Loving and healing are two of the biggest risk we can take daily.
Bring your hands to your heart and whisper to your heart - I love you, I'll take care of you and I'll protect you. Loving ourselves is often not taught to us. Mostly because love doesn’t have a definition and love is not a noun or just a word. Love is ACTION. “love is a mix of various ingredients- care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment and trust, honesty and communication.” - bell hooks
All these ingredients that form love are action -base. To love ourselves through our human experiences is healing.
Take your journal or phone out and write. For today, I will care for myself. For today I will show myself affection. For today, I will give myself the recognition I deserve. For today, I will be respectful towards myself. For today, I will commit to myself. For today, I will trust myself. For today, I will honest with myself. For today, I will communicate with myself. Slowly and daily, we learn how to love ourselves, and through this kindness and love, we heal. Heal our pain, our worries, our sadness, and our experiences.
Healing requires love and a love that no other can give you, your love. Healing requires courage and no one can give you, your courage. Healing requires your heart and no one can give you, your heart.
This beautiful life is yours. Love yourself and heal the wounds that life brings. Remember this- you are so strong and yet so fragile and then again so is life.

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New York Nature

I am so glad - I got to go Hudson, New York with Liz Neves from Gathering Ground

ni santa ni puta solo mujer 🐚

I spent most of this summer writing. I never considered myself a writer but I realized to be a writer you just have to write. Maybe it was my mind trying to make the complexity of words and their meaning and their power: simple. Just write. 

Write about everything - your life, your parents, your family, your lovers. I realize I write a lot about heartbreak and I am going to blame it on my Pisces moon. My perpetual state of being heartbroken and in love all at the same time but you add into the fact that my Taurus is in venus and it seems I can't move on…….until I do and then I am over it. 

I woke up this morning with deep appreciation, gratitude, and respect for my teacher this summer, Alisha. I think about the space she created for me to write. To write is to feel and to express that feeling by giving words the life they deserve whether or not someone thinks it's good or not. it exists and therefore it can no longer not exist. 

I had met Alisha before she became my teacher, and I remember thinking wow she is gorgeous but in the way that someone's internal light is so external it shocks you. Maybe it was that day that created safety for me to be her student. We took pictures of the space we both work at and became acquaintances. 

Fast forward - I signed up for a writing class that had been on my list of things to do but I never did it because I didn't have space. No job - no responsibility- led to this moment where writing has become my form of creation.

I woke up this morning and I asked my body - when I am getting my period - today! 

I also heard in my sleep- your Saturn return is complete and that’s why you are going back- check your Astro chart with the timelines and I did and everything adds up - I am about three months away from yet another transformation. 

My intuition has been strong and my spirit has been in a state of fluctuation of trusting myself and not trusting myself. 

I love that saying when parents tell their kids you didn't come with a manual. MY GOD how I wish I could get my hands on my manual and maybe I do have it but I don't want to read it. I believe I am the creator of my life and god helps me if I meet them halfway. My god is energy, my god is stillness, and my god is within me and I am in many forms my god - I pray a lot to myself and the energy around me. 

but it doesn't mean that i don't question. Part of me right now has not been listening - it’s funny because I am teaching people to listen yet I am having a battle within myself. This is the perpetual state of a teacher - the battle of learning and unlearning.  

At 31, my illusion dream was to be married to a wonderful man and have kids and somehow I would be complete. Part of that desire comes from being Latina, I was taught- that that was the goal. You get a job, you work on yourself and you get picked!!! You get picked- to make someone else's dreams come true and somehow yours take a back burner or somehow you figure out how to do it all at once. The funny thing is that I do see women -do it all! Exhausted but they do it all. 

Right now at 31, I am moving back home. 

I don't know if you can feel it but my ego just fell to the floor and it took my heart with it. 

The truth is that I have like one million desires right now and that's why Taurus ass feels all over the place. I try to categorize my desires down to a to-do list - do this to feel like this but it's not true. 

I have three desires right now: I aspire to make two movies that came to be in the form of meditation two years ago but I haven't figured out YET.

 I desire with every fiber in me to live alone in my place - with plants, my books, and a big ass bed, candles- it smells fresh like that Ralph Lauren perfume that makes me crazy and space for me to make my portraits. this time and space is for my single ass to be alone yet extremely happy - I went from living with my moms, to living with a boyfriend from hell, to living in new york city with 10 roommates in two years and then down to my favorite roommate I ever will live with, 

now is the TIME universe - guide me PLEASE. 

my last desire at least for now is to be a mom. I see myself being a mom. I feel it but I question it because when will I be ready, when will everything conspire for this to happen. 

I see it sometimes when I am very good at my practice. I see it and to be honest I have been okay with my practices this last month, I have been avoiding it. Mostly because I am avoiding myself but don't worry I also haven't been sleeping because of course when I don't make time for me to listen to be to follow me, spirit wakes my ass up at three in the morning to talk! I am tired, the truth is that as much as you want to rebel against yourself you can’t - you enter this life with this body, this heart, and this spirit. This is the contract! You don't get to be someone else and you don't get to live someone else's life. 

For today, I want to be a writer, a lover, a friend, and most of all I just want to be the artist for my future children to see my life in all spectrums, life is not one way, and it's not good nor bad. It's just LIFE - the good and bad and you navigating between the spectrums making the best of it! 

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I have been working on myself intending to “fix myself.” so that I can be appealing to the “love of my life.” I set my New Year’s Intention like a hopeless romantic okay this year might be the “one” the one in which I meet the one. After last year's heartbreak. I made a promise to myself this year will be the year that I will not be heartbroken. I came to realize that I have spent the last 15 years in relationships, devastating situationships, and somewhere in between those two spectrums. I had lost the purpose of why I wanted to fall in love and be in love. Falling in love is all I ever dreamed of until I had that realization- maybe it's not meant for me. I cried hard the night I found this out. I went to all my ex-boyfriends/ex-flings IGs. I realized they all had found love and it wasn't with me but I also had the empathy that who I am destined to become is not who neither one of us would have ended up with. I was evolving and I will spend most of my life evolving, shedding, growing and learning, and becoming. The kind of love that I dream of is one of magic ride-or-die love. I want to look at my lover/partner/friend/husband as the muse that I had discovered. I want to discover this lover like the most beautiful sight I have ever seen in my eyes. I always dream that this partner will be different from me, they will be smart in all the ways that I am not, that they will challenge me but also be sensitive to me. Like down to drink tequila in Mexico but also down to vipassana silent meditation in the Himalayas. I dream that my lover will be my muse. Since in so many ways photography is the love of my life, I want to be able to photograph my person intimately. The kind of portraits that tell you the artist is in love with the person. I will look at their face, their eyes and recognize them from lifetimes. I will see their soul. I haven't found such a face yet! I have looked into a lot of eyes, I never got the feeling okay, him. I have often got the other feeling, not HIM. I am lying there one time, I had the feeling. I said to my partner then. In two years you will be ready for me, so go find yourself, you deserve it but maybe I just needed more time to fall in love with myself.

Frida Kahlo in my heart!

in many ways, I have been feeling disconnected from myself lately. 

how? when all I have been doing is spending time with myself. 

the thought. I am not where I want to rises. 

where do I want to be? 

Mexico!  I am reminded of Frida Kahlo, and for the first time in my life. 

I understand her work. 

I have seen it a thousand times, studied it, read about her work.

I have lusted over her work, like a demented artist - who wishes - 

I wish I could make something so beautiful as her work.

I am sitting in my beautiful Brooklyn apartment. The sounds of the garden, hood, fireworks as my backyard. 

but I wish my life was different. 

that's what her work was about - wanting - dreaming -conjuring -

 and existing in a plane that is not the reality of your life. 

The suffering from the extension of our hearts from loving men or women at the cost of existence in this world. 

so when the heart finally breaks- the world we wished for exists.

Capture Dances x Denisse Monge

Denisse Monge X Capture Dances

Collaboration and Imagination.

Capture Dances workshops are designed to create a fun environment for movers, photographers, and other artists to create spontaneously. Visit www.capturedances.com/
Photos were taken in Wyckoff Manor by Denisse Monge.

Sacral Chakra | Svadhistana | Claiming Our Personal Power

The Sacral Chakra is all about embracing our personal power! It is an embracement of our sexuality, sensuality, and creativity. The Sacral Chakra is all about feeling, desiring, and creating. .
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Name: Svadhistana Sacral
Location: Lower Abdomens, sexual organs, and pelvis.
Element: Water 🌊
Color: Orange 🍊
Sense: Taste 👅
Sound: Vam.
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Journal Prompt: Personal Manifesto.
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1. In love, I want to feel like?
2. In money, I embrace my creativity by?
3. In my personal power, I claim myself as?
4. In my creativity, I create what ? .

Sacral Chakra Beginner/ Intermediate Flow

Sacral Chakra Flow
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Includes Surya Namskar with Lakshmi goddess. .
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Sacral Flow includes Kali Ma goddess with a cross-legged crow. .
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May 15th is via Zoom 1pm
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82844421271?pwd=cHVXTm5OVDlVVHZRQklaeGN4WVVYUT09

Meeting ID: 828 4442 1271

Password: sacral


Sliding Scale $11 to $22
Venmo:dm6designs
Cashapp: $itsdenissemonge .

Brian Monge | Movement Artist

My brother Brian Monge is a beautiful movement artist based in Miami,FL.
IG: brianxmonge

What the Chakra? ❤️💛💚💙💜Root Chakra

What is a Chakra? Why do we need to know the Chakra System?

During this series, “What is a Chakra? “ My intention behind this new series is to provide educational self-healing tools.

Chakra Discussion / Root Chakra Meditation

What the Chakra? Is designed to explore discussion/meditation/movement of our chakra system.
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What is a Chakra? An energy center within different areas of our body. We call into balance the energy within our bodies, mind, heart, and spirit. .
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Mūladhāra (Root Chakra.) Element: Earth 🌍
Sense: Smell
Sound: Lam
The right to be here!
This chakra explores our survival needs and the question this chakra pose is “Do I Belong Here? .
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When out of balance? We might feel disconnected,restless, depressed.
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When in balance? We might feel motivated,connected and procreative. .
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Affirmations for Root Chakra
I am here.
I am safe.
I am connected to my body.
I trust divine Mother Earth. .

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Root Chakra - One -Hour-Flow beginner-friendly. Sliding scale $11-$22- registration- link in bio.
Register via Website.. . You are invited to a Zoom meeting. When: May 8, 2020 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kfu-spzIrH9L_fOaW5mJw9hR1PXlbsCFJ After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
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p.s. - if you are an essential worker during this time- all my classes are on me.-thank you .
#rootchakra #rootmeditation #chakrasystem #iammybody #mybodyiasacred #muladhara #mūlādhāra #healing

Root Chakra Beginner Friendly Flow

MINKA Community Photo Sessions | Sliding Scale Photos

MINKA Brooklyn

We are a community-led center for wellness and harmonious living. We strive to create an inclusive environment where all people can heal and thrive. We believe in the magical existence of human beings: we are here to hold space, so you can remember how to harness your inherent brilliance. Here we gather, learn and better ourselves as a community. We welcome all who strive to shed old skin and glow anew from the inside out through many forms of exchange. These may include a cultural, informative, experiential, and energetic exchange. 

Minka Brooklyn healing sessions are offered at a sliding scale almost if not all our sessions are sliding scale. During the open house, I offered sliding scale portraits.

We did a tarot reading and based on the tarot card you pulled- we created a portrait.

Ashley Menestrina
January. 2020
Minka Brooklyn

Elyse And Daughter
January.2020

Sangeet Raj
January.2020
www.royalmothering.com

✨Denisse Monge Presents Spirit Portraiture ✨

Denisse Monge 10.19.2019  

Spirit Portraiture.003 
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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 Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. - Albert Einstein 


Thank you! Thank You! Thank You! 
 2019 has brought me so much abundance in creativity, love, money, and movement. I am so grateful for all the beautiful souls that trust me to hold space for them in the process of being photographed. I know first hand that getting your photo taken is a very vulnerable experience. All of the fears of our insecurities come out and we fear that we are portraying our flaws rather than our authenticity. My intention behind spirit portraiture is to create a healing experience for the person in front of the camera. To be able to let their spirit- their natural state of being- bloom, flourish and shine. 

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Khadijah Abdul-Mateen & Zakiyyah Abdul-Mateen from
|un| earth + bloom
Harlem, NYC March.2019

"Intergenerational healers, trauma-informed mental health specialists, daughters of the earth, and students of our breath. We are committed to the complete liberation of our people. "Khadijah is my friend and she is so powerful." so when I found out that she was a twin- I remember thinking wow this woman is gorgeous and there are two of them on this earth! lol, I knew I had to photograph them. I am so glad they chose the work we did together to be the photos for unveiling for their new project. I love this photo because it reminds me of my siblings and our interactions. Fun, light and powerful. 

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Ashley Menestrina April. 2019
Manhattan, NY
Our friendship is super unique. We met one day officially and we haven't stopped hanging out ever since. You inspire me to be free and relentless! To give everything I got to the world and to stop playing small. Travel the world, dance your heart out but most importantly just keep creating! Follow @ashleymenestrina 

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*This photo went viral on VSCO
Brooklyn, NY April.2019 
 

 Every time I think of you, I think of this moment, of this day. I know and trust that everything happens the way it is meant too! “When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist 

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Jordan Catherine Pagán from Ostara Apothecary
Prospect Park Brooklyn, NYC May.2019

This year life brought me Jordan once again lol. I had met Jordan the summer of 2017 but I was not paying attention or the time was not quite right. Jordan is true to her Capricorn nature- she pushes me and gives me the nudge I need to follow through on my word. Working with her has been a blessing for me because she holds me to it. I can't wait for future collaborations the earth brings us.

laughing lotus


#lotuslovepride Laughing Lotus X K.Deer

Manhattan, NYC June.2019I want to give a huge thank you to Amanda Valdes- as content creator for Laughing Lotus- she trusted my vision for this campaign. Laughing Lotus is so FUN, HAPPY AND QUEER! I wanted to capture that in the street of Manhattan!

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Ali Cramer Modern Ayurveda - Rituals, Recipes & Remedies for Balance
Manhattan, NYC August.2019

I am so grateful to Ali, I felt so nervous during this photoshoot because I have so much respect for Ali Cramer as a teacher and human, she is phenomenal! When she told me the picture I took was going to be her author photo for her first book; I was shocked and extremely grateful!
Buy her book, take her class and GO.ON.DUTY.

Priya Handa | Tricia Ben-Davies | Stephanie Moreno
Minka Brooklyn Brooklyn, NYC  August.2019

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Aki Baker 
Minka Brooklyn Brooklyn, NY August. 2019 

There aren't enough words to describe Aki but if I had to pick one- it would be MAGIC. 
Aki makes people believe in the magic of being a spiritual being in the human experience!
*Photo for Minka Gofund me Campaign 

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Kristin Eley
September. 2019 Brooklyn, NYC

Thank you for letting me in your space -for trusting me. Kristin Eley Debut EP- LITTLE YELLOW ROOM available everywhere! Listen HERE!

Book Portraitures Session!