Last night, Owning Pink hosted the first ever real, live Pink Posse gathering. Kick ass Pinkies of all ages and all backgrounds gathered to celebrate the beauty, glory, and Pinkness that lies within each of us. After years of teaching and attending workshops, I should no longer be surprised at the raw, marvelous, divine beauty that emerges when you gather individuals together with the intention of healing, honoring, and allowing each other to be whole and completely human. It was total PINK POWER, and I left high on it all.

Does this sound like something you might want to do at home? Start a Pink Posse in your ‘hood, Pinkies! I swear, you’ll love it, and we’re here to help facilitate it. Because what is shared at a Pink Posse gathering is private and sacred, I will only share my experience, without revealing anything shared by anyone else. That’s an important ground rule, Pinkies. Whatever is said at a Pink Posse gathering doesn’t leave the room. It’s your safe, sacred space, and unless someone gives you permission, you keep what is said in the vault. But I will share what we did (and some photos), in case you want to try this in your neck of woods.

1) Create a PINK space- Joy and I decorated with flowers, built a little altar and created a circle to draw us all close. Waft a little incense, light a candle, play some music, sage the place, or bang a drum before anyone comes. Bring the energy vibration up so people notice the minute they walk into the room.

2) Welcome everyone with a special greeting. We offered wheat grass shots to help our Pink Posse Own Their Health (I know, I know- we're SO Marin!). We also tried to hug everyone, so they knew they were loved and accepted, even if we didn’t know each other before the gathering. People follow your example. So if you bubble over with joy, others will start bubbling with you. Embrace your inner 10-year old and allow your joy to overflow. Remember that joy is a choice. Choose joy on the night of your Pink Posse gathering, even if you don’t feel like it. Greet people however it feels most authentic to you. A pink lei? A pink cocktail? Pink nametags they can decorate themselves? Your call...

3) Start with a meditation. I like to begin gatherings by changing the vibration in the room from one of chaos to one of peace. I ring a bell to call the group to order and lead a Pink heart-opening meditation, inviting the others to fill themselves with Pink light and radiate that Pink light to all the others in the room throughout the evening. If you don’t feel comfortable leading a group meditation, just ask everyone to close their eyes, take deep breaths, and pay particular attention to the moment of peace at the end of each out breath. If it doesn’t feel too woo-woo to you, lead the group in three Oms. Invite them to Own Their Voice and allow the Om to come out however it wants. Ring bells, bang drums, play music- whatever- to set the mood. A little ritual and ceremony goes a long way to allow people to step out of their everyday life and suspend belief, opening themselves up to new experience and greater mojo.

4) Write about what mojo means to you – in whatever way you want to express yourself. I wrote a poem, someone else wrote a song, others wrote journal-entries. Then we shared what we wrote with the group (totally optional, of course- no pressure). Here's my poem:

My mojo-flo jo- floatin' down the river jo

sweeps me high high

heals me low low

opens my heart so

brings my cheerio

lets my joy grow

make me loco

Mojo flo jo, high jo, low jo

leaps like hee ho- grounds me so.

It just mojo flowed out of me.

5) Pair off into twosomes and spend 5 minutes each telling your story to your partner. Invite your partner to listen generously as you tell your story. Then your partner will introduce you to the group by telling the story of how you’re Owning Pink. The stories- OMG- the stories….WOW. Powerful. Namaste, sisters. You ALL rock! (We all rock- that’s the real truth. If each of you had been there, I would have been equally in awe of YOUR story. That’s the lesson I learned from The Woman Inside Project. We are all gorgeous humans on the inside. All it takes is shining a little light inside to see the beauty.)

6) Cross the Pink threshold into Owning Pink. Invite Pinkies to set an intention for what they need to Own and what they want to get out of your Pink Posse gatherings. We asked Pinkies to meditate on that as we cartwheeled, drummed, danced, yoga posed, laughed, and otherwise creatively crossed the threshold together. Thoughts DO create reality. If you set the intention- and really commit yourself to allowing it to happen- you’ll be amazed.

7) Lead a Laughter Yoga exercise. Carmela Carlyle, Laughing Yoga Goddess, lead us in a Tickle Pink Laughter Yoga exercise- giving ourselves a big hug, then tickling ourselves while we giggled, cackled, and howled our way back to mojo. (Or you can try the Mojo Ho Ho). Laughter yoga bonded us, got us out of serious into goofy, got our oxygen flowing, raised our serotonin levels, and built community. Plus, it’s plain, good fun. Who needs cosmos when you’ve got Tickle Pink laughter? (Okay, so cosmos are fun too, but we opted out of alcohol for this gathering. Maybe for the Christmas party!)

8) Before your gathering, invite Pink Posse members to bring something to share related to mojo (or whatever other topic you choose). Back in our circle, we shared what we brought, reveling at the mojo we all bring to the Pink table.

9) Wrap up by planning the date, time, and topic of your next meeting. We’re doing ours once a month on a Wednesday, but if you're helping out a friend in crisis- maybe someone who is going through chemo- you might want to meet more often. We started by choosing Mojo as our topic. Next time we’ll Own Creativity. Then, in the future, we’ll Own Spirituality, Balance, Change, Your Family, Your Body, Your Pain, Sexuality, Surrender, and whatever else we come up with. We encouraged all who attended to take turns facilitating the group, bring exercises to share, and participate as much or as little as they wish. We really want our Pink Posse to be a collaborative effort, not the Lissa Rankin show. When you empower your Pinkies to have a voice, you invite them to bring their gifts to the Pink table, and you’re all richer for it.

10) Hug, kiss, and say tata. It’s important to give people permission to leave when you say it’s going to end. We scheduled ours for 2 hours from 7-9pm, and some people arrived late, putting us off schedule. But at 9pm on the dot, we invited those who needed to leave to take off. Then the rest of us who had time stayed and visited. Remember that no one wants to be rude and leave an intimate gathering in the middle of something important, but we all have lives, babysitter, deadlines, and early morning jobs. Be respectful of the time of others. Encourage your Pinkies to start- and end- on time.

11) Ask for feedback. How can you make the Pink Posse better? What do your Pinkies want to get out of it? Take notes. Listen up. Be collaborative. Then let it go….

Doesn’t that sound like a great way to get your mojo back, Pinkies? Don’t you want to try it? Think you can’t be a group leader? Think again! YOU are enough, just the way you are. Check out all the Mojo Monday exercises on Owning Pink- they will offer you ideas of mojo-building exercises you can do alone or with a Pink Posse. And tell us how it goes! Please, share your ideas, your brilliant exercises, what works (and what doesn’t). I’m a big believer in ideas, collaboration, sharing knowledge, and growing together. Some think they shouldn’t share their proprietary techniques. I say to hell with them! I’ll tell you what I’ve learned, you tell me what you’ve learned, and we all benefit from it. I always give credit where credit is due when I’m inspired by someone else’s ideas (crossing the Pink threshold was something I learned from Malaya Quinn). But I say spread the Pink word- and believe that others will Pay It Forward.

Want to try it? Sign up for the Pink Posse forum and connect with Pinkies in your neck of the woods- or simple make a list of the Pinkies you know you might be interested in Owning Pink with you.

Now go forth and prosper, Pinkies. Own Pink- together!

On a Pink Posse high,

Lissa
PS. I'll be co-leading Owning Pink workshops with three Mojo Mentors from our Pink Posse. Malaya Quinn and I are leading Owning Creativity: Finding Your Slash (August 1), Carmela Carlyle and I are leading Owning Your Power: Creating a Home Altar to Manifest Your Authentic Life (August 15), and Laura Fenamore and I are leading Owning Your Body (date not set yet). Come join us, PInkies! All three workshops will be at Clear Center of Health in Mill Valley, CA.